SINGLE DAD

That's kind of what I've been for the past few days. You see, Julie's been in Washington DC for the past several days. On Thursday, she was at a party hobnobbing with none other than former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld. (And by "hobnobbing" I mean "trying to avoid because she really didn't want to have to shake his hand.")

So it's been just me and the babies since Wednesday. OK, not really. We've got the greatest nanny in the world who has been working overtime in Julie's absence. I'm sure most single parents don't have access to a resource like that. But despite all that, I've had more "alone time" with Nate and Will over the past four days than in the last several months. And we've had a pretty good time. It started off pretty normally, and the twins looked pretty normal.Yeah, the pants are a little big, but I hear that's the style with kids these days.

But after a while, when guys hang out, something happens. They become less formal, less dressy. They tend to wear pants less often. And so it was with the three of us. I started wandering around the house in sweats and underwear (picture not available) and pretty soon Nate and Will stopped wearing pants, too. Here's Nate being extra saucy, knocking back a cold (or perhaps warm) drink, and showing a little leg.And, because it was just the guys, Will wasn't too self-conscious to let his chunky legs hang out.With Julie gone, the guys thought it would be a good idea to send pictures of themselves to their mom. So Will sat down for a normal portrait sitting.Then Will made the decision he wanted to take Nate's picture.As you can see, Will has a thing or two to learn about photography. Whether on purpose or not, Will has made his brother look like a space alien. Let's try another picture of Nate without Will at the helm.Much better.

In a few hours my short stab at single parenthood will be over. Julie's flight lands at 10:30, she she should be home by 11 or 11:30. Good news for me. The past four days have been exhausting, but they've also been fun... just like parenthood, I guess. Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting in the living room and surveyed the situation. The living room was strewn with toys, the kitchen was filled with bottles, and I was just about ready to pass out. Because I had two kids, I wasn't really able to leave the home. It was sort of like I was under house arrest. I was trapped, completely trapped. Then I looked over at my two little guys chewing on their teething rings, and I realized I was the luckiest guy on earth.

And when Julie lands back home in a few hours, I will be luckier still.

NOTE: Lest I be accused of plagiarism, you should know that most of the best pictures in this post were taken by our nanny, Maren.