I have a non-baby induced headache. Thanks, Wife.
Actually, this pain is a little nostalgic for me for all the beatings she used to give me. See, one of my sadistic activities with my wife is to tickle her silly. And not the extended index finger to her tummy kind of tickling, but more of the nuzzling, nibbling and biting variety. So anyway, I like to conquer her ticklish spots by doing that, but as a result, her impulses usually trigger her to smack me hard, usually in the head or face. Not hatefully, but "more as a reflex." I did tell her that if Alex did that to her, she'd probably not whack him upside the head like she does me, but I don't expect Alex to tickle her in the same places I do. So now after a few whacks in the head, I'm a little dizzy and disoriented, but very happy because I've really missed doing it. Her pregnancies have prevented us from a lot of things, because if I had done this last month, it would take a few seconds before her back pain kicked in, or one of her nerves to tense up and cause her immense pain. So now, I can cause further brain-damage to myself by tickling her as much as I like.
The babies are doing fairly well - Zoe is actually much fussier in the day and sleepier at night, which is really a good thing for everyone. But during the day, after you've fed and changed her, and you've got her in your arms and she's still crying - there is no describing that sense of hopelessness and frustration. It's not a negative feeling, just a feeling like you'd like to do whatever needed to be done to make the baby feel more comfortable and better.
Alex is also doing well - his temper tantrums are beginning to surface when you take things away from him, or interrupt his reign of terror. Of example, he loves to get into the entertainment center, which house electronics of different sorts. We used to block it off like a fort, but now we've found that he gets in there anyway, and has hurt his fingers numerous times because of the glass doors. So now whenever he gets in there, we block it off and take him away, and he bawls. The other thing, which I think is a little on the annoying side, is that he cries when he sees us block off the living room. It's almost like "preventative crying", because what we do doesn't have any effect on him at that time, but maybe later. Like he could be at the other side of the room, and when we secure the baby gate, he'd cry. I guess he likes his options open.
Life with two babies is okay with two parents, but we haven't really tried life with two babies and one parent. On occasion, we get a glimpse of that when one of us takes a nap, or runs to the store, and it is hell. And now that I have only a week left before I have to go to work, my wife is dreading it even more. I'm sure we'll pull through this - we'll just have to remember to set aside some money every week for the many years of therapy that we'll need.
On the grosser side of babies, I had to witness a real-time pooping last night. I was changing Zoe when I realize that she might not have finished her thought, so I held her legs up in the air with her diaper still below her and waited. And then she went. And went. And went. And I kept moving the diaper higher, and higher, so she wouldn't be sitting in her own goodness. I didn't want to put the existing diaper back on her because it had stuff on it, but I didn't want to put a new one on her either because I'd have to change it almost immediately. So it was just me, holding her legs up, watching her pause and take a breath, do a little squeal, and watch her doodie. I've seen too many people doodie in front of me lately, so I hope this is one of the last times, at least for a while.
One indicator that I've become a dad: I was talking on the phone with my Mom, and I was looking at the leaves on the tree outside. I unthoughtfully plucked a big leaf off with a unique shape, and then thought, "Hey, Alex would like this." And I went into the house and let him play with it.
Yeah, never did that for anyone before.
