Things found in the wake of the twins …

A list of things I have found in the bathroom — mostly on the closed toilet seat lid — after the twins (not quite two-and-a-half) have been there:

• a small stuffed owl
• a handful of bendy straws, chewed
• two bendy straws and a plastic pot
• a ladybug scooter and a book about the letter Z
• a plastic snake
• a pile of shredded toilet paper
• an empty paper towel tube
• a set of toy keys
• a set of real keys
• two unused

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“Bye-Bye Brain” pregnancy cartoons

My short series of pregnancy cartoons, “Bye-Bye Brain,” is up at Sweet: A Literary Confection!  They’re under “Graphic Nonfiction,” a new thing for me.  And no, that doesn’t mean X-rated stuff.  Maybe R.  But it is nonfiction: all the quotes are things people actually said to me.

Here’s the first panel:

Click

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Tiny snow

The twins are talking more and more, and stringing words together into almost-sentences.  They’re still big into nouns (like sock or shoe) and prepositions that are really commands (like on! or off!) but a few verbs are sneaking in (like sit and eat).  The word of the week, however, is an adjective: tiny.

I introduced it to describe an almost invisible scratch that was being presented to me with lots of drama as a boo-boo.  I said yes, but it’s a tiny boo-boo — not so bad.  And “tiny boo-boo” stuck.

It’s only been a few days but now all kinds of boo-boos are tiny, a speck of food on the high chair tray is tiny, and a little picture of a dinosaur on the spine of a board book is tiny.  But what I’m really impressed with is

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Two pees in a pod

So after that last post you might be expecting something big and revolutionary.  I kind of am too … but the more I think about it the more intimidating the prospect becomes and the less inclined I am to write anything at all.  So instead I’m going to write about what’s on my mind and if it turns into something counter-cultural and grand, great.  But today, at least, I don’t think it will.  What’s on my mind is pee.

The twins — not yet two — seem to want to start potty training.  Although “training” is hardly the right word for it.  They like to

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Head colds, meerkats and living in the present

Since the twins were born — nearly 22 months ago — I’ve been living in the present.  I can’t fret too much about what the future holds when each day is crammed with so many challenges and triumphs — both theirs as growing homo sapiens and mine as a mother and a writer.  Many of my friends have praised this living-in-the-present, some even calling it a spiritual practice.  That’s all been very nice — until I got sacked by a terrible head cold.

It’s “just” a cold, but a stubborn and lingering one.  And

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Watching Mildred Pierce and thinking about daughters

Last night I watched the last episode of the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce.

Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce.  From wordandfilm.com.

At first it took me a while to get into it.  I had seen the original, but quite a long time ago, so I both remembered it and didn’t.  Occasionally a shot would jump out at me — or a particular dress — and I would think, yes, I’ve seen that before.  But my memory was so hazy that it was almost as if I were watching the film for the first time.   I knew the basic plot — the increasingly poisonous relationship between Mildred and her daughter — and I remembered the dramatic ending … but Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond’s adaptation finishes quite differently in terms of plot, even as it keeps the original’s sentiment.

What made me

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Nothing special, except …

It’s a heavy, grey, drizzly day and nothing special is happening.

Well, nothing happily special.  It’s not exactly special that my beloved spouse pulled his back and has been unable to pick up the twins for several days.  It’s not exactly special that one twin decided that now is the time for acute separation anxiety — from her dad.  It’s not exactly special that our house has been full of toddler wails and adult frustration and guilt.  But it’s something.

“Special” comes from the Latin for “species.”  I’ve been feeling more and more like a hybrid species these days — like an

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The twins learn a new language: Cicada!

The twins don’t say much these days — at least not in a language I can understand.  Most of their discernible English words describe food or each other, which seems appropriate for 17-month-old twins.  But then one of them heard the cicadas churning away in a tree outside their window and they added a new language to their repertoire.

From silive.com.

They can’t quite manage the “chchchchchchCHCHCHCHCH!” sound my beloved spouse and I make to imitate them (the cicadas, not the twins) but they do their best with

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What to get a pregnant friend?

A non-pregnant friend recently asked me this question and I thought I’d answer it.  These are things that I enjoyed or wished I had enjoyed during my pregnancy but, of course, other pregnant women will be into other things.  So please take these suggestions with a pinch of salt and enjoy shopping for your particular friend!

(Also, this is not any kind of paid review or endorsement (I don’t do that sort of thing) — it’s just a bunch of stuff I like.)

Entertainment:

• If you have a lot to spend, consider getting your friend an e-reader.  I was spending many long, uncomfortable hours at home alone and became addicted to my Kindle.  I could order book after book (like the next installment in the highly addictive Sookie Stackhouse series) without ever having to leave the house.

If you don’t have a lot to spend consider:

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A short post about a fast runner

As I was watching the Olympics the other day, I came across a little background segment on the track star Lashinda Demus.

Lashinda Demus. (From USA Today.)

I noticed that she has a bit of a tummy, which surprised me because most runners are terrifyingly lean.  And by “bit” of a tummy, I do not in any way mean a potbelly.  I mean it was like a tiny little tea saucer turned upside down.

Now before you come down on me for noticing a “flaw” in an Olympic athlete’s appearance, let me quickly explain.  I don’t consider it a flaw at all.  Almost immediately after I noticed said tummy, the segment revealed that she had had twins.  Twins!  I had twins!  And 17 months later I still have a tummy (bigger than a saucer but smaller than a pot).

Suddenly her little twin tummy filled me with joy.  Remember when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes in one day and yellow lines of glory ripple from his beaming face?  My reaction was almost that intense.

Here is a woman who

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