Looking after Jed and Josh leaves us exhausted, every day and every weekend.  Today Joyce forwarded this article from Having Three Kids to me, which kind of confirms that we are not going to have a third kid.  Extract reads :

Here’s what it’s been like so far …

What I did was to yell, "STOP THAT!" followed by, "STOP THAT GODDAMIT!" with no noticeable effect. I considered treating them like labrador retrievers and dumping a bucket of water on their heads. I considered ignoring them and letting it be a painful learning experience, one possibly including an educational trip to the emergency room. Finally, I lurched up from the couch, cradling Kirby [ the third kid ] in the crook of one arm so as not to dislodge him from my breast. I stomped over to Riley and Ben, pulled them apart with my free hand, and dragged the wailing Ben across the room to get him away from his sister. Problem solved, but I couldn’t help wondering if there was a more elegant approach.

My tenacious little Kirby managed to hang on and maintain suction throughout the entire episode, though he must have felt like he was nursing on the high seas. His little head bobbed up and down, and he briefly opened one eye to look around, but he never let that nipple go. The bad news is that my nipple is now half an inch longer. The good news is that if this keeps up I’ll soon be able to leave Kirby on the sofa with my nipple and it will stretch far enough for me to reach all the rooms in the house.

Not the least because I’m not keen on having elasti-girl (or Ms Elasti-Nipple) as my wife.

We also had a brief period of commiseration over e-mail after reading the article.

Me :  I don’t think we should have three kids. I don’t feel up to it. Not now. If we really miss babies that much, we can accumulate good karma by helping other parents look after their babies.

Her :  i never said we should…i’m quite certain i can’t do it again.