fall favorites

it's fall here in austin, tho it feels like heaven's version of the season. highs of 75 without a cloud in the sky, lows in the 50s at night just to put some crisp in the air for our morning walk. the leaves are turning (i know, it's mid november!), the squirrels are foraging for acorns, the oak leaves are just starting to fall. perfecto!

the boys are loving this time of year. we're outside almost all day. taking hour long walks down the block, strolling to the park, feeding the ducks or just throwing balls for mati in the front yard. and they are always finding some new twist on an old activity/toy. last weekend, it was "the great pumpkin balance." oz had it pretty easy, but abel managed to keep his pumpkin on the lawn mower almost the entire time. it was a mega hit. and nothing beats walking down the street with a pumpkin in your wagon and getting to duck through daddy's leg tunnel.

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superhero sunday

and apparently abie's superpowers are enhanced by pursing his lips, and ozzy's are by sticking out his tongue. funny boys!

times are a changing

i wish i had the motivation to attempt to write something profound about yesterday's election. i don't. however, i didn't want this moment to pass without saying something.

i am incredibly proud, proud, proud to have voted in this election and to witness this moment in history. i have never been a very patriotic person. almost the opposite, in fact. not that i'm not totally grateful for the freedoms that we have. i've just always thought our government could do a lot more for the people who really need it. oh, and not to mention i've never been a fan of the white patriarchal power structure.

the fact that obama won by a landslide gives me so much hope. that the majority of people in this country is ready for a black president...holy crap is this amazing! almost mind-blowing. if we had to endure the past eight years to get to this point, then by god it was worth it.

i moved to austin in 2000, just two years after the brutal racist killing of james bird. i used to work with tiny communities in east texas, delightful and gracious people who were working to better their depressed town, who became ugly and scary when asked how we could get the blacks who lived "on the other side of town" involved. it was a different world of social relations out there. and there is here and every where. still.

but times are a changing.

i'm feeling very patriotic at this moment. that "there" is now the white house. that we believe we can stand together. even if obama gets nothing accomplished (which i know will not happen), he's accomplished so much. so very, very much for our country.

p.s. even though mccain took tejas, 65 percent of austin voted for obama!

halloween lowdown

the first of many holiday celebrations in this last quarter has come and gone. it's a little mind boggling for me to think of all that's on the horizon. thanksgiving will be here in the blink of an eye; then hannukah, solstice, christmas, new years. whew! i enjoy holidays immensely, but i also try to keep an even keel and not make it the end-all-be-all. although, i'm realizing quickly that with two toddlers who are understanding things quickly, i should be prepared to make holidays a special time for us all. i tend to be a horrible procrastinator!

the boys really got a kick out of halloween! our neighborhood does it right and lots of houses have been decked out with headstones and cobwebs in the yard, big spiders on trees, skeletons and ghouls hanging from just about anywhere. oh, and the mummies! oz's new favorite word. it's been a morning staple this october to walk the streets and explore all the new and old decorations. the boys haven't been afraid one bit, and run right up to the skulls and give 'em a big old pat on the head. we also made halloween sticker books a few days ago thanks to lee-lee. she made the boys these awesome black books with their names on them, and sent us some festive stickers. the boys we shimmying in their chairs with such excitement for that next sticker. so cute! i also got some seasonal window gels for them to play with and it's been a huge hit.

they have been obsessed of late with wearing headbands and love to push around tennis rackets, so we thought PERFECT! they'll be tennis players, ala bjorn borg, for halloween. problem is they're also toddlers, so as soon as we tried to put the headbands on them yesterday, they freaked out. and of course, wanted nothing to do with a tennis racket. i think we'll stick to fun kids costumes next year.

oz had a mysterious fever yesterday, but it didn't deter us from going to j's office for trick or treating in the afternoon. the boys got completely freaked out by a women dressed as a mummy (which i though oz would love! she even had horns on her head like tyron as the mummy king, which is his favorite!). so they clung to us for dear life after that. we came home, all happy as clams, and nana and aunt lynda walked in the door. the boys got so excited they went running into the kitchen and oz took a corner too fast and slammed his face into the corner of the cabinet. all i heard was a very loud thud...not good. i swooped his poor self up, and abie, amidst the commotion, started FREAKING. crazy hysterical. he actually took longer to calm down then oz, who by then, had a 4 inch gash running down the side of his face. after about 10 minutes of utter crankdom, they snapped out of their funk and had fun playing with the ladies. ate dinner, got pumpkin soup all over their tennis whites, so i figured it was time to improvise new costumes.

i thought two babies would be fun. put them in their footed pj's, stick binkies in their mouths (which i knew abie would love!), let them carry around their blankies. it'd be ironic and easy! j wasn't sold though. so i threw a football jersey on oz, abie got his bones babylegs, and we were good to go for some trick or treating. we beat the sundown rush and the boys made all their usual stops at neighbors homes with their favorite decorations. and i got to thank all our neighbors for being so tolerant with letting the boys run all over their property and touch their decorations every morning! everyone was so gracious and sweet, the boys loved getting candy and said lots of unprompted thank yous. i'm just so grateful we live in this amazing neighborhood with folks who are genuinely kind and love watching our guys grow up.

the boys were in bed by 7:30 and out like a light. now that's a great halloween!

happy hallows eve!

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so long, old friend

i bought my first new car almost 6 years ago. a VW passat wagon i called tof pin, because my license was TO5 PNN, and my mind freakishly interpreted the 5 as an "f" for the sake of remembering. it was between a mini cooper and the wagon; fun and flirty vs. solid and practical. i was also 3 months into my long-distance relationship with jordan and i must have had a premonition of things to come, because not only did i go with the wagon, but i even got it in automatic (gasp!). all i can say is, thank god.

i have loved my passat. she's been a loyal friend and literally traveled with me through the many different phases of my life. driving to hot springs arkansas (the half-way point between st. louis and austin) every other month to meet up with jordan; moving me to chicago to be with my man; moving j and i, married, back to austin with a dog and two cats in tow; bringing our extremely precious cargo home from the hospital four days after they were born; soothing that precious cargo with her purring engine...countless times. when i think about it that way, my passat has been a life saver.


the proud new owner! yes, i am in a cemetery in hot springs AK. and yes, on the trip home mati christened the car properly and puked in my lap while we were stuck in traffic. worst. car. moment. ever.


moving to austin in 2005 with mati and sam keeping a close eye on the speedometer

parting is such sweet sorrow. we drove tof pin to the volvo dealer this past weekend to talk trade in. with nana in austin, it's been pretty silly having to take two cars every where when the five of us want to, say, go out to dinner. or drive an hour to the pumpkin patch. and it's super silly when we have one visitor, say lee-lee, and we have to take two cars to binge on salt lick bbq. to my complete dismay, we had 7-seater SUV territory written all over our faces (sorry, but a minivan just isn't happening here).

little did we know, but the dealer gave us what we felt tof pin was worth, and we negotiated the heck out of 'em to drive home a 2006 xc90. i'm still pinching myself. i LOVE this car. three beautiful rows (and the 3rd row is dang comfortable, even for a moderately sized adult!), spacious yet not looking like an obnoxiously-sized, gas guzzling behemoth, and just about the safest four wheels out there. and not that we were going for this, but we truly got the pick of the used car litter and scored a built-in DVD entertainment system for the second row. ROAD TRIPS HERE WE COME!

but the all important test was yet to come. how would the boys like their new ride? in general, they love being in the car, so i wasn't too worried. but little did i know. once they were in, they didn't want to get out! and now they go outside and beg me to go for a ride. and i swear i didn't even shown them the DVD capabilities!

so we have now officially entered SUV-land and i don't regret it one bit. maybe i will when gas prices go back up, but for now we're sitting on top of the volvo...i mean world.


our new family wheels!


the boys seriously pimp their ride!

let's make it a date!

i wanted to have another lunch date with the boys, but i didn't want to fall into the trap of doing the "same ol' thing." i honestly came this close to going to the children's museum and galaxy cafe again, but then stopped myself. it wouldn't have been the worst thing in the world, but i wanted to traverse new terrain.

ozzy's big toe has been getting calloused lately and i've suspected his shoes were getting too small. so i asked the boys if they wanted to go shoe shopping and then to lunch at nordstrom, and they both gleefully started saying, "mall! mall!" so our date was set.

shoe shopping was great! stride rite had new toys and the gal their has helped us twice before and knows the boys by name. she even remembers that oz is an XW (yes, that's our mallet-footed child) and abel is just a W. i was right, the boys grew a size, and i ended up shelling out the big bucks, minus 15%, for two new pairs of shoes. i always have terrible buyers' remorse, though, so i let the boys run around in the shoes in the mall to really try them out. then i took them off before going outside...just in case! i know, i'm really bad like that. i was on-line looking for deals as soon as we got home. i really think i need to stop wasting my time doing this, but it's this little frugal demon i constantly battle with.

it was getting pretty close to nap time, but i decided to take a risk and off we went to nordstrom's cafe. in all honesty, i was really jonesing for their thin cut fries. we had a lovely lunch, again. so lovely, in fact, that i want to make a weekly, or bi-monthly, lunch date with this dashing duo. i figure we can check out new restaurants in austin, since so many have opened since j and i have officially become homebodies with the birth of these boys. i may even add in some dining reviews to the blog for all you austin readers!

so here's my first on nordstrom's cafe:
the fries are divine and worth the trip in and of itself. thin cut, perfectly crispy with a little skin showing. sea salted with a generous coating of parsley. served with a kalamata olive aioli. completely finger lickin' good. mac and cheese was poorly made annie's from a box. not worth the $4.50. i will totally order chicken fingers for the boys next time because, guess what? it comes with more fries! everything else was inconsequential.

oh, and these photos totally don't relate to this post, but i didn't want to write something without giving you all something to look at, too!

pumpkin patch

we trekked to marble falls on sunday for the boys' first visit to a pumpkin patch. we had an amazing time, despite oz losing one of his shoes in the first 5 minutes of our arrival, and my dead SLR battery. the boys really love pumpkins and scarecrows, and we all had our first bite of the most fabulous homemade pumpkin ice cream.

thank god for cell phones with cameras!

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things that i love today

- how when the boys are happy, they run to each other for a big hug and kiss
- how they hate getting their hair wet in the bath, but love being in the rain and splashing in the puddles
- my new robe, which is as light and soft as spring air (thanks mama!)
- how the boys' eyes light up when they see their nana (promptly followed by a high-pitched scream!)
- costco's shrimp salad
- my husband's newly shaven face
- getting caught in the rain...twice!
- how the boys signal a toy/book exchange with the sweetest "hi!" (i think they may be saying "here" but i'm not sure...either way it's awesome)
- how instead of hitting or biting his brother, oskar now gives him a hug when he gets frustrated or angry (don't ask me how this developed)
- how oz calls abie "baby" and how abie calls oskar "cracker"- makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
- being able to squeeze in two posts during the boys' nap

more games

i know, i know. this is the second video of the boys playing games with each other in the past week. but i just can't help it. it just never ceases to amaze and delight me when i see my boys playing with each other, especially games like chase, hide and go seek, peek a boo, etc. things i've noticed about our twins and their game playing: they love to switch roles mid-game; they are totally into imitation (a game within a game?); they crack each other up to no end; and they are really good sports and show their appreciation with a great big hug at the end. it never fails.

i was able to sneak the camera on and capture this about 5 minutes into the game. i was just crossing my fingers they would keep it going, and they did not disappoint. sorry about it being so dark, but it was at 7 in the morning!

brave new world

i'm all about taking the kiddos everywhere. since they were 3 weeks old, i said screw it, i'm not going to be one of those folks who are paralyzed by the daunting nature of going out with two infants. i threw myself into it (or rather, out of it) and never looked back.

i know lots of other twin moms who are like this too. one of my fav quotes from a fellow twin blogger is "the shortest road to crazy is staying in the house."

here, here.

at 2 months, we joined a mama/baby group. loved it, especially because the teacher held one of the boys the entire time. this at a time when neither of them would sleep unless held was particularly useful. at 3 months i brought them for their first swim in a public pool, deep eddy, by myself. i was a wreck leading up to it, thinking of all the logistics and preparing, but it ended up being a breeze. and so it has gone. packing, loading them up, unloading, etc. is like second nature to us all.

that's why, when i met up with my neighbor with a 1 year old on the sidewalk yesterday, i was shaken to the core when she said, "isn't it crazy when you realize it's 5pm and you haven't been out of the house all day?" i couldn't disguise the look of utter flabbergastation on my face. she picked up on it immediately and said, "do you leave the house with your guys often?" every day, honey. and many days, multiple times.

going out with my boys is just part and parcel of our daily existence. they come with me to the dry cleaner, the grocery store, starbucks, and to just about any and every errand i ever have to do. and then of course, we do deliberately fun things as well, like play at gymboree, the playground, the children's museum (and adult-type museums for that matter), etc. granted, i've never taken them to get my nails done. but i hardly ever take myself there, these days.

the one thing i've never done with them alone is gone out for a meal, however. i've read about krissy taking her kiddos out alone, and i've admired her big time for it. i don't know why i've never done it. the boys are good eaters, they don't chuck food around, they mind themselves really well in public. so what was stopping me?

today, we entered new territory, and it was a massive success. i took the boys to the children's museum, which was mind-blowing amazing for them because they just put up all new exhibits on transportation. buses, trains, light rail, cars. what could be better! i timed it just right so we'd get to our favorite lunch spot just as they'd be starting to get hungry, but not so hungry that we'd be in cranky mode. the boys ran into galaxy cafe, we placed our order at the counter and got all settled in at the table. i honestly have never seen the boys eat like they did. they were perfect. let me repeat that. P-E-R-F-E-C-T. mac and cheese was forked perfectly into their mouths. sweet potato fries were munched on. fruit devoured. as i was cleaning up at the end, i noticed there was nary a crumb on the floor for me to pick up. amazing!

we left the restaurant and i had a renewed sense of accomplishment. we did it. we enjoyed a lovely lunch together, just the three of us. and i felt the warm sensation in my heart knowing that out of everyone at the restaurant, i had the cutest, smartest, most loving and fun dining companions you could ever ask for.

jabber mouths

i've written before about my concerns regarding the boys language development. as they approached 18 months, i grew more and more unsure if they were delayed. to say the boys are verbal is an understatement. verbal in english? now that's another matter. i even went so far as to call early childhood intervention for an assessment, in which they told me the boys were doing just fine (these folks were amazing, btw, and if you are ever concerned about a delay in your child under 3, they will come and do free assessments for you. they are in every county of every state!)

well, i'm happy to report that the language explosion i've been enviously hearing about has definitely happened in our house. over the course of the past month, the boys vocab has skyrocketed! at 20 months, they have mastered well over 50 words (i tried to count the other day, and i just gave up), and are constantly repeating what we say, no matter how complex.

some of my favorites so far...

ozzy: jiu jitsu (says it perfect!), teenager (hardly recognizable, but it's clear he is saying it), please (peese!), abie (baaaybee), lawn mower (mmmmmm-aaaaw), gross (gro)

abie: acorn (acka), oskar (ocka), brother (brada - kickin' it bronx style!), coal car (says perfect, because the kid is totally OCD about thomas the train)

the boys still use A LOT of signs every day and surprise me all the time by busting out new ones we practiced a long time ago. we started gymboree a few weeks ago and the boys are all about getting their hands, feet and belly ink-stamped at the end of class. they sit in a line in front of the teacher and wait their turn (to die for cute, btw). last week, after oz got his stamps, the teacher turned to me and said, "do you know the sign for your welcome?" i said, "no, why?" and she looked at me like the dumb-ass that i was and said, "well, oskar just signed thank you to me, and i'd like to sign your welcome!" they now sign thank you for everything, and it's gotten me on a whole new manners kick.

coinciding with their new-found words, is my new-found ability to decipher what they are saying. things are starting to sound really clear to me, as well as my ability to understand the nuances of their words. for instance, i am mama, and lots of time just ma. moa is more, which sounds a lot like ma, but is infinitely different. mmmmmmm-aaaaaw is lawn mower. which also sounds a lot like ma and more, but is infinitely-squared different. they use all three of these words about five thousand times every day, so you can imagine how relieved i am that i am able to finally comprehend.

here are our jabber mouths at 20 months old:

oz
abie

nanas in the HOUSE!

this past week has been two good to be true. both of the boys' nanas have been here, one (leelee) to visit, and one (nana) to stay! that's right folks, the boys' nana officially lives in austin, and we can walk to her house in less than 15 minutes. i keep pinching myself, because it just seems too good to be true.

leelee left yesterday much to everyone's dismay. it's really amazing to witness how much these guys love their grandmas. every other word out of there mouth is "nana" or "weewee." they completely light up when they see these ladies' faces.

there are lots more pictures and stories to share, but amidst the business of getting nana settled, there hasn't been much time. i'll be writing soon on the boys' language explosion (brother, acorn, please, etc. - so amazing!), fun at gymboree, and our obsession with feeding the ducks and turtles.

hope y'all have a great weekend!

just another reason why having twins ROCKS!

yes, i feed my kids raw eggs

so we're on our way out of the grocery store this afternoon after, yet again, a napless day. the boys were DELIRIOUSLY tired, and i was just thankful we made it out of the store without the boys causing some major catastrophe, when my cell phone rings. it's the evil nurse from our pediatrician's office, and she sounds awfully frantic. she says oskar's stool sample results just came back (from tuesday, no less!) and he has...SALMONELLA! WHAT!!!!????!!!!

she starts grilling me on where we've been, what we've been doing, what he's been eating. i'm like, "i assure you lady, i haven't been giving them raw eggs. i barely can even get them to eat a cracker half the time." she says she is calling in a prescription pronto and he needs to start taking it immediately. yikes!

after some research, i realize he could have gotten salmonella from anything. maybe food (although i doubt it, because he eats less a variety than abel, and abel is unfazed). maybe from the playground and another kid (me thinks this is the reason, since we were at a very huge public playground the day before he got sick). maybe from the turtles and ducks we feed frequently at our local pond (although we never get very close to the turtles and certainly never touch them). and while i appreciate the nurse's concern, she made it sound like oskar might die without getting these antibiotics, and she made it out like his salmonella was a public health crisis (she even said the state of texas would be calling and grilling me as well). let's just chalk it up to me not liking this nurse to much.

so there you have it. at least we know why oz has been sick. poor, poor lil' guy having to deal with this and the ear infections. he's one serious trooper, i tell you. sure, he's had his moments this week, but he's been pretty normal most of the time. i also have to give major chops to abel, who has really stepped up while his bro has been under the weather. normally my little cling-on, abel has been mr. independent this week, keeping himself busy, always up for the tasks that i request of him, and just being a delightful boy. oh, and the hugs and kisses! he's been the one this week to keep a smile on our faces and keep us all laughing. his empathy and understanding just blows me away.

here's our oz on the up and up...


and mr. cuddles gives ally some lovin'...

day is done

we've had a bit of a rough patch over here for the past few days. my b-day was on saturday, and it was a great one at that. perfect, i dare say. the morning was lovely ritual; our walk around the block (us all walking), our walk around the neighborhood (in stroller), breakfast at central market and then our weekend grocery shopping. after the boys nap we headed to zilker park, played at a HUGE playground and then we all rode the zilker zephyr, the cutest lil' train west of the mississippi. it was all just bliss and i couldn't imagine celebrating any other way. that night after the boys went to bed, we gorged ourselves on our favorite indian food (thanks mark and laura!) and i ate probably a 1/2 dozen of anne's famous birthday cocunut cupcakes (an annual tradition that i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!).

sunday, after a great morning, i noticed oz looking mighty miserable all of a sudden. i gave him a kiss and hugged him and WOAH, he was burning up to 103. so the past three days have been a big mess of fever, puking, diarrhea (my LEAST favorite aspect of parenting, hands down), little sleep and general ugliness. our trip to the doc yesterday yielded a double ear infection and bacterial intestinal diagnosis and a big ol' shot of antibiotic in ozzy's right thigh. thank god, because the kid was instantly better after that shot. miracle, i tell you!

so we were all REALLY looking forward to a nice big sleep last night. 1am diarrhea call, but right back to sleep. murmurings at 6am but right back to sleep. ahhhh....and then CRASH and screaming! it's 6:20 and j and i run to the boys room, thinking we'd find one if not both splayed on the floor after they managed to catapult themselves over their cribs. we entered their room to find the big shelf that holds their computer and humidifier ripped from the wall and everything on it all over the room, including all the water from the humidifier. lovely! i just thank god that it happened while they were safe in their cribs. then j goes into the kitchen to get breakfast ready and a watermelon we had on the counter decided to explode all over. ?!?!?!?!?

whatever was going to go wrong today did. thank god it's almost over.

p.s. i'm not even going to talk about abel. all i'll say is everyone who reads this, cross your fingers. hard.

p.p.s. the shot cleared up one of oz's ear, so he got a second one today which should do the job. no oral antibiotics to deal with. love it!

p.p.p.s. abel got some serious one-on-one time on sunday and yesterday afternoon when oz went to the doctor with dad. he was one psyched lil' man to have the hose all to himself. it's escalated to total obsession.

bye bye ichat...hello nana!

we get a lot of use out of our ichat program. with family all over the place, it's so wonderful for the boys' to get instant gratification when they ask to talk to nana (in chicago) or papa (in san francisco). "ask" is an understatement, really. on any given day, multiple times a day, the boys will pass by the computer and start screaming, "nana, nana, nana!"

well, we will be ichatting no more with nana. the boys will get to see their nana live, in person, from here on out starting this sunday. nana is moving to austin THIS SUNDAY!!! and if that weren't enough, she will be living just around the corner from us - not more than a 15 minute leisurely walk. i can picture weekend breakfasts already.

we are all beyond excited for this. for so many reasons. nana is very busy this week getting last minute things done and packing, and we are wishing we could be there to help (or rather, wishing she were here already!). lee-lee is going to drive down with nana ala thelma and louise this weekend. let's just hope there's no canyon jumping in their plans and they make it austin safe and sound. we can't wait!

so for posterity, here's oz and nana virtual chatting:

trip redux

i had every intention of posting more details about our trip to san francisco soon after we arrived home. now it's two weeks later and, i guess, better late than never! lots of fantastic pics of the boys with their papa and uncle parker are still probably on papa's nikon, so i'll have to wait to get those up.

we really did have an amazing trip filled with lots of laughter, squealing and celebration. jordan's little brother parker was bar mitzvah'ed, and he did an amazing job. even though i only caught bits and pieces of the service, i was seriously impressed by his performance. go parker! words can not describe how much the boys love their uncle parker. i'm talking about total adoration here. we have never seen the boys so smitten by someone, and they would pull out all the stops to get his attention and play with him. i can't wait to get papa's pics to show y'all their antics. the boys were also quite taken with their aunt paige, who lavished sweet attention on them. and paige's darling friends had them constantly entertained!

abie lovin' his aunt paigey

the girls give the boys high fives

this was the first time the boys got to meet their grandma vicki and their great grandma nan! nan had all sorts of tricks up her sleeve, including making little popcorn holders out of mini cereal boxes. the boys thought this was the greatest thing, and let's just say i learned a thing or two about ingenuity.

oz with g-ma vicki and abie with g-g-ma nan

the boys had a blast living in papa's house for a week. oz squealed with delight every time he got to lay on the fuzzy pillow, and he showed everyone his tennis chops with parker's racket. let's just say, everyone's pushing for the boys to become the hot doubles team in 2025.

amidst all the celebrating, we were able to sneak away as a family and spend the day in the city. we hung out at the aquarium for a while, watched the boats in the bay, oogled the street cars and double decker buses, and even managed to capture a picture of us all at the golden gate (oz would emphatically ask for "more, more, more!" every time we crossed over!).

i have to say, as worried i was about the actual traveling, it was an absolute breeze. we were seriously lucky. on the way had both rows to ourselves, and on the way home, we only had to share one seat of an entire row with someone else. we were able to set up the boys car seats even though we didn't buy seats for them (whew!), which made a huge difference. the boys loved the portable dvd player and backyardigan dvds (which the actual dvds and covers made for excellent toys as well), their travel doodles and books. they were more content traveling then they are at home on any given afternoon!

i did learn a thing or two on this trip, so here's my top five:

5) portable dvd players rock! as do go-go-kidz travel mates. if you're traveling with toddlers, they are both worth the investment!
4) never, ever let your child eat more than two boxes of raisins ESPECIALLY two hours before your flight. we narrowly escaped disaster here. it was way too close for comfort.
3) try and keep your toddler kiddos on roughly the same schedule as you do at home. it really helped to keep some version of the same routine, as far as sleep times, eating times, etc. we even kept the boys on central time, or rather, THEY kept themselves on central time.
2) with lesson no. 3 in check, throw out all the rules. the boys got to watch lots of tv. they ate endless bowls of popcorn an hour before dinner. we were all better for it.
1) take advantage of un-advantageous situations (i.e. see the bright side, silver lining, etc). the boys were up at 4am every morning. we got to see spectacular sunsets of the bay every morning. i was sleep deprived, but i loved every second of it.

18 month sleep regression = seventh circle of hell

we are in a bad place, dear friends.

i've come to believe that the sleep angst we experienced in california was not because we were in california. sure, the strange location may have served to enhance it all. but it was not the reason.

we're going on our third day of no naps and our fifth day of bizarro nighttime sleep. the nighttime deal is mainly an issue when we put them to bed. lots of resistance when we leave the room. lots of blanket throwing. lots of taking a long time to fall asleep. we've only had a few occasional wakings in the night, although those were so not pretty.

but oh the naps. the thorn in my side. the albatross around my neck. our achilles heel. i wish i didn't stress out so much about the naps, but i do. naps keep me balanced. it's the one time during the day i can do what i need to do. or want to do. it's my respite. and now that the boys are down to one nap a day, i've only got this one shot to make it happen.

yesterday the boys actually went down easily for their nap. after 20 minutes one of them woke up hysterical (abel), which woke up oskar (calm). once they're up, there's no going back, so i decided we'd run an errand to keep us all distracted. 3 minutes into our trip, abel was passed out. i didn't want to wake him, so i decided to go for a little drive, thinking he'd sleep maybe 20-30 minutes. 2 hours later, both of them passed out, i finally called an end to my little jog down infant-memory lane. towards the end of my wandering, i actually went through my car's trip calculator and realized that nap had cost me $10 in gas!

today the nap just wouldn't happen, and i wasn't about to blow another 10 bones and CO2 emissions just for them to sleep. so i tried every trick i knew. i brought them into bed with me (HA!), i restarted our nap routine (ya right), i rubbed their bellies and shooshed them at the same time as they resisted in their cribs, i even tried just laying down on the floor in front of their cribs (total hysterics - never doing again). no nap. all i can say is thank god for lupe, our nanny, who was scheduled to come at 2pm. by that time, i don't think the boys wanted anything more to do with me. trust me, the feeling was mutual.

i think it's safe to say that we're deep in the 18 mo. sleep regression and it's driving me nuts. i know i've been through worse. but it still totally stinks.


greetings from the seventh circle of hell

bawk like a...seagull???

the boys have a love of chickens, thanks to me taking them to our neighborhood petting zoo at least once a week. i guess they were a little confused one morning on the bay, as they started bawking and flapping their arms when they saw the seagulls. chalk it up to sleep deprivation.

abel nails the chicken impersonation

ozzy's version