March 15, 2012

March Madness Day One

Jamie and her friends are in South Carolina for Amanda Sims' bachelorette party. Leaving me at home with the twins to run daddy daycare.

Jamie had a 8 am flight, so she was out of the house just after 6. That left me to wake the girls up, feed them and dress them; chores we typically tag team each morning. The twins usually wake us up by 7:15, but this morning they slept until 8. Totally awesome, except with mom gone their schedule was already in danger of being utterly wacky. Rather than be cautious I opted to feed them solids for breakfast...for the first time. Thankfully both girls enjoyed their oatmeal with bananas and finished their bottles!

After breakfast we played with blocks and read a few books. Even though they had slept in, both girls showed signs of being tired at 10 am. Amazingly, Paige slept for an hour and a half. I entertained Paige until noon when I decided I had better wake Lilly up for lunch. The girls rarely sleep this long for Jamie, score one for daddy!

After lunch the girls and I got a surprise visit from Grandma and Grandpa Avery. They had taken the twins' nearly three year old cousin Avery (confusing I know) skiing at Sandia. It's always fun to watch Avery interact with the girls she usually gets Paige to laugh. While I made bottles Grandma very nicely got the girls dressed in the clothes I had laid out- their typical Lobo game day garb.

Shortly thereafter the Avery's left and my parents arrived. As I said, Game Day! My parents were nice enough to watch the girls so I could meet David and Leigh Anna to watch the Lobos beat Long Beach State 75 - 68 in the first round of the NCAA tournament. As soon as the game was over I rushed home.

The girls had been good for my parents, but had only slept twenty minutes. A recipe which can make the six to seven o'clock hour a real nightmare. Hoping for the best I fed the girls bananas at 5:30. After dinner we played with cups and stacking rings. Though obviously tired the girls did great. Paige did get fussy around 6:40, but it was no big deal. After changing the girls into their pajamas I fed them their nighttime bottles. During the feed both girls passed out, making it incredibly easy to put them to bed.

March Madness Day One was a resounding success: the girls got a double helping of grandparents, I was able to catch the Lobo game, and the girls went to sleep easily. My only fear is that the day went so well I'm about to enter a nightmare.

January 15, 2012

Baby Programming

From time to time I have held the girls on my lap while I program. The rhythmic, swiftly paced succession of keys captivating their attention while occasionally lulling them to sleep. (I'm proud of the previous sentence.)

Sleeping was obviously not on the agenda in this webcam photo from December.
A week ago Lilly stopped being an observer and reached for the keyboard.


In the above clip I am obviously a very proud father. Her banging opened a few programs including Notepad, resulting in arguably the most important character string every typed.
vbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvg/bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
I am sure I have broken some parenting rule by having the girls occasionally hang out on my lap while I use the computer, but Lilly has obviously learned from the experience. I would love to give the girls a keyboard to play with but at this point I would be afraid of them swallowing one of the keys. For now it will be fun to let them occasionally bang on the keys in a supervised setting.

I would feel remiss if I did not point out that at home I use a Microsoft Natural Keyboard Elite from 1998, while not as loud as the 1984 IBM Model M I use at work it still has a nice clickety-clack sound. For those of scratching your heads, I am not the only programmer with a keyboard addiction preference.

January 07, 2012

Steele Babies In Plain Sight

I wondered in Steele Baby might be Babies how I was going to pay for college.
Jamie swears that upon hearing this news [that we were having twins] I went white as a sheet. I am sure I did, as the first thought that raced through my mind was “how am I going to pay for college?”
Amazingly the girls have already started to help dad with that problem. Exactly 364 days after we found out we were having twins, the girls "auditioned" and were cast to play the baby of Mary Shannon the main character on In Plain Sight.

In Plain Sight Poster

The entire casting began as something of a lark. A friend of mine sent me an advertisement for a casting call. Mostly tongue in cheek I forwarded it to Jamie and said we should do this. As the weeks progressed and the deadline for submission loomed it seemed less like a joke. Finally, the night of the deadline we submitted a few photos and other casting information.


Almost a month later Jamie and I found ourselves in a room with eight other sets of twins. Out of the eight Lilly and Paige were selected with another set to play Mary's baby. Now the girls are being sent "pages" and photo doubles are being cast for them. As you might expect it's a bit of a whirlwind. This just sort of happened, but we are definitely excited it did!

January 01, 2012

Little Miracles


I am feeling extremely nostalgic today as I reflect back on 2011 as the year that I will never forget. I have always had the feeling that something extraordinary would happen to me...little did I know it would be in the form of two of the most beautiful human beings that I have ever laid my eyes on.  January 5th, 2011 is the day that Andrew and I found out we were going to have twins.  One year later as I sit in our home office typing this post, the girls play happily on the floor and stare at each other smiling. What a difference a year makes.
I am so thankful every day for my two little miracles, Lilly and Paige.



Happy New Year!