Thank God We Didn't Have Twins

Ah, my blog. How I neglect you. I have often thought about how nice it would be to blog certain events. First bath in the bathroom sink for Charlie. Putting up the crib last Thursday night. Charlie's first trip to Red Lobster. But as soon Charlie's asleep and I have the opportunity to write, all I can think is RUN, NILDA!!! GET TO SLEEP NOW!!!

On this non-football Sunday afternoon, I finally have some time. We're at my parent's house now in Philadelphia and Charlie is soundly sleeping for his afternoon nap. That's right. We have designated naps now. Of course, he went down easy because Mommom put him on his stomach, which he luuuuuved. And Nilda and I were just talking about how lucky we were that he sleeps on his back. Now he's spoiled for life. Here's what's been going on:

• Charlie is now 8 weeks old. That is as long as it's been since Nilda and I were able to watch an hour long tv show in one sitting.
• We now have professional pictures, including pics of just me and Charlie. All I see is Andrew holding Charlie. Twins are weird.
• Charlie had his check up and is doing great. The doctor said Charlie is a cutie, so it's now a scientific fact.
• We're still on sleep as the main issue in his life. We were supposed to come in to Philly last weekend but decided to stay in and try to get him on a schedule, like the books say. Apparently, Charlie didn't read the books.
• Charlie has his own internal and predictable schedule. He wakes up at 8:00 am on the dot, has his naps throughout the day. We start to get him ready for nighttime sleep at around 7:30 pm, put him down at 8:00, pick him back up at 8:30, put him back down at 8:50, tap his but until 9:00, got back in when he wakes up at 9:25, and so on until he finally falls asleep at 11:00 pm. It's a simple routine.
• The trick is to put him down and get him to fall asleep so you won't have to pick him up in 10 minutes. Nilda stands over him and uses the Mommy Force to keep him asleep.
• They say not to put him down while he's asleep, since he'll wake up and be upset that he's not being held. It's like going to sleep with your pillow and waking up with it being taken away.
• Many babies will wake up after 20-25 minutes of sleep. This means they're having a hard time transitioning from light sleep to deep sleep. The majority of the sleep books out there discuss how to help the baby make that transition without relying on a sleep prop, like being held or put in a swing.
• We're not yet at the "crying it out" stage. At this age, crying it out means teaching him that no matter how long he cries, no one will come for him, and we are obviously not doing that.
• Andrew told me that crying it out worked for them. I asked how old Lilah was when he started to let her cry it out. He said, "Four and a half years old."
• I'm getting ready to call bullshit on Charlie's crying. The other night, we decided to let Charlie cry for 10 minutes after we put him down to sleep for the night. While Nilda went into the bathroom and let the water run to drown out his crying, I watched him on the new video monitor we got. He would cry, look around. Cry louder, look around. Try again, take a break. When I finally went in at 7 minutes (I took all I could take), he stopped crying before I even reached his crib. I call bullshit, Charlie.
• The video monitor is great, since you can see what he's doing. Of course, it makes everything look like Paranormal Activity and everyone looks like a zombie.
• Charlie apparently does pilates when we're not in the room. He lifts his legs into a perfect tabletop.
• Nilda used to say I wouldn't be able to put away dishes with a sleeping baby in the next room. She was 100% right.
• The doctor said my watching tv late at night with him will keep him up and I shouldn't do it. I am devastated.
• We were at a diner today and Charlie decided that the food arriving was the perfect time to poop. And this was after FIVE DAYS so you know it was a special treat. I was going to change him but there was not changing table in the men's bathroom. Thanks, chauvinistic nature of the Suburban Diner! Nilda took over and I went to check on her after she was in the bathroom for a long time. I watched a woman go in and the come out, still no sign of Nilda. I asked the woman how the baby was inside. She said to me, "Are you Brian? She needs the diaper bag."

My mom is coming back to NY with us to spend the week helping us out. We're grateful and looking forward to. I never realized what my mother did by raising the four of us kids. While pregnant with twins, she moved to a far away city with a 6 and 4 year old and a husband who traveled. I have no idea now she did it.

I don't have access to my pictures right now, but I'll try to get some up later this week. In the meantime, here's a picture of The Kid from yesterday. I know he's only two months old but look at how big he's getting: