18 months

The girls had their 18-month check on Monday (a little late, I know...my darned knee surgery got in the way!)

Thing 1: 26 1/2 lbs, 32 inches
Thing 2: 24 1/2 lbs, 31 1/2 inches

Going by the appearance of their thighs/legs and their overall pudge, one would think the weight difference is at least 5 lbs. Plus, Daddy and I, and Nana all notice the weight difference when we carry each one. Either Thing 1's weight is all on her legs, or Thing 2 just keeps her weight elsewhere...hmmm.

after-christmas lull

I guess it's inevitable that there is a crash that happens after the excitement of all the gifts.

All I know is that Thing 1 is watching TV here. Other than that, I have no idea what is going on in her head.

Thing 2 takes a break from staring at the TV to be cute.

These two were always on the go the whole time!
(Thing 2 in cream, Thing 1 in brown)

Enjoying downtime with Cousin B.
(That's Thing 2 that is the recipient of Curious George's love.)

there were lots and lots of gifts

Thing 1 got a peak of the toy cell phone and started ripping the wrapper, while Thing 2 looks on.

Curious George assigns Daddy the task of assembly, while he plays with his new Transformers.

Being the good momma that I am, I inspect some of the merchandise. Thing 2 was impatiently waiting her turn.

Wouldn't you like to be caught by this cute little policewoman! (Thing 1)

Curious George bonds with Cousin C over the love of Legos.
(I'm sure Daddy is celebrating somewhere in the background. In a few short years, he will have an excuse to buy those huge Star Wars Legos.)

Merry Christmas!

To our friends and family, Merry Merry Christmas!

you know what they say about big feet

Last weekend while at the mall, Daddy and I decided that it's about time to get Curious George a new pair of shoes. While there, we decided to get the girls measured. Surprise, surprise, everyone's feet has gotten so long! I think Daddy thinks it abuse that the the kids (the girls especially) are using 3 half sizes too small.

Stride Rite didn't have a matching pair for the girls, so they had to order one from another store and it arrived today. So here they are modeling their new shoes. Why naked you ask? Well, the girls were wearing a full sleeper with feet, so I had to unzip them and then Thing 2 just had to take her clothes all off an Thing 1 followed suit, and then Curious George just had to join in on the fun.

"All aboard! Choo-chooo" - says Curious George

Curious George's feet went from 10 to size 11. He loved this shoe because it had his favorite color, orange.

Thing 1's feet grew from size 5W to between 6 - 6.5 regular. This shoe is size 6.5.

Thing 2 went from 5 to a full 6.5. Her feet is slightly longer than Thing 1, but much skinnier.

The girls' shoes look so much bigger to me that I'm worried it might trip them. I wanted to go to size 6, but the salesperson said if we get size 6, they may only get a month to a month and a half out of them. We wouldn't want that!

sometimes the twins have the best time on their own

Thing 2 on the left, Thing 1 on the right.

Teeth update: Thing 1's upper left molar is 1/2 out, and her the upper left is starting to poke through. The 2 lower molars are not far behind. All four of Thing 2's molars are also erupting.

Thing 1 now wears a pink enamel flower earring and Thing 2 wears a blue one (thanks Nana). With the color contrast, we're hoping Curious George would now be able to tell them apart (though it's difficult at times, since their hair is so long they cover their ears).

santa left the kids some big things

This is what we found the minute we drove home after seeing Santa at the mall. Santa dropped off a power wheels (a "green jeep with a shovel"). Curious George was beside himself.


It didn't really take him long to master the steering, though he needed help every now and then when he got stuck. The jeep needed weight on the passenger side. He has also since taken this baby out a few times in the backyard.

For the girls, Santa left a play kitchen. They got pretty busy inspecting everything. (Thing 2 is in the foreground.)

Thing 1 on the left, Thing 2 on the right.

Santa came to our house!

We visited Santa last week, but we didn't put the girls in Santa's lap. I knew Thing 1 wouldn't like it, so why try. But we did let them walk around so they could see Santa. According to their Daddy, they pretty much ignored him.

Curious George was beside himself seeing Santa and telling him he wanted, "a green jeep with a shovel".

It would have been great to have the 3 stoogies for a photo together, but it's a pretty tough job to get them standing still. (Thing 2 is being 'loved' by Curious George.)

Thing 2 models her Christmas dress.
(Special thanks to a nice grandma from Nana's & Papaw's church, whose twin grand daughters have outgrown the adorable dresses.)

Thing 1 (left), Thing 2 (right)

This is truly my fault. Thing 1 was wondering off away from everyone, and since I couldn't possibly catch her by hobbling, I asked Curious George to do it.

And again, Thing 1 wonders away with her beautiful purses. This time, it's Nana that corrals her back.

Curious George waits patiently for everyone so we could get home. Right after Santa left to feed the reindeer, Santa called me on my cell phone. Santa told me that since we were not going to be at home for Christmas, he made an early stop at our house and dropped off 2 big packages. The face on this boy was priceless!

some lovin'

Thing 1 tries her hand at being a hip train master by stealing Curious George's hat.

These three are pure trouble when Curious George decides to man-handle his sisters. No, they are not Cousin ITs. The one in blue is Thing 2, and in red is Thing 1.

It wasn't long until Curious George unleashes his big brother love. Poor Thing 1.

Notice Thing 2 is nice and save on the side. Her placement is not accidental. She places herself where his brother can't smoosh her too much.

my knee surgery

I do believe this is the longest it's been without me making a blog post.

I had a right knee arthroscopy with bilateral release on Dec. 5th in order to eliminate/alleviate the pain. My diagnosis is patellofemoral arthritis of both knees. After a total of 12 weeks of physical therapy, the improvement was minimal. So surgery it was. One knee first, to see if there is a vast improvement, and then the other knee later.

I had nothing to eat or drink past midnight the night before with the surgery time at 1:30 the next day. It was quite a long time without so much as a sip of water. Talk about halitosis! I was prepped at 11:30 by a wonderful, but very sensitive nurse. She wanted to give me a numbing injection before the IV. Here I was thinking, wouldn't that be as painful as the IV itself? Nah, I thought. After all, I've had 2 c-sections, I'm a pro.

The IV needle went in, but then blood spurted everyone. The poor nurse was beside herself. "I will clean it up! I will clean it up! I don't want your husband to think you're a guinea pig." I smiled at the woman and told her not to worry about it, my husband has seen worse. Finally my husband was called in, we chatted for a few minutes, and then I was wheeled into the OR. I was looking at the blurry ceiling lights (I had to remove my contacts, and I had no glasses) and the next thing I knew I woke up in recovery room. I remember a lot of noise, probably from the conversation between the doctors and nurses. As I was coming to, I was greeted by a nurse. Since I didn't have my glasses on, I could barely make out her shape. She talked to me and asked if I was a Filipino. I managed to say yes. I think it was highly likely I was snoring every other word I uttered due to the anaesthesia. After a little while, I started to feel pain. I rated it a 8, so the nurse gave me medication. I dozed off, and when I woke up the pain was still the same. So she gave me more mecation. After the 3rd dose of the pain medication, the pain was at 7. After the 4th and last one, the pain was at 3. But then, the room started spinning and I was nauseaous, so the nurse decided I couldn't leave the recovery room yet. The dizziness never went away, but I finally told her that I have vertigo so the dizziness could be due to that.

Finally, I was wheeled to Stage 2. But the ride was too bumpy for me so I vomitted what little I had in my stomach. My husband was finally called back in and the nurse gave him directions for caring for my knee. I do believe the nurse tried to include me on the conversation, but I was snoozing every other sentence.

The amazing thing to me was that I was able to bear weight on my right knee to go to the bathroom. I barely felt pain, but that was no surprise since I was delirious with pain meds and anaesthesia. On the ride home, I was in such a hazy fog, I asked my husband if we could stop by and grab french fries from McDonalds. After heaving at the drive through, he did manage to order in quiet peace. But when I finally got my french fries, it tasted like cardboard! There was my husband mentally saying, "I knew you wouldn't be able to eat that with the anaesthesia still in your system!" After going through 4 surgeries himself, he said he wanted me to learn for myself - plus, he knew I wouldn't listen to him anyway.

The rest of the drive home was full of apparently nonsensical conversation, according to my husband. I felt mentally fine at the time, so I was talking his ears off like normal. My husband told me later that he was quite amused. I remember him telling me that I should just sleep it off and not worry about a thing, and that I was too uptight. I responded with, "No, I'm not! I'm not uptight! I can let it go, just watch me!" and then I was off snoring, apparently with my mouth wide open and my head lolling back, completely missing the head rest.

At home, I went straight to bed. With my husband's help and having to tell me which leg should go first all the way to the top, we managed to the navigate the tall stairs. I was in bed with ice on my knees and hydrocodone on my bedside table. When I settled down in bed, I asked my husband to bring me soup and crackers. Again, I managed to throw up what little I got in. Off to sleep I went.

By the end of the next day, I figured out that the hydrocodone was doing my head in and was probably the one that was making me nauseous. Every time I closed my eyes, I was instantly dreaming about weird things (aliens, amont other things). So I decided to just switch to ibuprofen (4-200mg). I did fine with that and I even often forgot to take it. By Sunday, I was able to go downstairs by myself. Though the first step I took, I slipped. Talk about pain. Pain shot up to my thighs. My husband came up and helped me, but all I could do was rest on the steps and cry. After that , we decided I needed a cain. Thankfully, my father-in-law had one with him.

For the next 2-3 days, I only came downstairs once and came back upstairs for the day. I was able to shower after a few days and just put bandaids on my 2 incisions. It's been almost 2 weeks now, but I still have to have the ace bandage on. Without it my knee cap was moving way too much. I still ice my knees at least once a day to keep the swelling down. Tomorrow I will be going to my doctor for post op and to get the stitches out. I do believe phsyiscal therapy woul be discussed then.

I'm still slightly limping, but am so much better now. Considering that what I've read online from other people who have gone through this surgery, I cound myself pretty lucky. People apparently have little to no control of their quad (thigh muscle) after this surery and therefore could barely lift their legs up.

After limping around in the house, the girls have now imitated how I walk. What silly little things! Very cute though.

My in-laws came the night before my surgery to take care of us. My mother-in-law stayed and cared for us for a week - thank heavens! I think my husband would have committed himself to a mental institution by the end of the first few days if it had been just him caring for the kids and me.

Thank you, Mom & Dad!

the twins' 2nd Thanksgiving

The girls had fun at their grandparents' this weekend, though they are still weary of Nana & Papaw. But as long as the grandparents didn't try to pick them up, they were fine. Oh but they did enjoy all the food!

Thing 2 seems to be establishing a Thanksgiving tradition of making this exact same face. She started last year.

She is an expert at giving evil eyes, but she also has an innocent look.

Thing 2 studies the xbox. She wants to be a 'big girl'.

She thinks she's finally mastered it!

And finally conquers the xbox! "Who's your mama!"

Perhaps not. One must always be on a quest for knowledge.

a boy, his Papaw, and trains

There is no doubt that for Curious George, the highlight of this Thanksgiving season was his Papaw's trains. Equally enjoyed was his cousins' company, especially cousin B. Oh yeah, and cousin C's Leggos.

the nebulizers are out, it must be winter!

I took the twins to the Pediatric Allergist today for their 3 month follow up after they had their allergy test done. It just so happened that the girls are sick too. Thing 1 has been coughing nonstop at night, keeping her up and Thing 2 is not far behind her. It's funny to see grown people say, "Aww, twins. How cute!" and then 2 seconds later, they inch away when they hear them cough their lungs out.

The doctor has ordered them back on Albuterol, Palmicort, and to add to the mix, Atrovent. Their nasal swab also showed that they have sinus infection, so they are now on the dreaded Amoxicillin. (I dread what it does to their poop!) Oh yeah, and Nasonex. What baby likes things squirted up their noses?

Immediately, my mind started working out the math of time. How much time am I going to have in the day to rest if I were to be using the nebulizer on them every four hours? So I asked for another nebulizer machine. We have one from their bout of mild RSV last year, but I refused a second one. Why would we possibly need two of those? Shyah. So here were are today with 2.

Now we get to lug all the medicines off to Nana's and Papaw's.

Did I mention we were at the doctor's for 3 1/2 hours? No one seems to care about time in this place. Maybe because it's a university hospital? It was 3 hours that infringed on nap and lunch time. Hopefully those two get a good night sleep tonight, especially Thing 1. She hasn't slept through the night in the past 3 nights.

pink is for girls

One day, Curious George says to me, "Mommy, pink is for girls." Where does he get this stuff? Actually, I know.. it's from preschool. But thankfully, I know he doesn't really mean it.

Several weeks ago, we were in toddler play room with two of his preschool friends. They were each enjoying 3 play motorcycles; 2 with flame stickers, and 1 with flowers. Since Curious George arrived last, he ended up with the flower motorcycle. No biggie. But since he likes the flame stickers, he took one when it was left lying around. Then one of the other boys cried, "I don't want the flowers!" The other mommy and I scramble to our boys and plead to let him have the flame motorcycle. The other boy cried, "No! The flame motorcyle is mine." Fortunately for me, my boy is a man's man. He doesn't care.

Then the pink v smile game CG's grandparents got for him came to mind. Nana asked me if I wanted to take it back to the store to exchange for a blue one. I didn't care. A color is just a color. I don't know whey toy makers make such a distinction anyway. Why does there have to be a pink Little People school bus and a yellow Little People school bus?

My boy is ALL boy, with his obcession on firetrucks, trains, cars and robots. He just doesn't care what color they are. Or maybe it'll change with age? Hmm. I hope not.

his own space

First of, Big Bro will now be known as Curious George. With his endless energy, he does act like a little monkey sometimes.


Ever since Thing 1 and Thing 2 started crawling and can get into things that can hurt them, we've banished Curious George into the hallway. But as you can see, it's all good. There is a lot to be said for a very wide entryway. Now, he has his own space to play without little sisters bothering him. The thing is, it's a whole new room for mommy to clean!

first time using the spoon

Thing 2 enjoying a peach soy yogurt. She actually did pretty good using the spoon, until she decided to use it with the opposite end first.

Thing 1 digging into her peach soy yogurt. It took only a few seconds before her left hand was on the yogurt too.

****Note: If you click on the word "eating" on the list of label words below, you'll see all the "eating" posts from when these two are younger. How they've grown!

hanging out

Thing 1 in red, Thing 2 in green.

This is why I need to sweep my floor all the time and mop often.

I wonder when he'll be able to finish this job?