sleeping - the mystery unveiled

Hello friends and family,

An unbelievable thing happened this glorious weekend. Friday night after our couple get-together we came home with two tired babies. Easton and Layla were asleep by 8:30 and the two of us were in bed by 9:00. But wait! there's more! Saturday morning... I heard the pool pump outside our window start it's daily cleaning routine, but no other sounds. I woke up naturally with the sun shining in through the window and looked over to find Kendra still in a deep sleep. At first I thought it was a dream because I haven't had the privilege of waking up whenever I wanted to. For the past 8 months my wake ups have been more like firedrills as the dueling alarm clocks sprang to life right on schedule at 6:00 AM. Then I thought something might be wrong so my adrenaline kicked in and I walked briskly into the babies' room. Luckily I found sweet little peanut sitting up in bed with her pacifier halfway hanging out of her mouth as she smiled really big. Easton was rubbing his eyes as he was in the process of waking up also. Both babies were fine and we were able to sleep in like a couple of hibernating bears all the way to 7:00 AM!

I'm not sure where Easton learned his sleeping positions from, but face down in his Nunu and butt up with legs crossed is probably not recommended. However, we're ecstatic he sleeps as much as he does so we don't care what position he chooses.



So now I can unveil the mystery of sleeping once kids are introduced into a household. Those people who would go on and on with there diatribes about how "babies sleep ALL the time" were not liars. I apologize to those of you who i've called liars when it comes to how much and how long babies sleep. The caveat everyone seems to have left out is this: At what age do babies sleep so much that generalizations and stereotypes have developed? The answer: after 6 months. THAT is the part all of my friends and family who talked to me about sleeping babies left out. When I give advice to couples expecting or those with new borns I will definitely start the conversation with a disclaimer. It will go something like this: "Oh you're expecting? Great! You'll love parenthood, but let me tell you when you can expect to really sleep again... After 6 month. 0-6 is a guaranteed trial of enduring insomnia, but it DOES get better and you'll catch up on the days of sleep you missed over the past months."

On Thursday of this week I earned my next level of Tae Kwon Do. The instructor uses my existing green belt and wraps tape around it to create the blue stripe. You might think that is a ton of work for a little piece of tape on a belt, and you're right! I've worked very hard to get this far and I plan to continue for as long as I'm able to pursue martial arts. I'm half way to my black belt now... Here's a picture of the instructor after my testing and presentation to the class as he explained what will be expected of me in the future now that I've reached this level.


Skype has proven to be great way to keep in touch with our family and we really look forward to seeing and talking with people in our lives. Let us know if YOU have Skype and we'd love to chat with you also! I installed it on my aunt Mary's computer and since i have Skype at home and at work it's turning out to be a good way for us to communicate about dinners and errands and general info. We chat with Kendra's parents almost every day and now my sister's family is starting to catch up with us from time to time. Unfortunately, my mom and dad's computer is not cooperating so Skype isn't an option even after several troubleshooting steps and reinstalls.

Anyway, Layla is able to pull herself up to the standing position in her crib! That is a big accomplishment and doing so a week before their 8 months old shows how advanced she is. Easton is crawling commando style and seems to be very content now that he can move across the floor at about the same speed as Layla. Placing a toy a few feet away and watching them crawl towards it is no longer similar to a turtle race. If we walk out of the living room and back, it is very likely both of them are already on the tile somewhere playing with something they shouldn't.

We found a new toy in our house... A fruit-roll-up wrapper. The twins are amazed by how it feels and the noises it makes. Here's Layla happily crinkling the wrapper and moaning as she studies it.


Yes, i know she is wearing the color green... I've slacked off my "pink and blue only" requirements especially when it comes to pajamas because no body has the chance to ask, "are they both boys or both girls?"

Another humorous and somewhat ironic discovery was made yesterday. Here's picture of Layla playing:


Notice anything odd? Look closer... You'll see Layla intently focused on the TAGS of the brown basket, not giving even a second look to the wealth of store-bought toys inside. She laid there for at least 10 minutes fiddling with the tags, trying to figure out what they were, and how to put them in her mouth.

I'll finish off the blog today with pictures of Easton and Layla playing in their exersaucers:



Have a great weekend and we'll see you again soon!