My late-Tuesday post is motivating enough for me to call this a Way Back Whensday edition. I found this gem of a picture from when the twins were exactly nine months old.
The words that come to mind when I recall this stage of their lives are:
1. fragile - they were 100% dependent on Kendra and I for everything, yet they were mobile enough to get into trouble. We had to be careful where we walked, how we held them, where we took them, and a whole bunch of other extra cautions. Some of which we took to far because of the first time parent syndrome.
2. innocent - They had no concept of good or evil and no ability to choose either one. No sassing, no lying, no anger, no bad choices. just pure love and giggles. what a precious stage.
3. hard work - During this age Kendra and I were still in survival mode, but then it turned into manageable, but draining. which leads me to my simplistic view of parenting twins:
First year = survival - maritally and emotionally all we could focus on was survival and teamwork
Second year = hard work - It was difficult to believe we could give more of ourselves to them, but we did.
Third year = "year of the RE" - relief, recover, renew, rejuvenate, recuperate, recess, reengage
Fourth year = development - Now we're talking... I'm loving this age of questions, learning, playing, laughing, and watching them blossom.
Fifth year = ? Guess I'll find out starting in 4 weeks...
Continuing with the theme of this post, here is the "Word of the day": Recyclopath - n. 1) A person who militantly engages in recycling and is so hostile to simply throwing away garbage, it borders on mental illness. 2) Pejorative for an extreme environmentalist. example: She pees in a bucket and uses it to water and fertilize her garden--what a recyclopath!
Kendra is not a recyclopath, but if she goes dumpster diving in our trash for my yogurt cup to transfer it into the recycle bin one more time... just kidding. kind of.
Anyway, during our visits to the sandy parks Easton's small dump truck kept getting stuck in the sand and he lost interest. I decided to bring his indoor dump truck to the great outdoors and the wheels are big enough he can push it around through the deep sand. He was a tired boy this night.
I'm a big fan of participating in Easton and Layla's play time. I'll share in another post why I swing the pendulum so far to this extreme. Ouma gave a handmade cape to Easton and Layla a couple of years ago. They still play with them and occasionally I'll put one on too. This next picture depicts what Layla calls a "pajama party", which includes early bath time followed by playing with toys and a few minutes of movie time. Since I chose a montage of Toy Story 3 for the feature selection of the night I donned the Buzz and Woody cape with Easton's sharing consent, of course.
One of the many items Aunt Mary gave us with the house is a bird feeder hook pole. We have a humming bird feeder from our last house, but didn't take the time to set it up until recently. I took the twins to the store to buy the humming bird powder food. Then they took turns pouring it in the water and stirring to dissolve it into the juicy humming bird solution. We hung the feeder with care then I had to do some serious explaining. The twins immediately went inside and jumped up on the couch to watch the humming birds feed. I didn't want to steal their zeal, but I didn't want them to waste entire days staring out the window waiting for the little birds to show up.
I found it difficult to explain patience and how it might take several days for the birds to know we have their special nectar on tap at the casa de Webb. Each day they ask me if today will be the day the humming birds show up. I give them hope because I've seen humming birds around the neighborhood and they will find us soon.
Today it hit me that next week I will be flying solo with the twins at home for 4 days. That's 96 hours straight of quality daddy time. I'm excited, but a bit anxious about my sanity without my teammate by my side. Hulk Hogan is not quite so scary in the ring if you know you can tag out at any time. I'm psyching myself up for this monumental occasion.
I just learned we won 4 tickets to see Disney's Toy Story 3 on Ice while Kendra is out of town! There is a God and he knows what I can handle and how much. :)
See you soon.
3 comments:
B . . . I man this ship as a solo captain for weeks at a time in a foreign country while my wife is half way around the world on business travel. 4 days is a cinch. Stay calm and breathe. What one man can do, another man can do. Did I tell you that on during one of those periods as a single parent I had to be hospitalized? Actually taken to the emergency room by ambulance while the wife was on another continent. Have also spent all night (till 4 am) in Urgent care with very ill kids with no support from the wife and had to be at work the next day. You will do fine, it is all a matter of perspective!
You are absolutely right and my hat's off to you, bro! A big difference is what one considers "normal". you are a highly trained, certified, and qualified solo parent with many hours in the cockpit. I'm a bench warmer, co-pilot who will be given the controls of a 767 full of Asians. Just pray for a safe landing and good health so I don't have to pick boogers with my fingernail.
I suppose you are right, the term "normal" and I don't cross paths that often these days. Though I have spent hours in the cockpit, I still have not a clue as to what half of these buttons do. Not to worry though, modern aircraft pretty much fly themselves. Best of luck with the Asians. God Speed and safe travels.
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