Baby K and Miss Pretty

Miss Pretty

Baby K in his dozing burghermeister pose.

Thanks to one of my more devoted readers and commentors, (I'm talking about you, Karen!) the twins have received nicknames that really seem to suit them right now. They also have other nicknames used en famille which are hopefully not going to stay with them forever so I won't use them here.

Holding Baby K's hands for a bottle feeding.

Baby K is a strong fellow. He is way ahead of the norms for strength and so giving him a bottle is like trying to wrestle with a small python... "No, I'm the granny, I'll give you the bottle." His forceful, unworded reply, "No, I'm the baby and I'm starving here, so I'll just take the bottle!" Sometimes he looks like a burghermeister about to give his ruling on the taste test for some rather nasty beer, and other times he smiles with such a winning and dimply smile my heart simply flips over and I know he is going to have that same effect on some vulnerable young lady years from now.

Miss Pretty's big smile.

Baby K trying to hold his own bottle with his papa.

Miss Pretty could easily be on all those baby commercials with her delicate pursed up mouth and an amazing smile that is truly given in recognition, not from gas. She was the leader in weight when she arrived, but her brother has out-distanced her by several pounds now. Not too surprising as once he started really eating, he is taking in 1/3 more at each feeding than she is. But it is her delicacy that has earned her this blog moniker, and when you hold her, (for all you doll people) she is reminder of those days when you played with a friend's life-size doll-baby and wished you'd get one of your own for Christmas.

Is there a Girl Scout badge for this?

Big Sis & huge cookie!

We took the children to a Girl Scout picnic where everyone got a chance to hold them, and two of the little girls in Big Sis E's troop took quite a bit of time away from the water sports to practice their holding skills. By my calculations, in eight years these two young ladies may be good candidates for baby-sitting and by then Big Sis may need all the help she can get!

Now comes the sad part, friends. I have to head back to Colombia for awhile and while Big Sis E has her moments of being frustrated with all the crying, shrieking, babbling, and flatulent noises that babies make, it has been made clear to me that I will be fully checked before leaving the house to make sure I haven't tried to hide one or both of them in my luggage.

So tiny those little feet...

Baby K on his daddy's arm.

I don't want to go, and this time with the family has been an awesome one. It was approached with trepidation, not knowing how much any of us could stand of the other being around ALL the time, but we have proved that we could manage the stress, the fatigue - and the joys - for the singular objective of giving these twins the best start they could have in life.

Baby K is growing exponentially daily...

Amazingly these two months have flown by and like so many life experiences, there will never be any like this again. I am glad I made the offer to be here and as it turned out, there were several times when it was clear it was Divine Planning for me to do so. And it also means this is the end of twin-shots until I see them again.

No tears... no wailing or gnashing of teeth. No long, drawn-out goodbyes, no special promises... just going. I will miss these two little rascals desperately and hope I am given the chance to return and to re-acquaint myself with them... it is up to the Higher Authority as to when that might be.

Mt. Rainier in the dusky light of sunset in September.

Sleep Deprived in Seattle

It has been three weeks since the twins were born, three weeks since I started being a Mother's Helper to my daughter, three weeks since I've had more than a few hours of sleep in succession - just like my daughter. Tonight actually is the second night in a row that I will have had at least five hours of uninterrupted sleeping, thanks to the Night Nanny. Two days ago my daughter looked at me with that kind of battle-worn fatigue and said, "We will have relief in two days... we can make it!" We have.

Mr K is asleep right now, but when he wakes up.....

The boy has established himself as a screamer... when he wakes up he is hun-gar-ree and he wants to eat RIGHT NOW! Changing his diaper first just enrages him and he is absolutely certain he is being deliberately tortured. His scream tone conveys that very well.

Miss H was sleeping on my chest for this shot.

The girl is laid back. She knows food is coming, she wants to enjoy it with a dry diaper and is willing to let us administer to her without much 'sturm und drang' (fuss). I have already been rewarded by a huge smile from Miss H and although it is early for any baby to truly smile in recognition, Miss H is a most remarkable baby... of course, being my grandchild I would have that opinion in any case.

I only have a few more weeks before I leave and although the hours of missed sleep are beginning to take their toll - I cannot remember simple things like how to spell the name of that white stuff in a tub that goes on a bagel for the grocery lists - I am going to miss even more those special little faces that are only just now beginning to be really interesting creatures.

And, I should add, I will miss my 8-year old granddaughter who further endeared herself to me by showing her big heart and showering her baby sister and brother with some of her particular love. There are challenging days ahead, but Big Sis E is, I think, up to the task.

Tending the Twins

The modern conveyances - car seats.

The arrival last week of the twins - a boy first and then the girl, 15 minutes apart - was a week of adjustments. My eight-year old granddaughter stayed with her nanny at the nanny's family house for three nights which helped her get rested up for being at home where sleep is interrupted regularly with the yowls of hungry or gas-filled babies and howls of displaced (three) cats. It is not enough for the cats to protest with sound, but at least one of them left several nasty green vomits, unseen in the dark, on the rug in the basement where I was walking with one of the restless babes.

Mom and Dad are pleased with the products which were well over projected arrival weights, and came with fingernails, lovely reddish gold angel hair on top and Baby Boy "K" has already smiled to show off his dimples. Sister "H" not to be outdone, demonstrated how strong she is by rolling over on the bed! While Bigger Sis is not all that impressed with these two interlopers, she does bestow kisses quite regularly on their heads and tiny hands.

It's been a wonderful, awe-inspiring journey to get to part where we watch daily for the changes that demonstrate good growth. So far, so very good!

The hardest part for me will be leaving... heading back to my Other Life as a retired granny, because in this daily demand for granny help, I have felt necessary, useful and purposeful. Not that I don't feel that in my Other Life, but being of service to your children is, as one friend put it, "the highest calling for a parent."

My S-I-L said today, "The wonderful thing about having babies when you are older as parents is that you can truly enjoy today, with less fear because you know you have already brought one along..." and there is a sort of relief in even the crying because it doesn't last forever either.

The fatigue is greater, however, for all... harder to get through days where the nights are foreshortened with distress, demands for feeding or something that cannot be determined. The nanny for my granddaughter has been a wonderful asset and a treasure for keeping structure for a little girl who is struggling to make sense of a mother who is now dividing her time five ways instead of only three (her husband, her daughter and herself). But it will all get itself sorted out.

Meanwhile, to all my readers, thank you for your attendance on this great good news!

All That Glitters Here is Glass

The red 'floral' is in fact a glass structure.

I am now in Seattle awaiting the arrival of the twins, and it was determined that an afternoon meeting up with an Intender friend was a safe bet, so my Intender buddy and I agreed upon the Seattle Center where the Space Needle and other entertainments are located... where we decided upon the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibits and ended up having lunch at the Collection Cafe which features a huge variety of things that Dale Chihuly has collected - everything from Mexican ashtrays to accordions. Plus the food was promised to be delicious, and it was, too.

Following are some of the incredible blown glass displays that are both inside and outside, some of which have been shown in other parts of the world at one time or another.

Neon gasses added make this a dramatic display of glass.

The artist's fascination with native American art is shown.

Formerly an instructor at the Rhode Island School of Design, Chihuly collaborated with James Carpenter in 1971 to do glass in botanical designs. Thus evolved the "Glass Forest" which shows the delicate lines of growing things. Once out in the Glass Garden you can see many shapes imitating nature and the botanical additions make the stroll underneath the Space Needle quite fascinating.


The second 'room' is called the Northwest Room as it demonstrates the influence of the native Americans pottery and weaving on the work of Chihuly, who was born in Washington. The shapes and colors of the glass displayed mimic those of the early potters and weavers, much like glass that might have been tossed against the Pacific shores and then polished by the finder, in some of the pieces.

There was so much to see and there were a lot of people standing and walking so that it was sometimes a distraction to focus on one area over another. This entire collection is much more than just a display of glass art, but shows how the artist grew in his understanding of the medium, and how he literally stretched both the boundaries of the glass and the ways it could be presented.

Here is a glass ceiling you might not want to break through!

Passing through the spaces there was a room (Persian Ceiling) devoted to glass as a ceiling -- I loved it! If ever I have a chance to build a space where light can enter from above, this is something I will do. Although this had commercial lighting above, I can imagine such a space where the changing light would be an advantage.

In the "Mille Fiori" room, the colors of the glass against the black walls and mirrored bases was so dramatic that one simply had to sit down and let all the colors wash over and through the eyes. There was some 50's music playing in the background which I found somewhat distracting, however. 

The name for the room comes from the Italian meaning 'thousands of flowers' inspired by the artist's mother's garden. First exhibited in 2003 at the Tacoma Art Museum, this display features many of the varieties of Chihuly's works. The techniques used relied more on gravity, fire and centrifugal force for this collection.

After the loss of sight in one eye and a shoulder problem, Chihuly turned more of his work over to the team and used his artistic drawings to convey his objectives. But in 1992, during a solo exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, he determined that a space was missing something and he created what has become one of his most impressive series, the chandeliers. In 1995-96 in the Chihuly Over Venice presentation, he hung thirteen of them throughout the city with the final 14th juxtaposed with the Palazzo Ducale Tower's ancient one. Those shown here are either from that event or were inspired by it.

Green glass chandelier

Close-up of white chandelier

Red-orange glass chandelier

The Macchia Forest with four foot bowls of color!

Inside of one of the bowls in the Macchia Forest.

Hanging floral in glass inside the glass conservatory.

The "Macchia Forest" is a collection of huge bowls four feet in diameter utilizing all 300 colors of the hotshot. The variations in color are also achieved by rolling the molten glass in shards of colored glass while blowing it.

We took our break for lunch and then continued afterwards by going into the glass conservatory which houses an enormous floral display in glass suspended from the ceiling. You can see the Needle just outside.

I wanted to show you all the details of this incredible display but I have to leave room for your 'dessert' which is the garden outside.

Did you see the dark orbs that might be slick seals just under the log?

There was so much to see, and I took over 175 photos, but cannot possibly show them all here. I may post them to another site where you can see them, if interested, so if you are a follower, you will be notified of the link. I was so impressed with the landscaping being complimentary to the glass art.

Notice the colored tree bark and the flowers ...

Here, near the end are these precious flutes of blue, like some unearthly forest flower only waiting to offer up a scent that tricks the senses...

Near the exit, blue flutes on tall stalks...

There was more to be seen at this Center, but our eyes were satiated with all the colors and shapes so we opted to leave, but on the way out I saw this weird collection of colors and shapes from the IMAX building and other displays... it's another form of art, don't you think?

Metallic tiles create color on a Center building.

Twins!

Outside my new-to-me casa camposinos (farmers) are tying
up a variety of creatures or leaving them in wheelbarrows or
boxes while they stop by the pub for a refreshment. This
mama goat and her twins were my most recent 'guests.'

What is special about these twin baby goats? They were bleating outside my Colombian door and in the hysterical way that the Universe laughs along with us, it was on the same day I learned my daughter is expecting twins! I was finishing up reading e-mails and went outside to find out what all the noise was, and these two babies were scampering around, causing the mother goat much anxiety as they tore up one street and gamboled down another one. I wish I had put my camera on video mode to show the incredible energy of these two... something my daughter will appreciate some time later on, I think.

Caught for just a moment before they began their wild antics
again, dashing about, I am struck by their exact duplicate
markings, even the way they hold their heads.

Blue heather tone for the Little Boy and lilac heather tone
for the Little Girl are the two blankets under construction.

Another ko-inky-dink was finding the January edition of National Geographic in my Nook and discovering they had done a feature on twins.
Fun Fact: There are basically five common variations of twinning. The most common type of twinning is fraternal, male-female twins. This particular combination makes up approximately 40 percent of all twins born, followed by fraternal girls, then fraternal boys. After that, there's identical girls, then identical boys. The latter being the least common type of twinning. (From http://www.twin-pregnancy-and-beyond.com/identical-twins-or-fraternal-twins.html)

At any rate, the other part of this story is that while I was in the U.S. in January, I purchased two different colors of soft yarn with no particular project in mind, only that I liked the colors and thought it would be nice to 'do something' for someone. I didn't know anyone who was pregnant and never imagined the wonderful news that caused me to start the two blankets. And shortly after I actually began knitting, there was more news... there would be a little boy and a little girl joining the family, which will undoubtably bring a lot of entertainment for my granddaughter - eventually.

So it is with great delight that I continue my knitting effort knowing that somehow I might have been tuning into this family 'project' all along. And am also thinking about travel plans this fall so I can be some help. I will keep my readers posted.