Lots of transitions

There are a lot of transitions going on in our house right now. I am finishing my last week of paternity leave. Alisa is settling back into work and the girls are growing like crazy. Viola just had her four-month checkup. It is hard to believe that she's 4 months old already. She's able to not only rollover but also reach for things. She is starting to chat quite a bit and you can see in the video she's got a good little laugh. 

Iris has a lot more going on.I don't want to get into the discussion of how to properly train your child to sleep because there are many schools of thought but let's just say that it's challenging. And for those who think they can function just as well on less sleep (like i did) you have not had to deal with a tired 2 year old. As I mentioned in the last blog Iris climbed out of her crib last week accelerating our transition from crib to bed. There has been some laughing,some crying, lots of stickers, sleeping on the floor (both Iris and me at separate times) and Iris actually sleeping in her bed sometimes. It's interesting.If you told me 2 months ago that I'd be getting up in the middle of the night to put Iris to bed  & that Viola would be sleeping mostly through the night I wouldn't have believed you. But, Iris is getting it. Last night she slept in her bed all night for the 1st time.
Additionally, Iris has chosen to potty train this week. I don't want to go into too much detail because I'd like for her to maintain some privacy with this big milestone. She decided that this was the time and that has made it challenging when she's very tired. As most parents know it is not advisable to go through 2 major transitions but Iris, like her parents, has no problem taking on more than one thing at a time. We are progressing.
I am not looking forward to going back to work next week. (Who could be happy about leaving these girls all day?). So I am just trying to enjoy the time I have. You can see below that Iris and I are having fun. 

Paternity Leave

As some of you know I am in the middle of my paternity leave. It's only 4 weeks and 2 weeks are already gone. It has been fantastic to spend time with the girls. Iris still goes to the nanny share so I have most of the day alone with Viola. It's been good for us to have that time to bond. (That is what the paternity leave is for after all.) But I have not spent all my time with Viola. Since I am not working it means my evenings and weekends are free also so we have family time too. But the reason for my post today was my experience at the park today with both girls. Recently, there has been a lot written about stay at home parents and working parents including a couple in the NY Times here and here.
Until today I didn't think much of either of those. But today I experienced what it is like to be the only dad in a park full of moms. Now, to be fair, this was a fairly defined group of moms and kids. But Iris didn't care. She saw kids playing in the sand box with toys and wanted to play too. She walked right into the pit and started playing. I followed Iris (wearing Viola on my chest in the Ergo no less) telling her to ask to play, be nice, etc. The women in the group didn't acknowledge either of us. I am not sure that it was because I am a man or it was because I wasn't in their group but regardless this is my rant for those mothers.

1. I know that as a man I can never understand what childbirth feels like, what breastfeeding feels like, and therefore will never understand the connection between mother and child. That does not make me less of a parent. Just a different one. 
2. Men are still looked at differently when they are the primary care giver. When a man shows up in the park with his kids by himself he is already swimming upstream.  Give him a break. He is intimidated by you and your friends and probably insecure. 
3. Kids don't know the "politics" of the playground. If they want to play then they play. Please just let them.
4. Most importantly, if you want men to be better fathers (and I think you do), stop treating the stay at home fathers like the outsiders. 

Ok. I will get off my soap box now. 

The latest update to the girls. Tonight we discovered that Viola is ticklish and has a great laugh.
Iris climbed out of her crib for the 1st time. The good news is that she didn't fall. The bad news is that she did it multiple times until Alisa stayed with her until she fell asleep. We'll be converting her crib to a bed tomorrow. I am sure their will be stories to tell about that . . .

2013 off and running

Before I get into the latest Rasera-Holden escapades I have to share the blog that I recently found. Zenhabits is a pretty amazing blog with some great insight. If you have never read it you should. I read it almost everyday.
Now let's get on with the stories. In our last post you heard the story of Viola's birth. That was quickly followed by the holidays. Christmas was certainly a new experience. Iris has grasped the concept of presents so she had lots of fun opening presents. And to keep from overwhelming her we actually spread Christmas over 2 days. She handled it really well and even napped on Christmas Day.

From my notes to Iris:

Then you put out cookies and milk for Santa and OJ for the reindeer. The cookies were fake from your kitchen. The OJ was toy from from toy grocery cart. Then after prayers the last thing you said was "Santa Claus is going to eat the cookies and drink the orange juice" 

New Year's Eve was (not surprisingly) a quiet evening at home. Viola broke us in later that night. She was up from 3a-5a and most that was with me bouncing on the ball. The next day I woke up with back injury. It was a rough start to the year but with some good PT, some muscle relaxers, and some rest I got over it.

I am not going to try and chronicle the amazing journey of the last few months.  I started this post back in Jan and today is April 12. I have not posted because I wanted to have pictures and videos all edited and posted. Needless to say that has not happened. So I am not looking back. I am just trying to keep up with the day to day. Posts forthcoming will likely be more often but have less content.

A few recent shots