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We went to the hospital early Wednesday morning. Owen was excited to get his “innie belly button.” But he was nervous and anxious too. In the car on the way to the hospital Owen said, “Mommy, I miss home.” We got settled in our hospital room and Owen was a perfect patient throughout.

As the nurses prepared him for surgery, they gave him something to make him get calm and groggy. He did not like the way the “bad medicine” made him feel. Braydon and I could stay with him right up until they rolled him into the O.R. As they took him off he was groggily leaning back around the rolling bed, waving and saying “bye bye” to Braydon and I. I could have just fallen into a heap of a mess right there. As the nurse walked us back to Owen’s room to wait for him she told us that she “wished she could give us some jello shots.” That was interesting. But if truth be told, if she had offered us some, I would have happily slid down a bunch.

Post surgery recovery. Owen was not a happy camper. He wanted to be on my lap the entire time and wouldn’t even move off enough for the nurses to take his blood pressure on his arm. He really did not like the IV. When he finally was coherent enough and brave enough he looked at his belly. He was thrilled that it was flat– indicating to him that it was now the “innie” he had wanted.

Mid afternoon we came home from the hospital. Owen sat on the couch for the entire afternoon (unheard of). The only thing he really wanted to eat was popsicles. Which was just fine with us. Kyle and MorMor came home from being out running errands and brought Owen a book of mazes. This really cheered him up. (Lately his favorite thing to do is mazes.)

Later in the day Owen said, “I need a toy.” He then asked Kyle to go to the playroom and get him a toy. Kyle ran off and returned with a toy airplane. We had no idea where this was leading. With airplane in hand, Owen pulled up his shirt and carefully rolled the airplane across the bandage and over his flat belly. Smiling he did this over and over again. Even though he was in quite a bit of pain, he just loved that it was flat. He then told Kyle that he needed “a truck, or a car.” Kyle ran to the playroom and returned with a toy car for him. Owen rolled the car over his belly again and again and again.

Kyle was unbelievably amazing for the few days that followed. He played for long stretches alone (and/or with MorMor). He was happy and good. I am still surprised at how well he handled Owen being the center of attention.

Kyle was the perfect twin brother to have at your side during your post-operative recovery!

In the few days following Owens surgery, K & O surely watched more videos than they had ever watched, total, in their entire previous lives. They spent hours and hours snuggled up on the couch together watching Curious George and Wonder Pets.

Today, six days post surgery, Owen is having his first day with no pain medicine! The boys had a great breakfast together this morning and headed off to school as happy as can be. Friday we return to Dr. Chang’s office for the removal of Owen’s bandages and his post-operative check up.

The weekend before last we had a visit from G’amma, Uncle Guy, and Auntie Sabrina. Sadly, we didn’t have our new camera yet. But we had a good visit. K & O always love visits! And lately they are especially in love with Auntie Sabrina. It was a good weekend!

Also on Friday the 14th we had K & O’s Parent-Teacher Conference at River Valley Waldorf School. I’m not writing this to brag– just to document it for K & O when they are older (if they are ever inclined to read this):
Dear Boys,
Your nursery school teacher, Miss Kathy, loves you. She thinks you are independently two of the most amazing boys ever. She says people are drawn to you and that you are “very special.” And she also loves to watch your twinship. She’s had many sets of twins in the years she’s been teaching, but she says you are extra special twins to watch. She says you two are the “life of the class” and that you have “huge auras in the classroom and on the playground.” She says that all the other children adore you and that you are the natural leaders of the group every single day. When you are absent from school the day is “quiet” and your “absence is so striking to everyone.” She says that you are rarely in trouble. You are very social. You play well with all of the children and exclude no one (your Papi and I are most proud of this). You lead the group in vivid imaginary play… usually related to travel (LOL!). You turn over the table and turn it into an airplane. You get all the kids to “pack their bags” and “get ready for the trip.” You all pile into the upside-down-table-plane, get your seats, and fasten your seat belts. Then you all fly off to distant destinations! Beaches! Desert! Snowy Mountains! It is always glorious and adventurous and exciting! Many of the other children have never actually been on a plane in real life– but in class they are flying off all over the world everyday! 😉 Miss Kathy thinks this is just a wonderful thing you’re doing in class. You eat your snacks and your lunches very well. You love to be outside (she knows you well). You play separately at times during the day but always come back together in between. Often when together you play with another child too, so that there are three of you. Owen likes to play especially with the girls– Stella and Lydia are constant companions. Kyle rotates from friend-to-friend, but Will remains a steady. You enjoy story time and song singing. She thinks you’re way ahead of other kids your age in pretty much every way– except for coloring/drawing (!!!). You still really don’t like to color or draw and your skills show it! Basically, you’re still just scribbling and showing no interest in doing much else. She’s not worried about that though, and neither are we. You’re going to graduate to the mixed-age-kindergarten (ages 4-5-6) for next year. You’ll probably be the youngest kids in your class, but you’ll love it because you really enjoy being with older kids. And Miss Kathy thinks you’ll do just great. Your Papi and I kept waiting for the bad news. But there was none. Your Parent-Teacher Conference was just an hour of listening to how wonderful you boys are!

So – after a number of questions about our new camera, this is the story.

We had wanted to “upgrade” for a while, and when bonus season came around and our camera bit the dust, we decided to do it.

I did a lot of online research and we ultimately went with the Nikon D40, with the included kit 18-55mm lens (28-80mm equiv). We also got the Nikon sb-600 flash (but it has not arrived yet). I suspect we’re going to get the 18-200mm lens at a later date to give us more zoom.

It’s easy to use, has an auto setting for Heather, is super light, and way way way way fast. Feels like instant on, instant taking a picture. There feels like no delay from when you click the shutter release to when the picture is taken. This is our first Digital SLR, so it’s new for us to have such quality. Our previous camera (that’s being repaired) is a Canon G7, which is a very good point and shoot – but there are delays when starting and taking pictures. We were ready to upgrade.

Our choice was between the Nikon D60, D80 and the Canon Rebel XTi. If we had wanted to spend twice as much, I would have gotten the D200, but we didn’t. Those cameras have more megapixels than the D40, but since we’re not making poster sized prints, we don’t really need more than 6 (which is what the D40 has), and the D40 has better color and exposure quality than the D60 and D80. Not being a camera expert, that’s what I read in reviews anyway.

I used these two sites to help with the research:

DPreview

Ken Rockwell

And we bought it at Circuit city. The prices online were comparable, and with no shipping, automatic 10% off on the flash and memory card, it simply came in at the best price. We also got the 2 year extended warranty, since our last 4 cameras have all broken within two years.

We’re loving it so far.

We got a camera! Here are some of Braydon’s first shots with it (K in orange, O in green).

Today we were at Lowe’s to get a couple of things. Owen said he had to go potty– badly, so I left Braydon to look for the item we were looking for, and I took off with the boys to find the bathroom. I was pushing a cart, Owen and Kyle were hanging off of either side of it. Quickly making my way down one long isle I could see two black women up ahead. One was middle age, the other older. They looked like mother and daughter. As I approached them I said, “Excuse me!” so that they’d move out of the way in order for us to pass by. They scooted to the side so that I could forge ahead, quickly through the isle. Just as we were passing by them Owen yells out: “Mommy! Those two ladies are black just like us!!!” I nodded to him and smiled. The two women tried to igore us. Again, now just barely past them, Owen yelled again: “MOMMY!!! THOSE TWO LADIES ARE BLACK! JUST LIKE US!!!!!!!” At this point the older women couldn’t restrain herself any longer. She stepped back into the center of the isle, turned toward our cart, smiled huge, and waved to K & O. The boys smiled hugely back, and waved back to the nice lady, jumping up and down on the cart. I smiled and waved at her too as we made our way toward the bathroom.

This morning Kyle woke up early and was cuddling in bed with Braydon and I. It was just barely dawn when he first got into bed with us, we were dozing in and out of sleep, and it was silent in the house. We laid there like that for about 40 minutes. About 20 minutes into it Kyle broke the silence and said, “Mommy, there is someone else at my school with brown skin just like me.”

It goes without saying that school decisions for families like ours are even more complicated than for most families (and for most families they are complicated enough to begin with). Braydon and I agonize over the research studies on black boys and education, we agonize over the options (or lack thereof) and we agonize over the prospects. It doesn’t help that I know way too much about these subjects given my areas of focus within sociology. River Valley Waldorf School, where the boys are currently attending pre-school, is predominantly white. While it does have a bit of racial and ethnic diversity, K & O definitely stand out. Most of the non-white kids are not as dark-skinned as K & O. There are some Middle Eastern families, a few Asian and Hispanic/Latino folks, and a number of bi-racial (including black-white) kids in the school community. But from what we’ve seen, there is only one other family with skin as dark as, or darker than, K & O’s. The daughter is in the kindergarten class, and although we’ve never met them we’ve seen them at school events and at pick-up and drop-off. I have conscientiously made a point of not pointing the little girl out to K & O. This is unusual for me because I tend to point these sorts of things out to them, casually mention race, and raise our family discussions about race on a very regular basis. But I have purposefully not wanted to do that at their school because I’ve been purposefully waiting for them to bring it up themselves when they are ready. We want their school to be their school — a place that is their own social arena — and so I’ve not wanted to put anything on it that might not be there organically for them. So, this morning’s very poignant statement from Kyle is the first in-road to what will surely be many discussions about race-and/in-school for many years to come. Lying there in bed with the sun rising outside I had that sense (a sense that is somehow becoming familiar) that my boy was telling me something that was very important in that moment. Important in what ways? That is not at all clear. But important. Both important, and important to him. I had been waiting for this moment.

“Yes,” I said, snuggling him closer, “I’ve seen her, she has beautiful brown skin just like you and Owen.” He nodded, his thumb in his mouth, his honey bunny tight up to his face. “What is her name?” he asked. I said, “I don’t know her name. Do you know her name?” And he said, “No.” I said, “Is she in Miss Annie’s class?” He nodded. “Well, next time you see her you should ask her, you can say, ‘What is your name?'” He laid there, still. I said, “Ky Ky, do you want me to ask her for you?” He nodded vigorously. “O.k., I said. That’s our plan. Next time we see her at your school I will ask her what her name is.” “O.k.” he said, satisfied. I said, “I think that girl is so pretty. And Ky Ky, I love your beautiful brown skin. I just love your skin.” He smiled and cuddled closer. And then we all laid there, in the silence, until Owen woke up a while later and we started the day.

In July we bought a Ford Explorer. Used, but in great condition, not a scratch on it. The boys love it – it’s the “Big Red Truck” for them. They love for me to drive on the grass, to go through big puddles, they love to start it (yes, I give them the keys and let them start it – I know it’s nuts). I love the truck, I have always loved trucks, that’s just the way it is.

K & O also love golf. They love their golf clubs. They love to hit the ball. They love their 5 woods (which is one with a large metal head). They also love to pretend their golf clubs are other things sometimes – a broom, a snow plow, a baseball bat – I am sure there are many others. They sometimes love to slam them on the ground.

The other day, K & O were pretending the golf clubs were the brushes they use at car washes. They decided to wash they truck with these brushes; these brushes that really happen to be golf clubs. They did this on the doors and the rear quarter panels. They did this up and down and side to side. Over and over.

I haven’t taken a picture because I am still trying to not be angry. They did it to be nice – to wash the Big Red Truck. It just happens that golf clubs used as brushes create really big scratches in car paint.

Here’s another good example– not so much of the hair, but of the floor— (see post below):

These photos are from early winter 2006. K & O were about 1.5 years old then and man!–they were a handful (two handfuls). I love to see pictures of them from before their locs! These pictures were from just before we dredded the boys’ hair. I just loved those fuzzy heads. But we were going through a terrible phase then, in part related to hair… the boys were absolutely unstoppably crazy about throwing food, smashing food, and… rubbing food into their hair. It was awful! We tried everything to stop it but the two of them just thought it was the funnest and funniest thing on earth. Every meal was a horror. I literally cried in frustration, at the table, many-a-meal. Meanwhile they’d be laughing their tushes off getting the biggest kick out of each other. Kicking their feet in their highchairs and slamming their hands on the table in hysteria/mania/ecstasy with the fun of it all. Braydon and I were at our wits end with it. The hair, especially, was a terrible aspect of that phase— they’d rub/smash/grind bits of food, handfuls of cereal, fistfuls of yogurt, bowls of pasta, ETC. into their hair. You can just imagine what a nightmare this was to deal with (especially all of you mom’s of black kids out there– you know this was a horrible nightmare of a phase to go through with these two crazy boys). Somehow we all survived to tell the story. But if you click to enlarge the photos you’ll see lots of foodstuff in their hair. 😉