Welcome to Gaia! ::

Elnara giggled and reached for Garrick, sitting up against the pillows and lifting the bottom of her shirt, preparing to nurse him.

"Can you pass me one of the little blankets?" she requested, nodding towards the bag. "And I'm starting to wonder when I should start trying to wean them ... I don't know, what do you think?"

She wondered if they were old enough to go straight to cups with lids, instead of bottles. Not possible here of course, but once they returned to Gaia ...

Elnara nodded, taking the blanket from Lore and arranging it under Garrick's chin.

"It's not that I mind," she wanted to make sure he understood, "but it would just make traveling with them a bit easier ... and it would make it easier for the other children to take care of them sometimes."

Or if she were visiting Lore at work or if they went somewhere else or something - she wouldn't have to excuse herself and go somewhere private, taking time out of their time together to feed the children.

Garrick seemed to know that his parents were talking about him, for he looked up at Lore, twirling his long hair around his fingers as he drank.

Hana however was getting annoyed with her lack of attention, and she bounced a bit in the crib, pulling on the bars and cooing at her parents.

Elnara laughed. "Best get Hana before she tips the crib ... or tries to, anyways. She may be well behaved, but she does show some impatience from time to time ... especially when she's feeling left out."

She smiled at Lore. "I'm sure we can work something out," she murmured, more out of hope than anything else. "But they are more than half a year old now ..."

Hana giggled and clamped her chin down on Lore's hand as he tickled her, squealing with laughter.

"Bapu!" she giggled, grabbing Lore's robes and trying to climb up his front.

Elnara's eyes shone brightly. "They're growing up in so many ways," she smiled. "Starting to walk, talk ..." She laughed. "But I think ... I think my biggest reason for wanting to wean them ... just might be that they're starting to grow some teeth."

Not pleasant.

"Trust me," Elnara nodded grimly, "it is. But we'll have to wait until we get back to Gaia, I suppose, since I don't want to put them on wine right away."

She giggled softly. "I know half my brothers were, though it wasn't the adult wine, it was specially made for children, with more nutritious content ..."

Hana threw her arms over Lore's shoulder and patted her hands against his back, gibbering to herself contentedly.

"I've seen formulas in the store," Elnara suggested, "though I've also seen pumps where they could still have my milk ... which I would prefer, actually, then I know they're getting what they need."

There were so many different things out on the shelves, who knew what was in any of it? And who knew if any of it was meant for elves rather than other races?

"Then it's agreed," Elnara smiled down at Garrick, tapping him on the nose lightly. The boy giggled up at her, making gurgling noises down in his throat.

"At least," she smiled at Lore, "they're starting to eat a bit of food as well ... small things, yes, a bit of bread, some baby cookies, but it's a start. I know some children have difficulty beginning to eat real food, they refuse to eat it."

They were indeed blessed with two rather easy children to take care of ... which more than made up for the difficulties that came resulting from the fact that there were two of them.