The Great Guessing Game Continues

So the Great Guessing Game continues. I (naively) assumed Clare would reach an age where I wouldn't be faced with these questions anymore, but I have a feeling that will never happen. With the arrival of Simon (who is such a chunk, he is almost Clare's size), I think I field even more questions now.

I had an experience with a woman yesterday. She was a friend of a friend, and we were together for a couple of hours. She was fascinated by Clare. Maybe because her 19-month old could run circles around Clare? Maybe because I carried both Clare and Simon up and down the stairs at the same time? Maybe because Clare is the most gorgeous little curly-haired girl with the infectious grin? (Yeah, that's the one!) This woman must have asked me the same question and repeated the same statement over and over in a variety of ways. "Wow, she is really little." "How old is she?" "Did you say she was two?" "Gee, she is tiny." "When did she turn two?" I patiently answered and responded over and over, "Yes, she is small. Yes, she is two." And left it at that. Part of me was irritated that the woman just could not let it go, and I was not going to satisfy her curiosity about Clare because I was annoyed. The other part of me did not want to get into it - the big, long explanation for why Clare is who she is. I might have nipped it all in the bud if I had just explained about Williams syndrome, but I was not in that kind of mood yesterday. (Nancy - I need some of your cards!)

During our trip to Storyland these last couple days, we answered the question over and over about the age difference of our children. I know it is because Clare looks so much younger than she is and Simon is a big baby that they look much closer in age than they really are (exactly 2 years, 1 month, and 1 day). I have a feeling Simon is now going to be an active player in the Great Guessing Game based on his size. It is nice, though, to have a chubby baby with no health issues to worry about. Even with Jamie, we were dealing with his congenital hypothyroidism from birth (Jamie was born without a thyroid gland). To new parents, those multiple visits to the endocrinologist, countless trips for blood work, and one daily medication was a lot on our plate. Now I know it was really just gearing us up for Clare! My mom made a comment about how more relaxed we seemed with Simon's arrival than with Clare's, for obvious reasons. There is something about being told frequently to watch for signs of congestive heart failure to ruin the joys of your newborn in those first few weeks. I did not appreciate how hard Clare has to work on doing everything until I see how easy it is for Simon (even though he is only two months old). We are already receiving big grins and coos from our sweet little guy and just love him to pieces!