Welcome to the family little Papaya. Born at 4:01pm on 9/23/16.

We were only at the hospital for four hours before it happened. Mama is amazing – another natural birth and not a peep from her during delivery (just a lot of groaning, yelling, and swearing like a sailor giving birth on the open sea). We were at the hospital for over twelve hours when Nashi was born, so it was surreal when Papaya started coming out so early by comparison.

Papaya turns five days old today and I’m realizing we’re not stressing unnecessary stuff. Yes, she’s still breathing. Yes, she’s delicate but no, not that delicate. We can also allow our brain to focus on other things. She’s just sort of lying there, after all. With Nashi, I felt like the earth stopped rotating just so we can fully focus on him and keep him alive. For at least the first year.

Important news: turns out, Nashi is a GIANT. Didn’t realize this until I put the two of them in the same frame. Then I picked Nashi up for the first time after holding Papaya, and he suddenly feels heavier than a boat full of tacos (I’ve read “Dragons Love Tacos” 42 times in the past week). The most unexpected part of this whole thing is how large, heavy, and developed Nashi suddenly seems to me. I’m this close to giving him bus money to take himself to preschool.

Nashi likes to touch Papaya’s head, as per our rules, and is handling it all very well. He’s had a few meltdowns and demands attention, but he also did that before Papaya arrived so we shall see how this all works out.

Little notes on Papaya so far:

• Her hair is much darker than Nashi’s
• She makes more noises
• She doesn’t appreciate the cold wipes (reasonable. Never understood why Nashi didn’t seem to mind)

Little note on Papa so far:

• Intimidated by the vagina when changing diapers