The Japanese greeting is in honor of the devastation experienced in Japan this past Friday. Seeing such tragedy leaves me speechless. I'm not even going to try and add value by describing the intense situation over there.
Instead I'll revel in the innocence a three-year-old mindset because I certainly like to live in their world better than the reality of a 36 year old. Layla's artistic skills are building quickly. She's drawing faces and now animals. You can see she takes pride in her art. Even the spiders smile in her world. TaDa!
Over the weekend Kendra and I did a great job of managing the twins individually so each of us could do what we need and want to do. She did some shopping, I did some mountain biking, she saw a movie, and I ate lunch alone with my buddy. Raising twins it truly a two-person hands-on all day job for the first three years. Our level of stress is dropping dramatically and the level of fun is through the roof. Easton and Layla are helping me rebuild my little boy imagination one day at a time. Easton said, "You be the big daddy dragon and we will be the little dragons. Go count and then come find us." Raaaawwwwr!
The twins scoot around the cul-de-sac on their tricycles almost every day while the weather lasts. I took Layla to run errands and we stopped by the bike store. She went straight to the little kid section and I pointed out the sweet tricycle. She said, "I want to ride the big girl bike, please!?" I thought, "No harm in trying, right?" Off she went speeding and steering through the people and bikes. She is amazingly strong.
The price tag is $140. I almost choked at the thought of buying two of these bad boys for Easton and Layla. Kids are starting to get really expensive! Craigslist... Here we come!
I planned to take the twins out for ice cream after our family dinner on the back patio. Then Layla bit Easton on the leg. Her consequence was staying home while Easton and I overdosed on a chocolate Blizzard. It wasn't even close to the satisfaction of Andy's Frozen Custard, but we have to work with what's available.
Easton is making progress on the independent living front. He put his pants and shoes on backwards, but we gave him a high-five for trying. The issue isn't that he doesn't know the pants are on backwards. The issue is he doesn't care. He's so easy going that backward clothing doesn't even phase him.
Once his pants and shoes were on correctly we posed for an updated Croc picture. Notice Daddy is getting in on the action as well. Easton lights up on those "you are like me" moments. He gets so excited about the similarities between the two of us.
I'm a sucker for a sale. If something is 50% off I have a tough time saying no. If something is 70% off, back up the truck and load it up! Is the item something I need? "Who cares? It's SEVENTY percent off!", I say. Now we lamps that weren't even cool in the 80's and random knick-knacks even a grandmother would be ashamed to display. That's why Kendra does the shopping for us. :) However, I took the twins to Borders Book Store because I found out they are going out of business. The only thing I found worthwhile was a 48 piece dinosaur puzzle for Easton. He humbly asked, "Dad can I take this home, please?" It was 30% off and his happy hearted attitude added the extra grease necessary for my wallet to open.
Seeing his excitement on display was worth every penny. Layla also loved the idea of the puzzle because she knows "sharing" implies her participation putting the puzzle together.
Just an FYI, Babies R' Us diapers suck. After 3 years of loyalty with Pampers Cruisers Kendra opted to use a coupon and save a few bucks on this round of diaper purchases. I can tell you definitively Pampers are worth the extra 20 cents per diaper (or whatever it costs). You might be thinking, "I thought the twins are potty trained and certified?" Yes, but diapers are still needed during quiet (nap) time and sleeping at night. I had no idea diaper buying would be ongoing this many years into raising kids.
I wish someone would have set expectations with me about potty training before the twins were born so here is my attempt to level with new or "to-be" fathers about expectations.
Potty training will take EIGHT discreet phases for twins (4 per kid) and could take months or years. The first phase is pee in the potty, the second phase is poop in the potty, the third phase is self-wiping and the fourth phase is holding it at night.
Layla is through phase 2, Easton is mid-phase 2, and Daddy is struggling with patience. I thought potty training was a multi-day event and once they "went" then it was an accomplishment never to be revisited. I thought kids suddenly "get it" one day and from then on would use the potty. Wrong! Now I know that each of the 4 phases include careful planning and timing, tons of praise and excitement, and gross situations beyond anything encountered when they wore diapers.
I finally figured out we are only partly through the already drawn-out process of potty training. Now my expectations are set correctly so it's not a big deal. I just had to come to grips with the truth and get over my ignorance.
On a positive note, we reached a huge milestone in the Webb house this weekend. For the first time since Easton and Layla were conceived almost 4 years ago... They slept in separate rooms! There was no fanfare or struggle or fallout. The progression was a natural step we let Layla discover on her own. The process started when we moved the cribs out and Easton's trundle bed in. Layla didn't mind sleeping on the trundle, but obviously she was less than thrilled because it was "his" bed and not her own. She never complained about it though. Then we put her bed together and she wanted to sleep there for nap time only.
During the week Kendra asked Layla each night where she wants to sleep. Then on Friday night she decided it was time to sleep in her own bed in her own room. Niether of them freaked out or responded inappropriately to the new normal being established. They both still stay in their beds from the moment we put them there at night to go to sleep until one of us comes to get them in the morning.
We used to jump up like firemen responding to a fire alarm going off. We would stumble into their room half asleep and tend to whoever was crying or talking. Now we slowly wake up and even take a few moments to talk before casually getting the twins out of bed. I can't even describe how great the feeling is to have Easton and Layla reach this stage of semi self sufficiency.
I'll end the blog post with a random insight into my personality. I like math and I like music. I especially like math AND music so this particular video clip shows an exceptionally cool concept. Here is: "What Pi Sounds Like"
Enjoy! See you soon.
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