Growing is hard

I was laying on the floor in front of Evey saying, "you're doing great Evey," and "come on girl you can do it." She's on a blanket on her belly: "tummy time," and her little legs are kicking and she's trying to push up or turn over. Its not working out very well and she's really mad about it. Mad, frustrated, and ready to not be doing "tummy time" anymore, she begins to cry.

Growing is hard. And its easy to forget all the difficulties we ourselves once accomplished. Learning to turn over is just the beginning of many frustrating challenges that lie ahead. Learning to walk, to ride a bike, on up to the first day of school. How scary that was! I remember my first day of Jr. High and being so incredibly nervous. I thought nothing would ever be so traumatizing. Like Evey, I was (at least on the inside) kicking and screaming. Yet, how simple it all was looking back now. Now, having completed many, many, many years of school.

But it never really goes away, does it? There is always another challenge that lies ahead. And though they don't call them "developmental milestones" once you reach a certain age, they are just that. And along with each milestone comes that maddening feeling of doing something you've never done before. Of trying to accomplish something new and scary that is no less as important as being able to roll over, and no less upsetting. There have been so many in my life. Traveling to a new country alone, going to law school, getting married, and most recently, having a baby are just a few that come to mind. Each one bringing its own set of kicking and screaming (sometimes literally).

And so, looking ahead at this year and all the things I so desperately want to accomplish with my career and ultimately my life... Worried about making the transition to private practice and all that that entails, I am no different than my two and half month old daughter. Yes, growing is hard.

I know she will eventually roll over. Then she'll do it all the time and we will have to constantly be on guard that she doesn't roll off of things. One day she'll play with other kids and do things like roll down grassy hills. She won't remember how much she cried trying to learn how. And I know that although difficult, each step we take, each developmental milestone in our lives is worth it. Even when its hard and we want to cry.

Rowan Rolls!

Rowan rolled over by herself today! She's such a strong baby. She's not even 3 months yet! She rolled from her belly to her back and once she had done it she did it every time she was placed on her belly. It was so cute. I'll try to capture it on video tomorrow.

Rowan and Evelyn on the move

Untitled from Mrs. Monkey on Vimeo.
This is my first attempt at making this kind of video. The video is kind of dark because I only had natural light on. That's Rowan in the beginning and then Evey in the end (she takes the bumbo from Ro-ro [complex plot, I know]).

Oh and you can click on the four arrows on the bottom of the video next to "Vimeo" and make the video full screen.

Last Week

This is my last week with the girls before I have to return to work. My time off has just gone by so quickly. I have loved every moment I have spent with them. They are both such incredible, wonderful children.




Rowan and I this morning. She fell asleep in my arms.

Father's Day Pictures

Evelyn













Rowan and Andre






















Christine, Patrick and Nathan

1st Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Mono!!

Shots!!

The girls had their 2 month doctor's visit today and got their first round of vaccines. Rowan weighed 10 pound 4 ounces and Evelyn weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces. The girls are really growing fast, its not our imagination after all. Both girls did remarkably well with the shot and only cried for a few seconds. The rotavirus vaccine was a little drink, so the girls only had one shot today of the DTaP. They don't seem to be having any side effects except for sleepiness which doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

We're following the vaccine schedule recommended by Dr. Sears instead of the schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. I thought our doc may give us some grief over that, but their office follows Dr. Sears schedule too for the most part. So instead of having their HIB, Pc, DTaP, Rotavirus, and Polio shots today, they only had their DTaP and Rotavirus. They'll receive their Pc and HIB next month, and their polio shot at 1 yr.

According to Dr. Sears, the schedule delays shots for diseases that a baby is extremely unlikely to catch during the first years of life and gives them after the more important shots are done. And it gives live virus vaccines one at a time so that a baby's immune system can deal with each disease separately.

The benefit of spacing the shots is that we can cut down on the amount of aluminum the girls are getting in each dose. Aluminum is added to the vaccines to help them work better. Its fine until it reaches toxic levels and then it can accumulate in the bone and brain. The FDA and AAP have documents that say aluminum can be a problem and even lead to neurological problems, but no one has studied the amount of aluminum in injections and specifically vaccines. We have healthy full-term babies with healthy kidneys so most likely they wouldn't have a problem, but why take the chance when we can just delay some of the shots.

The second benefit of spacing the injections, is that if the girls do have a reaction it will be easier to pinpoint which vaccine caused it. And its a reasonable precaution to limit potential side effects by not combining so many vaccines.

Our doctor's office said they follow this schedule for the most part, only exchanging the DTaP for the HIB vaccine during HIB season (which is not right now).

Eddie Izzard

Andre and I went to see Eddie Izzard's new tour "Stripped" last night. He is by far the funniest comedian I've ever seen. We had a fabulous time. Thanks Laura for watching the girls.

2 Months Old

Tomorrow our girls turn 2 months.

This is a picture of the girls at 2 weeks. Just two tiny little dolls. They didn't even weigh the 6 lbs they were born weighing in this picture (babies lose some weight after birth). Now our girls are so big. Rowan weighed 10 lbs yesterday and Evey is not too far behind. Their skinny little legs are now plump and round.

Wow, these past two months have really flown by and they've already grown so much. So have we. We have enjoyed every moment spent with them, they are so much fun to have in our lives. I can't imagine our life without them.

Tuesday, Mr. Mono's sister, Ivette, and her children, Isabella and Austin, came to see the babies. Its so wonderful that the girls have so many cousins. Isabella and Austin loved taking care of the babies too. Isabella even got Evelyn to burp--which is no small feat. Little Austin loved the girls and wanted to hold them and feed them all the time.

One thing I've noticed is how many boys are interested in babies. Taking the kids to my sister's house, my 12 year old nephew and his friends are always happy to hold and feed the babies. Its funny to see these little skater kids set down their skateboards and ooo and ahh over infants. I was at my sister's the other day and my nephew was having an impromptu pool party. He and another boy his age sat inside with me for a bit and gave the girls a bottle, while the girls at their party walked by, said "cute baby," and then went outside to swim. Granted they only stayed for a bit, there were, afterall, girls in bikinis outside, but the fact that they sat there at all is amazing.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see the time when boys thought babies were for girls is quickly passing and those ridiculous gender roles are fading away. I've heard so many stories from my parents generation of the men "never changing a diaper," or only wanting to do the fun stuff. And several of my friends have talked about their father's lack of participation and its impact on the family. My grandparents generation seemed to be even more divided along gender roles. (of course, this is a general notion and individual families may be different).

I'm not trying to imply that the men my own age prescribe to these notions. On the contrary, the majority of our male friends with children dote over their kids and do their fair share of parenting. Nevertheless, these are their own children and to see a teenage boy with his friends (when being "cool" is so important) dote over someone else's child seems to me to be yet another step in the right direction. So it was nice to see an even younger boy, little Austin, was equally enthralled with our babies and more than willing to help take care of them. Playing with the babies and playing with his Bionicles were equally acceptable fun things to do. cool.

We had a wonderful time with Andre's sister and her family. Her kids are growing so fast, and the thought that our kids will be growing up just as quickly made me a little sad at times. I suppose the only cure is to use each day as wisely as possible and spend lots of time together and enjoy it all.

Last Sunday, Mr. Mono, Thad, Stacie and I went to see our friend Bea's Roller Derby bout. Bea skates for the Big Easy Roller Girls in New Orleans.

Roller Derby is awesome, and while Andre and I want to encourage our daughters to pursue their own dreams and talents, and will be proud of them no matter what they decide to do, we nevertheless imagined the day when our own little Evey and Ro-ro skated in the roller derby.


It was really great to see Bea too, aka Beatrix Skiddo. Bea is an awesome skater and it was go cool to see her and the Big Easy Roller girls. Andre and I may have to buy season tickets next year.

Rowan and Evelyn in the morning

Rowan and Evelyn in the Morning from Leigh de la Reza on Vimeo.

Evelyn Skye

This is Evey this morning. She's 6 weeks old.

Rowan in the swing!

Evey Loves Elmo

My Aunt Robin sent the girls a package with lots of great gifts, including this tickle me Elmo.

Evelyn, who is almost the same size as Elmo, began to cry and I put the laughing (and vibrating) Elmo next to her and she quieted down immediately. It was very cute. Thanks Robin!

Newsflash: Papa's singing get approval from daughter

Now I never thought I had a great singing voice, but while I was chilling with Rowan this morning - singing a little ditty - I was on the receiving end of her first voluntary smile!

It was amazing! To watch her focusing on my face, and then crack into a little toothless grin

Melted my little heart...

Catching Up

Its been a while since I've posted. Time just flies when you're having fun (also when you're sleep deprived). So this post is mostly an update on what fun/ sleep deprivation we've been having.

Let me start off by saying that Rowan sleeps all the time (except at night). This is a rare photo of the girl actually awake, but she quickly fell back to sleep once the picture was taken. The obvious reason why she's sleeping so much is that she is growing so fast. She's noticeably bigger than her sister and is so strong. She can now hold her head up really well and enjoys sitting up (with help of course) She's also incredibly cute and its extremely difficult to resist pinching her chubby little legs.

This is actually a picture of Rowan and I at the Annual O'Henry Pun-off. Anyone who knows Andre knows he loves the O'Henry Pun-off, and is consequently, impossible to live with for about a week later as he attempts to pun nonstop. The pun-off was lots of fun though and quite crowded.

Here's a picture of Evey laughing at the pun-off. She must have her father's sense of humor.

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. This year, we didn't go out of town or do anything fancy to celebrate. We took the girls to have their pictures made and then spent the evening with friends. Yet, it was still a great day, like so many of our days together are. Andre is an amazing person and I love sharing my life with him. I'm looking forward to the next year and many more to come.


Now for baby-toes...(Rowan)













And angry babies...(Evey)

















Babies yawning...(Evey)

















And babies dreaming...(Rowan)

More mother's day pics

1st Mother's Day

We celebrated my first Mother's Day this past Sunday. The girls gave me the best present --they slept for 5 hours straight the night before--woke up, ate, then fell asleep again. Thanks kids!

I always saw mother's day as a day of giving thanks back to your mother. However, as a new mother myself this year I feel so thankful to my girls for making me a parent. They have brought so much happiness to our lives and we both just love them so much. Last year at this time Andre and I were seeing fertility doctors. And at a time when we thought we may not be able to have children, Andre gave me the sweetest little booties with the note that they were for our future child. Now, a year later we're celebrating Mother's Day with our twins. How wonderful is that?

Andre and I took my mother and grandmother to the Driskill 1886 Cafe for brunch. We had four generations all together.

Slings and things--Real men wear babies

This is a really cute picture of our friend Tim and Andre playing chess, each with a baby in the sling.

The girls love to be in slings. They'll sleep for hours and never seem to mind being jostled around. Its been great for us too and its one of the easiest ways to carry both twins (one in the sling, one in your arms). Andre has been able to fit both twins in one sling, but its sort of a challenge.