family planning: throwing caution to the wind

there definitely has been something in the air lately. SO MANY friends and fellow bloggers are adding to their families. i can't deny i've felt a little left out. the feeling of a newborn snuggling in your arms. oh, nothing is better! we've also been thinking a lot about how the boys might like another sibling, other than their twin, in their lives.

after a lot of discussion, j and i decided to throw caution to the wind. and to our surprise, it happened really fast!

everyone, meet romeo, the new baby boy in the silverman house!

romeo, oh romeo, how we love you so! this cat is THE BEST. he's 8 months old of pure love. i honestly don't know how he ended up in the pound, because he's a dream. he loves to play but is really gentle. he gives hugs AND kisses (i swear!). he purrs like an engine if you so much as pat his head. he loves the boys. and it's an understatement to say the boys love him. mati and romes are getting along famously. ally, the reclusive cat, just hisses and spits at him, but he seems to care less. and j and i are simply in love with this lil' snuggly bug.

welcome to our home, romeo!

school bells ring, are you listening?

'tis the season for lots of things, including the boys starting school!

okay, so they actually start on january 5, but with the holidays here and all, it's as good as tomorrow. we've had the boys on a waiting list since they were 7 months old, and gave lots of thought to an appropriate start date once two spots opened up. it could have happened as early as september, but my head and heart weren't ready yet. as we inch, and at times leap, closer to two and all the joy and challenge that brings, i can now enthusiastically say, "I'M READY!"

we had our first visit yesterday. in preparation for this visit that consisted of 45 minutes of outside playtime, we've been talking about school and meeting their teacher and making friends and the playground like it's the freaking second-coming. i was beginning to worry the boys might be disappointed because we were hyping it up so much. they were so not disappointed, though. in fact, they didn't want to leave! first off, it was the ultimate playground in the eyes of abie and oz. for two steering wheel obsessed boys, there were more options than they could take in. three cars with at least two steering wheels each. an airplane with steering wheels. a fire truck with steering wheels. and then, as if that wasn't enough, a simple bench with three steering wheels across. i kid you not, the ratio of steering wheel to child was a minimum 1:1. this ratio may actually play out to be more important than the one for student: teacher.

the kids were adorable, too. they rushed a and o when they entered the play area and greeted them to the hilt. it was a little weird for me to see kids like this at first. they were like a herd of dogs or something. but then i got used to it and it was endearing to witness the family-structure of this class. and they welcomed the boys with open arms.

the teacher was prepared to ease the boys into comfort, but it wasn't necessary. oz was off and running with "the herd" from the get-go. he didn't need any prompting or instruction. in fact, he lead the way to the car he was eying at the opposite side of the play yard and everyone followed. abel was a little more reserved and wanted to scope things out while walking and holding my hand. but it wasn't long before he joined the fun and started making friends. my favorite memory of this first experience is spinning a giant "sit and spin" with as many kids crammed in their as possible, all laughing hysterically, with two other kids helping me spin, and seeing my boys wedged in there and giggling their butts off. it was awesome.

we'll go back two more times before the official start date for more fun and acclimatizing. next time the teacher suggested we join them for circle time at 9am, which i'm really looking forward to. we said adios to everyone with much cajoling, oz blew kisses to the director and both boys tweeted to the two parakeets on our way out the door.

and i knew in my heart...these boys are ready, too.

this is a dramatization...no child was actually crying in this sequence

the boys taught themselves how to laugh, yawn and cry like a baby and love to dramatize on command (or whenever the mood strikes). it's really hilarious. here's abel pretending to cry like a baby after a snack of almond butter and crackers. the fourth picture down is my new all-time favorite. i think i'll laugh at this picture until the day i die.

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i am officially mommy!

the boys started calling me "mommy" (instead of mama) a few weeks ago. it was inconsistent but delightful. j was jealous, to say the least. they had no interest in converting to daddy, yet.

this week i can barely even think of how often i heard mama. it way mommy from both of them, all the time. I LOVE IT! there's nothing that melts your heart more than hearing "mommy." i swear, it didn't even bother me when abel whined it about 15 times wanting to be picked up.

they are experimenting with daddy alot now, but it's not consistent. i give it another week until j's heart officially melts, too.


mommy and her boys!

fall favorites

it's fall here in austin, tho it feels like heaven's version of the season. highs of 75 without a cloud in the sky, lows in the 50s at night just to put some crisp in the air for our morning walk. the leaves are turning (i know, it's mid november!), the squirrels are foraging for acorns, the oak leaves are just starting to fall. perfecto!

the boys are loving this time of year. we're outside almost all day. taking hour long walks down the block, strolling to the park, feeding the ducks or just throwing balls for mati in the front yard. and they are always finding some new twist on an old activity/toy. last weekend, it was "the great pumpkin balance." oz had it pretty easy, but abel managed to keep his pumpkin on the lawn mower almost the entire time. it was a mega hit. and nothing beats walking down the street with a pumpkin in your wagon and getting to duck through daddy's leg tunnel.

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superhero sunday

and apparently abie's superpowers are enhanced by pursing his lips, and ozzy's are by sticking out his tongue. funny boys!

times are a changing

i wish i had the motivation to attempt to write something profound about yesterday's election. i don't. however, i didn't want this moment to pass without saying something.

i am incredibly proud, proud, proud to have voted in this election and to witness this moment in history. i have never been a very patriotic person. almost the opposite, in fact. not that i'm not totally grateful for the freedoms that we have. i've just always thought our government could do a lot more for the people who really need it. oh, and not to mention i've never been a fan of the white patriarchal power structure.

the fact that obama won by a landslide gives me so much hope. that the majority of people in this country is ready for a black president...holy crap is this amazing! almost mind-blowing. if we had to endure the past eight years to get to this point, then by god it was worth it.

i moved to austin in 2000, just two years after the brutal racist killing of james bird. i used to work with tiny communities in east texas, delightful and gracious people who were working to better their depressed town, who became ugly and scary when asked how we could get the blacks who lived "on the other side of town" involved. it was a different world of social relations out there. and there is here and every where. still.

but times are a changing.

i'm feeling very patriotic at this moment. that "there" is now the white house. that we believe we can stand together. even if obama gets nothing accomplished (which i know will not happen), he's accomplished so much. so very, very much for our country.

p.s. even though mccain took tejas, 65 percent of austin voted for obama!

halloween lowdown

the first of many holiday celebrations in this last quarter has come and gone. it's a little mind boggling for me to think of all that's on the horizon. thanksgiving will be here in the blink of an eye; then hannukah, solstice, christmas, new years. whew! i enjoy holidays immensely, but i also try to keep an even keel and not make it the end-all-be-all. although, i'm realizing quickly that with two toddlers who are understanding things quickly, i should be prepared to make holidays a special time for us all. i tend to be a horrible procrastinator!

the boys really got a kick out of halloween! our neighborhood does it right and lots of houses have been decked out with headstones and cobwebs in the yard, big spiders on trees, skeletons and ghouls hanging from just about anywhere. oh, and the mummies! oz's new favorite word. it's been a morning staple this october to walk the streets and explore all the new and old decorations. the boys haven't been afraid one bit, and run right up to the skulls and give 'em a big old pat on the head. we also made halloween sticker books a few days ago thanks to lee-lee. she made the boys these awesome black books with their names on them, and sent us some festive stickers. the boys we shimmying in their chairs with such excitement for that next sticker. so cute! i also got some seasonal window gels for them to play with and it's been a huge hit.

they have been obsessed of late with wearing headbands and love to push around tennis rackets, so we thought PERFECT! they'll be tennis players, ala bjorn borg, for halloween. problem is they're also toddlers, so as soon as we tried to put the headbands on them yesterday, they freaked out. and of course, wanted nothing to do with a tennis racket. i think we'll stick to fun kids costumes next year.

oz had a mysterious fever yesterday, but it didn't deter us from going to j's office for trick or treating in the afternoon. the boys got completely freaked out by a women dressed as a mummy (which i though oz would love! she even had horns on her head like tyron as the mummy king, which is his favorite!). so they clung to us for dear life after that. we came home, all happy as clams, and nana and aunt lynda walked in the door. the boys got so excited they went running into the kitchen and oz took a corner too fast and slammed his face into the corner of the cabinet. all i heard was a very loud thud...not good. i swooped his poor self up, and abie, amidst the commotion, started FREAKING. crazy hysterical. he actually took longer to calm down then oz, who by then, had a 4 inch gash running down the side of his face. after about 10 minutes of utter crankdom, they snapped out of their funk and had fun playing with the ladies. ate dinner, got pumpkin soup all over their tennis whites, so i figured it was time to improvise new costumes.

i thought two babies would be fun. put them in their footed pj's, stick binkies in their mouths (which i knew abie would love!), let them carry around their blankies. it'd be ironic and easy! j wasn't sold though. so i threw a football jersey on oz, abie got his bones babylegs, and we were good to go for some trick or treating. we beat the sundown rush and the boys made all their usual stops at neighbors homes with their favorite decorations. and i got to thank all our neighbors for being so tolerant with letting the boys run all over their property and touch their decorations every morning! everyone was so gracious and sweet, the boys loved getting candy and said lots of unprompted thank yous. i'm just so grateful we live in this amazing neighborhood with folks who are genuinely kind and love watching our guys grow up.

the boys were in bed by 7:30 and out like a light. now that's a great halloween!