Crazy Eli

Elizabeth is a officially a freak of nature. Today she got fully dressed in a purple sweatsuit including underwear, pants, top and shoes. She still has a bit of trouble with the socks, but I give it another week or so before she masters it. Perhaps there are other 25 month olds that can do this, but I just haven't met them yet. I remember Sam, Liz's daughter being fairly advanced with this kind of thing, but I don't think this early.

At gymnastics class yesterday the teacher was showing some boys backwards somersaults and Eli joined in. After trying 3 times, she got it. She has pretty much mastered every piece of equipment in the gym so I'm gonna need to figure out some way to keep her interested.

When the cat is away...

Ebba posted some nice pics of the kids today on her blog. Very sweet.

Miranda the rat.

Today Miranda ratted out Michael.

"Daddy eat chocolate."

And speaking of Elizabeth....

Her vocabulary and ability to form sentences has improved exponentially in the last month or so. She says things like, "That is mommy's robe" and "Nana rode horse at the zoo merry-go-round." She also has added things like "Nmm, nnn, nnh" or "mmm, hmm" to me don't do that and yes. She also likes referring to all of her and parker's teachers. "Teacha Matt! Parka's teacher! Swim teacher!" She is also making her preferences known too. "Biza no like Sammy and Charlie's party." or "Biza like smoothie". And she'll let me know what Miranda likes or doesn't like too. "Nann no like smoothie."

All of this is making communicating with her so much easier.

Getting there...

Elizabeth took some trains from Parker this morning. He started freaking out, screaming and crying. I got him to calm down and walk back to her to ask for her trains back. He said, while still sniffling, "That's my train and I was playing with it." Elizabeth then said as clear as day:

"Here you go Parker. I'm sorry Parker" and gave the trains back.

Sweet, but still wrong.

The pictures:



The conversation:

Me: Parker, please come over here.
Parker: What?
Me: Did you draw on the wall?
Parker: Yup.
Me: When did you draw on the wall? This morning or yesterday.
Parker: Yesterday
Me: Is it ok to draw on the wall?
Parker: No.
Me: So why did you draw on the wall?
Parker: I was trying to help you go up and down the stairs with these tracks.
Me: Oh. Thanks, but it's not ok to draw on the wall.
Parker: OK
Me: You can draw on paper or the white board.

More Costumes

Since we finally decided to let the kids go trick or treating this year, I figured I needed to find the girls some costumes. I let some other twin parents use the tiger costumes so today I went and got some more. I didn't know how the girls would like them, but as soon as I got them out of the bag, the girls went ape for them. I brought the plain brown horse out first and tried to make it seem super special since I figured the pink unicorn would be the desired one. But...as it turned out, the horse was the one they both wanted. So much so, that I might go back and trade it in for another horse.

Halloween Fun

I took the girls to the local cemetary yesterday where they were having a little halloween festival. By the time we arrived, about 10 minutes before closing, most things were shut down. But the bouncy houses were still up, free and practically empty. The girls love the bouncy houses almost as much as their brother.








Then we watched the fountain for a while before going to pick out a few pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch. We saw another twin mom there with her husband, but no kids. After they left, Elizabeth said, "Isaac and Owen have penises." (Isaac and Owen are her twins, of course.)







Back at home, Daddy helped us carve the pumpkins since apparently I'm too inept to do it. I gave it a good try, but the hole I made at the top was too small for our hands to actually get in it. So lame. The kids weren't so happy to stick their hands in there to get the guts and seeds out.

Poor Parker

Parker went to bed last night not feeling too well. In the middle of the night, he woke up screaming, "I'm sick! I'm sick!" I tried to comfort him in my bed, but as Miranda was already there (don't ask), it was tough. I picked up Parker and took him back to the back house where Daddy was peacefully sleeping. (Sorry Michael.)

Today, Parker had high fevers all day long. In the evening, it was 103. Yikes.

I think it's the first time he is sick and knows it. He just asks to be on the couch or sit with us. It's very sad and sweet.

Parker's Work

Parker is into building really high train tracks these days. He takes whatever he can find and builds very high and very unstable bridges.



And he also, apparently, spells things backwards. Who knew?

Habitot Twin Meeting

A local children's museum is doing some outreach to parents of twins so I hooked up with them and invited our club members to go. They provide coffee, pastries and even staff to play with the kids while the parents get to chat. Last month, there were only 3 of us, but this time, there were 8 parents and lots of kids (17 I suppose). My kids did great and Parker was very happy building his tall track. The parents, when not escorting kids to the potty, gabbed about air travel, labeling twins, when it gets easier, sleeping, dealing with stranger questions and many other things. It was nice to chat with some folks I didn't know very well.

Wah Ti TChicken

The kids have all started saying, "Wah ti Tchicken"

I have absolutely no idea what it means. I think it's some variation of something Miranda was trying to say, but who the hell knows.

They all sit around the table singing it. Parker thinks it's hilarious.

Sleep update, or why god why!!?!!

We've about got Miranda's bedtime drama worked out. I put them to bed, and then she cries for 15 minutes, and then I go back in and put her back in bed and calm her down, and she goes to sleep. It's a bit more nuanced than that, but that's basically the story.

The middle of the night and morning drama is another story. She's waking up 2-5 times per night, and the later it is the more likely it'll involve screaming. Last night she was up at 12:30am, and went back to bed without too much trouble. Then she was up at 4:30am, and that time she screamed for 20 minutes when I put her back in bed. And then they were all up in their room at basically 5am. (I refuse to let them out of their room until 6am.)

Aside from being woken up, the other two kids are taking things in stride. During a lull in the commotion at 5:20am, I heard Parker singing Rock Island Line, and getting every word right: Oh the Rock Island Line is a mighty good road, well the Rock Island Line is a road to ride, yeah the Rock Island Line is a might good road, if you want to ride you've got to ride it like you find it get your ticket at the station on the Rock Island Line. If I hadn't been so delirous with lack of sleep, I'd have been proud.

Rainbows

Sometimes we let the kids eat sugar cereal, such as Apple Jacks or "Special Cheerios" which are basically Fruit Loops with some extra oat content. Anyway, the girls are sort of oblivious as to the finer distinctions between the different brands, and Elizabeth tends to just call them Apple Jacks, regardless of what's in the bowl.

So, as we were talking at bedtime the other night, Parker remarked to me, "Elizabeth says Apple Jacks but they are really Special Cheerios. Apple Jacks are green and orange. Special Cheerios are... they are... like the big slide next to Peter's house."

He's referring to the rainbow-colored slide in the McDonald's Play Place near the Marcus house in Culver City.

More counting

Parker has started counting starting with 2. So if there are 4 giraffes, he'll say there are 5. If there are 3 crackers he'll say there are 4. I'm not sure I understand why he is doing this or why it started, but there it is. It does help with story time when he asks for 4 books and I only have to read him 3.

In other counting news, the girls have started counting. They say, "1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8, 5, 6" It's very clear and Parker is getting a real kick out of it. He keeps saying, "She is starting at 8!"

And lastly, today at swim class, I was chatting with one of Parker's classmates mom's who also does swim class. She worked at the co-op last week for the 1st time this year. They had been on vacation and then her son was sick so they missed a week or so before she worked. She saw Parker's river number lines (he draws a big river and then puts the numbers negative 10 to 20 in the river). She was stunned and went to the teacher and said, "Did we miss something while we were gone? Did they learn how to write numbers while we were gone????" The teacher, Mrs. Nelson, said, "No, that is not normal. That is just Parker. He does that." Lucas's mom felt better.

Sorry Eran

Elizabeth was filling up bowls for family members totally on her own so I grabbed the camera to try to capture the cuteness.

Peeing Together

I went to Tumble and Tea with the girls today after music class. Allison and Ava were there, which thrilled Elizabeth and Miranda to no end. They call Allison, AVA MAMA. And Leslie and Monika and their kids were there too. It was party, for sure. And even better, they were giving away free chair massages. I went first and got a long one. The other mommies watched the girls while I was rubbed and it was great. Leslie tried to do one, but Isaac (or was it Owen?) didn't like mommy not being available so hers was cute short. I then had to leave to get Parker. Rather than loading up the girls, I offered to get Beatriz and Allison watch E and M while I was gone. I came back and all was well. Then Monika wanted a massage so I was in charge of Sammy and Charlie. After a few moments, Charlie said, "PEE!" So I herded all five kids to the bathroom, where all of them peed. It was quite an assembly line with the peeing and hand washing. We made our way back to play area and then it was time to go. It's nice to have other mommies available to watch your kids. I consider it a true perk of my twin mom friendships.

Finally, a third bedroom

Sunday with Parker

Rachel and the girls were going to a birthday party after naps today, so Parker and I headed out to have an adventure of our own. It being mid-day, we headed first to In-N-Out, where Parker enjoyed some fries and a shake, which he didn't like sharing with me.

Because of some good behavior elsewhere, Rachel had promised him some prize of his choosing, so I decided to take him to the toy store so that he could get it. I explained to him that he could have anything he wanted (within reason) and that he should look at everything before making up his mind. Right when we walked in we saw a giant, motorized marble game constructed of these little snap-together tinker-toy-like things called K'nex. He was intrigued, but we pushed on. I tried to interest him in various games, while steering him clear of the horrible branded stuff (there's a whole Star Wars aisle, which we ignored). He recognized the big bin of actual tinker-toys and was tempted, and I also tried to encourage an interest in the lincoln logs.

When we went down the Melissa & Doug aisle, he saw a magnetic chalk-board covered in magnetic letters and numbers, and it was all over. It has a dry-erase board on the back, a little string handle, and when he saw it he said, "It's got 26 letters and 10 numbers!" I tried to tempt him with various other, more expensive things, but he was adamant. I reminded him that he already had a large collection of magnetic numbers and letters, as well as no shortage of dry-erase options around the house, but it didn't matter. The kid's a connoisseur.

After the toy store, we went to Cesar Chavez park, right on the bay, for a bit of kite flying. We'd picked up a cheapo kite a few weeks ago, and hadn't gotten around to take it for a spin. I mentioned it to Parker as we were heading out the door, and he was not interested, but I knew once he saw how kites worked, he's come around.

The park was perfect for kites, and there were a good dozen kite flyers in the park. The wind was so strong that you could basically toss the kite into the air and it would take flight. Parker and I took turns flying the kite, and he got a huge kick out of the whole thing. He would let the kite nose-dive into the ground, and then run backwards as I tossed it back in the air for him. After half and hour of kite flying, we goofed off, running through the park, and made our way to the bay-side edge of the park, where the really big kites were flying, but I think I was more interested in that than he was.

When we got back home the house was empty, so Parker played with his new number board while I got dinner ready. Once everything was ready, Parker and I played Chutes & Ladders in the tent in the backyard until the ladies came home.

All in all, a great afternoon.

Sometimes they are damn cute.

I'll send a prize to anyone who can figure out what she is saying at the end.

Party Dresses

Sammy and Charlie turned 2 today so we went off to their party after naps. I decided to dress them in their party dresses since they were going to be too small soon and the opportunity to wear ridiculous cute summer dresses is fading fast. Elizabeth was just annoyed I was asking to take their picture.

Running

Today, I ran farther than I ever have. For some reason, I decided that this morning I was going to attempt to run around Lake Merritt. It's a little over 3 miles around and the most I had been able to run in the past was about 1/2 mile and this was with my boot camp class. I pretty much hate running because I get so tired, so winded and my legs hurt so much almost immediately. But again, today I decided I would do it.

And I almost did. I ran about 2 1/2 miles and then walked for 5 minutes and then ran the rest of the way almost back to my car. I used Michael trick of saying to myself, "just keep running." I also kept saying, I can't wait to tell Michael I ran all the way around. That was actually more motivating then anything else.

In any case, I'm damn proud of myself and look forward to the day when I can actually run all the way around without stopping at all!

Slightly Odd

Miranda has been known, as seen here, to nurse her babies. I find this odd, not because I have a problem with breastfeeding (god knows, I've nursed enough kids), but because I can't remember the last time she might have seen someone breastfeeding. So either she remembers it from over a year ago or she is secretly sneaking out at night to go to La Leche meetings.

Personalities

It's been interesting to see E and M's personalities form. I would say they are, in general, the same as they were inside the womb and then again at about 4 months (after Elizabeth's deceptive first 4 months when we thought they took out twin B first.) But little things are becoming more clear.

For example, most days Elizabeth wakes up from naps a little grumpy. Not super grumpy like Miranda, who screams bloody murder, but just grumpy enough that she wants to be left alone for a bit. She sort of stumbles out of her room, looks around, surveys the situation and then goes and sits somewhere. She doesn't want to be held or even talked to. I went through a period in my life when I was like this when it totally bugged me if anyone spoke to me for about an hour after getting up. She gets over it quickly.

And Miranda is still sort of a mystery. At first we thought she would be super smart like Parker, but I think the opposite is most likely true. She has that blank stare a lot as if she is deeply in thought. I just don't think there is a lot of thought there. You ask her a question and she stares at you for a moment smiling like Steve Martin in Dirty Routen Scroundrels. For example, and this is a bad example, we were looking at this book last night. There's a picture of a hippo. I say to Elizabeth, Do you know what this is? She says, "Hippomotamus" and smiles sweetly. I said, Good job! Then I turn to Miranda and say, Miranda what's this? She looks at me and says, "Ahhhhhhhhhh (as if she is really thinking about it), a cow!" I'm not saying she should necessarily know the difference between a hippo and a cow, but you'd think after just hearing the right answer, she might get it. Not so much.

Gymnastics Class

I took the girls to a make up gymnastics class today. We went to the one before Parker's so I asked Parker to sit quietly and play by himself during the girl's class. I brought books, markers, paper, a calculator and a write on board for him to play with. He did great for the first 35 minutes. When he started getting antsy, I let him join us for circle time. Then the girls and I went to the park nearby and Parker had his class. All the kids just love this stuff. Elizabeth is the best at it, but others do great too. My batteries died just as I was getting the perfect shot of both girls hanging from the uneven bars together. It was ridiculously cute. Elizabeth stands on the bottom bar and holds onto the top bar and then drops to a hang. It's crazy and other parents gasp when she does it. I thought today she would start swing around it or something. Oh, and yes, they are wearing leotards. Ever since I showed them one, Elizabeth demands to wear it to gymnastics class. Miranda doesn't care either way, but when she sees Eli in hers, she has to wear one too.


This was actually one of Eli's poorer performances and I started videoing late.






Eli did a real beam today and aced it. She'll be doing back handsprings in no time.


Quite a dismount, huh?


Parker did a great job being quiet and patient and I let him know many times over.

Co-op Work Day

I had to work at Parker's preschool today so after dropping off the girls with Allison, Beatriz's mommy, and Ava, who the girls have been asking for for days, Parker, Beatriz and I went to school. Once there, we set up the play yard and then the kids starting arriving. They do a circle time after about 20-30 minutes and then today, a woman came to speak Spanish with them for 15 minutes or so. Then more playtime and art. During that time, me and the other mommy took 4-5 kids at time out in the hall to build a marble game. Of course Parker was in heaven and did his best not to be bossy. None of the girls had ever done it before. Shocking. Then outside for run around time and then back inside for more circle time and show and tell. The kids whose moms are working that day get to bring something from home to share. Parker brought Ted and Lion. He was completely unclear on the concept of show and tell despite the kid before him doing it perfectly. Then some snacks, more play and time to go home. Allison said the girls did great. She took them to Tumble and Tea in a wagon together. Miranda peed in her pants and then took off her clothes right there. Another mom said to Allison, "Ah, excuse me, your daughter is naked." I guess I should have warned her.