one twin has heterochromia

Over the Christmas holiday while at the in-laws', Daddy noticed that Thing 2 also has heterochromia (right eye). It doesn't cover as much of her eye as Curious George's though. Of course we had to check Thing 1 to see if she has it, being identical and all. But Thing 2's eyes are evenly colored. We then looked at all the photos from when they were born. I found discoloration on Thing 2's eye as early as 4 months old. Daddy and I then became obsessed by the topic and searched the internet. Having 2 out of 3 kids with sectoral heterochromia clearly suggests a genetic component. Why Thing 1 doesn't have it isn't really a mystery anymore since there are a lot of genetic studies saying identical twins don't exactly have the same genes. The zygosity DNA testing we had done when they were infants said the girls are identical twins, but of course there are factors that affect gene expression.

Anyway, I told Daddy that it is highly unlikely the heterochromia came from my side of the family. Being Filipino, the variation in eye color in my family only goes from minute differences of brown. We found a picture on the internet of someone with central heterochromia and to me it looked exactly like Daddy's eyes (his eyes are hazel). So I suggested I take a picture of them. Then while we were all curious, I took pictures of Nana and Papaw's eyes (they both have hazel eyes). It seems their hazel eyes may very well be central heterochromia (they are yellowish in the center).

Thing 2's right eye. The discoloration is at 9 o'clock and it's small. We've missed it this long since it just looks like glare on pictures. The discoloration looks greenish, but Daddy says it's a lighter shade of brown.

While on the topic, here is Daddy's right eye. It is hazel with a yellowish/goldish ring in the center.

And for those who are curious as to what possible eye color offspring results when a dark brown-eyed asian gal gets it on with a hazel-eyed caucasian man, here is my eye.

Our little man's heterochromia is here. Thing 1's eyes is exactly the same color as Thing 2's (without the discoloration).

who would have thought the girls are more difficult alone than when they're together

Daddy wasn't feeling well on Sunday so only Big Bro and I were planning on going to church. Then I had an idea that I can take one of the girls with us to see how they will do alone. Also, partly because I took Thing 1 with me a while ago to the grocery store and I've been feeling guilty that Thing 2 never got her turn.

So with Big Bro and Thing 2 in tow, we headed to church. Big Bro was as good as a 3 year old can be with his coloring books and stickers. Thing 2 was great also, but in the 2nd half of the mass, she started fighting me to get to the floor. She was still a good little girl, but just more fidgety.

When we came home, Daddy said Thing 1 was a little more challenging than usual as well. Instead of playing by herself (like she and Thing 2 usually do), she just kept hanging around Daddy and climbing all over him. And according to Daddy, Thing 1 kept saying, "wan jo, wan jo."
When we put Thing 1 and Thing 2 on the floor, they didn't look at each other but they started playing very close to each other.

Very very interesting....

Oh, I almost forgot. On Saturday afternoon we went to a restaurant for my birthday dinner. But before we left, Big Bro kept saying, "we have to get a cake or we will miss Mommy's birthday!". When we were at the restaurant making our orders, Big Bro told the server that it was my birthday. Out of nowhere! Of course Daddy had a laugh and was amazed that he didn't even have to put him up to it.

So we got free dessert and a birthday song. My boy is soooo sweet. And contrary to what Daddy thinks, I did not get embarrassed. In fact, I enjoyed it.

um, they are twins!

I find this so funny, I just have to share it.

I was waiting in the lobby of my physical therapist. I had the girls in the stroller and I was talking to them. They were dressed alike, and yes, they are identical twin girls.

Man: (smiles and plays googley eyes with the girls)
Me: "K, J, can you wave hi?"
Man: (smiles some more and looks to be ready to say something but stops himself) "They look like they're only days apart!"
Me: (completely surprised by the stupid question I tried to form a smile) "Actually, they are only 1 minute apart."
Man: "Wow." (looks dazed and confused)

Wow, so far this comment takes the cake!

little tricksters already

We were at Big Brother's school waiting for him to finish playing so we could head home yesterday when the girls played a neat trick on me. I had put a hair clip on Thing 2 because her hair is getting in her eyes. But had to take Thing 1's away because she kept taking it off and putting it in her mouth. But while at school, I happened to notice that Thing 2's was gone. So I did my usual sweep of her mouth and found nothing. I looked around her seat and the floor and the basket part of the stroller and didn't find it. Then I happened to see Thing 1's hand closed in a tight fist. I checked it and there it was. Did I mention that Thing 1 is on the front and Thing 2 is in the back? How on earth Thing 1 got a hold of Thing 2's head is beyond me. Oh, and did I mention that I was inches away from them the entire time and still I didn't see how it happened.

fun with Daddy

The kids had fun with Daddy last night after he came home from work. Katie is in the back, bouncing around. Jojo is a bit sleepy here and isn't as bouncy. Matty was a little jealous, but he had fun too.

Happy 1st Birthday, Katie & Jojo!

(Click on the slide show to view an enlarged version.)

The twins turn 1 year old today!! They celebrated their birthday this Sunday when their Nana & Papa and their cousins were here. They had their first cake and absolutely made a mess! Enjoy the pictures.

Memorial Day Picnic

On this video, you can hear Matty asking for a picnic. This is what we promised him: dinner out in the deck and some play time.

We had hotdogs and hamburgers and the twins had veggies and hotdog.

This is after dinner. The poor little ones were suffering from runny nose and cough. You can tell from Jojo's eyes (in the back) that she wasn't felling well.

Big brother shows his "water squirts".

The fight is ON!

and so it begins...

The girls have started to want and take each other's toys. Though Jojo is crying in this video, don't feel sorry for her because she can handle herself. Sometimes they play intercept all over the living room floor trying to what the other has.

The Twin Test Answers

Okay so here is the answer to the quiz..

A&C are both Jordan.
B is Katelyn.

It is quite a bit harder to tell them apart when it is just the eyes rather than looking at facial expressions.

-Mr.Dad

The Twin Test

Okay the wife doesn't see the humor in testing if you can tell the twins apart. By twins, I am referring to our daughters not anything else. So here is the test, above is a set of 3 pictures of just the eyes of our daughters, and yes there is at least one picture of each. So the test is, which pics are of the same twin, i.e. is A & C the same etc. If you are a grandparent I expect you to use names, or else. Please note, you can add a comment below by clicking on "post comment" to give your answer.

-Mr.Dad

Trouble Makers

I was ready to rescue Katie from being pinned, but the looks on both their faces say, "How dare you disturb OUR fun!"

Katie & Jojo's Baptism

Here are some photos from the girls' baptism. It was bright and early on a rainy Sunday morning. Even though I only got 5 hours of sleep the night before, I thought I handled things fairly well. And many thanks to my mother-in-law and father-in-law, things definitely went smoothly.

This is Jojo's water immersion. Surprisingly, the crying didn't start until she was on the water. (Do you see how Katie is watching the whole thing?)

Then it was Katie's turn to be immersed.
(The four people on the right side are the godparents.)

Finally, the girls are introduced to the community.

Notice that Jojo has socks on, and Katie doesn't. This is because I was the one who changed Jojo after her immersion, and Daddy changed Katie. :-)

This is after the mass. We make a lovely BIG family, don't we?

Behind us is the deacon who performed the baptism. He is the same person who baptized Matty as well.

Matty's First Professional Hairtcut

On Saturday morning, Matty exclaimed that his hair wasn't cut by a barber. I asked him if he wanted to get it cut, and he said yes. (He's really long overdue. His sideburns hang lower than his ears.) So off we were to a hair cuttery. He did really well, though I had to assist in getting him to stop looking around. The hair cut wasn't bad, but I think Daddy and I do a better job. Seriously, don't you think he looks a-la-Spock with that bangs?

To show off his new do, I snapped a few photos and happen to catch him in a mood, as in the I-want-to-terrorize-my-sisters mood. Can't you see the terror in the girls' faces?

I think Katie has realized that big brother is up to no good, while Jojo enjoys the commotion.

At this point, Matty is starting to get in his sisters' nerves. Katie gets squeezed harder, while Jojo gets pushed off the chair. Matty is having a ball.

Don't you want to know exactly what is going in this boy's big head?

Victory!

(whatever it was that he's trying to do) Jojo has completely fallen off the chair, and Katie is still trying to get away. Poor girl.

Growing Up

The girls had their 9-month well baby check last week. Jojo is 16 lbs 4 oz (10th percentile), 27 inches long (40th percentile) and 50th percentile for head size. Katie is 17 lbs 9 oz (25th percentile), 27 3/4 inches long (50th percentile), and also in the 50th percentile for head size.

I asked the pediatrician if we should worry about them being small and he said no. They are on the small side but is within normal limits.

Yesterday, Matty had his 3-year old well check. He was quite chit-chatty with the doctor, which was pleasantly surprising. Because he didn't get a shot, it was even more pleasant. Matty weighed in at 39 lbs (95th percentile) and 38 inches tall (75th percentile). The doctor said he is quite a stocky boy and not fat at all (considering he's heavier than 95 percent of kids his age). He has his father's broad shoulder!

Matty, in all his 3 years of life has never fallen below 85th percentile for his weight. So you can understand why I think the girls are small, right?

Uses for a Laundry Basket #101

(Katie on the left, Jojo on the right.)

Thanks a million to the other mothers of twins for this idea. And an awesome idea it is too!

Twin Parenting Hair-Brained Idea #1

(Jojo on the left, Katie on the right)

So I finally decided to try and give the girls a bath together for the first time the other day. Daddy was home sick, so I had an extra pair of hands should I need it. Boy, did I need it.

There was slippin' and slidin' going on and it took all of 3 minutes before everyone started screaming. And that included me too.

Off to the internet to see how other moms of twins do this. Or maybe they're all smart enough to not even try it?

It was 70F Outside!

On Tuesday, it was 70 F. Yup. It's like summer! So I took the girls out for a walk in their stroller for the first time!

I thought they would end up flopping around from side to side, but apprently, they have grown bigger from the time they were born 8 months ago. How did that happen?! They fit in the stroller perfectly and enjoyed the warm windy day.

But before we even left the driveway, I get a call on my cell phone from the preschool.

School: Matty had an accident.

Me: (the word "accident" conjured up all sorts of bad images, but I tried not to freak out) Is he OK?

School: They were in the playground and he tripped over his own feet and hit his head on the playground stairs. He has a good size knot on his forehead.

Me: IS HE OK? Is he still crying? Is he confused?

School: He's not crying anymore. We gave him ice and he's behaving just fine. I just wanted to let you know.

I called the husband since he got off of work early today and was going to pick up our son. I told him Matty had just fallen and hit his head and has a good size knot on his forehead.

The picture in my head came nowhere near the real thing. It was a like a head growing out of his forehead. This picture was actually taken the day after, so it had already shrunk.

The Centerfold Girls

I know this is not the outfit you think of when you think of the word centerfold. Katie is just modeling her christening outfit for me to make sure it fits.

Now comes the centerfold pictures. Just so you know, I'm not in a habit of taking my children's clothes off just to take a picture of them, so don't go calling Child Protective Services on me. The gown came off, and I just couldn't help myself. Do you think she's cold? Nah.

Here's Jojo being as cute as ever. After I got her undressed, I thought why bother trying the gown on her? If it fits Katie, then it fits her. She's still 2 lbs smaller after all.

There's good that comes out of being naked. You discover your feet! Hello, feet. It's nice to finally meet you.

And of course, these two centerfolds just have to have a little chitchat about having a crazy mother who undresses them when it's 40 degrees outside.

Our Weekend

Matty and the girls enjoyed having their Nana, Papaw and their cousins this weekend. Matty couldn't get enough of his youngest cousin, Connor. It really reminds me of when these three nephews were younger. They couldn't get enough of their Uncle.

Katie seems to warm up to everyone much faster this time. Yay! She's really quite a ham. Jojo was just like her old self; she doesn't mind the attention.

This afternoon, before Matty went for his nap, he asked for a TV in his room. Where the heck does he get these things? Too bad his Daddy and I have long ago decided (even before Matty was just a twinkle in our eyes) that there will not be a TV in the kid's room. Really, I don't even know why he wants a TV there. He only watches the same 2 episodes of Go Diego Go over and over.

Then this evening, the hubby tried to play a trick on me. I was on bath duty with Matty and Daddy was on twins duty (diaper change and PJ). When we switched off (he puts Matty to bed and I nurse the twins), I noticed after a couple of seconds (HA!) that he had switched their PJ's and switched their position in the crib.

I hate to tell you this, sweetpea. But you have to do better than that!

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.