Friday, March 28, 2008
Happy Feet!
Have you ever seen anything cuter?
The Morning Show
D: Each morning I find myself wishing for just 1 more hour of sleep. Whereas O does not rouse from his slumber until 7 or 7:30am, F is ready for his day to begin closer to 5:30 or 6. Some mornings one of us will join our early riser in the living room to take advantage of the rare one-on-one time with our son. But most mornings go something like this…
6ish~ We hear F awake with a demanding scream to rescue him from his crib-jail. One of us goes downstairs to retrieve him before he wakes O, the other tries to go back to sleep.
6:15~ F is now snuggled between W and I on our bed with a fresh new diaper and a giant bottle of warm milk.
W and I try to go back to sleep and pray that F will too.
6:25~ F climbs over our heads, clawing at our eyes and pulling our hair to reach the highest heights of the bed posts behind us. He then begins to jump up and down on our heads as he yells and shakes the bed posts.
W and I continue our persistent efforts to try to go back to sleep.
6:30~ F climbs off the bed with a lovely dismount and proceeds to tear everything off the desk and bookshelves as he babbles to himself in delight. Usually I would use my positive discipline techniques, and redirect this behavior. Instead, I watch his destruction with one eye slightly open and pretend to be asleep. (It’s not reinforcing the behavior if he doesn’t think I’m looking, right?)
6:40~ F heads over to our window and practices his new skill of opening and closing it… over and over again. He then begins to throw random items out of our first floor window and into the tomato garden below. Of course this is not behavior I can ignore, so I attempt to distract him with the ‘fun’ blankets on the bed… to no avail. There’s no way I can go back to sleep now.
6:45~ If our animals are in our bedroom, F proceeds to torment one or all of them…usually the cat. I am still snuggled under the covers, but on heightened alert, ready to fly out of bed at a moments notice to save my son from the wrath of our unpredictable cat.
7:00~ Usually by now we can no longer pretend to enjoy the comforts of our warm bed. I have probably gotten in and out of it at least 10 times in the last hour and ask myself why I even bother to pretend like I am getting any additional rest. It is around this time anyway that O is ready to join the party and we begin our day.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Camera Phone Tells Great Stories
D: Life goes by so fast these days, we hardly have time to commemorate each moment with pictures... at least good quality pictures.
Here I have posted some pics taken from my phone. They are not superior quality, but the stories they tell are too priceless not to share.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
pbfffbt!
W: The other night I came home from work, the Deuce was already sitting down for their dinners, and D told me that F had learned a new skill. Well, perhaps "learn" isn't the right word since he figured it out on his own.
And then little cha-cha showed me the goods.
He put his pudgy arm up to his mouth, wrapped his little lips around his wrist, and blew hard so that his ruddy, bedinnered cheeks puffed out.
And out it came, "pbfffbt!" F's first fart joke.
He giggled, and I guffawed. He laughed harder, and I almost fell out of my chair. Honestly, I've never been happier, prouder, or heard or seen better joke in all my life.
...and now, what the grandparents have been demanding: more pictures.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Sad News
D: During the last few weeks I’ve been haunted with some terrible news, given by my neighbor in passing, about a very distant mutual acquaintance. This acquaintance is someone whom I’ve only met twice, but I connected with her because she was pregnant with twins. At the time I was 6 months deep into diapers and thought I could offer some insight into what she had to look forward to. During our interactions we discussed double-pregnancy woes, the must-buy twin accessories and strollers, and coping with sleep deprivation. Since that time I have thought of her often, wondering how she has eased into life with her twins.
Unfortunately, the recent news revealed that one of her children did not make it past a few days of life on this earth. I was immediately struck with the memory of one of my first thoughts I had when I found out I was having twins… “the odds are against me”. It was sad, but true… at the time I needed to reconcile with the fact that, as with any high-risk pregnancy (as all multiple pregnancies are), I had to prepare myself for the worst.
I’ve also been thinking about how terrified I was when I was on bed rest in the hospital, fighting for my children’s lives. And of course I can’t stop thinking about how incredibly fortunate I am that my children are both born healthy. There is not a day that goes by, when I am not reminded of how blessed I am for my children. But it is the impact of such news that reminds me of how fortunate we are to have beaten the odds.
I know that I gave this mother a link to our blog, and there is a chance that she may be reading this. If you are, I just want to say how sorry I am for the loss of your child. I have heard that your new baby is wonderful and beautiful and doing really well, offering you immeasurable joy through your immense pain.
Please know you are still in my thoughts.
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Coffee Culture
D: As you know, we reside in the land coffee. For those of you who have never actually been to Seattle, I can assure you that the stereotype of Seattleites who always have a cardboard cup in their hand at all times is absolutely true. No matter where you are, you can easily spot at least 5 people around you clutching their cup…the bus stop, the office, the play ground, the dog park, even the ski resorts.
I myself was never really a coffee drinker until I came to Seattle 8 years ago. And I remember how, back then, it took me a while to get used to the ‘culture’. I certainly did not know the language of this culture; the size of the cup, the strength of the coffee, additional ingredients, even the color and consistency you request are all assigned stylish names to describe your beverage.
Of course, from an outside perspective, it can seem pretty silly and often overly indulgent. But I am not ashamed to admit that, through the years, I have found comfort and familiarity in its quirkiness and take pleasure in its indulgences. Of course, lately we’ve had to cut our costs, and make most of our espresso drinks at home (the machine was a treasured wedding gift 4 years ago).
So, as Seattleites we ask ourselves: how young is too young to indoctrinate our youth with the ways of this culture? Don’t worry; I don’t plan on allowing caffeine into their diet until they leave for college. But as new parents in Seattle, I am realizing that we are not the only ones who bring our coffee crazed ways into parenthood.
First, there are the kid-friendly coffee shops. These are AMAZING. Seriously, I am a huge fan. Except for the times that kids come home sick as a dog from sucking on the toys that haven’t been cleaned in months, I love kid-friendly coffee shops. Basically, the concept involves a closed off, kid proofed area with an assortment of toys and other play-mates for the Deuce to enjoy while I sit back with my Double Tall Non Fat Latte with a ½ shot of Vanilla on a comfy coffee-shop couch and gab with the other moms. (By the way, I’ve also heard there is a kid friendly bar, with the same concept in Seattle… Is that really a good idea? Of course, we are going to have to try it, and get back to you on that one.)
Recently, when the kids made the big switch from formula and breast milk to 100% whole milk, our preparation practices also had to change. We have found the best way to heat up their wholesome dairy beverage was with the steamer attachment on our home espresso machine. Just a quick froth to 110 degrees and presto: you’ve got a warm bottle in half the time a bottle warmer would take. If their lucky the Deuce will often get a nice layer of foam to top it off.
I then began to realize that I could order my children’s drink of choice while out and about at any given coffee shop (yes, there really is one nearly on every corner in Seattle).
They even have a fancy name for it:
“A Grande (16 oz between the two of them) Whole Milk Steamer at 110 degrees with Foam.”
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tax Time
W: D's been asking when I'm going to post again, so I better get on it. I have no good excuse for my dearth of posts other than that I'm exceptionally close to solving Super Mario Galaxy.
It is so much fun hanging with the Deuce these days, and they are fully walking just in time: the little buggers are getting h-e-a-v-y. Seriously, you should see D's arms, she's jacked from carrying them all the time. But now that they're both bipedding about, it's time to get out the tethers (which is a better word than leash, don't you think?).
Oh! And becoming an au pair family has been great. A is adjusting to Seattle weather and American culture swimmingly. And her schedule allows Dana and I to have a date night every weekend. We're slowly but surely letting all our friends know that we're back on the floor and our dance card is empty. I can't believe how many new restaurants opened up since last January - we certainly have some catching up to do.
The last two paragraphs are dedicated to the folks over at Turbo Tax. While this may come across as rantish, I'm genuinely amazed at how easy Turbo Tax is to use given the complexity of the U.S. Tax Code.
However, Turbo Tax is geared for people who have single babies (boring!), not twins. On the deceptively simple "Life Changes" page, I answered "yes" to the "Did you have a baby in 2007?" question. AND THEN IT TOOK ME 45 MINUTES TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO TELL TURBO TAX THAT WE, IN FACT, HAD 2 BABIES IN 2007. Not a super big deal, but just a note to let the folks at Intuit know that some couples have twins, you know, occasionally.