Twins Born 23 Months Apart

Ian Cartwright

Elliott Cartwright

Katie asked me yesterday if I had looked at any of Elliott's baby pictures to see if babies Ian and Elliott held any resemblance.  Frankly, it is difficult these days to look through Elliott's bounding gold locks to find a baby.  But when I dug through some of the old photos, I discovered we had given birth to twins.  Maybe not identical, but not nearly as distant as Danny Devito and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Ian made a successful journey home yesterday.  Elliott greeted him more like you would hope a loving big brother would, especially given the latest introductions were on Elliott's home turf, which he guards with the protective passion of a Pit Bull.  But on this first day home, E played more like a poodle than a watch dog.  It was slow going, but once he joined Ian on the couch he was a bundle of curiosity turned hugging machine.  We had to tame his enthusiasm as he pointed at each of Ian's body parts asking us "what's that?.  I can only guess to clarify that an ear is still and ear and a nose is still a nose even though they are attached to a creature barely a week old.  Once we had taken a little steam out of his jabs, he melted into a big hug right on top of Baby Ian.  Elliott is always quick to give you a hug if you ask, but these hugs just seemed to pour right out of his heart which melted me and his mom's.  (See the update to Ian's photo album)

We took Ian to his first "out of hospital" doctor visit today.  They indicated all looked fine and the weight that had been falling off to a small degree of concern had slammed on the breaks and begun to head in the right direction.  He had dropped down to 7lbs and 3ozs when we left the hospital yesterday, but was up 2 ounces today. This can only mean he is eating like a champ, his mama is feeding like a champ, and they are both sleeping like bears in the summer time.

I have a dear friend who has cautioned me about the math of adding a second child.  "Don't believe for a minute that 1+1 will equal two" she has said.  I know what she means now.  One and one equals 6 today and the answer is climbing.  But I have to say so are the blessings, which she also indicated.  We can feel God's strength and his wonder multiplying in our house with each baby cry and each bout of insecurity we have guide Elliott through.  We are truly grateful for his presence.  But I do request, Dear God, please keep the answer under 10!