Keeping Up with The Twins: An update... from sleepy parents!

Well life trucks on with Austin and Malia at home, and the learning process continues. I think we both expected to have this little sleep, but I think there was some disconnect as to how hard performing the rest of our daily tasks would become as a result. Inherent to baby care is a lot of cleaning/hygiene-related tasks, which on top of all the diaper changing and feeding schedules is a whole bunch of laundry and a ridiculous amount of bottle washing and sterilization. Perhaps if this were our second go-around with the second kid, having been through it all with a first child, we might have a better order for all of this. But since we have to learn it all in one shot, we're just treading water with the rigors of parenting twins. Honestly, we're doing just fine with it, but suffice to say, it's a little busy around here!

But the kids are doing great; somehow managing a normal infancy despite our flailing. Austin is getting so big that he no longer fits in his preemie clothes. Malia is doing great, but still not quite increasing her appetite at the rate her brother did at this size, so her weight has increased a little slower we think. She tends to be a bit finicky with the formula feeds; either spitting up because she can't expel a burp, or falling short of completing the feed because she's tired. We'll have a better idea of where we stand at her checkup with the docs next week.

Cheryl and I decided to hit the road and join the Nodalo family last weekend out in Palm Desert for a couple of days at their timeshare. It was worth the long-haul, but it was our first overnight roadie with the babies. We had some good quality time, but nights were crazy trying to get the right formula concoction. Once we figured out that the babies like Similac a lot better than Enfamil, we had happy babies and parents.

Nana Rose with Austin

We got good use of our stroller's bassinet conversion, which served as their travel abode in the desert

Talen, crazy hair, and holding Miss Malia

The twins with Lolo and Nana Nodalo and their cousins Talen and Avery

Naptime side-by-side

On the way home we stopped by my grandmother's house for her first introduction to the babies. She's waited anxiously for months to meet her youngest (and probably last) great-grandchildren. We were thrilled to bring them all together. My parents, brother Kurt, and niece Rylan also stopped by, and it was Rylan's first time meeting the twins as well.

Popo with Malia

Nana Vlasich and Austin

Cousin Rylan with Malia, thrilled for another girl playmate in the family

Popo with Austin

Uncle Kurt with Malia

This week the babies seemed proficient enough at the bottle feedings that we could attempt to tandem feed them occasionally. Since I'm back at work for a morning field route, she's on her own for a least one, sometimes two of the feeds. But it actually works pretty well, and it's nice to knock it out in one shot.

Cheryl with the tandem duties

And... my turn

And finally, we took them to the final Long Beach concert in the park of the season. Cheryl exploited the chance to dress the babies up in some stylish gear, so here are the pics: