Our new friend

After talking with my mom on the phone, I got up from the chair to see our new foot-long friend sitting right beside me:

Lucky for me it wasn't a roach or a spider which would have sent me screaming into the streets. Instead, with the help of an interested Linus, a petrified Sadie, and the guidance of a broom, we were able to reunite our new friend with his family outside.

Of course this has to happen when Brian is out of town.

The sleep saga continues...

Phew! What a week.

Thanks for the concern - Yes, the kids are feeling much better now that they are pretty much over their colds and ear infections. Even though they never seem to get lethargic while sick, I most certainly do. So, I spent the better part of the past week parking them in front of PBS. (Naked, of course).

Since they really have no interest in tv, this is actually much harder than it sounds.

But now that everyone is on the mend, I think the fussiness can be attributed to lack of sleep rather than feeling terrible. (Myself included). Ever since Linus discovered how fun life outside his crib is when he should be sleeping, he hasn't actually fallen asleep in his crib. And yes, I do initially put him in his crib for both naps and to sleep at night. And it isn't for lack of trying on my part to convince him that he would be much more comfortable sleeping in his crib instead of on the floor, but he still insists on climbing out as soon as I shut the door. (After taking off his pajamas).

And then he spends the next 15-90 minutes pawing at the door begging to get out. Talk about torture.

Eventually all falls quiet and I will find him curled up on some pillows, or sleeping right in front of the door, or right next to Sadie's crib, or (as Brian found him when he came home on Thursday night) underneath his crib.

And he's always naked. Actually, so is Sadie, but let's solve one problem at a time.

Lucky for me, a fellow mom of twins is letting me borrow her crib tents that she used with her girls. I'm anticipating a riot as soon as these things are put up because there is no way Linus is going to quietly accept confinement. So, in order to get ready for the big day next week when I get them, we have been "practicing" staying in our camping tent in the family room.

Without clothes, of course.

(Wait...not me, just them...you know what I mean).

So far, they love to unzip the sides which worried me until I found out that the crib tents can only be unzipped from the outside. Phew! Maybe they make some sort of crib tent contraption for clothes too. Hmmm...but like I said, one problem at a time.

To be continued...

HELP!

I am surviving on only a few hours of sleep, I caught the kids' cold, and Brian is out of town. But that's not the worst of it...

Linus has decided that tonight is the night he isn't going to sleep in a crib anymore. Not only has he climbed out of his repeatedly, but he climbed into Sadie's which woke her up so she's now screaming. I then put him in the pack-n-play in the guest room, but this is the second time in about 3 minutes that I'm hearing him bang on the door to come out. Short of restraining him with shackles, or a crib tent which I should have already invested in, I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to survive the next 2 days.

How in the world are these kids not exhausted? I know I am.

Life lesson #372

Since Brian had to work today, and since we've been house-bound for almost a week, I decided to go out with the kids this morning. Little did I know that I was about to learn another one of life's little lessons:

1. Never try to go to the Animal Park on President's Day unless you want to join 70,000 of your closest friends.

2. If you do decide to go to the Animal Park, remember to leave the house relatively early otherwise plan on parking 1/2 mile away from the entrance. Without the trams running.

3. Above all else, remember to take a stroller with you. Or at least try to remember when you are still close enough to the house to turn around and get it and not after you've already parked at the Animal Park.

4. If you happen to forget the stroller, at least don't let your daughter convince you that she needs to wear the shoes you bought yesterday intended for her to wear this summer (which means open-toe and 2 sizes too big). This will really slow down your 1/2 mile walk from the car to the entrance and back again.

So, there you have it. The Animal Park was more crowded today than I have ever seen it. We literally spent most of our morning walking too and from the car, and the rest of the time we ate our lunch right inside the entrance.

All in all, going on a 2 hour round-trip excursion for lunch beats being stuck inside the house all day.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

I don't know about you, but this year was one of the most romantic Valentine's Days to date. I don't know how a girl ever got so lucky...

Very, very early in the morning, Brian looked at me across the room and wished me a happy Valentine's Day...while cleaning up a puddle of vomit...while I was holding 2 crying and fussy kids...after our third sleepless night. Like I said, it was all very romantic.

Since Monday night both kids have had low-grade fevers, vomiting, runny noses and horrendous coughs. Poor kids - as soon as they lay down they start asphyxiating in their own mucus which means sleep for everyone has been few and far between. At some point I introduced the "throw-up bowl" hoping that when they did feel sick maybe we could prevent needing a change of clothes for everyone. Even with multiple practice sessions where the kids would demand the throw-up bowl and then "practice" getting sick by making horrible retching noises every 30 seconds, we never did manage to successfully use the thing. But, I think I am successfully creating bulimic children because they seemed to like the idea.

By Thursday I finally called the doctor to see how long I would have to wait this out. I didn't realize this, but one of the criteria they have for requiring kids to be checked out is vomiting for more than 24 hours. So, let's see, it had been almost 76 hours, so...check.

Luckily when I called, they had an appointment in 45 minutes. That is 45 minutes to get myself and the kids dressed, brush my teeth, pick up toys so Tyson doesn't eat everything we own, and pack a few books, water and Cheerios for the kids in case they decide to eat something this week. I dashed out of the house only to realize that it was freezing out. Now, in the past I have complained about it being a frigid 53 degrees, but that was nothing compared to the 42 degrees with heavy winds and rain that I took us out into. (I think this is what people mean by karma).

Wearing nothing but long-sleeve shirts. (Bad Mom!)

After driving for 40 minutes through the worst traffic I have yet to see in San Diego, we made it to the doctors. (It turns out, if I had watched the news, that San Diego was having one of the worst winter storms in years with snow at elevations of less than 1500 feet meaning that major highways were closed due to snow/ice and mudslides). After a thorough examination she determined that both kids are in the midst of a severe cold, and both kids have ear infections. Ear infections?? Shouldn't they be pulling on their ears or something? (Bad Mom again!) I do consider ourselves very lucky that these are the first ear infections for either Sadie or Linus since they were born. I drove another hour through the driving wind and rain to the drugstore to fill their prescription and then proceeded to wait for 30 minutes for their antibiotic. Meanwhile I bought out the store: humidifier, tylenol, pedilyte, and of course ice cream. Then it was another 20 minutes back home. And past their bedtime.

Luckily it seems like everyone is now on the mend.


I only had to get up once last night with Linus because he had a fever, and Sadie managed to sleep right through. Even though we definitely had a memorable Valentine's Day, I can't say this was what I had in mind. Normally I would love to be snuggled up with my kids who were being very affectionate...or needy, whatever the case may be...but I can definitely do without the vomit and hacked-up lung.

I hope you all had a great day, filled with love and hopefully a healthy family.

Politically incorrect, cont.

Brian wanted me to add the following post in reference to Politically Incorrect Sadie a few days ago, but with the kids sick and not sleeping I am only now getting around to it. Enjoy:

I thought I would follow up on the politically incorrect blog from the other day. It turns out that a Chinese girl is a little bit of an abstraction for Sadie. She doesn't even know what Texas is let alone China. So thinking about some Chinese girl making the flowers on her pants was just something she couldn't wrap her head around. Chinese food on the other hand is much less abstract. Sadie not only knows what Chinese food is, she actually loves it. So this morning when she asked me who made the little hearts on her pants I wisely replied "I don't know" to which Sadie replied "maybe Chinese food did it". Chinese food has a lot of powers but I am not sure that making hearts on pants is among them. Regardless, I thought the best course of action was probably to agree with her: "Maybe it did Sadie".

Isn't it February?

Even though some of you reading currently have snow blanketing your house, we are experiencing the start to our summer with near 80 degrees and a whole lot of sun. (Not to rub it in or anything).

We brought the water table back outside, much to the delight of the kids. (Notice Sadie's lack of clothes...)

We also have stopped twice at the local strawberry patch to buy some fresh-picked strawberries. Delicious! Linus even managed to eat 7 on the way home and another 5 for dinner.

Living in southern California definitely has it's perks.

Politically incorrect

(Brian has written tonight's blog. I couldn't stop laughing after he told me this story. Enjoy!):

Honesty: Not always the best policy.

Today while changing Sadie she persistently kept asking the question, "Who made the flowers on my pants?" To which I initially responded, "I don't know". But after the 27th time I broke down and honestly/sarcastically said "probably some Chinese girl". Big Mistake. All day long Sadie has been asking "who made my socks?", "who made my shirt?", "who made my blanket?" and when we respond "I don't know" she smartly answers "probably some Chinese girl".

Mental Note : kids will always pick up on the things you don't want them to.

Birthday suits

Recently I have wondered if Sadie and Linus' obsession with being naked is either (1) because they are practicing for the day they will join a nudist colony or (2) if they just like the feeling of being free from the constraints of clothes. Either way, I'm not really digging the fact that clothes and pajamas are being taken off at an alarming pace in this house.

In the morning, the biggest bone of contention is changing from pajamas to clothes (if they are indeed wearing pajamas). While I am fighting to get one dressed, the other one is frantically getting him/herself undressed. I know there was a point not too long ago where I was encouraging them to learn how to use snaps, buttons and zippers. Now, about the only things the kids can't figure out how to undo are double-tied shoelaces and duct tape.

When we're out I'm just waiting for them to start stripping in public. (Luckily this hasn't happened yet, but like the cribs, I know this is only a matter of time). But when we're at home, the clothes come off, as they did today right after we got back from Legoland:

Pajamas are also becoming a huge problem in our house. Sadie can rip off pajamas in about 4 seconds. It takes Linus about 6.5 seconds. This means that no matter how many times we re-dress them after their bath, their pajamas immediately are taken right back off. Last night when Brian went to check on them after they had fallen asleep, Sadie was naked except for a diaper so he just covered her up hoping that she wouldn't get too cold. Well, at about 4:45am we hear Sadie screaming because she apparently also felt the need to take off her diaper during the night and then proceeded to pee all over her bed. This was traumatic for both of us.

Tonight we've already gone in twice to put their pajamas back on. I'm really hoping that they'll at least keep their diapers on so I can get some sleep.

Neither Brian nor I are what I would call exhibitionists, so I'm hoping this is a toddler thing and not indicative of some future career...

Hazzah!

(**This was intended to be a very quick post while I'm waiting for water to boil. Instead I spent the last 10 minutes trying to figure out if I spelled the title correctly - and I'm still not sure I did. Oh Google! This is the first time you've failed me! Oh Blogger! Why is your spellcheck not working?? So my apologies to those of you literary critics.)

This afternoon I had a conversation about potty training and how I was completely and utterly hoping that no one would show any interest for another year. Then they would magically tell me that they were ready, and we would transition to underwear with nary an accident or mishap. Tra La La La La...

Shortly after that conversation, I stripped Sadie down to get into the bath, but first she sat on the potty for her nightly "try" to go pee-pee. She did give it the good ol' college try, but not even a drop landed in the potty. (It's so sad. She doesn't even say she's going to sit on the potty chair anymore. Instead, everything is trying to go on the potty chair). So after a few stressful minutes, she ran into the kitchen to get a toy and miraculously peed on both the chair and the floor. How does this happen? Maybe it's the sight of the potty chair that stresses her out. We could just cut a hole in the floor...or what about an outhouse?...or more realistically I'll plan on diapers until she's about 7.

Meanwhile, Linus hopped on his potty chair, managed to pee in about 2 seconds (per usual) and was ready for the bath. That boy has the know-how to be potty trained, he just has absoluely no interest in it at all.

Then...

(and here is the big Hazzah!)

while I was getting them ready for bed after the bath, Linus walked into the bathroom on his own, turned on the light, sat down on the potty chair and...

Pooped!

He was so excited that he was going in the potty chair that he stood up while still pooping and went on the floor too, but that was just a rookie move. He'll (hopefully) improve the more he does it. We then had to call daddy to tell him all about it. (Poor Sadie told him how she really, really tried to go on the potty). And we talked about it until bedtime. It was all very exciting until after they went to bed and I had a little more time to think about it.

I'm now getting horrible visions on spending my entire time in Legoland inside their public bathroom.

I don't think I'm ready for this. Maybe I can just close my eyes, and they'll be a year older, wearing underwear and perfectly potty trained. Tra La La La La...

Sorry Mommy

Sadie's most recent favorite word these days is "Sorry". Oh no, not to apologize for anything that she did wrong...Heaven forbid. But she uses it in place of "Your wrong".

Here's an example:

Me: (Flipping through our latest Zoo Nooz magazine) Look Sadie, here's a leopard.

Sadie: Sorry Mommy.

Me: Pardon?

Sadie: Sorry Mommy. Jaguar.

Me: That's a Jaguar?

Sadie: Yes. Sorry Mommy.

Me: Huh. You're right.

Am I the only one who is constantly corrected by a 2 1/2 year old?

The great escape

I know I've touched on this before, but I really truly believe that our days with both kids in the crib are numbered.

Case in point: Linus managed to climb out of his crib the other day, onto the dresser/changing table, and proceeded to push the changing pad off the dresser and into the lamp which then crashed to the floor. I ran in to find him sitting on the floor looking at the overturned changing pad and knocked-over lamp contemplating how in the world he got there. Of course I overreacted and picked him up asking where he was hurt. Then, and only then, did he burst into tears. I'm still not sure if he really was hurt, but he has since commented on how the changing pad gave him a boo-boo, so hopefully he'll remember never to do that again.

Something else working against my determination to keep them in a crib as long as possible is the fact that they can not only climb out of their cribs, but Linus has successfully climbed into his crib on a couple of occasions. How does he do this? Well, he starts like this:

Then with his yoga abilities can actually get his leg up to the railing, and with a precarious hop he can boost himself up and over. It's quite remarkable, and terrifying, to watch. (Notice how there is nothing in their room except their cribs and a ton of blankets/pillows/padding on the floors. I can't bear to hear that horrible thump again).

Another thing that is working against me is the fact that Linus and Sadie are twins who happen to sleep in the same room. Translate this to mean: they completely egg each other on. Not sure what I mean? Well, here is a conversation they were having after I put them to bed a couple of nights ago:

Sadie: Linus, climb down!

Linus: No climb down. Linus boo-boo.

Sadie: Linus, climb down! Out crib. Out crib.

Linus: No climb down. Linus boo-boo table.

Sadie: Linus!

Linus: (Ignoring her)

Sadie: Linus! Climb down now! Out crib. Down.

Linus: Sadie down.

Sadie: No, Linus down.

etc. etc. etc.

This went on for a very long time. Eventually I think someone sneezed or burped or something and they both broke out in hysterical giggles and they forgot about escaping their cribs.

This time.

As a matter of fact, it is now 8:10pm. The kids went to bed over an hour ago and they are still talking about their day and how much they want the other one to escape the confines of their crib.

'Doh. We are in serious trouble.

Fashion divas

The kids have been wearing some interesting outfits these days. No, it's not because Brian is picking them out, but Sadie and Linus have started projecting their new-found independence on their choice in clothing. Even if I have already picked out something and have it laying on the chair ready to go, both of them will insist on putting it back so they can pick out their own outfits. And their own socks. Lucky for us they each only have one pair of shoes out so that part isn't too much of an issue.

Some days this results in pretty cute outfits...


Other days they try to wear pajamas to Legoland...

And sometimes they look like they're ready to go into combat...

Clothing is one battle I'm not even remotely interested in fighting. (Especially when I'm fighting two kids dressed for the part). So if you see us coming down the street in 17 different shades of pink, just know that it wasn't me who picked it out.

Our week with Gish and Grandpa M.

We had a fantastic week with Gish and Grandpa M!

We managed to ride a train,





fly an airplane,





drive a boat,










go on a safari,

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com



attend class,

and play in our brand new kitchen!





Phew! Who would have thought we could do all of that in just 5 days. When are you guys coming back to join in our fun again?

Third time's a charm

Brian just scheduled interview #3 at Emory University! Yahoo!!