Groceries

We've been going grocery shopping recently for Christmas, especially since there are so many parties and we are hosting a few events ourselves. Well, we needed a little help, and who better than babies? They taste-tested, helped with time management (by melting down/fighting), and made strangers be nice to us by being themselves!

Nosy neighbor

Someone should be napping, but is too busy trying to see what's going with the world outside. Her nose isn't very big but she insists on sticking it in everyone's business.

Olivia "napping"

Grooming

This is the early version of "cutting my own hair." I think we can safely say that their hair is not winning any prizes. Not with the nap in the back...

Copycat

I was making fun of Olivia by copying her: whining, saying,"mama" and pressing my face against her belly. She got back at me and copied Sophie: she bit my face. It still hurts.

Karma.

Horsey

First time at the Water Wall! We had so much fun with Daddy!

 

Battle Wound

Sophie has a bad bad habit of biting. But not just biting anyone or anything. Oh no, it must be her sister. And if she can manage, the face is the best place to leave her mark. I'm working on teaching her to hug instead, but it's not quite working yet...

 

It almost always happens when my back is turned, but she's not above doing it right under my nose. Aren't identical twins suppose to love each other and have a secret connection no one else understands?? Why the fighting? I'm sooo sad!

Mama, get up!

It's early morning and the kid is up, bright-eyed, but your eyelids are superglued shut. Have you ever just put them in bed next to you and let them play for a little while so you can get a few precious moments more of that elusive sleep? And then ignored all the pushing and hitting they inflict on you? Or put a pillow barrier between you and the kid?

Yes, yes and yes.

For 30ish minutes this morning. And only because she "found" me on the other side of the pillow and then proceeded to kiss me. And then protested that she wasn't going outside of the room to explore and start the day.

Oh, come on, you've done this before and don't lie.

I finally get up and start counting down before nap time. T minus 2 hrs. BTW, I love my kids.

Boo!

The comparisons have been made, but you be the judge! Does she look like Boo from Monsters, Inc?

A little hard to see, but it's Boo onscreen

Never can have enough...

Mama bear and baby bears' shoes

Breakfast battle

There are many times of the day that I feel like I'm in a battle, but especially the morning. It's a battle against time to prep food for one baby and milk for another, This morning I was in a battle (more as a spectator) between babies. A swordfight—but with spoons! They crossed spoons and yelled a whole lot, all while sitting in high chairs.

There's no picture because who can take one when you are trying to play referee and avoid the flinging food?

I've never seen this before because they are usually too busy playing with the food I scoop out onto their trays, eating and moving it around. Some people don't quite see the point of letting them deliberately get messy because they already do that just by eating, but it's an exploration of food by not just taste, but smell, touch, and vision.

And how else will you see such fun at meal times? Well, except for me when I have to clean up. Oh yeah, I still ended up wearing the food when I entered into the crosshairs of the battle.

May Update

Oh my, have I been neglecting this site! So much has happened since the last time I updated. So here's my attempt to put it all down... We survived our first trip on a plane. As my mother-in-law likes to say, it was like going to war. Everything from naps to baths were infinitely harder on the go. Oh, the baggage... there was so much of it! The part that I was most dreading, the plane ride, wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. At least Olivia slept for some of the time on each leg of the trip. Sophie... well, she was having too much fun in first class with Auntie P and Uncle J to sleep. There was snacks, fruit, a puppy, and did I mention first class??

Now, we've been to SF several times. But I gotta say, bringing the kiddos was a whole other experience than all the other times. We didn't do all the regular touristy things that most people do (been there, done that) or eat our way through SF (also done that, to disastrous results). We mostly "chilled" as much as we could, with two babies under 1 who are not used to their environment. We hiked Angel Island, ate ice cream in Hayes Valley (OMG, Smitten is amazing), and went to the Ferry Market. Then it was time to go to Sonoma for a wedding!

What a whirlwind the weekend was! Between naps and feedings, somehow we got in a small wine tasting, went to Oxbow Market and went to the rehearsal dinner. The scenery was beautiful but I saw very little of it. Maybe it was because I was looking at it with only one sleep-deprived eye while the other was trying to make sure no one was spitting up, crying or throwing things. It was like there was a screen in front of me that was semi-covered and I couldn't clearly see or appreciate what was in front of me.

The wedding was hard to get both babies dressed and in a non-fussy mood, at the SAME TIME and ON TIME. Poor Denver hustled like he never did before to get two babies roused from naps and dressed so he could make pictures! An untested parent's nerves really get shot when you have to do it in 20 minutes, whereas it normally takes 1+ hour to get out the door. It's enough to need a drink badly but can't because you have to take care of twins! But no matter what he felt inside, he looked cool as a clam on the outside and that's all that matters.

We did end up coming home in one piece, but definitely battered and needed a vacation. Of course, there was no time, but that's another story...

Heaven help us!

We've prepped as much as possible. Getting things ready, cramming last minute. I've spent weeks worrying about pulling it off. Are we going to survive it (of course!) without gaining a gray hair (not so sure)? Sounds like taking a final, huh? Nope, it's much harder - prepping twins for travel on an airplane.

Now, other parents might roll their eyes and (smugly) call this overreacting, but most don't have a kid who spits up all the time, especially when jostled around. Well, maybe a few do, but do they also have one who refuses to sleep at night and naps? Both the same age?? If you do, then you can call me melodramatic. Otherwise, I don't want to hear it.

It's two car seats, frozen milk, feeding equipment, a stretch limo of a stroller, luggage, pumping equipment and a partridge in a pear tree. Someone remind me not to forget the babies. Oh wait, nevermind – they are so noisy nowadays that when they aren't crying, they are babbling/hollering so mama won't forget they are RIGHT HERE.

Once we get to the airport, checked in, through security, they'll need naps. What more perfect time to fuss than on the plane where you can finally sit down? If car trips to Austin are any indication, it may not be so pleasant for our neighbors.

My saving grace is that the flight will consist of multiple family members, who if not able to help keep the calm, at least aren't going to be irritated at us. Hurray for being related to the little loud monsters!

Hopefully, people will love the fact that they are twins that they won't mind. Remind me to dress them alike to bump up the cuteness factor.

On the other hand, I can't wait! As our family likes to say (very happily, too), "it's going to be a fiasco." But a fiasco of the funnest chaos!

Did I mention there will also be a dog, fragile cake balls and a wedding dress brought on board? FIASCO!!

Oliva's world

The most common question we get about Olivia is "when do they say she can get the tube removed?"

The answer is simple yet hard: when she decides she wants to learn how to eat by mouth. It's her world and we are just living in it.

Daddy Goggles

So I'm going through some of the pictures that we've taken of the girls these past 9 months, and came to this realization: they're so much cuter now than they were back then! But yet, at the moment that the pictures were taken, I always thought that they were at the peak of their cuteness. 

When I do a side by side comparison with the old pictures, they looked kind of weird and not so cute. Yikes, so this is what other people see! I guess I was just looking through "daddy goggles".

I look at this picture now, and once again ask myself, how can they get any cuter than this. Perhaps this is the sweet spot, the small window of optimal cuteness. Better enjoy it while it lasts.

 

But then again, I've said that before.

"Mama"

When Sophie cries, sometimes she uses the "mmm" sound. It starts out, "mmm, ah-mmm" and escalates to "mmmaa" and of course, "mama!"

She is calling for me! Or else for food which we tell her "mamm, mamm."

Fort

If daddy could keep me here forever, away from boys, he would.

Rocker chick

Yesterday Sophie woke me up after a night where Olivia kept me up. So I picked her up and just sat in the rocker chair to doze a little while rocking every once awhile. She started moving back and forth and I didn't know what she was doing. But then I noticed she only did it when we had stopped rocking.

She apparently liked the motion so decided to take initiative since mommy wasn't doing a good job. It takes a lot of effort on her part because she so little, but she gets it moving!

Twin stats

So the husband and I were arguing about the chances of having twins again and the stats are quite interesting.

Most twins are fraternal so chances quadruple to 1 in 12 of having fraternal twins again!! Since the girls are identical, the chance of fraternal twins is 1 in 10,000. The chance of another set of identicals are 1 in 70,000. Whew! Then again, although it seems unlikely, you never know if God decides, "oh, you can handle it!"

The other interesting thing that I found was that the children of identical twins are genetically half siblings! And if two sets of identical twins marry, their kids will genetically be full siblings. New meaning to "brother from a different mother!"

Green and purple

The girls have started eating solids. Well, a month or so ago. I had come up with the idea that making my own would be a good idea. Organic, fresher, blah, blah, blah. Basically so I can cater to my need for control. Some people call me nuts, but it isn't any more work to make double the portions. So here I am, still going at it, although I haven't tried too many things. We have had sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, and Asian pear.

Yesterday my mother-in-law and I decided to venture out with the girls (on a non-doctor excursion!) to Central Market to buy some groceries, especially fruits and veggies for the girls. We got stopped no less than 4 times by strangers, which I guess I'll get used to.

Today, I decided to make a lot of baby food while I could. Of the 5 good colors to eat (red, purple, red, yellow and green) we've got two of them! There are blueberries, zucchini, peas, and purple yams.

Yum, yum! Eat up, girls!!

Ethan's 1st Birthday

Last weekend we went up to Austin to celebrate Ethan's first birthday. This would be our first road trip with the girls. So on Friday I left work at 2:00pm and by the time we made it up to Austin....it was 9:00pm! We had to pack for two girls, the dog, ourselves, mom, feed the girls and play tetris loading the SUV. By the time we were done, Cody only had about a square foot to sit. Perhaps its time to make the jump and invest in a swagger wagon ourselves...

Highlights of the weekend:

Sophie and Ethan hanging out




At the park








Ethan's dedication at Austin Stone Community Church

(Picture taken by Pete Tam)

We had a blast celebrating with the Laus and can't wait until Sophie and Olivia get old enough to actually play with Ethan. We loved celebrating Ethan's first birthday. We're also glad we were able to make it to Ethan's dedication and be there to support and pray for Judy and Lawrence as they commit to teach Ethan to chase after God's own heart. Traveling with the girls was an interesting experience to say the least and also served as a mock trip for what to expect as we'll be going to Sonoma for Patricia and Jeff's wedding, which in turn will be yet another mock trip to prepare for London for Sandra and Scott's wedding later this year.

Sleep training

When the gals came home from the hospital they were automatically on a schedule - every three hours they ate and sleep just occurred naturally. We parents screwed with that schedule by being inconsistent with feedings. Also, as they matured, their sleeping needs changed. But they still couldn't have been more different from each other. Sophie slept when she was tired. Period. No help needed. Olivia was difficult to put to sleep, needing soothing, swaddling, and some praying on my part.

A month or two ago they more or less started regulating their own schedule and sleeping more through the night (thank God). It was better and slightly more manageable. For Sophie, we did a little bit of sleep training to let her cry it out but it never took much. Olivia needed a slew of things to fall asleep — pacifier, recitation of Goodnight Moon, music, white noise, swaddle, and something to keep paci in (we use a cloth book).

However, in the last two weeks, Sophie has decided sleep is no bueno and resists every attempt to sleep. She'll cry endlessly and start the screaming and work up a sweat. Nothing works. Holding her and putting her down drowsy doesn't work, cry it out doesn't work, and I'm just not putting her in my bed. So she stays up for 8 hrs at a time in the daytime and takes 2 hrs to sleep at night. Just completely exhausted and then she'll finally sleep. Olivia now sleeps like clockwork and takes very little time to put to bed.

I'm starting to wonder if it's because she has no routine and too many different people trying to put her down. Or is it some new stage?

Did I do a bad job sleep training? I'm very afraid it's just because she's my child and I was impossible to put to sleep as a baby and it's just coming back around. Either way, I think in the nature vs nurture battle, I still come out the loser.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jealous much?

New toy. But only one.

Rub-a-dub-dub

Olivia in the tub!! There can't BE enough of these to embarrass them with later on!

Puff!

Sophie, stop puffing out your cheeks or else they will stay that way! Oh wait... You aren't trying...

Independence

Hands want to be all involved with the feeding process but not super helpful yet - they push instead of hold. But we are getting there!