The 4th

Our 4th of July weekend was quite eventful.

On that Thursday, I really wanted to go watch a movie. We haven't been to a theater in over a year since the boys were born and I missed a ton of movies that I really wanted to check out. So I decided to ask my mom to come over and watch the boys and I told Lisa the plan and she went along with it reluctantly. She was worried the boys would freak out since my mom hasn't watched them since they were little. But I assured her they would be fine. Meera came up to help mom out and we were off to the movie theater! We saw World War Z, definitely a different take on zombies [from being avid Walking Dead watchers]. Lisa really enjoyed the film and it made me very happy to see that she was really into the movie. It was so good to be back in an actual theater with no interruptions and no need for a pause button because a baby was crying or banging their toys too loudly. When we went back home, Mom said that Graybear cried for a while after he noticed that we were gone and then eventually fell asleep. Coco was fine though. Meera was able to keep him busy. At night, Meera Justin and Jordan came up the block. Justin and I went up to my roof to try and catch some fireworks. We were able to see about 4 different sets of firework shows. The ones in the city were really far though. And then we went out on the porch and lit some sparklers that I had in the basement. The boys were already asleep and Lisa stayed inside with them.

We both took off on that Friday and took the boys to FAO and Central Park. I couldn't believe we actually went because A) the weather was ridiculously hot and B) whenever we think of something cool to do, we very rarely follow through with it. But this time, we did it! At around noon, the boys went down for their nap. Lisa managed to clean them up and change their clothes beforehand. We both got ready in an hour and were out the door and through the Lincoln Tunnel in no time. We encountered some traffic which Jericho was pretty pissed off with so of course, he starts whining and crying for like 15mins straight so I had to hold him on my lap while Lisa was driving through the traffic. As soon as we got thru the tunnel, back in his car seat he went and he was fine again. This kid gets moody sometimes. Gray of course was fast asleep. We hit up FAO first. Lisa always wanted to take them there ever since watching the BIG with Tom Hanks. So we stroll in with our monster double stroller and the attention we got in the store was unbelievable. From smiles to little compliments from strangers, these 2 boys were a hit already. I even saw a business man on the street crack a smile when we passed him. The attention is really amazing and humbling. In the store, I let Gray walk around a bit on the baby toy floor. He passes the toys and decides to of course try to pick up a sugar packet he sees on the floor. This kid is so curious! He played with some of the stuffed animals there as did Jericho. We came across the stuffed animal section and saw a stuffed dog that looked like Nikki and Ryan's dog Kyan. And we ended up buying 2 stuffed toys for them. Jericho picked out this Monkey that he loved. He kept squealing and hugging it. We immediately named the Monkey, Chubbs. And Gray picked out a bear and we named him Chuckles. I saw this cool red toy car that is shaped like a handle so it's easier for the boys to grip, so I bought that for them. I coulda done some real damage in there but I exercised restraint. After our FAO extravanganza, we walked to a local cafe/deli and bought some lunch and headed to the park to eat and relax. By this time, it was crazy humid and hot. So we stayed in the park for like 15 minutes after we ate and decided it was time to go.

Parenting is full of lessons to be learned. Our lesson here: don't take babies to the park when it's too humid out. Especially when one of them hasn't learned to walk yet hahaha

Check the pics below. 

Don't!

We've been using the term "Don't!" quite a lot lately. The boys are now 7.5 months and Gray moreso than Jericho is on the move and almost crawling. Here are some common phrases we've been using over the last few weeks to keep Gray in line:

Don't eat the remote!
Don't eat my phone!
Don't pull your brothers hair!
Don't pull your brothers arm so you can roll onto your stomach!
Don't climb out of your bed!
Don't climb into your brother's bed!
Don't head-butt your brother!
Don't spit up on your brother!

And yes those are all said with a slightly raised voice but of course all he does is look at us and laugh and go about his business. What a character.

Below is a pic of Gray in his favorite jumper at his Lola's house.

Patience

I started this entry about 2 weeks ago when we ventured into the territory of trying the "cry it out" method with Grayson. He got into the habit of getting rocked to sleep and when we were staying at our friends house during the hurricane, it really bit us in the ass because he was very difficult to handle when he wanted to nap. I really wanted him to cry it out and self-soothe there but I felt bad letting the kid cry in a house that's not ours. So Lisa and I thought that since they're at her parents house most of the day, they should start letting him cry it out to fall asleep. So when Thanksgiving came around, Lisa and I told her parents and aunt to quit the rocking. I suggested just start to rock him until his eyes drop and then put him down and let him fall asleep himself. The warning wasn't enough for them though, they felt bad for him so they continued to do it...and it was becoming too much for us on weekends when we are with them the entire day. So we realized it was time to do it ourselves and quickly. So when the weekend came about 2 weeks ago on Saturday morning, I just decided it was go-time. He had already ate and was changed and was giving us his tired cry, the one where there's no tears just a whimper...and after about 5 minutes, that whimper turned to full on crying mode with long tears. I felt so bad for him so I kept him in his bed with his pacifier and I laid down next to him. I set my timer and after about 13min, he finally stopped, sucked on his pacifier, turned to his side and fell asleep...for over an hour! It was a great nap. After about 10 mins of the crying though, Lisa gave up and wanted to pick him up, but I insisted he was going to fall asleep eventually. Thank goodness I was right because I felt horrible during those 13mins. But when he fell asleep, I thought, "Holy shit, it worked!" A very proud moment for the both of us.

That same night at around 8pm, I could tell he was tired and he already had his bottle. I saw that he was rubbing his eyes and he just started his tired whimper. So I immediately brought him upstairs and put him in his bed and laid down next to him. With no crying at all, just a lot of tossing and turning, he fell asleep in like 20 mins. I was really astonished.

So when we dropped them off at her parents house that Monday, we were very adamant about not rocking this kid to sleep and told them what we did and how it worked and that if they continue the rocking, we'll have to start from square one which we DO NOT want to go through again. So they obliged and finally stopped. They said he's been great ever since. And he has been...sort of.

Just today, Lisa went to church with Jericho and I stayed home with Gray. He ate at 1130, we played a bit, he rolled around, spit up a few times, but was still in a good mood. And then 2 hours later, I knew he was tired and wanted to nap but was fighting it. So I put him down and he was screaming and crying. Again I felt bad and was debating whether or not to feed him again so he can fall asleep but I don't want him to get into the habit of always wanting a bottle to sleep. So I set my timer again while he cried and placed his pacifier on his chest so he can touch it. After only 4 minutes, he stopped, put his pacifier in himself and turned on his side and went to sleep. I breathed a sigh of relief. As for my patience, its constantly being put to the test but I've been getting better. And so has he. Hi5!

The Hurricane

I've been meaning to write this post since we got power back last Tuesday. After the power went out Monday night, it was like we were living in the primitive era...no electricity, no heat and no cell phone service. All we had was a hand-crank radio that thankfully my buddy Rich bought for us off our wedding registry. We roughed it with the babies in the house for 2 nights and it was a little scary because they are only 4 months and every few hours, we would wake up to make sure they were warm and snuggly. And then on Wednesday night at like 7pm, that same friend who bought us the handcrank radio we've been using, came knocking on the door to pick us up and take us to their house in South Plainfield where power was restored earlier that day. We're so blessed to have great friends who would drive an hour in crazy traffic for us. We packed up the car and as I looked down the street as the sun was going down, it really looked like a scene from Walking Dead...without the zombies. Crazy seeing absolutely no one outside and all the houses dark. We spent the entire week there with some of our other friends and had a blast. Peep the pics below...

A huge thank you to Rich and Kat for taking us in. My mom was really grateful we were able to find shelter with you guys and said "that's when you know your friends are family." The boys had a great time playing with Nicolai and Noah. Every night we would stay up after putting the kids to sleep and chit chat and laugh till our stomachs hurt. Great times even under those circumstances. Also thank you to Kat's Mom and Carmela and Ray for helping with the boys.