For Sarah

Better late than never.
See how much they love the t-shirts?










Kevin: Sure, blame it on the little guy

Jason: Photo with baby: 50cents

Let Them Eat Cake!

4 months old.

WOW

Keeping it simple....

Here's the delicious ice cream cake

that we ate to celebrate the big "4"

The upside of turning 4 months old:

Cake

Here is our dashing 4 month old

Jason:

("I don't feel a day over 3 months" says big guy Jason.)

Here is our handsome 4 month old Kevin:

("I can still pass for 2 months old, right?" asks cutie pie Kevin.)

Then there's the downside of turning 4 months old: shots

Kathy, out

The boyz are 4 months old and their dad is an idiot

On Sunday the boyz turned 4 months. Quite naturally, we filled their bottles with Haffenreffer and we celebrated in style. I cannot believe 4 months have passed...and sometimes I have a difficult time remembering life before my sons' arrival. Yes, that could be due to a backlog of sleep deprivation. But every day I come home from work to these two smiling little faces...damn, life is good. Even when:

Yesterday we brought them to the pediatrician for their four month checkup and inoculations. They are doing very well. The doctor was very pleased. Both boyz weigh in at 14.7lbs...yep, little Kevin caught up to Jason. Jason is still taller by 3/4 of an inch. He's 24.75 inches long and Kevin is exactly 2 feet. They did very well during their checkups until their shots. Then they were inconsolable for the rest of the day and into the night. If they weren't sleeping, they were screaming. The infant Tylenol helped out Jason during the evening, but still...nothing rends your heart like hearing an infant (or two) crying because they're in pain.

I was standing over Kevin when he got his shots and, of course, looked RIGHT at me when he was stuck three times. Naturally, I figured then he would associate seeing me with the pain. I'm sure it will happen when he's a teenager, after all. When I got home from work, I bent down to say hello and he looked up and smiled at me. Whew.

After that, I took Jason over to the changing table to change him (duh). He was just...screaming. I mean, he went ballistic. I did my best to calm him down but he just wasn't having any bit of it. Kay came upstairs to see what was the matter, and I totally snapped at her.

Here's the thing: as cucumber cool as I may seem on the exterior, I'm still very insecure with being a new parent. I want to prove to the world that I can do this. I can get very competitive with myself and I am not a happy camper if I cannot figure out a solution to a problem. "I don't need help."

I love my sons so very, very much and do not ever want to be the type of man that hands off a screaming baby to the nearest female in the room because I just can't deal. And I am willing to go WAY out of the course of reason and logic to prove that I can handle anything. I will physically stop people from offering or attempting to take my son away from me to belabor that point.

Back to snapping at Kay. I was frustrated above all of my son crying not because I couldn't seem to console him, but because someone would take him away and then be successful at consoling him. Kay reached out to console, and I think I did the human equivalent of growling. I then stopped, took a step back (mentally) and then began to try to explain everything I've just written above. My written word tends to be significantly more coherent than my spoken word.

She then said something to me that made all the sense in the world: sometimes, just because, a baby wants it's mother. Not it's grandmother, nanny or father. There's an ultra special bond between a mother and her baby. It was like someone had slapped me out of a stupor. Sure enough, I walked over to Kathy and gave her Jason. Kathy had also been offering to take him but I said it was ok, I got this. Jason cried for like 10 seconds and then calmed right down and snuggled in.

Damn, did I feel really, really stupid, arrogant and stubborn (I know, every one of you is saying: "uh, yeah...that's you normally, Joe"). What is wrong with me? That is like the most basic thing in human nature, and here I am letting my pride get in the way.

I suppose the best lessons are learned when you fail and then apply what you've learned from your experience to succeed the next time. School's in for me. Thank you, Kay.

More later,
Joe

Having been formally invited to muse...

Here is a small (and not very meaningful) list of how my life has changed since early Feb.


- No time to write lengthy epistles. Nouns, pronouns and verbs are now optional.
- Bathroomis interruptus - I sit, They sqawk, I'm done.
- Model employee. Punctual arrival means speedy departure.
- Used to be picky about the temp of food (hot, pls). Am now grateful to eat any food, any temp.
- New fav beverages: cold caffeinated ones (mostly 8 hour old tea)
- Before: Wii. Now: wee
- Can't recall the word for foot jacket but know daily oz. of formula consumed and # of poo/pee diapers.
- While holding 2 babies, I can use my feet to: scratch the dog's back, rub the cat's chin, pick up ____ from floor, turn pg of magazine (have not mastered this), click Tivo remote
(Not all of these at once but stay tuned...)
- Before: decadently slept in/lounged in bed. Now: jump out of bed to see adorable smiling faces (or not smiling but still adorable).
- Before: Couldn't hear spouse talking on couch next to me. Now: Can hear a baby blowing spit bubbles on 2nd floor while in basement hammering nails.
- Made that last one up....no time to hammer nails. Superglue is way faster, holds the nails better too.
- Used to read every word and type every letter.
Nw ra eey ohr wr ad tp eey ohrltr.

L t r,
K t y

Here I be

Greetings, all. Just wanted to take a quick moment to let you know I've changed the name of the blog to reflect Kathy's involvement. Her posts are truly excellent...waaaay surpassing my own "writing" and "observations". So anyway, I wanted to make it known that this bloggy is both of ours...no guest be Kathy.

:: waits for applause to die down ::

So...

:: still waiting ::

*Ahem*

Our nanny has begun work today. Her name's Amanda and has way more twin experience than either of us. So everyone send good karma her way. Kay has been looking after the boyz for the past two weeks and has done a terrific job. Thanks Kay! Now she can relax and be a grandma.

The kids are pretty much getting throught the night. Pretty much. Ok, not so much. But hey, they're babies. I do have to say that they're lucky we find them cute. The other day around 3:30 am I walk over to find out why Kevin's crying. As soon as he saw me, he let out a giggle and started waving his arms, kicking his feet and then began...well, talking to me. Various ga ga goos and laughs. But man, he had a LOT to say. Evidently, he had a great dream he needed to relate.

Suddenly, the fact that I was exhausted didn't matter to me at all. I'm just so damned happy these little buggers are in my life.

-Joe