And Now for the Dog and Pony Show

Yesterday was quite the event. Little Noelle had her one-month check-up, so Mom, Riley and Noelle all got to make their first real excursion into the outside world. It quickly made me see why new mothers of two don't make it out much.

Getting the girls into the car and into the doctor's office, not a big deal. I actually was feeling pretty darn good about myself. That rosy, warm feeling lasted through the appointment, too. Noelle "The Tank" Green impressed the doctor by showing off her three new inches and equally amazing three new pounds-- bringing her to 7 lbs, 11 oz and 20.5 inches. Riley wandered around the cramped room, playing with the spinny chair, coloring on the "crunchy paper" on the table, reaching for the blood pressure-taker-thing. And, by the way, those double strollers are surprisingly compact but still occupy quite a bit of space. Yowza. When the nurse finished taking Noelle's vitals and attempted to exit the room, we effectively trapped her with all our baby accessories for a good three minutes. Eventually, we found her an escape route-- squeezing between the garbage can and the back of the stroller. Good thing she was little.

The fun started when it was time to go. Noelle always screams, going into her carseat. So I tried to get her in as efficiently as possible, a difficult task since-- due to space issues-- it had to be accomplished from the wrong side of the stroller. Meanwhile, as Little Sister was screaming her sweet, double-chinned head off, Big Sister realized that we were leaving and that she wasn't thrilled with the idea. Commence Meltdown.

I got Noelle strapped in and went for Riley with her jacket. She was having none of it, so I tried the usual: bribery. Stickers weren't a great incentive; neither was going home to Kona. I eventually muscled her into her jacket and lifted her to her perch in the stroller. This is when she went into her highly effective stiff-back evasive maneuver.

Reminder: this is all happening in a tiny doctor's room.

Two nurses finally came and offered assistance. One got Noelle to take her paci while the other gave Riley not one but two suckers. Both children sufficiently calm, we finally moved the circus out of the room, through the waiting room and to the car.

All good fun.

Segway: here are some unrelated photos that I shot today.

Do you think Riley likes being a big sister?

I think Noelle's eyes say it all...

Note Riley's sa-weet hair as she holds her baby sister's hands.