Silly Kids

The kids have been doing some crazy silly things lately. I have to write them down so I don't forget.

Let's start with the oldest, Trenton.

• Puts tupperware on his head. ALL THE TIME.  There is a red one that fits perfectly that he loves to have on
• Finger wagging.  He has become serious when he talks, and if you aren't listening to him, he wags his finger at you sometimes.
• Reading. The boy loves to read. He happily takes a book from the shelf, sits down at reads it. Flips the pages, stares at it.  We have an ABC book by Eric Carle. We tell him, "Go get your ABC book" and he knows exactly where it is and brings it.  The pages are ripped off, it has been puked on, sneezed on, chewed up, but he loves that book.
• Shapes.  Likes to see how things fit into their holes. I find toys stuffed into holes that I have no idea how I am going to get them out.

Verona. 

• Walking backwards. She is so funny.  She likes to walk backwards around the house.  It just makes her so happy to do it.
• Babies. She likes to "give love, give kisses" to her brother, mom, dad, babies, stuffed animals, my iPhone, the floor, trucks, etc.  She always make the "Mwah" sound when she kisses too.
• Saliva.  Yeh, that's right saliva. She takes her saliva out of her mouth, plays with it and tries to "give" it to you.  A gentle No thanks, usually works, but I have been slimed by her.
• No no.  She likes to get into things she is not supposed to. She now mocks us by wagging her finger back and forth and saying No No at the same time. If we well her "V, please do not touch the lamp" she looks at us *finger wagging" NO NO NO NO NO.  

Trent is a heffalump.  That boy is so heavy. By our standards.  He is so big.  I have to remind myself that there are 8 months old that probably way the same!  Verona is getting some chunk finally. Her double chin is noticeable when she is lying down.  They have their 18 mo appt in a few weeks. Will find out for sure just how big. My guess is Trent is 26lbs and Verona is 24.  

They both hate watermelon. We were in shock. I thought for sure they would love it.  Nope, kept spitting it out and making faces. I think it was a texture thing.

Oh and one last little thing. I was giving Trent a bath last week and he had a spot on his butt. I kept scrubbing but it wouldn't' go away.   It turns out he has a little mole on his butt.  Adorable!!  

iPhone Video Dump

I have tons of video's on my phone. Thought I would put some up here. If they kids don't have any shirts on, that means they made a mess at breakfast. If they don't have pants on, it means they peed like crazy over night and soaked through. If they have no clothes on, it means they just ate dinner and have lazy parents.  There will probably be Sesame Street on in the background as well. 

Juggling

Now that it is warm, (95+ everyday) I find myself not wanting to go outside as much. The problem with Chico is that it is either raining or hot as hell. There is no mild spring, it goes from raining to 85 in a snap. I took the kids to the park at 8 am the other day. 8 AM!!!! I had do, it was supposed to be 106 that day. It was already around 82 when we got there.


The weather makes us juggle our schedule. We get home, toss some sort of meal down the kids' throats, put them in their swim suits and we swim in our pool for an hour or so. Dry em off, pj's, teeth, story and bed. Then we eat. We only seem to swim later due to more shade around the shallow end plus there are 2 of us.


Meal time is more juggling. We haven't ever been meal planners. And we still aren't. Maybe it's because we both work, Andy a job with regular hours, me a job with irregular hours. We always make sure there is milk, a protein, carb, veggie, and a fruit with every meal. These kids must get tired of our tiresome meals that we give them. I spoiled them today. They had french toast and mandarin oranges for breakfast. Usually it would have been oatmeal, eggs and bananas! I keep saying I need to meal plan, but then it goes by the way side. I wish there was a website where I could type in every food I have in my pantry, fridge and freezer, spices I have on hand, etc. And would spit out a receipe that I can make where I don't have to go to the store.
I made a tater tot casserole with everything we already had.


This may turn into a cooking post.

Tater tot Casserole
1 Lb ground meat (turkey or beef or pork your prefernce)
1 small yellow or white onion diced or 1/2 a medium onion diced
1 can of green beans drained
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
milk
tater tots
sauerkraut(if desired)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup cheddar cheese grated


Brown the meat and onion until meal it cooked, drain off excess liquid

Combine meat, green beans, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, cream of mushroom soup and fill the soup container half way with milk all together in a 2.5-3 qt baking dish.

put a thin layer of sauerkraut, just enough to cover top. If you don't have any or don't like sauerkraut, no worries.

Top with tater tots. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 375. Pull out, sprinkle cheese on top, and put back in over for 2-5 minutes until melted.

Let cool for 2-4 minutes. Enjoy! I had everything in our pantry and freezer for this and it was amazing! The kids went crazy for this and I love casseroles. A win win!

What does this do???

The twins are nearly 17 months old. And it is like corralling cats! They are into EVERYTHING! And since they are discovering new to them(boring and dangerous to us) they can not stop investigating. I will go by the people/places/items they love to get into. Nipples. Yes that's right nipples. Since the weather has become more warm, Andy has his shirt off. Verona discovered his nipples. Poor Andy. She flicks, grabs, twists, and pokes his nipples any chance she gets. We think the reason is because he has hair on his chest. She doesn't ever do this to Trent, but then again, Trent's nipples are smaller then a dime. Tupperware. This is a no brainer. All of our cupboards have child safety(read:adult curse enhancers) on them. Except the Tupperware one. Our Tupperware cupboard is only made more fantastic by the fact that my mom GAVE twins red Tupperware for Christmas. I have tiny 2 oz containers and large containers. Verona like to take the 2oz container, walk up to the fridge and raise her arm up to get water out. She's smart. She knows that is where drinking water comes from. We oblige, and she sips out 1/2 oz of water like we just made her day the best. Trent likes to put the large red containers on his head and walks around with it as a hat. The part they seem to like the best is when EVERY SINGLE PIECE of tupperware is out of the cupboard and strew around the entire house. I found a container under the couch. Several mixed in with toys, tossed over into the booze area. Every where. Luckily, we stopped using all this tupperware back in December when we switched to Pyrex Storage. These are kept on a high shelf where even I can barely reach. Tables They seem to find it very exciting to sit and stand under tables. Our dining room table has clasps to lock in the leaves(sp) for expansion. We are constantly getting them out, explaining "you'll hit your head, get out" then someone hits their head, cries, and the pity party is not too full of pity. Couches/Chairs. They can now climb up on the couches and chair. It freaked me out in the beginning because Verona would go to the edge and pretty much try and fall over. I would spend my time holing onto one ankle, while attempting to play with Trent. They both are so proud of themselves. But it also meant we had to find a new home for the remotes. And push things back on a side table. Remotes: No doubt, these are my children. Verona will pick a remote, point it at the TV and wait. Look at me like "why isn't Sesame Street on?" They seriously copy your every move. Our coffee table has drawers on the front of it that is pulled open by knobs. They were always pulling the drawers open and taking what we had in there(Kenny G and Nat Cole Christmas CD's, I know) So I took the knobs off and put the remotes in there. Now you have to reach under the drawer, pull out to get it open. Annoying. Toilet: TMI! I only recently started introducing them to the bathroom. As in, mama is going potty, you want to wander in and say hi. They go straight for the toilet paper. Figures. But they are very interested in flushing. I am waiting for them to start understand/saying poo. Like "Mama, I poo" Kisses I am quite the snuggler. Andy says it's a good thing I had twins so I always have someone to snuggle with. And boy do I have to work for it! Verona is my kisser. She does tend to linger though. And some times wets her lips before going in. Trent would rather blow you a kiss then give you one. And when he does give me a kiss, he tends to keep his mouth open and I have to explain this is not rural Arkansas. But for snuggling, Trent is KING! He happily lays down back to your chest and sits there like a lump of potatoes. I just have to put on Sesame Street to get him to do that. They are both so VERY VERY loving. We say "give love,give hugs" and they give each hugs and kisses. Verona even makes the "Mwah" sound when she kisses Trent. Trent's hugs for Verona are to say the least, massive. It is more of a running hug. He walks very fast to her, grabs her and keeps walking, causing him to fall on top of her where the hug continues and she cries for help. Attachments: They each have a "lovey". V has a Rabbit, we call Rabbit. And Trent has a frog we call Ribbit. Don't ever touch Ribbit. Ribbit always has sopping wet "hands". Trent sucks, chews on Ribbit during nap and bed. Gross. They each have a pig in their crib and V has a lamb and Trent a bunny. The goal with the stuffed animals is they will "play' with them to buy us a few minutes. Recently it has become a game of throw and catch. Blankets, lovey's and animals all over the place. Cribs, between cribs, floor, and one closet door is usually open so Verona can toss an animal into the closet. Verona is getting better and not being so attached to me. There were times I could even set her down without crying. She only wanted me and that was that. Even now, if Andy tells her no, she comes crying to me. Trent loves his dad. A few weeks ago, we went together to pick them up from daycare, I kneeled down, and Andy was standing up, Trent walked right past me with out looking at me and went to Andy. Ouch. Food There is not a food item that Trent doesn't like. He eats EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!! If he doesn't eat it, usually it is texture. Verona how ever is picky. She won't eat most fruit. I can get her to eat bananas and grapes and mandarin oranges. She turned down pineapple and strawberries! They are both wonderful vegetable eaters. As a vegetable hater, I am trying to instill a love of veggies in them. EVERY meal( minus breakfast sometimes) has a a veggie. And they MUST eat in. Peas, Carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onion, peppers, potatoes, black beans, kidney beans, re-fried beans,and corn. They just had corn on the cob and didn't eat it in a normal matter, but still ate it. They love veggies. The only vegetable they won't eat is frozen green beans. I can't blame them. And they had Asparagus at Easter and loved it. (Andy and I hate asparagus, so they may never get this). And they like "fancy" cut green beans. We are trying to show them how to eat with a spoon. Ugh. With one baby I am sure it is soo easy. You can sit there and concentrate on ONE baby. With twins, you need to people, if not three! Verona has the spoon, we dip it into the oatmeal and I turn to help Trent, but alas, he is holding his spoon and uses his other hand to GRAB the oatmeal and eat that way. I then help him put the spoon in the oatmeal, knowing he will put the spoon to his mouth, turn to Verona who has now grabbed HER oatmeal with her other hand. After 5 minutes of this back and forth I give up and let them eat oatmeal with their hands. Take their shirts off and vow to never do this again. Until I decide to give them star pasta for dinner. NIGHTMARE!!! pasta the size of the diameter of a pencil eraser. ALL OVER THE PLACE! Overall, they are keep us on our toes! The language skills are coming along nicely. They sign for please, more, and all done. We ask them to do something or not do something and they understand, but choose whether or not to follow our directions. The best is, give me a kiss and they oblige. The worst, is don't grab the lamp, get a sly smile and the lamp is shaken. But we roll with the punches. And they reward us by sleeping 12 hours every night. Can't complain about that. People always think we get no sleep. They started sleeping for at least 8 hours at 5 months old. I get a full 8 hours if not more every night. I feel bad for new moms who are told they will never sleep again. Meh. It's only for a few months of lack of sleep, but they you gain it all back. This post is super long and Verona is up and crying. Time to get bath time ready!!

Attention!

These twins like to get attention. Mostly from us though. They don't wait for the paparazzi to sneak out of the bushes and take their pictures after just eating breakfast and having oatmeal and bananas stuck to their foreheads. When we leave them in the family room, we have the gate up and leave to go clean up after breakfast/lunch/dinenr, go to the restroom, make ourselves breakfast/lunch/dinner etc. They figured out a sneaky way to get our attention. They have a few toys that have balls, and they have some big bouncy balls. They carry said balls over to the gate, that looks into the tiled entry way. The then toss the balls, which makes a click clack noise. They wait for us to come out and give the balls back. If that doesn't work they get other toys: Little People, books, socks, shoes, straw cups, etc. Pretty soon the entry way is covered in toys. At least they don't cry.

I have turned the bottom of their closet into a "toy chest". I keep completely different toys up there, open up the door and let them play while changing diapers, getting them dressed, changing sheets, putting away clothes. Lately, I have been finding odd stuff while cleaning. Namely pacifiers. Which leads me to..........

We stopped giving pacifiers at 11 months. 3 months ago! Our goal was to phase out pacifiers and bottles at 1 year. However, we kept losing the pacifiers. We were constantly looking for them. "have you seen the purple paci?" "where did Trent put the Orange paci?" We got to the point where we had lost 10 paci's. Or the kids put them some where. We were down to the ones from the hospital. So we said, forget it, no more. Cold turkey, Trent went to bed with out his paci. And he was fine. Verona didn't really NEED it, she always spit it out during bedtime and nap. And because they both had teeth, they spent more time CHEWING on the paci then actually sucking on it. The problem, is I have been finding paci's over the past few weeks. I pulled out the changing table in their room to vacuum and found a blue one. In between their cribs is a canvas box that holds burp cloths/snot rags. Yesterday Trent spit up in the morning and I found another blue one in the canvas box. I found a pink and a purple one behind one of the couches a few weeks ago.

I have noticed that some mom's are sad about putting away baby clothes. Last night while folding their laundry I realized I can't wait for them to grow up. I can't wait to have conversations with them, and talk with them. And folding tiny pairs of pants are a pain. Andy wants them to wear clothes that only have snaps and zippers. I don't' think we want a 12 year old wearing a onesie to school. I am over onesie's. I only put onesie's on them when they go to daycare. Is that bad? They are a pain, I have to pull down their pants AND undo the snaps to get to the diaper,plus I have to do this TWICE! I keep the separate tops and bottoms for us and put them in the complicated clothing for daycare. I am terrible, but it makes it so much easier when you are by yourself with them.

I think this is a good stopping point.I am going to try and figure out how to "mobile blog". There may be more blogs in the future if I can learn how to!

Cause and Effect

Look, 2 posts within 2 months!! Cause and Effect seems to be the theme around our home lately. Verona is now a walker/toddler. She can take a good amount of steps before she just sits down or looks for something to hold on to. She doesn't look where she is walking and will walk over ANYTHING. (Legs, toys, cups, pony's, brother) and she eventually falls down and becomes upset. By not looking where she is going causes her to fall and the effect is she throws a tantrum. Trent has learned that if he let's Verona take his toy, scratch him, or push him, he will cry and not "fight" back. Thus I swoop down, comfort him, and show Verona how scratching and pushing is not nice, while she smiles and laughs at me. But alas, it is a two way street. Trenton's 12 teeth are good for chomping down on Verona's fingers when she finds it funny to stick her fingers in his mouth. She is left with tiny bite marks, a hurt ego, and the effect of knowing her brother has 12 teeth and she has 6.

Trenton took 3 steps unassisted on February 15th. And nothing since then. He can't stand on his own either. He tends to lead with his stomach when we hold his hands to get him to walk. This may be due to the fact that he can now hold down food. And lots of it. He is a never-ending pit for food. He crawls up the stares s l o w l y. Crawls pretty fast around the house. But the elusive walking seems to be his hold back. I am not worried at all. He's a boy, he likes to do his own thing and he is developing great every where else. His sensitive side is showing more. We noticed it when he was younger, but it has really come out lately. If you scold Verona for dropping food, throwing food, or hitting Trenton, TRENT cries!! He doesn't like any harsh remarks. "Verona, be nice to Trent!" His lower lip pops out, and he becomes all upset. Such a sensitive boy. However, he is the best snuggler in the house. I can always count on him to crawl into my lap, or request to be brought up on the couch and will happily lay on either of us and just rest is hinds

Verona took her first steps on January 15th. She would take 3-5 steps cautiously if we were right there for her to fall into. In the past few weeks she decided she doesn't need help and can do it on her own. She has been crawling up the stairs on her own for almost 2 months now. We need to show her how to go down the stairs now. She is such a funny girl. Anything makes her laugh, especially when Andy get's down on all fours, and growls and is going to "get her" she lays down on her back and waits for him then laughs. She likes to be tickled and is very very curious. About Everything. All the time. She can swipe the iPad open, knows to use her fingers if she wants the iPad or our iPhoens to do anything. But she is the queen of tantrums. If you dare leave her sight it is an all out crying, head shaking, feet stomping, arm swinging good time. Andy and I rather enjoy watching it progress. She goes from happily playing to freaking out in a matter of seconds if we get up to get something that is not in the family room. But when you come back, she is fine and wants to climb into your lap and hug you. How can you not want to leave the room and come back when you know you get a hug?

Kisses. They are both learning to do kisses. Trent "throws" kisses to us, but is not big on giving kisses. Verona gives kisses, and sometimes she lingers. With her mouth open. Today, I was laying on the floor, puckered my lips up, and she leaned down with her mouth open and kept trying to keep her lips on mine. I was laughing so hard she kept doing it over and over. She also has given kisses on the cheek, but she has bit me a couple times doing that. She is learning that if you bite during a kiss, you can't give any kisses on the cheek.

Bottles. So we were doing a morning bottle, and then straw cups for lunch and dinner, and a night bottle. My parents were visiting and I told them about the straw cups but neglected to tell them about the morning bottle. So they put the morning bottle in the straw cup. PERFECT!! Now the kids are down to only 1 bottle a day. I figure we will keep doing it until they don't want it. Hopefully by 15-18 months they are over it. It is so nice to not have to wash bottles. The straw cups are easier for all of us. But I need to find some new ones, these ones seem to leak when they are thrown to the ground, which happens ALL THE TIME!

Food. What don't they eat? They love it all. Brussell Sprouts, Eggs, meatballs, Multi-Grain Cheerios, pancakes, pasta, beef stew, carrots. But they really like sour foods. They go CRAZY for pickles! And Granny Smith Apples. Whenever Andy makes a sandwich with pickles, their radar turns on and they won't leave him along until they get a taste. They don't seem to mind lime or lemon either. And luckily, they are fiends for milk. I LOVE milk, and they had no problem going from formula to milk.

Hope this finds you well.Until next time

Time Flies

Well not bad. It has been less then a year from my last blog. The twins turn 1 and that statement sums up the last year. We have been extremely busy with them and keeping up and balancing life, work, and them has taught us many things, but mostly patience. Without patience, everything falls apart. I am so lucky to have Andy in my life and go through this ride with me. With that, he made an amazing video summing up Trenton and Verona's first year. The songs have a special meaning to us. The first song we considered the title a name for a daughter for about 2 weeks then we came to our senses. The second song came from a movie that we saw the summer I was pregnant and I balled through most of the movie. The third song is by an artist that I like a lot and it just seemed to flow for us both. Enjoy and I will attempt to blog more this year. <