All is not quiet on the home front while Mommy is away.

While Mommy was teaching Curious George new ways to abuse the language on the way to see Dora Live, the girls were all alone with Daddy. It took all of 2 minutes after mommy left for Thing 1 to throw up on the carpet in front of the TV. I picked up Thing 2 to put her behind the corral for her safety, and carried Thing 1 to the kitchen where she proceeded to throw-up again covering most of the kitchen floor. She was very upset because of being sick and being wet.

On the bright side, yes there is one, it was not because she is still sick, she had just eaten some food a little too fast and when she coughed she threw-up and kept on going. After a long time of cleaning up both the girl and the floor, which still annoyingly smells like resolve, everyone had a good lunch including Thing 1 and had a nice nap.

By the time Mommy and CG arrived back home, everything was quiet except for the boy who was too hyped up about Dora Live. Of course that was until Thing 1 and Thing 2 woke up from their nap. I went to go get them only to find Thing 1 completely naked except for a diaper and socks. Her pj's were on the floor, and no there is no stripper pole in the room so I do not know how she managed it. When I got both of them downstairs, Mommy had the wonderful luxury of discovering Thing 1 ALMOST.. I repeat ALMOST had another liquid poop event. We managed to squeak by. Of course, since she was naked, it would have just been on her bed, the floor, and probably her sister by the time we got upstairs..

nap times

The girls were supposed to be taking a nap, instead I find this. I was hiding the entire time with just my arm and camera sticking out. But they did finally notice me toward the end, at which time they started calling "dadadada". Thing 2 is the one that keeps turning her head. Silly thing. Daddy said, "it must be the lacquer!"

That is baby towels wrapped on one edge of the cribs, since they've been chewing on it. Unfortunately, crib bite guards (if you notice those 2 long pieces on the floor in front on Thing 2's crib, they get pulled up and thrown out regularly) are only for flat/straight edges so I had to come up with a contraption myself. Then one day they were able to pull off the towel and chewed the wood some more (to the point of splintering), hence Daddy's lacquer comment.

In September, Big Brother started preschool 3 times a week instead of everyday. At the time the girls were napping 2 times a day (11am and around 3 pm). With Big Brother napping at 1pm (2 hour nap). The first Tuesday was tough because after the girls woke up from their morning nap, it's time for Big Brother to take his. And when Big Brother woke up, it was the girls' time for their afternoon nap. It was tiring because I never had quiet time for myself. I tweaked the girls' nap time and put them down at 10am for 1 hour nap, and then at 2pm for the afternoon. This allowed me 1 hour of alone time from 2pm to 3pm when Big Brother finally wakes up.

But for the past 2 1/2 weeks, the girls to to sleep at 10am without a problem. At 2pm, when I put them in their cribs, they stay awake for about 1 1/2 hour before falling asleep. I've moved the afternoon nap to 2:30 and then to 3pm, but the same thing happens. For the past 2 days, they don't fall asleep at until close to 5pm!

Today, I decided to start with 1 nap. Instead of napping at 10am, I kept them awake until after lunch at 12pm. They were of course supper sleepy the whole time, but they made it. I was hoping for a 2 hour nap once they finally went down, but to my disappointment, they only napped for 1 hour. I didn't get them out right away hoping they will fall back asleep, but no such luck. It'll be an early bedtime tonight, for sure. Hopefully they transition quickly. It'll be great to have them nap with their big brother on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

chipmunks

Yesterday, Matty asked to take a nap in his room! Yes, in his room!! I couldn't believe it either. So Daddy promptly took his air mattress to his room. Daddy and I just couldn't believe it, and decided to take advantage of the situation and went ahead and moved the twins to their own room as well. So for the first time in 3 years, the master bedroom was devoid of kids! We moved the radio as well so also for the first time in 3 years, we slept in complete silence!!

Matty had no trouble sleeping, and actually slept through the night without waking. Another shocker! Katie slept fine without a fuss, but Jojo cried and cried. It took her an hour before she fell asleep.

This morning when I gave the girls a bath, I find I have a little chipmunk. I started with Jojo, but when I put her back in her crib to give Katie a bath, she cried the entire time. And when I came back, I found her to be chewing on the crib.

I told Daddy yesterday when he was reassembling the cribs that maybe we should lower the mattress one more notch and he said no. He said if we do, their heads would be under the rails, not over. Um, that would have been nice. Oh well. To his defense, though I was thinking that the girls may be chewing on the 2 end rails without teething guards, I didn't voice out.

Jojo throws a tantrum when I stopped her from chewing the crib.

Jojo & Katie's new set up. The room is unchanged from big brother's baby days, but we have a plan to replace the car and train with fairies. I'm sure it'll happen sometime before the girls become teens.

Jojo (back) still upset about me not letting her get some fiber.

I found some ribbons and used them to tie hand towels on the rails. Hopefully they don't chew through it.

Jojo Pulls Up

Nana called to check on us and asked Daddy if the girls were pulling up yet. Daddy said no, not really. Well, what do you know, that same evening Jojo decided to try.

For the past 2-3 weeks, Jojo hasn't done much. She stopped smiling much and stopped interacting with her toys. Katie took advantage of this and grabbed every toy that Jojo held in her hands. But in the last week, Jojo has taken off like a rocket. She plays, and explores everything there is about a particular toy. She can now sit up by herself, though she did fall a couple of times once and wanted me to be near her to feel secure again. Now she's pulling up. I place her in the middle of the crib (sitting up) and yet I find her on the side grabbing onto the bars. Still sitting up!

In the meantime, Katie has not done much. She is actually refusing to stand up lately. She holds her legs up if I try to make her stand up. I don't know why she's doing it, because it really requires more strength to keep her legs up then to just go ahead and let them down and stand.

I think they let each other have their own shining moment and take turns. They leapfrog each other, which I think is awesome. This way we can appreciate and celebrate each one fully. What clever girls.

Jail Birds

Daddy came home last night. He is to rest and not to come back to work for another week. We still don't know what he has.

In the meantime, I better get to the pictures. Two weeks ago, we found Katie partly on top of Jojo. That was our que to buy the second crib. So here it is. Matty thought it was the greatest thing and he joined in on the fun. If only he was so enthusiastic about the crib when he was an infant.

The first night apart, Jojo had a hard time. It took her about 2 hours to get settled and fall asleep. The next day during their floor time, they stared into each other's eyes as if they had been seperated since birth.

Problem Solved!

I mentioned previously that I may have to split the girls up and put them in their own cribs very very soon because they are getting too big for one. Well, I've been stressing out about this. I want them to stay together as long as possible, because to separate them prematurely may cause them stress.

Well, it seems that they can stay together for a while longer because they have figured out a way to situate themselves nicely. Such smart little things, they are.

This is perfect! This gives them enough room from head to toe to stretch out, plus they are positioned in such a way that they don't smack each others faces and disturb each other.

Sharing a Crib

This is the new crib we bought for the twins. Could you believe cribs run on average of $250? Well, we knew we were going to have to buy two, so we went to our friendly local Wal-Mart and found one for half that price. All we really cared about is that it converts to a toddler bed, because unlike Big Bro, these two definitely aren't sleeping in Mommy's and Daddy's bed. Also, notice the boy themed bedding. This was Big Bro's. It's nice to finally able to use it (Big Bro HATED the crib). I will get girly crib beddings soon enough.

They are sleeping the short way at the moment so that they can sleep together. Putting these two the long way makes them too close to each other, which is very hazardous to one of them. One arm ends up on the other's face and it prevents that one from sleeping. Not a good thing. This way, they can still touch each other (like they always do) but not bother each other. But notice that their heads and legs touch the ends. In a matter of weeks, we'll have to the 2nd crib and they have to start sleeping seperately. Who knows how many sleepless nights that process would bring? (By the way, Jojo is in white and Katie is in yellow).

Big Boy Room

The day Matty went back to school (Jan. 2nd), Daddy and I started cracking on his big boy room. We ordered him a castle bed 4 weeks ago and it's going to be delivered any day now. We donated the bed suite to Salvation Army and now it's empty. Time to paint! (I will put more pictures as we make progress in decorating the room.)

Daddy got this Cars fan that he said MUST go in the room, so this was the first to go up and it's the inspiration for the color.
Here's the empty room after I put tape. Daddy was in the store picking up some painting supplies.

Two hours later, here it is. I put the blue paint (oooh, fancy! an accent wall!) and Daddy took on the gray on the other 3 walls. I must say this is the fastest we've ever tackled a painting project!

Here's what the room looked like yesterday. We took a couple of rest days to run other errands and let the paint dry. We just love the color scheme! Though we need to put another light source because the fan light is just isn't enough.

This is late last night putting the crib up for the girls because they are getting too big for the bassinet. I must say that Daddy showed great restraint with his little "helper", until Matty decided to shred the stryrofoam from the packaging. Then all I heard was "Put that down! I'm going to count! I said put that down NOW!"

Wiggle Worms

Is it my mommy brain playing tricks on me? I could have sworm they were facing the same way when I put them down to sleep.

Katie (in white) , you're such a wiggle worm!

How do twins sleep?

Oct. 23, 2007 - almost 5 weeks old

The little Physicists have figured out the best position for maximum air flow so that they can keep cool during the hot days. Or perhaps it is a more efficient use of crib space?

Little Jo, I'm sorry to say that you have the bad end of the deal. If I were you, I'd move way from that general vicinity.