James and Claire

So James is now a solid 6 pounds, 4 ounces. Claire is up to 5 pounds, 6 ounces. Each of them had a bradycardia event during our evening visit, so the clocks are reset to a 5-day mimimum before they would even think of releasing them. They are growing pretty fast now, and each day they get more and more interactive. There are some really good pictures of James in today's photos. Claire did not get as many photo opps as Christy was still holding James when she was out of her crib.

Today was not very interesting. We were supposed to have Christy, Mamaw and Nicholas meet up with Oskar and Francis, but they all got hung up at the hospital because Christy was getting some one-on-one training from the hospital feeding specialist. There are some helpful tricks and techniques to feeding preemies who are having some of the bradycardia issues.

Anyway, by the time they made it back to the hotel, Nicholas was way overdue for his nap. So we re-scheduled with Oskar and Frances. We are now doing Monday Night Meatloaf at Bess' Bistro.

I was exhausted today because I have been up until 3:00 AM or later each of the last three nights. I 'slept in' until about 9:00 AM this morning before starting to work. When Christy got home at 2:30, we ordered room service cheeseburgers. While ordering, I requested my burger plain...just cheese, meat, and bun. The person on the phone said 'So, you don't want a bun'. I asked her to please give me the bun with the cheese and the meat in the middle. She then said 'So you don't want fries?'. I clarified that yes, of course I wanted fries, just not on the burger. This is the second time since I have been down here that someone thought that a plain burger should not come with fries. I want to go back to Roy's and order a burger...I'll bet it is a low-fat turkey patty on a bed of those pea-pod things. I am going to push for a trip to Fuddrucker's tomorrow. Hopefully, my favorite restaurant in the world has not given in and catered to the healthy Austin population.

After lunch, Christy fell asleep. When Nicholas finally woke up at 4:15, he and I sat on the floor and did some sticker books, which was fun. When Christy woke up, I made the mistake of laying on the bed for a second. The next thing I remember is Nicholas waking me up to say goodnight...

So Christy and I went to the hospital and had a very pleasant evening feeding and cuddling James and Claire.

For those who are wondering, and for those that aren't, Nicholas' potty training is coming along nicely. While he still makes good use of his diapers, he is asking more and more frequently to use the bathroom. He is rewarded with a jelly bean for every successful deposit. And, being the smart little guy that he is, he has figured out how to take advantage of this...often stringing 3 or 4 visits within 5 minutes of each other. He also seems to be drinking more on purpose.

FURTHER UPDATE -- from events in the middle of the night
At 1:00 AM, just as I was about to head to bed, the lights started flashing, alarms started ringing, and a loud voice informed that there was a fire in the building and we should evacuate immediately. I poked my head into Mamaw's room to see that she was already on the move and had Nicholas in her arms. I then poked my head into Christy's room to find that she was still asleep. I woke her up and said come on, let's go. My main concern was that, if it was a real fire, we are on the 14th floor. I grabbed Nicholas in one arm and the laptop in the other and got my flip-flops on. Mamaw was ready to go, but where was Christy. She was in the bathroom getting ready to go out (washing her face, brushing her teeth, etc). She didn't really seem to be fully awake or understand what was going on. She was not happy about it, but I convinced her to come with us.

So we hustled down 14 flights of stairs. Christy, once again, was taking her merry time. Around the 5th floor, she looked down and began to wonder why she was going out in her pajamas.

So out onto Lavaca Street we all emerged, along with a handful of other people. As it turns out, the hotel is not very full and everyone is on the 14th floor. When we walked around the front of the building, the fire trucks were there, but I saw people walking into the lobby. So I handed Nicholas to Christy and went in. The front desk told me it was a false alarm. So we piled into the elevator and went back up to bed. Nicholas, who does not like alarms, had to sleep with Mamaw.