Sunday, December 25, 2011

It's been an amazing Christmas.

Some ups, some downs, but the best was definitely the end. Boys have had their "pre sleep" meal and weren't acting too sleepy, so we let them frolic on the Tummy Time mat.

This is amazing. I'm watching my sons interact for ...well, really the first time. Sure, they've been next to each other before, and touched, but ... there's something about this. They seem to be gaining an awareness of "this is me. This is something else." Their gestures, though still flail-y, are becoming more coordinated. They aren't just "hungry or tired or awake", they're actively starting to show an interest in their worlds.

They've both gained some new noises. Besides the various volumes of "cry", they now have a new noise. It's not a happy "coo", it's more like "Hey." It's a bit like what I say an owl "means" when it hoots. It could be "hey, I'm over here", or "HEY! I'm over here." or just "Hey." But it's not an unhappy noise.

I'm so in awe of them.


Sunday, December 18, 2011

Just try to breathe

Today's shaping up to be a "straining capacity" day. Boys are bringing back up almost as much formula as they're drinking. The term "burp cloth" is WAY too cutesy for its actual purpose, and a frilly little blue number is woefully inadequate for the puke-fountains that come out of my little guys.

Add to that a botched attempt at making coffee that ended in burnt thighs, an overturned French press, and a HUGE mess on the kitchen floor... plus the feeling that the to-do list is growing every time I try to tackle it ... and the prospect of returning to work in two and a half weeks.... yikes.

The pile, it is big. The shovel, it is small. Time to start digging....

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Oh my god, they're PEOPLE.

It's weird. I get so used to the tactical "stuff" of being a parent - the sleepwalking diaper changes, the millions of loads of laundry, case after case of formula - that sometimes it feels routine.

Then I feel my son's breath on my face and it hits me like nothing I can describe: We MADE THIS PERSON. It's amazing.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Update

It's been a while.

Occasionally, over the last week, I've thought to myself some profound thoughts about the boys' homecoming, about caring for children and the challenges therein, and other ramblings. I had some really good ideas for posts. But they usually came to me seconds before I passed out in bed, or in the middle of changing a poopy diaper.

So instead, I'll just post about what's been going on.

Sidebar: I don't know what it is about it, but the "DH/DW/DS/DD" abbreviations annoy the piss out of me. If you don't know, on a LOT of baby/parenting/etc blogs, "DH" is "dear husband", "DD" is "Dear Daughter", etc, as in "I went to the park today with DS and DD. DH stayed home and played Xbox, he missed all the fun!" Don't know what it is, but it just seems like such an affectation, like this would be the same sort of people who would say "widdle" for "little", totally unironically, about anything marginally cute and small. So all of this is a background bit to saying this: I haven't decided how personal I want to be in this blog, so I'll refer to my wife as S.

Now that that's out of the way, I have no idea what I had been thinking. Oh. Yeah, right.

S's mom & grandmother came to visit, coming in Friday & leaving Tuesday; my parents came Tuesday and left Thursday. It has been a hell of a busy week. TONS AND TONS of cleaning and organizing, plus the babies' first doctor's visit, a photography session, and lots and lots and lots of diapers.

The boys are getting hair. I mean, they were born with hair, but it was a very thin coating of wispy hair that mostly clung to their little heads. Now it's starting to fill in and get thickness. They're also starting to develop a third mood besides "sleep" and "Hungry!"; this new mood is "well. THIS is interesting". They're looking around and taking the world in. They're developing coordination between muscles and eyes - not quite to "grab the thing", but getting there. They've also rolled themselves over. This is WAY early for that, and we're really proud of the little guys.

OK, more soon. I've finished my glass of port and I have a dentist appointment in the morning...

Thursday, December 8, 2011

BOYS ARE HOME!!!/Time Management

First: The boys came home Monday!!! Such great news.

I've never been great at personal time management. Professionally, I'm pretty good -- I have X to do, and Y hours to do it, and I lay out a plan and we're off to the races. But personally.... Hmm, clean the house or write a witty response on Facebook...hmmmmm.

This has changed so much since the boys came home. I just made a cup of coffee (OMG delicious, btw) that I've been meaning to fix for around 30 hours. Free time comes in slivers and dabs, and can NOT be relied upon. I'm hoping to squeeze in a run tomorrow; we'll see how things go.

I thought I was "having a tough time" balancing triathlon training around the rest of my life. That was NOTHING compared to this. It's a whole new ball game.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Boys are home

It's 1245 am. I'm blogging quietly in the boys' room. There's a white noise generator making a heartbeat sound. Boys are making occasional squeaks & grunts. Exhausted. Sleep can't be postponed.