Gone With the Twins II

Father's Day weekends don't get much better than this. We got to be with our youngest (and only) daughter and husband's six-year-old son and their newborn twins (!!) near Rochester, NY. Then our oldest (singer/song writer) son Brad joined us there from Pittsburgh. Only our second son, his wife and their three very special young children (the ones who live nearby!) were missing.

And are the former little womb-mates just totally adorable or what?! And good as gold. David now weighs over nine pounds, Maria is just under eight, and they are healthy and delightful as can be. Big brother is so proud to have them.

Here's the routine for their care, repeated routinely every three or four hours:
1) Observe restlessness and slight sounds that may indicate hunger.
2) Feed whichever baby seems hungriest, then drape against shoulder to "burp".
3) Feed other baby, repeating burping procedure.
4) Check for soiled diaper ("soiled" means "large deposits in very messy Pamper").
5) Dispose of soiled diaper, clean and lotion baby's bottom, and attach new diaper, hoping no new accidents occur while doing so (frequently happens).
6) Repeat with second baby.
7) Wrap each infant in clean blanket and place face up in crib or baby seat.
8) Wait for item 1 to occur and repeat above process.
9) Do this every day and every night, 24/7.

Their mother, father and grandmother actually took care of most of this during my stay, though I tried to do my share. And they are so sweet you almost never mind. In fact, it brought back many good memories of our own babies when they were living by that ancient text, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed."

Some day the rewards are almost sure to far, far outweigh all of the investment of time, toil and tears this requires. As when your children call to warmly thank you for being their dad, and when your youngest gives you a Father's Day card with words you feel you don't deserve--but which make you want to cry anyway:

they say a man's actions
speak louder than words,
and your actions have always 
       spoken of love.
what a wonderful difference 
you've made in my life.
Happy Father's Day!

Of course, when it comes to the parenting department, my good wife deserves way over half of the credit. She gets to remain in New York for another week or so, where I'll soon rejoin her for another round of blessed grandparenting duty.

Thanks for your prayers, and for sharing our joy.