Randomrants

Hard to believe, that it has been 3 years since the #wolfcatcubs came home.

Seriously, what was the hospital thinking.  No one came to do a building inspection, no one checked the car seats, no one check to know if Cat and I had any idea what we were doing.

I’ve had to provide more proof for a bank loan than I did to bring these monsters adorable little things home.

It has been harder than I thought it would be.  There have been so many sleepless nights, so much angst, so many nappies, so many times one child stopped crying for the other to start.

Now, I am facing a little faces that get out of bed before I do standing next to me saying wake up Dad. Yes, even the Mummy and Daddy have changed to Mum and Dad, such is the change.

We now have two little enquiring minds that want answers to everything and books read every night…  so that is 3 years down, the next 3 will be very different, but just as hard I am sure.

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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Eat your heart out Riker… this is how to get on a bike.

Tags: cubs, Funny, google, Mobile by Wolf
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And thus one of the #wolfcatcubs proves my point in under 13 seconds.

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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I have been a father for 12 months now… it feels both a short period of time and the longest year of my life.

So here are a few observations I have had. Whilst most of these are YMMV (Your milage may vary), the variance is predominately in the it could be worse sorry to say.

These are in no particular order…

• You can survive on 3-4 hours broken sleep for the first 3 months of a baby’s life.  Your ability to function or even have low level reasoning however is completely gone.
• Leaving the house at a set time will never happen.  In fact, leaving for an appointment 2 hours late rapidly becomes, wow we are nearly on time.
• Dinner time is the time that babies will wake, cry, notice something, make a smell and generally do anything to stop you sitting down and eating warm food.
• Takeway food is your best friend, more so if it can be eaten cold.
• Twins are not twice as hard as a single baby.  They are four times as hard.  Imaging a screaming baby needing something 24×7, double that… then add extra fatigue, grumpyness and the need to go to the toilet in a hurry ( and I am not talking about the babies here!)
• Twins cost 4x as much.  Well maybe 3 times as much.  That favourite sleeping rug, you will need 4 of them, 2 on the go, then 2 as spares, repeat for nearly everything they own.
• Mr Creosote has NOTHING on a child that is vomiting.  The smell of ½ digested formula is also the smell of the Gates of Hades.
• You never get used to nappies, people that say you do are lying.
• If a single baby is said to ruin your sex life, don’t have twins.  My wife and I have spent more nights apart in the same house since we meet.
• A comfy couch that you can sleep on is a bloody good investment before you have children.  Put the child in a rocker put rocker next to couch, rock baby till either you or baby falls asleep.
• Having a work place with other parents is beyond helpful.  Running a bit late, brain addled due to lack of sleep they will understand.
• People that say, you don’t know what it is like till you have children are CORRECT.  This also applies for parents of twins.
• If you have twins people will ask you “Are the Twins”.  The correct answer is not “No they are a medical experiment that went wrong”
• That idea that during the first year you will take lots of photos of your children and keep your blog up to date… just forget it.
• Family in the same city as you that can come and give you a few hours break… fantastic. ( Note: we do not have this, so it is more of a projection )
• They say a baby cries for a reason, but bugger me if I know what the reason is most of the time.
• Having children may well strengthen your relationship, but only if you survive the first 12 months. There is a bloody good reason the divorce rate for Twin parents is so much higher.
• Never complain you are tired in front of your wife.  Sure you got 3 hours sleep, but the 8 hours at work away from the crying is invaluable.
• Babies have an amazing ability to sense when you are trying to do something and will wake the second you start ( writing this blog post was interrupted 3 times for example )
• That crying baby in front of you in the plane, train, bus, cafe that you are complaining about, guess what 99% of parents are trying to stop it crying.  You think it is bad for that short amount of time, do it 24X7.

And finally, I still wouldn’t swap them… well maybe for a good nights sleep.

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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Won’t be long before I am saying sit down and shut up….

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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The Wolfcatcubs in their Jolly Jumper’s

This pic is Erin in her Jolly Jumper.  I must say I am a big fan of the Jolly Jumpers, it also helps that the Cubs are as well. The one tip I would give anyway is always put a rug underneath the child.  If it isn’t vomit from bouncing there will be litres of drool that soak into the floor.

The advantage of twins is that you can put them both in the jumpers they do amuse each other.  This gives parents 30 min or so to run around and get some chores done. An added bonus it that they are still where you left them and at the same time wears them out (ready for  a nap) like nothing else yet.

Oh yeah and they are cute too boot as well.

Tags: cubs, D7000, video by Wolf
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These are my top 10 images from 2011.  Some are shots that are for sale, others are stories and events.

I’d like to thank all those that encourage my photography over the last 12 months from those that purchased prints, to the countless who RT’d my tweets and left comments here and on Flickr.  And thanks for putting up with all the #wolfcatcubs photos as well.

Hopefully next year I will be able to get out some more… but I doubt it.

Wolf.

In reverse order of date taken.

Now that is a bolt of lightning

Finally got a nice clear bolt of lightning… now if only I had a clear view of the sky…..

Monstering Melbourne

Over 20,000 views makes this my most popular image on flickr.

and all the details on when and how this shot was taken are in my Missing from the EXIF blog post

And for sale at Redbubble

Simplicity

This has a Japanese feel to it for me. Shot from the End of North Road, at 500mm.

And for sale at Redbubble

Dancer

Something about this shot sings to me. The simplicity, the story and the power.

And for sale at Redbubble

Mum and Zara

Choosing one shot of the #wolfcatcubs was hard, this one for me says it all.

Red and White – Moomba Fireworks

The first time I actually went to Moomba.

And for sale at Redbubble

The Belly of The Beast

After a number of trips to Avalon, I finally got lucky. Not only did I have the right gear, (Nikon D7000 + Sigma 150-500mm Lens) but I got to see this aircraft fly.

Contemplating the day that was

One of the first shots taken with my Sigma 150-500mm. A lens that 12 months later I am still in love with.

Step by Step, showing the Lightroom processing for the the shot here

And for sale at Redbubble

Keep your Cool

(from one of the only out of the city photo trips I did all year)

And for sale at Redbubble

The long shot… North Road Jetty #nyemelb

Details and Background about this shot here

And for sale at Redbubble

Tags: cubs, D7000, Media, Missing from the Exif, Nikon D90, Photos, Redbubble by Wolf
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For those that don’t remember Langoliers are creatures that eat time.

The Cubs are certainly that.  The last 3 months have both flown by and dragged by at the same time.  But now, they both are starting to find their own voice, and follow you around the room with their eyes.  So they are starting to be real people as well.

We have also decided that Erin is a south paw, just like her old man and Zara is right handed just like her mum.

But we take solace from the fact that their blood group is a rating system on how we did in creating them… Yes we got an A+.

So here are a couple of shots from the weekend….

Hey dad, I like you….

each of the #wolfcatcubs are only half evil… but together….

a #wolfcatcub doing hard time already

And I am finally getting the hang of doing portrait photos… but still so much to learn about using a proper flash.  If only I had some time left over….

Tags: cubs, D7000 by Wolf
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They say  a picture is worth a thousand words…

Well this one is what feels like a thousand nappies.

The first shot is from the day we brought the Wolfcat Cubs home…

The second is from Sunday 2 Oct 2011.

As Mrs Wolfcat and I were just saying the other day it doesn’t feel like three months… it feels so so so so much longer.

Before we know it they will be out getting high paid jobs looking after their ageing parents ( well that is the plan ).

The other thing is, that given their current growth rate of at least 250grams per week, I estimate they will be 100kg by the time the are 8 years old. Or even more scary, is they have doubled in the last 3 months, which could mean they will be 10kg by 6 months and 20kg at 9 months and 40kg by their first birthday. ( Note: Maths is not my strong point, nor is a detailed understanding of human growth curves )

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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Nappies from just this side of the Gates of Hades and lack of sleep all get forgotten when they do things like this….

Tags: cubs by Wolf
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