Our Little Parasites

2009-09-14T13:15:00.001-07:00

Rats, the kids have stomach bugs. They're generally pretty happy, although Sophie has decided that she won't take anything into her in one end but delivers a lot of "product" on the other end. How joyful.

On the plus side, they had lots of fun in Scottsdale. They loved the water and we have lots of cute photos that I will eventually post. Until then:

2009-09-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

Sophie's teething. It's going to be a tough few weeks, especially since we're flying to Arizona with them on Thursday. I'd hate to be whomever is sitting next to us.

2009-07-28T18:36:00.001-07:00

And, they're both rolling over. Of course, Sophie can get onto her stomach and then starts crying, since she can't get back. But we'll take what we can get. Daniel is trying to crawl, which means that he can either push up his head or drag himself forward, but can't do both at the same time.

I have to admit, it's amusing to watch him bump into things and not be able to figure out why he can't move forward.

2009-07-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

Poor Daniel. A trip to the doctor confirmed that one side of his head is flatter than the others. So there's a solution which won't make him happy: Yes, Daniel is getting a helmet that will be staying with him for two months. 23 hours per day. The kid is good, but he's not going to like it.

So for all you new parents out there whose heads are still like Play-Doh, make sure your kids are sleeping on both sides.

We bring you this adorable picture of sibling love...

2009-07-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

2009-07-01T06:26:00.001-07:00

Well, it finally happened. Daniel has a fever, which he picked up from his shots. Of course, neither Deena nor I noticed it. Fortunately, the nanny caught it. Scary, but under control. But I feel for the little guy.

The Flat Head Society

2009-06-22T15:18:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official. The left side of Daniel's head is flat. Apparently, he naturally rolls over to that side and it flattened his head out. This must have been one of those things that they don't tell you about before you have kids.

We can't do anything to get him to stay on his right side. We've moved his toys to that side. We've got the TV over there. I play with him over there. Yet he refuses to roll that direction.

Folks, my child is made of clay.

Mike

Oops, I dropped Sophie today

2009-06-13T13:57:00.000-07:00

Actually, she kinda slid out of her stroller as I was lifting it.

Rats, I was really hoping that Deena would drop one of them first.

Slowly moving in the right direction...

2009-06-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

A big step up: We've gone from six meals per day to five, condensing them in the afternoon and evening. Three big bonuses: First, the nanny gets in the penultimate feeding, meaning that we only have one at night. Second, we have moved the last feeding from 10 pm to 9 pm, meaning that we are able to get to sleep an hour earlier. And finally, the kids are generally more alert, meaning that it is easier to feed them and burp them. Hey, it's a win-win for everyone.

Meanwhile, in the developmental department, Daniel rolled over today, meaning that we are now at risk of having no more than one child go to college without being able to roll over. Of course, given the way Sophie likes her naked time, I'm unconvinced that she should ever be let out of my sight...

Okay, I've been bad...

2009-06-05T12:44:00.001-07:00

But I promise to try and update more.

The kids are growing like weeds. Chubby weeds, just like Daddy! A month ago, Daniel was at 13 lbs and Sophie at 12, with their next check-up to come in July. The doctor says that they have hit virtually every milestone at four months that they were supposed to except for rolling over, but did remind us that no child has ever gone to college without being able to roll over. Does that mean that they can't go to college if they haven't rolled over by age 18?

The two most common questions we get are about eating and sleeping. So let's hit those.

The kids are still eating every three hours, starting at about 7:30 am with the last feeding around 10 pm. And we have been serving them two "food" meals per day, with one meal being a fruit/veggie puree (The apple sauce is actually pretty good, although after four months, I still haven't gotten up the guts to try the formula.) and the other being rice cereal, which strongly resembles a mixture of paste and oatmeal. The kids addressed the food skeptically the first time we fed it to them, but seem to have adapted nicely. The added bonus is that we can mix and match the types of food, leading to a lot of dinners for the kids of "whatever's on sale." Unfortunately, I can't buy stock in Babies R Us. We're now at the point at which the kids are grabbing for the spoons when we feed them. Now if I could only teach them how to feed themselves...

Sleeping: The kids are sleeping through the night. We had some issues with Daniel, who decided that 4am was a good wake-up time, but a double-swaddle seems to be keeping him down. We still get the occasional cries between 4 and 6 am, but a pacifier usually, well, pacifies them. Oh, that's how it got that name. "Binky" just doesn't cut it.

Mike

Ahh, sibling love

2009-06-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

They've hit that age...

2009-03-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

I was just speaking with a friend of mine who has 7 and 4 year old sons. The only thing she remembers about when her kids were babies is how cute they were. I can't wait for that day...

Because right now, they're doing a heck of a lot of screaming. We feed them, burp them, swaddle them, etc. and they continue to scream. Due to the fact that they don't yet speak coherent English, we're at our wits' ends. And we only have them for four hours per day on the weekdays!

But I will say this: when we finally get them swaddled and they are lying in the crib looking like little burritos, they look awfully cute.

This year, I'm missing a conference in Las Vegas that I have gone to every year for the past six or seven. Man, I need those frequent flyer miles. And it's at Encore. Fortunately, AA is offering a double elite qualifying miles promo for the spring, so I'll work with what they give me, but I could end up going back to India. Won't leave the airport, of course.

Mike

Strollers and car seats

2009-02-26T14:48:00.000-08:00

All the cool people in the city are buying Bugaboo strollers. Don't be a cool person. My suggestion is to go with Graco, which makes strollers and car seats. Find the products that overlap, so you can just put the base in the car and lift out the car seat. The car seat should then fit right into the stroller, so that you don't have to wake the kids as you transfer them between modes of transportation.

Just the helpful hint of the day.

Oh, a Diaper Genie ad keeps popping up, too. We really like that, also. -->

Oh, and due to popular opinion, I have decided not to post the photos of the kids' poop, which bears a strong resemblance to creamed spinach. It's not pleasant.

2009-02-13T13:13:00.001-08:00

2009-02-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

Finally, we figured out how to put up some pictures. We call the first one "The Boxing Match," although I'm guessing that Rocky didn't have cute little booties on when he was boxing.

And we're back!

2009-02-06T07:15:00.000-08:00

Really, I promise to try and be better about this But apparently, kids are a lot of work.

We've arrived back in Boston and the kids are safely home. People tried to describe to us how much work kids are, but without living through it, it's simply impossible to tell you. Fortunately, the Parasites are happy and healthy and have gained weight nicely. Daniel is pushing seven pounds, and Sophie is pushing six.

We also hired a night nanny, which means that we occasionally get some sleep. She's excellent, although we probably would have hired Satan himself if it had meant that we would get some shuteye.

Meanwhile, here's how the schedule works: Kid #1 wakes up. Hopefully, we remembered to prepare the bottle while they were sleeping, but if we didn't, it's a balancing act of hanging one kid over a shoulder while preparing the bottle. We keep a thermos of hot water nearby and use that to make the bottle, but we also have a bowl of cold water that we put the bottle into to cool it if the mix is too hot. Then, we spend a few minutes trying to coax her into taking it in her mouth. Usually, she's hungry enough to take it, but just in case, we can always give her feet a little flick. She usually gets an ounce down before deciding to stop. Tap the bottle to get it flowing again. Lather, rinse, repeat, with the whole process taking about 30 minutes. Then, the burping begins. Sophie is good burper, while Daniel is still working on it. And then we're done. Start to stop, the entire feeding takes about 45 minutes. Then, repeat with the other kid. Usually, we can sneak in 60-90 free minutes between feedings.

Mike

Quote of the day

2009-01-13T22:26:00.001-08:00

AKA "How to know your wife loves you"
"This soup is disgusting. You can have as much as you want."
Gee, thanks honey, that kind of endorsement is really inspiring. It's also really kind of you to let me bond with the kids by allowing me to change their diapers.

Okay, about the hospital. It really is quite functional, as much as I like to complain about the food. There is plenty of space and the nurses are incredibly responsive. In fact, we were considering staying here the whole time, but decided to move to the Marriott on Friday. There is something quite comforting about having everyone around. The service is excellent. Oh, bring your own soap and shampoo; they're not provided. I can't quite figure out the cost, but it's definitely less than the hotels nearby.

In terms of eating, there are plenty of restaurants around, and we took a tuk tuk over to the Rodas hotel (which is gorgeous, at least from the outside) and had lunch at the Pan Asian restaurant, which was quite good. We thought we were quite the bargainers when we bargained the tuk tuk driver from 200 rupees down to 50 rupees, until the way back, when the driver offered us a ride for 10 rupees. Oops. It's a short walk, but you are putting your life at risk by trying to cross the street.

The Hiranandani Diet

2009-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

The hospital we are staying at is called the Hiranandani, and it is right outside of Mumbai in the lovely suburb of Powai. Actually, we haven't seen much of Powai, but the hospital's website assures us it is lovely.

We are staying in a two-room family suite, which has all the charm of a roadside motel but is highly functional. Two rooms, two bathrooms and a nurse only a call button away. Meals are included.

Yeah, about those meals...For those of you considering losing a few pounds, I highly recommend this place. I've never spent much time in a hospital, but now I understand the stereotype about hospital food. We can definitely identify which part of the meals is the fruit, but the, um, "entrees" seem to be a mixture of mystery pasta and mystery meat. Lunch was some noodles mixed with the same sauce that is in Spaghettios. Dinner was, well, I'm not quite sure. Suffice it to say, the kids' formula is looking pretty good.

Intro

2009-01-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Our kids are only a week old and they are already violating the laws of physics. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed." Apparently, the same holds true for matter.

Let me be the first to say tht our kids are creating energy. Specifically, we are feeding them 40 ml of formula every two hours, but the output far exceeds the input by a factor of about four. I mean, these kids are pooping it out like they are in a contest.

Okay, so hello to everyone. I'm Mike, and along with my wife Deena, we have just become blessed with twins through a surrogate in India. Frankly, I wish that I had started the blog earlier, so I could have gone into the whole process, but what's done is done, and you will now get to hear about some of the aspects of Daniel's and Sophia's early days from a perspective that you won't find in many books. I suppose that much of this is already out there, but when you give a computer to a person with nothing better to do, this is what you get.