flattery

today, as i was unbuckling ozzy from his car seat, he patted my breast and sweetly asked, "mommy, baby in there?"

phone photo friday

courtesy of oskar, the neighborhood tunnel monster.

it was just my imagination

it's totally amazing to witness brain development, at any level, happening in your children. we've recently witnessed the birth of abel's and oskar's imaginations. i'm sure the bud appeared a while ago, but it's really starting to bloom. the boys still love to jump in their personal trampolines, i mean cribs, and until a few days ago their favorite activity consisted of jumping in unison and singing every song they knew. rousing rounds of "a, b, c" "twinkle, twinkle" "ring around the rosey" and then of course the improvised "airplane song," and "dinosaur train song" were among their greatest hits. but this past week there's a new sheriff in crib jumping land and his name is alligator. "go away alligator! go away!" they shout off the side of their crib as they frantically jump, then scream at the top of their lungs (as the alligator makes its attack), then jump to their butts and wave saying, "see you later, alligator!" and roll to their backs almost completing a somersault. only to be repeated another 1,000 times until they are sweating and out of breath and chugging water like they just finished a biggest loser workout. jordan and i thought we would join the fun a few nights ago. i pretended to be the alligator and then jordan announced, "watch out for the dinosaur!" (sometimes they substitute dinosaur as the aggressor). big mistake. they both totally freaked out and were so scared they jumped out of their cribs and huddled in our arms until we assured them there was no alligator or dinosaur coming to get them.

i guess their imaginations got the best of them.

the great pumpkin(s)

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iphone back to life

i don't normally do this sort of thing, but when i stumble upon a great product or service, i just have to share. i know the iphone revolution is a very real phenomenon, and unfortunately as i learned last week, so is a really bum battery. i was out and about with a fully charged phone when i suddenly realized i had no battery left. charge upon charge left me juiced up for less than a few hours. i told jordan and he said his dad recently had the same problem and had to just chuck his phone and pony up for a new one. given that i have a 2G, no upcoming upgrades and not about to shell out hundreds of dollars for a new phone, i started to look for options.

j actually found this company Milliamp LTD that replaces iPhone batteries in 2G and 3G phones (for very reasonable). i thought it was too good to be true, but i bit the bullet, ordered the service and shipped my phone to them the next day. j kept asking me if i thought it was a sham, but their communication was amazing from the get-go. they emailed me when they received my phone, when it was through their repair process and on it's way back to me - which took all of 3 days total.

i got my iphone back not even a week after i shipped it off to them and the battery is working perfectly again. they also sent me a complimentary back up battery, which is huge in my book, because it seems i'm always caught on the go with my phone at 20% and no charger. their customer service and communication have been some of the finest i've ever experienced.

apparently, this battery snafu is a major problem with iphones, so if you find yourself with a phone that won't hold its charge, don't fret that you'll have to buy another phone. just ship it off to these fantastic people (who are in san antonio, btw!). they also do full on iPhone and iPod repairs, too!

for all the truck obsessed boys out there...

we had ten yards of decomposed granite dumped on our backyard today. we're all soon to enjoy nice pathways through our woodsy land! anyways, it was quite thrilling, even from a non-male perspective.

has it been that long?

i have to apologize for the gross neglect of this blog. and for leaving these gross pictures of me as the first thing you see when you come to the site. i must admit that this update is prompted more by getting my ugly mug off the first post than by motivation to share things about our lives. tisk, tisk! but there is so much to share.

in the past month we've had birthdays, family-style projectile vomiting, family visits, major landscape improvements, lots of rain postponing major landscape improvements, major haircuts, refreshingly cold weather, minor surgery, our couches steam cleaned and scotch-guarded (!!!), aerial dancing, a new mustang for jordan, many attempts at making homemade yogurt, and non-stop antics and hilarity from the boys know as abie and ozzy.

whew!

some milestones to note:

1) the boys are now sleeping with blankets. like the big kind that keep you warm at night. we all took the SIDS warnings pretty seriously, i guess. the boys have never slept with a blanket or sleep sack for that matter. not even last winter. and when they got old enough to express an opinion about it, they strongly affirmed their desire to NOT sleep with a big blanket. but given the impending colder weather in austin, i went ahead and ordered them two spirited crib quilts from etsy. it was love at first sight, times two. and now they ask to be tucked in at bedtime and it's just the cutest thing ever. except when they wake up uncovered in the middle of the night and scream to be covered again. (thank god that only happens about once a week) they still sleep in full-on cribs, and while we're thinking off converting them into daybeds soon, the boys have so much fun using them as their personal trampolines, and there's no greater joy than watching ozzy use his crib as a jungle gym, we just don't have the heart to do it yet. heck, if it's not broke...

here's bobo (ozzy) and tigie (abie) enjoying the solace with the boys' new quilts

2) the boys are now professional scissor cutters. we boldly let them use a pair of scissors while we were cutting their hair a few months back and there was no turning back. it's a total obsession and a day is not complete without them cutting paper into smithereens. abel is especially adept and is starting to cut out shapes, etc. the pride they feel in their work as toddler scissor experts is palpable.

abel down, ozzy to go, and both addicted to scissors

3) i forgot to mention that the boys moved into the next class at school. this happened, uh, back in august! we were all a bit surprised since we thought they'd be in ms. corazon's class until they were 3. since they potty-trained early, the teachers felt they were ready. they are now in ms. leti's class and she is one of the warmest, enthusiastic, wonderful teachers i've ever met. the boys adore her! and abel has an extra special relationship with her. he won't leave class until he gives her a bear hug and the affection they share just melts my heart. several of their friends from the last class transitioned with them, so they are in a wonderful community of children. and they are with another set of older identical twin brothers - two sets of identical twins in one class! here's their last report card from ms. corazon's class and a snapshot on their last day:

4) abel has shown a major aptitude and delight in taking pictures. when lee-lee was here, we let the boys play with our old point and shoot digital camera, and abel used it like a master. his pictures were amazing! ozzy, not so much. and he could take it or leave it. but abel just waltzed around documenting everything he could. here are some of his best shots:

lee-lee with an upside down ozzy

5) growth spurt! i have no idea how much they've technically grown, but their pants are all floods now and the boys continue to eat like starved horses. we're talking three bagels with cream cheese in one sitting. four clementines for an after-dinner snack. an adult portion of mac and cheese with a basket of chips and a bowl of queso. no kidding. it floors us how much these kids can eat. and their requests become more and more hilarious. coffee and prune juice make abel "feel better." they both regularly ask for coffee with breakfast so i indulge them with a splash mixed in with ample milk. you'd think i was giving them the nectar of gods.

ozzy having some bagel with his cream cheese

abel cultivating his coffee habits at the ripe old age of 2.5

there's so much more to say, but i'll leave it at that for now. hope you all are having a wonderful fall!

a small, and dare i say delightful, glimpse into my 35th birthday

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a day to celebrate!

happy birthday jordan, my honey! i don't know who's having more fun today, jordan or me and the boys. celebrating birthdays with 2.5 year old boys is where it's at. the boys gave jordan an awesome present of waking up at 7:20 this morning. we started our day with homemade pumpkin chocolate chip waffles in the shapes of farm animals. we took a nice hike in the woods and threw plastic sharks down a steep hill. we dug in the freshly wet dirt, made a construction site with pint-sized dump trucks and skid steers. we went to a new gymnastics gym open house and the boys jumped off of 4 foot high platforms, did somersaults down a wedge and slid down fireman poles. we ate mighty fine cheeseburgers and fries and fresh strawberry lemonade. and later we're going to have cake and candles and singing and then j and i are going to see bela fleck.

what a day to celebrate! we love you!

here comes the rain again

after a summer of near-record breaking temperatures and drought (we're talking triple digit heat w/ no rain, people!), the wet has finally arrived. we're on day three of beautiful rain, cloudy skies, mellow thunder and highs in the 70s and low 80s.

not even a potty break could spoil the fun!

phone photo friday - "the good samaritan"

jumping on laura c's friday theme, i'm posting some photos taken w/ my iphone yesterday at the library. we were leaving the library, just outside the door and the boys found a downspout with rain coming out (hurray!). just then, a school bus pulled up and about 50 fifth graders got out and started walking to the library entrance. ozzy ran to the door before they got there, opened it up (no small feat), and continued to hold it open until every last kid walked passed the threshold. it was unbelievably adorable, especially because the older kids were as sweet as could be and said thank you to him, patted him on the head and gave him high fives! that was all it took for ozzy to be hooked, and the next ten minutes was spent trying to convince him that he didn't need to open the door for EVERY PERSON entering or exiting.

san antonio zoo

i have two posts in "drafts" waiting to be written and so many thoughts that continue to swirl about the boys' zygosity determination, but for now, here are a few pics from our great visit to the san antonio zoo yesterday. abel was in heaven from start to finish and his favorite was the leopard. oz was scared of every animal except for the turtles and fish (he was also teething like a mutha and had a low-grade fever, though). hence, the apparent lack of animals in the photos. no matter though, the miniature train turned that boy into a giggle-puss in no time.

clarity

99.9 percent sure




i'm honestly in shock. still processing. i need some time for this to sink in and reflect on what this means to me. it's all good, of course. it's just that i've known them to be fraternal their whole lives, and now that notion has been turned on its head.

abel and oskar are identical twin brothers.

i think i'm going to need to say that a few more hundred times before it really sinks in.

bring on the bets!

jordan and i had a lovely anniversary this weekend. five big ole' years! every anniversary it feels like it's been forever (in a good way), and just like yesterday (in a good way). but when i really stopped to think about the past five years, i was overwhelmed. we've moved across country. lived in four residences. remodeled two of them. changed jobs SIX times between the two of us. and grown two amazing little boys. who are now 2.5! it just seems like a lot. i'm hoping our next five years are a bit mellower. and instead of recounting these major life-shifters, we can recount memories of smaller moments that captured our hearts and imaginations. but onto bigger news!

i was curious about one of my presents upon presentation. a large manila envelope. unassuming. definitely not a card. i opened it and pulled out the contents. a picture of a baby on a tri-fold brochure. what's going on here?

many of you know that we aren't for certain what type of twins the boys are. we know friends, family and complete strangers who swear on their grave the boys are identical. we don't think so, but we have no proof either way. i've blogged about our dilemma here. well, we're about to have an answer soon. my very own husband, the one who without a doubt says the boys are fraternal, got me a "family" anniversary gift.

a DNA test!

does anyone want to start putting bets down?

what's grosser than gross?

when your child finally get's over his aversion to pooping on the potty, but while in process of going, one turd manages to fall on the floor and your dog runs over and eats it in one quick inhale.

and then licks the floor clean.

the many faces of ozzy and abes

the many faces, originally uploaded by tasilverman.

the apples don't fall far from the tree

i try hard not to make predictions. and i am SO NOT the kind of parent to force my own present or past interests on my kids. but i can't help but notice that ozzy and abel have very distinct inclinations and talents related to me and jordan.

i was a competitive gymnast. it was clear to me at a very young age that flipping around was something i loved, and was very motivated to do. jordan did martial arts his whole life, wrestled and is now in the crazy sport of brazilian jiu jitsu.

just so you know, the boys have never seen me do gymnastics nor watched anyone else do it. at least not to my knowledge. likewise for jiu jitsu. for a long time now, abel relishes being upside down. he loves it when i flip him around. he kicks up into handstands when i hold him under his arms. and ozzy has for a long time now tortured abel regularly by tackling him to the ground, mounting him, wrapping his legs around his torso and many times getting him into a rear naked choke. it's a little scary actually.

i was the proud mama tonight when abel busted out a forward roll. i don't even know where it came from! but it was awesome. oz wanted to do it too, but he was clearly not getting it. lest i forget his true talent, he decided to show me what he's all about mid-video. i'm equally proud of him, i just think we need to get him in a class soon so abel doesn't have to be his wrestling dummy.

rockin this potty thing

we're on day 5 of potty training and it is going, in a word, AWESOME!

they are both exclusively in undies now, save for night time when they wear a pull-up. they are even taking their naps in undies and staying dry, to my disbelief. i'm trusting them more and more and reminding them less and less. they are both very motivated to use the potty and get pretty frustrated when i nag them to go. it's definitely an independence thing and they want to be in control of the process. i totally get it.

abel is still having some hang-ups with no. two and he's reluctant to use the potty for this. that's been the only sucky thing in this whole process. other than that, abel is our potty star. he goes completely by himself, takes his pants and undies off, puts them back on himself, etc. he even went on a big public potty at the vet's office this morning. love it!

we're off to costco this afternoon so the boys can pick out whatever truck they want as a reward for potty success. and i'm trying to think of an appropriate celebration for j and i to mark the end of diapers. because I LOVE LIFE WITH NO DIAPERS!!!

from the mouth of abel

j: abel, what do you want to be when you grow up?
a: BIG!

j: when you are older, are you going to go by abel or abie?
a: ABES!

j: abel, what would you like to drink with dinner?
a: BEER, PLEASE!

oi vay.

it's potty time!

it's official. today was our first real potty training day! the boys went from wake to sleep in undies.

the verdict?

they did awesome! did they have lots of accidents? heck yes! but they filled up their sticker chart and then some and went on the potty without any prompting too many times to count.

here are the proud duo, ozzy leading the way:

we have been doing "potty preparation" for god knows how long. i think the boys were 18 months when they started sitting on their potties, fully clothed, for the fun of it. by two, they would occasionally make no. 1, and on a fully moon when all the planets were aligned, they'd go no. 2. we talked about going on the potty every day. we read book after book. we gave incentives (chocolate chips). and they did great, but we never took it that seriously. why rush it?

three weeks ago we got a cool kiddie pool and set it up on the deck. the boys would frolic about naked and i decided to bring their potties outside, just in case. lo and behold, both of them, without any prompting, would stop whatever splashing fun they were in the midst of and sit on their potties whenever nature called. day after day after day. i took it as a sign of readiness and consulted with their teacher for the game plan. we marked our calendars for august 10.

potty training at school today went amazing. abie had only one accident; ozzy two. we continued at home and while they both had accidents, i think it was more my fault for not having them sit on their potties more routinely.

way to go, boys! we are so proud of you and so excited for us all to be liberated from diapers. YAHOO!