Day 235 - Chaos & Cheerios®

It's not that nothing noteworthy has happened in the weeks since my last post. Quite the contrary. I feel fortunate to have had the time, on occasion, to bathe or to tie my shoes.

These babies will not be denied!

Let's just say that in looking back at my posts this year, I find myself longing for some of the most difficult times I've described! Just when I think it can't get any harder, or that I won't be able to manage...well, it does and I am. And, for added perspective, the first few weeks at home with them were far harder than I had ever dreamed.

So what's changed? I'll start with what is probably the least physically-significant change, but is without question the most joyous for us:

Spitting up is UNDER CONTROL!!!!!!!!!!!! Was that overstated? Hardly. I wish I could make it blink, shimmy, and dance.

In the past three weeks or so, Girlie has all but stopped. Boy still does perhaps 2-3 times per day. [addendum--today was kind of a messy setback. But I digest.] Believe me, that's a 400-500% improvement! (In both frequency and quantity.) It is a categorical breath of fresh air. The number of burp cloths we went through on a daily basis? Good estimate...20. Now, it's closer to 4 or 5. The Maytag Man appreciates this fact nearly as much as we do.

Next up, crawling. Boy is all over the place. Now, to be clear, it's not so much as a crawl as it is the worm. He actually flops. But it's speed flopping. Hatches are battened down. Cabinets are locked and gates are sprouting up all over the house. What's amazing to me is what he finds on the floor. I guess it serves to show us how little--or how much more we need to vacuum. He finds a little speck of whatzit--half the size of a grain of cornstarch, and into the mouth it goes. Perhaps another drawback to having babies fairly late in life--the eyesight deficit! The babes and we are clearly on different playing fields. Girlie's top speed remains at 0.0mph. (Occasionally it's -0.5. Yes, she has a intermittently-functional reverse gear.)

One of the mental images I've carried throughout the past year is the expectation of finding one of the kids standing in his or her crib as we enter the nursery to greet them in the morning. Boy was first, not surprisingly. This happened two days ago--and it truly was adorable. As with many adorable, sweet, heartwarming positives, there is also a darker side. The heinousness here is the fact that his crib-standing now obstructs his falling asleep. Where we once could lay him down in the crib and expect him to drift off (often preceded by significant hollering, but at least faithful hollering!) We can now expect him to stand at the crib rail and scream for what seems like hours. We're trying storybooks, singing, rocking, sound machines, iPod Baby Einstein, and monkey dancing. What. A. Drain!

Both have begun forming word-like sounds. Boy started with DA-DA's last week and Girlie with BA-BA's this week! That's fun. We're not yet ascribing any purposeful meaning to the sounds--much as I'd like to claim to be a target for the former. Still, I'm getting excited to converse with my kids. A whole new world is coming. Soon, I'll be able to reason with them and get them to stop complaining, crying, or otherwise behaving unpleasantly! Phew, that will be a relief. And then I will begin their lessons in quantum theory as relates to porcine aeronautics.

Solid foods have become a bi-daily adventure. Wifey lovingly prepares a variety of homemade baby fare consisting of sweet potatoes (a favorite throughout the household), apples, peas, squash, zucchini, and many more! But the titular saving grace has to be Cheerios. My toolbox for baby placation contains a few items such as toys, videos, singing, and books. But Cheerios (and now Puffs--thank you, Kyle!) are my weapons of choice. Despite the fact that the combination of Cheerios and baby saliva, when dried, yield an insoluble cement, they pacify like nothing I've encountered to date.

I've got more, but this has become too long for anyone to read. And I care about you. And your time. More soon!