They've hit that age...

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

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.

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!

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

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

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.