Babies on a Plane!

Last week was our first family trip. The destination: Los Angeles. 6 hour flight with our almost 11month old boys. Did you ever recall watching an old sitcom or cartoon when someone boards a flight or a bus and there is always a rowdy kid kicking the back of someone's seat who is trying hard to not lose his/her patience? [I was thinking of an episode of The Jetsons about "Re-crayola"..google it]. Anyway, well it turns out those cliches we were often exposed to in the 80s about little children traveling were based off some reality. Little Gray didn't give a fuck. He wanted no part in me holding him and he was letting me and the guy sitting in front of me know it. Since the boys can't walk yet, they are used to playing and crawling on the floor all day and on this flight they were a bit restless and didn't want to be held for the entire 6 hours. To make matters worse, the arm rests were locked down in place and the flight attendants were stumped as to why. So there we were with 3 seats all to ourselves and each of us holding a baby. So when it came time to take off, we gave them a bottle to make sure they were sucking on something so their ears wouldn't pop and they quickly fell asleep in our arms....like little angels...and me and lisa breathed a sigh of relief that they were actually asleep...and then....20minutes later they woke up...and were even more rowdy and amped up as before. They were awake for maybe another 3 hours. There was an old couple sitting in front of us who seemed a bit bothered with our little ones. Now they weren't throwing tantrums or anything like that. They were just doing their usual baby shtick...grunting, laughing, playing with each other...an occasional whine and 5sec cry but nothing crazy. The old woman turned to Lisa and complained about her moving her seat. Lisa wasn't having it and quickly snapped back at the rude lady. Half hour later, her and her husband changed seats. It was hilarious actually, definitely the highlight of the trip. Haha yes, we were definitely THAT family on a plane. And not only that, it seemed like a very quiet group of travelers on the plane so any noise the boys made seemed amplified and I was mortified. It was exhausting trying to hold them for so many hours and keep them content and from being loud. But it seemed like the more we tried to quiet them down, the louder they got. So finally about 4 hours pass and they're asleep finally. I dozed off for a few and suddenly woke up and didn't feel so great. I turned to Lisa and told her I felt lightheaded and about 10 seconds later, I blacked out and fainted in my seat. I was in and out. I was also holding a sleeping Jericho in my arms. Lisa called the flight attendant and told them the situation. She remained very calm but I could tell she was scared. I was terrified because I didn't want to drop Jericho and I was thinking about who would be able to help us if I really pass out. And in the middle of all this, I realized I didn't eat anything since 730am and it was now 3pm...bad news. So I put Jericho down and he woke up and started crying. Gray woke up and started crying. My lips were pale and I had a cold sweat going. The flight attendant gave me a chicken wrap and I took a few bites and felt much better. Holy shit, lesson learned. I must eat before the flight and pack snacks! Why didn't I eat when they were serving snacks you might ask? Because holding either boys while eating ANYTHING is damn near impossible. They will reach for anything in my hands and would totally make a mess. They're quick little humans you know.

In any case we made it there safely. The purpose of the trip was to just get away but also introduce the boys to a plane ride. However with parenting, I've learned that its usually about the PARENTS getting used to something new, not necessarily the children.

How was the flight back? Well as I said to Lisa when we got to LA, "It can't get any worse cuz that shit was a nightmare!"And it was a lot better. We were in the Economy Plus area so we had more leg room for our bags. We were sitting behind a mom and her kids and she pleasantly made conversation with Lisa and told her to not worry about the boys crying and she totally understands. A little boy across the aisle who was probably around 5 was playing with Gray, showing him his action figures. And a nice old couple told us we were doing a great job and the boys also did amazing [they must've been sitting WAYYY in the back hahaha]. I was also able to do some reading on the plane and watched a soothing episode of Bob Ross while the boys were napping. Something I was totally not able to do on the plane ride going there.

It was definitely quite an experience for me. One that I was happy to have gone through over a 6 hour flight than say...a 20 hour flight to the Philippines which we will be embarking on next year. Yikes!

Below are some pics of the plane ride. I was even able to snap a pic of the mean old lady haha.

Updates

I haven't written a blog in 3 months! Not good...so much has been going on that I haven't made the effort to write. Here are some important updates:

1) In February, the boys moved into their new room and began sleeping in their own cribs. HUGE step for us. We finally got our room back. The empty co-sleepers on either side of the bed started to accumulate our clean laundry that we were too lazy/unable to find time to fold. So just a few weeks ago, I broke them down and moved them into the basement. I'm a sentimental guy and I was a little sad when I was taking them down. The one on Lisa's side of the bed was put up the same day we brought the boys home from the hospital in July so I was really sad to see it go, yet happy that the boys are big enough to sleep by themselves. After all, getting Lisa to agree its time for them to move into their own room was the hardest part =)

2) In March, we celebrated Lisa's birthday in AC. Our friends joined us at our timeshare and it was really fun to get away. It was our first time traveling with the boys (first 3 hour car ride which they slept all the way through) and also their first time sleeping over in a new surrounding other than our house and their grandparents house. They both had diarrhea which totally sucked but hey, with twin babies, our getaways will never always be perfect.

3) The boys got sick many times throughout February and March and it was definitely frustrating because it seemed like they would catch another cold just 2 weeks after getting over another. Yeah yeah yeah it builds up their immunity but it gets quite stressful having 1 baby sick and then the other gets sick like 2 days later.

4) Both boys are crawling around and Gray is already standing and cruising. Jericho is almost there. Gray says "Da-Da" all the time and Jericho says "Ma-Ma"...how fitting hahaha. I'm pretty sure they both have no idea what either words mean but either of them saying "Da-Da" is freaking mindblowing. They also clap their hands whenever they're happy and also give hi-5s. Jericho has been doing a new thing lately. He goes on his knees and throws his hands up in the air as if he is praying and starts mumbling and laughing. Its quite a sight to see.

5) Gray is still a milk monster and still wakes up sometimes twice at night for a bottle and finishes every drop of it. Jericho sleeps through the night for the most part.

6) We are heading to LA with the boys on May 21-25. It will be their first plane ride so wish us luck!

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.

The New Year!

Can't believe I haven't written a blog in so long. One of my few New Years Resolutions has been to blog more. What are the others you ask? To get my cholesterol down, exercise and eat healthy. Those 3 are all tied in together and I've started my healthy eating and exercise regimen 2 weeks ago. Since I don't have much time to pretty much do anything by myself at home, I've started doing the "10 Minute Trainer" workout which was brought to my attention from Kathy and when I told Lissy about it, she said that we bought it last year [and obviously never used it hahaha]. So watch out world, a new and improved Davie NeraWhat will be making an appearance this spring [hopefully]. I really want to get my heart rate up and lose some lbs so by the time the boys start crawling and walking this summer, I can play with them without getting winded. So wish me luck!

The boys are almost 7 months now! So if I can take a page out of Carly's book, here's what the boys are up to these days...

Grayson: Loves being on his tummy. He pushes his butt up in the air and buries his head in his bed and gets frustrated that he can't sit yet. Poor guy. He's been rolling around and really hates sleeping in his co-sleeper. He's already trying to crawl and will push himself forward while dragging his tummy. He loves remotes and iphones. He cries every time we leave the room because he thinks he's alone. He hates sitting in his bouncer chair, I think he grew out of it already. He likes when we rub his belly to calm him down before bedtime/naptime and he also likes when we sing to him. He still loves his milk and wakes up around 3 or 4 for a bottle still. When will he start sleeping through the night like his brother? Who knows...But at least he holds his own bottle now! He loves sleeping on his side and even rolls onto his tummy sometimes. But don't worry folks, we always check on him and most of the time, put him back on his side. He also loves to put anything and everything he gets his hands on into his mouth.

Jericho: This little guy is a bit lazier than his counterpart. He loves being on his back and playing. Lately he loves playing with the little yellow kite on his bouncer because he likes the sound it makes. So he would grab that with one hand and play with something else with the other, its pretty hilarious. He LOVES babyfood and we have to feed him more of it throughout the day to get his weight up, per our doctor at their 6-month checkup. He's also a kicker and uses his feet with his hands when playing with stuff. Like a cute little monkey! He's lazy when it comes to holding his bottle. He actually just lays there with his arms stretched out and waits till we put the bottle in his mouth. And anyone who has met them knows that Jericho is the social butterfly. He loves smiling and talking and gets so excited when we pick him up and squeals so loudly. He also really enjoys a game of peek-a-boo. They both crack up but Jericho has that hearty loud laugh. Gray is a silent laugher...just like me! He just started sleeping on his side by myself which is great because it will help to round out the shape of his little noggin. Like his brother, he also cries when we leave the room and he can't see where we're going. He likes to play on his tummy and would roll over like a ninja, he moves so quickly. My prediction is that Gray will crawl before Jericho but who knows, he might just come out of nowhere and do it!

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!

Pics from the in-laws

I love getting pics of the boys when I'm at work and they're playing at their Lola's house. Technically they send it to Lisa and she photostreams them to me...here are a few of my favorites...

Our First Thanksgiving

This is the first year since my pop passed away that I'm once again happy about the upcoming holidays and of course my birthday. When I was a kid, I used to LOVE Thanksgiving because it was the one day when we all sat at the same table to eat. Mommy and Daddy would season the turkey the night before and would wake up crazy early in the morning to pop it in the oven. By the time it was around 2pm, it would be all ready to get gobbled up (pun intended). We always ate early back then and also used break out the fine china that was in our cabinet. I used to just eat breakfast Thanksgiving mornings so by the time lunch came, and we were ready to eat, I would be able to stuff my face with all the yummy foods. We always made straight up traditional American foods like freshly mashed potatoes, stuffing, blueberry muffins, corn muffins and of course Tom the Turkey. We were sometimes joined by our neighbor from around the corner Nancy, an old Italian lady who would talk non-stop even with her mouth full. It was hilarious. She lived by herself and my parents met her when we bought another house on Garfield Ave. She lived next door with her brother John. Hmmm now I'm wondering if they're still alive? As the years went on when I was in HS, Meera met a guy at work named Sourika and he came over for Thanksgiving one year...and then eventually Justin was born and Reek never left hahahaha. He celebrated Thanksgiving with us for many years after that. One year we had both Reek and Nancy there...and it was hilarious. With Nancy talking as fast as she was eating and Reek's contagious laugh, it was really entertaining.

This year, we're celebrating Thanksgiving at my mom's house, our first time having it there since daddy passed away in Dec 2007. Now with the change in venue, I am really looking forward to celebrating our first thanksgiving with our boys at the house where I grew up. 

So how are we celebrating our first Thanksgiving morning? I whipped up some pancakes and sausage for us and we are in bed right now eating and watching the parade, like we have been doing each year since we moved in together. This will be our tradition every year....

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!