Xmas 2008

Well, we didn't exactly celebrate Christmas on Christmas day this year. Gigi was with us, but Grandma and Grandad weren't arriving until 10pm, so we decided to wait until the 26th. Then Uncle Corbin, Uncle Keeper, and Aunt June arrived late on the 26th and we had our Christmas dinner on the 27th. It was a rolling holiday and we managed to stay festive for the duration.

On the evening of the 23rd, Daddy tried to put together the bike Yianni sent to LR. It was so cliche... Daddy sat there struggling for 20 minutes and when I asked him what step he was on, he grumbled, "one." I sat down to help and after much discussion, Daddy finally realized that the front fork was bent. *sigh* No wonder we couldn't mount the front tire. We momentarily debated sending it back via mail, but we wouldn't have a new one in time and it was the one thing LR had asked for over and over again. So, Daddy and Gigi made a midnight dash to Toys R Us where they didn't have any more of that particular bike other than the floor model. Daddy asked for the floor model and they said they would sell it to us. Hooray! We didn't even have to put it together, we just had to exchange the one we had. And so Christmas was saved.

Daddy received an acoustic guitar from his soon to be musically gifted children and LR a nice harmonica and they jammed for a little while on Xmas day. Grandma and I put our minds to a cupcake project using the new book SwingDaddy and Lady M sent me. The snowmen and trees became our centerpiece for Xmas dinner which Gigi whipped up once again. We never get tired of her cooking when she visits.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

Just Before Xmas!

It's hard to know where to start when you're more than a month behind with blogging. I need to cover Christmas, our au pair switch-er-roo, Missy's first steps, visits from a huge number of family members, and a god-awful week of stomach flu. I could start with posts from today (Jan 16th), but I think I'll write them on the days that would have been close to when they happened. That way it'll make sense when (if) the kids read it someday and my general readers can ignore the dates for a little while. Still with me?

So, it's almost Xmas and Grandma Nese has had a nice long visit with us, 2 weeks. She has helped fill the gap between au pairs. She's generous both with her time and with the gifts for the kids. She just can't stop herself from buying them toys! It's a little nuts. Derek's started calling it Chanukah-Christmas because we seem to be opening something every day. I'm not complaining though. The kids have loved the toys. One toy in particular keeps them really happy because Missy can push it while J Frog rides it. LR sometimes gets run over. It happens.

The days are still crazy busy, so it's nice to have a family member around all day instead of having help that goes off duty around dinner time. That means I have someone to help first thing in the morning and late at night. She helped get the babies from bath to bed and then helped me with dishes, laundry, and last minute Target runs. We kept the caffeine pouring and she kept the energy going. Thank you, Grandma Nese!

Being 3

It's tough being 3. New rules, new school, new siblings... it's been a rough year. I sometimes forget that he's still such a little guy and I'm harder on him than I should be. I don't have time to read the books on discipline or take him to Mommy and Me classes, so we're just wingin' it. Recently, that's been biting me in the ass as I continue to get bad reports from his teachers. The other day he bit another little girl in his Fun School class (not to be confused with his regular school where the teacher singled him out the first month.) I actually like and respect this teacher a lot. I walked away from her thinking, "once, just once, I'd like a teacher to tell me how awesome he was that day."

The first picture is of LR making his angry face. Every time he makes it I laugh, which makes it not so much his angry face as his this-will-get-me-out-of-trouble face. Sometimes it works. The second is a pig-pile on Daddy after he's had a long day at work. It's pretty much how we feel all the time. It's what Derek describes as the lobster-at-the-bottom-of-the-tank feeling.

J Frog at his Frogiest

I had a couple of shots of J Frog that didn't belong in any specific post, so here they are.

J Frog yelling at me. This child has perfected the art of the long yell. It's not shrill or particularly upsetting, it's just loud and long. I feel like a member of a musical when he starts the yell - I can check my watch, tap my toe, look around at the supporting cast, and still the yell goes on.



When taking holiday photos I got this nice one of the back of his head. Cheese!






Daddy and J Frog trimming the Christmas tree. J Frog was taken with the Tigger ornament.

First Snow of the Season

Almost 2 weeks ago we had our very first snow of the season. LR was happy to go outside to play first thing in the morning and Daddy joined him. The babies and I stayed indoors where it was warm. Daddy and LR threw snowballs at the sliding glass doors both surprising and entertaining the twins for a good 15 minutes.

LR was showing Missy the snow.







Daddy was really pitching those snowballs hard, but the kids loved it.






Missy warning the paparazzi to stay back.








LR enjoying the season's first icy treat. mmmmmm... lint-y











There's a big storm on the way tomorrow - 6-8 inches maybe. LR can't wait to use his new sled. We tested it yesterday and it seems to slide along really fast.





J Frog, you're gonna have to wait a little while on that sled. :)

Missy's Surprise Tooth

All last week I was convinced that she was getting her second tooth. I even posted when it finally came through. The day after I posted that, I looked at the top of her mouth and saw that she had another tooth. Surprise, surprise! I missed it because it wasn't one of her top two teeth. It's one just to the side of them - or at least I hope it's not one of the front tooth since it's way off to the side. So, now she's Little Miss Snaggletooth.

Abra's Last Day

Last Friday was Abra's last day. It was a busy day. I had to go to work and then we tried to go out to dinner as a family. Daddy was late, so Abra and I ran out of entertaining things for the babies. They were crawling all over us and the neighboring diners. Missy especially was making friends with the people behind her.

On Saturday morning Abra was up bright and early and gone before any of us were up. We couldn't have made it through this year without her. For that we are forever grateful. She was great with the kids and I know they'll be missing her for a while. Good luck on your travels, Abra!

First Foods - Good Thing They Have Teeth!

Over the holidays the babies tried many new foods - I know, they're supposed to have a couple days gap between each new food, but we haven't had any problems. So with a fridge packed with lovely food that none of us felt like eating, we ordered some pizzas for a fast, easy dinner. Cheese, tomatoes, bread... nothing new there, so we tore some small pieces for them from our slices and let them test the yummy waters. It was a huge success. I haven't seen Missy sit that still for that long since she started rolling over. She made sure to eat every little bit that she had before she moved. J Frog loved it as well, so I'm not sure why he was making such a funny face in the picture. He wasn't as meticulous about cleaning his plate as Missy, but he didn't let much of the pizza get away either.

On that note, Missy is getting her second tooth today. It's driving her a little crazy, but she's happy with a teething biscuit in hand. Unfortunately, she's in love with climbing on the couch and now there is biscuit schmutz all over the couch which is driving me a little crazy.

Brrrrr - Reason #1 for Leaving

So Abra has only 4 more days with us and it's hard to blame her for wanting to leave when this is how we get ready to go for a walk. It was 32 degrees and we walked for only 15 minutes before we decided to go home, but when you're desperate to get out of the house...



We were afraid Missy was having some sort of reaction to the cold when she decided to hang her head over the side of the wagon for the duration. Enjoying the vibrations of the wheel? Maybe. Too cold to sit upright? Probably.




J Frog just loved chewing on those mittens. Anything fabric to chew on and that kid is happy. Glad I put the waterproof ones on him.

Thanksgiving 2008

I can't tell you how many injuries the kids have sustained in the last 5 days. With 5 extra people in the house, you would think we as a tribe could keep 3 kids from bumping their soft heads, but no. J Frog has a black eye this evening and Missy had 3 bruises fanning across her forehead like some bizarre reverse turkey. LR just came down with another cold causing him to miss 2 more days of school. This time he knew it was a school day and just about cried when I told him he couldn't go. Had we made a trip to the ER it would have been reminiscent of another Thanksgiving when my Aunt L was cleaning the electric knife and just about took her finger clean off! Nothing quite so dramatic here, but the kids are getting increasingly accident prone as they grow more adventurous.

Papa and Grandma Nese showed up first and LR got to hang out in the cockpit of Papa's new plane for a few minutes when they arrived. He didn't seem too interested in pushing all the colorful buttons on the dashboard and for that, Papa was thankful. The next day Aunt K and her boyfriend T arrived. The babies got a little overwhelmed and Missy couldn't help but cry every time Papa or T smiled at her. J Frog, however, was happy to get so much attention. Smiles and cuddles all around. LR was pretty content as well with so many playmates.

There was lots of good food and great company. More photos to come.

Correction

Of course, the day after my last post, J Frog decided to start crawling properly instead of commando style. It was as if after 4 months of the belly slide he decided it wasn't cutting it anymore. Who knows what propels a kid to change after so much time... Anyways, he's almost as fast as Missy now which makes for really fun games of chase. He crawls after her and tries to bite her as she squeals and crawls away. They really make each other laugh now. She, on the other hand, is getting close to walking. She uses the toy walker we bought for LR that he never used as a walker. She loves it and just needs to learn how to turn it. For now, she goes as far across the room as she can and then turns to smile and collect accolades.

Yes, They Can Can Can!

LR

1. can swear! He said, "oh dammit" to me the other day. I explained we don't use those words to which he countered, "why?" "Um, well... dammit, I can't think of a reason." :)
2. can spell his name. He surprised me with that the other day. Maybe they're working on it in school...
3. can have an entire play date without any screaming, fighting, or tears!
4. has started using phrases like "it's not fair," and "that's not funny, Daddy." Ah preschool.
   

Missy

1. can pull herself up to a standing position and then let go with one hand, sometimes even both. She'll hover for a moment before sitting down. She practices standing by herself a couple of times each day now.
   
2. makes a break for the bathroom every time someone opens the door. She loves playing with swinging doors.
3. dances whenever she hears music by bouncing up and down.
4. waves both arms when she's happy.
5. can climb up the entire staircase on her own. (Don't worry, Daddy was behind her the whole way.)
   

J Frog

1. always gets his fingers pinched or smashed by siblings or toys.
2. follows every bite of food with a couple of fingers or his whole fist, making all mealtimes incredible messes.
3. can get his knees under him when crawling now, but for any distances, he reverts to commando crawling.
4. can go to anyone. As long as someone is cuddling him, he doesn't mind who it is.
5. can pull himself up, but sometimes gets stuck standing and doesn't know how to get back down. (We went through this a month ago with Missy. Here we go again.)
   

Parenting Styles

Clearly Daddy and I have different parenting styles, but never was it more clear than the other night during bath time. Because the babies tend to bathe right after dinner, I'm usually the one to give them their bath. Even if Daddy is home, he's occupied by LR who by that time of day is frantic for a dedicated playmate.

Well, the other night, Daddy was giving them a bath while I tried to sort out the growing problem of keeping the babies clothes organized. (It's not a real problem until I send Daddy up to get them clothes and he comes down with wrong sizes or clothes for the wrong season.) While sorting I heard some screaming, so I went in to check. I think I asked nicely, but it probably sounded something like, "what the hell?" (That is nicely at the end of our days.) Daddy explained that he had been conducting an experiment where he had them fight over a washcloth, thus the intermittent screaming.

"Why not give them each a washcloth," I exclaimed. See, I give them each a clean washcloth for them to chew on / suck the water out of. Everyone's happy. No screaming. But Daddy thinks that the twins are for his entertainment and he's got a ring-side seat. He said that Missy yelled every time J Frog took the washcloth and after a couple of times, she would turn to look at Daddy and yell at him as if to say, "will you please do something about this hooligan?"

Fascinating, Daddy.

Twin Toys!

I never use those IM shortcuts. I'm an ex-English teacher and when I IM, I feel embarrassed if I use "LOL," "TTYL," or, god forbid, "UR" instead of "your" or "you are." So, I'm old. It probably has nothing to do with the English teacher bit. That being said, OMG OMG OMG, take a look at this:
Can you believe they make a twin trike? It's awesome! As soon as they are beyond the hair pulling stage, I am putting them on this thing, running a rope from the handlebar to LR's waist, and letting him drag them all over the house. I happened upon a list that another mother of twins posted on her blog. It's a huge list of quality kids toys and I was just skimming it when I saw the word "twins." I clicked on the link and the clouds parted over my monitor. A bright ray of light emerged as I realized that there might be twin specific toys out there. Now I'm on the hunt. Will keep you posted on what I find!

Sick sick sick (and sick)

The night after Halloween LR came down with a nasty bug. The fever lasted 2 days and the runny nose, scratchy throat, and cough are still there. Then Missy caught it which wasn't a surprise since she's his favorite. I think he prefers her because she interacts with him more than J Frog does, but Abra also seems to prefer her which may be instigating the lopsided attention he gives her. She loves to laugh and LR loves making her laugh. Daddy compensates by lavishing attention on J Frog. (I'm hesitant to write about this for fear that J Frog will read it some day and think he wasn't loved as much. Not so. LR just doesn't like that J Frog is always after his Hotwheels.) So, as I said, no surprise that she got it next. Once her fever stopped, J Frog's started. Daddy's started at about that time as well. Daddy seems to have gotten it worst of all. He took off Thu. and Fri. from work and for those of you who know him, that's a pretty big deal. He's not getting much time to recover at night either since the kids have been up and down a lot.

Speaking of preferences, the babies have started getting really irritated if I pick up one and not the other. I will nurse one while Abra holds the other one who is typically starting at me and screaming/crying. She tries to distract them or take them to another room, but if they're tired, forget about it. So I nurse one and feel guilty about the other one. Or hold one and feel guilty. Or play with one and feel guilty. Anyone want to start counting days until I crash and burn?

In other news, Abra has decided to spend her second year in the US with another family. The looming winter has sent her in search of warmer waters. We have started our search for a new au pair and as painful as it will be to lose Abra, we're looking forward to finding another person with which to share our hell joy.

Halloween '08

Halloween this year took lots of preparation. First Abra and Daddy found costumes for the babies at the Mother of Twins sale in Sept. They found matching pumpkin costumes, but decided not to go the matchy-matchy route. I thought that was a good decision. Then LR and I practiced the door routine for 2 weeks prior to Halloween. I would put him in the garage, have him knock on the door with pumpkin bucket in hand and say "Trick or Treat" when I opened the door. At one point I said, "say, 'trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.'" He looked at me sternly and said, "that's not nice." And there you have it - spontaneous moral judgements. Hooray... not only can I feel like a bad mom, he can tell me when I'm being one. Coolio.

So, the day of, I had LR try on all the costumes available to him. My clown costume from when I was his age. His elephant costume from last year. And finally the fireman costume I picked out over the summer - it was a raincoat from Costco which he needed anyway, but doubled as a costume really nicely! Red pants, black shirt, rubber boots and we were ready to go. Well, with child #1.

The babies got baths before we put them in costume so that they could go right to bed when we got home. Abra was intent on being a witch and was really curious about the holiday. She came with us as with toured the neighborhood and helped coach LR at the doors. All that practicing was for naught. Every time someone came to the door with a heaping bowl of candy, his eyes opened wide and he lost the power of speech, struck dumb by the sheer volume of sugar. We would all stand there saying, "what do you say? what do you say?" and eventually, LR would recover and squeak out, "trick or treat," sometimes before sometimes after grabbing a candy bar. Then we'd have to remind him to say thank you. He was also really interested in the other kids out and about and insisted that crowded doorsteps were "parties." I can see how it would look that way.

LR was a little disappointed in only getting 1 piece of candy when we got home. To be honest, I was too - gorging on candy is definitely a favorite Halloween memory, but I guess when he's older.


Getting J Frog ready







Getting Missy ready









Babies are ready to go!












LR standing in the kitchen waiting for the rest of us to get our act together.











We made it out the door! We're standing in our yard, cracking our glow sticks, and posing for one last picture.






Ohhhhh ahhhh.... glow sticks!







LR trick or treating







Back home with his loot. Making a face because I'm making him pose for another damn picture.







The day before Halloween making spider cupcakes with Cheerio eyes. Pretty fun.






Too small elephant costume, but fun to run around in for a little while.











LR with a little bit of self-applied face paint wearing the clown costume Grandma W made for SwingDaddy and I when we were little.