Sunday, September 26, 2010

Weekend Update

Firstly, thank you so much for the birthday wishes. I really appreciate it! The time around my birthday each year generally sucks, so I wasn't necessarily surprised that plans would be falling through left, right and upside-down. In the end, we went to the departmental event and each wore a baby in a carrier, as it turned out that the catering company had miraculously gotten it's crap together and actually staffed enough people at the event so that H didn't have to do any keg-pumping. And I got to have three beers, none of which I had to wait in line for, and I got to eat brats and kraut (which I also did not have to wait in line for) and got to chat with a few colleague-friends, which was also nice. We did end up with sitter #1 meeting us at the event, but ultimately decided since the boys were being extra clingy and fussy that we would rather just keep them with us, and put off the whole babysitting thing for another time.

There is an enormous Oktoberfest in our town next weekend which we have definitely enjoyed in the past (here would be a link to a post written about Oktoberfest two years ago, if I had managed to actually finish up the whole blog conversion/clean-up/privatizing baloney yet... just imagine a witty description of me drinking a little too much and saying dumb things while polka music swells in the background and German flags flutter in the breeze), so maybe we will attempt a sitter again then? Or maybe we'll just take the boys with us, and I'll once again make H be the designated driver so that I can get slightly buzzed and relax a little. As long as they aren't screaming in the carriers, I'm okay with keeping them out a little past their bedtime (especially since they generally sleep while being worn).

This weekend has been relaxing, mostly because we've been able to sleep in just a bit, and because whatever burr was up Henry's butt about not going to sleep without me has been excised and he will, once again, happily drift off with Papa. And Jack will still sleep in the bassinet mostly, which means that I can actually get some solid sleep without contorting myself around an infant and/or feeding an infant all night. FOR NOW.

I had a refreshing conversation today at Target with a set of young parents who were there with their 13-month-old twin girls. And they confirmed what I had hoped to be true, which is that there are degrees of hard and easy, and that what counts as hard for singleton moms is not the same as that for multiple moms. (Forgive me if any of you among my readership have said the following to me, but...) When I sob about the lack of sleep killing me, the most UN-helpful thing in the world is one of my singleton mom friends chirping about how it only gets harder. Really? Thanks for telling me that. When I'm literally in tears, with my eyes peeling, my brain a fuddled illogical mess incapable of even beginning to sort out sleep issues, I really need to hear that it gets worse. And see, the thing is that this statement is fundamentally unproveable. Because what's worse for you may very well be a walk through the park for me. Maybe the lack of sleep is the thing that is the most devastating to me, and maybe (just maybe) mine just might sort this sleep thing out, and maybe even sooner rather than later. Maybe it frustrates the crap out of me that they lay there like lumps, unable to do much to entertain themselves. Maybe it would be super-awesome to me to be able to hold a hand and have someone toddle around instead of me trying to figure out how to not break my back all day carrying around floppy babies.

Anyhow, my point is that it's a little silly to put the cart before the horse, especially knowing that things are just plain different for multiples. While things may suddenly become nightmarish for you when your has-been-easy-to-handle baby suddenly starts crawling rapidly toward certain danger, they may, in fact, suddenly become entertaining (FINALLY) for me. And frankly, in my informal survey of twin mamas, the consensus seems to be that while it never truly gets to be really, really easy, hard is just relative, and furthermore, most of the twin parents I speak to say that the worst is behind us, knowing that the complete insanity of two fresh-to-the-world babies/fresh-to-the-world parents is wearing off.

So. My point is that I don't need to be frightened by well-intentioned strangers, and found it quite refreshing today to speak in person with a stranger who confirmed what I hoped might be true, that the truly crazy hard part may, in fact, be waning.

Lastly, there's this:

Heiko And Boys

And a rare one of these:

Kate and Boys(Kate in FRONT of the camera, not behind! Crazy!)


I hope you all had a lovely weekend. I had a pretty okay one myself.

8 comments:

Melis.sa said...

I love their cheeks!!

I'm glad you got to enjoy some beers & a brat (both sound sooo good right now!)

Hopefully you will have even more fun at oktoberfest!!

I haven't read the books that true blood is based off of. I want to, just haven't :)

We're watching the last two episodes of season 2 tonight then it's going to be a drought until season 3 comes out on dvd!

I'm glad to hear you got a little sleep this weekend :)

Tracy said...

GREAT pictures.

Glad you got some sleep, and things are looking up, and in case I haven't assured you of this, it gets SO MUCH EASIER. And yes, there will come a day in the not too distance future (and it will come in the blink of an eye) when you will think, "THIS is when the twin-payoff happens."

Brandy said...

Glad that things are looking up for you. And keep posting pics, your boys are adorable!

www.brandysheaif.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

yea! happy birthday and so glad that you had a good time at the party and didn't have to trust your to lil guys to some coed who is still a baby herself! :)

and, for the record, it DOES get easier. i was just talking to a new twin mom today and told her that it seems to get easier the more that they can do. sure, you have to baby proof and watch them to make sure they're not hurting themselves, but there's something to be said for having one baby who can play by himself while you change the diaper of the other one. or play together? gasp!

it gets easier. promise :)

hope your sleep continues!!!

xoxo

Ellen K. said...

Great pictures! You look good -- not that tired. ; )

D. was just saying yesterday how wild the girls' first 2 months were, with feedings every so many hours, around the clock. I have memories of kitchen timers beeping and late-night stand-up on Comedy Central. And that's about all.

Sometimes you just have to meet another twin mom in person and have that quick heart-to-heart. It's so helpful.

And it does get better -- in the sense that the schedule becomes less intense and you get longer moments of clarity. It gets zany, but my singleton-mom friends are going through the same zaniness. And when they start playing together, you'll feel a benefit of having twins, in that you don't always have to be "on." That was one of my payoff moments, as Tracy calls it.

luxzia said...

Hopefully parenting is in some way like physical training - the first time you run a mile you feel your heart's going to burst and your legs will fall off. Then you can run longer, faster, better - there are still challenges and things to learn, but the first steps are the hardest (hopefully... and one day the boys will sleep through the night and Mama will rest).

I love the pictures of you guys. You look so beautiful! (so do your three special guys, but you look awesome - obviously being a mama agrees with you, even if there are moments when you wonder if you'll ever sleep again).

tireegal68 said...

you are doing an amazing job! And I know that it does get better because I am a twin and because my mom told me so!!!
You look great and so do the babies! You can do it!

Anonymous said...

So glad it all worked out in the end. Love the pictures. Keep up the positive spirit.