How are they doing?

At first they were easy. Wake 'em up, change the diaper, feed a bottle, put 'em down. When you put 'em down, they stayed down. We thought this meant that life in the NICU had conveniently sleep-trained them on a strict three-hour cycle, which translated into "Everything will be easy and will remain so."

Then our lactation consultant hinted that this behavior was really developmental in nature, and that they were still in utero as far as their brains were concerned all the way up until their term date. We were told to expect therefore that they would behave like normal newborns upon the arrival of their term date.

I ruefully report that this has turned out to be completely true. They are 10 weeks old measured from their birthdate, but only about 3 weeks measured from their term date. The middle-of-the-night alertness and desire constantly to be held has most certainly begun, right on time.

On the upside, Anna is showing a smile now and then. Which is nice, because it takes the edge off of being awakened at 3 a.m. and dealing with a baby that is fussy and needy despite a full meal. Evelyn has yet to grace us with a smile, but we assume she is smiling on the inside.

Weight update.

Anna

• 10/8: 8 lbs 2 oz (up only 3 oz in one week -- back on the sauce for her)

Evelyn

• 10/8: 9 lbs 11 oz (up 6 oz)

Guess the twin contest.

The results of the first "Guess the Twin" contest from September 25th are in, and they are as follows: You people apparently don't know how to use the "Comment" feature. That's the only way I can bring myself to understand the abysmal turnout. I think next time we'll have to open up the category to include the ever-growing number of people who've met the girls.

By the way, the full-credit answer was "Evelyn." The nose was a dead giveaway.

Weight update.

Anna

• 10/1: 7 lbs 15 oz (up 10.5 oz in nine days)

Evelyn

• 10/1: 9 lbs 5 oz (up an astonishing 16.5 oz in nine days!)

Are they displaying any cool twin powers?

Some people have asked whether the girls have displayed any creepy paranormal superpowers like other famous twins -- things like telepathy, bilocation, and the ability to form useful partnerships between animals and items made of water in various states.

The answer, surprisingly, is "yes."  Except there's nothing paranormal about it.

The girls have always displayed a slightly weird synchronicity.  At first it was fully explained by the fact that they were on the same basic three hour cycle, so it was entirely unremarkable that they would do things at basically the same time.  That cycle is a lot more flexible now.

But they now seem to be communicating distress to each other.  Both girls do this odd sound that I really don't remember Patrick or Charlie doing.  It's something between grown-up throat clearing and a growl.  Ginger and I call it grumbling, at it happens pretty constantly for both girls -- maybe they have a bad two month case of postnasal drip.  In any event, they grumble at each other all the time.  And they really grumble when one of them is going through some sort of Disturbance in the Force -- things like pooping.  And the weird part is I think they tend to grumble simultaneously from different rooms.

So, it's not nearly as cool as Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers, and it's nowhere near supernatural in origin, but it is funny to watch.

I'm considering having twins. What do I need before I start?

I will forgo the obvious things, like "two car seats." If you didn't already know that, you shouldn't be breeding in the first place.

• A sink-side instant hot water dispenser. There was one in our house when we moved in -- pretty much the only modern amenity. It was deemed useless for the first six years, but wow, has it paid dividends.  There is no better way to warm a bottle.
• Tivo. I can't stress this enough, especially if you decide to have your twins after having another child.  Actually, I recommend this even if you don't have twins.  And I know a lot of what there is to know about watching TV.
• Two bouncers, preferably with vibration technology.
• A co-sleeper for the side of the bed.
• A minivan, preferably one with remote-controlled motorized side doors.  You do have to give up a little bit of your self-respect when you drive a minivan, but the convenience you purchase with that missing self-respect makes it all worthwhile.
• A third adult in your household.  We made the mistake of undertaking this without securing this item, and now we've lost all negotiating leverage with potential bigamy prospects.  Live and learn.

Snuggling.