Sleeping

The girls are passing through a "I don't want to sleep in my crib" phase...and it is really pretty annoying. MA has largely been the culprit, but LK is not without blame.

Our big problem is that if one of them wakes up, we have to decide to either get her, or let her try and go back to sleep. Usually she goes back to sleep...but if we leave her and she doesn't, then the crying gets louder and she inevitably wakes her sister up. Usually the sister is angry about that whole turn of events...

Getting them back to sleep is no big deal...usually they just want a new diaper and they wanna lay down with us. But still, I would rather not get out of bed! We are switching their cribs into big-girl beds soon, which may help, or it may just make it easier for them to come and visit us in the middle of the night...I suppose we will have to wait and see.

One humorous note...now that they can talk, they tend to cry out for someone specifically. They start off whimpering, then it gets louder, and eventually there is a "Mommy" or a "Daddy" in there. Which means, of course, that we sit in bed hoping that they other one gets called:-)

Last night, around 4:45, LK woke up and just couldn't get back to sleep and eventually called for The Boy. Obviously that means good news for me, but when he was getting her, MA must have woken up because she immediately started crying, too...I had gotten as far as removing the covers and putting my feet on the floor when I heard her very clearly say:

"Munchkin"

Hee hee...I am cool with not being needed;-)

Removing the Mask

In my quest to remain slightly anonymous, I have never posted any picture of me here...or of anyone else that I talk about regularly (except the babies when they were really little). While I have sent some of you pictures via email, I have always guarded Munchkin's identity closest of all. I am not sure my reasons for that are totally rational, but I have committed to them.

Today, however, I am presented with a really unique opportunity...I get to show you a picture, without really showing you a picture.

Let's back up. Around noon yesterday, I got a text from BFFg: "holy shit, have you seen the cover of vogue? it is creepin' me out". At that point, I had no idea what she was talking about.

Then an email from another friend a couple hours later. "I was just in CVS and had to do a double take at the magazine rack. If I hadn't have read the name, I would have sworn that Munchkin was posing for Vogue."

Then The Boy came home, and he actually bought the issue because he didn't think I would believe him that the resemblance was that strong (because, of course, I could never find it on my own if he didn't buy it right there!!!)

Finally, while we were walking to school this morning (the one good thing about being back to work is that I get to walk to school with her in the morning) one of her old teachers ran across the street to talk to us, because she was so amazed at the likeness of Munchkin on the newsstand this month.

So, while I have hinted in the past that she bears a striking resemblance, I can now be certain from a variety of independent sources that this picture bears an alarming similarity to my little Munchkin:

Weekends and such

I have always judged the implied reaction to my craziness by how many comments I get from people. As it relates to comments in general, bloggers tend to keep the negative to themselves and publish the positive at will. I occasionally write things that I know to be somewhat controversial, and can reliably count on only agreeable comments (and where there are negatives, they often come anonymously!) Which is fine, I understand that people don't like to pick fights for no reason...even though I think I have a long and consistent record of encouraging disagreement.

So, when I wrote a post last week about motherhood not being all that fun, I could be pretty sure that those who disagree would stay silent and those who agree would do so vocally. Since only three people commented (and yes, all in agreement) I am just going to assume that everyone else thinks that I am a monster! Just go ahead and say it...I can take criticism:-)

Moving on! Pretty busy weekend, and lots of fun. The Boy and I went out with some of his friends on Friday night  (the two girls from this post, and two other people) while Munchkin babysat, and then I met a couple of friends on Saturday for a little relaxing girls' day...yoga, pedis, dinner, drinks, etc. I got home long after the girls had gone to bed, which I am always sort of torn about...I miss them, but seeing them all tucked into bed (with their 400 stuffed animals) is just so stinking adorable...

The Boy went to the Patriots game yesterday, and since one of his friends cancelled at the last minute, Munchkin went, too. While we are talking about adorable things, that qualifies too...I love that they can just hang out. If I am half sister and half mother, then he is 100% big brother. It was quite the game, and the good guys won, so they came home cold but happy:-) The girls had just fallen asleep before they got back, so we ate pizza while they watched the other game and I just sat there thinking about how much fun that was!

One and done...d'oh!!!

Nilsa has a post today that seems timely in my world, and merits some commentary. I feel like I have been getting a lot of question lately about having more children. Which I guess seems logical enough...now would be a pretty normal time to think about having another baby. People I know who had kids within about six months of me seem to be pregnant again in pretty large numbers.

In fact, The Boy raised the issue not two weeks ago, asking if I wanted to think about it. I know he would love to have another one (and not because it might be a boy) and maybe even one more beyond that.

Unfortunately, my laughter was probably not the nicest response.

Honestly, I can't really even describe how ridiculous I think the idea is! We could work out the space issues (we are likely going to move anyway) and we could afford the added expenses...so those aren't the problem. Mostly, I just don't want any more of them, and I am not going to try and justify that with reason! It is a good thing he knocked me up twice at once, because there is almost no chance that I would have signed on for a second pregnancy.

At virtually every milestone, I am thankful to not have to go through whatever that was again...when they sat up, when they started eating solids, when they stopped drinking formula and breast milk, when they started walking and talking and all of that. And soon...potty training! There is simply no way that I am voluntarily going to go back to changing diapers after we move the girls out of them.

I love my little people...but I don't love having kids, if that makes any sense at all. I definitely know women who genuinely love the stages where babies are helpless and need their mother all the time. I get that...and I definitely know women who genuinely love the babbling toddler stage and every other stage between birth and adulthood. Another Mother from day care told me once that she just loves "being a Mom"...and as I think about it, I don't think that I do. I love my daughters so much that I don't mind being a Mom to them, but I don't think that is the same thing.

I am not sure that this comes across the way I mean it...it probably sounds a little bit weird. I guess what I am saying is that I don't take any enjoyment from being needed...I had plenty of experience with that before I had my own kid. I am all set with being needed;-)

This may get me sent straight to hell...so if you need me, I will be there:-)

Watching my language

Nilsa left a comment a minute ago about the ability of children to understand and retain what we say...especially in light of the swearing that goes on occasionally. And that reminded me of a funny story from maybe two weeks ago.

The Boy was taking out the trash, and realized that the bad was leaking, so he exclaimed "Oh shit!" and I told him to watch his language because the girls could understand him. He assured me that they would do no such thing...until about four minutes later when MA looked up at him and said..

"Shit!"

(To be fair, when she says "shirt" it sounds exactly the same, but it was still really funny...)

Talking

The girls are talking up a storm these days, and it cracks me up to no end. MA talks all the time...I mean, all the time. She never stops babbling about something or other (except when she is eating and making "Mmm mmmm" noises). She may not know a whole lot of words, but she certainly tries to say a lot...she has learned "hold me" this week, which just makes me want to gobble her up:-) Last night, she kept pointing to her stomach and saying "tummy", which at first I thought was her saying that her tummy hurt, but eventually we kinda realized that she just figured out that she could get attention that way.

LK talks less, but she seems to have more purpose behind her words. She hates having a dirty diaper, so she now asks to have her diaper changed all the time. Of course, when it is not dirty and she wants it changed anyway...well, that usually leads to a bit of a tantrum. And she still just shrieks a little bit when she is frustrated rather than try to say something, but that seems to be passing.

Talking is a big deal, because it means less crying. So much of a babies crying is out of frustration in not being able to communicate what they want. Often, they just want a blanket or a stuffed animal or a cookie or something, and giving it to them is quite easy...but when they can't tell you what they want, they get angry that they don't have it and frustrated that they can't tell you and then they end up crying. So, even being able to use a few words makes everyone's life a whole lot easier.

And they understand a ton. They absolutely understand relatively complex sentences...we got home the other night and they ran into our bedroom to get our pajamas for us, which they do every day:-). When MA came back with a pair of The Boy's, he asked her "Can you go get me the red ones instead?" and she ran right back, grabbed the right ones and came back. If they ask for milk, you can tell them "go sit on that pillow and I will get it for you" and they understand exactly what that means. And if it is a little chilly, you can tell them to put their hands in their coat pockets and they will.  Needless to say, this a monumental leap forward:-)

Let's see...what else...we finally swapped out their car carrier seats for convertibles, which we were overdue for. We probably should have done that a month or two ago, but they still fit fine in their buckets...and they spend very little time in the car, anyway. Those are supposed to be good until they weigh 32 pounds, which they don't, but their legs were getting too long. The next project is to change out their cribs for bed rails and make them into quasi-big girl beds. Maybe later this month...

I guess that's it...things pretty tame in AM-land these days:-)

So very tired...

Not sure why, but I am completely exhausted today...I hope I am not getting sick. I have gotten plenty of sleep lately, so I shouldn't feel as run down as I do. Ahh well, I will need to make sure to get enough Vitamin C in case I really am getting sick.

Very little surprising from the New Hampshire primary yesterday, and most notably, very little interest. Turnout was low, and it just seems like there is very little interest in any of the Republican candidates. Which is hard to argue with...they are a pretty uninspiring lot. Romney is still going to win, which is probably good news for the President, who should have little trouble winning re-election.

But who saw Ron Paul's speech last night? It was really good, and I guess he remains sort of the wild card in all of this. He is old, kinda grumpy, not very photogenic and is a little bit out there...but I still love him. He is the only person in this race who qualifies as "one who inspires through ideas". I'd love to see him nominated, just because he is so very right about so much (the budget and foreign policy, for starters). I am not sure that I would actually like to see him as President, but I will continue to admire his convictions.

South Carolina is in a week and a half, and unless something really big happens, Romney will look more and more like the nominee. I know that Gingrich is gonna throw a huge negative ad buy at him, but that is going to sink Newt more than Romney...he is going to have to leave the populist "evil business man" shtick to the Democrats. That won't fly in a Republican primary.

And besides...what's so bad about private equity? Some of my favorite co-workers are in private equity!

Working Girl

The good news? My work clothes all still fit:-)

While I haven't written much about it, I have held a pretty healthy weight since the girls were born (I am thinking about this now because I had to buy some new clothes because I gained a little weight after the girls were born, and now that I have had to break out all of my work clothes again...well, it comes back to me.) If you have been a long-time reader, you are aware of some of my weight issues. I haven't been paying too much attention to it for a while now, and have settled pretty comfortably at 103-105 pounds. That is just a little bigger than I have been for most of my adult life, but a really good spot for me, I think. I'll take it!

The bad news? I now have to go to work EVERY DAY!!!! It took me four days to get annoyed by this:-) The paycheck is most certainly not bad news, and I still like my job and the people I work with, but the all-day, every-day-ness of it is still a drag. I got used to my part-time-ish schedules of the last couple of years.

Now, on to some geeky-ness. Have any of you ever watched Game of Thrones? I got sucked into watching the whole first season last weekend at various times...and I am now officially dying for the second season (which I think is in April). Not terribly happy about some of the people they killed off already, but I suppose I can deal with that...I am also aware that I could read all of the books and find out what happens, but I kinda don't want to:-)

I am not quite at the point where I wanna go to a medieval festival, but it is getting there...

Random, short political thoughts

It is pretty alarming to me that I can go back and read all of my election ramblings from four years ago...that means I have been blogging for a LONG time now. But here we are again, talking about Iowa.

In addition to the absolutely divine Laurwilk, Iowa gives us the opening of election season!!! To be fair, the Iowa caucus is a ridiculous exercise where a very, very small number of people cast what seems to be an inordinately disproportionately influential vote. This is especially true on the Republican side, where the state's small evangelical population exerts major influence on the process that is not at all representative of the broader electorate.

Mike Huckabee won in 2008...just remember that...

So, being the civics geek that I am, I watched many of the returns last night with great interest, and with amazement at the closeness of it. 8 votes...EIGHT VOTES!!! It is almost inconceivable that an election of virtually any size can be decided by only 8 votes. And, of course, I have some other thoughts...

Michelle Bachmann...we hardly knew ya. Who on earth could have possibly seen this coming...?

Rick Perry...you should take a cue from Ms. Bachmann.

Jon Hunstman...I wish I could tell you why no one cares about you...

Newt Gingrich...you should be less Newt-y.

So...moving on. I love Ron Paul. I really do. Very few politicians care less about saying unpopular things, and that is an incredibly admirable trait. There is absolutely nothing about him that is not 100% authentic, and he is perfectly willing to talk about unconventional ideas: his entire foreign policy platform is way off the beaten path, but may make more sense than any of our last half-dozen Presidents, at least.. He was a vocal critic of the Fed well before it was fashionable, and wrote the ideology for the Tea Party long before anyone cared, and has never wavered from it. That said, he is just a little bit too out there to be President;-)

Mitt Romney is going to win the nomination. I have almost no doubt about that...he has more money, a better machine and is a more polished and disciplined candidate than the others. His basic problem is that he just doesn't really inspire an intense following. Lots of respect, sure, but just not a ton of real love. Part of which could just be an inability to identify...he is rich, smart, accomplished, good looking and just about everything else you could want to be...

And finally, yesterday's flavor of the day, Rick Santorum. If you are looking for a good laugh, Google him, and glance over the first couple of entries. In fairness, this is not his fault. But then, if you are wondering what would make Barack Obama the happiest incumbent ever, look at the reasons the people of Pennsylvania threw Santorum out a couple of years ago. This is entirely his fault.