Nico and Olive turn 8 months and Halloween is coming!
So far we’ve gone to one Halloween party organized by our local twins organization. We’ll be looking for more events now that we have such great costumes.
Why does something that is desirable by someone else often seem more appealing than it otherwise would? What drives two basically unsocialized new humans to want the same object? I’m not trying to extrapolate any sociological or psychological meaning from this or anything. I just enjoy observing basic baby behavior. It’s cute.
Nico and Olive haven’t even begun to fight (I hope they never!), but I hear horror stories from other twin parents, replete with hair-pulling and biting, as well as the need to buy two of everything in the exact same color.
These videos show Olive wanting what Nico has, but Nico does the same too.That’s right, Nico has started, and we haven’t even childproofed yet! Eek!
Going to work in the morning feels great. I love waking up early and walking to the train station for the short trip to San Francisco 3 days per week. There is now something oddly satisfying about getting out of the house, unencumbered and free, and joining the fray; casually picking up a coffee (ok and sometimes pastry) to enjoy while reading the news and email. I probably wouldn’t enjoy this daily ritual if I had to get in a car or drive to a suburban office park. I am lucky to work at Yahoo’s San Francisco office. The rest of my team is all over the world, so it doesn’t really matter where my physical location is.
I often think about how great it would be to raise our kids in a small town (digression: not any “red” town either, but a town that has culture: indie movie theaters, international cuisine, cultural events… In fact, I’ve always romanticized that perfect New England town [digress from digression: and in particular Burlington Vermont - who elected the only socialist senator! - although admittedly I've never actually visited.]). But one thing I’d miss would be the sheer amount of people to see and stuff to do in the city, even one as small as San Francisco or Oakland. Could I actually be happy living without the diversity of activities, languages, and people? Would we find ourselves spending most evenings in front of the family TV? Would Nico and Olive have the same opportunities and exposure to ideas? This is a global economy. While future small town America may suffer and rely on big box hell like Walmart for low-paying service jobs, it is the cosmopolitan cities that will attract the talent, brains and the economic power.
Regardless of where we end up, I appreciate our current urban lifestyle – crime rate, cost of living, crowds and all. We might get in our car once per week or less because EVERYTHING we need is in walking distance. How many Americans can say the same? (Ok, so what if small 900 sf bungalows in the neighborhood sell for almost a million). But meanwhile, I do dream about that pastoral lifestyle that may not really exist and I’ve never really experienced. Who knows where we’ll be in five years?
We have arrived at 7 months. The girls are sitting up unsupported, eating solids, and playing with each other. Our monthly chair photos are getting to be a challenge as evidenced in the video below. They just want to go go go and play. Nico is days away from crawling.
We spent a wonderful 5 days at the Russian River in Sonoma County with Mark, Patrick, Jef, and Rachel. It was a lazy long weekend relaxing, playing celebrities and Settlers of Catan, eating really delicious homemade food, swimming, kayaking, and enjoying Nico and Olive.
At the ocean:
On our beautiful deck:
When you go on vacation with a bunch of musicians, this invariably happens:
It is hysterical to watch Nico and Olive make each other laugh. I caught them waking up from nap playing Peek-a-boo, taking turns popping their heads up and making the other roar with laughter. I was able to capture the tail end of this game…
I have my mommy goggles on for sure.
They just reached 6 months and are weighing in at 14.8 (Nico) and 15.4 (Olive).
Grandpa Alan came to stay for a week, and Olive got some quality guitar time in:
In case you didn’t know, Owen and I have a
Enjoy: The Pookies
Lately is seems as if the planets are aligning to force me to wean. Returning to work has meant that I have to keep up my milk production. When I complain, there is always someone to offer how they didn’t nurse a day past the minimum-recommended 6 months. Nico and Olive both take bottles and like formula. My life WOULD be easier if I did wean. I have to lug a pumping machine to work, along with my computer. My walk to the subway is almost a mile. I can leave the machine at work, but I often have to drive to the campus headquarters for meetings and so have to bring it too and reserve the pumping room throughout day. Then, at work, I get into the groove and, oops, have to stop and undock my power book, get on wireless, go to the mother’s room, set up the pump and gear, and sit there as I’m milked like a cow (I truly detest pumping). Even when I do leave the machine at work, I have to transport the milk in bottles back and forth. I have to work this around meetings or take a call while pumping (what IS that lovely background sound?). It’s certainly one HUGE pain in the arse!
So why keep it going? Babies also THRIVE on formula! And Nico and Olive have already started on solids. Why put yourself through this you might ask…
Well, for one breastfeeding is good for babies – surely better than fortified cow’s milk (it creeps me out how babies sleep better on formula, as if their little digestive systems have to work harder). In addition, it just feels good. My life is hectic. When I nurse, I must be still for 10-20 minutes with my baby while I look at her, touch her, feel her warmth (and I presume vice versa). I’m not sure anything can take the place of that bonding, almost meditative moment (digression: I swear, I do try to limit my reading or watching during nursing. In fact, Nico hates when I talk, watch TV, or even hold a book or magazine above her head while she nurses. She needs a quiet solitude during her feedings. It’s quite funny).
The weaning process is inevitably around the corner. I recently read someone describe weaning as the first step in the road of separation of baby from parents. And fostering independence and that separation is one of the most important things a parent can do to nurture well-adjusted and functioning adults. After weaning, Nico and Olive will walk, explore the world, begin child care and school, look to peers as influences, start shutting their bedroom door, go off to college, move away… All the while as I get closer to the end of my life (wow, how gloomy that sounds, but it’s really the wonderful cycle of life). But these brief moments of fleshy closeness are the tangibles of babyhood that I can cherish and remember years from now – their softness and smell – and never take for granted, because it doesn’t last, but rather slips away with the blink of an eye.