banana

This is the video for "the girl can eat".

Watch those legs go!

big eyes

Rafa got so excited about dinner, he kept eating and eating and eating. And his eyes were bigger than his tummy. Truly. The excuse from these negligent parents who stuffed him is that I started feeding him, then had to leave for a meeting, so D finished. And we serve them out of the same bowl, because it's easier, so we can't tell exactly how much they've consumed. And they usually tell us when they're full. Rafa by screaming, Sylvia by buzzing her lips. Or whatever it's called that horn players do that involves spit and whatever food is in her mouth to go spraying. They should know to stop eating, right??! I hope this isn't a sign of intelligence... And not just because their mom does, on occasion, eaten until her stomach hurts... The apple doesn't fall far, and all that. Of course Rafa barely noticed his purging and happily went on playing. D was the one left with a world of mess. I received a text that said, "Rafa ralphed." I had abandoned D just in the nick of time, it turns out.

the girl can eat

After nursing, quinoa salad, mandarin oranges, and 1/4 of the banana cut up, D let Sylvia help polish off the banana.

(Sorry, still having trouble uploading videos. I'll look for another solution...)

it's time

to drop the cribs...

shoe shopping

I got a good excuse to buy more shoes, but unfortunately, it comes at a cost (and not just the cost of the shoes).  I, like Mario Williams, have plantar fasciitis.  And, that might be where the resemblance ends...  And, yes, kids, I'm writing this as another reminder of all the things I did for you.  The list is already long.

I started having soreness and pain in my left foot.  Guessing that it was probably from carrying around two adorable, yet chubby, babies, and often in heels, I thought I should probably cave in and wear flats more often.  Oddly to me, the pain was worse in the flats.  At first I thought it was because I consciously made an effort to wear the flats when I would be on my feet a lot and the pain was due to being on my feet.  After spending a long day on my feet in heels without pain, I realized, no, it's the flats.  The podiatrist later explained that aside from heels distributing weight differently, they also often  tend to have some arch support.  So, she gave me the green light on wearing my cute heels.  Not what I expected when walking into the podiatrist's office. 

Plantar fasciitis occurs when the tissue that creates the arch of the foot gets inflamed.  Interestingly, it is common in women with babies.  The hormone that the body produces to loosen up tissues in the body so that hips can spread for childbirth doesn't discriminate and only loosen the tissue around the hips.  It affects most all the tissue in the body (maybe all, but I'm no good at anything medical, so I'm leaving myself some wiggle room).  Many women's feet expand during pregnancy and they have to go up a size in shoes.  Unfortunately for me and many other women, this hormone continues while nursing.  Hence the foot problems.  Treatment includes exercises and stretching, anti-inflammatories and a cortisone shot (which hurt like #$^^), and orthotics and new shoes.  Fortunately, the shoes that are made specifically for women with plantar fasciitis are not completely hideous.  If you know anyone in need, I highly recommend Orthaheel.  I've now been wearing these shoes predominantly for a few days and the funny side effect is that my calves are completely sore.  The shoes align my feet differently, and even that slight change causes me to use the muscles of my body in a way that they are not accustomed to being used.  Doesn't quite make up for not going to the gym anymore, but I'll take what I can get. 

These are the special shoes from and my orthotics.  Not bad!

attention grabbing

Rafa has developed this funny little thing.  Whenever he wants our attention or is a little upset about something, but not enough to warrant his full out screaming cry, he coughs.  When he first started doing it, we thought he might have strep throat.  He probably just had a cold and a dry throat and did cough a little because of that.  Once he learned that he got our attention, he's continued using that technique to his advantage.  I've tried to get it on video, but the problem is that once I start taping him, he has my attention, so he quits coughing.  This isn't the best example, but you get the idea.  What a funny thing.

monitor addiction

When prepping for the babies, one of the hardest decisions for us was which monitor to get.  Like all things baby, the options are myriad.  Over the years, D and I have come to generally agree on what is valuable to our little family and how much to spend.  Generally.  The one thing that I wanted to spend on for the babies, but he doubted the value of was a video monitor.  They are insanely more expensive than audio monitors.  So much so, that it's really hard to decide to splurge on that.  Both of our cribs together (and then some) were cheaper than the difference between a decent video monitor and a decent audio monitor.  So, his hesitation was warranted.  Plus, we're in the more laid back, let them cry a few minutes and see if they really need something, it'll make them stronger camp.  We didn't think that our style of parenting required the ability to constantly monitor their every move.

I must have heard or read somewhere something about using a video monitor to check on whether your kid is crying because he woke up (or, SHE, as was the case for us most of the time) or because his leg is stuck in the crib slats.  And not getting out of bed unnecessarily seemed pretty valuable to me.  Whatever the reason, I had in my head that we NEEDED a video monitor.  I guess I'm lazier than D because that wasn't a particularly convincing argument for him.

In any case, as I continued to expand beyond what seemed humanly possible, we knew this purchase was something we needed to get before the arrival of the babies.  We're not sure why D eventually gave in (although it's probably because I didn't give any signs that I would), but we finally decided to get the Summer Infant BabyTouch™ Digital Video Monitor.

I'll admit I have checked a handful of times to see if they were still breathing when things seemed a little too quiet.  But, for the most part, we use the video function for our own entertainment.  And we are grateful to the US military every day for developing infrared technology.  This thing is incredible for its ability to show us our kiddos in the pitchest of blackness.  Pretty much every night before going to bed, we click on the monitor, gaze adoringly at our little ones, and go to sleep with an image of them resting peacefully in their cribs.  On one of those nights, as we enjoyed a particularly sweet moment of spying on our kids, D leaned over and admit that no matter how much the video monitor cost, it was worth it.  





Perhaps we're just products of the age and crave instant information and connect with others through technology, but whatever the reason, we've become a little addicted to our video monitor.  But look at those guys...who wouldn't be?!