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.
Thank you everyone for your generosity! With your donations, we were able to raise $1,100 to support research for premature babies and babies with birth defects. We marched with other twin and triplet moms as part of the El Dorado Hills Mothers of Multiples group that raised $2,340 for the cause.
Gabe and Elias are living proof that modern medicine and research can help premature babies live a happy and healthy life. Without recent developments in medicine, our babies would not be here with us today. So the boys would like to send everyone a bug hug and thank you for your support!!!!
Okay, Gabriel typing now. Let's get down to business!
See -- we used to be TINY! Thanks to interventions funded by the March of Dimes, we survived being born 2 months early and went from these little guys to this:
Gabe shows off for the camera -- Look ma, two hands!
Babies aren't the only ones with gear. Mom shows off her babywearing skills!
