Happy Birthday to Matthew

The buddies attended another birthday party this afternoon. Their friend, Matthew turned 2! Matthew has older twin brothers and his mom is a pro at showing kids a good time. There were fun things for kids of all ages at the party. Ace and Ben were so occupied that Steve and I were able to relax, chat with friends, and even drink a few beers.

Ace loved the backyard, where there was a huge play scape with a rock- climbing wall (yes, he could climb it!), several tall slides, a basketball goal, a sandbox, swings, and lots of tricycles. He was in heaven running around back there. He is starting to talk (of course - now that we have him in speech therapy!) and ran around jibbering to himself and anyone who would listen.

Ben, who is our more methodical boy, eyed the train table in the playroom and played quietly there for most of the afternoon. While he played he sang, "choo- choo". He was so obsessed with the trains that he wouldn't eat dinner and wasn't even interested in birthday cake. Steve finally convinced him to check out the backyard and he decided that was fun too. But, after 5 minutes of playing outside, he realized how hungry he was so he sat at the kiddie picnic table and helped himself to some other toddler's big plate of food. It's a good thing we're not afraid of cooties.

Our Tax Dollars at Work

Since the buddies are almost two (!) and still not talking a whole lot, Steve and I decided to have them evaluated for a speech delay. Speech delays are quite common in twins, due to prematurity (not us!), shared time with caregivers, and my favorite reason: twin-speak. The buddies do have their own little language and as my wise, fellow twin-mommy friend says, "Why should I talk if my best friend understands me?".

Two wonderful therapists from ECI came to our home and played with the buddies for close to 3 hours. They tested each boy's vision, hearing, self-help / adaptive skills, cognitive skills, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, expressive communication, receptive communication, and social & emotional skills. After the comprehensive evaluation, they concluded that Ace qualifies for services but Ben does not. Ace is a little delayed in expressive communication but doing well in all other areas (including receptive communication - he understands everything!). So, twice a month, our therapists will come to our house and play with Ace (while Ben eavesdrops on the fun, I'm sure).

Marshmallow Free-For-All

This is what I get for leaving the buddies alone for 2 minutes when a bag of marshmallows was within reach. I've never seen two kids stuffing their mouths so fast...

Austin Children's Museum

This afternoon, the buddies took us to the Austin Children's Museum, which is free after 4pm on Sundays. We all had such a good time that we may have to rotate it in to our regular weekend activities.

The museum is packed with fun, educational exhibits for its pint-sized visitors. The buddies quickly found the tunnel slide and could have spent the entire afternoon there, had we not steered them towards other exhibits. They went grocery shopping in the Global Market and cooked a tasty meal of real-looking pretend food for us in the Global Diner. They found stations where they could sit on little chairs at little desks and build with blocks or learn about parabolas, bell curves, and ovals. They even milked a fake cow and then delivered the milk bottle to the market. Both enjoyed splashing with pretend fish in the "Splish" exhibit.

There was little doubt what their favorite part of the museum was. Overhead, an electric train ran on tracks above the main part of the museum. Every time it went by, they stopped in their tracks and looked up. After climbing a short flight of stairs we discovered the train depot, where the buddies could restart the train by pressing a button and make the "woo-woo" sound by pulling a cord. Best of all, the could observe the train chugging along up close through the observation glass. They seem to have inherited the train- loving gene from Great- Grandpa Jeff.

Golfing with Daddy

The buddies had fun at the driving range with their dad today. They watched patiently from their stroller while he hit balls and even joined in on the fun and threw their golf balls onto the driving range. When Daddy was finished they "helped" him chip and putt. I think we're ready for Easter egg hunting.

Lottery Un-Lucky

The buddies have decided they might like to try a 1 or 2 day / week pre-school in the fall. After calling all of the programs in our area, I discovered that most registered in early February and are already full. Early February! We're talking about pre-schools beginning after September 1st! I can barely think past two weeks into the future, much less 7 months. Anyway, my phone calls resulted in two programs of interest: one that registered this morning and another that has on-going registration but still has at least 2 openings in the young 2's class.

This morning, the buddies and I skipped our regular playdate and headed over to our first pre-school registration. As we entered, we were given a number and told to have a seat with the other 100+ families there, vying for spots. At 10:30, the pre-school director began calling numbers at random and those lucky families went to the front to register their children. Parents and children anxiously awaited their numbers and cheered when they "got in". The buddies and I waited and waited and watched all the families around us register. After about 10 numbers were called, the director announced that the 4-year old classes were full. After about 10 more, the 3 year old classes filled. And then the M/W/F 2-year old classes. We were hoping to be included in the T/Th 2-year old classes which eventually filled, before our number was called. In fact, by the time our number was called (about 10th from the last), all the classes were full. Ace and Ben are numbers 8 and 9 on the waiting list, with little hope of getting in.

Some of the parents that didn't get spots were actually crying. It was intense. We were just as happy not to get in since I'm still not sure that I'm ready for the buddies to be away from me. But, we will tour the other program tomorrow and see what we think. I don't remember it being this hard when I applied for college 13 years ago.

Happy Birthday to Jesse and Ben

The buddies were invited to our twin -friends, Jesse and Ben's birthday party this morning. Ace still isn't well, so Ben and I packed up our gifts and headed out, leaving Ace and Daddy at home.

Ben carried our presents to the door like a big kid, and then threw them on the ground when we got to the door. Luckily, we didn't bring anything breakable.



The highlight of the party was the giant bounce house in the backyard. He bounced and bounced. Ace would have loved it and it made me a little bit sad to think of him missing out on the fun. After he bounced and played with his little friends, Ben ate a huge lunch of fruits, veggies, and potato chips, all dipped in onion dip (yes, even the fruit).



Some of my girlfriends asked what it felt like to be out with just one toddler. While I had to admit it was very easy, I would have much preferred to have my other little buddy and their dad with us.

Ace's mc-flu

After a very fun Saturday afternoon at McDonald's, Ace and his new friend Olivia have the flu. Is this the saddest little picture ever?? Yesterday was a tough day in our house. When we awoke, everything seemed normal, but as we were walking downstairs to head to the car to go to a Valentine's Day Party, Ace barfed through the railing. And it continued through the rest of the day. I pushed fluids and tried to get him to eat but every time he did, it all came back up. I lost count of how many loads of laundry I did or how many times I changed his clothes and mine. He seemed scared when he had to throw up and was most comfortable doing it while hugging me so I just held him and let him puke on me. Motherhood is a tough job sometimes. My low point was when I had to scrub vomit off my fuzzy purple slippers.

By mid-afternoon, Ace was refusing all food and liquids and was pretty lethargic. He just laid in my lap watching his favorite tv shows on Noggin. Ben busied himself with his puzzles and trucks and was no trouble all day. He even ate his supper at the kitchen table just like a big kid since I hadn't had time to clean off the high chair trays.

Since I was concerned that Ace might become dehydrated, I gave him a few teaspoons of a pediatric electrolyte drink every thirty minutes after he fell asleep last night. We did this from 6pm - midnight and I managed to get him to drink (and keep down) about 7 ounces. He's a little better today and is drinking slowly and eating small meals and keeping everything down. I'm hopeful that we've seen the worst of it and plan on spending the rest of the day hugging my little Valentines.

A Valentine's Day Playdate

Ace and Ben hosted a Valentine's Day party today for some of their little friends. It was too cold to set up the bounce house but we had a toddler "tunnel of love" for everyone in our living room. Ben spent quite a bit of time in the ball pit with an older lady (by about 2 years, I'm guessing). I'm not sure what they were talking about but he was cracking up. I was even able to get a picture of him smiling (which is rare!) during his love connection.

Ace had a good time playing with the other kids and eating heart-shaped snacks. We served fruit ka-bobs (with heart- shaped cantaloupe and watermelon), heart- shaped chicken salad sandwiches, and heart- shaped cookies. Since they might not let me make such festive food when they get older, I went a little crazy.


And, each of our guests created a glittery photo Valentine. Everyone had a great time.

Sweet Brothers

I don't have much to report today - just wanted to share these sweet pictures of the buddies playing in our backyard.

Super Bowl Sunday

The buddies declined invitations to two Super Bowl parties this year. They really can't be trusted for long periods of time in other people's houses. They get in to everything. Between the two of them, last week they broke a picture frame, a willow tree angel, and a beer bottle from our recycling bin. So, we sent Daddy to a party and celebrated with our own little Super Bowl party. They each had a bowl of salty snacks to munch on and settled down on their couch to watch the game. They made it through the first quarter (although they only sat on the couch and watched for the first minute) and then it was time for baths and bed. Maybe next year they'll be able to stay up until halftime.

Fine Motor Skills (or lack there of)

The buddies do so many things well. Their gross motor skills are quite advanced - they run, jump, do somer- saults, and climb. However, they could use a little practice with some of their fine motor skills. After listening to a few moms in my twin moms club talk about their toddlers using spoons proficiently, I decided to let them have another try. Now I remember why we switched to 100% finger foods a few months ago.

Ben did well, but Ace gave up after a few minutes and just started digging in his yogurt container with his whole hand. Yum, Yum! Maybe we'll wait a few more months before we try again.

Bounce House Play Day

The buddies bought a bounce house with their Christmas money from Steve's generous Uncle Dan. We've been waiting for a sunny day ever since and today it finally arrived. Steve set up the bounce house in our front yard and a few of our neighbors and friends came over this morning to bounce with them. They thought it was great fun.


We thought they'd be worn out and take long naps, but instead they're upstairs "bouncing" in their cribs.

Who's taller? Ace or a month's worth of diaper boxes?

Sadly, the answer is: the diaper boxes. After Ace and Ben's bath today, we cleared their closet floor of all the diaper boxes and Ace had loads of fun building towers and knocking them down. We'll have another day of fun with them tomorrow, before they head to the curb for recycling pick-up on Thursday morning. Maybe tomorrow Ben will join in on the fun. He was too busy scooching his trucks across the couch to notice.

Fun with Grandma at Chuck E Cheese's

After 20 months of life, the buddies finally got in their first visit to every kid's favorite place - Chuck E Cheese's. We met Grandma for an afternoon of fun and pizza. It's safe to say that they liked it. They ran around from car to car and loved playing on the toddler playscape. Ben even figured out how to use the tokens. He found one on the ground and proceeded to climb into a car and slide it in the slot.


After enjoying the rides and running around like wild boys, they sat still for all of five minutes and wolfed down slices of cheese pizza. Then they were back to the rides. I'm sure they can't wait to return.

Check out Ben in action!

Parks and More Parks

Today was the kind of day that reminds me how much I love living in Texas. We awoke to clear, blue skies and warm sunshine that lasted throughout the day.


The buddies and I began our day with our friends from church at a nearby park. The kids all played for about an hour and then we sat together for a picnic - the buddies' first ever. Then, after nap time, we loaded up in the stroller and walked to our neighborhood park where they played for another hour. We enjoyed the 80 degree weather while we could, because tomorrow a front comes in and we'll be back down to the 40's.

Fun with Me-Mom

We had a nice visit from Me-Mom last week. It rained most of the time she was here, but we managed to take her to two parks and our favorite indoor playground. The buddies spent lots of quality time with her and showed her all their favorite books and toys.

Our house is quiet now, after 10 days worth of house guests, a Christmas Eve party, and a New Year's Eve party. We are enjoying our first day back in our normal routine but the buddies miss all the extra love and attention.

Christmas Photos

Oh, the buddies had fun on Christmas morning! These are some of my favorite action shots from the day.

Texas Wigilia

Every year, on Christmas Eve, Steve's family meets at Aunt Maggie and Uncle Lenny's house for a traditional Polish Wigilia (pronounced va-le-ah). "Wigilia (from the Latin term vigilare meaning "to await") is the Polish name for Christmas Eve. When the first star appears in the sky, the Christmas tree is lit and the dinner begins. The Christmas Eve meal starts with the sharing of the oplatek (bread wafer) and exchanging of wishes. Although there are plenty of dishes on the table, this is traditionally a meatless dinner." --- Wigilia, www.polishcenter.org.

Since we did not travel to Penn- sylvania this Christmas, we hosted our own Texas Wigilia. Steve sauteed delicious pierogies for all of us and we shared a wafer in the line thanks to Aunt Maggie's care package. And everyone present had at least a little taste of pickled herring for good luck in 2007 - Grandmom would have been proud. Friends: Dan, Jean, Mia, Grandma Roberta, Madhu, and Rakesh joined our family in this wonderful tradition. We missed our Pennsylvania family so much but felt close with Wigilia.

Trikes

Grandma and Grandpa are here! Grandma and Grandpa are here! And they brought a truck full of toys!

Ben wasn't so sure about their new tricycles, but Ace jumped right on and wanted to ride. When Ben saw how much fun Ace was having, he jumped on for a ride with brother. And it wasn't long before Ben was driving his own trike all around the kitchen. They haven't quite figured out how to work the pedals but think it is sure fun to scoot around on them.

Now we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of cousin Michael, Aunt Carlee, and Uncle Mike. Hurry, hurry and get here soon!

Play Day with the Grands

Our Christmas celebration began today with the arrival of our first guests. The buddies had a terrific day getting re- acquainted with Granny and Gramps. Ace really enjoyed his time with Granny and Ben seemed quite taken with Gramps. They showed them all of their toys and books, ran all over the house and backyard, and took them on a walk in our neighborhood. I don't know who is more pooped, the grands or the buddies.

Now everyone is anxiously awaiting tomorrow's new arrivals - Grandma and Grandpa! We can't wait!!

A Philly Afternoon in Austin

After living in Texas for 10 years, Steve has finally found a place with a decent cheesesteak and it just happens to be right around the corner from our house. So, during halftime of the Eagle's game, we loaded up the buddies and enjoyed almost-authentic cheesesteaks for supper. If the sub shop had offered cheese whiz, it would have come close the sandwiches in Philly. We returned home to watch the Eagles win, so the boys in our house are happy tonight.

Toddler Top Ten List

At 19 months, the buddies have become little sponges. They learn something new every day and it amazes me how quickly my babies are becoming little boys. This is a list of the top 10 things the buddies have learned in the last few weeks:

10. Mommy and Daddy cheer when we say our new words: “ball”, “cookie“, “oops”, “great”, “pillow”, “more”, and “hat”.
9 1/2. (I had to add another.) Somersaults are fun but it is best not to do them off the edge of the couch.
9. Small plastic toys are not flushable.
8. Decorating Christmas cookies (and Miss Jen’s house) with icing and sprinkles is loads of fun.
7. Puppets like to drink out of sippy cups.
6. If you poop during nap time, just reach down the back of your diaper, grab a handful of poo, and smear it all over yourself and your crib.
5. When you smear poo two days in a row, Mommy washes the poo off in a cold bath and it is NOT fun.
4. On the third day, Mommy learns to dress you in onesies and overalls at nap time.
3. It’s fun to pull the cushions off the couch and dive on them.
2. Brothers are good for hugging.
1. Hugs should be gentle. Otherwise, you are really just tackling your brother, and he doesn’t like that.

Christmas Party Playdate

After a quiet week last week, we are back in our holiday party mode. Ace and Ben's friends, Brandon and James hosted our playgroup today and we had a holiday party. The kids all played nicely while the mommies had snacks and mimosas (just one each!).

Ace learned to ride on a tricycle and he thought it was great fun. Ben focused on scooting around James and Brandon's cars and trucks. He thinks he'll ask Santa for a cool looping racetrack - he was enthralled with it.

AMOM Holiday Party

We are attending one holiday function after another this year. This afternoon, we met up with our many twin friends at the Austin Moms of Multiples Holiday Party. My friend, Traci, organized this fabulous event. There was an inflated bounce house, a ball pit, jugglers, lots of food, wine, cookies, and best of all.... a singing, unicycling, accordion-playing Santa.
We arrived early since I had volunteered to prepare half the food and the buddies got some one-on-one time with the crazy Santa. Ace LOVED him. He just watched and watched as Santa played the accordion and sang Christmas songs. I think he was trying to figure out if it was his Uncle Jeff.

After two hours of running around with their little friends, playing in the bounce house with the big kids (the buddies have no fear!), and eating multiple cookies, we took them to the car tired and happy. Ben told us as much as we loaded him into his car seat. He said, "happy, happy, happy". I'm happy too, Benny.