I put the ball under here. Now you listen to me. I'm going to tell you what to do. You go over here and I'll go over there and then we'll get the ball...no! That's not the way to do it. Now I'm going to put you in jail. I'm going to put you in jail for real and you'll never get out again. But I didn't know that. Okay, you'll be okay. Now you listen to me, I mean it. Does anybody want a peanut?
Monday, January 30, 2012
A Little Thing - Fezzik Edition
While role-playing with her dolls, Sam uttered this monologue:
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The Twins Update - Five Months Old
Zoe and Leo are now two very different babies. Different than last month, and different than each other.
Leo is growing hair. It's not as light as it used to be, and it looks pretty funny because it's just a patch right over his forehead. It's fun to give him a mohawk.
Zoe is no longer the frail, delicate baby she used to be. She's positively chubby. We call her chipmunk because of those cheeks.
I was right about their eye colors. Leo's are a nice blue and Zoe's have finally morphed over to brown. I'm excited that we can finally sing "Brown Eyed Girl" to one of our children.
Both of them have become much more aware of the world this month. They are both easily distracted while eating, which can be annoying. When I take them out in the car it's no longer a guaranteed nap - they both try their best to stay awake and observe everything. They are both more aware of people, but Zoe in particular is beginning to have preferences. As I wrote about earlier this month, she did not like our backup babysitter. But she seemed instantly taken with Sammy's teacher. Leo will bestow his adorable smile upon anyone who pays attention to him.
Because of this awakening awareness, they are showing the first signs of getting bored, or whatever the baby equivalent of that is. I can no longer leave them happily lying on the floor for very long. They often need a change of scenery, and they seem to like it when we have guests or get out of the house. I have been getting them out a bit more, and it's getting easier. As long as we can make it through the winter, I think we'll be okay. I've been extremely lucky that this winter has been so mild. We haven't even had to put the sleeping bag thingies on the car seats, let alone bundle up two babies for an outing in seriously cold weather.
We've entered the world of drool, especially with Leo. I wish that meant that we were done with spit up, but no such luck. Both Zoe and Leo can pick up rattles and small, soft toys, and put them in their mouths. They love to sit in their Bumbos because it leaves their hands free to put things in their mouths. Everything goes straight to the mouth now. I found a small piece of felt on their blanket yesterday and realized that it's time to start being careful.
Sometimes I think all these new developments are making things harder, but if I ever need to remind myself of what the first months were like, all I have to do is look at the feeding charts. We stopped charting just a few days ago. I gathered up the papers yesterday to put in the baby box. We have 44 pages of recorded feedings, diaper changes, medications, and baths. In the first days and weeks, if you look at the times, it's just crazy. Did they really eat at 10pm, 1am, 4am, and 7am? Both of them? For days on end? Yes, they did. Things are definitely easier now.
When it comes to development, Leo continues to be a superstar. He is now an expert at rolling onto his tummy and doing "push ups." He actually likes being on his tummy and will even sleep that way, although sometimes he can't get back onto his back and that drives him nuts. One time he rolled quite a ways off of the playmat - it looked like he was heading towards a ball that was on the ground. But he never made it, so he has changed his focus to crawling. He has started the "inchworm" move - while lying on his tummy, he'll arch his back like a cat and then straighten out, pushing forward from the knees on the ground. He has managed to locomote forward a little bit this way. And he loves to stand up! If you give him just a bit of support and help with balance, he'll stand for a minute at a time. It's amazing. You can even get him to take steps if you move him like a marionette. I know that boy is going to be a handful in just a few months.
Poor Zoe is just slower than Leo, so her accomplishments don't get as much attention. But she is progressing. She is much better at holding and picking up objects than she was last month. She just learned how to roll from her tummy to her back - her preferred position. She hates being on her tummy, but I've seen her working on the roll from back to tummy so I think that will happen soon. Her vocalizations have gone from learning new consonants to learning new tones and sounds. She practically sings. It's adorable. She also seems to be learning to love dolls. Since she loves people and faces, this does not surprise me.
Leo laughs a lot. His joy is infectious and it is filling our house with goodness. But he also cries a lot. He's entered some new phase where he cries when we leave him in his crib. Sometimes it seems like he is upset about having rolled onto his tummy. Sometimes I think he just wants to be back out where all the action is, or that he is lonely. And there is the possibility that he just needs more Zantac. We've even speculated that he might be teething, but it's been a couple of weeks and nothing has broken through. It's hard to tell with Leo. He's very expressive - everything is big and loud and over the top, so subtleties are lost.
Zoe, on the other hand, seems so easy to read. I look into her eyes and I just know what is going on. When she is hungry or tired, she just tells me, and I take care of her. It's all so simple and easy. The downside is that she does not smile or laugh as much as Leo. She's not what you would call the life of the party. She is earnest, simple and sweet.
We let them join us for a little bit of The Lion King last weekend. I watched Zoe's eyeballs flick around, taking in every visual detail, as Leo "sang" along with "Circle of Life," unable to observe without participating. Meanwhile, Sammy talked and asked questions through the whole movie, as usual.
Three very different children.
Leo is growing hair. It's not as light as it used to be, and it looks pretty funny because it's just a patch right over his forehead. It's fun to give him a mohawk.
Zoe is no longer the frail, delicate baby she used to be. She's positively chubby. We call her chipmunk because of those cheeks.
I was right about their eye colors. Leo's are a nice blue and Zoe's have finally morphed over to brown. I'm excited that we can finally sing "Brown Eyed Girl" to one of our children.
Both of them have become much more aware of the world this month. They are both easily distracted while eating, which can be annoying. When I take them out in the car it's no longer a guaranteed nap - they both try their best to stay awake and observe everything. They are both more aware of people, but Zoe in particular is beginning to have preferences. As I wrote about earlier this month, she did not like our backup babysitter. But she seemed instantly taken with Sammy's teacher. Leo will bestow his adorable smile upon anyone who pays attention to him.
Because of this awakening awareness, they are showing the first signs of getting bored, or whatever the baby equivalent of that is. I can no longer leave them happily lying on the floor for very long. They often need a change of scenery, and they seem to like it when we have guests or get out of the house. I have been getting them out a bit more, and it's getting easier. As long as we can make it through the winter, I think we'll be okay. I've been extremely lucky that this winter has been so mild. We haven't even had to put the sleeping bag thingies on the car seats, let alone bundle up two babies for an outing in seriously cold weather.
We've entered the world of drool, especially with Leo. I wish that meant that we were done with spit up, but no such luck. Both Zoe and Leo can pick up rattles and small, soft toys, and put them in their mouths. They love to sit in their Bumbos because it leaves their hands free to put things in their mouths. Everything goes straight to the mouth now. I found a small piece of felt on their blanket yesterday and realized that it's time to start being careful.
Sometimes I think all these new developments are making things harder, but if I ever need to remind myself of what the first months were like, all I have to do is look at the feeding charts. We stopped charting just a few days ago. I gathered up the papers yesterday to put in the baby box. We have 44 pages of recorded feedings, diaper changes, medications, and baths. In the first days and weeks, if you look at the times, it's just crazy. Did they really eat at 10pm, 1am, 4am, and 7am? Both of them? For days on end? Yes, they did. Things are definitely easier now.
When it comes to development, Leo continues to be a superstar. He is now an expert at rolling onto his tummy and doing "push ups." He actually likes being on his tummy and will even sleep that way, although sometimes he can't get back onto his back and that drives him nuts. One time he rolled quite a ways off of the playmat - it looked like he was heading towards a ball that was on the ground. But he never made it, so he has changed his focus to crawling. He has started the "inchworm" move - while lying on his tummy, he'll arch his back like a cat and then straighten out, pushing forward from the knees on the ground. He has managed to locomote forward a little bit this way. And he loves to stand up! If you give him just a bit of support and help with balance, he'll stand for a minute at a time. It's amazing. You can even get him to take steps if you move him like a marionette. I know that boy is going to be a handful in just a few months.
Poor Zoe is just slower than Leo, so her accomplishments don't get as much attention. But she is progressing. She is much better at holding and picking up objects than she was last month. She just learned how to roll from her tummy to her back - her preferred position. She hates being on her tummy, but I've seen her working on the roll from back to tummy so I think that will happen soon. Her vocalizations have gone from learning new consonants to learning new tones and sounds. She practically sings. It's adorable. She also seems to be learning to love dolls. Since she loves people and faces, this does not surprise me.
Leo laughs a lot. His joy is infectious and it is filling our house with goodness. But he also cries a lot. He's entered some new phase where he cries when we leave him in his crib. Sometimes it seems like he is upset about having rolled onto his tummy. Sometimes I think he just wants to be back out where all the action is, or that he is lonely. And there is the possibility that he just needs more Zantac. We've even speculated that he might be teething, but it's been a couple of weeks and nothing has broken through. It's hard to tell with Leo. He's very expressive - everything is big and loud and over the top, so subtleties are lost.
Zoe, on the other hand, seems so easy to read. I look into her eyes and I just know what is going on. When she is hungry or tired, she just tells me, and I take care of her. It's all so simple and easy. The downside is that she does not smile or laugh as much as Leo. She's not what you would call the life of the party. She is earnest, simple and sweet.
We let them join us for a little bit of The Lion King last weekend. I watched Zoe's eyeballs flick around, taking in every visual detail, as Leo "sang" along with "Circle of Life," unable to observe without participating. Meanwhile, Sammy talked and asked questions through the whole movie, as usual.
Three very different children.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
First Kiss
So what did you do at school today?
I did a piece of work before I had snack.
Oh.
Yes. And I had snack with R.
Oh, that's nice. What did you talk to R. about?
Oh no. I didn't have snack with R. today, I had snack with A.
Oh, I see. So what did you talk about with A.?
He asked me to marry him.
Really.
Yes. He asked me to marry him so that we could kiss someday and he asked me to kiss him and I did.
You kissed him today, at school?
Yes.
Was that the first time you kissed a little boy?
No.
Oh, really?
No. A. is not a little boy. We're getting married.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
A Race of Gods
Being a full-time parent to twin infants is much easier than I had expected. In fact, it seems easier than my time with Samantha as a baby, even though she was a singleton, and had no older siblings for me to care for. There is definitely a lot more work involved when you have two babies, but I don't feel crushed by the weight of it the way I did with Sam.
Of course, one big improvement this time around is that I have experience. That is huge. The change in perspective can be summed up by my new parenting motto, uttered every time some little thing goes wrong: "They'll live." Another improvement is that we are now able to afford some hired help.
But there is more to it than that, and all the other reasons fall under one heading: Progress. In the five years since Samantha was born, our society has progressed so much that parenting is noticeably easier. It sounds fantastic, but it's true. Here are some things that seem indispensable to me as a parent now, which did not exist (or were very expensive or rare) five years ago:
Of course, there are many, many other incremental improvements. Our double-stroller is not a new concept, but it is much better than those sold in 2006. And our Honda Odyssey is just a new model, but it's the first minivan to allow three children to be seated in the middle row, all using the Latch system (the safest method of attaching the car seats). I don't think Zoe and Leo are receiving any vaccines that weren't available in 2006, but Rotateq was brand new when Sam was born, and the twins are getting Synagis (more important for preemies), which became available about a dozen years ago.
It doesn't seem possible that so much could change in so little time, but the wider context is even more staggering. Consider Dr. Harry Binswanger's brilliant exercise in perspective:
I imagine a not-too-distant future where mothers are making casts of their breasts so that they can manufacture customized nipples for their babies' bottles using their 3D printers, where there is a device that automatically removes the white part of a baby's fingernails, no clipping required, and where we finally have the "brain in the sky," as I like to call it - the computer from Star Trek that holds all the data you'll ever need, which you access with your voice and which talks back to you if you want it to. We're getting close to the last development already. We have Google, wireless access, and Siri. All we need now are the implants that allow us to get rid of those clunky input/output devices we call smart phones, and some refinement. That's when technology will have solved the new parent brain-power problem.
If you, too, look forward to such an amazing time, take note - you're living in it now. We are a race of gods.
Of course, one big improvement this time around is that I have experience. That is huge. The change in perspective can be summed up by my new parenting motto, uttered every time some little thing goes wrong: "They'll live." Another improvement is that we are now able to afford some hired help.
But there is more to it than that, and all the other reasons fall under one heading: Progress. In the five years since Samantha was born, our society has progressed so much that parenting is noticeably easier. It sounds fantastic, but it's true. Here are some things that seem indispensable to me as a parent now, which did not exist (or were very expensive or rare) five years ago:
- Amazon Prime - I buy almost everything from Amazon, and since shipping is free and fast (Prime is free for new moms for about 6 months), I don't worry about batching up my orders. The minute I realize I need something, from formula to a new nursing bra, I go to Amazon and order it. It's on my doorstep within two days. Not needing to bundle up two babies in the middle of winter for a trip to Target each week is incredibly liberating, not to mention the peace of mind I have in knowing that I'm not going to run out critical supplies.
- Online grocery shopping - This is a stretch because we used an online grocery service in Chicago in 2000 and New Yorkers have had groceries delivered forever. But the service we used in Chicago didn't outlast the dot-com crash, and we did not have anything in Michigan in 2006. I see that Netgrocer now delivers anywhere in the country (although the prices are pretty steep). Our local service here in northern Virginia is good enough and cheap enough so that Zoe and Leo have yet to see the inside of a supermarket. Do you hear me, parents? I have never had to take my babies grocery shopping! Ever!
- Zappos - Again, a bit of a stretch because Zappos existed before Sam was born, but I had never heard of it, and I think they started with just shoes, whereas they have all kinds of clothing now. Zappos (now owned by Amazon) not only offers free shipping, but free return shipping, which means that I buy all of my clothing online too. You have to rewire some brain circuitry to take full advantage of Zappos. Think about it: for the price of one pair of shoes, you can buy twenty pairs of shoes at a time, try them all on at home, and return nineteen pairs. Yes, you can.
- The Kindle - Feeding babies is pretty boring work. After a few minutes of bonding, you need entertainment. I don't like having the TV on during feedings, and holding a book one-handed, even a paperback, is painfully difficult. With Sam, that left me with magazines, and since a new parent's brain-power is reduced by about 50%, I couldn't handle anything more than Us Weekly. The Kindle gets all the credit for all the good books I've been able to read since Leo and Zoe were born. I'm not talking high literature - the brain-power problem has yet to be solved by technology - but detective fiction and mysteries...what an improvement!
- The smart phone - Besides reading, during feedings I often use my phone to check e-mail and Facebook. I've gotten pretty good at holding it and typing with just one hand. In fact, I take care of almost all my e-mail during feedings. That's my kind of multitasking!
- The tablet - I've finally found a use for my iPad! When I'm not up to reading or e-mailing, I turn to the iPad. It's too heavy to hold and use with one hand, but I can set it on the table next to me and watch streaming media or listen to audiobooks.
- Streaming media and audiobooks - Okay, these things were probably around five years ago, but the accessibility and selection is so much greater now, that they really count as new developments. How many of you were watching whole TV shows online or regularly listening to audiobooks in 2006?
- Digital cameras that replace camcorders - having just one photo- and video-taking device makes it much more likely that I'll take video at all, and it's so much simpler.
- Single-cup coffee brewers - Now affordable for home use. Need I say more?
Of course, there are many, many other incremental improvements. Our double-stroller is not a new concept, but it is much better than those sold in 2006. And our Honda Odyssey is just a new model, but it's the first minivan to allow three children to be seated in the middle row, all using the Latch system (the safest method of attaching the car seats). I don't think Zoe and Leo are receiving any vaccines that weren't available in 2006, but Rotateq was brand new when Sam was born, and the twins are getting Synagis (more important for preemies), which became available about a dozen years ago.
It doesn't seem possible that so much could change in so little time, but the wider context is even more staggering. Consider Dr. Harry Binswanger's brilliant exercise in perspective:
The actual living conditions for Americans of 1826 were essentially those that had obtained during most of human history. If you transported Shakespeare from 1600 London to 1826 London or New York City, he'd find little that was strange to him, only improvements on what he already knew. That would be mostly true even of bringing Aristotle to 1826. But if you took Jefferson from 1826 and transported him to contemporary America, he would think that we've become a race of gods. He couldn't even grasp radio, let alone DVDs, Mars rovers, Googling, gene therapy, and 3-D printing. Yet, it takes only two 93-year lifespans to stretch that 186 years.
In the history of mankind, an awful lot has happened in a very short time.
(Quoted, with permission, from Dr. Binswanger's e-mail list, HBL)
I imagine a not-too-distant future where mothers are making casts of their breasts so that they can manufacture customized nipples for their babies' bottles using their 3D printers, where there is a device that automatically removes the white part of a baby's fingernails, no clipping required, and where we finally have the "brain in the sky," as I like to call it - the computer from Star Trek that holds all the data you'll ever need, which you access with your voice and which talks back to you if you want it to. We're getting close to the last development already. We have Google, wireless access, and Siri. All we need now are the implants that allow us to get rid of those clunky input/output devices we call smart phones, and some refinement. That's when technology will have solved the new parent brain-power problem.
If you, too, look forward to such an amazing time, take note - you're living in it now. We are a race of gods.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
A Little Thing
Our regular babysitter is on vacation so I've hired a temp for this week. Zoe won't eat well with her. Which means that Zoe noticed the difference. Zoe knows and cares that there are different people in her world!
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