Eating

Emma is one big eating machine at the moment! She cannot stop feeding at the moment. She's going through a growth spurt, by the look of things. The main thing I'm noticing is that she's found her voice, and she's having a good ol' time talking (if you can call oooooooh and aaaaaaaaaah talking) and cackling to herself, and also moving around the floor a lot more when she gets tummy time. I'm picturing the days of Emma being restfully immobile are coming to an end...

Emma is also having more immunization shots today. There goes that happy baby scenario for the rest of today! Hopefully she won't react too badly to it.

The twins had fun at my parents place this weekend gone. My folks said the girls couldn't stop eating! How annoying!! I mean, Lill and I have to beg, cajole, and threaten them to eat, and my folks couldn't keep up with the girls shovelling the stuff! Typical....


ODD SPOT: A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

P.S: Well there you go!

Snowbeast!

Had lunch at Alfred's Homestead this afternoon with Lill's family because it was her parents' 36th wedding anniversary (woohoo!), and so we celebrated in style! The twins, still being babysat by my folks, did not come, but Emma did. Lill dressed her up in this white ensemble with white fur all over it that I immediately dubbed her the snowbeast! Of course, this has me in the doghouse for the rest of the day, but that's O.K., it's the price you pay for being witty!

The food was very nice; a buffet with seafood, roasts, cold meats, pastas, potato, and sweets. Even I allowed myself a taste of the cheesecake on offer there, but, sigh, it's not the same as the cheesecake at The Cheesecake Shop! Or the caramel Mudcake at The Cheesecake Shop! Now I've done it, I've depressed myself for the rest of this Sunday!

Damn!...

ODD SPOT: In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter".

P.S: And who said Catholics don't know how to have a good time...!!!

Petey's Birthday

We went to a chinese restaurant for Pete's birthday tonight. The twins are being babysat by my parents, so we only had Emma with us. When we arrived there, Emma was an instant hit (of course!).

Many of Petey's friend's are single, and it's funny to see the guys looking at our baby and going ga-ga over her! Emma put on the charm like only she can, and she was placid, happy and go-lucky almost all night, hardly cried at all! There was a couple there (no kids yet), and the girl wanted to hold Emma all night, and her husband looked on a little nervously, wondering if plans for the next nine months had just changed!!!

Now whenever we go to a chinese restaurant, obviously I can't order ravioli! But I do have a favourite chinese dish: Monoglian Beef! Most times I don't see it on a menu, but they will make it for you, if asked. Well, when that baby came sizzling out of the kitchen and onto our table, I was ready to re-commence my love affair with this dish!!! The problem was...so did everyone else! Everybody wanted a taste, and tonight it was especially good, so I had to share my beloved with everybody!!!

Going to Alfred's Homestead tomorrow for lunch tomorrow. No sharing will be had by any there, I can assure you!!!

ODD SPOT: In Nevada sex without a condom is considered illegal

P.S: So, does this mean you get arrested if you get pregnant!?

Shake and Bake!

Emma has this constant sticking-her-tongue-out thing happening - what's up with that!? I suspect she may be using her tongue like that to give her gums something to clench on to. I mean, if you give her anything, the first thing she does is stick it in her mouth anyway! Funniest thing, though, is that while Emma's motor coordination skills are improving, she still has this hit-and-miss, spasmotic like reaction when she tries to grab something. You know how in the movies when someone is struck by lightning, they always do that shaking spazz like thing every thirty seconds or so, and how much fun it is to put something in their hand, like a cup of coffee or a bag of popcorn, and watch what happens when the next 30 seconds rolls around? That's what it's like with Emma at the moment!

Ah, I'm only fun-ing!!! Still....(shake! giggle! giggle!)

Lill tried feeding Emma mashed potato, and she loved it! And so it begins! Soon it will be all sorts of mashed this and that...I'm not looking forward to those nappy changes, you know!

ODD SPOT: Romance statisticians have calculated that the odds run 70 to one that you won't marry any of the boys in the office where you work. About 100 to one you won't marry your boss, and 1700 to one that you won't marry your doctor.

P.S: My doctor is about 80 years old and has prostate problems! I hope he doesn't propose to me, I'd hate to break it to him...

Dance Cycle

Teaching the twins to ride tricycles today, but they refuse to use the pedals. They're old enough to do it, and do have the leg power to pedal, but they're used to just pushing themselves along the ground with their feet! Oh well, it's only their first day. But if I'm going to have this much trouble with tricycles, can you imagine when they move on to bicycles!!?? Or unicycles....!!!

Emma likes dancing. I put some nice music on, hold her in the waltz position, and take her for a spin. I love the way her face lights up! She likes the fast jives, but I think she likes the sloooow dancing way too much for my liking! With daddy it's alright, but any other boy better be wearing a straitjacket before he dances with any of my girls!!!

ODD SPOT: The search engine Google got its name from the word ‘googol’, which refers to the number one with a hundred zeros after it.

P.S: Okay, maybe I won't have to worry about unicycles!

Quiet Time

The twins slept at the inlaws last night, so a reprieve this morning, and back to quiet time for me. And, after a little self-induced late night last night, I definitely needed that little quiet time!!!

Emma's still got a little bit of a cold, but she's over the worst of it. She's such a happy little baby, all smilie and everything...obviously she's taking something more than Panadol to get her through the day! I'm going to have to hire a detective and have her followed, see who her supplier is...and have some of that stuff myself!!! It's funny, once they're older, you'd think things would settle down, but being a parent never stops, and therefore things NEVER settle down, they just change...hey, when you sign up for this gig, you gotta be in it for the long haul!!!

ODD SPOT: Price of a new bride in Jamestown when the English first settled there was 120 pounds (54kg) of tobacco.

P.S: Highway robbery!!!

Living Daylights

Okay, now both twins are getting up in the morning the same time I am! There goes my morning quiet time! It's this daylight saving thingie that hasn't kicked in yet! The mornings are just so bright and cheerful, dammit!!!

Emma's on the mend, thank goodness! Last night, she ate a fair bit of Farex, which was great. Next, we'll be trying mashed fruit and vegies. Won't that just make her dear little poos a delight the next few weeks...!!!

When Emma's sick, I have to administer Panadol with a small syringe. You have to time it just right so that she's reflexively swallowing when you push the plunger in her mouth! Well, whenever she sees the syringe now, she turns her head this way and that ready to avoid me putting it in her mouth. And she balloons her cheeks and starts puffing in anticipation of blowing the medicine out when I try and plunger it in her mouth! She's a sneaky, adaptable little thing, my little Emma! Definitely mother's little daughter...!!!

ODD SPOT: Turtles can breathe through their butts.

P.S: Yeah, I know some people like that...!!!

Nice Weather

Continuing the nice weather now that we're not at Rye, the twins have gone with their grandparents to feed the ducks at the lake! Normally on a workday I'm the only one up in the morning grabbing a shower and getting dressed for work. Jessica, however, is up unusually early. Now, Jessica is the one who starts and ends every sentence with "Dad" or "Mum", depending on which poor schmuck is on the receiving end. This morning, it was me! In the space of thirty seconds, I counted 23 "Dads" and in that whole time she only managed to convey one and a half normal sentences! I didn't even have to open my mouth once! I could "Mmm" a whole conversation with Jess and she'd never know the difference!

Emma's cold seems to be improving, but we'll keep an eye on her symptoms. As long as she's feeding regularly, and her temperature is down, then she should be fine.

ODD SPOT: Married men revealed that they do this twice as often as single men. Change their underwear.

P.S: Is that because single men prefer to go commando!!??

Parent Love

A beautiful sunny day today...the day after we come back from Rye, of course! Tough night last night, though. Emma was unsettled, but finally I was able to get to bed by 1am. You know, when the girls grow up, they will never really know or realise these things that we do for them until much later in life. I never thought about how much my parent's really did for me until I had children myself. You may know it in your head, but you'll never know it in your heart the love and sacrifice parents can go through in the first few years of a child's precious life!

To Mum and Dad, I can never say thank you enough!

ODD SPOT: Surgeons who listen to music during operations perform better than those who don't.

P.S: I find it hard to believe a surgeon listening to Black Sabbath is doing good things to my insides...!

Weekend Away

Well, we're back from Rye earlier than expected, but we still did well nonetheless. Two nights up there, with a 4 month old baby and two sick girls was a pretty good feat. The sick ones have colds all round, but plenty of fluids and panadol are keeping it under control. Though Lill and I are pretty tired, all in all we're pretty happy with the outcome. We mainly wanted a change of scenery, and to see if we could get Emma to sleep outside of the comfort of her own home. First night was pretty bad, but the second night was better.

Glad to be home, though. Some quick household chores and then it's settle down for a quiet evening!

ODD SPOT: Americans consume 42 tons of Aspirin per day.

P.S: I could do with that much about now...

Labels

Well, I've officially declared Emma's hair a "NO STYLE ZONE"! Honestly, I give up! We wash it, we comb it, we brush it, we blow wave it, we put product in it, we even lick it down in place...the only thing we haven't used is the straightening irons on it! Actually, I just saw a set in the bathroom. Mmmmmm....

Sarah is such a sneaky cunning thing! I bought the twins toy mobile phones, just like their daddy's, but theirs is pink. Anyway, Lill labels one "Jessica" with a sticky label, because even though both phones are supposedly the same, the girls still fight over the same one - Jessica's! So what does Sarah do? When she gets the chance, she grabs Jessica's phone, and peels off the label! When Jessica looks for her phone, she finds both phones have no labels, and yells, "Sarah took my name!" and when you query Sarah, her usual reply is either, "Emma did it!" or "I was joking, daddy!" Does she even know what joking means at the tender age of 3?

ODD SPOT: The primary ambition of a Zulu's wife is to help her husband acquire sufficient means to buy another wife...so they can split the chores.

P.S: Another wife!? Are they serious!!?? I think a laptop is a better investment...

Someone To Watch Over Me

I love how Emma can be a real couch potato and sit there and watch a whole show without blinking. I wonder who she takes after on that score...

But it's amazing to see how intently Emma watches the twins. When she wakes up, and we take her out of her room, she's swiveling her head this way and that, looking, looking, looking...and then when she spots the twins, she puts on this toothless grin and watches them more closely than any T.V. show!

Emma's now doing rolls and spins....I make her sound like a plane, don't I!? Anyway, she's gaining more muscle tone and motor coordination skills so she's not hitting herself in the head with a toy as often, and she'll shove anything in her mouth too, which may be a good thing at the moment, what with the way she's drooling like Niagra Falls - half the time she looks like a glazed donut!!!

Ah yes, our little girl is growing up!

ODD SPOT: A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.

P.S: Yeah, bring home the bacon!!!

Hold The Phone

It's interesting to see the twins develop their own phone etiquette over time. If you hand the phone over to Jessica, she's all polite and manners, asks how are you, what are you doing, and then proceeds to tell you about her day in the minutest of details, and then says I love you, and then hands back the phone. Sarah...if you try and hand her the phone, there is a 60% chance that she doesn't want to speak, no matter who it is, especially if her favourite show is on! Of the 40%, it depends on who it is. Luckily, I'm in the 40%! When she speaks to me, it's "Hi daddy, I was cheeky..." or other statements like this, and no conversation on the phone lasts longer than a minute with her! In the future, I'm not sure which of their boyfriends I pity - the one who will be stuck on the phone with Jessica for goodness knows how long, or the one who has a 40% chance of speaking to Sarah and only having a minute to spill his guts about how he feels about her before she hangs up!

Hey, I'm trying to look on the bright side of having teenage daughters here! Let me bask in my delusions while I can...

ODD SPOT: What is one of the most difficult items for sewage works to handle, as it is insoluble, yet fine enough to pass through most filtration systems? (Every month Melbourne Water removes over a ton of this substance from its water treatment plants, whereupon it is taken away to a landfill site and buried). You guessed it - pubic hair.

P.S: Someone should make Afro wigs out of them...what an entrepreneurial opportunity! I reckon you could make millions! There's plenty of raw material...

Eat And Sleep

Watched Emma try to eat Farex (baby rice) today. She didn't know what to do with it, rolled it across her tongue a couple of times, then kept spitting it out. Funniest thing, but I guess you had to be there...

Jessica had a nightmare early this morning. She's had a few recently. I've noted she has a very creative edge to her personality: she loves to draw, dance, and make up stories. Unfortunately, her active imagination seems to have a bit of a side-effect!

ODD SPOT: A picture of an Indian chief was on the first bottles of Coppertone, accompanied by the slogan "Don't be a Paleface." Little Miss Coppertone replaced him in 1953.

P.S: Those were the days when you could be politically incorrect...!

Wiggle It

Yesterday we took the girls to a place in Greensborough called Wiggle It. It's one of those indoor children playcentres which has all those cool toys, activities, and playground equipment that we obviously never had when we were young! My parents idea of fun was to turn on the fire hydrant and see which one of us buckled first!!!

Seriously though, my girls loved it, running riot and disappearing for minutes at a time, finding nooks and crannies in which to hide in because obviously I need at least 10 years taken off my life! Did manage to sit down one stage, have a nice cuppa and have a chat with Lill, take a breath, and just take in that whole family thingie. After basking in that Andrea Bocelli event, and then spending a nice Sunday like that, I mean, what is life all about if you can't take a step back and appreciate the things you have and the things you've done. Looking forward to Emma taking a few years off my life!!!

Ah, these philosophical moods...!

ODD SPOT: Girls get about five times as many warts as do boys.

P.S: Girl germs are so much more potent than boys germs...!!!

Once In A Lifetime

We went to the Andrea Bocelli concert last night. For us, this was the highlight of the year (except for Emma's birth of course). We had to park so far away it took us 20 minutes to walk to the Rod Laver venue. But we got there just in time, and from the moment the orchestra started to the final ovation, it was nothing short of pure magic wrapped in stereo! Andrea Bocelli was brilliant and yet unassuming in his manners and demeanour, despite his superstar status; the Italian soprano, Maria Luigia Borsi, who accompanied him, was an amazing woman whose voice was fantastic. The first song she sang, O Mio Bambino Caro, you could tell the entire audience was stunned by her rendition, and showed it in their applause! And then at the end when Andrea Bocelli sang three of my favourite songs as encores (Sogno, La Preghiera and Con Te Partiro)...well, let's say a lifetime dream had been fulfilled! I know this has nothing to do with Emma or the twins, but I believe this will make an excellent story for me to tell the girls when they're older!

ODD SPOT: Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

P.S: Heck of a way to lose weight...

Love Actually

The twins have really become daddy's girls at the moment, trying to please me and calling me "My Daddy!" all the time, and crying at the drop of the hat if I raise my voice one octave against them. Except for the last bit, I'm really enjoying it all, basking in their unconditional love, as I realise there will come a time when daddy will not be the "be all" and "end all" in their lives. Ah, they grow up so quickly...

While Emma Blog will end in the near future, I have it in mind to create a another, more general blog which will feature more wider ranging topics than just the Emma or the twins, though not as religiously updated as this one is. Thinking, thinking, thinking...


ODD SPOT: The ladies of old Rome customarily put perfumed swan's fat in their bathtubs filled with donkey milk.


P.S: Ah, "Oil of Animal Farm" for that rustic urban fragrance...

Dummies R Not Us!

Looks like the sleeping patterns that we are trying to instill in Emma are taking hold. Not only that, Lill's doing a fabulous job of getting Emma to go down (to sleep) quickly and with minimal fuss! What a wonder Mum!!! And not only that, Emma's doing all this without a dummy! Yep, you heard me, Emma does not need or use a dummy! You can thank Lill for that little marvel. She doesn't believe in them. We almost had a dummy free zone with the twins when they were babies, but I panicked at one stage, both babies were crying, and I couldn't settle them both at once, so I used dummies. And while that did work, it took about a month before Lill could get them to settle without the dummies again. Sorry about that, chief!

The good thing about this is that Emma will not have crooked teeth from excessive sucking, and she won't have big fat red fish lips either! Mind you, she could do with a building up of her lips if she wants to have that sensual Iannello look....(bucket pu-lease!).

ODD SPOT: Most lipstick contains fish scales.

P.S: All twelve responses I have for the above will have me slain on the spot, so I will zip it!!!

Trends

Emma is dribbling like a Harlem Globetrotter at the moment, so we're expecting teeth to pop out any moment now. She's outgrown many of her body suits, and half her wardrobe is already obsolete. Obviously, this trend is something girls carry with them into adulthood...

Sarah and Jessica are going through a draw on everything phase. Most especially Sarah, though. Not content with just drawing on paper, blackboards and whiteboards, they also wants to draw on walls, mirrors, couches, blankets, and their face, arms and legs. Again, trends that girls seem to carry with them into adulthood...

ODD SPOT: Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

P.S: And my younger brother's dog, Ricky. Man, that dog would try and do everybody everywhere anytime anyplace...!!!

They're Back!

The twins have been at their grandparents for the last three days, making it the longest they've ever been away from us. The house has sure been quiet without them, and while it's been nice, I've sure missed them! Bring on that beautiful noise...

We're trying to change Emma's sleep patterns at the moment. The problem is she hasn't been sleeping well at night, because she prefers to feed more at night which results in more wake periods, and less sleep! So now Lill will try and bulk her up with feeds during the day, the theory being at night she'll sleep through longer because she'll be full. Here's hoping...

ODD SPOT: Did you know a fart is composed of 59% nitrogen, 21% hydrogen and 9% carbon dioxide?

P.S: Yeah right, what they don't mention is the secret ingredient some people put in to give it that extra flavour!!!

Last Great Act Of Defiance

Just on the same theme, I remember my friend Ren also giving me a T-Shirt many birthdays ago with the following picture on it:

Don't know why I'm reminiscing about these couple of things. I wonder what my girls would make of daddy's sense of humour?

Short and Sweet

Emma visited the Health Nurse yesterday. And here are the results from that draw:

Weight: 5.29kg
Head Circumference: 59cm
Height: 38cm

And the supplementary number: Emma has gained 430 grams in 4 weeks, which is average for someone of her....demeanour! I'm chuckling at the moment because Lill said 38cm is a bit small for a baby of her age, which means that she's going to be a little shortie like her mother! Ah, yes, I know, that comment is going to cost me dearly, but what the heck, no guts, no glory!

I love that expression, by the way! I remember during my LaTrobe Uni days when that phrase used to be a catch cry for my friends and I. For one of my birthdays back then, I got the perfect mug, which I used all the time. We were inseperable (click on it to get the bigger picture!):

I would often look at that little knight and think it was me, and that dragon represented the things that I'd have to overcome that sometimes seemed silly yet insurmountable.

Sigh! I miss that mug...

ODD SPOT: The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

P.S: Let's not go there, shall we!!??

Father's Day

What can I say, I definitely look forward to this every year! I'm still in bed, of course, when the twins come bouncing in, jumping on the bed, yelling "Happy Father's Day" and "I love you, daddy!". Hugs and kisses ensue, the twins are excited, and of course, breakfast in bed. The presents come out, the twins are too excited to wait for me to open them, so they tear into them, and this year: a T-shirt, a jumper....and the first three seasons of Babylon 5! Do these guys love me or what!!?? (Thanks Lill, my dear heart!). We all tumble into the bed, yelling and screaming, laughing and giggling, knowing for a short time what pure innocence and joy is through their eyes! I take the time to savour it, because they really do grow up so quickly. I just wish Emma is old enough to be part of this, but she's still deep asleep. Babies need to do, what they need to do. But no matter, later on, when Emma woke up, I spent some time with her and eating up those cheeky toothless grins and munching on those bubble cheeks of hers!

We had lunch at Lill's parents place, and dinner at my parent's place. A big day had by all. I definitely will treasure this day for years to come. I can only hope I can make it just as memorable for Lill on Mother's Day, as she helped make it for me. Thank you, my baby doll, I love you with all my heart and soul! Did I mention I had to wear a badge all day today that said, "Daddy Rocks!". No? Oh, the burden of it all!!!

ODD SPOT: Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys?
Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

P.S: I prefer the names Moe, Larry, and Curly Joe myself...

Grin And Bear It!

It's been wonderful having Lill blog for the last few days. I've had a bit of a break while I charged my creative batteries. Also, as Lill may have mentioned, we have a timeline for when we want the blog to end, and so it gives Lill a chance to blog a few things before that time comes. It won't be a precise time, but we have an idea of whereabouts the blog will come at an end. But it won't be for a while, and there's still a few things I'd like to say. Not sure if that's a good thing, but...what the heck, it's my blog!

Emma is such a sneaky thing! She's really learned to turn on that charm. She loves to be picked up and cuddled, and you should see the grins and smiles she pulls to try and get me to pick her up! Her eyes crinkle up, she turns her head away and does this shy cute thing, oh man, either Lill taught her secretly or it's an innate genetic thing on the mother's side! Even the twins do it, but they've refined it and made it an art form! I'm doomed!!! On the bright side, their future husbands will be the recipients of this charm. And me, I'll be free! Free!!! Oh yeah, right. I forgot Lill! Okay, I'll never be free! Woe unto me....

ODD SPOT: For two years, during the 1970s, Mattel marketed a doll called "Growing Up Skipper".
Her breasts grew when her arm was turned.

P.S: Damn, no wonder the girls of my generation are so messed up!!!

P.P.S: Kidding...!