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.

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.

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!

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!