Happy Mother's Day!!!

As part of my gift to Molly for Mother’s Day, I’ve decided to post my inaugural blog. I have actually been planning to post this for a while now, hoping to surprise Molly on Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, she came out and begged me for a post for her present, so I had to ruin the surprise. Oh well. Molly has been asking me to post since day one of the blog. My resistance was due to a couple of factors. First and foremost, it’s impossible to compete with Molly’s blogging skills. She’s a wonderful writer, and I can’t thank her enough for chronicling the lives of our kids. I think the four of us will look back at the blog and really treasure the thoughts, stories and pictures. Molly set the bar so high that I thought anything I could write—especially coming this late in the game—would seem insignificant when compared to the effort Molly put forth and the product she created. Second, I think deep down it always seemed somewhat self-indulgent to write about yourself in a public forum for everyone to see. Who cares (besides us and our immediate family) about what C&D did or said today? Especially at first, I thought blogs were sort of creepy. However, I, as usual, have been proven wrong. I thoroughly enjoy reading all of our friends’ blogs, and it’s been a great way to keep in touch, without the hassle of actually having to talk to anyone.

Anyway, please forgive me in advance, as there is no way I can compare to Molly in my blogging skills, and there’s no way that I can capture 2+ years of happiness, frustration, and laughter in one blog post. I’m not promising prolific future posts, but at least this is a start.

I figured the best format for my first blog would be to simply chronicle a handful of all things I have loved about the past couple of years, with a particular focus on recent developments. So, here goes:

* I love watching C&D interact and become friends. Having twins has been undeniably difficult and frustrating at times, but watching the two of them play together makes up for all pity parties. Last night, as I was putting together their “secret caves” (ie. crib tents, which are designed to keep them from pulling a Greg Louganis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ2g1YjnM5g out of their cribs), the two of them wrestled and laughed and played with each other for 10 minutes, completely absorbed in each other. While they will always have moments of biting and (to come, I’m sure) cat fights, scratching and clawing, it’s unbelievably rewarding to watch them become best friends

* I love it how C&D say “withkaws” (ie whiskers). For some reason, I find this very cute. They keep a constant monitor on how often I shave. Given that I have the facial hair of a 12 year old, my facial hair patterns are pretty interesting, even to two year olds.
I love our nighttime routine. I often question whether or not C&D are OCD given how damn particular they are. The routine goes like this: Every night, the girls want Eskimo kisses from me. However, before I begin, I have to put on a hat. If I’m already wearing a hat, they make me take it off and put on another. Most times I don’t put on a hat they like, so they make me put on a different one. Once I’ve gotten the appropriate headgear on, they make me give Eskimo kisses to literally everything in their bed: stuffed animals, blankets, books, sippy cups, everything. They have to hand me each item individually. God forbid I reach in to speed up the process. Once I’ve finished rubbing my nose on Goldilocks has Chicken Pox and telling the book goodnight, only then am I allowed to give C&D an Eskimo kiss and a hug. The best part, though, is that they now demand to give me a kiss and end the routine with “Sleep tight, Daddy!” As long as they don’t make me start counting matches they spill on the ground, it’s cool with me.

*I love how impressionable they are. Despite the knock on my school, I have to admit that having D say “Duke is a safety school” or “You need a hug because Duke lost” every time I wear some sort of Duke paraphernalia is pretty damned funny. On the plus side, they will only watch basketball, football or Astwos baseball on TV. Pretty soon they’re going to be letting the dogs out at Stros games with their Sam.

*I love having someone around to finally share poop jokes with. I can’t help it; I’m my mother’s son and I have the sense of humor of a five year old. Unfortunately, one of Molly’s few downsides is that she doesn’t share my joy of bathroom humor. Nothing makes me laugh harder than hearing one of them say “Mommy, don’t pee in the shower” then giggle uncontrollably. Every once in a while I’ll walk past their room at night as they’re having their nightly pajama jammy jam, and I’ll hear one of the say with delight “I passed gas in my crib!” The other one will think it’s hysterical. Good times.

* I love D’s Cheshire cat smile

* I love it when we’re driving and C out of nowhere yells “Two hands while driving, Daddy.” She clearly channels her grandmother on that one. For good measure the other day, she threw in “…AND DON’T PICK YOUR NOSE!!”

* I love it when C or D will stop what they’re doing dead in their tracks, look at me, and say “Hi, Daddy!”

* More than anything, I love the indescribable happiness derived from having two little girls screech and run into my arms at the end of a long day at work. I know this tradition won’t last forever, so I wish I could somehow bottle it. As evidenced by C’s yelling at me “Daddy, go to work!” the other morning, I know their outwardly expressed devotion to their dad will one day end, but for now, there’s nothing better.

* Just as great, I love watching Molly as a mother. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to try to balance being a great mother and maintaining your identity as a person, a career woman, a friend, and a wife. I know Molly struggles with this daily, but I can’t imagine being any more proud of her. I feel unbelievably lucky to have her as a partner in crime, experiencing all the joy and frustrations of being a parent of two adorable little girls. Molly, thank you for everything. I love you very much.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY EVERYONE!