Heaven, thy name is bubble bath

Yes, dear readers, tonight was a banner night for Monkey and the Bear - their first bubble bath. Needless to say, they ADORED it. See for yourself.

"Ah yes...now THIS rocks!"
Eleanor
"And why exactly have we not done this before?"
Abigail
"It's just so awesome!!!"
Eleanor
"But I don't wanna get out!!!!!"
Abigail

So as you can see, the first bubble bath will probably lead to many more. What can I say, these girls are definitely ours!
Until next time dear readers, bubbles.

A Most Humbling Target Experience

**Author's warning: this entry contains a graphic description last night's Target run...reader discretion advised. In other words, don't read this on your lunch break**

So here's a shocker: the girls had the stomach flu. I swear they NEVER get colds. I could put them naked in the snow for 40 minutes and they wouldn't get so much as a sniffle (Please note this is theoretical-I would never put them naked into the snow, so don't call Child Protection!).

Abigail started dry heaving at 2 in the morning Tuesday - I DID warn you - and was full-on sick by 6. But then after a few quick purges and a long morning nap, it seemed she had kicked the bug and was ready to run in circles and shove Sister with all her might. They both ate dinner like troopers, although understandably so, Abigail picked at her food a little more than normal.

We thought we were all good to take the weekly trek to Target for supplies. So we headed the roughly 5 blocks down and 9 blocks over to the local Super-store where we each grabbed our respective girl (I took Abbie, Chris took Ellie-this is a pattern that is almost a constant in every aspect of our lives) and a cart and negotiated through the aisles with our list.

Back at Casa de Gato y Ninas, we had promised the girls that we would look through the toy section if they were good. I wanted to hit the clearance aisles in clothing, as I had heard good things. We also wanted to take an inventory of toys as the girls' birthday is fast approaching and we wanted to sound intelligent, hip, and generally with it when people asked us what they could use in the entertainment area of their lives. Both girls did really well letting go of the Yo Gabba toys and the dolls and bike helmets that accumulated as we traversed the section.

Our main goals accomplished, we decided it was time to hit the checkouts and get home. So, Eleanor and Chris headed off down the main aisle with Abigail and I. We got about one aisle away from toys when I heard 3 things: SPLAT, expletive from Chris, and then Eleanor crying hysterically. I started to say, "What happened?" Chris loudly said, "STOP!" As I tried to stop, I started to slip and then finally looked down to notice that I was standing in a pile of puke. Abbie deftly said, "Uh-oh. Sister's crying. What's wrong Sistah? Oh. OOPS!"

The next few minutes were a blur, but I know I did call the operator. She didn't seem to be getting that "sick" equals ralphed all over your floor and snappy red cart, just in a gentler way. Finally, light dawned on darkened skies as she said, "OH! You mean she...vomited?" Apparently vomited is one of those words that like cancer and polyps, must be whispered so it doesn't affect you. Anyway, a red-shirted girl appeared almost instantly with a huge walkie talkie. We were, of course very apologetic to her, because every parent plans and hopes for A) their child to blow chunks in public and B) to have apologize profusely to the 16 year old kid who has to clean it up.

At this point, we switched babies and the still crying E and I headed for the bathroom and Abbie and Chris went to pay for our stuff. Well, after a difficult 3 minutes of gagging and wretching, I gave up trying to clean the poor girl up. As we exited the family restroom, I ran into the sullen kid who was sent to mop the floor in aisle 68, gave him our nasty cart and pretty much booked out of the store.

So there you have it Dear Readers, every parent's worst nightmare. Well, at least it's right up there with your dear child either swearing loudly or uttering family secrets in public. To be honest, I think I'd gladly take the F-bomb in church over public vomiting. Hopefully we never have to do that experience again, but knowing our luck, we probably will. Let's just hope that Tyler the cart attendant is off that night.

New Heads

Let's play a game.
Can you guess which baby this is?? No cheating!
If you guess Eleanor, you are just plain wrong! It's Abo! That's right dear readers, Billy Ray Cyrus's smaller female stunt double no long resides among us.
Time for some before and after:

Before:
After:

Before:
After:

This is also the new Abigail face. She is saying, "CHEESE!" Cute, right?

LIfe Goes Better With Duct Tape

Oh dear Readers, there is never a dull moment at Casa de Gato y Ninas. If you were cogniscent during the 70s or if you have had experience with toddlers, you may have heard about a fad called streaking. Well, we here under the bigtop are going through a retro-phase in that our little Monkey is all about the naked. Actually, she is more about the diaperless life than the Full Monty. I personally think toddler nakedness is pretty cute, but the cuteness stops when said toddler pees all over the floor, bed, towel, her hand, etc. So until she is more ready to be potty trained, we are breaking out the duct tape. Red Green would be proud.

Slow Down, You Move Too Fast!!

Oh dear readers, the wheels of change are rolling fast. My old road is rapidly changing and I should get out of the new one if I can't lend a hand cuz the times they are a changin. Okay, I will stop with the 60s song lyrics, but life is changing here at Casa de Gato y Ninas. Too fast for my tastes!

My dear readers, Abigail has started the ball rolling with a huge milestone. She figured out how to climb out of her crib tonight. To be fair to her, she's been working on it for about 3 months, but this time, she was successful, to some extent. I say this as I intervened before she hit the ground, literally. I was in the bathroom and heard what I thought was her gearing up to scream. It's a very distinct Abigail noise that is the vocal equivalent of a pitcher winding up for a fast ball. Even though Eleanor was clearly not asleep, I quickly scooted in to try and nip the crying jag in the bud. Since I was going from the bright bathroom to the dark room, I was pretty much blind, but could tell from her noises that she was standing, so I moved toward the sound, expecting to run into the crib rails. Instead, I ran into her body!! I felt her second leg fall off the top of the rail and grabbed her under the arms just as she was about to drop to the ground and certain head trauma. Sniff, sniff. My babies aren't babies any more!

As I said, she's been working on this for a while, so we have been reading up on it. I remember reading a message board discussion where a mom was contemplating toddler beds as her little one was going AWOL from the Infant State Penetentiary at 13 month old. Her question for the audience was, "Isn't she too young for this?" to which one person replied, "Clearly the answer is no. You may not be ready for her to graduate to a big girl bed, but she is." I remember thinking how harsh but how true that comment was, not just in reference to the bedding situation. So many times have the girls done something when I wasn't ready to hit that milestone yet. They did it with crawling, teeth, walking, and talking, just to name a few. I am sure the Great Bed Migration of 2008 won't be the last time that the Bear and Monkey leave Mom and Dad bewildered and in their dust. So before I get too sappy and nostalgic on y'all, I'll leave you with a good song that talks about looking back. Please note the section after the weird little Robin/Kermit conversation-it made me tear up:

So that was my evening. Just another day under the Big Top, I guess. Stay tuned for our next installment where Eleanor, not to be outdone by Sister, gets a job and goes off to college at 19 months. Until then, courage.

Adventures in parenting

So the Bear has a yeast infection and I got nominated to go to Walgreen's to get her some medicine. Apparently buying an antifungal medicine for your daughter is akin to buying her a box of femine hygene products-in other words, not something daddies do. So there I was, 8 at night staring at the Monostat and Vagisil and not seeing what it was the nurse line suggested. I finally sucked it up and asked the pharmacy tech where I could find Lotramin AF. He pointed me toward the foot powder aisle. Yeah, that's right, the foot powder aisle. Unlike my assumption that Lotramin would be something like the adult drugs for a yeast infection and therefore housed with them, Lotramin is used for athlete's foot and jock itch.

A little dazed and weirded out by the jock itch medicine for my 18 month old child in my hand, I wandered past the ice cream aisle. I remembered that Walgreens is the only place that carries our favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry's (Triple Caramel Chunk, seriously, I could mainline it) so I grabbed that, too.

As I was leaving the store with my little bag and contemplating the weird look the check out clerk gave me, it dawned on me that I had just purchased a tube of jock itch ointment and a pint of ice cream. Wow. Probably not a combo that clerk sees often. It reminds me of my most favorite grocery order that I ever rang up while working at the MPFC: a box of condoms, a can of spray starch, and a cucumber. I didn't even ask him if he wanted paper or plastic, just dropped the items carefully in to the bag and let him go on his way. I think I did tell him, as my Wally's clerk told me, "Have a great night," and all with a straight face.

I'll take Popourri for 500, Alex

The first step is admitting it, right? Okay...Hi, my name is Ringmaster and I am a terrible blogger. Not terrible in the sense that I write poorly, although some might agree with that sentiment. Terrible meaning the essence of blogging, or so I understand it is to write frequently, sometimes even multiple entries in one day. LaVelle Neal of the Strib had 4 entries the other day! Well, to point out the obvious, LaVelle, I am not. As you have duly noted, I am doing great if I can get 2 entries out a MONTH. Well, now that I have some time on my hands, I am going to try to be more diligent. That is my New Year's resolution: blog more. More blog equals good. So without further ado, to the five rings that seem to encompass the Cirque du Gacek.

Monkey see, monkey do
So if memory serves when last we left Monkey, she was struggling to make her own path, to claim a milestone for herself. Well, she can officially check that off her list as she is "cruising." No, she isn't driving a souped up Camero down University, trolling for chicks. She is pulling herself up on things and walking around or along them. Officially, I guess, this is called cruising. She's been doing it for about 3 weeks now and is getting more and more bold in her actions. She has been known to cruise while only holding on with one hand, or try to go with no hands, both of which are foiled when either panic sets in and she falls, or she is nudged by another object, either animate (cat, foot of mother, sister's head) or inanimate (climbing box moves, entertainment center door "bites," chair rocks). I have laid down the gauntlet that she will be walking by Christmas. I am still sticking to the prospect that she will hit a major milestone in 20 days, although I think it will be more like standing on her own as she still evokes Riverdance when she is led out to "walk."
So what issues arise from this momentous moment in little Monkey's life you may ask? Well, the fact that she has experimented with shimmying up the side of her crib is fairly significant. Although I have only seen it twice, and she doesn't sleep in her crib (apparently it is electrified or otherwise unfit for anything but short periods of waiting for the changing table), the idea of leaving her in it unsupervised conjures up many frightening thoughts. Her new favorite thing to do is to stand up, hold onto the side and shake the whole bed with all her might. This is a task is much more satisfying in Sister's crib as A) the mattress sits up higher even in it's lowest setting so she can get more leverage and B) it is older than her crib and much looser in the joints so she can really get the joint rockin.
Other interesting tidbits in E's life include being over 28 inches long, having a bottomless pit for a stomach, and graduating to monthly visits to therapy. It is anticipated that she won't have to go any more for a while after this next appointment as her therapist told me last time that Eleanor was a full 3 months ahead of her peers in terms of motor development. She also got a clean bill of health from the cardiologist (for a refresher, see entry dated 07/03/2007). Although she still has two of the defects of the heart, the murmur is gone and a chest x-ray shows normal blood flow to both lungs. Her doctor was very adamant that she was just fine. She doesn't have to go back to see him until she is 3! Yay! Now how am I going to remember that...

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?
And on to Baby B, our little Bear. Oh dear readers, what a momentous few months she has had. She has mastered crawling forward and robotically motors herself throughout the house. We have given her the Indian name of Thunder Mits as she can not sneak up on anything when she is crawling. Her methodical slap,slap, slaps can be heard even over Monkey's deafening squeals and shouts of "KHHHH! KHHHHH!" when she sees a cat, which in this house isn't hard. Abigail's favorite thing to do is laps around the perimeter of the living and dining room area rugs. But her most favorite destination is to the cat food bowls where she grabs a handful and continues on her journey, depositing small amounts of food as she goes, ala Hansel and Gretel. Perhaps she is worried that they won't be able to find their food unless she gives them a path. Or maybe she is setting a deadly trap for any feline she can lure into her midst so she and Eleanor can mess with it. Regardless of the reason, she tenaciously pursues that destination every time she is set free to roam. Boy will she be mad when the gate goes up over the kitchen doorway!
Abigail also has shown great interest in Sister's ability to pull herself up, and has begun to try kneeling and crawling over small obstacles, just like Monkey did when she was first learning. It's pretty cute to see them standing side by side squealing and talking about what ever, "Dudadadadda! KHHHH, mommamamadada KHHHH" means.
The final Abigail milestone is the fact that she has 2 new teeth coming in on the top. These are the central incisors. She will look like a beaver soon. I think her motivation is being able to eat pizza, as she drools uncontrollably whenever we eat it. She is definitely our kid.

Due to a downturn in the mortgage market...
GMAC-ResCap made a business decision to eliminate over 3000 positions nation-wide of which mine was one. Yeah, that's the PC way to say, "I got canned." Effective this past Friday, I was officially unemployed. Happy Christmas!! In the long run, it's probably a good thing. We all know that the familiar, no matter how distasteful, is preferable to the unknown. This was probably the unfortunate kick in the pants I needed to get me back out there playing the job search game.
Also because of the mortgage market, Chris's job is uncertain as his company provides relocation services. He, too, is looking and has some very promising prospects. I don't want to jinx it, so stay tuned for more on that subject.

Sleep soundly and carry a big set of earplugs
Well dear readers, the rest of the Gaceks have been sleeping for a while. Therefore I should follow their lead. Please join us next time when we will explore such topics as how to remove Mochachino paint from a cat's tail and 15 ways to distract an almost 9 month old with just a straw and your bare wits. Until then, peace.

Cupids and Cuspid

Who knew that they were all the same letters?

Of course last month was a red letter one for us; babies turned six months on the 18th and we had our first wedding anniversary. Wahoo. But seriously, it was a great week. We had some other milestones happen, as you will soon read!

Cupids

Sunday, September 23 was our first anniversary. We didn't do much, at least not together. Some would say that that is the true sign of a married couple. We have learned that although it's much nicer to be together, divide and conquer seems to work better if crap is ever to get accomplished. So after a lovely brunch with my parents and the babes, we went our separate ways-Chris and Abigail went home to nap and bond, and Eleanor and I went shopping. Ah wedded bliss.

Cuspids

Okay so it wasn’t exactly a cuspid, but “central incisors” just doesn’t work as well.

Eleanor has been working on getting teeth since Bear got hers in August. As you all know, when she commits to something, Monkey throws herself into it whole-heartedly. Consequently, she had been having fevers, rosy cheeks, grunting, gnawing, chewing, trying everything she could to get those little buggers to come out. So when we woke up on Sunday morning, Eleanor grabbed my finger and shoved it in her mouth to feel the sharp beginnings of the left central incisor, her front tooth! She was so proud. Everyone she saw that day had to feel her tooth, she made sure of it. Since then, the right incisor has come in, too.

Sibling Rivalry

So you may say, “But they are so young! How could there be sibling rivalry?” Well, I would argue that there has been rivalry since they were mere zygotes. Witness Monkey’s mis-shapened head. And now that they are out in the world, the rivalry continues. Abigail watches with raised eyebrows as Eleanor scoots across the floor. If E is in a circle of neglect (aka excersaucer), and I hold A outside that saucer, Monkey will grab and cover any toys within the Bear’s sightline, even if Abigail touches nothing. Eleanor does this in the manner of a 3^rd grader trying to cover her paper from any cheating eyes. Quite amusing. Even the story above regarding the teeth is veiled sibling rivalry. So on that topic, and not to be out done by sister, Bear started sitting on her own on the 23^rd, and then started saying, “hi,” “hey,” and, very rarely, “head.” Balls in your court, Eleanor. Which milestone will you claim as yours?

Postnote: Since this was originally written, Eleanor has learned to sit on her own, too. She also doesn't really scoot, but more like shoots across the floor, usually motivated by the prospect of pulling on electrical cords. As my friend Tracy said, "That's a mistake she'll only make once." She also has learned to say "Momma" and "boo boo." Right back atcha, Bear!

Why is Mommy feeding me knives?*

No, I am not feeding them knives, but sometimes to judge by their looks, one might ascertain that. So far, both babies are very fond of yogurt, peas, green beans, applesauce, and oat cereal. When fed bananas, A looks like if she could, she would gag out her toes. The feeling is mutual for both babies and sweet potatoes, even though they are homemade. Little ingrates! Next conquest: avocado!

Close to close

Nothing much else to report. The weather is getting colder, probably cuz it's getting toward Halloween. I know I say it all the time, but man! Time has just flown by! I swear they are going to be voting soon! I'll let you know their political leanings next week when they are speaking in full sentences! Until then, GO TRIBE!




*My friend BP said this in reference to how it felt to eat most things as a kid-she was allergic to a lot of stuff.

Hit the Road, Jack

So the flashbacks and night terrors have finally stopped from our whirlwind 5 state tour in mid-August. Actually, I am being dramatic (and we wonder where Bear gets it?!)...it wasn’t that bad. It was very exhausting and tense at times though. Nevertheless, in the end, it was very nice to see the fam and to be a part of Joe and Erin’s special day. Moreover, how many 5 month olds can say that they have already been in five states? Really, when it comes down to it, how many 5 month olds say anything that any human over the age of six can understand. If they do, whoa, that is very creepy.

So anyway, the trip was innocent enough on paper: 5 adults, 1 9 year old, and 2 babies plus 1 Chevy Tahoe and a boat-load of supplies turn their wagon westward toward Colorado. The problem with plans on paper is that they usually do not go according to the paper. Along the way, we hit some snags, which I have detailed below for your reading enjoyment.

Snag #1: The Chevy Tahoe was not designed to have infant seat car bases installed into it’s very back, third row bench seat.
Therefore, the infant seats must be hoisted into the back, shoved between the 60/40 folding middle row at just the right angle, then shook up by the impact of the 60/40 folding middle row being slammed back into place, and manhandled to each side so that a regular seat belt can be intricately threaded through the clips, locking them into place. You must do this smoothly, too, so as not to wake up the slumbering beasties that lie within the infant seat itself.

The view from the way back

Snag #2: Infant seats containing 4 ½ month old infants are not light.
This is especially true when it is the 15th time that one has lifted an infant seat up over his/her head. I think that my arms are definitely more cut now than before the trip.

Snag #3: The Chevy Tahoe, while roomy and mostly comfortable, has enough cargo space for an umbrella stroller, two backpacks, and a pack of diapers.
Enter the Rainex roof pouch. Each of the road trip part, we had to unpack and repack that sucker, and, as I alluded too above, the Tahoe is a tall vehicle. Good thing I played a lot of Tetris in college!

Snag #4: On average, infants get their first teeth between 4 and 6 months.
Abigail’s just happened to come in 2 at a time closer to the 4 month marker. Think about when you were 6 and you got your first permanent tooth. Then think about getting two at once. Then think about your family and quietly thank them for their patience and understanding.

Snag #5: Babies do not care if you are outside at a park without access to a changing table or garbage can.
If they gotta poop, they gotta poop. Hence, the photos of the entire group that witnessed the wedding and me holding two white things. No, those aren’t programs, and I am not moved to tears by the ceremony, I am trying not to gag.

Me in the middle of the back row: note the small white packets in my hand and the look on the face of the girl in front of me

So as you can see, despite some drama, it wasn’t THAT bad. Not that I want to do it again next week, but I am sure it could have been much worse. Apparently, it really was not that bad as the girls and I drove to Chicago over Labor Day weekend. Either that or I am just a glutton for punishment! Well then, until next time, sit back and enjoy some choice photos. Until next time, as is said in some circles, mint.

Cheyenne in Cheyenne

Chris and Baby Chris

Babies' first ball game

Eleanor muggin for the camera

Clan Gacek

The happy couple

Cheyenne and Brody being silly

Brody and Nyla

The Pasta Pope

Uncle and his building

All the news that's fit to print

So where to begin?? It’s been so long since last our paths crossed dear readers! Our summer has been busy indeed, and I am sure you are assuming that since we last spoke, the girls are in college and have 6-figure jobs pending! Well, not quite. They are, however, 5 months old and are delightfully changing in many ways, both literally and tongue in cheekish.

The Bear and Poo-tato
So anyone who knows Abigail, knows she has a penchant for the dramatic. Well earlier this month, around August 3rd, she decided to start crying. This apparently was a great decision for her, and one that intended to fully commit to, so she did. For 3 full days. Let me tell ya, it was GRAND! And to make matters even better, we were supposed to leave for vacation on August 7 (driving to Colorado-see more specifics on THAT adventure in my next post). Therefore, fearing another UTI, we called the doctor, who squeezed her in (no pun intended, which will make sense after you finish reading this section) to see our most favorite doctor next to our regular doctor, Dr. Jones. (Incidentally, we have Dr. Jones to thank for discovering Monkey’s heart murmur. It was so slight and so erratic, that the other doctor missed it.) They took her temp, listened to her chest, checked her mouth and ears, nothing. However, when she had her UTI last time, everything was normal, too. It was not until they did the urine culture that time that they found that it was so teeming with bacteria, it could have walked out of her urinary tract. (How’s THAT for a visual?) So they did a urine culture this time, nothing…still screaming!! So, as a last resort, he had a tummy X-Ray done. That was a challenge. Bear, who is normally not the wiggly one, decided to channel her sister when getting the pictures taken. Luckily, we got one good one that showed a very clear, very large potato-sized poop on board. So after a little prune juice, a couple of baby enemas, and enough Pampers Swaddlers to fill a small landfill, little Bear has lost her internal tuber, but has gained a new nickname: Tator Tot.

Toofers
All you all who think I am talking about beer, get your minds off the bar rail. Not 2 for 1s, toofers, teeth. The other thing adding to Bear’s discomfort last week was the fact that she got teeth, 2 to be exact. AT THE SAME TIME. What can I say, I have borne an over-achiever. So I guess, in a sense this does pertain to beer and 2 for 1s, in that after her getting 2 at once, I needed a toofer special! To make it even more interesting, I think she is now getting top ones. Stay tuned to see if she is able to cut them mathematically.

All Bear, No Monkey? What’s up with that??
Just so you don’t think that I am preferential to Baby B, here’s the scoop on the Monkey. Baby E is making some strides of her own. She now rolls, rolls well, and rolls A LOT! She also have been seeing a physical therapist for her crooked head. When she was still in the womb, as most of you know, she was smashed up against the wall by the big bruty Bear. Therefore, in effort to get a little room, she slid down the birth canal a bit, which caused her head to be misshapen and her to hold her head crooked. This is an actual condition called torticollis. According to torticolliskids.org (yes there is a website for everything), torticollis is most often caused by a shortening of the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle in your neck. It’s that big one that you rub when your neck gets stiff. The condition is kinda like when women wear high heels all the time-after a while, those muscles shorten up because the aren’t being stretched to their normal length. I read about all the stuff that COULD happen with this condition before her first appointment and there are some scary things out there! Torti-collars, helmets for misshapen heads, surgery, YIKES! Needless to say, I was really nervous for the first appointment. So now, Monkey has gone in for therapy twice, and because her dad has a background in PT and is super diligent, she is much better. When she went in for the first time, she would not turn her head completely to the right. Now she does both and will track a toy from over her right shoulder to over her left. The therapist says that she is very certain that E will outgrow this and will not need a collar or a helmet. Thank GOD! She has special exercises that she and Daddy do, and she is being encouraged to roll all she wants, which is fine by her!
Another super cute development is her vocalization. She never stops talking. She even talks through her yawns. You know how when you exhale during a yawn and make that loud sigh noise? She does that. She growls, she squeaks, she does this thing where she sucks in her breath and makes noise, a little like a gasp but not. She even talks through eating her cereal. Way cute. WAY cute.
The Monkey is also working on teeth, although, having bore witness to Sister’s trials, I think she is a little leery about that eventuality. Can’t stop change, Baby!

Wait for it
So rather than innudate you with everything at once and blow up the system, I will devote a separate entry for the uber-vacay of the century. That way we can all relive it together. Now won't that be fun??!? So until later, courage.

13 weeks and sweating

I will be your father figure, put your little hand in mine

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers and father-figures out there. Life was pretty relaxed at Casa de Gato y Ninas for Chris's first day o the Pop. It was too bloody hot to do anything other than move at a snails pace, and even that was too much! Every day this week was over 90, which is fantastic when you don't have air conditioning in either your car or your home.
The babies faired okay with the heat for the most part, but we all pretty much hit the wall today. No amount of fanage, wet rags or undressing could help. And that was just the parents! Lemme tell ya, a semi-naked 13 week twin post-partum belly isn't pretty, so it's good that when it gets hot, most people lose their appetites.

I just want to bang on the drum all day

I made it through week 1 of back to work. It was tougher than I thought it was going to be, leaving the babies on Monday. I got a little misty, but was quickly distracted on Cedar Avenue where people were traveling 25 miles per hour in a 30. Let's just say that this font color really describes my language for that 20 minutes in time.
Being back at work reminded me of all the frustrations that I had before I left. Miraculously, they are still there, despite the fact that many of my co-workers are not. Thanks for the beautiful down-turn, Mortgage Market! You rock!

What's new Pussycat?

What else is new, you may ask? Not too much.
Monkey's tests came back negative for urine reflux. Yay E! Abigail is taking pro-biotics to help her tummy while she is on the amoxicilian. Pro-biotics are the natural cultures in yogurt and are helping to replace the good bacteria in her stomach that the antibiotic is killing off. She is a much happier Bear because of it and as are her parents and sister.
Tomorrow, June 18, the girls officially exit newborness and enter the world of infantism. Happy Birthday, Ladies!! Supposedly the big thing for this month is language and singing, so I have been practicing, hence the subtitles. They say that any songs and any voice will do. Somehow knowing all the words to "Fight the Power" and reciting them to an infant just doesn't seem right.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

So I guess that's it for today...time to haul myself to bed in my 88 degree bedroom. Until next time.
-s-

Work Sucks, I know

T minus 2 days and counting until the return. I am so not looking forward to it. I haven't been at work to work since February 12. Since then, the job has changed, the work has been expanded, and a bunch of familar faces have left. I am really nervous. As much as some days at home are harried and overwhelming, at least these babies know that I am their superior. That isn't always the case at work. Ah well, no way around it, have to go through it.

Speaking of babies, they are well. I can't belive that they will be 3 months old soon. It seemed so far away when people said, "Oh she'll outgrow that by 3 months." Now it's here and I have to say that I am a little sad. By turning 3 months, they are no longer able to use the newborn monicker-they are now "infants." Infant seems so broad to me. I liked saying, "I have newborn twins. I can't possibly donate to the annual fund." "I have infant twins," is so much less impressive in my mind. Most people don't even hear the age part any way. They just focus on the word twins. They are a spectical even auditorily.

And speaking of specticals, what is it that makes people think that they can touch your child. I was in Target today and two different parties actually pushed up the visors on the car seats. Who does that? I mean I know we are somewhat asking for it by putting them side by side in a cart, but still...look with your eyes, not your fingers! Man, people tick me off.

Well I guess I have nothing else to say. I must get back to my dwelling on work, watching Abigail stare at whatever it is that she is staring at on the side of the laptop, and eating of Lorna Doones. Until next time.

All Quiet on the Western Front

Lack of original sin sits well with the girls. Although Saturday was extremely worrisome (Bear screamed and screamed and screamed and, well you get the idea). I was absolutely certain that they were going to yell through the whole thing. Much to our surprise, neither girl made a peep during the service. Thank GOD! Believe you me, I was doing some praying Saturday night!

And now we move into the TMI section...Abigail's got a serious case of diaper rash from her antibiotics. It's so bad that it melts the butt paste. On a brighter note, I am officially out of the milk business. The girls had their last bottle of breast milk today. Such a relief!

Not much else is happening...nothing funny, nothing overly notable, which is good I think.

Until next time.