this is my last post on blogger! for so many reasons, i'm making the jump to wordpress and i hope you all will follow along. here's the new address:
http://thesilvertwins.wordpress.com/
it's still a bit in progress, so bare with me. hopefully the novelty of sprucing up a new site will reinvigorate my lagging motivation on the posting front.
i'd love to hear from you on the new site - drop me a comment and let me know you've found me on the other side.
ciao blogger!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
summer solstice
now that it's the first day of summer, i can properly think about the hectic and joyful spring we just left. actually, i don't even know why i differentiate seasons anymore, given that it's been in the 90s for several months now.
back in may, lee-lee came for a fantastic mother's day and 65th birthday visit. this has been our tradition for many years and i hope it doesn't end anytime soon. even though i'm a mother now, nothing beats spending mother's day celebrating my own wonderful mama. having jordan's mom here as well made it that much more special. the boys worship their lee-lee and nana and made them special grandmother day paintings. here is a sampling of their budding artistry:
abel's colorblocking phase
ozzy drew lee-lee with her family (my fav pic yet!)
the boys with their nana
the boys have successfully transitioned to their new school and they hosted a fantastic mother's day breakfast. abel made a caterpillar out of egg crate for his class art show (which i immediately had to replicate the activity for oskar when we got home). i've realized this is definitely one of the downsides of the boys being in separate classes, but i've surprised myself at how crafty i can be at putting together art projects on the fly.
a special mother's day morning at the boys' new school
the boys and i with our newly planted sedum pots - a special mother's day project i got to do with MY mom!
after many weeks of pushing sweaty hair out of their eyes, we finally broke down and got the boys proper haircuts. words can't describe how cute they were, willingly sitting in the little prop cars as the ladies shaved and snipped.
and just to keep us on our toes and add unnecessary drama into our lives, a month after we split the boys up at their new school, they combined the boys' classes due to the limited summer enrollment. so for june and july, they are sharing a class and teachers. i was livid at the school's decision and made my displeasure clear, but there was nothing we could do. i'm trying hard not to let this affect how i feel about the school, especially because the boys clearly LOVE IT and the teachers are great. so we're just rollin' with the summer...
back in may, lee-lee came for a fantastic mother's day and 65th birthday visit. this has been our tradition for many years and i hope it doesn't end anytime soon. even though i'm a mother now, nothing beats spending mother's day celebrating my own wonderful mama. having jordan's mom here as well made it that much more special. the boys worship their lee-lee and nana and made them special grandmother day paintings. here is a sampling of their budding artistry:
the boys have successfully transitioned to their new school and they hosted a fantastic mother's day breakfast. abel made a caterpillar out of egg crate for his class art show (which i immediately had to replicate the activity for oskar when we got home). i've realized this is definitely one of the downsides of the boys being in separate classes, but i've surprised myself at how crafty i can be at putting together art projects on the fly.
after many weeks of pushing sweaty hair out of their eyes, we finally broke down and got the boys proper haircuts. words can't describe how cute they were, willingly sitting in the little prop cars as the ladies shaved and snipped.
and just to keep us on our toes and add unnecessary drama into our lives, a month after we split the boys up at their new school, they combined the boys' classes due to the limited summer enrollment. so for june and july, they are sharing a class and teachers. i was livid at the school's decision and made my displeasure clear, but there was nothing we could do. i'm trying hard not to let this affect how i feel about the school, especially because the boys clearly LOVE IT and the teachers are great. so we're just rollin' with the summer...
our dr. doolittle
oskar is quite the animal spirit. he loves them all, especially the bugs around our house and the felines inside. he scours the plants for caterpillars, plays with the beetles, wiggles with the worms and explores the terrain of the stick bug's limbs. and oh my, those poor rollie pollies! he has become our go-to bug catcher inside, picking up unwelcome insects and gently (well, most of the time) putting them outside. in this regard, he has become quite the man of the house (which jordan has no problem with).
ozzy's relationship with romeo, our orange tabby, is ridiculous. romeo sits on his lap and they snuggle; romeo kisses oskar's nose. oskar hugs romeo and says, "oh my little sweetie kitty boy!" it's just about the cutest thing you've ever seen. oz doesn't discriminate his feline affection and is equally attached to his "daddy lion" stuffed animal and the real deal at our local zoo sanctuary. we actually broke down and got an annual membership so he could visit the other daddy lion on a regular basis!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
you say goodbye and i say hello
today was oskar's and abel's last day at their school. it was bittersweet, for sure. the boys vacillated between whining, "i don't want to go to the new school!" to exclaiming "i can't wait for the new school!" they drew pictures for their teachers and presented them with bows tied around. i almost cried when i saw what ozzy drew - a bright red smiley face in the middle (ms. leti) with four smaller orange faces (ms. janet, ms. mary, oskar and abel) around her. we brought yummy fruit salad for the class snack. and when i picked them up after nap, they said their goodbyes like troopers. ms. leti was teary-eyed. you could tell the boys were sad, too, but they held it together and delivered all the obligatory hugs and kisses. little men they are becoming.
it worked out perfectly that today was also the day to pick up their spring pictures. it was good closure for me. it was a year ago january that we started at this montessori. they were just shy of two and still babies in my eyes. they had words but were barely stringing them together. potty training seemed like an unreachable dream. drop-offs were hairy and pick-ups were even worse. now those little babies are full-fledged self confident little boys. they talk in stories, make up elaborate games, use the potty all by themselves, jump of boulders, have best friends and proudly proclaim they are twins.
if there was any lingering doubt about the DNA test we did last september (i can't tell you how many times jordan and i have contemplated doing the test again), there is none now. identical twins, indeed.
so tomorrow the boys start the transition to their new school. they'll say hello to their new teachers and their new classrooms and their soon-to-be friends. separate teachers. separate classrooms. separate friends. this will be the first time the boys will be apart from one another. just a few hours each day, but i don't want to underestimate how big a transition this might be. we'll also have the privilege of walking to school each morning, hiking a rocky trail and saying hello to our neighborhood goats and sheep on the way. matilda, our yellow lab, can join us. in days where the minutes count, i'll personally gain up to two hours eliminating our current commute. two hours a day!
i've dreamed about living in a way where we walk most everywhere, where the boys are surrounded by nature, where we can relish in lazy days. i've also dreamed about raising the boys in a way where we foster their individuality and sense of self. where they are able to find themselves but still honor the relationship they will always have with one another. we are getting closer and closer and it never felt so good.
it worked out perfectly that today was also the day to pick up their spring pictures. it was good closure for me. it was a year ago january that we started at this montessori. they were just shy of two and still babies in my eyes. they had words but were barely stringing them together. potty training seemed like an unreachable dream. drop-offs were hairy and pick-ups were even worse. now those little babies are full-fledged self confident little boys. they talk in stories, make up elaborate games, use the potty all by themselves, jump of boulders, have best friends and proudly proclaim they are twins.
if there was any lingering doubt about the DNA test we did last september (i can't tell you how many times jordan and i have contemplated doing the test again), there is none now. identical twins, indeed.
so tomorrow the boys start the transition to their new school. they'll say hello to their new teachers and their new classrooms and their soon-to-be friends. separate teachers. separate classrooms. separate friends. this will be the first time the boys will be apart from one another. just a few hours each day, but i don't want to underestimate how big a transition this might be. we'll also have the privilege of walking to school each morning, hiking a rocky trail and saying hello to our neighborhood goats and sheep on the way. matilda, our yellow lab, can join us. in days where the minutes count, i'll personally gain up to two hours eliminating our current commute. two hours a day!
i've dreamed about living in a way where we walk most everywhere, where the boys are surrounded by nature, where we can relish in lazy days. i've also dreamed about raising the boys in a way where we foster their individuality and sense of self. where they are able to find themselves but still honor the relationship they will always have with one another. we are getting closer and closer and it never felt so good.
Saturday, April 03, 2010
it started cute enough
i work for the state and have ridiculous but welcomed holidays such as "san jacinto day," "LBJ's birthday," and my favorite, "confederate hero's day." but do we get off good friday, when banks and the post offices are closed? no.
so off i trudged to work, while jordan and the boys enjoyed a morning at the zoo. jordan's friend, filip, met them there and they all had a ridiculously fun time. i get this picture mid-morning.
in addition to loving their new friend filip, the boys have two new friends to add to their stuffed animal collection: jacob and greenie. note that abel's snake is his namesake (his middle name is jacob). oz went the more obvious route, reminding me of the time we named our first teddy bear hamster, "hammie." when i got home, the boys were beyond thrilled to introduce me to the new members of our family. they even asked if they could take their new pets to feed our neighborhood goats (for another post). sorry guys.
after the goats were fed, we got back home and got ready to leave for dinner out, ozzy inside with me and abel outside with jordan. jordan bursted through the door with abel in his arms, saying, "he was just 5 inches from touching a baby rattlesnake. i have to go kill it. wish me luck." we run to the window and watch jordan exit the garage with the pooper scooper shovel. i run out and suggest an axe as a better tool. even though i generally hate snakes, i had to see this rattler for myself. so abel and i went with jordan to the spot (clearly ozzy is the only sane one in our bunch, and decided to stay inside)- a sunny rock smack dab in the middle of our backyard. the little guy was all curled up, sleeping peacefully, sunbathing without a doubt. abel was seconds away from petting him when jordan saw what was about to happen and swept him away to safety.
abel and i went inside while jordan took care of business (with the help of our two college-aged neighbor boys). i'll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say there were three men out there with axes and shovels and their was a lot of action. no more baby rattlesnake.
i immediately felt bad, guilty and semi-responsible for the death of an innocent creature. don't get me wrong, i don't want anything to harm my children. but this snake hadn't harmed anyone. it was just its potential. its very potent potential.
so the snake theme yesterday really did start out cute. and by the end of the day it had turned very ugly. and now we are over-educating the boys on snake safety, getting matilda rattlesnake trained on monday, and will have our landscaper come out next week and clean some areas up on our property. given that we live on an acre of rocky hill country, i really don't know what else we can do. we share this habitat with the rattlers, and i really hate that one had to be sacrificed. i don't want my boys growing up with an innate fear of snakes like i did.
the good news is that after much discussion about what happened, the boys are doing fine, and still love jacob and greenie (they are sleeping under their beds while the boys nap as i type this). they are also totally fascinated looking at pictures and videos of rattlers on the computer. let's all hope this was a positive lesson for us on snake safety. and we don't have any rattler karma coming our way.
so off i trudged to work, while jordan and the boys enjoyed a morning at the zoo. jordan's friend, filip, met them there and they all had a ridiculously fun time. i get this picture mid-morning.
in addition to loving their new friend filip, the boys have two new friends to add to their stuffed animal collection: jacob and greenie. note that abel's snake is his namesake (his middle name is jacob). oz went the more obvious route, reminding me of the time we named our first teddy bear hamster, "hammie." when i got home, the boys were beyond thrilled to introduce me to the new members of our family. they even asked if they could take their new pets to feed our neighborhood goats (for another post). sorry guys.
after the goats were fed, we got back home and got ready to leave for dinner out, ozzy inside with me and abel outside with jordan. jordan bursted through the door with abel in his arms, saying, "he was just 5 inches from touching a baby rattlesnake. i have to go kill it. wish me luck." we run to the window and watch jordan exit the garage with the pooper scooper shovel. i run out and suggest an axe as a better tool. even though i generally hate snakes, i had to see this rattler for myself. so abel and i went with jordan to the spot (clearly ozzy is the only sane one in our bunch, and decided to stay inside)- a sunny rock smack dab in the middle of our backyard. the little guy was all curled up, sleeping peacefully, sunbathing without a doubt. abel was seconds away from petting him when jordan saw what was about to happen and swept him away to safety.
abel and i went inside while jordan took care of business (with the help of our two college-aged neighbor boys). i'll spare you all the details, but suffice it to say there were three men out there with axes and shovels and their was a lot of action. no more baby rattlesnake.
i immediately felt bad, guilty and semi-responsible for the death of an innocent creature. don't get me wrong, i don't want anything to harm my children. but this snake hadn't harmed anyone. it was just its potential. its very potent potential.
so the snake theme yesterday really did start out cute. and by the end of the day it had turned very ugly. and now we are over-educating the boys on snake safety, getting matilda rattlesnake trained on monday, and will have our landscaper come out next week and clean some areas up on our property. given that we live on an acre of rocky hill country, i really don't know what else we can do. we share this habitat with the rattlers, and i really hate that one had to be sacrificed. i don't want my boys growing up with an innate fear of snakes like i did.
the good news is that after much discussion about what happened, the boys are doing fine, and still love jacob and greenie (they are sleeping under their beds while the boys nap as i type this). they are also totally fascinated looking at pictures and videos of rattlers on the computer. let's all hope this was a positive lesson for us on snake safety. and we don't have any rattler karma coming our way.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
nice rack!
jordan has become quite the chef. he's taken a few knife skills classes lately, one of which included crowning a rack of lamb.
cut to the boys. they are virtually vegetarians. save for chicken nuggets (abel), and the whimsy of eating bbq or grilled fish or chicken (oz), they are adamantly anti-meat. add to that our recent reading of eating animals by jonathan safran foer and watching food inc., we're on the cusp of veggie central around here. and that's in part why tonight was so darn amusing.
the other part is the boys picky eating. i feel like if they could eat fruit, mac and cheese and nut butter sandwiches and yogurt for every meal, they'd be perfectly content. they do surprise us on occasion and devour deep dish spinach pizza from lou malnatis (thanks again mom!), or grilled salmon in a soy ginger glaze, or nibble straight up lettuce. but for the most part, i feel like we struggle to figure out something that we all want to eat.
i thought tonight's meal would be a defacto "i not LIKE it!" (whine emphasis). i even prepared myself for complete meal rejection when jordan announced his plan to make that beautiful lamb, fully defrosted in the fridge. it would, without a doubt, be a dinner of sliced apples for the boys. fine.
dinner was served. a gorgeous rack encrusted in panko, garlic, rosemary and dijon. the smell alone was intoxicating. "what's that, mommy?!" stroke of brilliance comes out of my mouth..."meat lollipops! want one?"
yeah! sure! yummy! meat lollipops!
devoured. every bit of meat cleaned from the bone. no hesitation. it was a wild success. our kids love rack of lamb, eh em, i mean meat lollipops. success via linguistics twist? who knows and i don't care. all i know is i will gladly be a vegetarian six days out of the week so i can eat that rack of lamb on the seventh. it was that good.
our little abel-tarian devours his meat lollipop
oz demonstrates what "clean to the bone" looks like
cut to the boys. they are virtually vegetarians. save for chicken nuggets (abel), and the whimsy of eating bbq or grilled fish or chicken (oz), they are adamantly anti-meat. add to that our recent reading of eating animals by jonathan safran foer and watching food inc., we're on the cusp of veggie central around here. and that's in part why tonight was so darn amusing.
the other part is the boys picky eating. i feel like if they could eat fruit, mac and cheese and nut butter sandwiches and yogurt for every meal, they'd be perfectly content. they do surprise us on occasion and devour deep dish spinach pizza from lou malnatis (thanks again mom!), or grilled salmon in a soy ginger glaze, or nibble straight up lettuce. but for the most part, i feel like we struggle to figure out something that we all want to eat.
i thought tonight's meal would be a defacto "i not LIKE it!" (whine emphasis). i even prepared myself for complete meal rejection when jordan announced his plan to make that beautiful lamb, fully defrosted in the fridge. it would, without a doubt, be a dinner of sliced apples for the boys. fine.
dinner was served. a gorgeous rack encrusted in panko, garlic, rosemary and dijon. the smell alone was intoxicating. "what's that, mommy?!" stroke of brilliance comes out of my mouth..."meat lollipops! want one?"
yeah! sure! yummy! meat lollipops!
devoured. every bit of meat cleaned from the bone. no hesitation. it was a wild success. our kids love rack of lamb, eh em, i mean meat lollipops. success via linguistics twist? who knows and i don't care. all i know is i will gladly be a vegetarian six days out of the week so i can eat that rack of lamb on the seventh. it was that good.
our little abel-tarian devours his meat lollipop
oz demonstrates what "clean to the bone" looks like
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
i need a remedy
we started 2010 knocking on wood. every time i talked to friends and they brought up their kids' coughs, colds, flu, and everything that was going around, i quietly bit my lip, said a prayer, and hoped that the mere realization that the boys had been illness-free for a while didn't totally jinx us.
i should have known better.
we've been in this new decade for a mere two months and both boys have already rebounded from strep - twice - not to mention an ear infection in abel, some weird skin allergy on abel's penis (i know, TMI, but some lamisil and triple paste took care of it after a $500 dollar visit to a urologist - nice!), and now a round of colds with a nasty cough. and we all know what antibiotics can do to a toddler's stomach. let's just say we all got more than we bargained for last week when abel gleefully ran naked into the room, squatted and yelled, "mommy, watch me!" and farted way too loud. it's been a lovely start to the year!
i've never been one to take medicine and i absolutely HATE giving it to my kids, so i've started to do my homework on homeopathic and alternative remedies. obviously we needed to give our kids antibiotics for strep, but after our toddler prank gone awry, i decided the yogurt just wasn't cutting it. i found this awesome product that i think is fantastic: "yum-yum dophilus" by jarrow formulas. it's true to it's name - yummy. the boys think it's candy, but it's all natural strains of probiotics. within a day, we were regular again - yahoo! we've done probiotics before, but they were always a powder i mixed in to their juice and sometimes they drank it and sometimes they didn't. this stuff is so good, we're going to stay on it for preventative measures.
next up, the nasty cough oskar got this weekend. he was up all night on saturday and so were we. he honestly coughed every 10 seconds. poor boy. i was on a quest sunday to find a homeopathic remedy for cough and found this miracle: children's "chestal" by boiron. it tastes like honey, they get a tsp every two hours, and it honestly quelled his cough immediately. i was flabbergasted!
we were blessed with an awesome book at one of our showers called, "smart medicine for a healthier child" by zand, roundtree and walton. this book not only covers typical prescription and OTC medicine, their benefits/negatives/side effects, but more importantly alternative, homeopathic and home remedies for every ailment and illness you can think of. I LOVE THIS BOOK! i've been obsessed with it as of late and it hasn't guided me wrong yet. if you are into alternative treatments and remedies, please pick up a copy.
knock on wood if you all have been doing better than us. or better yet, the thought didn't even cross your mind.
i should have known better.
we've been in this new decade for a mere two months and both boys have already rebounded from strep - twice - not to mention an ear infection in abel, some weird skin allergy on abel's penis (i know, TMI, but some lamisil and triple paste took care of it after a $500 dollar visit to a urologist - nice!), and now a round of colds with a nasty cough. and we all know what antibiotics can do to a toddler's stomach. let's just say we all got more than we bargained for last week when abel gleefully ran naked into the room, squatted and yelled, "mommy, watch me!" and farted way too loud. it's been a lovely start to the year!
i've never been one to take medicine and i absolutely HATE giving it to my kids, so i've started to do my homework on homeopathic and alternative remedies. obviously we needed to give our kids antibiotics for strep, but after our toddler prank gone awry, i decided the yogurt just wasn't cutting it. i found this awesome product that i think is fantastic: "yum-yum dophilus" by jarrow formulas. it's true to it's name - yummy. the boys think it's candy, but it's all natural strains of probiotics. within a day, we were regular again - yahoo! we've done probiotics before, but they were always a powder i mixed in to their juice and sometimes they drank it and sometimes they didn't. this stuff is so good, we're going to stay on it for preventative measures.
next up, the nasty cough oskar got this weekend. he was up all night on saturday and so were we. he honestly coughed every 10 seconds. poor boy. i was on a quest sunday to find a homeopathic remedy for cough and found this miracle: children's "chestal" by boiron. it tastes like honey, they get a tsp every two hours, and it honestly quelled his cough immediately. i was flabbergasted!
we were blessed with an awesome book at one of our showers called, "smart medicine for a healthier child" by zand, roundtree and walton. this book not only covers typical prescription and OTC medicine, their benefits/negatives/side effects, but more importantly alternative, homeopathic and home remedies for every ailment and illness you can think of. I LOVE THIS BOOK! i've been obsessed with it as of late and it hasn't guided me wrong yet. if you are into alternative treatments and remedies, please pick up a copy.
knock on wood if you all have been doing better than us. or better yet, the thought didn't even cross your mind.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
our two are three (w/ photo overload)
today is my favorite day by a long shot. abel and oskar turned 3! celebrating with them has been more fun than i could have ever imagined.
phase one: we woke up to oskar saying, "mommy, i am three today?!" we had their birthday banner hung and presents waiting underneath. they ripped through them with gusto. upon opening their presents from lee-lee and papa, which were cool alligator papier-mache banks wrapped in protective bubbles, oskar pronounced, "ooooohhhhh! mommy, i got bubble wrap!" it's all in the little things! they were equally psyched about their retro snoopy electric toothbrushes, which i also sported when i was around their age. and they were serious team players, working together to open their joint chutes and ladders gift.
but by a long shot, their morning highlight was getting to eat the candles off their giant chocolate birthday lollipops from lee-lee and papa. i mean, is there really any better way to usher in your birthday?!
the boys burned off some of that sugar by jumping on their bubble wrap for a solid 20 minutes.
phase two of operation birthday included festivities at school. the boys were greeted with abundant "happy birthdays" and hugs by all their teachers and friends. i dropped off my camera with the teachers and asked if they could capture a few shots of the celebration. i had no idea we would get an amazing glimpse into the wonderful day the boys had with their school community.
abel got the coveted position of holding the flag during the pledge of allegiance.
the boys with their beloved teacher, ms. leti. she is truly an amazing woman and the boys love her dearly.
and here is a shot of the sugar and spice class.
phase three included a trip to nana's house where the boys were showered with new thomas trackmaster trains and tracks. the boys were BONKERS excited about their new engines!
we then finished off the night with dinner at the boys' favorite tex-mex restaurant - chuys. they ordered their own dinners - queso and chips, mac and cheese and ice cream sundaes.
what a day! we still have another celebration with friends and family on sunday for their official birthday party. but i will never forget the joy of their third birthday. we are truly blessed to have the lights of abel and oskar shining in our lives. we love you boys with all our hearts!!!
phase one: we woke up to oskar saying, "mommy, i am three today?!" we had their birthday banner hung and presents waiting underneath. they ripped through them with gusto. upon opening their presents from lee-lee and papa, which were cool alligator papier-mache banks wrapped in protective bubbles, oskar pronounced, "ooooohhhhh! mommy, i got bubble wrap!" it's all in the little things! they were equally psyched about their retro snoopy electric toothbrushes, which i also sported when i was around their age. and they were serious team players, working together to open their joint chutes and ladders gift.
but by a long shot, their morning highlight was getting to eat the candles off their giant chocolate birthday lollipops from lee-lee and papa. i mean, is there really any better way to usher in your birthday?!
the boys burned off some of that sugar by jumping on their bubble wrap for a solid 20 minutes.
phase two of operation birthday included festivities at school. the boys were greeted with abundant "happy birthdays" and hugs by all their teachers and friends. i dropped off my camera with the teachers and asked if they could capture a few shots of the celebration. i had no idea we would get an amazing glimpse into the wonderful day the boys had with their school community.
abel got the coveted position of holding the flag during the pledge of allegiance.
the boys with their beloved teacher, ms. leti. she is truly an amazing woman and the boys love her dearly.
and here is a shot of the sugar and spice class.
phase three included a trip to nana's house where the boys were showered with new thomas trackmaster trains and tracks. the boys were BONKERS excited about their new engines!
we then finished off the night with dinner at the boys' favorite tex-mex restaurant - chuys. they ordered their own dinners - queso and chips, mac and cheese and ice cream sundaes.
what a day! we still have another celebration with friends and family on sunday for their official birthday party. but i will never forget the joy of their third birthday. we are truly blessed to have the lights of abel and oskar shining in our lives. we love you boys with all our hearts!!!
Our two are THREE!
Happy Birthday, Abel!
Happy Birthday, Oskar!
You are the lights of our lives and we love you so much.
(many pictures to follow soon)
Happy Birthday, Oskar!
You are the lights of our lives and we love you so much.
(many pictures to follow soon)
Saturday, January 23, 2010
heading for splitsville?
we're in deep contemplation, friends, and need some advice. the boys have been in a great montessori program for exactly one year now. they love their teachers, they are happy and thriving. problem is, it's about a 40 minute round trip commute, and on my days off work, that pretty much sucks. i'm also less than thrilled with the next two classes the boys will advance into. the vibe i get just passing by the rooms leaves much to be desired.
enter the montessori school one minute from our house. less than one minute, really. my curiosity finally got the better of me and i scheduled a visit before the holidays. i was seriously impressed. great facility, wonderful teachers (although one seemed a little too "in control" of everything), and did i mention it's less than ONE MINUTE from our house?!? seriously, i could walk the boys to school.
it all sounds too good to by true, no? well, the catch is they require all twins, even siblings, to be in separate classes. their logic makes sense. spliting them up fosters their individuality and autonomy without the dynamic of their twin around. unintended side effects: home life is easier because they are not in each other's faces every day. the ole' "absense makes the heart grow fonder," i guess? i totally get it and even believe it to a certain extent. i'm first in line when it comes to the philosophy of fostering individuality and sense of self. but at age three? not so convinced. i'm even less convinced of this philosophy being policy. and i think it's downright cruel to expect our kids to transition to a brand new school and, while we're at it, split them up so they don't even have each other for support.
i'm torn (no pun intended). i love so much about the school and the convenience aspect just can't be beat. it just seems like a no-brainer. i've even talked to another mom with three-year old twins at the school and she assured me her boys are thriving (although she did say they are learning totally differently and she can't figure out if it's a factor of their nature or their classroom/teacher). maybe i'm having so much trouble with it because i hate being pushed into something? i'm thinking of calling them and seeing if they can be in the same class for a transition period and then make the move after their comfortable in the new school. or is that like slowly pulling the bandaid off when it would be better just the rip it off in one felt swoop?
i've read that when it comes to splitting up twins, the only right decision is what will be best for your kids. if only i felt that intuitive at this moment. any idea, advice, experiences?
enter the montessori school one minute from our house. less than one minute, really. my curiosity finally got the better of me and i scheduled a visit before the holidays. i was seriously impressed. great facility, wonderful teachers (although one seemed a little too "in control" of everything), and did i mention it's less than ONE MINUTE from our house?!? seriously, i could walk the boys to school.
it all sounds too good to by true, no? well, the catch is they require all twins, even siblings, to be in separate classes. their logic makes sense. spliting them up fosters their individuality and autonomy without the dynamic of their twin around. unintended side effects: home life is easier because they are not in each other's faces every day. the ole' "absense makes the heart grow fonder," i guess? i totally get it and even believe it to a certain extent. i'm first in line when it comes to the philosophy of fostering individuality and sense of self. but at age three? not so convinced. i'm even less convinced of this philosophy being policy. and i think it's downright cruel to expect our kids to transition to a brand new school and, while we're at it, split them up so they don't even have each other for support.
i'm torn (no pun intended). i love so much about the school and the convenience aspect just can't be beat. it just seems like a no-brainer. i've even talked to another mom with three-year old twins at the school and she assured me her boys are thriving (although she did say they are learning totally differently and she can't figure out if it's a factor of their nature or their classroom/teacher). maybe i'm having so much trouble with it because i hate being pushed into something? i'm thinking of calling them and seeing if they can be in the same class for a transition period and then make the move after their comfortable in the new school. or is that like slowly pulling the bandaid off when it would be better just the rip it off in one felt swoop?
i've read that when it comes to splitting up twins, the only right decision is what will be best for your kids. if only i felt that intuitive at this moment. any idea, advice, experiences?
one tough cookie
it's amazing how resilient and tough these little men can be, really. so much can happen in their lives and they weather it like nothing's happening.
abel's been "sick" the past few days. i say it like that because he's had a low-grade fever and congestion and complained on and off about a sore throat and being tired, but really he's just been his normal happy-go-lucky-goofy self. so now that we are on his third day of minimal fever and with their best friends' (another set of twins) birthday in the afternoon, we decide to take abel to the doctor just to make sure we don't unleash terrible germs on an unsuspecting crowd of kids (and parents!). turns out the poor boy has strep! the doctor couldn't get over how happy he was in spite of being really sick. i had strep once. i was twenty years old and i'll never forget how miserable i was. definitely in my top three most sick moments ever.
abel has also demonstrated his masterful resiliency as we've methodically transitioned him away from his baby-comforts. on a whim one random day in november, we switched them to big beds with no preparation other than them watching jordan convert their cribs to day beds after nap. they were completely non-phased, both of them, and they've never looked back.
and then the time came for the binky. this one was a bit trickier and we were starting to think strategy - maybe a new years resolution. but the stars aligned and just before christmas the binky broke. it was a tiny tear, but enough to render it non-functional. instead of pulling out one of the other three we had as backups, i used my sinister mom-thinking and told abel it was broken and he couldn't put it in his mouth anymore. he could hold it if he wanted, but it was too broken to suck on. that ushered in two weeks of abel having the binky in his bed but not putting it in his mouth. step two involved a binky fairy (thanks to dawn!) taking the broken binky and leaving in its place a new "going engine" with tracks (aka trackmaster thomas). she would then fix the broken binky and deliver it to a new baby. it was that simple and abel has been binky-free since the first week of january.
in actuality, i think all these changes have affected me more than him. the crib and the binky were the last vestiges of "baby" around here. and to add insult to injury, abel insists we call him "abel" instead of his babyish nickname "abie." now that these things are gone, we're left with the stark reality that we have two boys in this house, and they are growing up awfully fast. as of this wednesday, i'll have two THREE year olds. i love this and i hate this. i adore this age and how much fun we have, how much we can communicate, how hilarious and easy they are, how their relationship has blossomed into a crazy friendship. jordan and i have been in so many moments over the past month and thought, "this is better than how we dreamed it would be." i hate it because, well, it only keeps going faster from here.
later days, binky!
abel's been "sick" the past few days. i say it like that because he's had a low-grade fever and congestion and complained on and off about a sore throat and being tired, but really he's just been his normal happy-go-lucky-goofy self. so now that we are on his third day of minimal fever and with their best friends' (another set of twins) birthday in the afternoon, we decide to take abel to the doctor just to make sure we don't unleash terrible germs on an unsuspecting crowd of kids (and parents!). turns out the poor boy has strep! the doctor couldn't get over how happy he was in spite of being really sick. i had strep once. i was twenty years old and i'll never forget how miserable i was. definitely in my top three most sick moments ever.
abel has also demonstrated his masterful resiliency as we've methodically transitioned him away from his baby-comforts. on a whim one random day in november, we switched them to big beds with no preparation other than them watching jordan convert their cribs to day beds after nap. they were completely non-phased, both of them, and they've never looked back.
and then the time came for the binky. this one was a bit trickier and we were starting to think strategy - maybe a new years resolution. but the stars aligned and just before christmas the binky broke. it was a tiny tear, but enough to render it non-functional. instead of pulling out one of the other three we had as backups, i used my sinister mom-thinking and told abel it was broken and he couldn't put it in his mouth anymore. he could hold it if he wanted, but it was too broken to suck on. that ushered in two weeks of abel having the binky in his bed but not putting it in his mouth. step two involved a binky fairy (thanks to dawn!) taking the broken binky and leaving in its place a new "going engine" with tracks (aka trackmaster thomas). she would then fix the broken binky and deliver it to a new baby. it was that simple and abel has been binky-free since the first week of january.
in actuality, i think all these changes have affected me more than him. the crib and the binky were the last vestiges of "baby" around here. and to add insult to injury, abel insists we call him "abel" instead of his babyish nickname "abie." now that these things are gone, we're left with the stark reality that we have two boys in this house, and they are growing up awfully fast. as of this wednesday, i'll have two THREE year olds. i love this and i hate this. i adore this age and how much fun we have, how much we can communicate, how hilarious and easy they are, how their relationship has blossomed into a crazy friendship. jordan and i have been in so many moments over the past month and thought, "this is better than how we dreamed it would be." i hate it because, well, it only keeps going faster from here.
later days, binky!
Friday, January 01, 2010
01/01/2010
i really just wanted an excuse to write out the date today - the number combination is so cool!
happy new years to you all. wishing you a healthy, happy 2010!
and from abel and ozzy, "live every minute to its fullest; rest when you need to; and don't forget to look down sometimes!"
happy new years to you all. wishing you a healthy, happy 2010!
and from abel and ozzy, "live every minute to its fullest; rest when you need to; and don't forget to look down sometimes!"
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