Just what every 5 month old boy needs!

 

Today is the twin's 5month birthday! We celebrated by going to a Holiday lunch at Sun where Auntie Yasmin had a great time playing with such biggie boys. And Farf and Pop bought them just what every boys needs: a peepee teepee - it's a teepee one puts... you know, down there, so they can play without diapers (or between diapering) without the risk of needing to clean the carpets soon. BTW,this is NOT considered kiddie porn, I have a friend who has an AMAZING photography business who told me under 18-months isn't so I'm safe here... just thought it was hilarious. And I LOVE the rolls of fat on the thighs considering what chicken legs they had just 5 months ago! 

"The Mommy Wars" or can I ask, "What century is this?

Back in about 2002 I saw an interesting movie called Mona Lisa Smile. It was a bit contrite in it's presentation, but the acting and the setting were wonderful. While it was by no means an Oscar nominee, it made me really wonder if we that believe in women have come far at all...

When a man becomes a father why is he never questioned about returning to work while the mother is grilled (and then judged) on her intent? even if she earns more money? has a better education? has a more promising career path (ie: partner or VP or...)? Why is it assumed that the female has a binary option: to be a mom or continue a career? While a man is never questioned? Why does being a male entitle you to "having it all" and being a female limits our options?

For those out there who question if this exists, I'd encourage you to take a look at several sources out there. Which, due to it's ubiquitousness, indicates that it IS widespread, at least in the US. No where was it more evident than over the last two years. Clearly there was only 2 pigeonholes: mommy or trailing wife who took whatever opportunity was available, even if she could do so much more. Because I fit in to neither, I was ostracized by just about all in the community and at times truly ridiculed for it. When my intent to return to work was exposed, truly was I negatively judged.

It saddens me that there has been very little to no true progress made in the last 6 decades. I can only hope that MY BOYS don't discriminate on any basis, be it skin, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The world is getting smaller everyday and I can assure you that if you take the time to get to know another person, you will have at least a few things in common. These common items should be our focus, our strength, not the basis on which to exclude and hurt others.

Another first!

On Saturday, 09 December, Ryan rolled over! Right before our very eyes. Aunt Susan & I were the special observers of this momentous development. He's also reaching out very well, it's amazing to watch him reach out & take just about any object in to his mouth. Consensus is that they are starting to teeth as well, lovely. They are drooling so much they go through several bibs a day & are always wet and sticky.

Both Erik & Ryan have also added oatmeal to their diet, Dr says that barley is next and Poppy says liquid hops after that (we'll see!).

We saw SANTA!

  

A few days and so much growth!

On Tuesday 14 November, both Ryan and Erik decided to laugh out loud while Farf found their long hidden tickle spots! They both seem to enjoy having their necks, just under their ears, tickled and laugh with a wonderful toothless smile!

On Wednesday 22 November, the boys visited Dr Min, who is very happy with their growth. Ryan is 13# 8oz and Erik is 13# 1oz, they are sure growing! and later that day Erik ROLLED OVER! From his tummy over his right side to his back!! And just to make sure we knew that he meant to do it, he did it again about 5 minutes later.

Just to top things off, we decided to give the boys their first solids on Thanksgiving day, see pictures below. They seemed to really like it, took in much more than any of us thought they would and then took a nice long nap!

but soon was guiding

 
my hand with his silver spoon directly into his mouth. 

Erik didn't know what to think at first...

  

Ryan giggles with pleasure

 
after filling up. He also, for the first time, laughed out loud last Tuesday and seems to have a tickle spot right under his ears! 

Unsure about it at first...

 
Ryan soon was covered by his first Thanksgiving meal! 

Inspecting the nutrtion of rice cereal!

 
Erik & Ryan's FIRST SOLIDS on Thanksgiving 2006! They both did a great job eating some rice cereal. 

  

Where to go next...

Been to: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, England, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

Missing:
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia Herzogovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Georgia, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malta,
Moldova, Monaco, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Vatican City, Wales

Confessions of a Blue-est of Blue

...I did it, there's a first time for everything: I watched a President Bush press conference. And loved every minute of it. David Gregory, my favorite White House correspondent, was great. The message of the vote yesterday was great, the tearing down of Rumsfeld was SURPERB. There may be light at the end of the tunnel. And with Pelosi as the Speaker... ouy! maybe there is hope for this country to realize that Iraq is Arabic for VietNam, that this administration has ruined our national reputation, national budget and made each of us more divided!! Only 2 more years...

Erik saying, "Hello!" 

Ryan learned to play dominoes. 

Trick or Treat!! Smell my feet, give me something good to eat!

"Farf said I could!" (of course, Farf has yet to say NO!) 

A pound of flesh

I just got voted off the island

See you in California.

Dr. Paris Andreou Icovides

Tuesday, Farfar, Ryan, Erik and I ventured out to see Dr. Paris Andreou Icovides, a specialist in pediatric cardiology. He was referred by my good friend Kristina as she takes her 2 boys to him. He was very nice and gentle. Educated in the UK, his English is perfect and he was a delight with the boys. He too referred to the development in actual age (see August post Twins 1-day Birthday), regardless; he is happy with their development.

Ryan was 12 pounds, 12 ounces at 52 centimeters long; Erik was 12 pounds, 4 ounces at 48 centimeters long!

I think we'll have some tall boys!!

 

Ryan's own personal nudie beach in Nicosia!  

>>SIGH<<> 

Farf and Pop still say that the jury is out on the dogs with the boys, however, this morning I had Ryan and Erik propped up on pillows under the MiniGym and Achilles layed down next to Erik. He sniffed and sniffed, then layed his head down over Erik's belly and closed his eyes. I think the dogs may like the kiddos!  

Subscribe me

See the "Links" section on the right hand nav bar of this blog page? If you input your email address you will be subscribed and will receive an email when I post anything new.

Also, click on the Breast Cancer site under links as well, it helps fund mammograms for underfunded women.

More updates soon...

Arrived in Cyprus

And it was not nearly as bad as it could have been, as a matter of fact, I would say my boys were darn near perfect! There were a few screaming bouts, however for the most part they slept very nicely. Just about every flight someone commented that they were very good.

We had 3 business class seats (the Ahlers) and 2 coach seats (Pop and Farf), however the 3 business class from LAX to LHR were not in the same row, lovely. So Farf sat up there alone and tried to have her back recover, I sat with the other biz class seat and a boy and Pop sat in cattle car with the other boy. I think that he may have actually enjoyed it?! Everyone wanted to talk with him. The layover in London was 7 hours and a total bore, but we're here. Actually not, Pop and Farf are on a cruise from Bucharest to Budapest. They left 11 October and will return on 22 October, the same day Ralph goes to Frankfurt for a week of training. They will stay here until 02 November, and then I'm on my own. It's quite a big task, taking care of 2 newborns... we do have help on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for about 7 hours each day and I'm really hoping we can afford to have her come for just 2 or 3 hours on Monday and Friday. Just that small amount of time would allow me to shower, do some shopping/cooking etc and would make a big difference.

Now the most current issue is that the Layette shipment is stuck in Cypriot customs. We were told next Monday at best. However, I was told that it was going to be last Monday, so I only hand carried a few canisters of formula, we'll be out this afternoon (Friday). I mailed several boxes of which a couple have formula tucked away in them, have to hope and pray one arrives today. Otherwise we'll have to figure out what to feed babies until the shipment is delivered. I just can't figure out why it takes as long for the Cypriots to get it from Larnaca to Nicosia as it took the US Feds to get from SFO to Larnaca. Pretty bad to think there is a government even more caught up on paperwork and mindless job creation than the USGovt! Keep your fingers crossed, it could be a l-o-n-g weekend.

Here are the Ahlers grandchildren, Ryan (l), Isabella, now 2, and Erik (r).  

Knowing your alphabet and numbers

The ticket issue is supposed to be resolved with the tickets on the way here. The manager of the group gave me a tracking # on Friday. I checked all weekend (on FedEx, UPS, USPS and DHL) and it kept coming up invalid! So I called Monday morning after the 6am feeding back to DC, the individual who tried to help changed the first entry from "L" to "I" .... still didn't work. He had to go do research and call me back. It's a "1" not an "I" nor a "L".

It's in Oakland and will be here at anytime.

You'd think that even government workers would have to know their alphabet from their numbers.

Growing like bad weeds!

As of 22 September:
Ryan - 10 pounds, 1 ounce
Erik - 9 pounds, 10 ounces

As of today, 30 September:
Ryan - 10 pounds, 14 ounces
Erik - 10 pounds, 4 ounces
-- he was 4 pounds, 15 ounces at birth, so he's more than doubled his weight! Ryan has only 4 more ounces to go to double his.

Ryan must have been dreaming about something lovely, he was giggling and smiling while sleeping. 

Erik found this thumb!  

Good Enough for Government Work

We've all heard the sayings like "Good Enough for Government Work" and all the sayings about civil servants, but have I got a story for you...

When I left Cyprus in June, I had tickets all set for my return trip: SFO - LAX - LHR - LCA. I came out, had the boys, Ralph came and went, the boys were issued matching reservations in August for the return. After the reservations were made, my parents paid to have their existing tickets changed to match ours. They also bought a great cruise on the Danube! A couple of weeks ago I got a call that Washington decided to reroute the boys SFO - ORD - LHR - LCA without consulting me or Ralph.

Ralph has been working on this for a couple weeks now and there doesn't seem to be a resolution. It's appalling that they would change with out notice and now that Washington refuses to change back to the original reservation; why am I shocked that a regulation is more important than supporting a reunifying a government officer's family?

So much for family values.

It will be really sad if Ralph not only misses the birth but also the first year of their lives due to his job and the government's regulation.

This is one of the blankets we used in the open cribs at the NICU on Ryan, look how big they are now! 

Ryan snuggled up on the couch  

Erik strrrrrretching..... 

Oma Ahlers with Ryan 

Opa Ahlers feeding Erik 

No, we haven't forgotten about our 4 legged babies! Ralph said they were very happy to see him after a month at Rosewood Kennel and that they've grown! Seem to be filling out at the same height. Athena is about 25 kilos and Achilles is about 28! 

Twins 1-day Birthday

You read correctly, today is the 1-day birthday, of their actual age even though they are about 6 weeks chronologically. When a baby is born more than 4 weeks early, the Dr has to track development on both chronological (based on delivery date) and actual age (based on full gestional date) for about 18-24 months. It means that if a baby is supposed to do "X" at 3 months, ours will do it at 3 months + 6 weeks according to chronological age.

One thing they are currently doing as well as, or better than, other newborns is keeping us up at night. With feedings "on the 3's" we're all up all hours of the night; and it's paid off! Yesterday Ryan was 8 pounds and Erik was 7 pounds 8 ounces, both up over 1/3 of their total birth weight.

Although once we did the math, it made sense. They are on special formula, 22 calorie an ounce at 3 ounces a feeding, 8 feedings a day is 528 calories! Quite a bit for such little guys. It would be like a 130 pound woman eating 8,580 calories/day and a 220 pound male eating 14,520 calories/day.

And for those of you I have not called recently, you now know why. Feedings take about an hour, so that leaves life to be played out around the clock in 2 hour intervals. Not much time to sleep, eat and shower, let alone call those of you I'm missing so much. But know, that just because I'm not calling doesn't mean I'm not thinking of you. And hopefully someday soon, I will be able to ring you to catch up!

Stephaine, who was in kindgergarten when I was in college and was a nanny for her, is holding Erik. She will be in college when these boys are in kindergarten, maybe she'll come to DC and be their nanny!