Episode 8- The Dirtiest Trick of All

Captain's Log- 3:33 AM- Sunday
This is brutal.  The girls waited until they had us worn down from exhaustion and then they unleashed their most potent and devious weapon of all; They've begun smiling... A lot.  Really?  How am I supposed to lay down the law around here if my entire body turns to Jello every time these mini con-artists flash those ridiculous toothless grins at me?  It's impossible.  It's bad enough that the 8-year-old living in this house already knows how to suck up to his old man with compliments and Mexican Candy... now this?  I have no experience with this level of psychological warfare and their infantile flirtations leave me 100% vulnerable to their every whim.  The first time it happened was after one of Catalina's traditional post-feeding farts.  I thought I was seeing things... maybe an optical illusion brought on by the combination of low lighting and toxic fumes.  But no... it was real.  And once it happened, the flood gates opened wide and they both began pouring on the smiles every chance they got.  In the mornings... during their baths... after their bottles... every time you kiss their noses... It's freaking adorable!  This is not going to end well for me.  I can already tell.

I know exactly what they are up to.  It's yet another ploy from their bag of tricks that they will use in order to get everything what they want from now on.  And let me tell you, so far they are batting 1000 % when it comes to getting daddy to succumb to their evil plans.
Top 3 Things They've Gotten Me To Do by Smiling
1) Renata has a favorite pacifier.  The house is full of them but she prefers one in particular that I searched for for over 40 minutes one night at midnight just so that I could get a smile from her.
2) They both have a tendency to smile after you change their diapers, especially after you change a poopie diaper... So the one thing that I used to avoid like the plague I now look forward to like a fat kid in a candy store.  Green diarrhea?... Bring it on!  We'll pretend it's St. patrick's Day! Anything for that smile.
3) Treicy and I have a deal with each other that once we put them down in their cribs, if they remain awake, yet calm, we leave them in their cribs so as to not spoil them into getting used to us carrying them all the time.... Cat smiled at me during one of these moments after a 3AM feeding and I carried her until 5AM kissing her nose the entire time while catching up on my Walking Dead episodes.

It's the dirtiest trick of all, and the fact that I am a sucker for it every single time makes me worry about the future.  Is this what I will amount to from now on?  What's going to happen when they start walking and talking?  What's going to happen the first time they say the word Daddy?  What's going to happen the first time they say (gasp)... I love you Daddy?  Does adorableness cause heart attacks?  Because I, literally, felt chest pains last week when they simultaneously giggled at me (For the record: that was hardly the first time beautiful women have laughed at me... but that's a different blog alltogether).  There must be an antidote.  Something that I can do to escape this downward spiral of helplessness that engulfs me.  This can't be what the rest of my life will be like.  I cannot become this mindless zombie whose only mission is satisfying their every desire.  That's not what being the father of daughters is all about, is it?  Is it?...

I suddenly feel a disruption in The Force as fathers of daughters, everywhere, silently nod "yes"in unison.

Captain's Log- 3:03 AM- Tuesday

A quick note about a horrible day.  Esteban and the girls lost their maternal grandmother to cancer just before Christmas.  Abuela Angie had an amazing, adventurous spirit... she was a woman of strong faith... a great influence and role model for Esteban... and a good sport.  I cannot express sufficiently the love and admiration that I have for Treicy watching the way that she handled the responsibility and stress of her mother's illness without ever missing a feeding or a goodnight kiss for any of our kids.  She is stronger than I could ever hope to be.  We spent the holidays in Puerto Rico surrounded by family and friends who also loved and admired my mother-in-law.  While I lament the fact that the girls will not get to know their grandmother as Esteban did, I am more grateful for the opportunity that we all  had to be graced by her presence in the short time that she lived with us.  The moment that stands out for me the most from her services in Puerto Rico was when the Ladies Ministry Choir from her church was about to sing her favorite hymn.  The choir head addressed the audience before the song and tearfully said:  "We hope that you will forgive us if we're not at our best tonight... as we are all completely devastated."

Indeed we are, madam... indeed we are.