thursday theater - mad skilz...NOT!

yet again jumping on the goddess bandwagon, i thought this week's theme was perfectly ironic. a few weeks ago, abel proudly demonstrated his new move to me. i call it the "lay back." quite simply, you just slowly lower yourself from a sitting to a laying position. real hard, right?! but the boys thought this move was the coolest thing they had ever learned and it occupied a solid 30 minutes of our evening - both of them trying and perfecting it over, and over, and over again.

oz actually never quite got it. i think he was over-analyzing the mechanics of it. maybe tonight i'll let him study the footage and he can practice some more. because, as you can witness, it takes some pretty mad skilz to master this move:

i missed my calling

last thursday i packed my bags, kissed my boys and boarded a cramped plane to chicago. it was tough to leave. this was my first time spending even one night, let alone four, away from abie and oz. two months ago, as they whipped out the terribleness of twos, i would have said, "bring it on!" but they have been little angels these past weeks and every day has brought so much joy. but my best friend from college is getting married in a month and it was time to celebrate!

bran is a total free spirit and has been known to party like a rock star, and since i had planned the bachelorette party, i knew we were all in for a good time. what i didn't realize was that i was, apparently, a pole dancer in a past life. evidence:



it's nice to know that my body isn't as broke down as i think it is. after two kids, i can still rock the stripper pole! i can also sleep until noon if given the opportunity, which i demonstrated twice in the four day span. it was - hmmm, how should i put it - DELICIOUS! probably the single thing that i miss most since becoming a parent.

needless to say, i had an amazing weekend with some truly amazing ladies. i can not wait to celebrate bran and ed's wedding in one month. i love you, b! and my wonderful husband deserves a few weekends of sleeping in for taking such fantastic care of our boys while i was away playing. you are the best, j!

believe it!

ozzy ate raw spinach last night. my child who rarely touches vegetables has eaten bean sprouts, carrots and now raw spinach this week. and it wasn't like he just ate it to try it. he ate like six leafs in succession and actually said "yummmm" while he was chewing. it might as well have been a salad. it was so dramatic that abel had to give it a try too. his senses got the better of him and he couldn't bare to chew it. i can barely eat raw spinach...i'm simply amazed that my two year old seems to enjoy it!

glory days

after a hellish past few months of the boys demonstrating their full mastery of the "terrible twos" phase, we've hit an amazing stride. i know i'll probably jinx it by typing it here and we'll be back in the mire before i know it. BUT we have had such an incredible run. the boys have been so happy, cooperative and affectionate. yesterday morning i got like fifty kisses in succession from abel (yes, i was in all my glory!). everyone has just been happy go-lucky. and the boys have been loving each other like we've never seen. even though abel is our usual clown, ozzy has really ramped it up lately. no one can make abel laugh like oz can. it's just the best. so here's a little sampler of what things have been like around here:

miracles do happen!

today was the day to see the results from the boys' picture day at school. i had no idea what to expect. they HATE posing for photographs (well, until picture day). i imagined grimaces, crocodile tears, or maybe the stone-cold look the boys have recently perfected, all perfectly framed with a bright blue mottled background. but never this:


oskar


abel



AMAZING! they are actually sitting together...smiling! and they even have their arms propped up on the fake pumpkin! how the heck did they do that?! these folks really know how to get you, because i was so overwhelmed by how well the pics came out (i was actually laughing hysterically and couldn't contain myself), that i couldn't think straight and just ordered the "special package" for $99. it's all good, though, because after we keep what we want, dole out the rest to the g-parents, and send to family and friends, i'm sure it will either be a wash or we'll come out ahead.

so for our first foray into professional pictures, i have to say i'm totally delighted. i don't even mind the schmaltzy woods in the background and the fact they have a pumpkin prop for a spring portrait. in many ways, it's the quintessential posed pic, a right of passage if you will. and i just love it.

dream dinner

the boys have epitomized picky toddler eating habits for the past year and two months. in fact, ever since they turned one, they went from eating everything at dim sum, to a diet of mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, waffles, veggie sausage, crackers, couscous, all things fruit, the occasional gnocchi binge, a chicken nugget or two, and yogurt, yogurt and more yogurt. it hasn't been unusual for them to completely refuse a meal. and it's downright boring to make meals for them. we've used the approach of serving them whatever it is we are eating, and always having fruit and starch available should they (always) refuse what's on the plate. we never make a big deal of their eating habits. it is what it is (note our philosophy here).

tonight was a breakthrough! first off, the boys entertained themselves for nearly AN HOUR while i fixed dinner. there was only one time i had to stop what i was doing and mediate a stolen squirt bottle. the boys played with their baseball game, they tickled elmo, they chased romeo, and then they literally cleaned the windows with a vinegar/water mixture in a squirt bottle and towel for at least 30 minutes. it was glorious!

i was ambitious and hand-breaded and fried up some fresh rock fish. i made some penne with parmesan and olive oil. and sliced up some mini-cucumbers. simple, moderately healthy, and in my humble opinion, totally yummy. how could a toddler not like this stuff? abel waltzed into the kitchen and asked what i was making.

"fish?!"
"would you like to try some?"
"abel try fish!"

i handed him a bite-sized piece and he looked at it, then me, than asked, "eat?" yes, eat. and eat he did. and his brother caught on and wanted in on the fish. so i put the plate full of fish, the bowl full of pasta and the plate of cucumbers on the table, put two regular glass plates in front of the boys, and let them help themselves. they filled their plates with everything. they even accepted my offer of a side of ranch to dip their fish in (unheard of!). and they ate. every. last. bite.

it was the best meal we've ever had together, or at least that didn't contain mac and cheese and tortilla chips as the primary sustenance. i'm praying it's not a one-hit wonder, because honestly it was so fun and satisfying. dream dinner, indeed.

the boys demonstrate their usual meal-time insanity:

what a difference picture day makes!

for the past 6 months, the boys have been less-than-cooperative to have their picture taken in any formal way. they're great with the candids and action shots, but if asked to sit or pose or god forbid smile, you'll have a picture of two painfully unhappy boys. you can imagine my skepticism when i heard about picture day at their school. should we even waste our money? i figured even if the pictures turned out horrendous, it would be nice to start our collection of their annual school portraits. hell, i have enough pictures of them from all angles to stuff a museum dedicated to them, but posed professional pictures? not a one.

i talked it up with the boys and even though oz ran into school proclaiming, "pitchers! pitchers!" they were undeniably skeptical and clingy during our drop-off routine. the photographer asked if it would be better for me to stay with them. "if you want a picture of two toddlers clinging to me and grimacing, then sure!" i replied. i knew as soon as i walked out the door, they would be all over those pictures. why is it that i bring out the insecure side of my kids?!

of course, when i picked them up in the afternoon their teacher said they did fantastic and they got adorable shots of them. they were total hams for the photographer. and miraculously, when i suggest taking a picture now, these are the kinds of results i'm getting. let's just say, i LOVE picture day!

O.M.G. - Thursday Theater

Playing along again with Goddess's Thursday Theater theme. This video was taken around Christmas, which seems like light years ago. How do kids change so fast in just a matter of a few months?! Anyways, one thing that doesn't change is how much of a gigglepuss Abel is. I've documented it before, but this one truly takes the cake. He is possibly the most easily amused kid that ever lived.

Here, Abel is watching my dad play chess on the computer. I wasn't witness to this, as my mom recorded it while Jordan and I were enjoying an afternoon and evening off. When I saw the video, I originally thought it was one of those chess games where the characters do all sorts of crazy, grotesque things when one takes the other. But I learned this wasn't the case. This was a plain, old, boring chess game.

Not to Abel, apparently. Oh. My. God.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5...6, 7, 8, 9, 10...11, twe-eh-el-el-twel-el-elve!

today oz really busted out his number prowess. he's been able to recite numbers in sequence for a while, but i've never known if it's just recitation or if he actually conceptualized the idea of counting. for the past few months, he's easily identified two or three objects when asked, "how many are there?" but today, he legitimately started counting! we were drawing with crayons and he took crayons out one by one and as he did each one he counted, "one, two, tree, fou, fi." the dude counted to five! then we were stacking blocks and he counted to thirteen! THIRTEEN!

the boys' teacher said last week that abel and ozzy are uber-attentive during lessons and circle time, their eyes are wide open and they focus intently. she said, in a very wise and knowing way, that when they are ready to share with us all that they are learning, we will be blown away. well, i'm definitely blown away! and i can't wait for them to share more with us!

synchronized cribs antics

i've jumped on the bandwagon of fellow blogger goddess and am posting a video in honor of her thursday theater! we took this video of the boys maybe a month ago and it cracks me up every time i see it. when we're in the moment, it's hard to see how synchronized they actually are, and it wasn't until i watched the video that it hit me over the head! they LOVE to play in their cribs and they especially love to do "ring around the rosey" in fast-mode. they sing it, too, but most of the time it comes out sounding like, "ring, rah, ray! ping pah, pay! ashes! ashes! fall dooooooowwwwnnnnn!" i guess that's to be expected when you're running in circles at full speed. and note, the boys NEVER play ring around the rosey in the traditional sense. they think that's crazy business when we try and do that.

i should also note that every day they develop some new move in their crib repertoire. ozzy's new move is to post one foot on the crib slat and balance on the other foot, hands free. it kind of looks like the karate kid balance move! he also likes to stand or sit and have you throw him a kiss, by which he acts like he's been "hit" or "shot" and falls backwards onto his back or side. abel continues to perfect his jump to pike and his forward roll. maybe next weeks thursday theater will be "sport" and i can get some footage of these new crib feats!

tids and bits and a little video

the boys new obsession, abel in particular, is to "wash hands?!?!" i set up both stools in our bathroom where there are two sinks and the boys climb up there and proceed to turn on faucet (cold only!), wash, turn off, dry on towel...repeat...like 50 times...until i say it's time to move on to something else. abel would wash his hands all day if he could.

jordan greeted the boys this morning decked out in a suit (he had a meeting). ozzy looked at him and said, "daddy tie suit!" jordan said, "yah, oz, daddy's wearing a suit today." whereby oz looked down, patted his chest and proclaimed, "ozzy choochoo suit!" (oz was wearing his train pjs). we just can't get enough of this stuff!

the boys are now wielding knives. they put cream cheese on their bagels and like to practice cutting them up.

the boys have made the transition to regular cups. no more sippies for these big boys! they exclusively drink from dixie cups at school, so we figured it was time to do this at home, too. last night they both got to drink water from our beautiful hand-blown turquoise juice glasses. they were PSYCHED!

we found a brilliant way to manage abel's recent binky obsession (thanks to ms. surangi, they're montessori director). abel can have his binky whenever he wants it, however he must not suck on it. if he chooses to put it in his mouth, then the binky goes back in the drawer. since implementing this on saturday, abel has not put the binky in his mouth ONCE! and he gets it and holds it for like 3 minutes and then puts it down to do more important things. AMAZING!

oz is showing awesome potty-readiness. he now tells us he needs to go poo-poo BEFORE it happens (like 10 minutes before). as soon as he makes a poo, he IMMEDIATELY wants to be changed. we're not rushing into anything, but it's nice to see these signs.

the guys continue to amaze me at how they are not scared of anything. we are now reading "where the wild things are" and they think it is the most amazing book ever. they personalize every monster. "ozzy monta! abie monta! mommy monta! daddy monta!" and after a 4 month long thomas stint, they are now requesting to watch, "back-ga-gan teedee!" their favorite backyardigans is the halloween episode with the mummy, werewolf and dracula!

"running hugs" is perhaps my favorite thing in the world to do with my boys. it's a pre-bath ritual. sometimes it's just me, most of the time ozzy runs to daddy for hugs and abie runs to mommy. there's nothing like a toddler, let alone two, running at you full speed with arms outstretched!

color therapy

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Lost (and then found) in Translation

I've been meaning to write of the boys' vocal expression for a while now. I remember when I was really worried that they might have a speech delay. 6 months ago, I counted their words to make sure all was normal. All was normal. Then the concern over them stringing words together. And like clockwork, they have delivered.

Ozzy is now speaking in sentences. Lots of two word combos over the past few months, but now 3,4 even 5 word thoughts. "Abel bedroom with binky!" "Ozzy hug Maddie school!" It's beyond adorable and every day I wake up looking forward to hearing what he's going to say. And with this development, his pronunciation of words has improved crazy rapidly. We can pretty much understand most of what he says. He's even saying his teacher's name, Ms. Corazon, which I can hardly even say. And with that the transition of his brother's name has officially taken place. At 18 months, Oz called Abel, "baby!" at 20 months that became, "Abie!" and then a few months ago we started hearing, "Abel!" It's strange to hear him only refer to his brother by his proper name, given that we pretty exclusively call him "Abie." But for his own name, he firmly refers to himself as "Ozzy!"

Abel is still in the realm of two word combos but he has recently made huge strides and is in earnest trying to communicate thoughts as sentences. His favorites are, "I know!" (as in I say, "Abie, mommy is right behind you," and he replies, "I know!") and "No way!" Apparently no is just not a strong enough sentiment. Abel refers to himself in nickname (Abie). I don't think I've ever heard him use his full name. And Oskar has been, "Ahya" up until yesterday. We woke up to Abel yelling, "Ozzy! Ozzy!" to wake up his brother. I'm totally bummed that Ah-ya is no longer...so sad!

With all of this happening, I thought I should document some of their idiosyncratic words for posterity sake, before they're gone for good.

"Bee!" - James the Train
"Go-goh" - Gordon the Train
"Mah-tas" - Thomas the Train
"Mannie" - Matilda the dog, or their friend Maddie at school
"Caukey" - Coffee
"Teedee" - TV
"Pay doh" - play dough
"Wellow!" - yellow, Abel's absolute favorite color
"Oh-joo" - orange, Ozzy's favorite color
"Blah-Blah" - moon (Abel said this for a while and we could never figure out where the heck it came from)
"Zhou-shi!" - sushi
"Joo-joo" - jiu jitsu
"Wee-Wee" - lee-lee (their grandma)
"Our car" - they said this before they started stringing words. They clearly know car is just car, but I think they heard us using the possessive so much that they exclusively call mommy's car, "our car!"
"Ree er Ree er!" (as in the sound) - fire truck
In fact, they still ID lots of animals by their sound, instead of their proper names (even though they can say the animals' names!), including dog, cat, elephant, horse, snake, etc.

It's truly amazing to have reciprocal conversations with the boys now. They've understood everything for so darn long, and it's just a joy to now hear their thoughts and observations. And I can only imagine how fantastic it feels for them!

the tortured soul virus

the boys have been sick...again. i knew this would happen, starting school and all. and i don't want to complain, because as far as them being sick, it could be much much worse. up until now, it's been minor colds that haven't slowed them down a bit. friday night abel came down with a fever. he was fussy, understandably so. the weekend went from bad to worse as abel demonstrated a new strain of virus i call, "tortured soul." nothing could satisfy him. he said "no" to EVERY THING. at one point he thrashed around my lap for a solid 15 minutes. it was, quite honestly, pathetic. i just had to keep reminding myself that he was clearly uncomfortable and couldn't cope. i couldn't put him down for a second without top of the lungs screaming/crying. all the while, ozzy and daddy joyfully watched elmo in the living room (but if i dared bring him into the living room, "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!"). the whining, oh the whining!

ozzy got the fever exactly 48 hours after abel. but he's fairing a lot better. a lot less drama, indecision and general torment. thank god abel was feeling significantly better today. i honestly don't think i could take another day of it. he could function once again, and my faith that he is a mentally stable toddler (whatever that means) has been restored. the virus has now evolved from tortured soul to evil twin. i've never seen a day where abel was so mean to his brother. mean like grabbing his blanket at nap-time and chucking it in the hallway and slamming the door. mean like pushing him down and then whacking him on the head with a foogo cup. jordan and i were appalled and no amount of reasoning (ha!), time-outs or "you do that again and i take away the crayons/blanket/binkie," would stop him. it was a total discipline conundrum. and one that i continue to worry about as the boys' physical aggression towards each other escalates. i'm torn between holding a firm line and trying to understand the frustrations of two-year old twins who are in eachother's face constantly and trying to navigate through jealousy, territory and general frustrations. fun stuff!

i'm hoping for better days, and i know they are around the corner as they always are. this is just a particularly unpleasant period. on the flip side, abel mastered a forward roll today which, in my book as a former gymnast, is perhaps the most impressive milestone! a silver lining, indeed. as was this, an early morning finger painting session:

kite delight

we took full advantage of the beautiful 65 degree day today and went to the kite festival at zilker park. amazing! despite both fighting fevers, both guys absolutely loved it. and even though it was a cool day for austin, we didn't forget our sunscreen or sunglasses!

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hello kitchen!

we did it! we are at the tail-end of remodeling our kitchen and it's only been three weeks (from tomorrow). all in all, a crazy success. but living through a remodeling project is never fun. our kitchen was straight out of 1982, popcorn ceilings, florescent light and all. oh, i forgot, the previous owners upgraded the hardware with some nice bathroom knobs and handles from target. here's the before:





we decided to go IKEA, mainly because it's so darn affordable and we could do a lot of it ourselves. we also like the modern look. we bought everything way back in november because IKEA was running a nice promotion and our doors were on mega discount because of discontinuation. score! i started building the frames a few weeks after the boys started school, and had everything finished in less than a week. we were ready for our contractor to start! here's some pics of the kitchen gutted, walls and ceilings floated and cabs layed out:



we really didn't change the layout. the only addition is a row of bench cabinets along the wall for extra storage and seating. the main components of the remodel were new cabs and counters, new recessed lighting, smooth walls and ceiling, new micro/hood and a wine fridge, new sink, faucet and backsplash. jordan's good friend is a contractor and he loaned us his two guys for the job. ramone and mauro are brothers and they were fantastic. i wish i had a picture of them! the boys were totally in awe of them and talked about them every. single. day. and every day they came home from school and marveled at what the brothers accomplished. i also have to give a huge shout out to jordan's mom, nana, who hosted us at her house every day for the past few weeks for after school snacks, play and dinner. we could not have done this with out her. period. so here's the unveiling (but remember, it's still not finished, organized or very clean!):







i still have to seal the backsplash, put handles on the bench cabinets, paint and then organize, organize, organize. and clean, clean, clean! and look for a table that works with the new bench seating. but it's a far cry from what it used to be. oh, and we are eventually going to get to the floor and we're leaning towards cork. but that's for another time. for now, we're just going to enjoy our new cooking and dining digs!

lame bloggess

to anyone out there still reading, i have to apologize for the lack of posts. i'm so lame. but things around here have been crazy busy and i'm not lying! the latest and greatest is that we have a NEW KITCHEN! i promise i'll take some pictures and post them this weekend. there is still painting to be done, but other than that, it's finito. yours truly installed the river rock backsplash over the past few days and i've learned that i'm born to grout. it's very zen!

oh, and i'm starting a freelance job on monday which will turn into a full-fledged part-time job come april. with the boys in school and loving it, it's back to the grind for mommy! it's with my former employer (the Texas Historical Commission) essentially picking up where i left off two years ago. i'm very excited, especially since some of my favorite people in the world work there!

but who cares about the kitchen and me when there are two crazy toddlers wrecking havoc around here! we woke up this morning to a loud thud followed by even louder crying. j and i (and mati!) ran into the boys room to find ozzy standing in the middle of it. after getting lots of kisses on his boo-boo'd head, he proceeded to recount with pride how he launched himself up and over the crib. all i can say is, "CRAP!" things were looking so good and i truly thought we'd be one of the lucky families that didn't need to deal with crib climbing. but now we do. i'm not going to rush into anything, though. we'll play it by ear and see if it turns into a trend or not. and if it does, i'm going to take my fellow twin mom's advice and invest in some crib tents. we're just not ready for free-bedding it right now.

over the past month, the boys have expertly demonstrated that they are officially two years old. they have been kicking our butts in every way imaginable - testing all limits imaginable, being particularly destructive, throwing tantrums, hitting and pushing each other left and right, and showing off their new-found physical prowess and boldness (head stands, forward rolls, balance beam-aka-curb walking and jumping, trying to jump out of shopping carts, and now crib launching, etc.) that's seriously keeping us on our toes. we're muddling our way through it sometimes, but most of the time we're seriously enjoying the brilliance of abie and oz. sentences are flowing out of their mouths, grace out of their limbs (must post video of their ballet "attitudes!"), and love from every cell of their bodies. they embrace life to the fullest and it's amazing and inspirational to witness.

so i'll leave you with that. and the pledge that i'll finish and post the ten or so drafts i've started and get some pics of the boys and the kitchen up!

on the mend

thank you all for your prayers, energy and well wishes. mati is doing much better! after a night at the ER clinic, she is very stable, back at the vet, eating a little food and drinking water, and for now keeping it down. i was able to drop the boys off at school and spend about an hour with her. we really needed that time together, and mati was able to snooze a little w/ her head in my lap. she must be exhausted. as long as there is no more vomiting or bloody diarrhea, and her labs come back good, we'll be able to bring her home tonight.

mati has suffered from a mysterious thing called Hemorrhagic Gastroenteritis (HGE). we have no idea how she got it. but the warning signs are acute blowout bloody diarrhea and vomiting. if your dog ever has any of these symptoms, it is imperative to get him/her to the vet immediately. things can go south very quickly, but if it's caught early and treated aggressively, most dogs will recover.

we so appreciate you continuing to keep our mati in your thoughts!

please pray

i don't normally do this, but i know you all have incredible energy to send. our dear mati is in the emergency overnight clinic. she is stable, but sick. jordan took her to the vet after she had blood in her stool this afternoon, and she was severely dehydrated. he's been with her all evening and is now driving her to the ER. i can't even wrap my mind around what is wrong with her or even how to pronounce it, but the doctor says that 9 out of 10 dogs recover.

please, please, please pray that mati is one of these nine. we love her so much and just want her home - safe, sound and healthy - with us.

not the end of this

add matilda having a puke-fest today to our week's list of crazies. oh, and i found another pea-sized lump on her that we need the vet to check out.