36
Geez. I thought, after posting my big year-end wrap-up at the end of 2010, that I’d effectively shamed myself into blogging more on my personal site in 2011. That clearly didn’t work. A half-year later, here I am, writing my first post of the year. I turned 36 today, so it seemed like a good occasion to pause and reflect.
What happened to cause the delay?
In a word: babies.
I believe I mentioned that Katie was pregnant with our twin daughters when I posted in December. They were about 4 months along by that point. When the new year hit (and Katie’s due date drew closer), you’d think I’d have been blogging like a mad man about the whole experience. Instead, I turned inward. Katie posted a string of “Baby Bump” photos and comments to her blog charting her progress, and we left it at that. We had a lot of discussions about how much we wanted to share about the pregnancy online. And, to be blunt, we simply decided that the whole concept of sharing that information online a) robbed us of our ability to make it “ours” (it’s amazing how quickly personal experiences can get co-opted by others, however well-intentioned they may be) and b) exposed us and our girls to some potentially really creepy stuff. I’m about as Internet friendly as they come, but something about putting this information out into the world felt like an invitation to transgression. Not sure why. it just did. Maybe we’ve seen too much Law & Order SVU.
Anyhow, the due date has come and gone, and we are now the proud parents of two beautiful baby girls: Abigail Eileen and Fiona Ann. They were born about a month premature, and went straight from the delivery room into the neo-natal intensive care unit at Kaiser, where a team of baby ninjas brilliantly guided them through their harrowing first few days of life. The girls are healthy and happy and thriving now. That’s them, below.
Abigail and Fiona @ 2 months old
Since then, it’s been all twins, all the time. I returned to work in May, and Katie’s caring for the kids full-time until she returns to work in August.
Here’s something weird: before Katie and I got together, I was completely ambivalent about kids. I agreed to have them because it was a deal-breaker for Katie. No kids, no Katie. So I acquiesced. I knew it would be a HUGE lifestyle change for us once they arrived … we were, after all, big into going to concerts, partying with our friends, and just generally being self-indulgent DINKs. But, once they came (and after a really, really tough break-in period), I’m loving being a dad. Maybe it’s because I get an 8+ hour break every day when I go to work, but man … they are the cutest most fun people to be around, ever. Sometimes.
Other times it’s still a hellish amount of hard work and I wonder what we got ourselves into. But mostly the cuteness and the fun.
More posts in the back half of the year, I promise. I have so much to say about new fatherhood, music and tacos. I will share!
