Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Gear

The babies are at an age where they can try out lots of fun gear. Mostly, they aren't ready for it yet, but they are at least interested and eager to try things out. For the past few weeks we have been experimenting...and of course, diligently documenting those experiments on film. Here is a little of what we have learned:


Elias likes food he can gnaw on in the fresh food feeder

...while Gabe could care less about this silly ring thing.

On the other hand, Gabe handles a mean sippy-cup.


Gabe shows off for the camera -- Look ma, two hands!
Elias can manage a Podee bottle though

Everyone likes avacado! Especially Gabe!

& Everyone likes bathing in their Bumbo Chairs!


Babies aren't the only ones with gear. Mom shows off her babywearing skills!

(Guess what the hardest part of this photo was? That's right -- finding a semi-clean place in the house to take the picture! Ha!)

Sunday, February 3, 2008

"Oh! Are they twins?"

Taking the boys out in public is really fun but we often get a lot of attention from strangers. Everybody at the grocery store/restaurant/surf contest/book store/etc. feel the need to come up to us and give us the third degree about the boys. We usually don't mind this but after a while, it can become a little annoying. These conversations typically goes like this:

"Oh! Are they twins?"

Of course they're twins but I really want to say with a straight face: "No they're actually half-brothers." [pause] and wait for that to sink in. As a confused look crosses their face, I follow up with :"They have two different fathers." I haven't gotten the nerve to say this yet so we get berated with the following barage of questions:

"Are the boys or girls?", "How old are they?", "How much do they weigh?", "Were they early?", "Did you have a c-section?", "How much did they weigh when the were born?", "What are their names?", "Can I touch them?", etc.

And we usually get the:
"Are they indentical or fraternal?" question which we answer with:
"We don't know."
This is immediately followed up with a dumbfounded reaction of:
"What do you mean you don't know?"
Now I've been asked this question many times in the past or something like "What do you mean [insert exactly what I just said]?" I think the only way to answer this question is to repeat what you just said:
"I mean we don't know, stupid!"
"Well is isn't there some test you can take to tell?"
"There's an expensive DNA test we could take if we really cared."
"Oh...."

There's always the comments of: "Oh they're twins, well my niece/nieghbor/mailman/co-worker has twins." Or the comment after people hear that they were premature: "My son was premature. But don't worry, he's 18 years old and he's 8 feet tall and wights 600 pounds now." Apparently, premature babies turn into ogres. This makes us feel very comforted.

People also try to work in the phrases: "Double the trouble." "Double the fun." "You must have your hands full." People think they're really clever when the work in the "double" to the conversation.

The conversation usually ends with the complete stranger give some parting words like: "You should really treasure these times while they're young because they grow up so darn fast."

Thank you comptlete stranger for that sage advice, I will take that to heart. I really will.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Surf's Up!

Call us crazy, but this weekend we took a spontaneous vacation (horray!). We attended the Mavericks Big Wave Surf Contest in Half Moon Bay outside San Francisco. We have always wanted to go to Mavericks, but were never able to swing it. (The date is based on surf conditions, so they only give you 24 hour notice that the competition will take place.) In previous years, work commitments and pregnancy kept us from attending. But this year, our only impediments to hitting the beach were too small to tell us it was a crazy idea, so off we went!

Chris got the last hotel room in Half Moon Bay and we left Friday night after putting the boys to bed in their carseats. We got up really early the next morning and headed to the beach for the first three heats of the contest. It was terrific -- a cool day on the beach with 40,000 of our closest friends. Just to show you how cool this contest really is, while the final 6 surfers were paddling out for their final heat, they agreed that they would all split the winnings evenly no matter who was #1. And they did it! What a terrific message about sharing a passion for surfing, rather than just for $$! The surfing itself was FAR away from the beach, but Chris still got some cool shots of it.
That's a 35+ foot wave!
We really had fun walking the beach, eating good food (even if it didn't contain dairy, soy, eggs, nuts, citrus, or wheat), visiting friends, watching the Patriots kick butt, and just enjoying getting away from the daily grind. Half Moon Bay is gorgeous and VERY relaxing to visit. We even look relaxed!

Chris & Gabe on the beach outside our hotel room

Kathy and Elias walking back from Mavericks

(See the radar post in the background? The contest is on the other side)

For the boys, nothing is better than being worn and/or held 12 hours a day while flirting with pretty strangers. They made hundreds of new fans -- Chris and I felt like rockstars; everywhere we went, people whispered "look! twins!" and pointed at us! :-) The boys were also REALLY tired by the end of each day. Don't believe us? Check these little monkeys out!

Elias can't wake up to watch the game!



Gabriel konked out after a day of sun and surf



We figure it should be about 17 years before we are watching the boys out in the waves! :-) And then they can say they've been following surfing since they were infants!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Puppy Love

People who know us BC (before children) know that we had a real affinity for our bassets Ruby and Sassy. Okay -- it was more like an obsession than an affinity, but whatever... :-) Thus people often ask us how the doggies are doing with the babies. The boys LOVE the dogs -- they are more obsessed than we ever were! If we can't get them to stop crying, we call a dog for them to look at or touch -- this ALWAYS calms them down and distracts them. Sassy could give or take the babies and most often just ignores them. Ruby, on the other hand, really seems to like the babies and goes out of her way to interact with them. Below is a little photo-montage demonstrating her puppy love:

Look! I found two babies on the bed!


Ooops -- this baby is a little dirty -- I'd better clean up that face!


Sure -- I'll give you a hug to go with that kiss!


The babies left with my mommy --

I guess I'll just keep the nursing pillow warm until they return!

Monday, January 7, 2008

Nevermind...

7:30-11pm -- Elias inconsolably screaming in pain

11pm -- E finally calms down nursing in bed

1:30am -- Gabe wakes up and wakes E up (E is still latched onto the breast, but can cry with it in his mouth) Full feed & diaper change

3am -- E wakes up screaming -- full feed

It was nice while it lasted...

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Our Night

After weeks of no sleep at all and seeing no difference on the zero allergen diet, we started the boys on a MUCH larger dose their medicine at the advice of the pediatric GI.

Last night the boys got up at:

8:30pm -- quick cry while asleep, Chris was able to 'pat back down'

11:30pm -- full feeding with diaper change

3:00 am -- full feeding

6:30 am -- one baby in bed to feed

7:00 am -- 2nd baby in bed to feed

We didn't get up until after 7:30am!!!!! This is the most sleep we have had in MONTHS. Kathy is still on the no-allergen diet, so we don't really know what is responsible -- but either way we are sooo ssooo grateful!

I hope I am not jinxing it by sharing with others! Send us good vibes for some repeat performances!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Family Fun

The boys had their first Uncle/Aunt visit after Christmas. Uncle Justin and Aunt Rachel Jones came up from Texas for three days for some baby-time. The boys definitely enjoyed their time with the extended family. They seemed to especially take a shine to Uncle Justin. The even followed his strict "No Crying For Uncle Justin" rule and shared nothing but giggles and smiles!
Justin & Elias as twinsies -- both in jeans & white shirts




Rachel, Elias & Gabe being silly


The entire Melton-Jones-Goddard clan together!


Uncle Justin with giggly Gabe.

Who would believe that Uncle J had never held little babies before??? He is a pro!