Giggles and timeouts

Well Jonny is full on giggling. It's freakin awesome. I forgot how much joy comes from watching an infant learn to laugh. My technique is simple. I take my hand and lightly grab his chest, with my fingers tucked under each armpit. And then I gently shake. It cracks him up. He opens his mouth so I can see his toothless smile and his head moves back and forth while his hands shake. Next time any of you see Jonny, I'll demonstrate.

And just as giggles emerge on one end, the use of timeouts have become a parenting technique we are now using on Oscar. We don't do it often, but it seems to work when we do. I learned a lot by watching Super Nanny and feel that consequences have become part of the learning to listen stage of Oscar's development. He's still a fun, sweet, gentle guy, and we have so much fun with him. He now knows how to play "Uno" and "Go Fish" and he loves to beat me. In fact, he's happier when I lose compared to when he wins. I say, "You won!" He replies, "You lost!" And then we shake hands and play again.

Oh my god, we went out partying last night!

Just kidding. Andy was asleep by 9pm and I passed out on the couch by 10pm. But oh how I remember those days of going out on a Tuesday night. We did, actually, rally big time on Saturday night for a friends birthday party in SF. We scored a last-minute baby sitter who agreed to hang at our house and take care of the babies while we got some adult hang time. Even though we were tired and it was a short jaunt out in to the world, it was invigorating to know we could still do it.

As for the boys, things are real good. Jonny is slowly but surely leaving the pain in the ass crying newborn stage while Oscar is slowly but surely entering the pain in the ass toddler stage. We expected Oscar to regress in his laid back attitude. I remember a time not too long ago when Oscar's answer to anything we asked him was "Sure!" Now, I think his answer to all our requests is "No!" This was to be expected, I guess. On the good news front, Jonny has started to giggle. He smiles and coos and cries less. So I guess the balancing of it all is on par with what we can expect. Will they ever both be delightful at the same time?

Why don't you post more?

Good question. I guess I could pull out the lame excuse like, "um, just taking care of two babies all day every day for the the next 18 years (at least)." But the truth is, I'm just tired. Work has been super busy (and exciting) and I sometimes feel that saps a lot of my late night energy. I come home from work, bust my arse until 9pm and then at that point I do one of two things. I either go to bed or veg out in front of the tv. Its pathetic, but it's a darn good way to tune out the real world.

Jonny is a sweet little guy who just happens to looooooove to scream all day. Ya know, maybe he'll be an auction barker. Or, who knows, maybe he's the Tiger Woods of horror flick victims. What I can tell you is that when he is not eating, pooping, or sleeping, he is crying. Poor little guy has some serious digestion issues that go away with a few good burps. But man, oh man, the crying can be a bit much. I know it will stop one of these days and the legend of his wailing will be exaggerated for the years to come.

7 weeks old

So I haven't posted in a while. To all my loyal followers, I apologize. Who knew finding time to write 200-400 word posts twice week would prove difficult. (I bet those with two kids knew)

As for life, it is good. We aren't out of the woods yet as Jonny continues to cry regularly after boobing. He is sleeping for an extended stretch at the beginning of the night. The problem is the 1am to 7am stretch. Let's just say, he is still a creature of the night. All in all, he seems to be warming up to me though. If I speak in a really high baby cute voice, he will smile for me. It is precious. (Him smiling is precious not me speaking like a raving lunatic)

Oscar is loving his brother and is very gentle with him. he wants to play with him all the time but, of course, Jonny isn't quite ready yet. Some day those two will be off in their own little world doing things that brothers do. (Gets me excited and a bit nervous)

In other news, our dishwasher was fixed!! Fuck yeah!!

Jonny: "I think tonight, I'll have some Boob ala Boob."

So its been a while since my last post. I know what your thinking. "Hey! Yo! Get yer ass to the computer and tell me what's up!" Well, those with two ankle biters already know what I'm about to say, but for the most part, I kinda feel buried. But in a good way. Like, someone burying you at the beach. Its dirty, and messy and you can always breath, but it feels heavy and slightly claustrophobic.

Truth is, I am totally in love with the family right now. Head over heels. Despite not sleeping much and constantly find myself doing a shit ton of "dishes and laundry and laundry and dishes and dishes and laundry". (That's a song Andy and I made up when Oscar was born. We sing it more now - ask us and we'll break it out for ya.) And I'm cooking more than I ever have. Despite or because of it, I'm loving the moment of it. We are in it. Buried. But we are figuring it out and doing it, the best way we can right now.

I'm still working hard to get that real non-gas smile from JR. I've gotten a few that were induced by my finger twitching at his chin. One time, he smiled and he looked like his cousin Reggie. I was rough housing with Oscar the other night while the little little guy was having his mid-evening snack of Boob Ala Boob and Andy said to me, "Easy. You're gonna hurt him. Jeez." I then informed her that its only gonna get rowdier. When the newborn gets big and it's two on one, it's finally gonna be a fair fight.

I'm going to bed. The family is sleeping and I should be too. Keep ya posted...

Wanna hook us up?

Our meal train is whizzing by with lots of open spaces. We'd love to have y'all make a date to meet the little man. And if bringing food isn't your thing, that's cool - just take a page from Sacco's book and bring a bottle of wine and two cases of It's-Its instead!

Back to work

So I went to work for a few days right after Jonathan was born because we had so many hands helping out. And I took all of last week off so Andy and I could get settled and comfortable as a family of four. Monday (today) rolled around and it was back to the daily grind. I drove Oscar to school and then went to work right after - the only difference is Andy is home alone with a newborn.

Our house is kind of a disaster right now. Clothes pile up and dishes remain dirty. Our main goal is to keep Oscar and Jonathan fed and happy. The rest will be dealt with later and eventually we'll get our flow back. All this scrambling reminds me of the amazing angels we had helping out the first week. You've already heard about Erica and Mindy, but I would be foolish to not mention the amazing and incredible hard work put forth by my mom. I've never seen anyone work so continuously. Whether it was playing with Oscar, helping us find something in our crazy garage or just holding the baby, my mom knocked it out of the park. And I guess not having her here makes me appreciate all that she was doing to keep us moving forward.

I know we'll figure it out, but it helps to have a parent around continuing to be there as a support and your biggest fan. Oh and thanks, Dad, for playing with Oscar. It was a tough first week made easier by you giving him your undivided attention. I've told you before and I'll tell you again, I'm incredibly lucky that your both mine and I am grateful to have you as role models for Andy and me.