Ben and I arrived at the airport shortly before Kari and Christoper's plane landed in the same glass-enclosed waiting area where Kari first met Ben. George was kind enough to meet us there to provide his inimitable photo-journalist¹ and bellhop services. And I was glad he was there, because once Christopher showed up, I had eyes only for him.

As you can tell from the pictures, he's mostly a blur, constantly in motion from the moment his feet hit the ground. He is also a chatterbox. Last night, he kept up a running stream of commentary from 11:30 to 3:30, with very few pauses. if he doesn't have anything in particular to say, he fills the void with car noises: “deeet, deeet! baaamp, baaamp!” I let Kari sleep after her long trip and stayed up with Chris² as he explored the house and played and played and played with cars (“deeet, deeet!”). Ben tried to keep up, but he ended up falling asleep on the couch around 1:30 AM.

I'm not sure what's going through his head, whether he's figured out that this is his new home or he just thinks it's another hotel stop. He's friendly and even affectionate, but not at all in a cuddly way. His goal when he comes to my outstretched arms is to be launched in the air, not hugged.

So far, Ben is handling this well, although he's asking some pointed questions which are geared toward discovering any new pecking order or determining what Chris is allowed to get away with that he isn't, but he's already showed that he can be patient and understanding with Christopher's exuberance.

I don't know how often I'll be ale to post. I'm already getting a glimpse of what life will be like as a foursome and I'm dying to spend some time with Kari now that we're in the same hemishpere again. I'll try to keep the pictures coming, at least.

Oh yeah, quick P.S.: When we arrived home and I let the dogs out, Christopher immediately started squealing and squirming in Kari's arms and I steeled myself for a long adjustment period. No worries, though. They were squeals of delight. And he was squirming to get out of Kari's arms and down on the dogs’ level, where he was welcomed to the family with a big kiss from Sam.