The Daily News
Twins!!!
Twins!!!
1 Aha! SCOOOOOOOPED!
2 So THAT'S what has been going on behind my back!
3 Congratulations to Josh and Caitlin for bringing two GORGEOUS babies forth!
4 The first to arrive by a few minutes was Maren Analise Rosa, coming in at a lard-ass 5 lbs 6 oz and either 19 inches or 19.5 inches, depending upon whose ticker tape you use to measure.
5 The second princess out of the shoot was Isla (pronounced EYE-luh, as in a tropical island) Grace Rosa, 4 lbs 13 oz and 17 inches and change.
6 The wonderful part of being a G-Pa is that we get to sleep through huge moments.
7 AND we aren't expected to be that accurate.
8 Congrats also to Josh's parents Joe and Patty, and to the entire Rosa fam.
9 Moving On, Part One: Here is how it went down from a G-Pa's point of view: It's funny because Caitlin's water broke around ten days ago, and we have practically slept at the hospital for eight or nine days (I LOVE being inaccurate on all of this; it's a blur, lemme tellya!).
10 AND we had a gag order on the entire thing, which made sense since the girls were both so tiny. We naturally worried about health and all.
11 Nothing new, really. I remember many months ago giving a lecture to my third period class, and right in the middle of the lecture I got a text that said simply, "Twins!"
12 I reeled, smiled, and was ready to shout it out to my class when I got another text.
13 "Don't tell anyone!" I don't remember if it was Caitlin or Helene who texted; I just remember reeling and then beaming with joy. And I wasn't able to say anything.
14 That mini-ban was eventually lifted, and I was free to brag to everyone about the upcoming event.
15 Gawd they're beautiful. Sorry. I just beamed again. It's allowed. Continuing:
16 Isla had some respiratory concerns that cleared pretty quickly, but as of last night at around five I still had to stay mum about all of it.
17 For some reason, I thought the Niner game that goes up tonight was on last night, so I got some food, a raspberry soda and sat down for the game. Helene was over at Josh and Caitlin's fixing things up, lathering cabinets and doing what she does best, which is making baby rooms look like something right out of Disney.
18 At around seven I turned on the teevee so I could veg out to a game. I knew Josh and Caitlin might have wanted a little alone time; the babies were fine and all was calm.
19 I picked up the remote and tore through the guide looking for the game.
20 There was absolutely no sign of a Niner game. Keep in mind the lack of sleep and the blur discussed earlier in this mess.
21 I called over to the house, which is just a little over a mile away and asked Helene if she knew anything about the Niner game.
22 "It's a Monday night game dude!" she laughed.
23
24 The silence laughed at me, as is silence's wont.
25 "I'll be home in a few hours," she said, a nice means of giving each other a bit of alone time. Alone, not lonely; let's make that nice and clear.
26 I suddenly had peace and quiet, and almost no worries for the first time in many months. I felt a great strain had finally lifted, and that there was joy in the air.
27 To any man, that is an invitation to get into all sorts of mischief.
28 Suddenly a silent home. We're talking last night. There was absolute blissful peace. Nicoley and Matt had already hugged and said their good-byes. I told Nicole to send me pictures of the babies because I was freaked out by the nurses and doctors, who worried about cell phones and cameras and germs and all. I felt I had to sneak pics, and I didn't dare go down to NICU, where Isla was being taken care of. I visited her, stared at how stunningly gorgeous she was, but took no photos. Nope.
29 Nicole is of a generation that KNOWS how to pose, and is picture-centric, so she got some amazing pics.
30 I didn't want to look at any coming in until later when I could get them all into the computer.
31 Keep in mind that the gag order was, as far as I knew, still on.
32 I decided not to get on Facebook because I sometimes think Facebook is Facebook and sometimes a bit weird.
33 So I decided last night to ignore all media and get into mischief.
34 When you reach my age, mischief means hooking up a sound system, reverbing out a mic and doing an evening of karaoke, beginning with Isaac Hayes' Walk on By from the immortal Hot Buttered Soul album. If you ever want to find that album fast, look for Hayes' bald head crowning on the cover. It's great. See below:
35 The entire intro on his version of Walk on By sways, and before I knew it I realized one very important thing: I'm not Isaac Hayes.
36 Don't get me wrong; I still think I'm pretty fly for a white guy, but nah. Huh? Nobody says that anymore? nvm. I'm leavin' it. Continuing:
37 I thought, "Maybe Otis." And which one? Try a Little Tenderness off the Live in Europe album, of course.
38 I had a silent house. I could still spend several hours trying to phrase these tunes and learn a little bit about singing and soul.
39 After a few more attempts, I thought, "Maybe just grab a guitar and play a Beatles' tune." I chose to go karaoke with reverb.
40 I wound up singing two entire albums: Magical Mystery Tour AND Abbey Road. It may have been the excessive practice or whatever, but it sounded really pretty after backing off, blending, breathing, thinking through the notes and all, and I enjoyed having the time to work on those tunes.
41 Meanwhile, Josh posted the glory of our newborns on Facebook, and everyone else exploded on it. The entire world seemed to rejoice while I was home trying to perfect songs I have sung throughout my life. I had NO idea the twins had been announced. I definitely should have checked but didn't.
42 I eventually conked out in our Lay Z Boy and bagged it.
43 I awakened at around 4 a.m. worried because I wanted updates on the fires that are everywhere. I know at least five different families who evacuated, and I worried and prayed for everyone.
44 I was also concerned with where the fires were. Was the hospital in any danger? Are our houses safe? Four-in-the morning stuff. Will we need to pack our things? What about the babies?
45 Worry. Wake up and worry. I put on the news.
46 The news reassured me that the fires were much more controlled, so I calmed my old G-Pa self down and decided finally to check things online, and of course, I went to Facebook perhaps in hopes of fallingl back to sleep.
47 It was only then I went online and saw what looked like an ticker-tape of the birth of my granddaughters! I rolled my head in disbelief, especially of the GREAT pictures posted everywhere! Astounding! I smiled but then thought I had been scooped by the entire world. That's when I took to writing this. I already had a DN written sans the news, so I was in a bit of a panic trying to get this out there.
48 All I thought was, "I have no pics of Isla!" It didn't matter. Pictures adorned the entire Facebook horizon, and I broke into a HUGE smile.
49 With that, I traveled to the present, to right now, to a moment where I'm all tuned up and ready to enjoy this day, even if it IS a Monday! What a thing to wake up and see! Those babies are SO gorgeous and pink and all. I'd say "totes adorbs" but I don't want to sound silly.
50 So I won't. = ) <---------cheesy sideways smiley emoticon guy kickin' it old skool.
51 Congrats to everyone involved, especially to our wonderful new additions.
52 It's overwhelmingly fun, and it is nice finally to see Josh and Caitlin relaxing.
53 And I can't wait to sing with those tiny miracles.
54 They're so pretty. AND this morning I couldn't get my pictures onto the DN. Either Facebook changed its procedures or I don't know what, but it was WAY frustrating. I stole the two pics above from Shannon, so I want to thank her for posting. Nicoley took those shots and they are my faves! And the first family picture ever was JUST posted on Facebook by Caitlin. They look like the Star Wars version of the Guardians of the Universe.
55 So this morning I want to shout out to everyone that Maren and Isla have officially arrived, and that they are stunningly cute. Congrats again to Mommy and Daddy, and we'll see you guys soon!!!
56 And all the rest of you guys have a GREAT day.
57 See you again.
58 Peace.
38 I had a silent house. I could still spend several hours trying to phrase these tunes and learn a little bit about singing and soul.
39 After a few more attempts, I thought, "Maybe just grab a guitar and play a Beatles' tune." I chose to go karaoke with reverb.
40 I wound up singing two entire albums: Magical Mystery Tour AND Abbey Road. It may have been the excessive practice or whatever, but it sounded really pretty after backing off, blending, breathing, thinking through the notes and all, and I enjoyed having the time to work on those tunes.
41 Meanwhile, Josh posted the glory of our newborns on Facebook, and everyone else exploded on it. The entire world seemed to rejoice while I was home trying to perfect songs I have sung throughout my life. I had NO idea the twins had been announced. I definitely should have checked but didn't.
42 I eventually conked out in our Lay Z Boy and bagged it.
43 I awakened at around 4 a.m. worried because I wanted updates on the fires that are everywhere. I know at least five different families who evacuated, and I worried and prayed for everyone.
44 I was also concerned with where the fires were. Was the hospital in any danger? Are our houses safe? Four-in-the morning stuff. Will we need to pack our things? What about the babies?
45 Worry. Wake up and worry. I put on the news.
46 The news reassured me that the fires were much more controlled, so I calmed my old G-Pa self down and decided finally to check things online, and of course, I went to Facebook perhaps in hopes of fallingl back to sleep.
47 It was only then I went online and saw what looked like an ticker-tape of the birth of my granddaughters! I rolled my head in disbelief, especially of the GREAT pictures posted everywhere! Astounding! I smiled but then thought I had been scooped by the entire world. That's when I took to writing this. I already had a DN written sans the news, so I was in a bit of a panic trying to get this out there.
48 All I thought was, "I have no pics of Isla!" It didn't matter. Pictures adorned the entire Facebook horizon, and I broke into a HUGE smile.
49 With that, I traveled to the present, to right now, to a moment where I'm all tuned up and ready to enjoy this day, even if it IS a Monday! What a thing to wake up and see! Those babies are SO gorgeous and pink and all. I'd say "totes adorbs" but I don't want to sound silly.
50 So I won't. = ) <---------cheesy sideways smiley emoticon guy kickin' it old skool.
51 Congrats to everyone involved, especially to our wonderful new additions.
52 It's overwhelmingly fun, and it is nice finally to see Josh and Caitlin relaxing.
53 And I can't wait to sing with those tiny miracles.
54 They're so pretty. AND this morning I couldn't get my pictures onto the DN. Either Facebook changed its procedures or I don't know what, but it was WAY frustrating. I stole the two pics above from Shannon, so I want to thank her for posting. Nicoley took those shots and they are my faves! And the first family picture ever was JUST posted on Facebook by Caitlin. They look like the Star Wars version of the Guardians of the Universe.
55 So this morning I want to shout out to everyone that Maren and Isla have officially arrived, and that they are stunningly cute. Congrats again to Mommy and Daddy, and we'll see you guys soon!!!
56 And all the rest of you guys have a GREAT day.
57 See you again.
58 Peace.
~H~
fin.
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