Ivania’s Blog

Memorable Moments 2009

(Addison & Jasmine turned 2 in February; Sabrina was born the same month)

Experiencing parenthood a second…er, third time (?), has been interesting. I admit that first year we had Jasmine and Addison was rough and mostly a blur because I can’t recall much. I guess I always wondered if having twins was that much harder than having a singleton. It’s true I suppose, but 3 little ones is quite challenging. I am glad I had Jasmine and Addison first though! Sabrina’s firsts (smile, giggle, roll over, step, etc.) were memorable and met with equal enthusiasm, but are not included in this particular list.

15. When Chiu’s mom was still here and Sabrina was about 4 months old, she cried for a good 30+ minutes non-stop while I was putting Jasmine and Addison to bed one night. I held her the first chance I got. She stopped within 2 seconds…then turned around and gave my MIL the BIGGEST grin.

14. Jasmine had just started to talk, and we were flipping through a magazine. Jasmine suddenly says something that sounds like the four letter curse word. It turns out she was saying Frog or Fox, much to my relief!!

13. Once Chiu came home early and came into the playroom in the middle of a playdate with Peyton (Lorena & Hang’s little girl). Peyton started crying and Jasmine, the clever kid she is, figured out why and exclaimed “Daddy not scary!”

12. Jasmine wanted Chiu’s mom to read to her one day. Addison (knowing Grandma doesn’t usually read to them) turns to Jasmine and says “Mama too old”!

11. I put Sabrina in the Exersaucer (the stable play thing) before starting dinner one evening. Jasmine and Addison decided to play dress up hats with her. Sabrina was a good sport about it until they started yanking the hats off her head. Oooooops. (Surprisingly enough, I was able to capture this in a 30 seconds video. It is on Facebook under the “Videos” tab called “HATS”).

10. During a test run of their Halloween costumes, Jas (a dalmatian puppy) turns to Addison (a chicken) and says, “Addison, say Gobble Gobble!”

9. Addison would stop in the middle of playing to check on Sabrina and give her a hug or toys (she’s done this since baby was a few weeks old!).

8. I was being goofy one night and doing stuff (dancing, “swimming”, “snorkeling”, etc.) to make the girls smile while they sat at the dinner table. I looked up at one point and all three of my little girls were laughing together.

7. For a while, the girls would wake up each morning and declare they were “Aurora,” “Belle,” or some other Disney princess. They would be that character the rest of the day, and I’d get a better response when I called them by their chosen character’s name. One day (after a trip to the safari park nearby), I overheard Chiu’s mom ask Jasmine if she’s Chinese. Jasmine answers, “I am a wallaby!”…not quite the answer Grandma was looking for!

6. Every time I talked about her Dad, Addison would perk up and say Chiu’s name in a questionable tone. First and last. Non-stop for a whole week.

5. After giving Jasmine some medication the “hard way” for several days, she learned that if she drank it herself that the “easy way” was much better. Taking a bath together later that week, Addison refused to look up to rinse her hair, Jasmine pipes in “hard way?!”

4. Hearing Sabrina giggle whole heartedly when her sisters are being silly and trying to make her laugh.

3. I was talking on the phone one day, and Addison shouts (rather loudly), “IS IT SANTA?!”

2. I had been teaching the girls to say “not yet” instead of “no”. One day, we had an ant problem in the kitchen. Since I needed to distract them, I told them to count them if they saw any. Chiu’s mom asks if there are any in the playroom, to which Jasmine replies, “not yet!”

1. I was in the kitchen with Jasmine explaining to her that she couldn’t play with the toys on the kitchen counter because her Dad was going to put new batteries in them. All of a sudden I hear Addison run by yelling “Farmer Brown, Farmer Brown’s tractor!” Apparently she had been listening!

FYI: New Photos have been posted for Oct/Nov 2009.

Hello Everyone,

Exhaustion has hit. It is truly amazing what a good night’s sleep will do for you though! I really hope this baby is healthy because I have not been eating or sleeping as well as I did last time. Chiu got me this gigantic pillow called the Snoogle, and it has been a back saver! I only wish I had it when I was carrying Addison and Jasmine, but I was totally against having yet another pillow in our bed. I suppose I had a bigger belly last time, but I honestly cannot remember exactly HOW big I was. The last few weeks have been uncomfortable, that is for sure. This pregnancy has been more challenging too because last time I just had to focus on taking care of myself!

The big news is that we have moved to a bigger place. It took twice as long to unpack this go around, and we have yet to hang stuff on the walls, but that is the least of my worries. We found the house in mid-October and moved in right before Thanksgiving. It was exhausting, but at least now we have room to grow. One of my cousins once told my mother that if a baby cries upon entering a house, it was not a good sign. I was so glad when Jasmine and Addison started giggling and running around the house when we saw our future home (we visited some of the other homes in the neighborhood and Addison kept pointing to the front door wanting to leave and Jasmine wanted to be carried the minute we walked in–bizarre, right?!). At least I know it is Feng Shui friendly!

Addison and Jasmine did fairly well adjusting to the new house. We moved their room upstairs too and now they are experts at walking up and down the stairway, much to my relief! I finally nailed down their nap time in November (thank goodness!!), and they take it together at the same time now, so that gives me time to prepare for the next meal and rest a bit. WHEW! They are sleeping through the night these days (more or less, whethere they are cold at night is another matter). It took me a while to figure out what I was doing wrong though–we had to change their room into a sleep only room (no more playing in there during the day), and then I realized that the nap and bedtime routine was not the same (if Addison woke up in the middle of her nap, I would take her back to my bed so that she would not wake up her sister and I could nap a little longer too. . . no wonder she kept looking for me in the middle of the night! I just let her cry it out–it was just a few minutes anyway. . . I was always afraid she would wake her sis up, but she did not!). It probably helps that their room is not right next to ours anymore too. It gives them time to soothe themselves back to sleep and if they cry, it is usually for a few minutes anyway. If I get up, I usually stay awake for an hour or two, and that is not good for baby either.

Potty training is still in progress. Hopefully my mother-in-law will have better luck completing this task when she comes to stay with us for the first few months! I think I got too exhausted towards the end to consistently do it. As many times as I visit the loo, it should have been easy just to take them with me, right?!

Addison and Jasmine have been saying so many things the last few weeks! I am so glad!! Besides cookie and crackers, they are saying broccoli too (SMILE!). They are saying some things in Chinese (like Fae Kai - airplane, Fy Teet - hurry, and Huck Mung Mung - dark), so that is good. I am sure the next few months will be a blur. I just hope that when I come out of it that I understand which language they are talking to me in their baby talk! The only reason I mostly understand what they are saying now is because I am around them constantly. . . I never can understand what other toddlers are saying (SMILE)!

Here are some of the funny things that my kids are doing lately–
*Jasmine nicknamed her sis Addison “Debbie” until we told her to call her by her Chinese name–Yun, Yun (I suppose it is easier to say, but she does not even say it right–it comes out NaNa).
*Addison has a baby doll that she sleeps with - lately she has been lugging her and her sisters doll too right before bedtime! I wonder if she realizes she is a twin now.
*I accidentally pushed Jasmine into the wall the other day (clumsy Mom), and all she could say between sobs was “COW, COW!!” It turns out that her slippers that had cow heads on them had slipped off, and she wanted me put them back on. Nevermind the two bumps on her head that I am sure really hurt!
*Addison has been kissing my belly whenever she wants to kiss her baby sister. So very sweet!

Well, wish me luck as we muddle through the next few months. I am hoping one baby is much much easier than caring for twins! I willl try my best to keep you posted!

Ivania

Hi All,

What a month. If ever there was a hard month with the twins, it would be starting this month (ok, not including the newborn months, that’s just HARD whether you have a singleton or multiples).

So late last month we visited the eye pediatrician and while we waited Jasmine and Addison played with the toys in the office. Bad move. By the end of the week, they were both sick–nothing serious, but enough to be a catalyst that led to the disruption our lives as we know it. Well, it could have been allergies, but I am sticking with my office toy theory! Let’s see–Jasmine decided to climb out of her crib one night scaring the heck out of me, so we took off the front part of the crib to make them into toddler beds (they look like day beds now and the front part looks awfully low, but I guess there is a misconception that kids need that high bedrail to keep them from falling off beds? When would you learn not to fall off a bed anyway?). Anyway, this created a new set of problems since their whole room is now in essence their crib, but luckily we had a gate already in place to keep Tigger out of their room. Oh, and to top it off, we finally switched from 2 to 1 nap a day (this usually happens around 12-18 months, so I should consider myself very lucky not to have to make this switch until now). I sure do miss my two predictable breaks a day though! Being pregnant makes me a whole lot sleepier too! Never mind that you are supposed to have more energy in the second trimester, but I suppose chasing two toddlers every day does not help matters much. Anyway, that is a lot of change for two toddlers. We are still working through the kinks, and we have implemented the Ferber Sleeping method where you let baby cry for a specified amount of time, visit them for 1-2 minutes, then let them cry it out again for a specific amount of time, visit 1-2 minutes and you keep doing this until they fall asleep. It is horrible to have to listen to your child AND watch the minutes slowly tick by, but after a few nights of sleepless nights and having to care for them for longer periods of time during the day, I had enough. So the Ferber method has had an OK success rate so far; I consider myself lucky if their naptimes overlap at some point. Addison understood the process early on and actually stayed in her crib, but not so much lately. Jasmine on the other hand did not understand it at the beginning, but is quickly learning to sleep in her bed at night although she prefers to take naps on the floor with her sister. I have found Jasmine sitting quietly next to the gate waiting patiently in the mornings though (SMILE)! Cute story–the other day Jasmine took her nap first, so Addison went by her bed and gave her a kiss. It was so sweet! She is just naturally a caring sister (never mind the biting episodes–she is a work in progress)! The first time I tried to implement the Ferber method, Jasmine ended up putting her head on top of her sisters back. It was cute. At least they know they can rely on each other during tough times!! No matter how hard it gets at times though, the girls always find a way to make me smile!

My mother-in-law is here on and off till the end of the month, so that is a good and bad thing for me. Good because I get a few minutes to myself and I get to catch up on some much needed rest; bad because after a few days of helping me, I realized I had to keep doing things on my own. Even though it is nice to have an extra pair of hands and you can get through each meal/potty break faster, once you zip through everything, the girls come to expect the same amount of speediness when it is just one person again. UGH. So when she comes back again, I will just ask her to watch my little ones just when they are playing.

Jasmine has been saying “Happy” a lot. . . now I know that Jasmine & Addison’s language is not as advanced as some 20+ month olds, but I am waiting patiently. They do babble to each other sometimes and I do not understand what they are saying, so maybe that is the twin speak you often hear about. I found out that babies often say half of longer syllable words (for example, Tigger just becomes Tig, Water is Wa. . . etc.), so the girls just end up reinforcing half words to each other, etc. and people often mistake that for what has become twinspeak. So now that mystery is solved!

Other random things–Addison and Jasmine have been doing the funniest thing lately. They have been patting themselves whenever I ask who did something. . . for example, Who dropped their plate on the floor? Who burped? OH, and this past month Jasmine & Addison managed to lock themselves in our master bedroom for about 20 minutes. This of course, was one of my fears since they were born. My little sis Ariana locked herself in the car when she was a wee baby, so maybe that is where that stems from. Anyway, hysterical (and 5 months pregnant) me finally crawled through a window when Jasmine pulled out the locking mechanism off the window. Whew.

Other big news in the family. . . we are expecting a baby girl to join our family in a few months! Yup. Chiu is officially outnumbered–4 to 1. Poor guy. He thinks it is good though because I get to teach my little girls the ropes of being a woman. Fun. . . I think!

Ivania

Hi Everyone,

Surprise! We are expecting Baby #3 in February just as Addison and Jasmine turn 2. It’s a little crazy to think that we will have another little one in our lives to love so soon, but this should make life REALLY interesting! I imagine taking care of a baby is relatively fresh in our minds, and it will be a breeze compared to caring for two at the same time (Haha)! I do worry about my little girls not getting enough attention though, but hopefully Jasmine and Addison won’t be too neglected during the newborn phase since they will still have each other.

I had almost forgotten about pregnancy symptoms-especially forgetfulness and clumsiness. Once I put clothes in the dryer and a second load in the washer, but forgot to turn on both machines. . . for two hours. Another time we went out to eat and I was about to thread the belt through the fabric cover on the highchair when all of a sudden I went blank. I was just stumped as to where to begin! Then there is the clumsiness factor–missing my own mouth when eating can be quite annoying too. Don’t get me wrong. I love everything about pregnancy. . . the maternity clothes (those big elastic bands around the waist are comfy!!), the waddling, etc. but these two things-forgetfulness and clumsiness-I really could do without.

Addison and Jasmine are doing well with the whole co-existing as twin sisters relationship. I finally figured out their method of sharing! When there is a set of toys–like a tea set or a bunch of puzzle pieces on a board, they each have their favorite pieces. If there is the color yellow in the mix, Jasmine has first dibs on that since that is her favorite color (I just have to be careful now not to continue to push her towards that color though). If a toy is not hers and the other sister screams for it, she automatically knows to give it to the rightful owner (or when you ask her to give it to the other, she complies). They are so considerate of each other too! If I am reading a book that has scents to one of the girls (ok, so I admit I went a little crazy with the scratch and sniff stickers), she will insist on letting her sis smell it too. Or if I am eating a popsicle or something fun, after taking a bite, she will turn around and point to her sister as if saying, it’s her turn now. I am beginning to understand that teaching them they do NOT have to share everything is going to be a challenge. . . equal to teaching a singleton the concept of sharing! Oh, I have a funny story (well, this is Chiu’s story since he was watching the girls when this happened). Jasmine was sitting on the rocking chair one day, and Addison was pushing her. Well, Addison decided she wanted to give all her little friends (stuffed animals) a ride too. So she starts piling them up on the chair. In the meantime, it was getting a bit crowded on the chair, so Jasmine started dumping them over on the side. This continued for a while. . . amazingly enough, no frustration was experienced on both sides!

Potty training is going OKAY. If I can get them completely trained by the time baby arrives, I will be so happy! Can you imagine 3 different diapers to change at a time?! My friend Katy mentioned that it takes an average of 8 months to train a kid. Wow. Well, let us hope that we are on Month 7 or something. They do poop in the toilet (yay!!), so that’s something, right?!? The last time we had an accident, one of the girls could not wait for her sis who was on the toilet already (Shucks!!). The pee is harder to catch. And then they like to use the pee excuse (touching their diaper) to get out of a room or their highchair. Although to their credit, the buckle to the highchair is around the same area as where their diaper would be. One of the benefits of potty training so early (we have logged in quite a few hours sitting on the potty) is our bonding time. We have ended up reading their small selection of books countless times-one of the books being an alphabet book. Well, one day while we were in their room, Addison handed me an alphabet book to read. Well, I was really tired, so I just asked Addison to point to the letter A and J, etc. To my amazement she pointed to those very letters! So I have been building up their letter recognition-M is for Mom, D is for Dad, that sort of thing. I have some magnetic alphabet letters on the refrigerator, and they can pick out the letters that they know already. They even know the letter S is for Sister and give it to each other when they spot it. So smart, these two!!

My folks were here for Labor Day weekend and my mother has been pushing me to give them bowls and utensils when they eat. Well, they apparently can use them all! They like eating out of bowls too, but I have to take it away the minute they finish because they will just throw it down on the floor. It just amazes me what little toddlers are capable of!

My in-laws were here when Hurricane Ike hit. There was no electricity/water in their neighborhood in Houston for a few days, so it was a good thing they came up to our place. I got to catch up on my naps and not have to cook. Life is good (SMILE)!

Ivania

8/12/08 Update:

We went to our 18 month wellness appointment last week, and it looks like Jasmine & Addison are only 2 ounces apart in weight. However, I do not quite believe it because they are usually both quite squirmy, not to mention crying when they get on the scale. I still do not understand why they do not give you the option of weighing a parent with and without the kid–at least you would get a more accurate reading. Jasmine has been eating really well this past month though–FINALLY! Unfortunately, Addison started not eating well when this switch happened! Oh, and the minute we stepped into the patients room, Addison started CRYING uncontrollably. She has such a good memory. . . it had been 3 months since our last visit!! I think Addison knew something bad was about to happen too. She took her afternoon nap that day, but when she woke up, she cried for about 45 minutes until she puked all over Chiu. Needless to say she felt much better after that. . . must have been the combination of the shot and overeating some crackers that day. We have not been having good luck with the 15 and 18 month immunization shots–one or both girls seem to have some kind of reaction to it. Hopefully the next set of shots at 24 months will not be too bad!

Chiu’s mom was in town for a few days while I had some doctor/dentist appointments. I finally went in for that gum therapy that I had been avoiding for 2 years . . . it was not bad at all. I guess some people have more sensitive teeth than others! It was the first time I was away from Addison & Jasmine for a long period of time. They were especially clingy to my mother-in-law to the point they did not want Chiu or me! I guess that is a good thing, right?! At least I got some time to myself and got some extra zzzz’s along the way too! I always forget how tired I am the day after my mother-in-law leaves, and I have to watch the girls on my own again during the day. But I guess it is good for me to relax every once in a while (long showers and sleeping does not count!). My mil actually likes to clean, and she is so quick that I cannot even help out, so it is like a mini vacation when she comes.

I have posted a few more photos for July and some new ones for August. Enjoy!

Ivania

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Hi Everyone,

18 months!! Wow, what an awesome milestone to have reached! I have two little ones that are a year and a half years old, can you believe it?! It is truly amazing sometimes that I had something to do with bringing these two wonderful little people into the world. I am truly blessed!

We have officially entered the climbing and biting stage. Climbing sofas, chairs, big plastic toy bins, small containers that they can barely fit into, etc. It is all the latest rage. Addison is usually good at turning around and sitting as soon as she climbs up the sofa, but give her a few minutes, and she will stand. Jasmine follows close behind. I think she is a bit shorter, so she does not climb up the sofa as easily. I am hoping the biting phase has ended because it has not happened in a few days. They were both guilty of it a few weeks/months back and then it stopped. . . then Addison recently started doing it again when her sis took a toy from her, etc. It is true that you can sense when they are about to bite though. Unfortunately, it is only milliseconds before it happens, and I cannot stop it sometimes. Addison has felt some remorse about it though and one time she actually hugged her sister a few minutes later. But my mom told me to get Addison to apologize to her sis when this happens, and maybe it has sunk in that it hurts when she does it. Biting back the offender is not exactly the thing to do either because kids do not register that what they are doing is wrong. It is frustrating sometimes when they do not listen to you, and Time Outs are about to happen now that they are at an age where they can understand me more. I think the Time Outs are more for me than the kids though. I have caught myself on occassion (these are rare!) when I wanted to slap my kid. . . then I remember they would just learn to hit others if I just did that . . . so the role modeling begins! It is an awful reflex to have, I tell you! I must admit keeping a cool head, especially in the next year and a half (Terrible Twos x2 anyone?) is going to take some work on my part as they start getting into more and more things! I have to work on my stern voice too because whenever I get frustrated, my voice just gets an octave or two higher, not lower!! Annoying. Anyway, wish me luck!

I gave Jasmine another hair cut. Her hair just grows really quickly (her sis is another story altogether!)! I put her in the highchair this time, and she was so good! My mother cut Addison’s bangs a bit on the short side last December, and it STILL has not grown out. So warning to all parents out there–do not cut hair too short, because it may take a while to grow back!

What is neat about raising twins is to see the dynamics between the two of them. They will be sitting in their highchairs and all of sudden hold hands. Sooooo adorable!! Whenever I take Jasmine out of the nursery to go eat breakfast (her sis is already outside waiting for her), we always put her lovey on the changing table next to the door. She will ALWAYS insist we go to Addison’s crib to get her lovey too! One time I was in the bathroom with Addison when she decided she wanted her lovey with her, so I asked Jasmine to go find it for us. Jasmine comes back with her two favorite loveys, because she knows Addison has two favorite ones sometimes! Oh, and whenever I am in the bathroom with Jasmine, I usually ask Addison to “check in” with me at the gate right outside the nursery, and she actually comes by and gives me a smile!! For a while, Addison would camp near the gate so that I would see her at all times (SMILE). They know to wait patiently whenever I give one some water to drink too. They used to tap the water bottle, but I realized I was the one that started all that because I would tap on their cups whenever I did not want them to drink too much milk during a meal! Oooops!! They recently started playing with these baby dolls and whenever I give them water, they sometimes insist I give water to the babies first! How considerate is that?! Whenever I wipe or brush their teeth, they get a special distraction/toy, and for a while they would know that when I was done with the first kid, they would pass on the toy to the next kid. Is that the cutest or what?!

I sometimes get resistance when I am trying to put a kid in the highchair, and one time I told them to watch me do some magic with the ceiling fan. I would turn the switch ON, and the ceiling fan would start moving! And you know, it is kind of like magic–they would both be in utter awe and give me the biggest smiles! I have even made it into a little game when we are in our bedroom–I get some pillows and put them on the floor, and they sit or lie down. Then I ask them if they are ready for some magic and 1-2-3 VOILA, and the ceiling fan starts moving (SMILE!)! Seeing life through my children’s eyes is going to be so much fun!!

Take care,

Ivania

P.S. Sorry, no new photos have been posted. I have not been good about taking photos this past month.

Hi Everyone,

Well, we made it back from our first family trip! We visited my folks–just a mere 6.5 hour drive (one way) from here. The girls did OKAY. Addison was fine on the drive there, not so much on the drive back–just give the girl two fingers to comfort her and her hair to twirl, and she is almost always good to go. Jasmine on the other hand, was a bit more fussy on both trips. Hearing her cry it out was not so much fun! I am sure being strapped down to a car seat for that long would probably not be that fun either. Poor kids! Other than the drive and the first night there, we had a good trip. The girls loved roaming around a new place and had fun playing with the little kids. Popo and Gong Gong had a great time having the grandkids at their house for a change. The girls even took their first dip in a kiddie pool in my parents backyard. My parents had a family BBQ on the 4th, so they got to meet some relatives that they had not met before. My cousins Denis and Gilbert were there with their HUGE professional cameras, so I am thankful they were able to capture some great shots of both girls! Photos have been posted in the Picture Gallery under July.

My sister Ariana gave the girls this book called Llama Llama Red Pajama, and it has become a favorite of the girls. I like it because as soon as I finished reading it, Addison started saying Mama! And when she woke up from her nap that afternoon, she stretched out her arms and said “Mama”! It was the sweetest thing! Jasmine is a hoot. Every time I tell her to SMILE for the camera, she scrunches up her nose. You can see this in the first photo in the 4th of July album! The girls are still napping twice a day. Wahoo. Hey, if they are going to nap and still sleep at their normal time, I am not going to knock that! Ah–Jasmine’s favorite color is yellow. If I give her a yellow bib at the beginning of the day, she has to have a yellow one throughout the day. It is not fun when you only have 4 bibs of that color and have to wash them over and over again. Sometimes she does not even want you to switch it out, and I have to do a switcheroo dance once again. Another thing that the girls are into now is making us read the same book over and over. . . and over again. By the time you read The Turning of the Year (the latest favorite by Bill Martin Jr.) for the 6th time, you kind of get sick of reading it. . . until the next day. It is kind of cute that they are so attached to certain books! Oh, while we were at my parents’ house, the girls learned to point out everyone in the family–they knew who Mom, Dad, Popo, Gong Gong, Aunt Ari, and they knew who their sister was and even themselves (Jasmine would point to herself and smile when we asked who Jasmine was!!). Addison has built a nice collection of loveys for herself–she’s got 2 monkeys (she disowned one temporarily when I pointed out that the thread of the mouth came loose -picky kid!!), 2 bunnies, a duck, AND a dog. It’s like she takes the whole farm with her to bed!

I think I have an obsessive compulsive behavior. Washing my hands. And they feel like leather now-blah. I have got to get this under control, or I will just have raw hands for the rest of my life. Fun. Oh, so my sis got me a pedometer for my birthday. On the first day, I logged in 8,500 steps just walking around the grocery store and inside the house. Whew! I did not realize I did that much walking. Ideally 10,000 steps is how many you are supposed to walk in a day. Not bad, huh?!

Take care,
Ivania

Hi All,

Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there! Chiu is such a natural father, and I thank my lucky stars he has a patient streak. I know I have been a bit insufferable lately since I have been going a bit stir crazy and all (I suppose it is good that I have made it this far. . . I am gradually working on getting more play dates and just getting out more often though!), so I am thankful for him!

Summertime. I love that fruit is so bountiful this time of the year, and that the girls can practically eat everything. . . if they choose to (”choose” being the key word). I also love that it is still bright outside even after the girls go to bed. It just feels like you still have part of the day to do other non-kid related stuff before another day begins.

My sister Ismara stayed with us for the last 3 weeks, and it was nice to have someone to talk to in the mornings (before she went to work). She even heard my conversations (along with responses that I think the girls would say) with the girls and laughed. The girls are a tough audience so I never know if what I am saying is actually witty! My sis was also kind enough to watch the kids after they went to bed (easy job, but somehow I don’t think anyone would approve if we just took off while the girls were asleep!), and we got to watch a couple of box office movies. Thanks, Ismara!

Chiu got the Wii Fit a few weeks ago (I can never get the names of these video games right . . . Is it Wee? Why? Gameboy? Playboy? Yeah, I know it is sad, especially being married to a gadget geek). Anyway, the game makes you take these body tests, and then it tells you what it thinks your body age is . . . fun, huh?! Well, it said I was 10 years older the first time, 15 years older another time, so that was enough motivation for me to start exercising a little more. I guess my exercise regime is non-existent unless you call chasing after the girls and the occasional stroll pushing a 55 pound stroller (20 pounds for each for each kid plus 15 pounds for the stroller), “exercise”. So I must admit I’m slowly getting hooked. . . after just a few more times of measuring my body tests via balance tests, etc., I am currently my own age. Success. Is technology great or what?!? I’m pretty sure it’s not the ideal way to exercise, but it’s working. Wish me luck that my body stays my own age!

Jasmine and Addison have been climbing as of late. Not sure I can really prevent them from doing it. Wouldn’t this be hampering their developmental something or other by thwarting this latest milestone? So I am stumped as to what to do–keep my sanity or let them do their own thing?!? Pulling on drawers is another thing. Lifting heavy objects remains a favorite pastime (the girls love non-toy stuff and so they have discovered Mom and Dad’s stash of contact solution bottles which weigh about 14 ounces each, and they like holding both of them at the same time).

Oh, Addison made a joke the other night. It was quite funny. I didn’t realize they had a sense of humor so early. But then again, she has always had great timing (when they were just a few months old, I would read stories before bedtime. A few times we found Addison looking up at the wall . . . where there was only a clock . . .did she really think it was that boring and was counting the minutes before bedtime?! Another time I was trying to teach them to sip water out of a cup for the first time, and so I handed it to Addison. She gave this HUGE sigh and then put her hand out.) So this time I was feeding them Cheerios and showed them the sign for it–it is an “O” with your hand, and Addison pointed to her nose . . . and started giggling (honest!). Jasmine joined in too (SMILE). Jasmine has picked up on quite a few names of body parts. It is wonderful to see her be so compliant with this little game we keep playing several times a day! The girls definitely have opinions on what they want to eat or what they want me to read to them. The shaking of the head continues to be cute . . . for now anyway!

Take care,

Ivania

Hi Everyone,

So what’s more miserable than being sick? Seeing your own kids be miserably sick. Two sick toddlers who can’t talk and can’t wipe their own nose is just so very sad. Addison caught some kind of virus one day and then Jasmine inevitably got sick a couple of days later. After a few days of keeping their water in separate containers and feeding them from two spoons, I gave up. Keeping their tissues separate was hard enough. At least we made it this long without getting sick!

The 15 month doctor’s appointment happened in the middle of all this, but the girls took their immunization shots well. We think Addison actually remembers the doctor’s office because she starts crying whenever she hears the crinkling of the white paper that goes on the examination table. Good memory, huh?! Well, they both weigh about 20 pounds. I could have sworn they gained at least 5 more pounds since the last time we were at the doctor’s. I was a bit disappointed that they had only gained a measley pound. I did read somewhere that if a toddler gained as much weight in the second year as they did in the first year (they usually triple their weight in the first year; almost quadruple for Jasmine since she was so small to begin with), they would be the size of a 5^th grader! Whew. Well, I have to remind myself of that every so often so that I don’t freak out when they hardly eat anything for that meal. And besides, they are probably thinking, “They sure do feed us often around here. If I miss a meal, I’ll just eat next time.”

You know one of my habits is to multitask and be as efficient as possible–not such a good thing when raising toddlers. I am still carrying the girls around the house–probably more than I need to. It is more efficient if I carry each kid to the high chair for meals though. The thing is that if I let them out from their play area (we have 3 “areas”–there’s a “pit” in the living room that has sofas and ottomans bordering it, the nursery, and the master bedroom), they will end up roaming all over the house. . . and they end up fighting me and refusing to sit in their chair. Not fun . . . especially if you do it 5 times a day for two kids. No thanks. Putting their toys away is another thing that goes a million times faster if I did it myself, but this one I am determined for them to do more often. They are usually good about putting their books away if you ask them to bring you a book title by title.

Oh, Chiu’s parents just got back from Hong Kong and on their last visit they brought all sorts of goodies back for the girls. They were mildly excited about the squeaky slippers, but when Mama opened the suitcase full of books, oh my! They got really excited! I could do without the 5 stuffed mascots for the Olympics though. They talk in Mandarin and English, and it is all the same voice. You would think they would be creative enough to give them different voices. I did find out that if you put their names together Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, it means “Welcome to Beijing.”

Remember that scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls squawk “Mine, Mine” over and over again?? Well, the girls are in that kind of mode now except they say “Eh, eh” instead . . . to point to stuff they want. Oh dear me. They are building their vocabulary (sign language mostly) so that helps me out tremendously; I just have to remember to make the sign for certain things as I am going about the day. Thank goodness for sign language!!

Some family news. . . my sister Ismara and her husband are moving to the East Coast. Chris is already there for a job, but Ismara is still here for a few more weeks to wrap things up. The good news is that she will be staying with us for the next few weeks before she moves. I just hope they move back as soon as possible. I sure will miss having them around!

Ivania

Happy Mother’s Day!

I was thinking the other day, is it hard having two at the same time? Well, so far so good (excluding the newborn stage). Well, they can’t talk back yet, so it has been really good (SMILE). I have no clue if it’s that much harder, easier or the same as having two kids under five though. However, since they are on the same schedule–they eat, sleep, and play at the same time - that makes it easy on me. . . but it’s been more like the movie Groundhog Day lately (SMILE).

I have started reading this book on raising twins and have realized I have so much to learn! Parenting one child seems like a daunting task, especially the teen years. Add another child of the same age, and you have a whole slew of things to deal with too. The book lists questions people often ask–Which one’s smarter? Which one’s more outgoing? Which one’s the good child? Are they fraternal or identical (they are fraternal by the way)? Are they sisters (after being asked the fraternal/identical question–are these people nuts?!)? Can you tell them apart (Of course I can! I can even tell the difference between their cries, believe it or not.)? Do you like being a twin (this one is like constantly being asked if you like being a singleton)? Do you have ESP (This is a no, but if you spent a lot of time together with your best friend, wouldn’t you get to know him/her really well?)? All seem like “harmless” questions, but comparisons or labeling kids = not a good thing. And I am sure to some extent the girls will do it themselves while they discover who they are. As a parent, I guess I will learn the easy way (not doing it) or the hard way. So the harm is that the child might actually try to self-fulfill this label. On the other hand, they might try NOT to achieve some talent fully (say if they’re labeled the “smart” one) so that the other twin will not feel bad. Geez–is this complicated enough?! Just because there are two does not mean they are each other’s opposites–that much I understand. Both girls can be varying degrees of a trait. They can flip flop personalities too, so they always keep us guessing. Learning to field these questions from people–strangers, family, friends–will be a challenge in itself. It is OKAY now because the girls do not understand what we are saying, but later it will be a different ball game. These may actually be the “easy” years! I must admit, I am guilty of doing some comparisons/labels myself. I was calling them Big/Little Sis for a while, and I thought that was innocent enough. I knew calling them a collective name like “twins” was not necessarily a good thing, but that includes any collective noun like girls or sisters too. Using their given names and not getting it wrong is a whole lot better. I really don’t know how parents that give their kids rhyming or same sounding names keep it straight–it’s hard now! (FYI: I will keep calling them my “girls” in the blog so that their names do not appear at the top of internet search engines.) Oh, and you should avoid saying “Let me guess (who you are)”–apparently it gets old and twins don’t like to play this game. I will have to find a way to help people distinguish between the two to prevent them from making the comparison themselves. Different haircuts seem to make sense to me–uh, that is when they get more hair (SMILE). Since twins learn how to share early on, I thought I was in the clear with this one. Haha. I am going to have to teach them that they do NOT have to share everything - clothes, toys, even a friend. And then there is individual time for each child. It’s a good thing that Chiu loves children because if we are not all together, he will always have one, and I will have the other! In the end, I just want my daughters to be close sisters and be happy, well-adjusted and independent individuals. . . . and for us to keep our sanity for the next 20 years! Wish us luck!!

My only regret so far is that I do not go out with the girls as often as I would like simply because of the logistics. I am sure it will get easier once they understand that they cannot wander all over the place (if you have kids, you may be laughing at this point). Once, I ventured out and on the way home Jasmine would not stop crying–they are both usually good when we travel. Then five minutes before we got home, a couple of people waved me down at the stoplight to tell me that I had a flat tire…it happened to be on Jasmine’s side of the car. I made it home safely, but there was no way I was going to stop at the side of the road with a crying baby in the car.

The girls have been speed walking, spinning in circles, and even climbing! Eeek. There has been some biting, but only when instigated. . . . I am trying to teach them some body parts too (in English and Chinese - boy, that’s a lot of words to remember!), and they’re slowing getting it. They are picking up some more sign language too, so that’s good. They have been really good at mimicking each other lately. After a meal, I ask them if they are full in Chinese (bao bao?), and they will nod their heads and then proceed to take their bibs off. If one does it, the other will follow suit. I just have to remember not to say it too early in the meal! If one refuses to give me a kiss, the other will smack one on me and then the first child will do it too. I have now given them the same color cup to drink from because they will otherwise make me do a little switcheroo dance before they will drink it. Cute story–I was talking on the phone with my mother one day and I gave Jasmine an organic cookie (it’s got lots of iron in it, so I do not feel quite as bad giving it to them). Addison (who had not done this before) throws her arms and palms up and does this “Where’s mine?” gesture.

Until next time,

Ivania

Hi Everyone,

Babyproofing the house was easy. The obvious stuff was anyway–like covering the fireplace and all the outlets. It’s the constant readjusting that I have to remind myself to be aware of. In the last few weeks, Jasmine has randomly fallen a couple of times (once between two window ledges-I had it covered but removed it because I thought I was being paranoid. . . and once on the edge of an opened cabinet drawer while I was putting some clothes away). Clumsiness is indeed inherited! And then there is the other stuff where you have to think at the kids’ level–this past weekend she managed to crawl under the exersaucer . . . I assumed she would crawl all the way through like she has seen Tigger do all the time. She did not. . . and got stuck halfway through. Chiu ended up pulling the thing apart to get her out. Well, I know there is no way to watch them 100% of the time, but I have to do everything in my power to keep them as safe as I can. So my new motto is to err on the side of being too cautious, especially in the early years! Speaking of being cautious, I always wondered if buying those fabric covers for shopping carts/highchairs were a waste of time and money. I read a recent article that they found more bacteria on shopping carts than in restrooms! Ewwwww. I guess we will have to continue to cover the carts every time we go grocery shopping. It is a pain to do because you cannot just grab a cart and go. I suppose some things are just better to be safe than sorry!

The girls have gotten curious as they are walking around the house more. They have even walked backwards too! While Mama (Chiu’s mom) was here last month, she taught the girls to clean up after each play time. . . and they will actually help, at least we are heading in the right direction! This explains why Chiu is such a neat freak-not a complaint, just an observation (SMILE)! Funny story about the girls–one day Big Sis Addison took a book that Jasmine was “reading.” Little sis cried, of course. Then Addison went and grabbed Jasmine’s lovey and handed it to her instead. Who said toddlers were not creative?!

I have been struggling with what to feed the girls. I want it to be good but still healthy for them. I have come to the harsh reality that we will probably have to cook most days. . . for the next twenty years or so. Looking back, my sisters and I were very lucky to have had home-cooked meals growing up! The married-without-children-eating lifestyle will have to be tweaked if I want to continue this health kick. UGH. Hopefully I will get the hang of it sooner or later!

Jasmine seems to be the better eater when it comes to table foods, but Addison will eat practically anything as long as it is bland-no seasoning necessary for this kid! So it has nothing to do with introducing meat or seasoning late in the game (the girls always find ways to do things differently, leaving me completely stumped). They are just different . . . period. Nevermind that they shared close quarters for 9 months and got fed the same thing. No matter what I do, my decisions are neither wrong nor right (e.g having your kid via C-section does not necessarily cause your child to have acid reflux–one had it mildly, the other was fine). Back to food . . . so I decided to check into those cookbooks where they sneak nutritious food to make them healthy. I wish I had had a chance to look at the recipes before I bought it online. Blueberry/spinach brownies does not sound that bad at all. . . well, the blueberry part does not anyway. Besides, my kids LOVE blueberries and sometimes spinach. Why puree when I do not need to. . . or combine them? Then I saw an article about not hiding vegetables, and it brought up a couple of great points. Some recipes ask for 1/4 or 1/2 cup of veggie puree to a dish made for 4-6 people . . . so that means each person is getting a little bit over a tablespoon of veggies? We might as well force them to eat the vegetable outright. And the other point is that if you smother the veggie with cheese or lots of butter to make it taste good, it is a heck of a lot easier to decrease these amounts later than it is to take the vegetable out of the dessert. Hmmmm. . . . . I guess the key is persistence, because they say you have to introduce a new food 10-15 times before they eat it. Geez. If you try to feed this one item to your child once a week, 10 to 15 times means trying it every week for 2-4 months consecutively?! Wow–who has that much patience?! Well, I am lucky that we have twins in that respect. One kid will usually like it and eats whatever I end up making (SMILE)! Oh, I have a sweet story about Jasmine–sometimes I ask her if something is good to eat (in Chinese-”hom ho sek?”). She nods her head yes. . . she then proceeds to clap her hands. . . it’s like she’s applauding my cooking attempts (SMILE)!

So I am still trying to potty train the girls. And I have realized that I have to step it up a bit or else I am going to end up potty training FOREVER. It just seems like it would’ve been a waste of my time if I do not get some results soon, so the pressure is on! They are doing awesome, by the way, so I KNOW I am close. Taking them to the bathroom 30-45 minutes after each meal is easy to remember, and I usually get results since I have learned to read their signs (Hooray)! It is the other times that I am not too sure about since they really cannot communicate with me yet. Oh and another reason for my rush is that my back is just killing me. Carrying and lifting 20+ pounds of baby (times two) is not exactly what the human body was meant for, you know?

So being a parent has inspired all sorts of things in both Chiu and me. For one, we both decided to grow things. I finally have some native plants growing in the flowerbeds in the backyard-after years of avoiding the whole gardening thing because I failed miserably that first time long ago-I am glad to report that the plants are thriving and flowers are even blossoming! At least it is something to watch as the days go by . . . and sometimes there are longer days than others! I am trying to grow an herb garden too-to go along with the whole cooking attempt. And Chiu is growing some strawberries and tomatoes. Wish us luck that this continues until the girls can actually fully appreciate what we are trying to do for them (SMILE)!

Ivania