sweeeeet.

tip of the day #2

If you meet a mother who is holding a baby, and the baby begins to squirm, squeal and cry, it is best to end the conversation and excuse the mother to comfort her child.

It is not a good idea to ignore the baby's cries and continue talking. Especially if you are talking about useless information that the baby's mother cares nothing about. And especially if you just KEEP TALKING while the baby cries louder and louder.

It is also NOT the best time to mention that you are a twin. Wait five minutes and someone may care. Maybe. If they aren't actively avoiding you for being so inconsiderate.

promoting responsible family planning, one couple at a time

We have recently been visited by my brother Michael and his girlfriend Danielle. Bless their little hearts, they drove about 30 hours round-trip, mostly in rain, to come see us and the kiddos. It was my first time meeting Danielle, and it was very much a pleasure. I kind of feel bad having anybody come visit these days, because it seems like they get volunteered to help out with babies. But Michael and Danielle rose to the challenge beautifully... mostly. I think Michael's pretty sure he doesn't want children anytime soon, unless they can change their own diapers. And entertain themselves longer than 5 minutes at a time. And not cry all day long.




And here we have a few photos I hadn't managed to post yet, mostly because I am lazy.


This may possibly be my favorite baby picture so far:

We FINALLY found the little "baby trooper" onesies that Scott's coworker (another Danielle) got for them. I have packed and re-packed various sizes, seasons, and genders of baby clothing so much that I was afraid I had organized them into oblivion. But here they are, and I even found them before they got outgrown!

what could be more fun than a laughing baby?

TWO laughing babies. Duh.

We can't quite match the level of the famous laughing quadruplets, but I think our version of multiple baby laughter is pretty cute.

In other areas of babydom, the kiddos have been cleared by the pediatrician to begin solid food. Mostly because they are four months old now, and not really for any other good reason. I had planned to wait until they were closer to six months old to start them on solids, but somehow having it mentioned by the doctor spurred some wave of food giddiness in me. I went from the doctor's office straight to Target, and came away with rice cereal, baby food of several different types, two dozen tiny spoons and a bunch of plastic bowls. (Our pediatrician may possibly receive kickbacks from Gerber for her crafty advertising.)

The resulting First Food experience started out sort of mediocre and disintegrated from there...

playing catch-up with pictures

Alright, it's finally picture time. The babies turn four months old in two days, so I went through and organized pictures tonight. And realized that, not only have I been much more delinquent in actually taking pictures, but I haven't posted nearly as many, either. This is the first month we've both been back to work, and Scott went back to work with a vengeance. Like yesterday, when he left for work at 4:30 a.m. and got home sometime after midnight. So lately I've been playing the single mom game quite a bit, and pictures fall a bit lower on the priority list than a lot of other things. BUT, now I am catching up. I have some videos to put up, too, but those take awhile to upload so I'll probably tackle them in the next couple of days.

Sorry about this one being sideways. I tried once to fix it and then didn't care enough to try again. Anyway, here the kiddos just pooped out while playing--an extremely rare occurrence.

My attempt at a self-portrait holding two babies. (Have I mentioned that Scott has been working a lot?) It also stands as proof that my reasoning skills ain't what they used to be. Otherwise, why would I think two babies would smile at a camera that can't smile back? And why would I memorialize myself with half my face showing and my hair in a towel?

And here is new baby hair, as well as I can photograph it, anyway. They both have blondish fuzz slowly taking over as their old hair falls out. For Noah, who never had much hair to begin with, this looks like three lonely longer hairs wisping softly over his new fuzz. Don't bother looking for those three hairs, though--they are apparently camera shy.

And here's Lily. I think she has enough fuzz to qualify as "fluff", but just barely. Just like when they were born, hers is longer, darker, and more dense than Noah's so far. I think they will both be some shade of blond though.

Daddy and bebes:

Will you SCRAM?! This is MY moment!

Okay, these next couple will require a little imagination on your part. I caught the babies smiling at each other for the first time that I had noticed. However, it is very difficult to hold and/or maneuver two babies so that they can see each other, and simultaneously take a picture of both of their faces at once. (Have I mentioned that Scott has been working a lot lately?) So here is Lily and a bit of Noah's head:

...and this is what he is doing:

Noah amazed me about a week ago by holding up his bottle by himself! He's only done it a couple of times and it only lasts for a few seconds, but it's a true testament to the fact that the kiddos are finally figuring out the use of their hands.

The nightly before-bed feeding... Also a rare daddy sighting. Usually these creatures are only out late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.

We've not quite figured out books yet, but we're trying...

Is he not just adorable?

Lily is trying to roll over in BOTH directions before Noah even masters one way--I caught her halfway onto her stomach, from her back! Poor Noah. At least he has his looks.

real babies!

It appears that our kiddos have finally gotten the memo on what babies are supposed to do, and they are complying accordingly. Cooing, laughing, reaching for things, and of course attempting to shove everything into their mouths. It's such an odd thing to never quite be sure what your children are capable of doing, because they're changing so fast. First I realized that, contrary to what I'd been telling EVERYONE, Lily's not that fussy after all. When did that change? We're still not sure. And as soon as I tell people they're not reaching for things yet.... they start. It's like trying to make friends with people as you stand in the middle of the street and they drive past you in cars. But not quite as frustrating. And the cars are really cute. :)

In other news, I am shedding. I debated on whether the whole postpartum hair loss thing was even worth mention on the world wide web, but mine has reached levels I never anticipated. I mean, seriously. I had read about losing hair after pregnancy, but I'm glad my doctor told me to expect to feel like a chemotherapy patient, because otherwise I'd be super worried at this point. The scariest amounts come out in the shower and directly afterward when I comb my hair. (I actually contemplated posting a picture of one shower's worth of hair, but decided that would definitely cross the "too much information" line I am so delicately treading.) So lately I've been going two or three days between hair-washings, to try and not go bald. The only problem is, it appears that without getting a bunch of hair out at once, I get to the point where I am just dripping hair. Literally. Like a leaky faucet (or possibly a waterfall), I can stand stock still and hairs just drift off of me.

And sadly, as much as I adore exaggerating for effect... I'm not. So if, in a few weeks, you see some squishy-bellied girl with large bald patches and think she looks familiar, just say hi.

And now for visual entertainment. It's Noah's turn this time. As he has not yet mastered the skill of rolling over, he had to find another venue to express himself. And as it turns out, he is a phenomenal laugher. He laughs at smiles, movement, tickles, funny noises--you name it. (See? Real babies!) There is one video on facebook--this one is different. Enjoy!

one year ago this week...

... I defended my dissertation. And I got pregnant with twins.

Kind of a big week.