Diaper dilemma continued

Putting their diapers on backwards didn't work. As a matter of fact, it didn't even slow them down.

Currently, I am listening to them dare each other to take off their diapers while they are supposed to be napping. Oh, wait a minute. They are now screaming that they just pooped in their beds.

Great.

ETA: I just walked into a room of naked kids, one of which was playing with his own fecal matter. To give you a hint, it was the kid who thankfully had a tent around his crib so that said fecal matter was not thrown around the room. Also, this same kid was very, very proud of himself and of what he had done with said fecal matter.

Then they both asked to not put on diapers, but to wear underwear instead. And in my frantic state, I agreed. Sadie lasted about an hour and a half before she peed on the floor. Linus is still going, but we've spent the majority of the afternoon outside just in case.

Oh, and did I mention that Brian is leaving to go to Montreal for a week. I seem to recall that Linus escaped from his crib, several times, on one of his last trips. I'm not ready for potty training to start while I'm solo.

I'd rather be...potty training

So, the whole point of me not trying to potty train the kids is because I am not ready for the constant clean up of pee puddles throughout the house and on their clothes. Well, with the way our last week has been going you would think that we are in potty training mode...but add to that the expense of using up diapers at an alarming rate. I can explain in 7 words:

The kids take off their own diapers.

OK, 11 words:

All of the time.

And they absolutely LOVE it, which you can tell by this picture right after their diapers magically disappeared off their own bottoms and reappeared in the hallway.

This is not usually a problem when I am in the room with them, but when they are supposed to be sleeping it becomes a little trickier. Sadie and Linus are now napping on average of about 3-4 days per week. They go down for a nap every day, but they have the option of sleeping or "quiet time". Not they they understand the concept of "quiet", but I am not ready to part with a small break for myself to eat lunch and use the bathroom. Instead, their "quiet time" has become an all out naked-fest with much clothes-flinging and diaper-throwing, followed by a lot of peeing. (No poop yet, knock on wood). This results in much stripping of beds, washing, and re-changing. (Translate into 510 loads of laundry a week instead of the usual 450). I'm not sure how to remedy this since they can escape from all types of clothing and have no trouble ripping off a diaper. I also don't want to constantly run into their room to re-diaper and re-dress them, especially since they have the ability to take an hour or two to settle down before sleeping - I refuse to skip lunch or eat dinner at 9. I am open for any suggestions. Anyone?

Oh, and I'm seriously considering the use of duct tape. But for tonight, I put their diapers on backwards.

It's been an hour since I put them down and Sadie is still crying. I think she would like her diaper off.

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This morning the kids were clamoring for music while Brian was making them breakfast. So, he turned on Pandora for some mealtime variety, but they were objecting to just about every genre of music that he turned on. Finally he asked them what they wanted. Of course they said:

Opera.

I mean, come on, what else on earth would they have wanted to listen to?

Once their music of choice came on, Sadie expressed her satisfaction by exclaiming, "Pretty singing". Seeing as I absolutely, positively, hate opera, the kids definitely take after Brian and his sophisticated roots.

Come on...OPERA?!?

*******
Sadie's latest book selection (which she takes very, very seriously as you can tell):

Walter the Farting Dog

'nough said.

Class is in session

Despite my outrageous lack of creativity, I'm happy to report that my kids are at least a little bit more creative than me. Their latest creativity spurt is their love of having "class" at home. This includes a pow-wow in the hallway complete with story hour, the Hokie Pokie, and an attentive audience of every stuffed animal in the house.

If I'm trying to leave the house, forget it. They will be jabbering away about the story that they are reading, and will dutifully hold up each page so that every animal can see and follow along. And they will insist that they finish reading before we do anything including diaper changes, putting on clothes, or sitting down for dinner. Don't get me wrong, I love watching them play. It is so cute to see them repeat all of the things that we do in class and to have them pretend to be the teacher.

I especially love how they have to dress the part.

But, I think I have to remind them that even Teacher Helen wears clothes to class. As much as they would love to be naked at all times, even I won't take the kids to a class at a nudist colony.

PS) The latest books Sadie has picked out from the library are:
-yet another story about the Holocaust. (Who knew there could be so many?) But, in this one the grandmother brings a potato to Hanukkah every year just like she managed to get in the concentration camp where she fashioned it into a candle. Again, we just point out the "doggies", who also just happen to be German Shepherds next to Nazis with machine guns...
-a story about a grandmother who is illiterate, but whose grandchild teaches her to read a simple story in time for a surprise birthday party.

I'm thinking I should get in on this children's story gig. Either there is a desperate need for some new good children's books, or all of the good stories have been used up and there aren't any more ideas left.

Strawberries and tractors go together like chocolate chips and cookies

Twice in the past week we and some of our twin friends have met at the local strawberry patch for some good ol' fashioned strawberry pickin'. Watching a bunch of 2 year olds frantically eat fruit straight off the plants is quite an adventure.

Granted, it's a very funny and stained-clothes/muddy shoes sort of adventure, but an adventure nonetheless. (Notice the many different outfits in the pictures).

Since the kids aren't strong enough to actually pull the strawberries off the plants, they chose which ones I needed to put into the bucket. After collecting a handful, both Sadie and Linus would systematically eat each and every strawberry in the bucket while I tried to quickly replenish our supply. Well...they would take a bite out of each one and either give it to me or try to stick it back on the plants. Or, they would throw it on the ground where a large pile of half-eaten strawberries was growing.


It's definitely a fun time watching them and the rest of the kids have a ball in the strawberry fields. The only thing more fun was to watch them ride the tractor-pulled wagon at the flower fields down the street.


Then we topped off our trip by baking a fresh homemade batch of chocolate chip cookies.

For me.

What else could be better?

Project Linus

Brian's mom just sent us a great article, and it reminded me of something I hadn't thought about since the kids were in the hospital. When Sadie and Linus were born, both of them received handmade blankets from a nonprofit volunteer group called Project Linus. (Very appropriately named for the Peanuts cartoon character).

(Sadie actually received a couple of blankets because of her trips back and forth between UCSD and Children's hospitals for her surgeries). The focus of Project Linus is to donate handmade blankets to sick kids so that they each have a "security blanket" to help them get through the rough times.


I remember thinking what a fantastic idea it was and I was touched that someone out there who didn't know me or my kids was wanting to help them in such a great way. I also remember thinking that I needed to write to Project Linus to thank them for such a wonderful gift during a difficult stay, but I have completely forgotten about it until now. Mental note: Need to thank them and send them some pictures.

Once we got home from the hospital, the kids were constantly wrapped up in one blanket or another, including their Project Linus blankets. One in particular was a pretty large quilt that I used a lot on the floor when they were in their sitting and crawling stages.

Even now when they get to pick out which blankets they want to take to bed with them, they inevitably will choose one of the handmade blankets.

Thanks, Sharon, for reminding me of such a thoughtful gift from somewhere you least expect it.

If anyone out there has an interest in sewing or quilting, I highly recommend getting involved in this organization. For those in San Diego, the one who made the blankets for us was located in Encinitas.

Interesting fashion choices

I always said that of the many battles we fight in this house, clothing choice was not going to be one of them. I'm starting to rethink this. Guess what the newest fashion trend in our house is?

Give up?

How about refusing to wear their own clothes and wanting to wear each others. And yes, this includes socks and shoes. Check out the latest fashion statement when we met Lindsay and her boys at Sea World:

Not the best picture, but let me assure you that Linus was thrilled to be wearing Sadie's white shirt, pants with hearts on the bottom, yellow socks and black patten leather shoes with flower rhinestones on them. Meanwhile, Sadie was decked out in Linus's green striped shirt, Adidas pants, red socks and Keen's. Our only saving grace was that I somehow convinced them to wear their own jackets and hats otherwise I don't think I would have been able to tell who was the boy and who was the girl.

If this trend continues into the warmer weather, then we're in trouble...you just might see Sadie walking down the street in baggy shorts and a shirt with cars on it...

And Linus might be wearing a flower skirt with a button-down tank top edged with pink ruffles.

And patten leather shoes with flower rhinestones on them.

A B C's

I love this. The kids are just learning the alphabet...well, we've been singing the alphabet non-stop for the last few months in class, before bed, while we wash our hands, in the car, just because...but they are now singing it themselves.

All of the time.

I never thought I could hear the A B C's so much and still not be sick of it.

Reading rainbow

One excursion that we all look forward to are the weekly trips to our local library for story time, and more importantly, to pick out our new books for the week. The kids love to browse through the aisles and pull out books to read.

And pull out more books.

And more.

Until Linus starts trying to climb the shelves and we high-tail it out of there with our selections.

Sadie and Linus each get to pick out 3 books, and I take a couple I think they would like. Linus usually can find his in the first couple of minutes and he is open to suggestions. Sadie, on the other hand, is very purposeful in her search. And when she finds something she likes, she HAS to take it home with her no matter what the subject matter. Needless to say, this has led to some interesting selections, including stories about:

1. being a flower girl in a wedding;

2. being a particularly mean older sister. (I'm not exactly sure why this was a children's book);

3. Native Americans/lost bunnies/flowers. (Yes, this was all one book and it was as convoluted and bizarre as it sounds);

4. the Holocaust. (I had to do a lot of paraphrasing in this book);

5. the LA riots. (Luckily she let me convince her to pick out a different one because I'm not sure I'm creative enough to paraphrase all of her books).

and my personal favorite:

6. 1950's segregation in the deep south - complete with stories about having to sit in the back of the bus, separate bathrooms and water fountains, and dinners of collard greens with peach pie for dessert.

Yes, she insisted on me reading these to her...several times. I'm happy that she loves to read as much as I do, but sometimes that stubbornness of hers leads to some interesting books that I didn't think we'd have in the house for another, say, 10 years. And I'm sure this list will keep growing...

(By the way, I do keep them in the Children's area of the library, but it's pretty small and all of the books are intermixed so that the Caldecott award winning books are next to the LA riot books, etc. If there was a way to keep them in the "age appropriate" section, I definitely would).

The good news and the not-so-good news

The good news: The kids are really, really into books these days and read all of the time. Before, they needed me to read the books to them (and they still like that), but they also sit down and read to themselves, to each other or to their stuffed animals. Too cute.

The not-so-good news: I have been meaning to take pictures of them excitedly picking out "their" books at the library, but have been terrible this past month about taking pictures. I promise to post about our trips to the library soon.

The good news: The kids are starting to voice their opinions about everything. It is great to actually know what they want and to make them feel like they have a say in our daily routine.

The not-so-good news: Sometimes they just want to make decisions, yet they aren't happy about any outcome whether they picked it or not. Definitely a lose-lose situation. I think this may be what people are referring to when they talk about the "Terrible Twos".

The good news: Sadie loves to dress herself. And Linus. For the most part she has a pretty good sense of style and can somewhat match her outfits, or at least pick out weather-appropriate clothes.

The not-so-good news: Sadie loves to pick out clothes for Brian and myself. She doesn't have as much of a sense of style when it comes to our clothes. Realistically, she probably just gets sick of my uniform (jeans, shirt and sweatshirt) and is trying to get me to wear something, anything, different than what I normally wear. Call me crazy, but I just don't feel like wearing fancy clothes to the park.

The good news: Both Sadie and Linus have exploded in their understanding of the alphabet. Sadie can tell you what any letter in the alphabet is, and she can usually name something that starts with that letter. Linus can sing the entire alphabet, which is reinforced every time they wash their hands when we all sing the alphabet together.

The not-so-good news: Their favorite letters are "L" and "S" for obvious reasons. Thus, they don't like any word that doesn't contain an "L" and an "S". And God forbid if something contains either an "L" or an "S" but not both because someone is getting left out, and that's never a good thing.

The good news: They love bath time and look forward to taking baths after dinner every night.

The not-so-good news: Bath time usually means that they will be making "waterfalls" by pouring water out of various containers. This gets crazier and crazier as bath time goes on and almost always culminates into a water war. They each will pour as much water on the other's head as possible, against their will, until one of them (usually Linus) tries to pile-drive the other under the water. According to their rules, the person dunked under the water loses.

The good news: Both Sadie and Linus now recognize and ask for their friends. All of the time.

Even better news: It is so much fun to watch them play with their friends who they didn't interact with in the same way only a few months ago. They also talk about them a lot when we're at home, and they always ask who we're going to see the following day while we're tucking them into bed.

The best new of all: Despite the occasional spurts of whining and crying, both Sadie and Linus are so much fun to be around. Every day they are more and more communicative, loving, funny, sympathetic, independent, and amazing. There is absolutely nothing I would rather do than to spend my time with them every single day.
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The not-so-good news: Brian just heard from Hopkins and he didn't get the job there.

The great news: Brian has a second interview at Northwestern! Yippee!

Our new addition

Last weekend, while we were at the dog park, we ran into a woman who had just adopted a Weimaraner and was in a little over her head. I don't think she had any idea just how energetic they were, and she asked us a ton of questions. Her dog was so cute and loved running around our two despite the fact that Tyson was not amused. When she left we gave her our number in case she had any questions.

Well, she called yesterday with a question:

Could she give us her dog because she couldn't handle her anymore?

After adopting Canyon, and after knowing that only seriously psychotic people should ever own a Weim, of course we couldn't turn her away.

So...

Much to Tyson's dismay, please welcome the addition of Scout to our family



PS) April Fool's