Up Close and Personal

Things are progressing quickly around our house. Roman and Eden are sleeping up to 10 hours at night and weigh, 13-7 and 12-5, respectively. They are 4 months old and quickly catching up to where they should be, despite the early start. The key to success as of late has been the consistent schedule - bedtime around 8:00 and they'll sleep till 5 or 6. Hopefully the plan continues to work since Mommy's long lost return to her job has arrived. 3 weeks of friends and family have thankfully prolonged the inevitability of day care.

Crabby Time has moved and been shortened - the main tough time is from 7 pm until bedtime. This makes Daddy happy so that he can enjoy some time with us before the CT arrives.

Enough with this superficial cuteness...... It's time to get in touch with the real Roman and Eden, we've seen all the glamorous photos and been peppered with stories, but we don't know them deep down. We haven't asked the truly probing questions. Now that they're so old, it's time.

Roman: On Himself - What describes me? That's hard to put a finger on, really. Well, there's the cheeks, I've been growing those since about month 2 - hoping to round things out and look a little more, you know, baby-esque. Then there are the noises. Yeah, they've become a bit cliche' but it's my trademark now. Plus, they get things done. I'm hungry? I'll fire up some alpaca. Want to get picked up? A trumpeter swan perhaps. Poop in my drawers - a cacophony of goats and wombats. Overtired - I usually opt for the all out scream. But that's not all I'm about, I love kisses and zerberts and playing. Oh, and I'm definitely a morning guy. And did I mention that I can roll over. Well believe it, I have video to prove it. All in all, I'm a pretty happy guy - I just know what I like and what I don't and I make sure you know which it is. But let's just face it folks, I'm irresistible.

Eden: In her own words - My motivation? I'd probably have to say a good night's sleep. Ha. Now that my brother has started to calm down, the whole house is getting more shut eye. But seriously, I am pretty much the easy one. Sure, I make a fuss now and then and once I'm mad, lookout, but overall, I'm pretty easy going. I don't whine much, I'll just hang out in my crib and look around the room, pondering life, theoretical physics, how to create a tear in the time/space continuum, you know - typical baby stuff. I eat really fast and like to spit up the last half ounce pretty regularly. That keeps Mommy on her toes and me in clean duds every few hours. I'm not as strong as Roman and can't roll over yet, but I grab at things more and really like to talk to Mommy and Daddy, especially when it's time for bed. Also, I should probably mention that I'm Daddy's little princess, which I'm reminded of daily.

Roman and Eden: On each other -

E: Roman is a pretty good guy, a little noisy now and then, but he keeps us all entertained and he will definitely be a good source of protection in the long run.

R: Well, everyone thinks she's little Ms. Perfect, which she usually is, but she can create quite the stink now and then when she...

E: Oh man, Roman! Be quiet. I'm so embarrassed.

Our favorite hangouts lately are the newly revealed exer-saucers. They should probably be named overstimulation-saucers but we've quickly learned that if you just keep your head in one place (easier said than done), you can focus and enjoy one toy. Soon we won't need blankets to be stuffed in under us and behind us to help us fit.

Now that we've learned a little more about each other, let's meet some more of the family.

The Smith side grandkids. Toby Smith (almost 2), Elise VanMeurs (almost 3), and Mason VanMeurs (7) holding Roman and Eden. The twins obviously see something of more interest to the right of the photographer. Eden likely spied an escape route; Roman, a ham sandwich.

The Wolters side grandkids. Makenna Meyer (8mos), Jacob Meyer (cousin of Makenna - 16mos), Eden, and Roman. There's that sandwich again.



The McCartney side grandkids. Eden, Aidan McCartney ( 2-1/2 yrs), and Roman. Unfortunately, Aidan's modeling contract forbids any unauthorized photos. Being beautiful is a difficult cross to bear.

Roman, in a rare leisure moment, perfects his Gene Simmons impersonation.

"Daddy, please. If you want me to smile, you're going to have to do better than that."