this here's the Rubber Duck

Sophie always has a gleeful expression on carnival rides, but Hannah can be a bit harder to read. Probably just extreme focus, she specializes in that.

Cult of Mac

 

Just great. Anyone have 2 extra ipod touches for sale?

No more than half an hour around here

XKCD knows us too well.

Look! We're Famous (again)

There is a great new blog called Bed Timing by the authors of a book by the same name. They are developmental psychologists who studied sleep in the context of a child's developing brain, sense of self, etc. Their book talks about sleep and changing sleep behavior in conjunction with children's development and finding the right timing to make changes. Very interesting stuff.

I wrote to them not to long ago about Hannah's sleep issues and they posted my question today.
http://bedtiming.typepad.com/bed-timing/2009/06/3-12-years-old-part-ii-readers-question-about-waking-up-and-staying-up.html
I'm not sure I like the answer, but at least I know it's normal......

New solution to an old problem

Despite the last few days being cold and rainy, warmer weather has essentially arrived. We have started making the transition into spring and summer clothes. This has led to a my most recent attempts to clothe two skinny little girls. Tops are no problem. They can wear most anything in the 3T, 4T, and even little girls size 4. The 3Ts are getting snug, but I have a stash of size 4's waiting in the back of the closet. I thought shorts would be as problematic as pants, but I've found an interesting solution.

Walmart has a new line of infant pants/shorts (Lee Rider). For whatever reason, they are cut a little differently than most of the other brands. The 12 month size shorts are a perfect fit for Hannah and Sophie. They fit in the waist. They are long enough in the rise. They have several styles that are long enough in the leg to make really good shorts for the girls. I also picked up a couple of pairs of jeans with a ruffle around the ankle. They fall just below the girls knees and make really cute capri's. Makes me wish I hadn't sold all the girls infant clothes. Maybe I could have recycled some of the jeans into capri's or Bermuda shorts for this summer.

Here are links to the shorts/jeans that I bought just in case anyone else wants to explore the same solution for their own hard to fit little ones.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11037276 (Infant jeans as capri's)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10982978 (Infant Bermuda shorts as regular length shorts)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10982988 (Infant knee length shorts as regular length shorts)

New Kitchen

On Sunday, we picked up a new play kitchen for the girls. Another family from my local Mothers of Multiples club was selling it for a really good price. Since it is much nicer than the plastic set we had, we decided to upgrade. I don't have a picture of it in place at our house, yet, but here's the picture that was posted in the ad:

Surreal

We had a really bad night on Sunday night, but that's another post for another time. As a result, everyone in the house was cranky and difficult. I got up with the girls in the AM and let Dave sleep in. After Dave was up and dressed for the day, he took the girls out for walk around the lake and a stop at Whole Foods while I went back to bed for a couple of hours. After a late lunch, we realized we still had errands to run but very little energy to cope with two cranky girls. So, knowing that the girls are MUCH easier to deal with when separated from their sibling, we each took a girl and ran a separate errand. I am always amazed at how different and how much easier it is to have just one child. Both girls are so much more cooperative when separated from her sister. At home, they tend to play more independently and I can even get some things done around the house and when the lone child "helps" me, she's actually kind of helpful. Yesterday was the first time I've taken one of the girls out alone, though. Usually, Dave takes one out while the other stays home with me. Dave and Sophie went grocery shopping. Hannah and I went to Babies R Us. Going someplace with just one of the girls is a surreal experience.

The drive there was quiet. Hannah sat in near silence, drinking her juice and "reading" a flap book. No rousing versions of Itsy Bitsy Spider from Sophie. No Hannah screaming at her sister to "be quiet, I trying to read." No fights over which seat they got or which book they got. No demands to trade books. Just quiet. I kept checking to see if she had fallen asleep, but she was awake and content.

The actual shopping felt just as strange. I didn't have to figure out how to manage two 3 year olds and a cart with just one seat (also a post for another time). I just put Hannah in the seat and did my shopping. No fighting between the girls about who gets to sit in the cart seat and who gets to walk, etc. We also went unnoticed by the store clerks and other shoppers. No questions about twins. We finished up in about 1/2 the time I'd normally alot for the same trip with both girls in tow. I'm sensing more separate errands for the family in our future. :)

World's Best Babysitter

I often find myself mentally composing blog posts that never get posted. I think of something I want to write about and then I get distracted by the girls and the rest of the daily demands and before long it is bedtime and I'm too tired to blog. So here's one of the posts I wanted to make a few days ago.

We have the best babysitter in the world. I've know Shauna since she was 13. Last week she graduated from law school. Before too long, she's going to be a gainfully employed lawyer and won't have time to babysit for us. That will be a sad, sad day indeed. The girls adore Shauna and she is a lifesaver for me in many respects. Shauna is the only (non family) babysitter that I trust to drive the girls places. If I need to get something done around the house, Shauna is always willing to take the girls to the library or playground. Not everyone is willing to tackle an outing with twins without an extra adult, but Shauna does it with ease.

Shauna was here on Friday and gave me a wonderful day. While she entertained the girls with Play Doe at the kitchen table, I spent a couple of hours alone in my bedroom. I caught up on email. Read a book. Relaxed. Then I helped her fix an early lunch for the girls and we chatted while all four of us had lunch. After lunch, we packed up the girls' bag with snacks, pull-ups, etc. and Shauna took them to the indoor playground where we have a membership. She and the girls were out of the house for 2.5 hours. During that time, I cleaned. I got more cleaning done in that short block of time than I can get done in a week with the girls "helping" me.

Thanks, Shauna!! We love you.

Realtor Sophie's reasons to buy

"I bet if we had another house, we could have another mommy."

Quotable Kids, part 9

Dad, to Sophie: You're wearing the cap backwards. But that's ok, some people do that.

Sophie:why?

Dad: I'm not sure, maybe to keep their hair out of their face.

Hannah: But you don't have hair.

Dad: Thanks...