4.0... and 1.0, 2.0 3.0...

Are babies supposed to be this cute less than 1 day old?

So far Talie has been one of our easiest babies yet and she's hands down the cutest infant of the bunch so she is officially Carlson Baby 4.0. We love versions 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0, all of which have experienced significant upgrades along the way - fortunately no Windows Me or Vistas in the bunch - but the baseline operating system for 4.0 seems to be solid.

Which reminds me we still do have a couple of other kids around the house who are carrying on their messy, fun and creative lives, despite the new addition to the household... the nerve!


1.0 - The Dramatic Matriarch
Brooklyn loves taking care of her baby sister and is becoming more and more helpful around the house. She does well at school, has lots of friends, is actually a natural at the piano and is hands down our most coordinated child. She also loves mothering and disciplining her younger brothers, much to 2.0's chagrin, but our increasingly beautiful kindergartener (she's come a long way from birth) does have an Achilles Heel... DRAMA.

If it seems too hard, too painful or too scary... it's immediately impossible / life threatening and the tears flow. The good news is dad can usually encourage/coerce/demand/threaten her into trying new things/foods/sports/etc., despite the tears, and in the end she usually ends up being very good at or liking whatever it is because she's naturally very talented... but the daytime soap opera process to get there... arghhh! Right now the clock is ticking on losing her first tooth... she's very excited but given her non-existent pain tolerance it should be interesting to say the least... let me know if you hear the blood curdling screams!


2.0 - The Nervous Daredevil
Boston is a character study in opposites... he's the most adventurous kid of the bunch - willing to eat pretty much anything, try most anything and is a very easy going guy. He loves his little brother Taz and talks a lot about teaching him about trucks, Legos, animals, etc. He is the proud occupier of the top bunk in the boys room (now just a Boston room) and is very funny... loving to say crazy things like "Are you freaking serious?" and "Whatever snake face!" much to his parents chagrin.

However, he too has a couple of idiosyncracies that make him 100% Boston. He is completely obsessive compulsive about his clothes and hair... 1) no spikey hair 2) no shirts that "hang over his bum" 3) no loose pants (a common problem for this skinny guy) 4) no jeans in the house - he immediately changes into shorts or "comfy pants" translation sweat/pajama pants 5) did I mention "flat" hair 6) no sweaters but he usually wants a long sleeve shirt under his tee shirt 7) three tee shirt rotation - Tom & Jerry, BYU 88, Tiger, etc. etc. etc. He also is very sensitive to being in trouble or being wronged and he worries constantly about crazy stuff... Target closing (when he heard over the loud speaker that Target was closing in 10 minutes last night he was on Def-com 5 to get the heck out of dodge city and was very troubled when he saw somebody walking in with 2 minutes to spare), bringing an illegal snack to school (they are very focused on healthy foods), foxes/wolves/coyotes or any other type of predator in the neighborhood... the list goes on and on...

3.0 - The Tornado Tiger / Mini Me
Taz is my buddy. Period. He follows me around like a shadow, we eat snacks together, he loves to throw and kick balls, he can fall off a stair or into the gutter and doesn't cry, he likes to eat mud and hit things with sticks... he's a boy's boy and my buddy. He loves to do what 1.0 and 2.0 do and is ecstatic when he does, shrieking in delight, and devastated when he can't or can't keep up. Now that he's walking he is into everything and beware if he is in the house when the dishwasher is open because clean or dirty he is unloading everything on the floor. He's a 30 lb walking tornado and everyone's favorite Tiger. He sleeps like a champ and pounds enough milk a week to be a Holstein calf and he's pretty much a meat & potatoes animal... if it's protein or carbs, there's a chance he'll eat it (and especially if it comes out of a cereal box), but fruits and vegetables (unless they are Trojan horsed in yogurt) need not apply. He has also inherited 2.0's Velociraptor shriek when he wants something and we don't understand - it will be a blessed day when he learns to talk - and thus far "soft" doesn't translate when he's interacting with 4.0... it's WWF or nothing...

Me and the troops!