The Little Mermaid book was on the floor next to the chair, standing on its edges in an upside down "V". I couldn't stop grinning. She's so cute.
Friday night Hazel woke up screaming at 4:30 with pins and needles in her legs (she likes to sleep on her knees, unfortunately). Todd rushed in there and settled her down, then came back with the report that Jack was sniffing and wiggling a bit, but still sort of asleep. I laid there hoping Hazel would fall back to sleep before I had to go in to feed Jack, afraid of the mess I'd be in with two crying kids in the middle of the night. But to my amazement, all four of us fell back to sleep instead. Jack woke up to nurse around 6:30, and this time I dared to put him back in the crib. When Hazel woke up around 7:15, she turned on her light but left Jack alone, and came out quietly. Hooray! 
So, it's definitely an experimental process, but I'm thrilled that Hazel still seems well rested in the morning and everyone is adjusting alright. I was so afraid of this milestone, especially because Hazel is a light sleeper, but I think we'll be alright living in a two-bedroom apartment for a while yet. ;)
Today was his baby blessing at church. It was very nice, and we were happy to have Todd's dad and his sister Beany with us. I'm so grateful to be married to a worthy Priesthood holder. 
Yesterday we all went to the beach. It was great, because Larry and Beany were more than willing to watch the kids, so Todd and I got to pull on our wetsuits and go body boarding for the first time in years. It felt wonderful to walk into the ocean, board strapped to my wrist. I got super excited with my first mouthful of salt water. It brought back memories. I loved to look at the water, which was blue-gray and silky. The ocean has a completely different appearance when you're a little bit into it than when you're standing on the beach. I'd forgotten. 
Other current fascinations: turning pages in books, even books without pictures; playing with Gaston, Prince Phillip and Derrick; pretending to be villains (Maleficent, the "scary witch" from Sleeping Beauty, the "mean queen" from Snow White, and she likes me to be Gaston); changing her clothes; pretending the living room is the ocean; clicking buckles together, then begging me to undo them so she can click them together again.
Jack weighed 14 pounds last week! He's 6 weeks old now. Can you believe it? He loves to cuddle. He's starting to coo, which is absolutely melting my heart. His eyelashes are getting long. He's always been a big smiler, but now he's starting to smile socially instead of just when he's eating or sleeping. He's starting to get rolls! (Hazel never had rolls - she was such a skinny, starved baby.) Jack can go six hours at night without waking up, although he doesn't do that every night yet. Sometimes he's still up every three.
The big question looming over my head is when to put Jack in Hazel's room. First we had him in mine and Todd's room. Then we moved him to the living room so we could sleep better, but we had to keep putting him in the bathroom after his last feeding so he wouldn't wake up when Hazel came out in the morning. Now he's been going straight to the bathroom for the night, but then it makes orchestrating showers tricky. And Hazel obviously needs to be potty trained asap, so we've got to get him out of the bathroom so she can use it. So do I put him in Hazel's room now, or back in mine? I just see both options as making me tired. If I put him in Hazel's room now, will either of my kids get enough sleep? If I put him in our room, he's going in our little half-bath. But that's a short-lived solution, because he's pretty close to not fitting in his Moses basket anymore. We've got a pack and play we could put him in, but I have just really loved not waking up to him until he's really crying, and that wouldn't fit in our little half bath.
She is all about anything pink and sparkly, and spends all day talking about Belle, Cinderella, and the rest of the crew. The only Disney movie she's seen in its entirety is Beauty and the Beast, but she's quite addicted to any princess songs we can find on youtube. She also loves Swan Princess, and the last few days she's pretended Derek (the prince in the movie) is hanging out with her everywhere she goes. He knocks on the front door and comes with us to the park, to lunch, to play in her kitchen, to read books, everywhere. I suspect he may become her serious invisible friend. I love it! 
Remember Hazel's first time at the beach? January of last year. I can't believe how little she looks in this picture, just one year ago!
We tried a new spot at Half Moon Bay. It was a harbor area, and the water was very shallow. I missed the crashing waves, but it turned out to be an excellent spot to let Hazel explore. She had a blast tromping around in the water and throwing mussels in, digging in the sand and getting majorly wet and dirty. One casualty: we lost a boot to the tide. Bummer. We still have rainy weather for another month or two, and she loves wearing those boots. 
We've had fabulous weather here the past week, in the 60's. My mom goes back to Northern Utah and snow on Tuesday, and I can't help but feel bad for her. I love California weather! 
Todd's been interested in glass blowing for years. Every time we see a spot that does it, he wants to look. When Todd came back from Afghanistan, we rendezvoused in a hotel decorated with blown glass art. When we went to Italy, we took a day trip over to Murano to see all the glass works. So when the idea of taking a class ourselves came to me way back in October, it was a stroke of genius. I've been privately gloating for months just waiting for this.
Then we put it inside a super hot oven while we kept turning it in circles to help it keep a round shape. 
This process was repeated a few times, and occasionally we had to roll our glass along a slab of steel, which helped the glass to cool as it shaped. 
To color the class, we'd dip it in for fresh "honey," then roll it in colored powder while it was super hot, followed by the oven to bake it all in.
And sometimes we'd sit down and roll it back and forth, too, as it cooled. We added a few layers to it, giving our pumpkins a cool double look, where you can see a more solid piece inside a clearer piece. 
We got the pumpkin shape by pressing the hot glass into a mold. 
Doug added the stem on while we were sitting and rolling it, then we pulled it up with a metal tool to give it some shape. 
Doug took the pumpkin off the pole by hitting it sharply. Then he went over the whole thing with a blow torch to smooth out any sharp spots. 
They had to sit in another furnace or kiln for a day to cool off gradually so that the glass wouldn't break. We went to pick them up yesterday and had a beach day while we were there, which I will blog about next. Mine is the green one, and Todd's is blue. 
She has, however, been extremely frantic for me. I've been trying to pass Jack off to Todd or the moms and give all my attention to Hazel when I'm not nursing, and that has helped, but she's been very possessive and clingy. It's getting better day by day, and it's of course understandable, but in the meantime, it's made me a little weary and it's been hard for me to rest and recover because she wants me up and out with her. 
Hazel boycotted her nap for five days in a row when we brought Jack home and that was almost the end of me. She's a three-hour napper, so it was a significant chunk of sleep she was missing, and she does not function well without it. Mornings tended to be okay, but the afternoons were a nightmare of meltdowns. One day while she was supposed to be napping she took down her name letters and destroyed her treasure collection instead of sleeping. I was devastated. Hazel has never exhibited destructive behavior before and I didn't know what to do. That day I hit a wall and locked myself in my room to cry for a while. 
But she's napped almost every day for a week now and I almost feel like I have my Hazel back. I was honestly afraid I'd lost her forever, but I don't feel that way anymore. 
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Hazel was loving, gentle and soft when she visited at the hospital, but since we've been home she's had an enormous case of sibling-itis. She's majorly Mama Clingy and has boycotted her nap two days in a row now, doubling the fussiness in the afternoon. Wish us luck as we adjust to being a family of four!
