Our son’s older sister looked so much like her father in those first few weeks that I fell instantly, crazily in love with her and wondered how it was that some parents take time to connect with their newborns.

But with young Vlad, it was different. I loved him but it wasn’t the same gut-wrenching, ferocious love I’d felt before. Could it be that my postpartum hormone cocktail was, for whatever mysterious obstetrical reason, a bit different from last time? Or the fact that I was so anxious about how the angry toddler back home would react to her new sibling? Truthfully, I think large part of it was to do with how he looked. I’d cradle him and look down at his beautiful, perfectly formed head and there was nothing familiar to latch on to. It felt a bit like we’d adopted him.

Two months later, he still looks nothing like his birth family. But I’m happy to report that I’m over it. I love his little alien face — and everything else about him. Ferociously. Plus, I’m excited to find out how much a celebrity doubles agency will pay for a baby Putin.