A Lot To Give Thanks For

Mason and Ike’s first Thanksgiving meal was perfect. Unfortunately for them (mostly Mason), they didn’t get a chance to sample any of the wonderful turkey, ham, dressing, or green bean casserole, just their same old baby formula. But just having them at the table with us in their carriers (see photo to left) was special, and they didn’t make a peep the entire meal! Just think, next year they will be in high chairs.

As mentioned in my previous post, we spent Thanksgiving in Greensboro with Brooks’ family. Her uncle Mason and aunt Ann were so nice to host all of us, including Brooks’ grandparents (Papa and Gamommie), at Greensboro Country Club. A big thanks goes ou to them. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed showing off Mason and Ike to all of our friends. You’ll notice in the photos that Brooks had special personalized Thanksgiving outfits made for them. I'm not sure if the 'shell-shocked' look on their faces is from having to wear a personalized outfit or from having the circulation cut off in their legs from the knee socks.

Tumbleweeds

Only one day away from Mason and Ike’s first Thanksgiving, which they will be spending at Greensboro Country Club in their new Thanksgiving outfits that Brooks bought them. We’re still trying to master the art of getting a full-night’s sleep. Mason, who had been a pro when it came to sleeping through the night, has learned a new trick that inevitably wakes her up. She recently taught herself how to whip her left leg around and roll over onto her stomach. However, the problem is that she likes to perform this trick in her crib at night, but she hasn’t yet perfected the art of rolling back over onto her back. This is a problem for whoever has night duty. When Mason gets tired of being on her stomach, she starts crying for Brooks or me to come into the nursery and flip her around. There goes any chance we have at a good night’s sleep because now we have to worry about TWO babies getting up.

Ike is still Ike. There aren’t many constants in life, but Ike NOT sleeping through the night is still one. Death, taxes, the liberal media, UNC football choking …. He has turned into quite the little acrobat. He’s been rolling over onto his stomach and then back onto his back for a few weeks. Now he is just itching to try to walk. I can pull him up by his arms and he will fully support himself with his legs, break out into a huge smile and scream for joy, and then try to take a few steps as I guide him along. It’s hard to believe that he’s doing this at only four months. The more we analyze his stature and build the more we think he’s going to be one heck of an athlete. Okay, maybe this sounds a little bit like Earl Woods or Richard Williams, but at some point I’ll just have to get him to concentrate on the sport that pays the best.

Once again, we’ve had a busy week. Last weekend we went to Greensboro on Friday night and spent the night with Brooks’ parents. Saturday, it was goodbye to Mason and Ike for a night as we trekked to Chapel Hill to meet Angus and Betsy for the UNC-NC State game. I won’t revisit the pathetic outcome of the game, but let me say that it was the equivalent of enduring about eight Ike crying tantrums in a single night. After the game, Brooks and I spent the night in Raleigh with Angus and Betsy and all of us enjoyed a nice meal out on the town with Callum and his girlfriend, Raven.

Like a mentioned, tomorrow it’s Greensboro Country Club with the Banks (and of course Mason and Ike) and back to Charlotte for dinner with my parents on Friday night. We’re so glad we’re not having to make these trips from Atlanta anymore.

Cold Season Comes Early

This week has been a rough week in the Grainger household.

The weekend was great, so let me start there. I had the chance to catch up on some sleep Saturday night, as Brooks took the babies to Greensboro for the night. As a result of my rare GDO (Guys Day Out) I had the chance to drive to Chapel Hill for the day and attend the Tar Heels’ 28-7 victory over Georgia Tech with Angus, Uncle Jim (aka the Trash Man from an earlier blog post) and his daughter, Winn.

However, this was the calm before the storm. I had to get up at 5 a.m. on Monday morning to catch a 7:30 a.m. flight to Chicago where I had business meetings until Wednesday. As luck would have it, Ike came down with a chest cold on Monday, so poor Brooks was stuck with a very fussy and irritable baby. The situation was alleviated somewhat when my parents stepped in to help out by keeping Mason on Monday and Tuesday night to let Brooks focus on Ike. Despite the help, those were definitely two rough nights for Brooks, as Ike was up coughing and crying almost every hour. Meanwhile, I was enjoying two wonderful and peaceful nights of sleep in my Marriott king-sized bed in downtown Chicago (it goes without saying that I didn’t dare brag about this to Brooks when I got home or mention how well-rested I was).

But I certainly got my payback on Wednesday evening when I arrived back in Charlotte. As soon as I walked through the door at home and put my suitcase down the fireworks began. It was my turn to handle baby duty and pay for my sins of taking a business trip and getting more than seven hours of sleep each night. During my first few hours of baby duty I thought I was going to get lucky, as Mason and Ike didn’t make a peep. But I was wrong. Soon after I went to bed at midnight the pre-crying from Ike began. You know, it’s the kind of whining that you lie in bed and pray will subside before you have to get up and go into their room. It’s kind of like turbulence on a plane (which I experienced on my flight back from Chicago). When you first start to feel the initial bumps you hope that it isn’t leading up to anything too violent, but you always expect that you’re in for something major. I was in for some major Ike turbulence. His congestion and gurgling really became discomforting and he couldn’t get comfortable in his crib. As a result, I was up until 3:30 a.m. trying to rock him to sleep. Thankfully, he finally closed his eyes in the baby rocker at 3:30 and I was able to grab about 3 hours of sleep. Like I said, I knew I would have some payback for getting to good night’s sleep in Chicago.

Mason and Ike had their regularly-scheduled four-month doctor’s appointment on Thursday and everything went great. Mason is still the plumper of the two. She weighs 16 lbs. 10 oz. and Ike weighs 15 lbs. 11 oz. They had their reflexes tested and each had to get a few shots, which produced some tears.

This weekend we’re going to try to get everyone healthy and hope that Mason, or Brooks or I don’t catch whatever Ike has been battling.

Ike's Presidential Agenda

With politics and the presidential election dominating the headlines this week, Ike decided to throw his hat in the ring and make his agenda known to his supporters (Mom, Dad and Mason). Among his policy issues...Taxes: repeal of sales tax on bottles of Similac...Economy: a free Boppy for every newborn baby...Health Care: a ban on all immunization shots before six months of age...Education: mandatory two-hour nap period in kindergarten...Technology: all primetime television programming must include two hours of Noggin. Mason even pledged her support for Ike and cast a vote for him at the polls (see below).

Mason and Ike enjoyed their first Halloween last weekend. We dressed them in pumpkin outfits and took them down the street to our neighborhood Halloween party before coming home and passing out candy to all of the trick or treaters. My parents came over for a glass of wine and to hang out with the twins and enjoy the trick or treaters since they don't get any in their townhome complex. The night proved very traumatic and humbling for Simba, whose barks and howls greeted every ring of the door bell. Towards the end of the night a little girl and her younger brother were trick or treating at our doorstep while Simba peered out through our front door. Out of the blue the little girl exclaims: "Wow, look at how fat that dog is." Then her brother agreed with her, saying, "Yeah, that dog is fat." Needless to say, Simba's night was ruined and his self-confidence shattered. Brooks and I maintain that he's just big-boned.

Nothing new to report with Mason and Ike. We're still putting them down at about 7:30 p.m. each night, topping them off with 4 oz. of formula at 10 p.m. and praying that they make it until 5 a.m. Most nights I have to get up once or twice to put a pacifier in Ike's mouth when he wakes up and starts to cry. Now that they're almost four months old, it's great for me to come home from work because they are at the age where they are starting to recognize Brooks and me (at least we think they do) and start smiling up a storm when I walk in the door and see them.

Below is a new batch of photos. Enjoy!

Mason And Ike At 16 Weeks

It's hard to believe that Mason and Ike will be 16 weeks on Sunday. It really does just seem like yesterday that I was decked out in medical scrubs in the delivery room holding two newborns who didn't even know how to open their eyes yet (I'd say that wide-eyed Mason has certainly mastered that task pretty well!). Now we have two pudgy little babies who are smiling all the time, cooing, rolling over and knocking back about 7 ounces of formula per feeding (we're still waiting for the sleeping-through-the-night part to set in). Before we know it they will be crawling and pulling up on furniture and making us keep an eye on them every waking moment. I don't know whether to look forward to these milestones or dread them...Mason and Ike are kind of fun how they are right now, but I guess Brooks and I don't have a choice.

When I realized that Mason and Ike were at the 16-week mark this weekend I started thinking about how much their appearances change on a daily basis. Whenever my parents and Brooks' parents go a few days without seeing the twins the first thing they comment on is how grown up they look since the last time they saw them. Of course, Brooks and I see them on a daily basis, so it's hard for us to comprehend this rapid transformation.

So I decided to go back through all of my photos of Mason and Ike since the birth on July 13 and got the idea to put a collage together illustrating how quickly they are growing up (see below). The first collage is of Mason (Ike's will come next) and contains 12 photos taken between the birth and this week. The photos move chronologically from left to right in each row. The first photo in the upper left corner was taken in the delivery room and the last photo on the bottom right was taken this week. Now I finally see what people have been talking about!

UPDATED: As you can see, I've added Ike's 16-week collage.

I'm Back!

I have been incredibly slack over the last five weeks. Not one blog post! And on top of that, the Dow has lost more than 2,500 points. Wow. For the few of you that still check this blog...I'm sorry, no excuses. I'll try to win your loyalty back. That being said, I'll throw out a few excuses anyway. Brooks and I have NO free time...She's back at work now...I'm out the door early in the morning and by the time I get home it's during the be-witching hour when Ike seems to have his evening meltdown...I've got to help finish a feeding and then we give the kids a bath and get them prepped for bed...Then it's time for us to prepare our dinner and chug a few glasses of wine to calm us down...Brooks gets her bath and goes to bed early...I watch a little football or baseball or whatever sports is on TV...Then I sneak into Mason and Ike's room and 'top them off' with a few ounces of formula around 10:30pm so they can hopefully sleep until 5am...I go to bed in the guest room next to their nursery and sleep with one ear open listening out for the faintest cry...About 3am I then have to get up and put a pacifier in Ike's mouth to convince him that he isn't really hungry and doesn't need to be fed yet...I repeat this process every hour for the next three hours until I wake Brooks up and 'pass the torch' so to speak.

In addition to all of these excuses, my home computer crashed a few weeks ago and I had to buy a new laptop after the hard drive couldn't be saved. Okay, enough of the excuses.

I've loaded a bunch of new photos of Mason and Ike below, but let me say they are doing great. They haven't been to the doctor in a while but they've got to be pushing 16 pounds, if not more. We'll find out next week. They are still growing at a very healthy rate and looking different every single day. They really enjoy their awake time now and are now trying to talk up a storm. Ike has become very vocal and smiles at every chance he gets...but he's just as quick to turn a laugh into a cry. Mason is the epitome of chill. She is always wide-eyed and just taking in her surroundings. She loves her sleep and only cries when she is she is hungry. It's truly amazing how different they are, but that's what my parents said about Corinna and me.

In the photos you'll see them in their Christening gowns from October 19 when they were baptized at Myers Park Presbyterian Church and also in their Halloween costumes from this past weekend, as well as some other photos. Enjoy.

New Photos Of Mason And Ike!

Forgive me, as I'm on borrowed time right now. No night nurse...Brooks went to bed long ago... and I'm counting down minutes, maybe even seconds, until the chirping begins from the nursery and it's time for yet another double feeding which I'm still trying to master. I've become so used to the white noise static of the baby monitor that I hear it in my sleep, in the shower, on my drive to work and even on conference calls with my clients.

In the time since my last post on September 9, Mason and Ike have had a healthy pediatrician visit, each weighing in at over 13 pounds (Ike at 13 lbs. even and Mason at a stealthy 13 lbs. 6 oz.), and the UNC football team mauled Rutgers on the road before choking away a 17-3 third quarter lead to VA Tech and losing 20-17 last Saturday. Sorry for the digression, but college football season is in full effect and I'm trying to balance raising two newborns while dealing with the heartache that is Tar Heel football.

Recently, Mason and Ike are sucking down formula like crazy and growing like we've infused their bottles with Miracle Grow. Thankfully, their feedings are starting to strecth out to 4-5 hours, but unfortunately, the bewitching hours seem to be between 3 - 6 a.m. They just don't want to settle down after their late-night feeding. Unlike their dad, these little boogers seem to be early risers, counting down the time until they can sit in their boppers in front of the TV and watch their cartoons.

Hopefully they will eventually exhibit the characteristics that have defined me for years and welcome the chance to sleep in.

Here are some new photos of Mason and Ike.

Hurricane Ike Makes Landfall At Litchfield Beach

Well, we're back from our week-long beach trip with the Banks family at Litchfield Beach. What a nice vacation! We experienced incredibly beautiful weather and not one cloudy day during our entire stay. Unfortunately, we had to pack up and leave a day early because Tropical Storm Hannah was bearing down on us, but it was a small price to pay for five days of sunny skies and warm temperatures (and two rounds of golf!).

The trip marked Mason and Ike's first trip to the beach. Not to be outdone, Simba also joined us, making his second ever trip to the beach. Because of the extra 'cargo,' Brooks and I had to take two cars to the beach just to have room for all of our luggage and the baby gear. On the way to the beach she followed behind me with the twins while I toted Simba. Of course, as is the case with two month olds on road trips, we had to make an impromptu pit stop to provide a feeding. Because our route to Litchfield Beach took us through some very rural areas with spotty/non-existent cell service, Brooks' signal to me that Mason and Ike were crying and needed to be fed was to turn on her windshield wipers. This signal occurred a few miles west of Kingstree.

On the way back to Charlotte I returned the favor and drove the twins while Brooks had Simba. This time I made sure to take a route that included more populated areas with reliable cell service.

Below are a lot of photos from the trip. Enjoy.