Catching Up

The babies are sleeping and I thought I would take a moment to catch up.

We didn't do anything special on the 4th of July. We went to Whole Foods to stock up on supplies. We were expecting Tropical Storm Cindy to hit later in the week, when we usually go. As usual, Carmen and David played the role of local celebrities, smiling and talking to customers and cashiers and letting anybody who so desired squeeze their yummy turkey-leg thighs. It seems that when people suspect twins, they lose all those usual social rules, and fingers point and children giggle and ladies ogle at the young couple carrying two little chubba-wubba babies, legs a-flopping, down the aisles. Arms extended, they leave their carts to have a touch.

Even though sometimes it make me cringe, I always let their fans experience the babies' soft, smooth skin. Some people approach them with a sense of wonder, others with the memory of their own children, others with thoughts of the children they hope someday to know.

At Central Market C&D have their own fan club, made up of cashiers and Foodies who have known them since they were just a couple of months old.

People also frequently ask about the baby wraps we use to carry C&D about. A demonstration is usually in order, and then an exchange of websites or e-mail addresses.

Needless to say, grocery trips can take hours, and are more an event than a chore. So we didn't feel sorry that we had no fireworks or BBQ on the Fourth of July. Getting provisions for the next week had been adventure and fun enough.

Carmen has added a musical, Tarzan-like yell to her list of vocal tricks. Her voice rises and falls, and she sounds like she's practicing for a charreada, or maybe imitating those Linda Ronstadt tracks she heard in the womb. Today she also perfected a series of growls, from a Roy Orbison Pretty Woman gargle to a gutteral, backwards snore. "Sprechen Deutsche?" I asked her at dinner today. Her noises follow her wherever she goes, in the swing, in the car, at the store, and must be released before every sleep.

David is my master of movement. He's always curling and opening his hand, extending his toes, wiggling them, kicking his legs. He wants to crawl but his crawling is a lot like my swimming--a whole lot of flailing and nobody going much of anywhere. He hasn't figure out that he needs to keep his back straight and butt up. He was very pleased to remain sitting up for so long yesterday. He needs help getting into position, but like everything else he will figure that out when he wants to.

They are both doing very well with the little baby potty. They are learning our cues, and we are beginning to learn their habits and patterns. We have a long way to go, yet, but the success is encouraging.

They are both also doing better in the car. We might try a longer (not long, just longer than 20 minutes) trip this weekend to see how far they will let us go before registering any serious complaints. Right now we hear an occasional mumble, some sucking and smacking, and a lot of singing on Carmen's part, but nothing like the wailing and weeping and whining of a month ago.

Tuesday I went to the gym in the late afternoon. While I ran on the indoor track David slept in the stroller while Carmen charmed the staff on the second floor. When David awoke he waited for me by talking and making motions to the cartoons on the large television. The cartoons didn't respond as the television was on mute, but David didn't seem to mind. After twenty five minutes Carmen became upset, so after a nice chat and thanks with the day care staff we all went home. (Ashley, when you called, I was getting them ready to go in the car. I had an appointment yesterday afternoon, and the Nancy & Leib meeting today. Will you be around this weekend?)

Well, that's basically it. Now we are all caught up.