who would have ever thought? 18 month old twins at 49. It's great! I couldn't have imagined it any other way. Well, I guess I could probably try to imagine it but then everything would be different , now wouldn't it? In my 20's, I was teaching, going to grad school and moving to Paris. In my 30's, I was living in Paris, going to design school, and starting my own clothing line. In my 40's, I was starting my own businesses AND marrying the person that I actually wanted to have children with. There is still so much to look forward to. Each day our kids do something amazing. I have traveled so much and lived in different places, now we can do it through the eyes of our children. I can't wait: to learn how to ski (again) with them, take them to the beach, go to the city (New York, that is), visit the coast of Maine, spend time in Paris with them, eat all kinds of different foods, take family vacations, teach them "peace, love and understanding" and not to be be judgmental and cynical (like we are!) - I will continue to add to this list.
Right now, they walk but will learn to run. Creed is very close. Zelda will take some doing. How does a blind kid learn to run? Is she afraid? Do we move her legs for her?
They are saying words: Ma, Da, Ba and an occasional "Zelda" and an imitation of "careful", "thank-you" or "bye-bye". Soon there will be 2 words together and word association with objects and actions. Again, different yet the same for each of them.
Right now, we're learning teeth brushing.
Oh, the teeth.
The drs constantly warned us about the effects of the toxo meds on the teeth. Starting at 1 month out of the womb, the twins were put on their "toxo cocktail" - 3 different meds (sulfadiazine, leucovorin, and pyramethamine) to combat the parasite in their system. We shot the meds on a daily basis into their milk , sometime 2x/day. The meds were compounded at a special pharmacy and were refilled weekly due to their limited shelf life. The crazy price of approx $100/week was not covered by their insurance. The delicate balance of their meds was calibrated by weekly weight checks and adjusted for their growth. The amounts worked together in conjunction to keep their systems - blood cell counts, etc - in range. We gave them the meds for 17 months. As their teeth came in, we knew that the meds (suspended in a sugar solution) would work to ruin their sweet baby teeth. We would rub them with a wash rag in the tub, try to get them to chew on the right end of their toothbrush, and give them baby Orajel to encourage a "sweet" experience. FINALLY , they are getting. Creed will imitate my tooth brushing actions and walk around the house with his mini-brush. Zelda - with her strict aversion to anything near her mouth that she doesn't put there! - is now willing to explore brushing with a vibrating, battery-activated toothbrush. Hurray!
Ah, the simple pleasures of parenting...just the other day it seems like I was conquering a 250 title reading list for my M.A., now it's teeth-brushing. Priorities change, pleasures remain - one just needs to keep the mind open!
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