nurture everyone's needs

Ava and Noah are under the covers these days - together. Both ran a small fever, runny noses, some coughing and ugly upset stomachs. When Ava cried - Noah chimed in. When Noah whined, Ava wanted up in my arms also. I spent the day juggling between nurturing each individually or together in my arms, Dad calling asking about email [??], laundry from last week, vomit, laundry from today, preparing lunch, more crying, preparing lunch again so that they would eat something, and of course meeting deadlines for work. It was the slowest morning I've experienced since I was 10 yrs old. I'd check my watch - nap time yet? No - 4 more hours to go - egh.

All of a sudden, there are these moments - too precious to walk away from after snapping a shot with the camera. So I stayed, and comforted them while they were being comforted by their beloved Scholastic tapes, crackers and prune juice.

And moments like these, in bed together reading books and sharing their ultimate favorite Baby Mum-Mums rice rusks. At one point, Dr. Noah extended his finger out to Ava to remind her to rest.

And with all this fun - nice long naps came out of it - and a mommy who regained all consciousness to hit the office and crunch some web designs. Before I knew it, nap time was over, Noah was crying again and Ava repeated "Ava's awake" at least 5 times. So the afternoon began to take a deep plunge UNTIL super Mom showed up at my door - aka my Mom. She was in the area for a Dr's appt and decided to surprise me and Aaron with a date night instead of our usual Thursdays. Oh - how perfectly-you-read-my-mind kind of a Mom she truly is.

I showered, lined my eyes, and threw on a new top. Aaron who was occupying Ava outdoors had no idea what we were up to until I opened the door and said, "guess what - we're going out - tonight!"

And we did - we indulged on braised beef and bills, strawberry Napoleons and satire, coffee with lots of cream and conversation. And the fire behind our backs was the perfect backdrop setting to a long fulfilling day as parents and husband and wife.

*Tip #1: If I could give unsolicited advice to new parents - it would be this: make a date with your spouse - at least 1x week. Because parents are couples - and both need to be equally nourished and replenished now and then. It is SO important to us that Ava and Noah experience their mom and dad with genuine laugh and love when we are all together. And that means making time for yourself and your partner. Have those obligating topics of conversations [like finances]- as well as romantic whispers in the ear [think sexy] - for nights out on the town - alone. Get on the mailing list to upcoming performances on stage or try scoring some tickets to a game. Make it fun - and mix it up from time to time so that you will keep up with it. Oh - and take turns planning!

*Tip #2: I discovered [not me personally - I found it online] a cure for constipation with kids. It has worked every time and today was no exception - mix a cup of water with corn syrup [um... about 2 tblsp] and have them drink the entire cup - they will - it's pure sweetness. Don't go overboard with the syrup though. Just enough to get the job done.