The Twins' Supertrack

This morning Joseph told me he needed help building a track. I got in there to see the layout he's picked out is the most complex one in his book of tracks. But, we got it done (with a little creativity), and we even added a few things, just for kicks. Emma also helped and was instrumental in the "ambiance," including the farm and the port.

Longer Than Last Time

We're at 36 weeks + 4 days, which is 2 more days than we made it with the twins. Uncharted territory! Also, Zoe's arrival does not seem imminent, according to the doc today, so we might actually make the scheduled appearance of Sept. 26. Zoe is already considered to be "full term" and all her organs, etc, are ready to go. She gets some crucial development of her immune system during the next few weeks, so hopefully she will be less likely than the twins to catch all the bugs going around in the fall and winter.

Her room is mostly complete. Some pictures need to be put up on the wall, and a few other minor things, but the big stuff is all done. We don't yet have curtains for the French doors into her room, but that's not absolutely required (until it IS).

We just got her beautiful new stroller and car seat in yesterday. It's very pretty, and it's a jogger, so we can resume those walks in the neighborhood once she's up for it.

Just 18 days to go!

No News is Good News

This time around the blog is so much more boring than last time. No emergency room visits, very minor complications, VERY few ultrasound pictures. None of this, of course, is any reason to complain. We always wanted to have free babies with relatively uncomplicated pregnancies, so we're finally getting it. We were just talking recently how, at this point in the last pregnancy, Sarah was coming home from a hospital stay of almost a month, during which they had to actively keep her from going into full-blown labor. This time around she's uncomfortable and tired, but we'll take that over all the drugs and boredom of the hospital every time.

On the home front, my office has been 75% converted to Zoe's room. The French doors were installed by my great friend, Jonathan (with my unskilled labor assisting), and look fantastic, but I still need to paint them. All of my stuff is out of there (thanks, Jared!) and all of her stuff is in, but it's just not quite a finished work. Clothes need to be organized and put into drawers, boxes of diapers discretely stacked in a corner, and the all important swing set up and ready for sleepytime. We'll have to put some more baby stuff on the walls, too. I'm not sure if she'll be in to impressionist oil-on-canvas still-life (I know her mommy isn't, that's why it was in my office in the first place).

Sarah will have her cousin Laura here for the shower this weekend, given by my sister-in-law, so that will be fun. Jared and I will need to take the kids to GranJan's for some pool time, methinks. After the shower we'll have a better idea of what's missing from the list so we can fill in the necessities. Thankfully, we found a bin of baby clothes we've been saving so we really haven't had to buy much in that department.

One thing that's funny is that we don't really have a good single stroller. We have a really great double stroller, but I don't think Zoe will need that much space. The one we registered for is also a jogging stroller, so hopefully we can use it for that once the weather gets a bit more temperate. We were just starting to enjoy our walks around the neighborhood with the kids in our double jogging-stroller (thanks Jess!) before it got too hot to continue. Hopefully Zoe will enjoy (or sleep during!) our 2-mile constitutionals in the evening.

Registries, Since People Are Asking

Amazon

Target

Zoe's Amazon Wish List

Now We Know Which Bins of Clothes to Keep

We had the 20-week appointment today. The bleed which was present early on in the pregnancy (2 months ago) is completely gone, so it appears the month of modified bed rest did some good. We have quite an active little baby who did not want to sit still for ultrasound pictures. Sarah pushed on her belly a bit to get a better look (much easier to do with one kid than two). After a couple minutes of looking, we discovered that we're going to have another girl. JoeJoe and I will be outnumbered! I hadn't spent any time thinking of names for either gender this time around (although Sarah has) because I just couldn't see the point of working to come up with names if half of them weren't necessary. So now I'll have to engage that part of my brain again. We are, of course, very excited, and I think a roommate for Emma might be a good thing. She needs someone to benefit from all her knowledge, after all.

(Sarah has the ultrasound pics so I'll upload them once she gets them scanned.)

But Daddy's Big?

The other night, Sarah and I were finishing up dinner and the kids around the house playing. From the living room, where JoeJoe is playing with his trains, we hear, in soto voce,

"What
...
The
...
...
HECK
...
...
Is
...
That?!"

I immediately start to snigger. Sarah looks up, perplexed, as Emma runs by the dining room, whispering huskily, "What the heck is that?! What the heck is that?!"

I am approaching tears at this point, with my face in my hands, as Sarah calls the kids to "Come talk to Mommy, RIGHT NOW."

"'What the heck' is bad," she tells them.

JoeJoe responds, "'What the heck' is not bad," somehow stretching the last word into two syllables.

I'm still about to explode with laughter as Sarah tries to maintain her composure and tells them that "When you're little, 'What the heck' is bad."

JoeJoe's response, "But Daddy is not little. Daddy is big."

The economic and emotional reasons to have more kids | Marketplace From American Public Media

The economic and emotional reasons to have more kids | Marketplace From American Public Media

Reverse Spring Break

We took a road trip up to Ohio and Chicago in early March. We'd not been been to Ohio since 2003 (I think) and not to Chicago since May of 2009. It's a LONG way to go with two 3-year-olds, and it's unlikely we'll drive again. It might be a bit more expensive to fly, but the time, oy vey, the time.

We got to see some snow up in Ohio.


The kids especially loved throwing snow balls at Sarah through the glass.


While in Chicago we visited almost all our family up that way. We also took the kids to Shedd Aquarium, where they really liked the penguins.


Some quick thoughts about driving to places 16 hours away:

- JoeJoe doesn't stop talking, except when he's asleep. At one point Sarah told me she was going to sleep for a while. I lamented, "Oh, no! Now he's going to talk to ME the whole time!" It should be noted that this was about 6+ hours into the drive. For the next 20 minutes he must have asked me at least 20 questions. Sarah woke up and told him he didn't have to talk the whole time. He replied, "But I LIKE a-talk."

- "How To Train Your Dragon" sounds like a good movie. I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard it four or five times. The in-car DVD player was a MUST on this trip.

- The kids LOVE "Despicable Me." JoeJoe even picked up some dance moves. Well, ONE dance move, anyway...

- It's probably not the best idea to promise two kids with tubes in their ears that they can swim at the hotel. Both ended up with raging ear infections; Emma's was the worst she's ever had.

- Whoever made those LeapFrog DVDs understands what kids like. They watched two in particular five times. IN A ROW. EACH.

- You can't always trust the signs on the interstate. We got mislead twice before we made it out of Chicago on the way home. Frustration.

- Culver's has expanded! You can now get a Butter Burger in Bowling Green, KY. I think JoeJoe really likes them, because he took down an entire burger with no fuss, no leftovers. I can't say he's wrong.

Week 12 Update

We're past 12 weeks, now, into week 13, the last of the first trimester. Hopefully, the morning sickness will pull back a bit soon.

The baby is very active and looking good. We are, however, experiencing a subchorionic hemorrhage. This isn't anything we haven't been through before, but we were kinda hoping for a "boring" pregnancy this time around. But, there has been no bleeding, and we're praying we avoid all the ER visits this time around. Sarah's been on "whenever possible" bed-rest status for a month, already, and it looks like she's in for another one. It'd be nice for things to clear up soon so we can get back to being a little more social and active. Until then, we rest up for baby.

(Oh, lest I forget, Sarah's got an ultrasound photo which I'll try to post in the next couple of days.)

Knock-Knock!

Photo Update

Several have asked for more photos. I'll try to write something up about these, but for now, here are the pics. http://www.flickr.com/photos/josephbjames

File Under: Because I'm Always Right

We were watching a little Diego the other night (although JoeJoe said it was a "Big Diego"), relaxing after bathtime in the living room. Emma was singing along to a song, leaning against our ottoman and rocking back and forth. Then, she pivoted too far, and landed flat on her bottom. We laughed and Sarah asked, "Emma, did you fall down?" Emma replied, almost quizzically, "I not fall down." Sarah told her, "Emma, it's ok if you fell down, it was cute." Emma took two strident steps toward the couch and rebutted, " I NOT fall down," punctuating her denial with her lower jaw. Despite the evidence, apparently, we were mistaken, and Emma didn't fall down after all. I can't really get too upset at her for believing she's always right, because I was pretty much the same kid. Hopefully she actually WILL be right most of the time, because, otherwise, I fear for those who disagree with her.

Ectomies

Emma had a double tonsillectomy and double adenoidectomy this morning. We started the day quite early (although 5 AM is not as unusual for her as we'd like). We got to the hospital and settled in by watching some Mickey Mouse.



They gave her a mild sedative before they took her back so that the transition away from us wouldn't be so bad. Between the drugs and the wagon, she was ready to go.



The surgery went pretty well. Her right tonsil was a bit more trouble than the left, but the doc expects it to do just fine. He also cleaned up and reinserted the tube in one of her ears. Just like her ear tube surgery, she woke up pretty badly. Kids typically have a problem with anesthesia at this age and she also probably inherited a bit of her sensitivity from her dad. We got her calmed down and into a room in the children's hospital, where the orders for the day are to hang out. She has to stay overnight for observation because she's so young, but she'll most likely be heading home tomorrow morning.

Emma Boo, And The Colon of Convenience

Among Emma's super-powers (neuron-crippling screams, for example) is her ability to poop within thirty, if not ten, minutes of being put to bed. She determined long ago that if she had a legitimate reason to get out of bed, she wouldn't get in trouble. She's tried picking up the room, retrieving toys for JoeJoe, cleaning the walls, etc., but she's found nothing works quite as well as a good old-fashioned poop. For a while, she didn't have it quite down, and would tell Poop-Lies. However, since she learned she'd get in trouble when found out, she's figured out how to poop right after bed-time, no matter if it's 7:30, 8:45, or even 10 PM. You'd think a child with such precise control would be potty trained by now. I think the problem is she doesn't yet see how she would benefit. Until she does, she's not interested...

Kee-Cold!

The sliding doors to the minivan were frozen shut this morning so the kids had to climb in the back to get to daycare today. I am definitely not down with this kind of cold.

[Soapbox] Please don't tell me that this is evidence global warming doesn't exist just because North America is colder than usual. "Global" refers to the average temp of the entire planet. "Local cooling" is taken into account. [/Soapbox]

The Twinks' Christmas Program

JoeJoe and Emma were in the Christmas program at their daycare last night. Their class "danced" to two songs, although Emma provided more dancing than most of the other kids combined. It was pretty hilarious to watch, and I apologize in advance for the ShakyCam.

Chomp! Chomp! Here Comes Halloween!

Reality Check

This post is for anyone who thinks it's "supercute" to have twins (yes, that would be me). We went to the doctor today. Poor little Joseph had a fever of 102.2 when we left the daycare. When one of my kids' temps hits 102, we take a trip to the doctor.

So it's me, a responsible parent, and two toddlers. Normally, this would be a little tough, but manageable. We get to the doctor, and the kids are happy. They each have a graham cracker and a book. Then, another little girl runs by. So Emma quickly jumps out of her chair and runs too. It gets a little crazy, but everyone's happy.

At the doctor's office, the door entering the examination rooms opens into the waiting room. Emma thinks this is great and decides the best(and only)place she will sit is in front of the door to the exam rooms. Since I didn't think this was very safe, I moved her. She immediately runs back because she wants to see in the other area. So this is what I did. I make her sit in my lap. For Emma it is torture to have to remain still, so Emma throws one of her angry fits, screaming at the top of her lungs. Joseph then starts to scream as loud as he can because he wants to be held instead of Emma. As in many of these difficult times, neither child wants me to even touch the other. Emma thrashes about like a crazy girl and Jojo is sitting next to me just screaming. This went on for 10 minutes. To make things even better, both kids starting throwing everything they could reach. That includes everything I offered them to try to calm them down. I even tried to get a sucker from the nurses. Apparently, they won't give those out until after the appointment...

Then they call Joseph's name. Well, since there was quite a bit of screaming, I didn't hear it. Once I realized the nurse was looking right at me, I started trying to collect toys and magazines my children had thrown. At the same time Emma kept thrashing and Joseph refused to walk because he wanted to be held.

And that was only getting into an examination room. I could go on...but I'm little tired after today. Joseph has another ear infection, but is on some medication. Thankfully, he'll be better soon.


Sarah

Blame it on the Moo, Baa, La La La!

We discussed earlier The Twinks refusal to call water anything but milk, which they've taken to the extreme by emphatically stating "milk" whenever they see a body of water, from gulf, to lake, to bird bath.

They are also big fans of the book "Moo, Baa, La La La!" by Sandra Boynton. It starts with a cow saying moo, and a sheep saying baa. They used to both be very good at reciting the sounds the animals made, and they (especially Emma) are quite fond of the horse saying "neee!"

Lately, however, Emma, when asked what a cow says, will say "baa." JoeJoe is confused by this, so he often won't tell you what a cow says. We try to correct Emma and tell her that a cow says "moo," after which we ask her again. The other day while engaging in this while driving home from the store, we asked her, again, what a cow says. "Baa!" she replied. "No," we told her, "A cow says 'moo'," to which she replied, "No! Mine!" and looked away out the window. I believe we are correct when we translate this as, "I'm right, you're wrong, we're done talking."

They Call It Puppy Love

The Twinks love our dogs, Jackson and Sally. They especially like Sally, probably because they can say her name more easily than they can Jackson's.

The dogs had a tussle the other day with a rogue dog from out of our neighborhood (they're up on their shots, but have been on antibiotics for a couple of bites they received). As a result, they've been a bit sluggish lately, and have spent a lot of time inside. Sally is always difficult to get inside, thanks to her aggressive submissiveness. She is so submissive that it often takes three rounds of encouraging and ego boosting petting to get her into the house from the backyard (she had a troubled puppyhood before we took her in).

So the other day she comes in, and Jackson walks over and starts licking her on the face and neck. Sarah comments to the kids how sweet Jackson is for giving Sally kisses. Much to her horror, both kids stick their tongues out and head straight for Sally, eager to be told how sweet their kisses are. Sarah caught them this time, but I fear there are more kisses in Sally's future.



"Auugh! I've been kissed by a dog! I have dog germs! Get some hot water! Get some disinfectant! Get some iodine!"