Welcome, Lucas!

A little over a month ago, my sister & bro-in-law, Hannah and Kenneth, had a little boy and the kiddos met their newest cousin - Lucas Eugene Ross! He is irresistably cute and such a little bundle - he has the pudgiest little cheeks that you just can't help kissing. This post is WAY overdue, but I keep forgetting to take my camera and had to wait until I got some pix through email. In the first picture he is being held by big sister Esther, who turns 2 next month.

All 3 munchkins reacted very differently to their small cousin. Rachel spent at least 30 minutes holding him at the hospital; the only time I've seen her sit so quietly! She is a born nurturer and would rather hold a baby than do just about anything else (besides eat dessert and watch TV).

Zekers saw him for the first time several days later, back at the house. I had no idea what to make of his reaction: he actually started crying and grabbed on to my legs, refusing to go anywhere near the baby. I'm not kidding - he was totally freaked out. I have never seen him so scared! By the end of the evening, he had worked up the courage to LOOK at Lucas, but definitely wasn't ready to touch him yet! It wasn't until last week that he finally agreed to hold his cousin for a few minutes.

True to form, Kari Bou had probably the goofiest reaction. She sat on the couch and held Lucas, with an expression on her face that said, "OK, I'll hold him, but I am NOT going to like it." And after about 30 seconds, she practically pushed him off her lap, deciding she'd had quite enough.

At this point we have about 30 weeks to figure out how to keep her from destroying her new baby brother or sister when he/she arrives in the fall. She loves being the baby way too much to give it up gracefully.