First Three Weeks of the Night Shift

Even though this isn't my first rodeo as far as being a father, I have to say that I feel like an absolute rookie again. Both Kera and Rhiannon have decided to share a very specific trait with her father, they are completely nocturnal. This is no exaggeration. They literally sleep all day and then wake up every 15 minutes during the night to either cry or just check out their surroundings. They are still less than three weeks old, so there is still a lot of "shakedown" time for them to adjust to gravity and general living in a three-dimensional world.

Since the birth of my first boy, Joshua, in 1999; I have always insisted on taking the night shift with all my children from the time they are infants. This has always had the double advantage of giving their mother the opportunity to sleep, and for me to bond one-on-one with my child. Both of my first two children are boys, and have very alpha male personalities tempered by a sharp wit and the ability to make anyone laugh. But now I look down on these two little rosebuds in their pink Minnie Mouse blankets and wonder what these little girls are going to be like.

Of course I am not going to cancel "Zeppelin Night" or "Kung Fu Movie Night" just because they are girls. Both of my sons grew up on the classics, both musically and cinematically during the the first few months of their lives. And I take a certain pride in knowing that my son is the only kid in his middle school who knows of, and listens to The Doors. But I also know with a certain dread that one day I'm going to be sitting in front of my computer monitor watching Strawberry Shortcake or My Little Pony for the 50th time.... And they're almost 3 weeks old, and all I can bring myself to play for them is Enya, Fleetwood Mac, the occasional Beatles track, and some Simon and Garfunkel.

Kera (Left) and Rhiannon (Right)

And instead of one little face to get lost in, there are two. Being identical twins, we were very lucky that they had at least unique enough ears to tell them apart. Both of them, strangely enough, have pointed ears like little fairy folk. We are not sure if this is a trait that will eventually go away, but it is adorable as all get out. Kera 's left ear has a point that goes straight up like Spock, and Rhiannon's points more towards the back. So at least the mortal fear of confusing one with the other has been abated for now. I can imagine all kinds of mischief a child with my blood could get into if they had an identical twin to work off of...

So tonight on the night shift with their father, they're enjoying Enya's "The Celts" again because they seem to like that better than anything else right now. We'll see as time goes by if they are ready for the harder stuff, but for now I have to completely re-write my playbook as a father. It seems like having little boys for so long has left me a bit unprepared.

And I may be way out of my league...