Daddy Month - Day 31 - Something's Missing?

First of all I can't believe the month is over and I've been blogging this entire time.  Amy's blogging really used to intimidate me because I'm not a great writer, and I just didn't think I had this much to say.  So this is not going to be a dramatic or profound final post from Daddy.  Instead it's going to be a day like any other to highlight what happened and let's say this is the end of the beginning of my writing.  I suspect that I will be writing many more posts the remainder of the year and might even steal a whole month for myself again.  I'm so excited the kids will one day get to enjoy what we've done here and I've even talked to Amy about where we go after this first year in regards to blogging.  We will see what happens but I don't think a once per week post is out of the question as our kids grow up.  That's only 26 posts each if Amy and I split them up.  Just imagine if you could go back to any week in your young life to see what was going on.  It will be a huge task but I think we can do it.

Now to the events of the day and specifically one comment from one teacher at Grace and Caleb's daycare.  This is something I haven't even had time to share with Amy yet as we got a little wrapped up in work talk when she got home. Plus, I thought it would be a fun surprise when she read the blog to add her Mommy picture commentary.

Today Grace had to go to daycare alone because poor Mr. Caleb has again become afflicted by the horrible pink eye monster and can't go to school.  Before I could leave daycare with Grace I had to pay and sign her out which is the standard practice on a Thursday.  However, today one of the teachers that spends the day with the babies in the infant room was at the front desk and she was helping me with the payment.  After I had paid and right as I was walking out the door she said "Grace seemed a little sad and lonely today." I looked at her slightly confused and she explained that it seemed as though Grace was looking for Caleb throughout the day.  She said Grace kept looking from side-to-side because they usually sleep and play by each other most of the day.  Now all of you who know me, know that I am not an incredibly emotional guy and no there were no tears.  But what her teacher told me is really one of the coolest things I've experienced so far as a Dad.  Is anyone else blown away by that? I'm not sure why it had such an impact on me but even as I write this post it just makes me really happy.  Just think at 7 months our babies who've spent  their entire short lives together already miss each other when the other one is not around.  Since I picked her up I have not stopped thinking about how Grace sat around at daycare today wondering where her brother was.  I can't wait to watch them grow up together, and I can't wait to get back to blogging after I let Mommy catch-up with what she's been thinking. Great Day!

Mommy picture commentary:

Hmmm...blue ear. Looks delicious.

Get it Gracie!

Daddy...how come my eyes are always gunky?!

Look at that sad face with the bum eye...again.

Look at all that hair!!! She's like a little cactus. :)

Daddy Month - Day 30 - Boo Bear Share and Sockhead!

It seems that every single day with twins brings a new adventure and funny moments that I'm so excited to be capturing. Today Amy and I took Caleb for his first helmet appointment.  It was not really at all what I expected and was done in less time than it took us to drive to the Children's Hospital.  It was not without its very funny moments and another example of how chillaxed our little man is.  When we got to the doctor's office we were told to strip Caleb down to his diaper and then after about 5 minutes a nurse came in and put a mesh sock over his entire face.  Picture little man robbing a bank because it was very similar to those masks you see in movies where the robbers faces are all smushed.  He looked really cute in the cap and the best part about the whole thing is that it didn't bother him one bit. He just started sticking his tongue out trying to lick the mask! Next, they took him into a room and sat him on a pedestal surrounded by a 180 degree wall of cameras.  The second nurse that wasn't holding Caleb held a toy with glowing lights to get him to move his head in the right directions and after about 1 minute it was over.  The nurse commented on how great he did and that it was exciting to get the day off to an easy start.  Nice job little man!

Now to segway into another recent development in our house.  Sharing!  I think it must be tough for two babies who obviously don't know any better constantly have to share everything from toys to our attention.  Neither one of them will experience a lot of time when there isn't another baby around to help share the limelight.  I think this will be great for them in the long run but Amy and I are already observing a battle for toys.  Today, while Grace was on her play mat Amy actually caught her swatting Caleb's hand away from a little toy book that she was about to grab.  Then what ensued was the "Great Toy Tug-o-War of 2012" which will live in the picture below forever!  Sorry I have to be dramatic from time to time.  We watched Grace and Caleb fight over 4 different toys in the span of 10 minutes.  Both babies have their advantages and those are pretty funny to watch.  Caleb is definitely stronger than Grace and could pretty easily out tug her but Grace is quick (like a mongoose) and she was able to out maneuver him to some of the toys she was trying to get to.  Overall, it was a very funny scene and just the beginning of what's sure to be a long and whiny battle.

Mommy Update: Amy is still sick and not feeling even slightly better.  She set up another doctor's appointment despite my efforts to persuade her that frozen berries and Insanity would cure her.  Yes, I'm still doing that and on day 17.  Hopefully her next doctor's appointment she gets some answers or we're going to have to get Papa to just toss her in the pool and say SWIM!


Mommy Photo Commentary:

I just love this face.  Grace playing nicely with her toy...

Caleb innocently playing with some keys...

Is this the face of a vicious toy thief?

What about this?

 And now...to the sharing!

Grace practicing drinking from HER sippy cup!

Wait...that green sippy cup looks fun (that's Caleb's)!

Stolen!

So...Caleb goes after the red one for himself. :)

Ok, back to playing nicely with our own toys... but wait, do you see that look on Caleb's face?

Caleb going after the book that Grace was chewing on...and Grace actually BATTING his hand away!

So Caleb finds a new toy.

Wait, now Grace wants this new toy!

Stolen!

Not so fast, sister!

The Tug-o-war ensues...

Caleb comes out on top with his strength...but Grace lunges with her mobility!

In the end, she found her trusty frog and Caleb had his yellow...cow? antelope? mongoose? All was right with the world again.  Until next time...

Daddy Month - Day 29 - More Important Things

First, I want to comment on the fact that despite all the sickness recently Daddy month in blogland is absolutely flying by.  Can anyone else believe it's almost June?  Anyway I will write my wrap-up post in a couple of days but have enjoyed blogging quite a bit and will definitely be a more frequent contributor than before.

Okay on to the post which is going to be somewhat of a theme post today because it was a slow day in the Haley house outside of the fact that brushing Caleb's two little teeth makes him giggle....very cute!

I also want to provide a quick Mommy update and basically poor Mommy is still really struggling.  She has pink eye in both eyes, a sinus infection, a horrible diaper rash (okay not really) and is on a lot of different medicines.  So everyone say a prayer for Mommy because Daddy has to travel for work next week and I can't imagine how bad I will feel if I have to leave her in her current state.

The inspiration for today comes from what Amy and I discovered in our food pantry today.  Now let me preface with I am a neat freak (mildly OCD) and our house is usually pretty tidy.  Let's just say we're not hoarders by any means.  Today however, we noticed a couple little flying insects and started to do some investigating.  What we found was what we think was a bag of grapefruit (remember the juice fast?)  Now this bag of grapefruit was completely stuck to the food pantry shelf due to the amount of decomposition it had gone through.  Pretty gross huh?  It just led me to start thinking about all the little less important things Amy and I even have time to think about on a daily basis.  I know that I need to pay a couple bills, install some bathroom lights, clean-up the backyard, renew the registration on the truck, read a book for work, spray the yard with weed killer, start the baby 529 plans, and a ridiculous number of other things.  All I really ever want to do on the weekends or after work though is play with the babies and spend time with Mommy.  Before the kids I was incredibly organized and I was pretty good about not procrastinating.  Well, not anymore and like all my other posts that discuss this crazy new life I wouldn't change a thing. So here's my promise that I can look back on someday not to get wrapped up in the little things and always focus on what's important.

Mommy picture commentary:

Mommy looks like a vampire. Not.good. Someone please fix me.

I think he's starting to teeth again!!! Aaaah! :)

Getting so big. Slow down little man, slow down!

She was giving Ben the cutest face while he was taking pictures.  She went from happy go lucky bouncer to this...

Can you say puppy-dog-eyes? Yeah, Daddy's a goner. :)

Daddy Month - Day 28 - Sleepy and Bouncy...Kind of

Today was a typical day at the Haley house.  Okay not typical...there weren't any trips to the hospital or emergency pediatrician appointments so maybe we're headed to a new norm.  Amy, Caleb, Grace, and I all spent most of the day in a nap rotation.  Amy still isn't feeling well so she needed some extra sleep.  The babies are...babies so they needed the usual 3-4 naps and then everybody knows about me a.k.a. the "Big Sleep" so there's no need for an explanation there.

Some of my day was also spent trying to figure out how to capture Grace's big moment of fame yesterday.  This involved recording the replay of the Dbacks game but to no avail because in the replay they skip over things so there was no Grace to be found.  Nana was able to track down a picture from the recording via Grammy's DVR so that's great if nothing else works.  I also sent an email to the station that broadcast the game to see if I could get a copy.  Who knows if that will work but it's worth a try and something fun we could look back at later on.

Now on to the comedy section of today's post.  Poor little Caleb has apparently inherited my lack of coordination.  I will say that I started out that way, but after a lot of organized sports I feel okay about my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. After today though it appears we might have some work to do with little man.  He has been watching Grace have the time of her life in her little bouncy chair everyday after we bring them home from daycare.  She sits in it and jumps, laughs, and literally has the best time.  We usually put Caleb in his bouncy chair at the same time and until today he was content to watch Grace and spin the little sun toy within the chair.  So today he decided, was the day to throw caution to the wind and start bouncing away.  It was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen and Mommy was crying because she was laughing so hard.  I got about five minutes of it on video so maybe I'll post that later.  Here's what it looked like.  Caleb with a very serious and determined face would flail his arms up and down while throwing his head back.  Now this did simulate what would seem like bouncing but the poor little guy didn't bend or move his legs at all.  He was completely stiff from the waist down and he looked like he wasn't having much fun but he kept going.  I think he probably wondered why Grace enjoyed this bouncy stuff so much because he just looked like he was in pain.  I will give him a lot of credit though he kept trying and eventually started moving his legs so I think it's just a matter of time before we've got two little Tiggers in the house.

I know I'm sleeping....but I have a question

This is how Daddy sleeps some times....minus the belly shirt!

Notice the bend in the legs in all these pictures

Grace on TV!

Daddy Month - Day 27 - Go D-Backs!

Today was the babies' first baseball game!  Yay! It was also the first time Grace Face made it on television!  Yay!  Yeah, Daddy called it in yesterday's post; the camera's couldn't resist.

We got to the game just slightly late with the babies in their matching Diamondbacks onesies and Caleb in a little D-Backs hat (pictures below).  Nana and Papa were already at our seats which are absolutely phenomenal because they hang over center field and there is nobody in front or behind you.  Basically you get your own little porch to hang out on which could not be more perfect for babies.  We have room to walk around, sit the kids on the counter in front of the seats, and even change the babies on the chairs behind our seats.  They are literally the best seats in the house and you get all you can eat food for free (thanks Nana and Papa!)

Everything started out pretty well.  We took some pictures and Nana held Caleb because Grace was still asleep from the car ride down.  I watched Grace just waiting for the second she opened her eyes so I could swoop her out of the car seat for her first look at the game.  When she woke up I got her and held her up in the air so she could see the field and of course to show her off.  I did the same thing to Caleb when we got to our seats.  Just picture the scene from the Lion King when "The Circle of Life" is playing.  Wow!....just got a little dramatic...sorry. 

After being at the game for about 30 minutes poor little Caleb started making sad face which quickly turned into blood curdling screaming.  We had no idea what was going on.  I held him, Amy held him, Papa walked him around and nothing worked.  Finally Amy took him back to a quiet spot in the stadium and when I went back to check on him the two of us calmed him down.  We think the little man just got overwhelmed.  I mean he's been in our quiet little family room for 95% of his life and I think 30,000 people, loud loud noises, and a giant place may have been a little too much for him.  He's a trooper though and after that one crying spell he was as happy as could be.

Grace Face seemed right at home in spite of all the new crazy scenery.  She let Nana and Papa hold her with almost no crying and lots and lots of smiling.  She was really happy most of the game and seemed content to just hang out on one of our laps and play with anything in reach.  Now to Daddy's prediction in yesterday's blog.  The camera operator who is within feet of us at all the games ran over to us in the top of the 7th inning and said "if you want your babies to be on tv turn them towards the camera." Now I didn't hear exactly what she said so I turned Caleb towards the field thinking they we going to zoom in on us from another camera....not sure why I thought that.  Mommy however, did the correct thing and according to Grammy, cute little Grace Face was zoomed in on during the top of the 7th inning.  My little girl and on television after only 7 months!  Sorry Caleb, Daddy will try to get you another shot the next time ;)

So it was a great day and we got a lot of pictures. I can't wait to do it again.  It was the best baseball game I've ever been to.

Already enthralled by the game!

Daddy Month - Day 26 - Lazy Day

Today was pretty uneventful outside of the Mommy/Babies outing to Buy Buy Baby to purchase some much needed older kids clothes and a nasal aspirator for our perpetually stuffy kids.  It was definitely nice to be able to relax at home with the family who are for the most part healthy and just spend time playing with Caleb and Grace.  Mommy and I both got to take naps which was nice but I took an extra long nap because I wasn't really able to sleep last night.  So thank you Mommy for letting me sleep while you took the kids out.

Amy bought both the kids these little toy bouncy balls today while she was out so I started Caleb and Grace on their way to hand and eye coordination with an attempt at playing catch.  Grace was pretty cute she would sit up and I would roll or toss the ball to her and she would get it and put it in her mouth.  When I would hold my hands out to try to get her to roll it or toss it back she would just lunge at me as if I was trying to pick her up.  For Caleb who isn't the greatest at sitting up yet I held him in sitting position and tried the same game.  It was very one-sided and basically involved me dropping the ball on the poor little man while he looked at me and smiled.  As you can see below they had a much easier time playing ball with one another.  So I don't think our kids are ready for the MLB or NBA just yet based on today's attempts.

Tomorrow we're set for a very exciting agenda that involves going to a D-Backs game with Nana/Papa.  The babies first baseball game and I can't wait to take them.  I didn't see my first live baseball game until I was 22 years old so I'm excited to get to take the kids so early on and continue taking them in the years to come.  I know they won't remember tomorrow but we'll take pictures and I can assure you it will be a memorable experience for me.  As a side note I'm guessing due to the cuteness of our children that we will more than likely make it onto the jumbo tron and be overwhelmed with baby commercial sponsors ;)

Okay onto some pictures.  We took over 1,600 today so it's going to take me awhile to pick out the best ones.  I might need to recruit Mommy for some help!



Yep...Mommy Photo Commentary:

C'mon and play with me, Gracie!

Um...I think I'm outta his league, Mommy. ;)  I guess I'll play along...

Here, Daddy will help you, buddy.

He likes the ball...catching it will come later!

See any resemblance?  ya. me too.

And now for the Caleb Teeth Reveal...from what I hear, he borrowed one of these from Kate! Thanks Kate!!!!

Let me see those new chompers, buddy! Yay!!!

We're so excited about new teeth!

Yep, there they are...

Aren't they cute?

This. This is that smile that drives me absolutely crazy in love.

I mean just look at him :)

Growing up so fast, little man.  Too fast, Big Bubba!!