Carrots.

This is just to let you know that Andrew has a video of babies eating carrots. He also has administrative privileges to add things to the blog. Which means it's coming soon...

Miscellaneous

• Andrew commented this morning that the boys looked like, "little people" because I put pants and socks on them.
• I feel like I'm finally feeling like one imagines a new mom feels like- tired, hungry, too tired to eat, frumpy, in need of a shower, and overly fixated on tiny things like sorting baby clothes. It just took surgery and too many days at work in a row beforehand to get there.
• Andrew is experimenting with dairy products sans lactaid... so far, so good.
• Micah continues to be a very loud boy. Happy, but loud. Phin is starting to imitate his brother; bring on the ear plugs.
• Sanne starts her college class tomorrow- Introduction to Anthropology.
• I have scratches on my face because for some reason the boys like grabbing my lips when they get close enough. They have a grip of iron, and their baby claws are so SHARP.
• My mom is an awesome post-surgery nurse and babysitter. 
• Having four other new-baby couples at church is awesome- we just got a huge bag of hand-me-down^2 from Chris and Mina.
• Presuming the purchase of tiny spoons today, we'll start rice cereal tonight!
• I'm really glad we were able to supplement while I came off my surgery drugs, but now I feel like I lost some sort of personal contest with myself in feeding them 100% myself. Sigh.
• I love my boys, I love [and we need] my job, and Sanne is awesome, but gosh sometimes I just wish I could stay home. It's a perfect situation we're in, but I have such a teeny tiny margin of error.
• Probably sound a bit melancholy to you, but it's nothing that some extra sleep and a fun labor day weekend at the cottage won't fix! 

Babies everywhere

Remember this?

And then there's this.

Just for Gurgles

Bits and bobs

Let's see...

• Seeing as I had to work this weekend, Andrew and Sanne took the boys to the cottage Friday and came back today. Made it out okay, but will be glad to see those babies! And the adults too, I guess.
• MAN I can't wait to get my wisdom teeth out Thursday! I was up 'til 2 or 3 last night waiting for the pain meds and/or melatonin to kick in. Ugh. Basically a quarter of my lower right wisdom tooth was chipped off (in March, stupid popcorn kernel), and as it continues to wear away(?) the nerve is getting more and more exposed. Ugh. Really with Phin's bottle trouble this was the earliest I could have gotten this done... have to pump and dump for ~48 hours afterward due to the drugs.
• Tried finding a movie to watch to distract myself last night. Conclusion- movies with singing get a thumbs down from me 86% of the time- come on, Funny Face. Songs about the color pink and visiting France? Come on. Also Robin Williams was great most of the time but Popeye is just awful. Why would you try to give a real person those forearms? Gross.

• Not only is Phin taking a bottle now, but the boys are taking some formula too! As much as I'd prefer not to add that to the mix, building up a surplus for things like surgery is really difficult when it already takes close to an hour of work time just to keep up with what they eat during the day (20-24oz, give or take). 
• Hoping to pin down a weekend this fall for the boys' first camping trip- I'm hoping for Shenandoah N.P. It'll just be car camping but that's plenty. Will also need to hunt down another kelty and a bigger tent. Anyone want to join us???

Singing the song of his people.

Micah is becoming quite the vocalist. He's a little camera shy but in the evening and early morning he is quite enthusiastic about exercising his vocal cords. We like to think he's singing a song about his day.

Weird thoughts

Sometimes I'm a little weirded out by how excited these babies when it's time to eat. They definitely recognize what's coming next when the bra comes off... probably as long as they've been recognizing faces. Their fond gazes at my chestal region definitely comes off as lecherous sometimes. Lecherous old men babies. Then sometimes when Phin is done eating he'll just fall asleep, still latched on, but sneering. Micah, at other times, will practice his grabbing technique... if he gets me somewhere sensitive with his sharp little baby claws and I squeak, he laughs delightedly.

That's all.

Four month approval!

I honestly love taking the boys to the pediatrician. Nothing makes you feel better as a parent than to have a professional's stamp of approval- "Congratulations, your children have no deadly diseases! All of your efforts and sleepless nights have indeed resulted in offspring that are still alive and actually larger than last time- go get yourself a mocha to celebrate." It doesn't hurt that these kids have been super good so far with shots and we've just been extremely fortunate with their health...

Micah:
42.5 cm circumference noggin
24.5" long
15 lbs 2 oz

Phineas:
42.5 cm circumference noggin
25" long
15 lbs 7 oz

Two months- the pediatrician edition.

I wrote this post then didn't post it... go figure.

Last Sunday night I took great care to make all things ready for our two month appointment at the pediatrician's. I knew three shots were in order and that I'd be going alone... not terribly fun. I gave myself an hour in the morning to get myself and the boys ready and fed, and ample time to drive and arrive at the office. I was feeling incredibly pleased with myself when I strolled in the door of the office 15 minutes before the appointment time, signed them in, and sat down to fiddle with my phone. A moment later, the nurse called my name and I went up to the desk. "Ms. Vogel, the boys' appointment is on June 9th." I stared at her blankly. "That's next Monday," she said. I stared at her blankly.

Oh well! We took our first trip to Trader Joe's and Starbucks instead, and I came to the conclusion that our Zoomby stroller (fits the carseats in a tete a tete fashion) gets more comments than my actual children. This is okay with me. People's comments about your children are odd or uncomfortable about 90% of the time, but a stroller's a stroller. My interactions with strangers wishing to communicate about our offspring will never be the same after being interrogated about breastfeeding by a cashier at Total Wine when I was pregnant.

Fast forward to today: still got to the appointment in good time, and the boys took their shots like champs. Micah is 12 pounds 1 ounce and 22.25" long. Phineas is 11 pounds 12 ounces and 22" long. Next appointment is in August which is okay by me.

This weekend held a fun visit from Uncle Kurt... we had some greek food, went to the Smithsonian American History museum, and visited Brookside. Good times. I have to say though going to the Smithsonian was interesting. There's only so many complete strangers you can explain that you are the uncle to... also a weekend downtown generally attracted more people's attention to the twins than either of us preferred. My personal favorite was a sax player on the street who said we needed to move along because we were taking away his customers... jokingly, but also kept talking to us even after we were several yards beyond him. Ah, DC.

Parenting and blogs?

How does ANYONE blog and parent at the same time? Not sure. I have to be honest, sometimes I think about posting but realize I don't have the energy to make it funny so I don't. Also irritating is the absence of a cord to get the pictures off the camera. But these are all just lame excuses I suppose. I should honor this contractual agreement to provide Vogel baby updates, humor and pictures or no. Bad, Laura, bad.

Overall:

• Susanne, our au pair, arrived July 10th and is awesome. She fits right in like a big sister in this family, and enjoys throwing pillows at Andrew when he makes fun of her.
• Andrew enjoys having someone else around for board games and to make fun of. 
• Laura has been back to work for ~3 weeks and despite the hectic-ness is enjoying the balance of babies and "adult time."
• The boys are fast approaching the four month mark, and are currently in 6 month clothing! Our next appointment on August 11th will reveal more about weight/length.

Micah:

• Is the "good" baby these days. More easily soothed, pretty cool with bottles, and while he's the more serious of the two we've been getting some big smiles lately.
• He is also the louder of the two. When upset, he lets loose with a pterodactyl shriek, as we call it, with no warming up or precursor needed. When happy, he likes to shriek as well. Most often at five am. 

Phineas:

• Picky, picky. He wants only one thing in his mouth, and that's difficult when I take them to work with me. Non-detachable, buddy. Susanne had to bring them into work at first so I could feed Phin on my lunch break, but he's now one week into taking a bottle and it's looking good! Still not interested in pacifiers, but he's trying out his fingers and mostly just gagging on them.
• Is the happier baby for sure- big smiles all the time. When unhappy though he has an equally adorable curled lip. 

At Buca di Beppo's for Susanne's birthday

Micah likes to look suave, even if he's just going to get fast food.

Finally on their backs in the crib, gosh that took forever.

Their personalities in a picture, for the most part.