Eric

I'm sure it's no surprise to any of you that the focus of our blog has turned to the boys. However, tonight I want to take the time to write about Eric.

Eric is one of the best husbands and dads around. It seems that in this day and age, dads are probably more involved in parenting than ever before. Even so, some dads may have more time to adjust to fatherhood. Perhaps give a bottle to the baby every once in while. Change every 10th diaper. Not in our case. Eric was thrust into full-on fatherhood times two on April 23rd. He spent all four nights at the hospital sleeping in a pull-out chair. Every time one of the babies cried, Eric was awake, helping me figure out what was wrong. I think he managed to take at least one shower during that time, but I'm not even certain about that.

Today I arrived home exhausted from teaching on post-Thanksgiving Monday. As I *played with the boys on the floor this evening, Eric cooked dinner and prepared the boys' solid foods. He and my dad fed the boys their bedtime bottles while I snuck away to exercise class. When I arrived home, the laundry was folded and the dishes were clean. Did I mention the cold/flu he's been battling for more than a week?
*Actually, during part of this time I lay on the floor and let the boys poke my face and play with my hands while I tried to stay awake.

The boys ADORE Eric. Not just a little bit. A LOT! As soon as he enters the room, Aiden and Reid follow his every move. He reads to them, plays with them, comforts them, clothes them, feeds them, changes them,... well, you get the picture. There's no sitting out with twins, yet Eric has risen to the challenge. I'm grateful to have found such a great partner and count him as one of my biggest blessings.

Reid Giggling Near and Far

(Don't worry, I love both of my boys equally. I shot a video of Aiden pivoting, but I think it's too large of a file to send from my phone. Videos of Aiden are sure to come. Especially since he's on the verge of crawling!)

Reid's First Word

Aiden

Aiden maintains the Stronger Baby title in our house. The thousands of push-ups are paying off as he can now pivot around on the floor to grab a toy out of reach. He prefers to pivot to the right. He'll carefully study his hands or a toy for minutes; slowly rotating them, opening and closing his fingers, studying different perspectives. When he meets someone new or someone he hasn't seen in a while, he gets a little overwhelmed and breaks out into a strong, scared cry. Just as quickly, I can calm him down. I think he needs the opportunity to size things up first. He prefers sucking his left thumb and sleeping on his tummy. While he has my dimples, I think Aiden looks a lot like Eric. He's a messy eater and managed to sneeze out a mouthful of carrots yesterday. Eric sent me a picture text of the aftermath (1st picture below); it made my day. He likes to watch me fix their bottles. He has the biggest, most beautiful, blue eyes. He likes to give me kisses. This involves putting his mouth up to my cheek; sometimes he just slobbers, other times he gives out a little snort. He recently discovered that his voice can reach new higher octaves and decibel levels. He is good natured and loves to talk to us.

Aiden brings us much joy.

Reid

Reid is constantly squirming around. He loves to kick and swing his arms and creates tsunami waves during bath time. His favorite spot is in his daddy's arms. When we place a toy on the ground in between the boys, Reid snatches it up before Aiden even has a chance to think about it. He has a harder time settling down for naps; right now he's still squirming around a half hour after Aiden fell asleep. Sometimes he'll try out 20 different positions before he finally falls asleep. When he's sleeping at night, he appears to be working on a black belt in Kung-Fu. He loves to go for "train rides" in his daddy's arms and starts grinning ear to ear as soon as he's bounced up and down and hears "Chuga-chuga, chuga-chuga, choo choo". My cousin Paul (1st picture) says Reid bares a striking resemblance to Winston Churchill. Others have argued that he looks like my dad (last picture). He prefers sucking his left thumb and sleeping on his side. He's good natured, has a great appetite, and mainly fusses when he's tired. He has great rhythm and will repeatedly kick out the same pattern when lying on the floor or shake his ball-rattle in rhythm to the music playing from the "You are my sunshine" toy.

Reid brings us much joy.

7th Months Old!

In my mind, 6-months old seemed like such a big milestone to reach. I must have blinked, because the boys are now 7 months old today. Wow! It's weird to wrap my mind around. It seems like they were just born, yet I feel like I've spent millions of hours with them. Especially when they don't take one of their naps, which luckily is the exception. When they're fussing or grabbing my hair, they seem larger than life. Yet, they seem so small when Eric is holding one of them or when we pick them up from their cribs. It's been a wonderful 7 months!

We weighed and measured them tonight as well:
Reid- 18.2 lbs, 27 3/4 inches
Aiden- 17.8 lbs, 27 1/4 inches
Growing like weeds.



Aiden:

Reid:

Gearing up to go to Grandpa and Grandma Starrs' house:



Sandy and Grandpa Starrs feeding the boys. They enjoy their vegetables (green beans, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes). They really don't care for fruit (apples and bananas, so far). We think it's too sweet.

Outfits from Great Aunt Marita:

Competing for the bear. The boys have started interacting with each other more and more over the last month. I see a lot of refereeing in our future.



They enjoy being read to and more recently checking out books on their own. Their favorite book is Perfect Piggies by Sandra Boyton. Eric and I can recite it for you from memory.


Cheering for Ohio State, who beat the Squawkeyes!

Wishing "big sister" Kacey a Happy Birthday!

With Thanksgiving two days away, I find myself spending extra time counting our blessings. Happy Thanksgiving, friends and family! Thanks for allowing me to share our lives with you.

Bath Time

Every 2-3 days

Wash:
armpit
elbow
hand
fingers
armpit
elbow
hand
fingers
toes
foot
calf
thigh
toes
foot
calf
thigh
belly
hair
face
neck
chin
double-chin
nether regions.

Dry off.


Repeat.

Halloween Videos, 2010

After Reid becomes the tether ball champion of the universe, I imagine he'll want to take his amazing tambourine and drumming skills on the road. Aiden will be his promoter: "Have you seen my brother, Reid? He's the best brother around. Talk about rhythm- he's got it!"


(Good thing I added some padding underneath the m's.)