Waaaaay down in the hole

The post's title is a phrase from the theme song from "The Wire," which Lester and I watched faithfully when it was on. Especially since both of us at one point worked at The Sun, and live in Baltimore.

But the title is in reference to the way my two sweeties look now that Lester has lowered both their cribs to the lowest rungs!!

I don't like it!!

I know I sound like a whiny brat, but seriously. Could my babies be any farther away? They might as well be in a well or something. Ugh. And I had to take away all the bumpers, because they're pulling up now, and could potentially hang themselves on the decoration -- no matter how cute it is.

So they are now in naked, drab cribs, waaaaaay down in the hole. I have to literally stand on tippy toes, and strain to pick them up.

I really, really, really don't like this! Waaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

It was so much better when they slept like this (both fitting in the Pack 'n Play!):

Or even better (napping on the sofa next to Mommy):

Or EVEN BETTER (This always brings tears to my eyes! They're in preemie clothes for goodness sake!):

But now they're big 9 and-a-half-month-old babies, who are pulling to stand (Cary) or pulling to kneel (Dean) and safety has to come first, right?

Excuse me while I go crawl way down in my own hole ... and cry. Time is moving way too fast, and my babies are moving too far away. Already.

More from the annals of schedule-breaking

Because the boys have a firm bedtime (7 p.m.), Lester and I sometimes feel caught between a rock and a hard place. We love the bedtime, because it gives us guaranteed time to ourselves, both as individuals and as a couple, before we shut it down ourselves for the night. But we also feel like we have to boogie home from anywhere we happen to be not just before 7 p.m., but before 5.

If we get in the car after 5, the boys -- who have been up since their last nap ended around 3 -- inevitably conk out.

Which means we either have:

• cranky, sleepy babies who scream the entire ride home and, when we get to our house, are annoyed at having been awakened, or
• cat-napped, energetic babies who don't want to go to bed!

So, when we go to my mom and dad's for instance, we usually just stay overnight, because by the time we get out of our house at 12:30 or 1, drive an hour down there, and the boys finally get over being unfamiliar and shy, it's time to pack it all back up again and hustle on home.

But yesterday, we had an appointment in D.C. at 3, which then got pushed to 3:30. It was over around 4, and Lester still needed to run to Costco to buy our king's ransom's worth of formula. There's a Costco near my mom's house, which is about 20 minutes from D.C. So we decided to run to my mom's for a second just to say hi, while Lester went to Costco. Thus began the downfall of the schedule.

At 6:15 when Lester got back, we hurried to put their jackets on, strapped them in the car seats and began praying for a non-scream-filled ride.

I gave Cary and Dean their bottles in the car (so great that they can hold their bottles themselves now) and they fell asleep by 6:45 (OK, Cary screamed a little bit.)

At 7:30, when we got home, I wondered which scenario I'd have: cranky babies or energetic babies.

Being the mother of twins, of course I got both!

Dean was annoyed and whiny, as Lester changed his diaper and put on his jammies.
Cary, on the other hand, thought it was apparently 2 in the afternoon. He was wiggly and giggly and thought me trying to put his PJs on was the funniest thing, especially since he was turning over and twisting his body so as to make getting him dressed nearly impossible.

When we put Dean down in his crib, he fell right to sleep. He seemed almost grateful.
Cary, of course, stayed awake, complaining in his crib for about 45 minutes and then finally, finally crashed.

All in all, it wasn't so bad. Color me surprised.

This makes me feel a tad bit more at ease about occasionally breaking the schedule, now that I know that there won't be WWIII in my house when we do. Could that be a light I see at the end of that thar tunnel?! Perhaps. We shall see.

Dreams, teeth and other weirdness

Do babies have bad dreams?

Last night, Dean suddenly screeched in his sleep twice and then ....silence. Ten minutes later, he screeched again, just once this time, and then silence, again. I went in to check on him and he was asleep in his crib, like an angel, clutching Lovey the Puppy.

It was so weird.

Of course, a sudden screech from your babies' room in the middle of the night is startling, to say the least, so *I* had a hard time going back to sleep after that. I kept wondering, "What was that all about?" He must've been dreaming about something. What could it be??

Here are my ideas, based on what I know about Dean:

1) He found an awesome toy to gum, and Cary army-crawled over to him and snatched it away.
2) He fell over in his crib (or in the Pack 'n Play or on the floor) onto his back and tried, like a turtle, to sit up, but couldn't. (This actually happens at least twice daily).
3) He was forced to sleep without his blanket or Lovey the Puppy.
4) He was desperately trying to pick up Puffs off the floor, but his pincer grip just wouldn't quite work.
5) Cary took his toy, and in the process, pushed him over so that -- again -- he was unable to sit up AND he had no toy. (This might actually have been it, folks. This would have to be Dean's ultimate nightmare.)

Meanwhile, I finally snapped a photo of Cary standing in his crib! It's taken me days to catch him in the act and all I had handy was my stupid iPhone, which takes crappy pictures:

Check out how Dean is looking at him like, "Hey! How does he DO that?"

And also, I would like to point out that my babies -- who will be 10 months old in two weeks -- STILL have NO TEETH! How the heck are we supposed to start introducing meats and actual table food, if they have NO TEETH!! More weirdness for me to ponder!

We see the doctor on the 3rd -- I'll ask him about teeth and baby dreams while we're there.

Happy Friday!

Bathroom humor

Today, Lester was in the bathroom and Cary came and tried to pull up on the door, but pushed it open instead, exposing Lester in a compromised position.
Bwahahahaaaa!
Hilarious!

Well, to me it was.

Goodness. Tough crowd.

Victory for Home Alone Mommy!

Lester has a night meeting, so I had to handle the two babies by myself tonight. This used to scare me to no end.

When they were smaller, trying to hold and rock two babies, after having bathed and dressed them by myself, was an ordeal.

And when they got a little bit bigger, and not quite so fragile, they were mini-maniacs at night! Screaming, crying, writhing, unhappy little beings. They were hungry and sleepy and they wanted to sleep and eat and eat and sleep RIGHT. THIS. SECOND. I could not do anything fast enough.

For safety reasons, I had to bathe one, while one sat in a bouncy seat in the bathroom, then lotion and dress the bathed one quickly, and then 1, 2, 3 switch babies! Bathed baby goes in the bouncy seat; unwashed baby goes in the tub. Inevitably, one baby would be impatient and screaming. Many nights, it was both babies.

But now that we have them both in the tub at the same time, and they're big enough to sit up in the tub relatively safely (I say relatively because Dean still thinks he can crawl in the tub, and Cary likes to bend over and attempt to drink the water until he splutters and chokes. Crazy baby!), life is a little easier. I can plop them both in the tub and while one is getting washed, the other one is splashing away happily. When it's time to take them out of the bath, I just drain it first so that when I take one out, there's no water in the tub to potentially drown a crawling or a bathwater-drinking baby. Then I lotion (while wrangling) and dress them in their jammies quickly (quickness is still imperative when bathing two babies, no matter their newfound bathtub enjoyment) and get them their bottles.

(Bonus pic of them in their jammies from this weekend at Nana's:)



By 7:10 tonight, they were both down for the count. Victory for Home Alone Mommy!!

The only thing that gets left out of the Home Alone equation is the holding we usually do at night. Even though we put them down in their cribs still awake, we do still hold them until they're finished drinking their bottles. It's just a little bit of snuggling and cuddling at the end of the day that we don't want to give up just yet.

That's hard to do when there's only one of me, but I was determined to sneak in some individual love-time with each of them when I could. A hug while one was sleepily sucking away; a few kisses while the other was zoning out. I did the best I could.

And though they are little babies, I think they could feel my love.

"And I would hold you for a million years...to make you feel my love."

Family Fun Day photos!

The boys loved Port Discovery!!! See for yourself:

Show Me the Mommy Sunday and other random thoughts

It was really, really windy here yesterday. So windy in fact that there were unprecedented brush fires of such magnitude, parts of I-95 were shut down. This is unheard of here. We live in the Baltimore/Washington. D.C. area -- not California.

Of course, this was the day we decided to take a trip 40 minutes down the road to Buy Buy Baby to pick up some things we needed - namely, baby gates. Please, for a moment, picture us struggling to get two infants into their stroller with the wind whipping some 40-miles an hour. It was quite an adventure, I'll tell you that.

I was worried about the boys with all that wind, but they thought it was hysterical!
Here's a photo of them as the wind was really whipping and taking their collective breath away. Is this picture priceless or what?



We probably should have had hats on them, but oh well...

It was a really fun day. We even went to a (gasp!) restaurant for late lunch/early dinner. I had a crabcake. It was awesome. The boys had smushed hand-cut French fries for the first time -- and a little sorbet. They loved both.

Here I am with Cary at Matchbox. (This is the Show Me the Mommy portion of the post, before the French fries were ground into the table).

And not to leave Dean and Dad out, here's a picture of the two of them, across the booth. Hi boys!

To recap: We ate out as a family at a restaurant. We bought gates. We got new adorable pajamas for the boys. We didn't have any meltdowns. The boys now have the synapse for "sorbet." (I think.) All in all, a good time was had by all.

Sidebar: Can someone please explain to me baby math? My child went to bed Friday night at 6:45 and slept until 7 a.m. Yay! Then, on Saturday night, because of our long day, he went to bed at 8:30 and woke up this morning five minutes shy of 6. Huh? I don't get it. .... But never fear, I did not revert to my old ways. I got up, got him a bottle and he was back to sleep in 20 minutes. I had to actually wake him up at 7:45, when Dean woke up. The lesson: Cary got his needs met and Lester and I got to sleep for an extra hour! Whoo-hoo!!!

Extra sidebar: Today my sister is coming over and tomorrow is Family Fun Day! We're all going to Port Discovery, and Michelle is coming with us so she can see how to take them out of the house. I'm excited! Fun, fun, fun and more synapse-creation!! :-)

(Clearly, I'm obsessed. I need an intervention.)

Cary's off the market.

I have been shamed by my Mom.

Last night on the phone I complained to her about Cary's early wakings and pre-dawn whininess.

I don't understand, I (also) whined. It's not like he wants to play or be held. He just whines and whines for no reason.
She asked me if I fed him when he woke up at 5 or 5:30.
Well, no, I replied. He's on a schedule. He and Dean both eat at 7:30. It's been this way since they were half-past-newborns.
Ummm, hellllo! she said. Cary is moving around now. He's probably moving every waking minute, isn't he?
I had to admit that he was, in fact, moving every waking minute. And even some of his sleeping minutes. That kid is constantly on the go.
Well, since he's more active, he needs more to eat, Mom said, in a reprimanding tone that sent me back to my middle school days. He's burning more and more calories all day. Babies don't just whine at 5:30 a.m. for an hour for nothing.
Hmmph.
Picture me chagrined.
I couldn't even argue with her.
Well, I guess that could be it, I finally mumbled. I hadn't thought of that.

Then I felt immediately like the WWM (world's worst mother). I ignored my child's hunger whines in order to keep him on a schedule! Then, I tried to sell my child on the black market simply because the poor thing was hungry.

I'm pretty sure this gives me the International World Title of Absolute Positive Hands-Down WWM.

So today, when he woke up at 6 (not 5 or 5:30, yay!) he played for awhile with Lester and when he got really whiny at 7, we just fed him. No questions asked. I almost cried. Could it really have been that simple? My little baby was ...hungry. Ugh! I wish I had the last couple days to do over again.

So, no more worrying about the schedule. Cary eats when he's hungry. That's just it.
For the nanny's sake, I hope he's not too off schedule during the day now. It makes life easier for her (having to do it all on her own) when things are somewhat predictable and when both boys eat and nap at roughly the same times.

But other than for that reason, I'm not going to stress anymore about that darn schedule. I have learned two valuable lessons:

1) Babies' needs should always, always come first. Especially when we're talking about them being hungry! (Gracious, I can't even believe I had to be reminded of that! I really am ashamed.)

2) Even at 37 years old, I still need my Mommy. :-)

Baby for sale!

Baby for sale. 9-months-old. Incredibly cute.


Buyer must be willing to withstand frequent night wakings, insanely early mornings and incessant whining.

Buyer also will get to nuzzle the sweetest-smelling little neck and tickle the most adorable little curled-up-toes. Buyer will get to hear the most infectious giggle ever known to man. Buyer will laugh and laugh and laugh at baby's antics and impish grins. Buyer will swoon every time baby rubs his heavy eyelids, rests his head on your shoulder and falls fast asleep. Buyer will never know so much love.

Sigh.

Maybe baby isn't for sale after all.

(But if anyone wants to rent baby between the hours of 2 a.m. and 7 a.m., there may be room for negotiation.)

Must. Create. Synapses.

We've been cooped up in the house too long.

First of all, it's been a really, really cold winter, and we have had to deal with a lot of sickness, which kept us housebound even on rare days when the temperature wasn't on Arctic blast.

Secondly, it's really quite an ordeal to take two infants out of the house to do anything other than go visit family, and even that requires a lot of planning and packing.

So, while all my friends who just had babies have been running around at Mommy groups, taking their kids to parks and Zumba classes and restaurants (what are those again?) and storytime and all kinds of other fun places, honestly, we've really just been too exhausted and intimidated by the whole complicated process to go anywhere.

So, my boys stay here.

Which bums me out, because I really want them to get out and see things. I know from past journalism experience that a lot of what separates kids who do well in school from kids who don't is "exposure." From birth to age 3, the variety of things that kids are exposed to helps create little synapses in the brain that -- if they don't get those experiences -- will never, ever form.

Knowing this freaks. me. out. (This is why a little bit of knowledge is never a good thing).

So, being the anxiety-ridden first-time Mom that I am, I am overcompensating, now that I know the weather is about to start getting warm.

This Monday (President's Day), we're going to Port Discovery, a children's museum in Baltimore with a new exhibit for infants and toddlers. We purchased an annual zoo membership from Groupon or Living Social (can't remember which). I sent e-mail inquiries today to administrators at our local Y, to ask about swim classes for infants, and also to My Gym, to see about tumbling classes for them. (I thought hard about the aquarium membership, but I don't think we can afford that right now, especially since I think they'll appreciate it more when they're a tad older. Maybe 1 year old? 18months? I dunno. Do they need the "dolphin" synapse right now? Who's to say? This is way too stressful for me. Ugh!)

I realize they are only 9 months old. I realize they are perfectly happy right now to crawl around our playroom, chewing on toys, books, lint (a Cary favorite), stray thumb tacks (another Cary favorite), blankets and cable cords (Dean favorites). But I am worried about their synapses, people.

Must. Create. Synapses! Must. Create. Synapses!

I know this must sound crazy, and I will be the first to admit that I REALLY don't want to be one of those parents who over-schedules kids and makes them, her husband and herself stressed out. But, honestly, I don't know how to stop myself. Perhaps I never developed the "self-control" synapse as an infant.

I blame my parents for this. :-)

Happy Love Day!

Valentine's Day Things I Love List:

1. God
2. Lester
3. Dean and Cary
4. My Mom, Dad, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins
5. My friends, both old and new
6. Chocolate
7. Seafood
8. Naps
9. Traveling
10. Taking a nap in some fabulous hotel while traveling
11. Reading
12. Laughing
13. Old movies
14. Dessert
15. Giving gifts
16. Getting gifts
17. Pedicures
18. Great conversation
19. NPR
20. Pajama pants

I could probably think of a gang of more things I love, but I'll leave it at that. We'll be here all night.

So today, my thoughtful, romantic little boys gave Michelle and Kristie Valentine's gifts:

They gave Kristie a card and a Godiva chocolate bar. And for Michelle, they bought a red-and-white planter, filled it with Hershey's kisses and red-foil-covered chocolate hearts, and stuck two balloons on sticks in the planter. I thought it was totally cute, because the balloons said, "Kiss me," and the planter was full of kisses. Get it?! And...she can re-use the planter again, if she ever wanted to. Maybe she has a green thumb? I dunno.


I used a Sharpie to cross out "Mine" and write "Ours" on the planter. Isn't that cute? OK, well my sister Tahira, who is a teacher, and has far better handwriting than mine, did it. But it's still cute!


The boys also bought their Daddy two children's books with "Daddy" themes, because Lester is always lamenting how few children's books recognize fathers. (There are way more than there used to be, but still "Mommy" books outnumber "Daddy" books probably by 10 to 1.)

I have always been a sucker, sucker, sucker for Valentine's Day (I'm a big ole sap) so I love it that, now that I'm a Mom, I get to give even more people gifts on this day.

So I guess that's one more thing to love! Yay for love day!!

Oh! I also love, love, love how cute the boys are taking a bath in the big tub!
This is new, folks. They don't quite have the hang of it. Cary tried to drink the water and nearly killed himself, and Dean kept sliding around in the tub, splashing like a madman, getting water in his and Cary's eyes. He also mistakenly thought he could practice his newly-discovered crawling skills, in the tub. It was all hysterical! (Too bad I can only post a few seconds of it):

Show Me the Mommy Sunday!

Laura Case does a good job of taking a photo every now and then of herself with the babies. I don't have a lot of photos of myself with the boys, because I'm usually the one taking the pictures. But here's one I love because it shows me doing what I'm most often doing -- lying, sitting or kneeling on the floor, with the boys, stealing kisses!


This was taken in January at our friends Antwyne and Mari's son Antony's first birthday party. (Was that grammatically correct? Hmmm.)

Hi A, M and A!!

Dean is making progress!

Dean crawled a little more today. He's still not proficient, but for someone who really just started yesterday, I'd say he's pretty good!

Pretty soon, he'll be keeping up with Cary, whose army crawl is getting faster and faster by the day.

I went today, in fact, to look at safety gates for the doorways and stairs and decided that they're just too expensive. Not to mention the fact that I couldn't tell which one I really needed, and how much work it would take to assemble it and get it operational. I wonder if any parents have made do during the crawling/cruising stage without gates? Can I wait (and just use the laundry basket) until they're truly toddling? And which ones should I buy? Is it safe to get them from a Craig's List or some such?

Anyone have tips?

Tomorrow, my goal is to get video of Dean crawling. Wish me luck!

Edited 2/13/11 to include VIDEO of Dean crawling! :-)

Nine is fine!

So far, nine months is pretty darn good.

Cary stood up in his crib for the first time this morning, and tonight, Dean took two little crawling "steps!" (I'm not sure what else to call it...) Two different milestones on the same day!!!

In between these two exciting moments, Dean gave me a zillion hugs, Cary pulled up on me and kneeled into my torso, so he could chew on the buttons on my shirt. Dean and I made a game out of stacking blocks for him to knock down, which he found hilarious; we read two stories and sang a bunch of songs, including "Kookaburra" (one of their favorites). Dean turned his head toward where the telephone usually is every time it rang, showing just how smart he is and Cary splashed in the bathtub with such vigor, I got all wet and didn't care one bit. Lester made Dean laugh and laugh during the boys' bedtime bottle, just by touching his nose, and Deanie even leaned in to give Lester four kisses in a row! Cary snuggled in to me and looked like an angel drinking his little bottle and both boys fell right to sleep without fuss or struggle, leaving Lester and me a Friday night to eat Chinese food, watch TV and just spend time together.

If this is what 9 months is going to be like, I say bring. it. on!

The boys were so awesome today, Lester and I are planning to try to go out for family breakfast tomorrow morning. Let's hope we're not pushing our luck. I'll keep you posted.

Standing on his own two feet

Guess who was standing up -- on his two little PJ-padded feet -- leaning on the crib bar, hollering loudly for Mommy and Daddy this morning?

Cary Davis.

We've found him kneeling before, but never standing. Yikes. This is all happening fast!

Guess it's a good thing we lowered the crib mattress last night. (Thanks, God, for the nudge! You're always right on time.)


(Photo of him in the playroom, standing.)



(He's so pleased with himself!)


P.S. Happy 9-month-birthday Dean and Cary!!! The boys have now been outside in the world longer than they were inside of me. Sigh. Excuse me while I go cry my eyes out. Thanks.

A milestone reached, too soon

Today we had to lower Cary's crib mattress one rung, because he's getting so good at pulling up and hanging over the bar! It was just one rung, but he seems so far away now.

Dean's crib is still on the highest rung, and I like it that way. I can reach in with minimal effort and get to my boy!

(Did I mention I'm short?)

Also, tomorrow is the babies' 9-month birthday. I seriously can't believe they're 9 months!

When I was pregnant, a co-worker who also has twin boys gave me a bunch of their old clothes -- and I remember going through them, peering dubiously at the 9-month-sized footie pajamas, thinking, "What 3-year-old is going to fit into these??"
I could not have conceived of the day my two little babies would grow to fit -- and actually outgrow! -- those PJs.

And yet, here it is.

And even though they're still in their cribs, thank the Lord, I'm already having to move my babies farther and farther away from me.

Physical therapy times two, part 2

So the team came out today and played with Dean on the mats on the floor, checking out his little legs and posture and ability to (sorta) get around, and the result is: Dean has a little bit of high-muscle tone, and has some slight alignment issues around the hip area, and can, in fact, benefit from physical therapy. So now he'll join Cary and Kristie in their weekly sessions!

I'm not upset by the news, although I was secretly hoping that they would say otherwise. But now that we know, I'm happy we've found out early and will be getting him the tiny little push that he needs to get over this hump. I've seen how well PT has worked for Cary in a very short time. So I'm thankful my Deanie will be joining in the fun. Plus, Kristie's so great, I was often a little sad for Dean that he didn't get to play with her as much as Cary did.

Also, we have to retire the Jumperoo. Which does kinda stink, because Dean SO loves that thing. He'd marry it if he could. Oh well. I guess it's a good thing, then, that he's been falling in love with the phone lately. That should help him get over Ms. Jumperoo.





The good news from the assessment: Dean is age-appropriate for all things cognitive, social and emotional. And in fact, the teacher (one-third of the team) said that the rapt and enthusiastic way Dean responded to the book, "Opposites" by Sandra Boynton, could be a PSA for why it's never too early to read to kids. 'Cause gracious he loves that book. Almost as much as theJumperoo. But not nearly as much as the phone.

Physical therapy times two

Cary has been in physical therapy since October 1. A team of assessors called him "low-muscle-tone," and signed him up. Kristie, the physical therapist, worked with him once a week in our playroom, helping him learn to roll and sit upright and tolerate Tummy Time with minimal tears.

I watched Cary get gradually better and better, thanks to Kristie's help and guidance (we worked with him, using her advice, in evenings and on weekends). And I nearly cried when on January 10, she left me a note saying, "Cary is age appropriate now. Yay!"

He was doing so well, we arranged to have the team of assessors come out to review Cary's case, and take another quick look at Dean, just to make sure he was still doing well.

With the good news about Cary, however, came some not-so-good: Although she was not technically supposed to work with Dean, Kristie did keep one eye cocked his way during her sessions with Cary. For months, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, except perhaps that Dean was about a month behind in hitting some, but not all, milestones. This was not too surprising, since the babies were born 5-weeks early.

But this week, she left me a note saying, "Dean -- noticed in standing left leg turned out and right held in flexim (bent). No bouncer until team comes out..."

Apparently, while Dean was bouncing happily in the Jumperoo (one of his absolute favorite things to do), Kristie noticed something weird about my Deanie's legs. Awww, poor, sweet little Deanie. :-( And apparently, the Jumperoo is not good for babies with weirdness in the legs!

I won't find out until the team comes tomorrow just what it all means. I'm a little worried, but not too much. After all, Cary may be the first to move around, but Dean can go from tummy to sitting and Cary can't, which just goes to show that babies develop different skills at different times, depending on the individual baby. And Dean is rocking on all fours and scooting backwards on both his tummy and his bottom. In other words, he's starting to become more mobile. So I don't think he's really all that delayed, and I doubt the weirdness that Kristie saw will be anything serious.

Still, I'll sleep lightly tonight, I'm sure, waiting for his assessment. And I'll pray, as I always do, for both my babies' health, happiness and well-being.

Nana, Granddad, Aunt Tootie and Pop-Pop

We live about an hour away from Lester's family and mine. So whenever we decide that too much time has passed between seeing family, we pick a weekend and do a world-tour. This was such a weekend.

Saturday, we drove to Lester's Aunt Tootie's house, picked her up and took her with us to my grandfather's house. This way, we hit two birds with one stone. Pop-pop got to see us and his great-great-grandsons, and Aunt Tootie got to play with the boys, who were not sitting up yet by themselves the last time we saw her.

Then we went to my Mom and Dad's and stayed overnight, so that the boys got to spend time with their Nana and Granddad. Dean was in total love with Nana, and Cary thought his cousin Russy (who's 3) was the coolest thing ever. He followed him around as fast as his army crawl could take him and laughed at everything Russy did.

We drove home just in time for us to put the boys down for bed, for Lester to see the Super Bowl, and for me to go to the grocery store and make breakfast for us for the week (spinach and cheese quiche -- quick and easy, and you just slice it and go in the morning.)

The world tour makes for a very busy weekend and is tiring for all of us (Cary was not a happy camper on the ride home) but it's always great to see everyone, and we're blessed to have family semi-close by. So about this, I won't complain. I'll just be thankful.

Here's a pic of Pop-Pop and the boys when they were little, little babies -- about 3 and a half months. Cary has on blue socks; Dean has on white. I love the look of love and pride on my Granddad's face here. I'm sad my dear, dear Grandmother never got to meet Cary and Dean, but I'm so happy Granddad did:

LOVE the Super Bowl!

Happy Friday, all!

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend, because I get to spend real time with my boys.

Saturday, we'll be running around, visiting various relatives who haven't seen the babies in a while, which means we'll be in the car a lot (not great), but even that is better than me being at work and them being at home with the (wonderful-but-still-not-me) nanny.

Sunday is the Super Bowl, so since Lester will be sequestered a lot of the day, in a steamy love affair with the TV set, I'll really get to spend time with my babies. I'll get to soak up all of Dean's hugs and wet kisses, and crack up at Cary as he gets himself into all kinds of predicaments.
So hooooooray for the Super Bowl. I don't even know who's playing, but I'm very happy it's on.

Goooo Babies!!

We are unsuccessful when it comes to catching mice...

...But one of our extra-large glue traps, hidden away under the dining room armoire, was successful in catching one Cary Davis this morning.

ACK!

We had to pull his little body off -- with force (that glue is serious!) -- and he cried and seemed afraid, poor little not-a-mouse! :-(

We washed him good, but I won't have peace today until I know he's toxic-glue free.

Here's what we have to do to keep Cary contained. Wonder how long this will last!


Note to Davis parents: BABYPROOF the house, pronto!!

The Japanese are on to something!

This morning, Cary was doing his army crawl around the house, stopping every now and then to squeal with delight at his newfound freedom.
Poor Dean was scooting backwards and turning in circles, so I stopped reading "Bunny My Honey" and began working with him to help him get on his knees.
(This takes considerable effort as Dean resists manipulation of any kind. Little stubborn sweetie!) Eventually, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Cary had been still for quite a while.
Wanna know why? He was playing happily in a puddle of puke! Lovely.
When I went to clean him up, I found the source of his tummy-troubles: He had eaten leaves that were tracked in the house from outside. I guess leaves don't mix well with Enfamil Premium. :-)

Lester is always saying that we should take our shoes off in the foyer, and not walk through the house after coming in from outside -- for this very reason. But we live in a tiny Baltimore rowhouse; our foyer is the size of a postage stamp! You have to do Cirque du Soleil-like yoga poses to get your shoes off in there!

But I guess we'll have to start doing that, so as not to track leaves and other gross things into the house for Cary to nibble. Either that, or step up the housekeeping. I don't see that happening anytime soon, so yoga-poses in the foyer it will have to be.

Namaste.


BONUS: Cute picture of babies in hats made for us by Lester's good friend Stan's mother. Thanks, Mrs. Donaldson!

Start the day shocked, end the day sad

Shocked: This morning, Cary was up on his knees, leaning over the edge of the crib, reaching for a bottle on the dresser. I had never seen him do that -- nor did I know he was even capable of it! I guess it must be time to lower the mattress in the babies' cribs.

Sad: Tonight when I came home from work around 5:45, both babies were extremely sleepy, and Cary was exceptionally so. Dean was hungry and cranky, so between the two of them, the fuss-factor was ratcheted up a notch. The boys get a bath around 6:15 and a final bottle right after. On this night, Cary was asleep by 6:45, and Dean by 7. So I got to see my boys for an hour, and an hour and 15 minutes respectively. That's it!! And they were crankypots a majority of the night.

Sometimes it really stinks being a working Mom.