and he's proving me wrong

Rafael apparently didn't like the post about his not smiling and turned it up a notch:

faces series

Rafa doesn't smile like Sylvia, but he does make some great faces!

latest goings on

Our first dim sum experience and first outing that isn't a doctor's office:



Fun with Grandmother and Granddaddy:



Rafa holding his bottle. Not really, but he's trying!



If you don't sleep at night, you get to hang with mommy while she blogs:



We still love how she rests on her hands:



This is how Daddy plays in the morning...

pink vs. blue

Sylvia and Rafael look quite different. From day 1, she has had a very feminine look, very delicate, porcelain doll-like, while he has had a very masculine look, like a bruiser or linebacker.  I don't know if I'm selectively choosing things to focus on, but they also have exhibited gender-stereotyped characteristics.  Rafael pretty much just wants to eat and sleep, he eats quickly and voraciously and is incredibly messy, and his physical development has exceeded his social development--he likes to stand up (assisted) and grabs things, but doesn't social smile yet.  Sylvia, on the other hand, loves to be held and is generally unhappy otherwise, she is very social and smiles and coos, but doesn't have much interest in motor skills.  I've always bristled at gender stereotypes, but I do find these developments fascinating.  I don't think we've done anything this early on to reinforce gender stereotypes, although I admit I think it's eventually inescapable. 

Interestingly, to me, anyway, we inherited quite a bit of clothes from our goddaughters, almost all of which is pink.  So, Rafael has often sported some very girly outfits because we felt like we would be better parents if he were clothed in pink than left naked and so we'd grab whatever was clean and accessible.  For whatever reason, I've been hesitant to take him out in public or take photos of him dressed in pink, so I've always changed him into something more "appropriate".  So, no embarrassing photos for his future rehearsal dinner--yet.

Rafa's comb-over

We brushed Sylvia's hair, too...  It looks the same.

the oooooo face

the family that sleeps together...

Rafael sigh/singing in his sleep

Ignore the part at the end when Sylvia had had enough...

smile series with a yawn

10 weeks

And don't we just have the cutest PJs?! Too bad their sleeping powers aren't as strong as their cuteness factor. One day I'll post about something other than Sylvia not sleeping...

the little things

One of the fun things about being a parent is delighting in the quirky little things that make your kids unique.  Here are some of our favorites.

Sylvia - her dramatic hands and how she likes to sleep on them; her giant stretches; the way she cranes her neck to look up at her daddy; her lip smacking after taking her medicine; her singing along during her nighttime lullaby even when we'd rather she try to sleep; her stopping wailing to respond to smiles in kind for 2 seconds, then return to wailing

Rafael - how everything he does has a soundtrack, particularly the donkey drink; how every feeding results in milk all over his face, his clothes, the nursing pillow...; his van Gogh hair; and most importantly how he sleeps through anything and everything, particularly his sister's crying

Both - their little oooooo faces; their adoration of the 'spot' (a blackboard we cut out in a Dali inspired shape) which they'll stare at and which can even calm them when upset if they see it--thank you Tia Sonja!;

It's hard to capture all these idiosyncracies, but if/when we do, we'll be sure to share with all of you.

The tail end of an ooooooo face

This is Sylvia enjoying the 'spot'.  Rafa is not happy he's awake in the backrgound.

daddy!

Helping with bath time:



He's got his hands full!:



Chilling with dad while he cooks dinner (dad not pictured):



What better way to wind down after a day's work?:

twins are twice as nice

Can you tell I'm trying to put them in all their twins outfits before they outgrow them? Until last week we just kept them in whatever outfit or PJs they were in until they peed, pooped, or spit up on them. But, after getting them dressed in pants for homecoming an seeing how much it made them look more like little kids rather than babies, I have been more motivated to actually change their clothes regularly.

I also forgot to share the latest stats:

Sylvia - 22" (33%) and 9 lb 15.3 oz (25%)
Rafael - 22.75" (40%) and 10 lb 14.1 oz (28%)

And all the percentiles are on the regular growth chart, not the premie one!! Way to grow, Vassarinhos!

happy 2 months ain't so happy

Dr. Sari ordered up some shots for the Vassarinhos' 2 month birthday. It was quite the experience for kids and parents. D was in charge of Rafael and I took Sylvia. Of course today would be the day that I fail to pack pacifiers in the diaper bag.

Nobody told me my babies would turn purple! That's how hard they screamed. Poor guys. Somehow, though, it didn't bother me as much as the screaming at home does. Maybe because I expected it and know the cause and know it will end. Or maybe because I have more of a stomach for it during the day and most of the screaming at home is at night. I also got one of my first tests in dealing with two upset babies. I guess this I'd what they'll be like when they get sick. This is the only way I could get them calm:


I'm not sure how I'll get up again...

And since you can't see the adorable outfits decorated at our shower by Heather, I took this earlier.

9 weeks!

In celebration of another week down (pretty soon we'll just count months, not sure when we're supposed to make the switch), I thought I'd help all our friends and family living afar get to know the Vassarinhos a little better.

Pretty much all our pics are from the front because their faces are so stinkin cute. But, if you hang with them in person, one of the most noticeable differences is their hair--or lack thereof in Sylvia's case. And I feel perfectly fine talking about her baldness because my head looked like that for at least the first 8 months of my life. Sorry, honey, it doesn't bode well for you...

But, her baldness in the top of her head masks the fact that she's got perfect Elmer Fudd hair going on. Better known as male pattern balding. She does have some hair, just not where you can see it from the front. You can also see that sleeping on her back has started rubbing away a stripe of what little hair she has in the back. I will let her wear a mullet, too--since you are wondering--when that hair in the back gets longer. A mullet with a taped on bow. Can't wait for the Christmas photos!




Rafael, on the other hand, has a head full of hair. At times blondish, at times auburn, when clean it's curly, we're not entirely sure where it came from. One of my favorite things about Rafael's hair is his cowlick or whorl. He's gonna hate it one day, but it's a perfect circle! Only a mom is amused and endeared to such little details in her kids.

even Sylvia needs some rest

Last night was a good night. Hallelujah! The crying and fussiness was all limited to pre-11:30 and the night feeds were
relatively uneventful. We will try to replicate everything we did today and tonight. We noticed that Sylvia was pretty congested and woke herself up when she couldn't breathe easily, so we cleaned her out and turned on the humidifier. The room was a bit warm and humid, but we'll take sweaty, tropical babies who sleep well. I also bathed them in sunlight yesterday and did my darnedest to keep them awake during the day, so that ad entire begins again today. Wish us luck for a repeat!!

good morning smile

At least our non sleeping night time fussy baby is a happy baby during the day.

After much effort to get her to be awake this morning to help set days and nights straight, she did reward me with a smile. What she's really saying is, "Waahahaha. Oh yeah, I run this joint."

2 months!

I can't believe the Vassarinhos (pronounced: Va-ser-een-yos) are 2 months old! That's an affectionate diminutive ending in Portuguese which sounds a whole lot better than twinsies.

2 months. We've laughed. We've cried. We've cursed. We've snuggled. We've been through so much already and yet the adventure has just barely begun.

the latest non-colic theory

So, maybe Sylvia just has her days and nights flipped. Apparently that is common with infants because while in utero, the theory goes, you are active during the day, which rocks them to sleep and still at night for them to play. I don't know how bed rest factored in, but we will embrace any theory that might resolve sooner and with less screaming than colic. D was able to get Sylvia to sleep starting at 2:30, so it's a couple hours improvement!! And it looks like it wasn't too taxing on D...

baby owls

Today was Rice's homecoming, so we took the baby owls out to show off. Plus, it was a great social event and time outside in the gorgeous day for me. Very therapeutic. Our friend, Tonyamas, made these adorable owl hats, which were a huge hit.



Many people stopped and oohed and ahhhed. Strangers took their photo. One lady said, "Those hats are adorable!! Oh, and your babies, too." We also finally had our photo taken, all 4 of us (can you believe that's the first time!), but not with our camera, by a photographer, so that pic is still to come.

pics and stuff