Weight

While I remember, here are the twins' latest weights, the oinkers:

Tessa: 17lbs. 6oz.
Adam: 17lbs. 14oz.

Dad's Long 24 Hours

The Missus went out to dinner with a doctor last night. Well, sort of. She and a bunch of other diabetes nurses had dinner downtown at Vidalia. She periodically goes to one of these dinners, which are sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. It usually features a doctor as a guest speaker talking about some topic or other. She had the crab appetizer and the grilled shrimp. I microwaved a bean burrito for dinner.

So it was just me, the twins and my nine usable fingers. Have you ever tried to change a diaper without using your left index finger? I don't recommend it. We got through the night okay--both kids were pink-cheeked and happy when they went to bed--but they are a handful, even when you have the full use of both your hands.

My finger bothered me just enough to make for a sleepless night. I called in sick to work because I am nervous about making my long commute when very groggy. The Missus took the kids to daycare and I got some sleep in the morning.

Around 1:30, I got the call. You know, the call that every parent dreads: "Adam is running a temp of 102, can you come pick him up?" The Missus was teaching class and could not be reached. I called the pediatrician's to get an appointment, trying not to freak out too much. Then the phone rang again: "Tessa's sick too." Another call to the doctor's office.

I tried not to speed on the way to pick them up, and was successful at least part of the time. When I arrived, Adam greeted me with a big toothless smile. He seemed to be okay. I was relieved. I didn't know what to expect, they'd never had a fever before. Poor Tessa was asleep, but I had to wake her up. I struggled to get them in the carseats without banging my finger, and was successful at least part of the time.

The doctor thought it might be sinus infections. Both kids have been sniffling and snorting for the past couple of weeks, but she didn't rule out some other kind of virus. The Missus and I live in fear of RSV, a respiratory virus that is especially dangerous for preemies. The doctor couldn't rule it out and told me to make sure we checked their breathing for the next couple of days. Though both their lungs were clear for now, it might very well be the start of something worse.

Picture this: it is time to leave the office. Both kids are just in a diaper. I'm trying to get Adam dressed. He's crying and I can't get the stupid snaps on his onesie closed without my left index finger. The doctor is kindly holding onto Tessa, but Tess hates being their and is screaming like she's never screamed before. I finally get them dressed, but they still need to go in the carseats. Above all, I'm worried sick that they are going to get seriously ill. It was one of the worst moments I've had since I have become a father.

My despair only lasted a moment. I got the kids in their seats. Tessa calmed down. A nurse rebandaged my finger for me. I even had a chuckle when the lady at the front desk pointed at my finger and said, "I just have to ask: did one of your kids bite you?"

The kids are now, like their father, on antibiotics and we're going to keep our eyes on them. I hope they recover soon. I'll keep you posted.

Stupid Human Tricks

In addition to softening butter in the oven, I learned something else not to do today: don't use a utility knife before six in the morning. That lesson cost me five stitches to learn.

I was breaking down a box to take out with the garbage this morning and I managed to cut my left index finger up very nicely. I figured I needed stitches (since it wouldn't stop bleeding all over the place) and a tetanus shot (since I couldn't remember the last time I had one.) I went to the Urgent Care facility here in Leesburg and got it done.

The Lidocaine shots before the stitching hurt, and so did the tetanus shot. But what really hurt was that my blood pressure is up and I need to lose weight, now. No Christmas cookies for me.

Especially if they come in a box.

Stupid Kitchen Tricks

Here's what you shouldn't do in the kitchen. (I'm not saying this happened to me, you understand.)

Say you wanted to make some cookies and the recipe calls for soft room-temperature butter. But your butter is ice cold from the fridge. You might think to yourself, well the oven is heating up for the cookies anyway, why don't I just stick these two boxes of butter in the oven? Just for a minute or two, and the butter should be nice and soft. That might seem reasonable, right?

Don't do it!

See, the problem is that you might have to make a bottle for one of your twins and forget all about the two boxes of butter in the oven. Suddenly you'll smell the delicious odor of melted butter and wonder where it was coming from. Then you'll run over to the oven and see the butter dripping down onto the bottom of your oven, the oven that you'll spend the next hour cleaning out.

So just don't do it. Maybe it's best to use cold butter. Or better yet, just go out and buy some cookies.

Not that this happened to me, you understand.

The Dada Symphony

I woke up this morning to the sound of both my babies yelling "Dada." Tessa's "dada" is high-pitched and happy. Adam's is lower in tone, and playful. Neither of them were crying which was really great. I went back to sleep for a while.

They use "Dada" as an all-purpose term right now, which is understandable since they don't know any other words. It's quite amusing when they are both playing in their flying saucers yelling out "Dada" over and over. As their father, I am a bit put out to realize that they aren't actually calling me. This afternoon "dada dada" for Tessa apparently meant "Ouch! My teeth hurt!" and "dada dada" for Adam meant "Please change me now. I'm poopy."

Last night Tessa was really upset because of teething pain. It usually doesn't bother her that much, definitely not as much as Adam, but she was crying a lot. We put some Orajel on her gums, and were surprised to find out that we could feel a tooth (or maybe two) breaking through her lower gum. We haven't been able to get a visual sighting, because she always has her tongue there, or there's too much drool in the way.

The Dada Club

Yesterday Adam officially joined the "Dada" Club. Overnight, he started "talking" up a storm. Now we can't get him to stop!

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. It was the twins first one, but I don't think they cared all that much. They did like Grandmom and Aunt Patty holding them all day.

Today we are putting up our Christmas tree. They are fascinated by the lights. And by all the work Mommy is doing to decorate it.

Here's a picture of them in their flying saucers.

Yelling

I'm ashamed to say that I yelled at my sweet little boy yesterday. There may even have been some cursing involved.

We were in a rush, trying to get out the door. The Missus and I were off to work, the twins to daycare. I was trying to get Adam into his carseat, a task which has recently become more difficult since the boy doesn't want to sit back. He wants to lean forward and see what's going on. The problem with him leaning forward is: bloop! He spit up all over himself.

Crap! I'm already late, and now I have to change him. So I am grumbling and groaning as I clean him up, wipe out the carseat and get a new onesie on him. So I get him all fixed up and put him back into the carseat again.

Bloop! He spit up again!

That's when the yelling and cursing happened. The Missus came in and I asked her to take over when I went upstairs to get some clean clothes for him. I already started feeling bad. When I came back down, I kissed him and apologized, and he smiled at me.

I felt bad all day about it; he still seemed happy to see me when I came home. What a great little kid. What a terrible father.

A Kiss

This weekend, we saw that Adam has learned how to give kisses. Well, if you put his lips up to your face, he actually puckers his lips. It may not be a classic kiss, but it beats the heck out of him just drooling down the side of your face. We're still working with Tessa on this.

With the Missus's help, I've been trying to take a Christmas picture of the twins. Three separate times we've dressed them up in their Christmas outfits and tried to get them to smile together. Thank goodness for digital photography because I've taken over three hundred pictures of our little pumpkins. Out of those three hundred, the pictures in which they are a) smiling together and b) looking in the general direction of the camera are: two. Looks like I'm going to need to put Paint Shop Pro to work.

The twins' first Thanksgiving is coming up. They don't seem all that excited about it.

Dada!

I had one of the thrills of my life last night when my beautiful daughter called me "Dada." That she then went on to call the Missus "Dada," then her brother "Dada", then the lamp "Dada" in no way diminished my joy. She has been "talking" up a proverbial storm lately. This was the first time she actually said a real word. Very cool!

A Nice Development

Tessa and Adam revisited Fairfax Hospital today (the site of their entry into this world just six short/long months ago.) They took a series of developmental tests given to all preemie graduates of the hospital's NICU. I'm happy to report that they passed with the proverbial flying colors. The doctor said the twins are developing normally and doing well. We could have told them that.

Today was a first: Adam sat up and was able to stay sitting for a while before he tumbled over. Tessa isn't far behind him. Next they'll be asking for the car keys.

Here are a few pictures. Adam's was taken at a party for my sister and her husband this past weekend. My sister's sister-in-law is holding onto a very sleepy little boy.

Tessa's picture was taking the other evening while playing on her favorite Exer-saucer. It's Mommy and Daddy's favorite too, since the twins are nicely occupied whenever we put them in it.

Another Doctor's Visit

My little dumplings had another tough day: four shots apiece at the doctor's office. (These were their normal shots, not the ones that cost a fortune-and-a-half.) According to the Missus, they did fine, although she said that Tessa started to get anxious when they got to the office. She may be catching on that there is where you get stuck. Adam appears, for now, blissfully ignorant of that unhappy fact.

Both twins have a head cold, but nothing serious. The daycare ladies thought the might have something with the ugly name of "the croup." Fortunately they were wrong.

The doc told us to start feeding them real food. Rice cereal and sweet potatoes are now on the menu. My scientific curiosity is piqued: what color will their poop turn now?

Here are there current measurements:

Tessa
weight: 17 lbs.
length: 27" (Since they can't officially stand up yet, I guess it's still "length" and not "height.")

Adam
weight: 17 lbs., 7 oz.
length: 28"