Two Peas in a Blog

Help! i.e. The Problem with Afternoon Preschool...

2008-09-25T17:12:00.003-04:00

5:15 p.m. EST. Doh!

First Day of School

2008-09-17T17:03:00.003-04:00

Here is the girls' first day of preschool, in pictures...

Thanks for the Memories...

2008-09-09T09:59:00.002-04:00

Sept. 4th, 7 a.m., Outer Banks, NC

Gone Fishin'

2008-08-11T19:56:00.005-04:00

Well, it's as good an excuse as any.

The girls are having a wonderful summer. They have made best friends with the kids down the street (ages 3 and 4), are having fun splashing around at the town pool, and are loving having Mommy home with them. Mommy, too. Mommy, on the other hand, is still struggling with the loss of her dad... Hopefully, I will soon get this blog back up and running.

Our quick BIG update:

A: totally potty trained - day and night (in just a few days... woohoo!)

L: on her way to soon being totally PT'd (in just a week or so... woohoo!)

The girls start preschool after Labor Day. Just two days a week for 2 1/2 hours but they seem to really be looking forward to it!

Doctor's Appointment

2008-06-18T10:15:00.004-04:00

The girls had their 3-year doctor's appointment yesterday.

What a difference a year makes. Last year they screamed and cried from the second they got in the exam room until they left. This year they laughed and danced and said how much fun they were having. We actually had to drag them out of the doctor's office crying because they didn't want to leave!! No shots were involved which added to the pleasant experience but they did each have finger pricks to test hemoglobin and blood sugar levels so it wasn't all painless. (The results were normal for both.) They had their ears tested -- both passed. And they both were tested for lazy eye. They both passed that test as well.

Now the stats:

A
36 1/2"
30 lbs
50th percentile

38"

33 lbs

75th percentile

They are both doing just fine and progressing on their own growth curves. A was 50th percentile and L was 75th percentile last year as well. It's very interesting how you can have identical twins and there still be such a noticable difference in height and weight. A few people have even asked me if L is older because of the size difference.

Oh, and they woke up this morning and both again said how much fun they had at the doctor's. :) Wait until next year when they DO have to get some shots...

Father's Day

2008-06-15T14:19:00.007-04:00

Today is Father's Day and my heart hurts.

For weeks now, there have been the department store flyers, the TV ads, the emails, all reminding me to "remember Dad on Father's Day". Which is ironic as not a day goes by that I don't remember and think about my dad. I know that today is really just a commercial holiday but it makes the absence of my father all the more painful.

My mom offered to meet me somewhere for lunch to honor today. And Louis also offered for us to go and meet my mom at a town that we often met my parents for lunch and an outing with the girls. While I appreciate the offers, it's just too soon for me to "celebrate" the day in this manner.

I know I have to move forward and allow this to be a special day for my girls and their daddy. And I have tried: letting Daddy "sleep in", a special breakfast with homemade Belgian waffles, the surprise photo portraits of the girls...

And yet today, this first Father's Day without my dad, I mourn and hope that next year the memories of my dad will make today a happy day again.

Father's Day 2007

Three Years Old!

2008-05-29T13:03:00.002-04:00

Well, I am now the mother of three-year-old twins. WOW. :)

The girls had a wonderful birthday. The party was great and fun was had by all.

In my typical fashion, it will likely take me a while to get a proper post up summarizing their big day, but here is a picture to hold everyone over...

Need Birthday Present Ideas...

2008-05-21T09:44:00.002-04:00

My girls will be 3 (three! already?!?) next week.

I want to get each of them some kind of portable learning game as a bday present and want opinions on what is best for their age and/or, for those of you with older kids, what your kids liked at this age.

I am considering a couple of LeapFrog products:

My First LeapPad is for their age range, but seems kind of limited as far as what it does.

Leapster is for ages 4 and up. The learning activities seem more interesting but I'm wondering if it is too sophisticated for them...

Any other brands/ideas would be appreciated.

I will be taking a 10 hour car ride with them and my mom this summer so I definitely need something besides DVDs to keep them busy!

We are Paci-Free!

2008-05-04T07:49:00.004-04:00

Well, I can now cross off #1 from my To-Do list as we are now paci-free. Woo hoo!

(Bear with me as I try to re-recount this. I went to save a copy of my original post before posting it and somehow deleted the whole darn thing. Doh!)

How did we accomplish this? By going to Build-A-Bear Workshop, of course. ;-) (A big shout out of thanks to Melissa for giving me this idea.)

On Wednesday, we were at the Mall and A asked to go look at the bears at the above store. While we were there, I suggested that maybe one day we could come back and make a bear and put our pacis inside, that "big girls" don't have pacis and you can't turn 3 and still have pacis (they are very into their upcoming birthday). And they would have a very special teddy bear to sleep with instead. It was not a hard sell and I figured they would forget all about it. We went home. Later that day, they asked if they could go back and make their bears with their pacis. I tried to explain to them what it really meant, that there would be no more pacis. They enthusiastically agreed to say goodbye to them. I decided to take the bull by the horn and go for it, even though I wasn't totally convinced they were ready.

We went to the store. They picked out their bears -- basically the first ones they picked up. LOL. They helped stuff them and put in hearts and then the pacis. No problem. Paid. Left the store. Had a great time walking around carrying their bears in their boxes. Went home. Couldn't help having the feeling that I was waiting for the other shoe to drop...

The shoe fell hard. While they ate dinner I was on the phone with my mom telling about what we had done and all of a sudden remorse set in. BIG TIME. L starts crying. In typical twin fashion, A starts in to. They ask for their pacis back. L keeps saying "open it up" (as in "open up the bear and give me my paci back!"). After a solid hour, the crying stopped. And, other than asking about their pacis a couple of times, the transition actually has gone rather smoothly. Whew!

I have pictures of the big event which are unfortunately stuck in my camera since the batteries ran out and I can't find the battery charger.

As for To-Do List Item #2, that is in a holding pattern as the basement renovation still is not done. ;-)

Mommy's To Do List

2008-04-23T20:03:00.004-04:00

To Do:

1) Get rid of the nighttime pacis for good.

2) Potty train both girls.

3) Move the girls from cribs to toddler beds.

In that order.

1) I eliminated one of the TWO pacis the girls had in their crib (you know, in case one fell out during the night, but of course that didn't work because they wanted to have one to suck on and one in their hand. Doh...) by telling them that the other ones were "broken". It worked but not until after one of them had said "I want to see it", as if she needed proof that the paci was indeed broken. In other words, she saw right throught the veil of my little white lie. I didn't oblige, but boy, am I in for it with these two. LOL.

2) As soon as our basement renovation is finished.* I PROMISE. Which should be some time next week. My goal is to have both PT'd before their 3rd bday at the end of May.

3) TBD. They aren't trying to climb out and I'm not in any hurry.

*Will share pics of the before and after of our basement renov.

Easter

2008-04-11T09:11:00.002-04:00

Since Easter is typically in April and not in March like this year, perhaps it is not TOO late to be talking Easter.

The girls had a lot of fun. They went to their first Easter egg hunt in town this year. And loved the egg hunt that the Easter Bunny left for them at our house. Their Easter baskets were also a big hit as they got Max & Ruby books and DVDs. Max & Ruby is BIG around our house these days. Grandma C. spent the day with us, which was really special. Here are some pics...

Just a Few Pictures

2008-03-14T09:09:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures of Grandad with L&A. Dad wasn't that in to having his picture taken so, unfortunately, there are not a lot of him with the girls.

Words of Remembrance

2008-03-08T14:07:00.002-05:00

Here is the eulogy I gave at my dad's memorial service.

Good morning. I am Julie ___________, John’s youngest daughter. Thank you all so much for joining my family in celebrating my dad’s life.

I think generally most people’s first impression of Dad was probably that he was a quiet, reserved man. And it was true. But behind that subdued exterior, was a man of great talent and passion. He was incredibly intelligent, athletic, a wonderful piano player, an avid sailor, a gardener, so many, many things. He threw himself 100% into whatever he was enthusiastic about.

And while Dad was quiet & reserved, with that came a person who gave generously of his time and talent to help others without thought of recognition for himself. Over the years, Dad has spent many weekends volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, Friday mornings delivering food to shelters and other needy situations as a Fair Share Table volunteer and participating in a number of local community projects.

In addition to being a well-respected attorney, Dad was also the quintessential jack of all trades. A “Mr. Fix It”. Plumber, electrician, carpenter, auto mechanic, painter, ceramic tile installer, you name it. Growing up, I thought this is what all dads could do and didn’t realize that you could hire people to do the sort of projects my dad was able to do. Where other people collected some sort of memorabilia, Dad collected tools, of every size and variety. I once was kidding with him and told him that when he retired he should get a job at Home Depot because he loved that stuff so much. I actually got a grin out of him at the suggestion.

Dad also had a life-long love of gardening. Those lucky enough to have gotten some will know that his tomatoes were one of the highlights of every summer. And when ever I had a house plant that was not doing well, off it went to my parents’ where I knew it would be nursed back to health by my Dad.

As you can see, Dad could do whatever he put his mind to, well, with one distinct exception: dance. Despite his musical and athletic abilities, he surprisingly had two left feet when it came to dancing.

I am the youngest of six daughters so I suppose that it was inevitable that I might be assigned the role of the son he never had. Over the years, he had enlisted my help for countless home and boat projects. And while I sometimes begrudgingly worked on them, I am so grateful for what I learned from working along side Dad and the independence he instilled in me and just wish there had been time to learn more.

But what will always stand out most for me and probably most of us who know and love him, was his great passion for sailing. It was a year-round devotion: Sailing his boat in the summer; working on the boat in the winter and early spring to get ready for the next sailing season. And to hold him over, wonderful sailing cruises in such exotic places as the Caribbean and Tahiti. Now more than ever whenever I see a sailboat or look out on the water and notice that the wind is just right for a brisk sail, I will think of my dad.

I would like to end with a poem that I think my dad would have known or liked.

"Sea-Fever" by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

A Sudden Passing

2008-02-21T13:39:00.000-05:00

Quietly, and without warning, my father was suddenly taken from us on Tuesday, February 12, 2008.

Your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated at this time.

Kids Say the Cutest Things...

2008-02-12T11:01:00.001-05:00

It is amazing how much the girls speech has developed in the last few months. They seemed to go from 2-3 word sentences to full-blown conversational sentences over night.

Lately the girls have started saying the cutest things. A few examples:

Everything is their favorite or, as they say it, "faborite", or they love it, which comes out as "lub it." "Apples are my faborite." "I lub popcorn." Too cute. (Gotta work on their pronunciation of 'V'.)

When they see snow flakes and/or the ground only has a dusting of snow, they call it "snow crumbs."

One day, they were watching Caillou on PBS and Caillou had twin boys over to play. I said the them, "Look girls, they are twins. YOU'RE twins." A replied, "I not twins, I girl." And L chimed in "I not twins." As if the choices are: boy, girl, or twins. :-)

A Few More Pics...

2008-02-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

I'll Bet You Thought I Was Exaggerating

2008-02-11T17:08:00.000-05:00

I will bet that you thought I was exaggerating (frankly, so did I) when I said I should have a Christmas summary post up by Valentine's Day. Well, here it is, February 11th, just a few days shy of V Day and I am just getting to it.

We really had a wonderful Christmas with the girls. They really got into the spirit of things and still talk about the great stuff that Santa brought them, especially their teddy bears and tricycles.

Here are some pictures...

Grandad, L, Mommy, Grandma, and A

L and A with their new pink pianos from their aunts, uncle and cousins.

The girls with their new bikes

Christmas Cuties

2008-01-03T16:38:00.000-05:00

Well, this post was supposed to be accompanied by a picture that was supposed to be a hold over until I can get around to a Christmas summary which, at this rate, should be written and posted sometime around Valentine's Day. ;-)

Good old Blogger...

Will try again later...

A Christmas Miracle (of Sorts)

2007-12-19T19:06:00.000-05:00

Much to my surprise and delight, we were able to get a (nice!) picture with Santa! L has been very anti-photos the last few months and, despite a few attempts, definitely did NOT want her picture taken with Santa. A, on the other hand, was all over it. Thought I would give it one last try and here is the result...

Not sure why what made the difference, I'm just happy that we got a nice picture and they were happy to see Santa.

In contrast, here is what last year's picture looked like...

They were so freaked out by Santa that the only way to get a picture was to back the stroller up to Santa without them seeing him. LOL.

And, just for fun, here is their first Christmas picture with Santa.

We have had the same great Santa for all three pictures. :) L is on the left and A on the right in all of the pictures.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

Love,

L&A

Giving Thanks

2007-11-21T10:36:00.000-05:00

This is such a special time of year to stop and take stock of what we are thankful for.

Here are pictures of two special little people I am particularly thankful for having in my life.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Hallowen Pics, Part II

2007-11-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

Our Other Little Pumpkin

Taking a post-trick-or-treating break

Checking out their loot

Halloween Pics, Part I

2007-11-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

"Boo"

Going trick-or-treating

NICU Reunion Halloween Party

2007-11-01T14:17:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we attended a NICU reunion Halloween party at the hospital where the girls were born. It was wonderful to see the head neonatal doctor that had cared for the girls and had visited mommy frequently during her long hospital stay prior to their delivery. There were over 400 people there, both former patients and their families. Wow! And this was only the infants to 2 year olds!

The party was also a great trial run for wearing this year's Halloween costume -- monkeys, of course!

We had a GREAT Halloween. The girls really got into it and were very disappointed that first thing yesterday morning they couldn't put on their costumes and go outside to go trick-or-treating! More to come (as soon as the pictures get downloaded)!

Pumpkins

2007-10-17T11:43:00.001-04:00

Mommy and the girls went to Silverman's Farm in Easton, CT with Grandma C. earlier this month. It was one of those beautiful fall days in New England ... except for the 86 degree weather! Never thought I would be taking pictures of my kids with pumpkins in their summer clothes!

L&A

(Not sure why the resolution on my pictures is so fuzzy... I will try to get that worked out.)

"Monkey See, Monkey Do"

2007-09-25T10:54:00.000-04:00

First off, how cute are these shirts?? And very fitting as we are totally in what I call their "monkey see, monkey do" phase. They copy what the other one is doing constantly. It is pretty cute. I am so enamored with this phase that for Halloween the girls are going to be... monkeys, of course! I even got buttons to pin on their costume that have the same design as what is on their t-shirts.

Their evaluation went very well. Both of them really did great considering they were at a strange place, with a strange person, and being asked to do tasks that were unfamiliar with them. They were evaluated separately. The nurse doing the evaluation commented on how amazingly close they scored on everything. Even with twins there is usually more of a variation in where they are at with certain developmental milestones. The evaluation focused on fine and gross motor skills, language, and cognitive ability. They both scored ahead on cognitive as well as abstract thinking, which wasn't even being tested. They are both doing really well with language -- both have a large vocab -- but we need to work on getting longer sentences out of them. They mostly do two- and three-word sentences. So all is well with our little ladies' development.

The girls had their first dentist visit last week. That was interesting. LOL. They LOVED the waiting area which had lots of toys to keep them busy. They didn't even mind the first part of the visit which involved new Dora toothbrushes and a goodie bag for each of them. The exam by the dentist? Not so much. The big bummer is that the dentist confirmed what we thought -- L is missing one of her lateral incisors, which is one of the top teeth next to the two front teeth. There is nothing really that can be done until her permanent teeth come in. The dentist won't even do x-rays to see if she has the permanent tooth until she is 5.

Sisters and Best Friends

2007-09-10T13:45:00.000-04:00

The girls had their child development center evaluation last Friday. Details to follow...

Sisterly Love

2007-08-30T09:07:00.001-04:00

Okay, my apologies for this pathetic excuse of a blog. Will try to do better to provide more regular updates. In the meantime, how cute is this picture?!?

Silly Self Portraits

2007-07-25T14:10:00.000-04:00

One night, Mommy and the girls decided to get silly and take some "self portraits". The results...

A Rite of Passage?

2007-07-11T15:45:00.000-04:00

Is it a requirement that every young child do THIS at some point during their toddler years??

Artwork: "Crayola on Yellow" by Miss L.

I gave L a (minor) scolding and they both cried. Must be a twin thing. And I guess the scolding didn't work because some suspicious crayola-like markings appeared on the very same piece of wall some days after...

"Shoe"

2007-06-13T12:57:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned, the girls really have developed quite a large vocabulary. And they LOVE to show that off. Objects are constantly being pointed at and named without any prompting. And almost always they accurately identify a particular object.

Almost always.

For their birthday, the girls each received a baseball set: a bag with a soft baseball, a bat and a mitt. Despite showing the girls how to use a baseball mitt, including that it goes on your hand, Miss L was quite adamant in insisting that her mitt is a "shoe." And the above picture proves it. Not only does L have her foot in the mitt to show that it is a shoe, she is saying "shoe". LOL.

Stats

2007-06-13T12:49:00.000-04:00

The girls had their 2-year ped. appt. a couple of days after their birthday. They are doing great!

A was 33 1/2" (50th percentile) and 26lbs, 12oz, and
L was 34 1/2" (75th percentile) and 27lbs, 2oz.

We could tell that L was a tad taller but didn't think it was a whole inch. Wonder if that is unusual for identical twins...

They are really doing great developmentally. They seem to have totally caught up to their full-term peers. They have a big vocabulary and use short sentences. They love to count objects -- often beyond 10 now. They love to sing songs and dance. They know their colors -- their favorite seems to be "yeyyow". And they are now working on learning shapes.

They do still do some tip-toe walking but the ped. said theirs is totally normal: they don't have tightening in their muscles and they also stand flat on their feet and often walk heel-to-toe.

They are both cutting their eye teeth, as well as a couple of other teeth, so they have been pretty grouchy lately -- poor babies (and poor mommy & daddy)!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2007-05-29T10:44:00.001-04:00

Mother's Day 2007

2007-05-23T11:43:00.001-04:00

L, Mommy & A

Mother's Day 2007

Ready For Her Close Up?

2007-05-17T12:54:00.000-04:00

Guess we have some work to do in perfecting eating with utensils... When eating yogurt with a spoon is just not cutting it, just take the bowl and try to "drink" the yogurt.

Some Big Shoes to Fill

2007-05-10T15:13:00.000-04:00

Putting on mommy and daddy's shoes has become a popular activity for L&A. (Hope this isn't the first step towards developing a shoe obsession. LOL. )

Now, I have average sized feet. But it's funny how you can feel like you have ginormous clown feet a la JoJo (for all you Playhouse Disney watchers) when your toddlers decide to "wear" your shoes.

They Clean Up Good

2007-05-07T14:40:00.000-04:00

Here are the girls in their Easter finery. Why yes, I am just a tad late in posting this picture given that Easter was a month ago. (L is on the left.) They don't wear dresses very often but when they do, boy do they look cute (not that I am biased).

Lots of developmental changes going on. Their vocabulary is growing like crazy, so quickly that I have stopped counting how many words they can say. They get great pleasure out of pointing to people and things and naming them. They also can count objects up to ten. And sing the alphabet song. In fact, they love to sing along to any song. Their latest feat is identifying colors.

Their new favorite show is Little Einsteins.

Hard to believe it but they will be 2 the end of this month! Wow.

May I Take Your Order?

2007-03-27T14:04:00.000-04:00

The girls got an awesome play kitchen from their aunt and uncle for Christmas. We just set it up and they are having a blast with it. They don't really "get" the idea of a kitchen and cooking but it sure is fun to scatter the play food and pots & pans all over the place.

Snow Bunnies

2007-02-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

So Much Better Than an Alarm Clock

2007-02-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

Rather than the buzz or loud music of an alarm clock, this morning I awoke to the sound (heard over the baby monitor) of one of the twins in her crib, in a perfectly clear little voice, counting from 1 to 10.

It doesn't get better than that.

Before January Comes to an End...

2007-01-30T09:40:00.000-05:00

I figured I should attempt a post.

No good excuse for the lack of posting other than to say... where the heck did this month go?

So, in summary: Other than a week that some kind of stomach bug came to visit our house, the girls are doing great. They are 20 months old. A year ago at this time they were just starting to master sitting up and now they walk -- scratch that -- RUN everywhere. They continue to LOVE books (if only we could just get A to stop chomping on them -- when will the teething end??). The last few weeks we have really seen a big jump in their vocabulary. They love to try to sing along to Barney and Wiggles songs. And they even have started counting!

Christmas Highlights

2007-01-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures to go along with the Christmas summary...

Top to bottom:

L by her aunt's front door (and looking more like a little girl than a baby...)

A going through her aunt's kitchen cabinets

L inspecting Barney

A with the drum lid

L & A's favorite Christmas moment :)

Maybe Next Year: A Summary of Christmas 2006

2007-01-02T14:44:00.000-05:00

To say that Christmas with the girls was a bit of a disappointment is an understatement. I was fully prepared for them not to "get" Christmas -- they are, after all, only 19 mos old. But I did think some of the toys -- or at least the wrapping paper, for goodness sake - would have had some appeal. Nope.

Christmas Eve
We spent the evening at my sister-in-law's. My parents came as well. Perfect as it is across the street from us. An easy escape with cranky babies and parents who offered to stay with them after bedtime while we spent more time across the street. Boy have I learned the importance of a good nap before such occasions. L did not nap well and was a crab apple for most of the evening. She was at the front door quite a bit. I suppose an appeal to go home. A enjoyed rifling through her aunt's kitchen cabinets and scattering their contents all over the floor. L did a bit better at dinner until... Santa paid us a visit. With his jolly red suit and his "ho ho ho" he came into the house and into the dining room. L started hysterically crying, to the point that she almost made herself throw up. Fun stuff. (Although I have to admit that it will make a good story to tease her with when she gets older.) They were ready for bed before any gifts were opened. In fact, we ended up just bringing them home and saving them for Christmas morning.

Christmas Morning
Despite the girls' lack of interest in all things Christmas the night before, I still had rather high hopes for opening gifts on Christmas morning . In addition to a few fun bigger toys, we had gotten them each a plush Barney doll, which was sure to be a hit as they are HUGE Barney fans these days. With visions of them snuggling their Barneys for the rest of the day we took them into the living room. First, they bypassed all gifts in favor of running around between the living room and dining room -- rooms they do not usually spend much time in. When they finally showed interest in any of their gifts, it was a drum full of instruments and they were most interested in carrying around the lid/top of the drum. When Barney was finally noticed by L, she took him out of her stocking, gave him the once over, and dropped him on the floor. A's never left her stocking. You get the idea.

Christmas Dinner
If you have made it through reading the above, you can use your imagination as to how the rest of the day went. Let's just say that we again went home with unopened gifts. I think their favorite part of the day was the nice nap they took at Grandma & Grandpa T's.

Maybe next year...

Lest We Forget...

2006-12-19T12:10:00.000-05:00

Here is a holiday picture of our "firstborn".

What a Difference a Year Makes...

2006-12-13T09:35:00.000-05:00

What a difference a year makes. Last year the girls posed perfectly with Santa. (See top picture.) Even at that time I knew it was probably the first and last time I would ever get such a great shot. Boy, was I right.

Fast forward to this year. (See bottom picture.) It took THREE attempts to even get this picture. The first time they absolutely freaked when we tried to put them in Santa’s lap. Then, we let them walk around a bit to get used to the man in the red suit and then tried again – no dice. The THIRD time I had the idea of keeping them in the stroller and then backing them up without seeing Santa. This was the result. After the flash of the first picture L started crying. At least if this picture does not make a good holiday card, it's a good story to share with the girls when they get older. :)

In both pictures, L is on the left and A on the right.

18-Month Checkup

2006-12-06T09:53:00.000-05:00

The girls have their 18-month check up last Thursday.

Both girls are doing great. They were 60th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height (although I think the height measurement was a bit too generous).

Here are their stats:
A: 24lbs, 1oz and 33 inches
L: 24lbs, 8oz and 33 inches

Who would ever think that they had started out as 32-week preemies? :)

What they are up to...

Their walking is turning into running.

They understand everything we say to them.

They are cutting molars but still only have two of their top front teeth. (L has 4 bottom front and A has 3).

They both LOVE books... both to "read" and to chew on.

A loves to build things with blocks... and L loves to knock them down.

Their favorite shows are Barney, The Wiggles, Teletubbies, and Elmo's World.

They love to follow along with the dance moves during Wiggles and Barney songs.

L loves pasta and A won't touch it, literally.

Cereal

2006-11-29T15:21:00.000-05:00

The girls are learning how to eat with utensils. First we tried spoons with oatmeal. At first they seemed a bit confused about what to do, but once they got the hang of it, they seemed quite pleased that they could do it themselves.

Picture captions: Now, what do you want me to do with this? I will distract you with my cute smile while I discreetly drop the spoon off of my tray. Lost my spoon... now what?? Two spoons are better than one. This is fun! (First three pics are of L, last two of A.)

Playground Fun

2006-11-29T15:13:00.000-05:00

L in purple, A in pink.

Cute Twin Moment

2006-11-14T14:15:00.000-05:00

Considering that they are identical twins and how much time they spend together, the girls do not seem to acknowledge each other all that much. Occasionally they seem to crack each other up. But by now I thought they might have some sort of secret language and be completely inseparable. Most of the time it is as if they just co-exist in the same space and most of their play time involves them playing separately with different toys. However, now and then, you catch a moment like this that is such a neat part of having twins...

Who Needs a Hoover...

2006-11-14T14:08:00.000-05:00

... when you have a dog to clean up after messy 17-month-old twins??

The dog is getting fat, but at least my kitchen floor doesn't need to be cleaned three times a day.

They DO drop food off of their trays on purpose -- what toddler doesn't, right? -- but so far it is not with the intention of feeding the dog. If they start that, the dog will seriously need to go on a diet!

Ladybug Ladybug

2006-11-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

Can You Guess...?

2006-10-24T09:56:00.000-04:00

Can you guess from these pictures who loves pasta ("ronies") and who doesn't? :)

Quick Update

2006-10-13T07:39:00.000-04:00

L did great yesterday.

She is such a strong baby! A couple of hours after the surgery she was home playing and eating like her old self.

Thanks to everyone for the good wishes.

L is Having Outpatient Surgery on Thursday

2006-10-09T11:32:00.000-04:00

L's procedure to correct the surgical hernias is this Thursday.

While it is a relatively minor procedure, it does involve anesthesia so we would appreciate your prayers and good wishes.

Will post an update after the surgery.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2006-10-05T14:51:00.000-04:00

I wanted to remind everyone that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Nearly 8 years ago, breast cancer claimed the life of my sister, Cindy. She is the dear, sweet aunt my daughters will never have the good fortune to know.

Please do your part to help prevent another family from experience the loss we have. Participate in and/or make a donation to a local breast cancer walk. Go to this website: www.thebreastcancersite.com and help fund free mammograms for underpriviledged women. Wear a pink ribbon for the month of October to show your support. It doesn't matter what you do as long as you DO.

Thank you.

New Look

2006-10-03T13:05:00.000-04:00

Here is what the girls look like without a mop of hair hanging in their eyes...

Apple-Picking Cuties

2006-09-27T10:19:00.000-04:00

We took the girls apple picking for the first time on Sunday. They weren't quite sure what to make of it but enjoyed walking (and stumbling) around exploring the orchard and picking up the apples that had fallen off of the trees. A (in the pink top) decided to taste one -- turns out apples make good teethers!

A New Perspective

2006-09-26T10:17:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, we finally turned the girls car seats around so they are now forward facing.* As you can see by their expressions, they were quite pleased with this change of scenery, this new perspective during car rides. (A's picture is on the top, L's the bottom.)

They are enjoying the extra legroom and being able to see Mommy & Daddy. They also are quite excited about being able to toss whatever they can get hold of onto the floor. Fun stuff.

*Rear facing is safer so we decided to keep them that way for a while even though they had met the requirements for forward facing (of one year AND 20 pounds) when they turned one the end of May.

Consult with Pediatric Surgeon

2006-09-20T10:03:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we took L for a consultation with a pediatric surgeon. She has two small hernias from her heart surgery: the larger one is where the drainage tube had been placed after her surgery (visible in the above picture) and another at the bottom of her incision area.

We have been told that the hernias will not go away on their own. It is a relatively quick and easy procedure to correct them but would require anesthesia. We were told it would take 30-45 minutes. Even though L has already been through a major, major surgery, the thought of having our baby put under makes us nervous.

It is really a cosmetic issue at this point. However, while the hernias are small now they could get larger over time if we don't correct them soon.

The surgeon came very highly recommended from several different doctors. If we do go forward with it, we may have it done in the next couple of weeks. I'll keep you all posted...

Sleep Update:

I am very happy to report that after a mere 8 days everyone in our house is sleeping better and longer these days. Woo hoo!

The girls have done a great job of adapting to their new bedtime routine. While there is usually some fussing while trying to get them to go asleep, they usually STAY asleep and have been sleeping for about 10 hours. I am practically giddy over the extra time I now have in the evening and in the morning too, not to mention more room in the bed -- guess we don't need a king-size bed after all. LOL.

The Adventurer

2006-09-18T09:05:00.000-04:00

Well, we have a very adventurous little girl on our hands -- and it's not the one we thought it would be! Yesterday, we went to the shore for the day. Last time we took the girls they both played contentedly in the shade on a blanket under an umbrella. This time, L kept walking off by herself! Kind of cute to see that little girl walking down the beach, bucket in hand, but scary at the same time that she will wander off so easily... It surprised us that L would do that because she has always been the more cautious of the two girls. Guess not any more! Meanwhile, A happily played and stayed on our blanket under the umbrella. Guess she is like her mommy and isn't crazy about being in the sun. :)

Unfortunately, Mommy forgot to pack the camera so we don't have pictures to show of the little adventurer (other than a couple of grainy phone camera pictures). But the memories are there...

Better Late Than Never

2006-09-14T11:11:00.000-04:00

This week we started sleep training the girls. Yeah, yeah, I know. This is something you are supposed to do when babies are infants. But, better late than never, right??

We had gotten ourselves into a pretty tough spot. We were putting the girls to bed already asleep (and they usually weren't falling asleep until 9pm or later) and if/when they woke up during the night or early morning we put them in our bed. As you can imagine, that had left us with little time in the evening for ourselves to relax or get some things done and also left us with not enough sleep.

Well, fortunately, I came to my senses and finally realized that we had to change this terrible routine. So, we are on Day 4 of this "sleep experiment" and I have to say (while risking jinxing myself) that it is going pretty well. The night of Day 2 was pretty rough but last night we saw great improvements. They were both asleep by 9:15 and, while I heard some fussing a few times during the night, no one got up crying. They both woke up at 5:15 but with a little coaxing and soothing went back to sleep for another two hours.

I am not foolish enough to believe it will only get better from here -- I am sure we still have some tough nights ahead -- but hopefully we are on our way to well-rested, happier babies and parents!

15 Month Check Up

2006-09-07T21:40:00.000-04:00

The girls had their 15 month checkup. Both of them are doing just fine.

Their stats:

L
Height: 30 1/2"
Weight: 22 lbs, 12 oz.

A
Height: 30 1/4"
Weight: 22 lbs, 5 oz.

They each grew exactly one inch since their 12 month appointment. L literally gained on A in the weight department -- there were less ounces apart last time -- but L, until very recently, has been the much better eater.

They got a couple of shots. As you can imagine those were not appreciated. Normally, the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) shot would be given at this time but, with our doctor's input, we have decided to delay their getting it. Partly because they were already getting two shots today. But mainly because as former preemies we felt it would be better to wait a bit longer to give them such a big shot. Plus, since they are not in daycare there is less of a concern of them actually contracting any of those illnesses.

The doctor is pleased with their progress. They are in the 50th percentile for height and weight (using their chronological and not corrected age). They are walking. They say at least 5 words -- actually they can say quite a few more as well as an array of animal sounds. :) And they are eating table foods 3 times a day. She was also pleased that we are done with bottles. Next up: Work on phasing out the pacis. That should be fun... Yikes!

Their pacis go everywhere with them as illustrated in the above picture.

Suggestions on how to "break the habit" would be very much appreciated.

Milestone

2006-08-31T11:25:00.000-04:00

Here is one of the last pictures of the girls drinking from bottles -- as well as being a cute picture of them holding hands!

This week, we switched from bottles to sippy cups. The girls had been getting "juice" (25% juice, 75% water) in sippy cups for some time now, but were still getting all of their milk in bottles. I decided to go the "cold turkey" route and one day earlier this week put all of their milk in sippy cups.

So far so good.

What a relief to their mom who is just a little bit tired of hand-washing the countless bottles they have gone through over the past 15 months. (Yes, I know that baby bottles can go in the dishwasher. I am just too particular about making sure they are clean to use this method. LOL) And the timing was definitely right as they had decided it was great fun to turn the bottles upside down and watch the milk drip out and make puddles on their highchair trays.

Please note: I am keeping this blog open to the public. Because of this, I am taking certain measures in order to protect my family's privacy. I will refer to the girls by their first initials, "L" and "A". Also, I will not discuss where we live -- perhaps the state, but nothing more specific. I ask that anyone posting a comment that knows us to please do the same. Thank you!

Formerly of "Two Peas in a Pod"

2006-08-31T11:06:00.000-04:00

Hey all.

Many of you followed us along on our pregnancy journey through my "Two Peas in a Pod" blog. After the twins (safe -- thank goodness!) arrival, I found it very difficult to keep up with a blog and therefore let it go.

Well, it's hard to believe it but the twins' first year is already behind us. It was a crazy, and yet wonderful, time.

Since so many of our friends and family live far away, I decided to start another blog so that you all could keep up with the latest on our girls.

Hopefully there will be lots of stories and pictures to share!