My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Mark your calendars, everyone – today is the day that Becky rolled from her back to her tummy!  We’ve known for a few weeks now that she was getting close, since she would roll onto her side but just couldn’t finish the job.  Well, maybe the problem was insufficient motivation.  I recently bought a new book for the girls, and today I set it beside Becky while she was playing on her back.  She spotted it out of the corner of her eye and started reaching for it.  She stretched and stretched and wiggled her fingertips and just couldn’t quite grasp it from her supine position.  So, she swung both her legs up into the air and over toward the book until she was lying on her side with her arm pinned under her.  She huffed and puffed, and perhaps spurred on by my frantic cheering, she finally wriggled her way over until she was on her tummy!  Triumphant, she gave the book a good thwack with her hand and sent it flying.  I guess she views books more as punching bags than mental stimulation at this point.  I hope she long continues to consider books to be worth reaching for!

Here’s Becky reaching for the book once she’s already on her tummy:

I love Becky’s exultant grin, now that she’s mastered the back-to-front maneuver:

And what, you may ask, was Susie doing this whole time?  She was keeping an eye on the proceedings, memorizing Becky’s every move.  This way, when she’s good and ready, she’ll know just what to do!

Susie found the whole affair quite amusing.  While Becky was on her stomach, she let out a giant belch, and Susie actually laughed!  I’m afraid Susie’s love-affair with bodily functions is only getting started, if she’s anything like her dad!

It was quite a day! 

Yesterday was a momentous day.  It was my first time back at the office (as an employee, rather than a visitor) since May 15, 2008.  May 15th was a Thursday, and when I said goodbye to my co-workers for a long weekend, I fully expected to be back at work the following week.  I left multiple projects partly finished on my desk, I had post-it notes stuck all over my computer with reminders of tasks to be accomplished, I even left my raincoat in the office closet.  Little did I know that my life would change the very next day, and I wouldn’t be back at work for over nine months.  Friday, May 16th, Jim and I drove to the hospital for an ultrasound appointment.  It was a cool, rainy morning, and I remember anxiously awaiting warmer days so I could wear all my adorable new maternity clothes to work.  Needless to say, I never got to wear those outfits outside the hospital.  The next time I stepped foot outside, it was August and I was no longer in need of maternity clothes (well, that’s not quite true, since it took me a while to lose my twin pregnancy weight…but I didn’t get nearly as much use out of those clothes as I had planned!). 

Anyway, my return to the office was long overdue.  I was loathe to leave the girls even for the few hours I would be at work, but I was extremely thankful that Jim’s mom was willing and able to watch them for me.  I knew they were in good hands.  I was surprised at how emotional I became saying goodbye to them yesterday morning.  I was only going to be gone for about six hours, but that was the longest stretch we had been apart.  I had never missed a feeding before, and I was worried about how they’d do without me.  Needless to say, the separation bothered me much more than them.  They behaved beautifully for my mother-in-law, and didn’t seem to miss me at all.  My mom asked me if I minded the fact that the girls thrived in my absence, and I can honestly say that I was thrilled.   I perhaps wouldn’t be so happy about their independence if I anticipated leaving them frequently – I don’t want to be replaced, after all!   But I am so thankful that I don’t have to work full-time, that I have family to baby-sit the girls, and that my employer has been very flexible with my work schedule.  I only plan to work two to four days a month, and this arrangement works perfectly.  The girls get to have a fun day with their grandma, and I get to have a day where I exercise parts of my brain that do not involve the memorization of “Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?” and get to socialize with girls who are unlikely to burst into tears from fatigue or hunger (well, perhaps after a really long, hard day at the office, a few tears of frustration might be shed, but at least I wouldn’t be called upon to sing to anybody for soothing purposes!). 

When I put the girls down on the floor, they were facing the same way, with their feet at the bottom edge of the play mat.  When I went to check on them a few minutes later, I found they had scooched to these positions:

I fear that life is going to get a lot more chaotic very soon!  Crawling can’t be far behind…

Here’s a link to a blog posting about motherhood that I found amusing:

Motherhood in Stages

Although I don’t think I’ve been a mother long enough to advance into the later stages, I admit that I’ve vacillated between Stage 1 and Stage 2, depending on how much sleep I’ve gotten and how many diapers I’ve had to change in a 24-hour period.  However, I can already relate to aspects of the later stages, such as the carelessness that characterizes Stage 3: “Your clothes are stained with bodily fluids of your children and you don’t even notice or care.”  Case in point: Much to Jim’s chagrin, I often forgo cleaning off the baby spit-up from my shoulders and simply smear it into the T-shirt and hope that it evaporates.  Motherhood has not only widened my waistline,  it’s also blunted my gag reflex and blinded my eyes to what normal people consider unsightly stains.  It’s not “spit-up” to me – it’s evidence of a much-appreciated, much-digested meal.     

Jim and Susie acted as arm-chair quarterbacks for our across-the-street neighbors as they attempted to get their tractor-trailer unstuck from the snow.  It was a long process, but someone had to watch.  Daddy dutifully explained each step in the process.  Susie now has an early lesson in using a winch, straps and the laws of physics to tow out a stubborn truck.  I’m sure her Daddy is looking forward to the  first time he can coach her through the same process with her behind the wheel.  Mama probably won’t be watching from the window, however.  I’ll be burying my head in the snow!