Zoe is Sitting Up by Herself!

Here she is, sitting up by herself. She's made vast improvements since this photo. She can now sit up from laying down, and get off her sitting position with no help at all. Unless you count WILL POWER.

Zoe is Perplexed.

Is that what they call a camera? Does it fit in my mouth?

Alex Monster

Evidently Zoe wasn't the only one interested in eating the camera.

Alex the Stuntman.

Here he is, attempting to topple over the toy. What did happen was that he managed to stay balanced on top of the toy for 38 days straight. It was very difficult to change his diaper without knocking him over.

Damn, We're A Regular Family

I've resisted as long as I could to avoid being pigeonholed as a "provider" and "breadwinner". I've always been happy being the part-timer, the slacker who likes his three days off a week, and knows what his children is up to. Alas, those days are coming to a close because my backup auditor has acquired the job that she has applied for in the seafood department, and I'll be one backup auditor short of a 48 hour work week. She works two days for me, therefore extending it into a 48 hour job. Thing is, about a year ago, I had discovered that this job, at best, was a 40 hour a week job, because once the workload is done, there really isn't much else to do.

So with her departing, it looks like I will have to go to 40 hours a week, which I haven't done for a consistent period of time since... well... Never. I have worked a few 40 hours before in a span of a week.

I hated it.

See it's not so much that I'm lazy, or unproductive. Truth of it is, I really need to believe in what I'm doing, otherwise it's incredibly hard for me to be motivated in it. I have worked part-time while going to school full-time, and put on a play or directed a movie all at the same time. That busy work I don't mind at all. But work? It's just not the same.

But I have to admit, I am damn lucky to have my job. It's not glorifying, it's a position that induces hate waves from people. People tend to slide verbal jabs at me from time to time, but since I'm a sinister man, I tend to jab them right back by hinting generally at their imcompetence. It's a little odd that my job consists of shooting (fine, scanning) 1500 or above barcodes everyday to ensure that the price is correct. The bonus part of the job is that I get to play with stickers, have complete freedom, shop at my own leisure, and have the absolute luxury of saying, "I'm sorry, I don't work in this department so I don't know," almost everywhere I go. I also get to pick my own hours, and my boss is on pretty good terms with me. And best of all, I get to keep photos of my babies in my cart. To remind me why I have to work 40 hours a week.

For my wife, it's good and bad news in a way. On one hand, she gets to work 10 hours less because somebody has to watch the babies. On the other hand, she has to watch the babies more. Now I know, a good number of mothers out there are jive-talking me, saying that anyone should be so lucky to have to watch babies more. And I agree. Sometimes that is a good thing. Having personal time, however, can be a good thing. Nevermind that, it is a necessary thing. It's just that when you go to work, customers don't throw tantrums. They don't collapse on the floor and yell at the top of their lungs because they're bored. Hey, the diapers, the feeding, the changing - all that is fine. The fussing and the temper tantrums are what makes the difference between a good day and a day that doesn't end fast enough. There are days when I come home from work with a bounce in my step, and half an hour later, it's like I got trampled by oxen. Alex has already turned 2 when it comes to his developmental social skills. Everything is his. His Toys, His Time, His Way.

But like my wife said, everyone's age appropriate. And I suppose at my age, I really shouldn't be freaking out over 40 hours a week.

But I am.

I mean, when will I find the time to see my wonderful babies?

Viva Las Vegas! I Hope Someone's Paying Good Money for My Soul!

So, it is decided that we are indeedy, taking a 5 day vacation in April. The airline tickets are booked, and hotel and minivan reservations are good to go. So why am I still freaking out? I mean, I even got us out of the HoJo in Vegas, because after reading some reviews post-reservation, I decided that my babies and my family were just too good to slump it out at a cheapie hotel with bad reviews. So I tried to switch it over to the legitimate hotels, which wanted much more money. Circus Circus even wants 12 bucks a night for a crib. 12 bucks! That's 96 bucks for both babies for four days! Damn circus freaks!

So I decided that Binions had a good enough opinion about them, so we're staying there. It's close to Fremont Street, so that'll be a bonus. At least it's not by the stupid airport, like the last reservation.

We're trying to plan ahead for what to do with the babies, including nap times and snack times, traveling on the plane and assigning rooms to people. Basically, I'll get one room, and everyone else will have the other room. Ha ha, I told a joke. Binions is located in Downtown on Fremont Street, and that's an awesome sight when the entire street blacks out, and this huge overhead ceiling just lights up. It's amazing. Right up there with the fountains at Bellagio.

We're also planning to drive to Grand Canyon, and it is still unknown if I would fling myself off it after a 6 plus hour drive in the minivan with the babies. But due to the fact that none of us will ever have a reason to visit Arizona (nah, the 20 foot cacti isn't enough), and I would have gone through life at least seeing two of the seven natural wonders (Niargra Falls being the other).

The biggest thing that we're worried about right now is the money, of course. I underbudgeted big time, so we're scrimping for the rest of the month to try to make it work out. What started off with 1200 bucks is slowly increasing by 400 more, because we're booking so late and because we're such a large group traveling.

And you know, it's a lot of money, and we could use the money to pay off a lot of bills, but damnit, my wife and I seriously need a vacation. The best part of this vacation, bar none, will be the opportunity to see my wife for extended periods of time. None of the routines, the chores, and the responsibilities, but just being able to enjoy my wife's company. Having my mom there will be fun too, since she's always about the people she's around, not the event. I still remember going to the zoo with her and all she could do is pay tons of attention to Alex. Regarding the other animals? "I've seen them before. Same old animals anywhere."

BABY UPDATE!

Briefly.

Zoe is sitting up by herself now,
Alex can mimick some words as he hears it,
Alex is stepping on and off steps,
Alex sits at the table now,
Zoe is eating green beans and sweet potatoes, but hates the green beans,
Alex is walking around on his own when we go out, (but we pick him up because he wanders)
Alex is possessive over his toys,
and Zoe can breakdance.

Voila!