When the World is Normal Again: Apologetics According to a Five Year Old

It was the day after we came back from the hospital with the twin boys and my five year old boy was ready to test his father's orthodoxy. We were talking about mosquitoes and their feeding habits.

Boy: Does grandma W like mosquitoes?
Dad: No, no one likes mosquitoes. (note: avoid universal statements when talking to the boy)
Boy: What about Jesus?
Dad: Ummm...
Boy: He made them. Doesn't He love them?
Dad: Well...Yes....
Boy: Why did He make mosquitoes that hurt humans?
Dad: Okay. (At this point my befuddlement is giving way to pride. My boy has asked a fundamental question of theology). Originally, mosquitoes didn't harm people. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin and death entered the world and things changed. Then things could hurt humans. One day, God will make the world new like it was. (Or I said something like this).
Boy: Oh. So one day mosquitoes won't hurt humans?
Dad: Right.
Boy: Then the world will be normal?
Dad: Yeah.

Now he likes to ask me about when the world will be normal again. It is good to be reminded of it.


Peace

A couple of recent pictures of Twin B:

Meet Second Born Twin (Twin B)

We had trouble coming up with a name for Twin B. I really wanted to work in the name "Arthur" somehow, but informal polling discovered a strong association with a children's television character, not the first great English king. We didn't reach a final decision for his name until we were at the hospital. He was born breech, but I have already told that story so here he is...

Twin B:
Is the bigger of the two
Can be a bit fussy but calms easily
Sleeps quite a bit
Smiles more than his brother
Has lighter hair than his brother
Has a round face
Laid sprawled out under a heat lamp for the first four hours of his life; he looked very comfortable
Had to be woken up after four hours of sleep last night so he could be fed (they say that scheduling is vital to surviving twins)
Loves his mama
Can soak through a diaper within a couple of hours.


Here he is at the hospital on his second day of life (it has been too busy for much more photography). It is a bit out of focus due to the low light, but he is smiling so I couldn't resist:



Peace

Meet First Born Twin (Twin A)

The twins are beginning to show their two distinct personalities. Twin A, the first born twin, was in line to be Twin B up until about two weeks before delivery when he decided that he just couldn't wait around for his brother to get things started so he pushed his brother aside and became Twin A.

Twin A:
Is the smaller of the two
Can be a bit fussy
Is awake and alert more often than his brother
Has darker hair than his brother
Has a long, thin face
Keeps trying to get his hand in his mouth
Has peed on everyone who has changed him
Likes to pull in his lower lip
Pooped once before I fed him, once during feeding, and once as soon as he was done; he can poop three times in one hour while his brother might do it three times in a day
Has pooped on everyone who has changed him
Causes his father to fall asleep every time he holds him for longer than five minutes
Can make it three hours between feedings

Here he is this afternoon:




Peace

The Twins

Some more pictures. The captions are for the photos below.
Mom and Baby A (6 pounds and 6 ounces):




Baby A gets his first bath; Baby B is under the heater. Baby B was a breach extraction and gave his daddy a bit of a scare. Since this was considered a high risk birth (twins and one breach) there were about 10 people in the room with us (as oppossed to our first two births when we had a nurse, a newborn tech, and a midwife). There were two teams of two newborn techs, three or four nurses, one doctor, and one midwife. Baby A came out quickly and cried quite quickly. Baby B came out quite blue, limp (in the words of a nurse), and quiet, and the Doctor called for a team "quick". Thankfully, momma was in a drug induced haze, couldn't see, and didn't seem concerned. I stayed with momma as they worked on the twins behind me. Within a minute the twins were screaming like crazy and scored 9's on their apgars. It was a good sound (at the time anyway). Ten minutes later we were down to about five people and I knew things would be alright. They took Baby B away from us for a few hours to check his blood sugars and to keep him warmed up, but there was no sense of urgency.




Our round-faced "Baby B" (8 pounds even):




The twins napping happily (this hasn't happened much since). You can see the beginnings of jaundice that has led to several heel pricks but seems to be okay. Baby A has a long thin face, is fussy, very expressive, and doesn't like to be moved much. Baby B slept his first day of life, has nice naps, and is very tolerant. They both love their momma very much.




Baby A getting ready to go home. They had matching outfits. Their momma got them for $.99 each (not only can she really birth some babies--she can shop).




Peace

Home

Today we were driving home from the hospital and my wife said, "We should go to church here on Sunday."

I said, "What? Why?"

Then I looked at the sign.



"Oh, yeah" I said as I remembered why were driving home from the hospital:





We are home. Everyone is doing very well. The details can be found at my brave wife's blog titled, On Considering Incoveniences.

More details to follow.

Peace