Baby Boot Camp...

Week 29.5

Madelyn: Petite

Kohlden: Husky

Hello and Good Evening. Uncle Mike here, reporting LIVE from ground zero. Talk about a whirlwind of activity this week! This is my first attempt (and possibly my last, if things keep up like this) at the wonderful updates of the Isidro Family via blog.

Let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Friday night was one of the first times the temperature dipped enough to notice. It's surreal to be here in Florida in November, and still be able to wear flip flops and t-shirts while everyone else in the U.S. is bundled up in several layers. Thankfully, there's a fireplace close by to snuggle up with a few good looking kiddos!

Sabbath brought plenty of visitors to the house. Fresh caretakers swooped in during the afternoon and immediately grabbed a kid. Lolo, Lala, and Auntie Esther arrived with the chilly weather, and made sure that the kids were warm enough to travel to space.

We were joined later that evening by the Bergherm and Grodack families for a hot dog roast at Club Pergola. Hot apple cider, delicious cheddar cheese pretzels, and assorted meats were more than enough reasons to brave the chilly weather. Blake and Evan Bergherm, Calleigh Grodack, and Braelyn explored the multiple uses of the inflatable bio-dome toy, and managed to have more fun rolling around on top of it and sliding face first into the grass.

After the food and fun, we collected all the babies and retreated to the warmth of the house to watch an incredible documentary called, you guessed it - "Babies." As if we were in short supply. It was such a cool film to watch, especially for the parents - the different styles of child-rearing are fascinating! Never before had I seen some of the cleaning techniques (such as a corncob for total exfoliation) and babysitting options (tie him to the bed, or call some goats). These are great things to remember for the future, I'm sure...

While fascination occurred downstairs, most of the suspects - er, I mean, toddlers - were upstairs watching Dora and playing in Allen and Tangie's room. As the evening started to wind down and parents began to prepare for the trek home, all the kids very politely thanked their hosts and filed out with smiles on their faces. Smiling - simply because the parents had no idea the amount of destruction they left in their wake. Someone call in the National Guard - we have a natural disaster!

Truly, our family is blessed to have such sweet babies. No wonder Lala can't seem to concentrate at work these days - she can't wait for the weekend!

So yes, the weekend went on without a hitch. But stuff got a bit crazy during the week.

Braelyn's eye got into a fight with another little girl's finger, and lost horribly. Everything was fine - it was a bit irritated, but no real issues. Even Braelyn was fine while we were eating dinner and she was telling me about what happened. But the second Mommy called and Daddy started talking to her - weeping and gnashing of teeth arose out of nowhere, just so that Mommy could understand the breadth and depth of her excruciating pain. Sobbing, unregulated tear duct production, and mucus. But in a blink of an eye, the second Daddy said "Mango Ice Cream," the bubbly, energetic, drama-free Braelyn magically appeared. I love my niece - and her Academy Award for best actress! Just like her Uncle...

So the fight was just the icing on the cake. The twins were due for an upgrade at school - since they were now sitting up on their own quite nicely. So arrangements were made this week for them both to transition into a new room - with more activities, interactions, full coffee bar, and high-speed internet.

But they got a bit more than they bargained for this week. Shortly after the transition (Tuesday), both the twins apparently caught a stomach bug that had been floating around the new room during the previous week. The staff apparently had not adequately dealt with the disinfection of the room over the weekend, so the twins started to lose their lunches, dinners, and breakfasts.

Tuesday evening Tangie was out of town on business for the night, so Daddy and Uncle Mike ran around all evening like an episode of Iron Chef. Apparently, my outfit didn't coordinate to Madelyn's liking, so she doused me with about 5 ounces of her disdain - which qualified her for an impromptu bath! I got changed and grabbed Kohlden to feed him next, and apparently HE didn't think my choice of outfit was appropriate evening attire - so he added about 5.5 ounces of his scorn to my new shirt. Picky, picky! You're getting a bath too, Mister...

So for the past few days, both Madelyn and Kohlden (and now Braelyn, as of tonight) have been chillin' at home filling burp cloths and diapers, trying to get over this bug that they never should have gotten in the first place. An apologetic call from the daycare explained the whole ordeal, which helped calm the patriarchal irritation.

To say the least, I've experienced a lot over the past few weeks - with this week offering a crash course on crisis management. I absolutely adore these beautiful children and their parents, and it's such a bummer that this week has been tough for the little ones. But, through all the tummy aches and wet diapers, they're still smiling.

Oh yeah - one last thing. I am still amazed at night when we prepare the bottles at the sheer volume of milk these little munchkins go through per day! This is what the dishwasher looks like EVERY NIGHT. Incredible.

It's so nice to know that I have a place here, and a bottle to call my own.

Well, that pretty much covers the basics. In review: cold weather, hot dogs, Babies, destruction, Oscar nominee, stomach bug, smiling babies, and an abundance of nipples.

This has definitely been fun - thanks for reading!

Uncle Mike