Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Saturday, December 22, 2012
mom fashion translation
The next time you see a woman who doesn't look quite right, she's probably a mom of twoddlers. Or at least a mom. Here are a few tips as to what probably went down as she left the house, not that I'm speaking from experience or anything...
- Hair in a ponytail or bedhead or a day or two past washday - who has time for hair?!
- Something crusty on her sleeve, or mid-thigh on her pants - sweet snuggles from the twoddler who just had breakfast or a runny nose or both
- Flip-flops or other house shoes with work suit - rush to get kids ready, rush to get self ready, rush to get out the door and forgot to switch to big girl shoes.
- Mismatched jacket/skirt suit combo - accidentally grabbed the wrong one and didn't realize the mistake until after having said goodbye to the kids, causing them to wail, and switching out the jacket for the correct one would require "leaving" the twoddlers again, and who wants to experience that heartbreak TWICE in one morning?
- Stickers, marker stains, dried up Play-Doh on back or shoulder - managed to find 10 extra minutes this morning to play with the twoddlers and embraced the insanity that is twoddler playtime with reckless abandon.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
play dates!
The twoddlers are now starting to interact more with other children. This takes play dates to a whole other dimension. They still spend the majority of their time in individual play, but those little interactions are very fun. The following video and park swing are from 2 different play dates we had in the last week! And that doesn't count playing with cousin Bella. They might end up being social butterflies like their parents...
Sunday, December 16, 2012
happy birthday to me!
For my birthday, D fixed breakfast, let me nap and cleaned the kitchen and generally was the perfect husband. It's a good thing I like football, though, otherwise birthdays in December would be MUCH more difficult.
I decided that as my gift to me, I would be more present with the kids. I wouldn't let my brain wander to the 25 things that I need to get done to make it through the day (pack the diaper bag, change Sylvia's clothes AGAIN because of the blueberry mess, then while they nap I can..., then after the nap, quickly feed milk, load the car, rinse the dishes, move the laundry to the dryer, we're almost out of milk...). Yes, that's a little like what's going through my brain most always. But not today. Today, I sat with Sylvia in my lap while pokey worked on his breakfast (his mom was also always the last to leave the dining table). And while she sat there, I enjoyed her. I took in the scent of her hair--the few tufts she has. I burned in my memory the feel of her skin as I caressed her arm and wiggled her toes. I studied the look in her eyes as she drank up my description of the pictures in the book we were reading. And it was wonderful. And I did the same with Rafa. I nuzzled my face against his hair and let the joy of being with my child overcome any thoughts of anything else. I held him a little longer rather than wiping those crumbs off the countertop. Dressing him wasn't a quick task to be done to get out the door, but an opportunity to interact with him to name body parts and experiment with Velcro.
I know I won't be able to do this all the time every day. But I will do this a little bit every day. That's my promise to myself. Happy birthday to me!
I decided that as my gift to me, I would be more present with the kids. I wouldn't let my brain wander to the 25 things that I need to get done to make it through the day (pack the diaper bag, change Sylvia's clothes AGAIN because of the blueberry mess, then while they nap I can..., then after the nap, quickly feed milk, load the car, rinse the dishes, move the laundry to the dryer, we're almost out of milk...). Yes, that's a little like what's going through my brain most always. But not today. Today, I sat with Sylvia in my lap while pokey worked on his breakfast (his mom was also always the last to leave the dining table). And while she sat there, I enjoyed her. I took in the scent of her hair--the few tufts she has. I burned in my memory the feel of her skin as I caressed her arm and wiggled her toes. I studied the look in her eyes as she drank up my description of the pictures in the book we were reading. And it was wonderful. And I did the same with Rafa. I nuzzled my face against his hair and let the joy of being with my child overcome any thoughts of anything else. I held him a little longer rather than wiping those crumbs off the countertop. Dressing him wasn't a quick task to be done to get out the door, but an opportunity to interact with him to name body parts and experiment with Velcro.
I know I won't be able to do this all the time every day. But I will do this a little bit every day. That's my promise to myself. Happy birthday to me!
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Friday, December 14, 2012
15 months!
The twoddlers turned 15 months on the 6th. Which meant, more shots. And, an "official" weigh-in.
Here are the stats from the visit:
Sylvia:
Height: 31.25" (75%)
Weight: 22 lb 3.2 oz (39%)
Head: 18.3" (65%)
Rafael:
Height: 30.25" (23%)
Weight: 21 lb 9.6 oz (12%)
Head: 19" (80%)
Rafa's head continues to pull away disproportionately from his body. It's probably due in large part to the fact that he doesn't really like eating. We went out to dinner tonight with some friends and of course he refused to eat anything. We're not sure if he gets overwhelmed by the sights and sounds because he at least eats a little at home. In any case, when we got home, we wanted to be sure he didn't wake up at 5am (again), so we let him have pureed fruits/veggies. And he ate a lot. So, maybe we just need to go back to baby food and blend our meals, then add applesauce...
Here are the stats from the visit:
Sylvia:
Height: 31.25" (75%)
Weight: 22 lb 3.2 oz (39%)
Head: 18.3" (65%)
Rafael:
Height: 30.25" (23%)
Weight: 21 lb 9.6 oz (12%)
Head: 19" (80%)
Rafa's head continues to pull away disproportionately from his body. It's probably due in large part to the fact that he doesn't really like eating. We went out to dinner tonight with some friends and of course he refused to eat anything. We're not sure if he gets overwhelmed by the sights and sounds because he at least eats a little at home. In any case, when we got home, we wanted to be sure he didn't wake up at 5am (again), so we let him have pureed fruits/veggies. And he ate a lot. So, maybe we just need to go back to baby food and blend our meals, then add applesauce...
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
tradition...TRADITION!
Apologies in advance to our children who will often tire of how we break into song whenever we hear words from songs in conversation. Particularly because many of the songs they won't know and will think are "totally lame." I probably shouldn't admit this in public, but we once had an entire conversation in which pretty much every sentence contained sung song lyrics. Life is a musical.
So, I can't hear the word "tradition" in any context without thinking about this:
Because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.
I recently asked D what are his beloved family Christmas traditions and what does he want ours to be. It would be really easy for me to create a holiday experience for our kids that looks like what my holidays looked like growing up. But, while we're not exactly mashing two very divergent cultural backgrounds together, I do want to be sure that the memories he cherishes from his childhood can be passed on to our kids as well.
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions that you hope are passed on in your family?
So, I can't hear the word "tradition" in any context without thinking about this:
Because of our traditions, everyone knows who he is and what God expects him to do.
I recently asked D what are his beloved family Christmas traditions and what does he want ours to be. It would be really easy for me to create a holiday experience for our kids that looks like what my holidays looked like growing up. But, while we're not exactly mashing two very divergent cultural backgrounds together, I do want to be sure that the memories he cherishes from his childhood can be passed on to our kids as well.
What are some of your favorite holiday traditions that you hope are passed on in your family?
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
hope
On the first Sunday of advent, we celebrated hope.
From Merriam-Webster:
From Merriam-Webster:
intransitive verb
1: to cherish a desire with anticipation
2 archaic : trust
transitive verb
1: to desire with expectation of obtainment
2: to expect with confidence : trust
It made me wonder, what is it that I hope for? Of course, there are all the really common ones, everlasting life, health, freedom from want, happiness and fulfillment, et cetera, et cetera. But, more specifically, what do I hope for today? I posted a shorter version of this on Facebook, but wanted to add this here with a little more color and where I can keep it with other random thoughts of mine that I or my kids might one day go back and enjoy.
- I hope my kids will grow up to have incredible empathy. -- I believe that they will be filled with more joy and peace if they can see the good in others and can view the world through lenses other than their own.
- I hope the Texans will win the Super Bowl this year. -- Aside from loving the hometown guys since day one, because of Andrew Luck, there is fear in our house that if we don't do it this year, we're going to struggle for many years being in the same division with Mr. Luck.
- I hope the amount of love people have for each other in this world will continually increase. -- OK, so this should probably be in the really common list. It's sort of my description of the creation of heaven on earth. Well, not originally mine, but embraced by me.
- I hope my house will one day be orderly and clean. -- I suffer from the unfortunate combination of a strong desire for order and the inability to maintain it.
- I hope diabetes and cancer will soon have a smaller impact. -- Probably also for the common list. It is amazing and sad to me how many people are impacted by these two diseases. Very recently, we've been watching a number of friends go through cancer themselves or one of their loved ones.
- I hope United gets its act together pronto. -- I really miss Continental.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
2 vs 1
Having twins elicits lots of sympathy. We routinely hear, "double trouble!" I haven't been shy about the fact that the first four months were hard. Very hard. Things have gotten easier a little at a time. I have been told that around 18 months, having twins will start being easier than a singleton because that's when thy can start playing together rather than always needing an adult to entertain them. We're keeping our eyes on the prize.
Truly, though, things had gotten to where two rather than one wasn't twice as hard, just a little harder sometimes. One of the main reasons things have been so manageable is because the twoddlers have been on the same schedule. Until now. We are in that weird stage between two naps and one. So, it's harder for us to just stick to our nap routines because they aren't tired at the same times that they have been for months. Well, one might be one day and the other the next. Which meant that for today, Sylvia took a long morning nap, Rafa took a long midday nap and Sylvia is down again for an afternoon snooze.
If they don't both take two naps, this is the more frequent scenario. Sylvia is a disaster when she's tired. And she seems to really still need two naps. We ha a backup nanny one day last week and she let the kid play and then tried to put them down for one midday nap. Well, Sylvia was overtired and couldn't settle down. Because she was wailing at the top of her lungs, Rafa couldn't sleep, so the nanny got them both up since thy screamed for (according to her) 15 minutes. I came home or my lunch break and it was clear that Sylvia was über tired. So, I helped put her down to sleep. She didn't like it and still screamed some, but eventually fell asleep. Rafa, on the other hand never looked tired, so the nanny never put him down! So, he went the whole day without a nap!!! And he was perfectly pleasant at the end of the day. Some kids are just easier, I guess. (At least on this point, let's not talk about eating...).
So, Rafa is probably ready to switch to one nap a day, but Sylvia's not quite there, yet. This is when 2 is much harder than 1. We either fight against their natural rhythms or we have one child or the other sleeping for 6 almost continuous hours during the day, which makes going out and doing anything or getting anything done, nearly impossible.
On the positive side, this has given us some one on one time with each kid and a little glimpse into what it would be like to not have to divide our attention all the time. We probably should be more intentional about splitting them up even when they're on the same schedule so that they can experience uninterrupted time with at least one of us.
Truly, though, things had gotten to where two rather than one wasn't twice as hard, just a little harder sometimes. One of the main reasons things have been so manageable is because the twoddlers have been on the same schedule. Until now. We are in that weird stage between two naps and one. So, it's harder for us to just stick to our nap routines because they aren't tired at the same times that they have been for months. Well, one might be one day and the other the next. Which meant that for today, Sylvia took a long morning nap, Rafa took a long midday nap and Sylvia is down again for an afternoon snooze.
If they don't both take two naps, this is the more frequent scenario. Sylvia is a disaster when she's tired. And she seems to really still need two naps. We ha a backup nanny one day last week and she let the kid play and then tried to put them down for one midday nap. Well, Sylvia was overtired and couldn't settle down. Because she was wailing at the top of her lungs, Rafa couldn't sleep, so the nanny got them both up since thy screamed for (according to her) 15 minutes. I came home or my lunch break and it was clear that Sylvia was über tired. So, I helped put her down to sleep. She didn't like it and still screamed some, but eventually fell asleep. Rafa, on the other hand never looked tired, so the nanny never put him down! So, he went the whole day without a nap!!! And he was perfectly pleasant at the end of the day. Some kids are just easier, I guess. (At least on this point, let's not talk about eating...).
So, Rafa is probably ready to switch to one nap a day, but Sylvia's not quite there, yet. This is when 2 is much harder than 1. We either fight against their natural rhythms or we have one child or the other sleeping for 6 almost continuous hours during the day, which makes going out and doing anything or getting anything done, nearly impossible.
On the positive side, this has given us some one on one time with each kid and a little glimpse into what it would be like to not have to divide our attention all the time. We probably should be more intentional about splitting them up even when they're on the same schedule so that they can experience uninterrupted time with at least one of us.