So How is the Rest of the Family Adjusting?

This is an excellent question. And I'm not totally sure. I mean, Casey and Pugasus both seem to be doing really well. But I don't know what's normal. On Saturday, Casey and Marcie and I were at a birthday party for one of Casey's classmates. It was at the local park, and Casey had a blast. They took the kids on a train ride around the park; had a clown who did magic, painted a fire-breathing dragon on his am, and made balloon hat; had activities, including a water balloon toss (which was hilarious because, of course, none of the kids can catch!); and even had horse rides (Casey sat on the horse, but he refused to let it move while he was sitting on it). It might sound pretentious-- I mean I certainly counldnt afford that combination of activites-- but it really wasn't. The boy's parents were really friendly, the kids were just kids from the preschool and family friends-- it actually wasn't showy at all. It was just fun. And it was an opportunity for me to meet some of Casey's classmates' parents, which I haven't had much of a chance to do. This was a long introduction to Ryan's mom, who was really nice. She has three kids-- Robby, Ryan, and Reese. And Reese just turned one. So I asked how long it took Ryan to adjust to having a baby sister. And she told me that only one child gets "dethrowned," so Ryan's transition was fine. And because Ryan was never an only child, he didn't know any different anyway. I thought that was fascinating. Perhaps that explains why Pugasus is transitioning so well. I mean, he though he was our baby, until Casey came along-- and then it was pretty clear Pugasus wasn't our baby. But Casey never really had to compete with Pugasus, and now he kind of does have to with Marcie.

Marcie loves her big brother. She smiles for him when he comes into the room. And they have their own "special" language, which consists primarily of squawking loudly back and forth at/to each other. It's kind of endearing. At least to me and Jason. But probably not to other people, come to think of it. When Casey wakes up before Marcie, or when Marcie is napping, Casey is constantly asking where she is and when she'll be awake so he can play. And when we need to make Marcie's bottle, if we leave her in the saucer and ask Casey to play gently with her for us, like a good big brother, he does. Really, what more can you ask for-- he's only had her in his life for about a week?

But we have the expected bumps in the road, too. Casey loves having Marcie around but he tries to play with her like he would with any friend. Which is fun to him, but probably terrifying to her. He's a pretty rough-and-tumble kid, and she's, well, a baby. The only time there's really been an issue is when Casey was being punished in the car on Sunday (I took away a book). He was so mad, he tried to hit Marcie. Fortunately, she was passed out in her car seat beyond his reach, and all he got was a hand slap of plastic. He was in much better spirits after his nap. All in all, though, Casey has been pretty impressive. And he is cutest around other kids-- he is very protective of Marcie at school when we drop him off. And he insists on kissing Marcie good-bye. It's very cute.

Marcie, for her own part, also seems to be adjusting to life in America pretty well. She has stopped screaching in her car seat. We actually decided to trade cars because Jason's car had tinted windows, and I was having trouble blocking the sun effectively. When I go back to work in late November, we'll trade back because he'll have the kids more. But for now, this is a good trade (he, of course, may totally disagree).

Marcie is totally curious about everything-- carpet fibers, my watch, her hands, but especially Pugasus. Here are some photos of Marcie and Pugasus getting to know one another: