Wednesday, July 25, 2007
oh, Hi there High Chair
Here are a couple of shots of F-Gubba in his fancy new high chair (thanks Nana!). We would have some pics of O-Gubba, but he eats waaaaaay faster than F-Gubba.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Horizontal Glacier Climbing
W: Here it is, the beginning of the end of our peaceful lives with a stationary and sedentary Deuce. The writing is on the wall, or rather the floor, and pretty soon the (baby) gates are going up. Kid proofing. Hide the trinkets. Practice impermanence: all material objects have the property of not existing for indefinitely long durations.
In the video, shot by our wonderful neighbors who adore all things Deuce, F is making his way along towards the object of his desire in a fashion that I call "Horizontal Glacier Climbing" (minus the ropes, the ice axes and crampons of course). Check him out!
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Now that's Homecookin!
D: While we are well on our way to solid foods, we still have a ways to go until we have folded it into our daily schedule. The boys have both finished 4 days of avocado, and loved every last morsel. F likes to eat off his plastic bib, more than the spoon, but eventually it all gets eaten.
Last night I was preparing a batch of steamed yams and sweet potatoes. I was getting the yams ready to feed it to them, but unfortunately didn't have any left over breast milk to mix in with it.
No problem...I'm a resourceful mommy...
Before I knew it, I found myself leaning over the kitchen counter, shirt hiked up, milking my udder into the Deuce's bowl of yams.
Was I glad there was not a camera around to commemorate the moment? Yes.
Did I think it was just hilarious enough, yet embarrassing enough to share it with everyone on the World Wide Web? Absolutely.
Welcome Brinnon!
W&D: The Deuce have a new heartbreaker in town...lovely Brinnon Bartz! She was born into the arms of our dear friends and proud parents just two days ago. We cannot be happier for them and can't wait to share in the joys of parenting with them. Congratulations, Bartz family!!
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Time out for photos
O eating F's head
F hamming it up for the camera
I wish this one wasn't blurry!
Friday, July 13, 2007
summer swimmin'
Monday, July 09, 2007
Good eats
D: The last few weeks, we’ve attempted to tantalize the Deuce into the world of solid foods a few times here and there, but have been met with the universal sign for "yuck" each time, telling us that they just aren't ready. I haven't pushed it, since I'm not entirely sure it's necessary for them to eat anything else but milk and formula for quite some time.
Some people (my pediatrician included) told me to start them on rice or oat cereal, in a bottle, around 4 months. Others tell me that rice cereal holds no nutritional value what so ever and could actually lead to diabetes. I've heard that it's OK to give them juice and mashed up bananas, yet others say no-way-José on the sugary sweet stuff. I know tons of people that have been experimenting with their children's pallets since they were around 4 months old, yet I keep reading that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that you wait until they are 6 months. I haven't even begun to try to figure out all the different foods that can cause allergic reactions.
It is crazy how confusing it can be, when really it's just the most basic human instinct there is.
To be honest, there are other reasons why I've put it off that have to do less with pediatrician recommendations and more to do with convenience. I can imagine once the Deuce get a taste for something they like, and start to have fun mashing food all over themselves and their clothes, there's no turning back. Then it's time to buy the high chairs, the bibs, the food grinder, those cute little rubber spoons, etc.
Don’t get me wrong; I am really looking forward to it. There's nothing more that W and I enjoy than to prepare good food for us, which of course will translate to yummy goodness for our kids. It just seems like an adventure I am not entirely sure that we are ready to take yet. Breast-feeding is still going really well, and I suppose there is part of me that is afraid that solid foods will interrupt their satisfaction with the boob.
Never the less, yesterday I concocted a delicious mixture of baby oats, breast milk, and an apple that I threw in the blender. I heated it up slightly and spooned it first to F. He promptly gave me the Yuck Face and followed with some over dramatic gagging sounds. OK, I get the picture.
Next, was O. His reaction was quite difference this time. He immediately seemed surprised that he had never experienced such sweet morsels and became quite passionate about each bite. Of course, most of it ended up all over his clothes, his hair, his neck, and his mom; but he was having a blast trying to get it to stay in his mouth.
I tried again today, with leftovers from yesterdays batch. O amazed me with very quick recall of what to do with the spoon and the food. We actually got quite a bit more into his mouth today, simply because it seemed like he knew what to do. I tried with F again, and sure enough, he was still not having any of it. Tomorrow, I'm going to try another food...maybe apples are just not his thing yet.
With all the confusion and rules surrounding first baby foods, I'm still wading in very slowly, even though we've completely skipped over the rice cereal in a bottle stage. The boys will be 6 months old in 2 weeks, and I'm sure by then they (and I) will be much more adventurous with their culinary gastronomy.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Learned, Not Instinct
W: I admit it - in the months before the Deuce arrived, I worried as D and I barreled inevitably towards parenthood. Completely natural, I know. After all, you can't practice actual parenting until you are an actual parent, and parenting classes only teach you so much. In essence, I worried about my skills.
But now, looking back to those months through the crystal clear prism of time and experience, I realize that I also believed that some parenting skills would come instinctually. I honestly believed that a switch would flip in my brain that would turn on some unknown dormant parenting powers.
One fatherhood skill that I thought would be instinctual is the fine art of transferring a sleeping child from point A to point B without waking the the child. The pre-parenthood me thought that instantly upon fatherhood that I would somehow be able to magically just do it.
My belief was based on the countless fathers I've watched, my own included, accomplish this maneuver with all the grace of a ballet dancer, deftly negotiating corners, doorways, and car seats all while keeping the babe-in-arms fast asleep. I'd noted fathers' perfect balance, children's arms draped akimbo just so, and the perfect harmony of the way that fathers seemed to just know - instinctually know - how to move their bodies without waking the child.
Well, I was wrong about the instinctual part. Some fathers may be able to instinctually transport children in their arms without waking them, but like most things in my life, I had to work hard at it.
At first, I kept waking them up as I scooped them out of the crib. Then, after mastering that puzzle, they would wake in my arms as I carried them. After being able to cary them came putting them back down again. And the most difficult task of all was keeping them asleep while transferring them in and out of their car seats. Ever time I work them up I thought to myself, "I'm a complete idiot - why can't I get this right?!" The same thing kept happening over and over again.
So it is with a great deal of pride and hard work that write to report that last night I was able to keep not one, but both twins fast asleep from our friends' guest bed to car seat to car to drive home to nursery to being removed from the car seat to crib without waking them up.
Now, hopefully I'll be able to repeat it next time...