I keep thinking about those boys in New Jersey. I remember reading recently that crimes against children aren’t as prevelant as the news would have you believe, and that most of those crimes are committed by step-fathers/mom’s boyfriend. So there was a part of me that was watching to find out if there was foul-play involved. There was not. There were three boys being little boys, climbing into the trunk of the car and getting stuck. A horrible tragedy. Horrible. And then I read people speaking out about “the mother is to blame, how dare she go into the house for 3.5 seconds?!?!” or “the cops are to blame, they should’ve looked in the car!” and I’m disgusted. I know it’s reflex– if we can decide that the mother or the cops are to blame, then we can comfort ourselves that our kids are safe because we won’t behave like that mother or those cops. So I realize it’s reflex, but I hate that it creates a situation where one gets to judge someone who’s lost her child.
On a similar note, I read that an 11yr old boy was lost in the woods and his parents had warned him about talking to strangers and had him good and afriad of “being stolen”, so HE HID WHEN HE HEARD THE RESCUERS APPROACHING.
I need to research what percentage of children are actually kidnapped by strangers. I need to quit paying attention to the evening news (Impending Doom! Everywhere! All the time!) and find some truth.

Let’s see . . . at least two of my blog-reads decided this week to let their babies cry it out. I don’t think any of the children involved have reached 6 mos yet. I don’t want to judge–my suspicion is that I have “easy” babies and therefore have no idea what these moms are experiencing–but I do feel a little sad. Sigh.

So, we had our first family trip– three nights at the MIL’s, with my mother coming along to play nanny. I actually got to swim and read and drink a cup of coffee without jumping up in the middle! But now I’ve forgotten how to take care of them alone!

Well, I had, but it came back to me pretty quick. If they are crying, make sure they’ve been fed within the past hour, they’ve been burped, and thier diapers are clean. If they yawn, swaddle them. Give them a pacifier. Put them in the swing/bouncy chair. Turn on some white noise. Cuddle & jiggle them. If all else fails, give them some simethicone or gripe water. Or both. Do I actually believe that simethicone/gripe water will perform some sort of chemical miracle? No– my theory is that they, along with diaper changes, provide sort of a “re-start” for the baby, and sometimes a re-start is enough to allow them to fall asleep. But I might be full-of-crap. The hardest part lately is that they fuss and without a yawn, I have no clue as to whether they are tired or wanting to play. Well, that and figuring out how to be devoted and in love with two things at once. That is something that has not gotten easier with time– I’ve just gotten used to it.

Other than that, they are each hitting the three month milestones, with the exception of Baby Girl not lifting her head much when on her stomach. Her neck muscles are strong when she’s loooking over your shoulder– I think she’s just not interested in tummy time. Yesterday’s moment of the day occurred at 7am (the best baby moments are first thing in the morning) when Baby Boy tried to laugh. It was really really sweet. This morning’s moment was when they had their first conversation– the first time we have minutes of sustained eye contact, and then Baby Boy cooed, and Baby Girl cooed back, and they did that for about 2 minutes. The interesting thing is that Baby Boy was the one to begin “speaking”– usually Baby Girl gets your attention and then starts a conversation with you, where Baby Boy lets you park yourself in his line of sight and then ramble for a bit before he decides to chime in– but apparently for his sister he’ll bend the rules. Dare I hope they’ll adore each other all (most) of the days of their lives?