10.27.10: Zoo escape

(left to right: daphne, brant, stella, fiona)

Brant's work has been a little intense lately, so we decided it was time for a long lunch break at the zoo. The day was beautiful, in the low 80's, and the zoo was calm. We saw lots of animals and the girls actually seem to recognize some of them - although they were all called dogs.

10.20.10: Blowing kisses

The girls (top to bottom: fiona, daphne, stella, stella) were being especially adorable while eating. Perhaps they knew their great aunt needed an extra big smile.

10.17.10: Holding zone

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona)

The girls wait in front of the ottoman when I am carrying one of them upstairs or when we are preparing food. Basically, this is the area they all can see what is going on outside their play area - now lovingly called 'the holding zone'. Well today, something special was going on at the feeding table and they wanted to make sure to see what was happening.

It was bath night, Kelly and Rob were here, I was feeling brave. So we got everyone undressed (we know from past experiences that 'washable' labels are very deceiving) and attempted finger/sponge painting. They all 'helped' each other but seemed a little unsure of the whole thing. My favorite part was the paint on their bellies. Way to think outside of the box girls!


(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)


(left to right: stella, rob, daphne, kelly, fiona)

Overall it was a great visit. I think we were singing 'If you're happy and you know it' when this picture was taken. It looks like Daphne is clapping and Fiona is showing hooray.

10.15.10: Me too

Kelly and Rob are here for a long weekend. You know what that means? Three adults = trip to the park. So we walked, we ALL walked, to the park. Of course the girls went directly for the swings and were pretty upset when they were taken out of the swings. At least we got some good smiles while they were there.

(fiona)


(stella)


(daphne)

Then we all walked home. I was very impressed that the girls made it all the way to and from the park walking by themselves. Of course, there was the occasional redirection necessary when veering toward the street or bushes. (stella/stripes, fiona/green, daphne/pink).


While attempting to have drinks outside, the girls decided that they too were going to order from the menus. Five minutes of entertainment came out of the those menus. We will take what we can get. (Daphne/front, Stella/middle, Fiona/back).

10.11.10: Sixteen months old

(left to right: fiona, daphne, stella)

Sixteen months, wow! The past month has been full of chatter. The girls are really starting to communicate with each other and occasionally toss a word or two at Brant and me. Fiona and Stella each have sixteen teeth(!) popping through in various stages and Daphne isn't far behind with 14. We are off of bottles (phew!). The girls have started to play together and sometimes even share. They LOVE having books read to them. They have been enjoying pre-preschool with new songs, toys and kids to steal things from. We have started the process of shortening the morning nap as there seems to be a lot of giggling during this time. Probably by eighteen months we will be down to one three-hour nap. Oh yes, and the cutest of all - the girls have started giving each other hugs and kisses - priceless.

10.10.10: Following directions

(left to right: fiona, stella, daphne)

The girls seemed to really enjoy playing with the kidsize table and chairs at pre-preschool so when the opportunity came to get a used table from a twin mom, I took it. The problem is that they don't seem to quite understand the concept of 'not climbing.' Within one hour of playing everyone had stood up on the bench. Then Stella made her way to standing on top of the table while I was changing a diaper. Shortly after, the table was removed.....perhaps we need work on following directions first.

10.7.10: Ear infections

After a good week and a half of runny noses and wet coughs (coincidentally timed with starting pre-preschool), Brant took Fiona and Stella into the doctor to get checked out. Turns out they both have ear infections. Oddly, there were no signs of an ear infection - no ear tugging or fever. The doctor encouraged us to bring Daphne in as she was 'almost assured' of also having an ear infection even if she didn't show any symptoms (yet). Thankfully, Daphne checked out just fine. Even though Daphne got sick first, somehow she escaped her first ear infection. At least we are on the road to recovery and in 4-6 weeks we will be all better.

10.4.10: Bottles no more

(left to right: stella, daphne, fiona, brant)

I am THRILLED to report that we are finally done with bottles. Daphne weaned herself from bottles back in July mainly because she wanted to be able to walk around the nursery and drink. Why lay still and drink milk when you can wander about the room? Fiona and Stella really had no interest in drinking milk through a sippy cup. Of course they would happily drink water from a sippy cup, no problem - but milk, no way.

Well after weeks of slowly transitioning from water to watery milk to milky water and finally straight milk during the day we finally decided to eliminate the bottles. We knew that the girls in fact COULD drink milk from a sippy cup and were just electing not to. After several nights of bringing up every possible sippy cup type we have (yes, I bought almost every one recommended by friends) in addition to bottles, Fiona seemed to realize the perks of a cup over a bottle as well. From there, no turning back. Fiona was off the bottle. Now for the hold out. We made Stella try the sippy cup for a couple nights and just before bed after refusing to drink anything, we caved and took her in the other room to drink a bottle (no way we were showing Fiona that Stella was getting a bottle). After two nights of that we decided Stella too, was done with bottles. This photo is from the morning after our first night with no bottles. Yayyyyy!

9.26.10: First time in the ocean

(brant/daphne, kari/fiona, grandy/stella)

Today we met up with Grandy and Kelly boy at Venice beach. While we have been to Venice beach before, this time we actually went to play in the ocean (for the first time). We just got our feet wet, but it was great. Growing up my grandparents always took my sister and me to the ocean so it was extra special to have the girls experience this new adventure with their Grandy. We also enjoyed a picnic and played in the sand a bit. The car ride home was VERY quiet, I think we finally wore the girls out.


(fiona/purple, stella/white, daphne/pink)

9.24.10: Pre-preschool

(left to right: me/fiona, daphne, stella)

Today was our first day of what I am calling pre-preschool. Somehow several community/city colleges around here offer a FREE class that allows kids and their parents to play and learn together. I heard about this class from some twin moms and decided to give it a try. Of course, I had to verify with the teacher that my 3:1 ratio would be ok given that all others in the class were 1:1. So while Grandy was here, we attempted this big adventure. It went pretty well and we will try to go as often as possible for the remainder of the term. The girls had a great time playing with all new toys. I had a great time getting several extra hands to watch over my little ones who insist upon going in different directions. First day of school, check!