Auntie Mo, the amazing climbing machine

Yes, this is what happens very often when she comes to visit. Just for the record, there was actually snuggling going on before this picture. Sam is still cuddling while the Rileyinator climbs all over.

Hidden Villa

Today (yesterday now) we went to Hidden Villa with our twins group and another twins group. The weather was beautiful, nice and sunny and warm, in the 70's. For those of you who don't know, Hidden Villa is a working farm that allows people to come visit and see the workings of a farm. You can go anytime, and they also do tours with schools and other groups. We didn't do a tour this time, just showed ourselves around.

The girls were fascinated by all the animals, and were able to name them all, and sign most of them. I was very proud. They got to see a few baby animals which they really liked. The most entertaining for them were the chickens which they stared at in the coops forever, and then had fun following the free range ones all over. They also loved the pigs. Riley was very content to observe from a distance and did not want to leave when it was time. Sam on the other hand, had to get up close and personal. She loved petting the pig. For those of you who have never pet a pig before, they are not soft as they would appear. They are very bristley, but that didn't stop Sam.

After the pigs we tried to take a group photo, but trying to round up that many preschoolers was indeed a challenge. Herding jellyfish would have been easier.

Following the picture we had a picnic in their lovely picnic area, played a little, and then headed home for naps. All in all it was a good day, and something we'll have to do again soon.

A Poet in the Making

As many of you know, we have been teaching the girls sign language since they were about 9 months old. Currently they know somewhere around 75 to 80 signs, maybe more. They do a pretty good job of communicating what they can't say, but using signs which leads me to my little poet.

This week Riley totally surprised me with an imaginative leap of logic. I have a diamond heart necklace that Bill gave me and that I always wear, day and night. The girls have been noticing it for a long time, and at least once a day do inventory.

Girls: Heart?
Me: yes, that's my heart necklace.
Girls: Daddy do? (Translated that means, "Did Daddy give that to you?")
Me: yes, Daddy gave that to Mommy

Sometimes this continues on to my rings, sometimes not.

This week however, it lead to something quite new. Riley made a poetic leap that totally surprised for someone who is not yet two, and she had to sign part of it to help get her point across. Basically, we had the same conversation, but after the heart question she started signing star and pointing at the stones on my necklace. I didn't get it at first, but finally I asked her if she thought they looked like stars and she very happily nodded her head, and said, "Stahs" (stars). it was followed up with, "Daddy, stahs", which she confirmed meant Daddy gave Mommy stars. My little imaginitive one has already linked diamonds with stars, and the fact that Daddy gave Mommy stars.

I'm in trouble, or more precisely Bill is in trouble, and any future date is in trouble.

Bane of my existence

Auntie Liz and Auntie Mo often arrive with something in hand for the girls, and the girls always love whatever it is. Recently it was a monkey plate for each of them. The last few days the girls have only wanted to eat off the monkey plates - so much so that they even had to have their morning oatmeal off of them. Not the easiest way to serve or eat oatmeal, but at least they enjoyed it.

They love to talk about the boons (balloons), the cowds (clouds) and of course the monee (monkey). They also go through all the colors of the balloons.

Today I had to tell them that the plates were dirty - they were not too pleased with me. I'm sure the Aunties will be happy to hear this.

Camp Potty Update

I've heard that if your kid isn't trained within two weeks that perhaps you should wait and try again later. I don't remember where I heard this, but it doesn't matter. It's day 14 and I think I can claim success. The girls are using their potties 90% to 95% of the time with great success, but more important is the fact that they get it.

Today while I had the girls out and about, Sam told me she needed to potty. Sadly I couldn't get her to a restroom fast enough and she had an accident in her pants which made her cry. She was so upset that she dirtied her pants. Not once during this whole process have I ever scolded the girls, or said something to make them feel like less of a human being when they have had their accidents, so I'm pretty certain it was because she was disappointed with herself (which is not always a bad thing). It's sounds awful, but I am so proud of her, not because she was upset, but because she was upset because she really gets it.

Ironically we were at the store to buy a new potty.

What I did this weekend was not as important...

...as what my girls did this weekend.

They came to the ice rink to cheer for Mommy who was playing hockey.

Thanks for the pics Andrea. You can see more pics here.

P.S. That's Daddy in the background who was nice enough to bring the girls down to the rink, and to do a little cheering himself. It was great to have my personal cheering section.

P.P.S. Thanks to Liz and Andrea for the lift to the rink, and for being great athletic supporters. ;)

I'm Animal

How appropriate - he was always my favorite.

You Are Animal

A complete lunatic, you're operating on 100% animal instincts. You thrive on uncontrolled energy, and you're downright scary. But you sure can beat a good drum."Kill! Kill!"

The Muppet Personality Test

Thanks for the link Helen

Sick Little Ones, and Potty Training update

I know I haven't blogged in a few days, but that's because Sam has been sick, and wanting to be cuddled all day and night. Thursday night she had a fever of 103.3 even after Tylenol. Riley started to get a temp, though not as high yesterday, and joined the cuddle all day and night club. This has really put a damper on my computer useage. Both girls are starting to feel better now.

As for the potty training, we are making progress. Today there were only 2 accidents (at least before I went to work.) They are both starting to voluntarily sit on their potties (rather than being prompted every so often), and I even caught Riley sitting there reading a book. It was quite cute. Sam otoh, thought that her toy ducks should go for a swim in the nice yellow pond she had made in her potty seat. Always something new and entertaining with these two.

For those of you naysayers out there (and you know who you are), the girls are more than ready for potty training. According to most of the books, it happens between 18 months and 2 years (especially for girls), the child should be able to verbalize potty (both girls can), they should be able to undress themselves (they both can do this, including overalls, pajamas and clothes put on backwards to prevent removal), they should be able to express when they are wet or soiled (they both can), and bottom line is it could cure Riley's condition (potty training often does) which would mean we could get her off the antibiotics and stop taking her for uncomfortable and risky invasive procedures.

Premature Urination Insensitive Folks

Did I mention that some people are just rude? I couldn't believe that when I took the girls to go potty in a public restroom, and they are standing in line going, "Potty, potty, potty" and bouncing around that the one woman in line in front of them wouldn't let them go first. I have always let little children go ahead of me when they are in obvious need. Let's face it, children just can't hold it as well as we can. Is it just me? I have always though children and pregnant woman had first dibs on restroom usage. Just for the record, I also step aside if an adult asks me if they can go first - I figure there must be a good reason.

Day 8 at Camp Potty

The natives have taken over, their former leader is stumbling around with a bottle of 409 in one hand and air deodorizer in the other blindly trying to keep up with the nimble midgets. The potty seats sit abandoned in the corner, training pants strewn about the floor, unruliness reigns supreme. As fatigue claims yet another aged victim, the young natives dance victorious in their refusal to properly relieve themselves in the assigned location.

Messages from above?

How you know when Auntie Mo has been at your house.
Her message for the world.

(It might be more effective if we had more T's and if the girls could read.)

Camp Potty

Late last week we (I) decided to set up Camp Potty. We have the central hallway of the house blocked off for the girls and have put their potty seats, some small toys, paper and crayons in this area in order to contain the "mess" while they learn to use their potty chairs. Needless to say, I now have crayon all over my walls and doors in this area. Sigh. In any case, here's a picture of Camp Potty.

As for progress on the potty training, we are about 50/50 at home. On the road we use the potty 100% of the time (at least so far.) The girls seem to really enjoy public restrooms. We went to Outback for my Mom's birthday, and I had to take the girls to the restroom no less than 7 times. A couple of these times were successful, but mostly I think we were just enjoying the Potties of the World Tour.

I know it doesn't seem like such a big deal, but it is quite a process to take them to a public restroom. First you have to get there, get in the stall, put their smaller potty seat on the toilet, hold them up there for what seems like forever, wipe, re-dress them, put the portable potty seat away, flush the toilet and wave bye-bye all while trying to keep them from touching every disgusting thing in there. Then wash and dry hands, and back to the dinner table. Needless to say, doing this 7 times prevented me from having much of a meal. It was totally worth dry pants though.

In case any of you are wondering why Bill didn't take them, think about it. Men's restroom - gross!! I would rather pee in a bush than use a mens restroom and I certainly don't want my girls in there. Ewwww.

Happy Easter Everyone

Here's hoping everyone's Easter is a fun filled day complete with special surprises.

Where's Bill?

Oh, there he is.

Happy Easter everyone!

Scary and productive morning

This morning, as we were getting ready to leave for playgroup, I smashed Sam's fingers in the hinge side of the nursery door. It was horrible, and yes, I have a HUGE amount of guilt over this. Her poor fingers were flat with black and blue grooves in them. One was also bent funny, so off to the doctor we went to make sure that nothing was broken, crushed, or dislocated. She finally stopped crying about the time we got to the doctors office, but was still moaning a bit. She was quite the trooper though, and willingly showed the doctor her fingers and let him manipulate them. I am so proud of her. The end result is that worse case, there might be a little bone chip (can't do anything for that), but it looks like it's just a bad contusion. All of the fingers are swollen a little bit with one being twice it's normal size. We should be back to normal in a couple of days.

The upside to all this is that I found my cell phone, digital camera, and hairbrush in the process.

Most Awesome Night

Something really awesome happened tonight that I can't blog about yet, but when I can I assure you I will. Big happy grin on my face. (And no, I'm not pregnant - don't even go there.)

Spoken too soon

I apparently was a little too excited about our potty progress this morning. Not more than 30 seconds after hitting the post key I smelled the smell, turned around, and there were two poop covered girls standing behind me. I quickly quarantined them, and went hunting for the offending poo. I guess the potty was boring because the offender ( later found out it was Riley) climbed up on their play table, pooped, and then the two of them apparently had great fun with their new found "playdough".

Into the tub for a thorough washing, diapered, jammied, and into bed for naps. Where is that bartender when I need him?

The afternoon went very well though. The girls stayed dry from the time they got up from their naps to the time we put them to bed tonight. And that included trips out of the house and away from the potty, so maybe there's hope. Tomorrow is another day.

Banner - YTBD

So far we are having a banner day with the potties. Only two small accidents on the floor. Sam has used the potty and very well. Riley has used it 5 times PLUS once with poo! That's a first.

We still can't keep clothes on, but we're working on it.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Potty Training

Day 1:
We've had the potty seats in the house, and every so often the girls would ask to sit on them, but they were really more of a novelty than a tool. Today (yesterday now) was different. We decided to officially try the potty training thing. They got up in the morning and we dutifully put on their "pretty" new training pants (panties just like Mommy wears), and all was good for literally 20 seconds. Sam ran right into the bedroom, stood next to her crib, and wet her pants. It was all over her, all over the floor, but that's ok we expected accidents. I cleaned her up, reassurred her, and then told her next time maybe she could put her pee in the potty to which she promptly and firmly replied, "No" and shook her head. That was ok though, because I was more intent on Riley training than Sam. Riley has shown much more interest and readiness, Sam just wanted to wear the panties and I thought I was ok with that, but the ensuing onslaught of urine and feces marked spots in my house is beginning to change my mind.

Shortly after this incident, I found Sam buck naked saying, "Poooooo". Sure enough, there was poo in her panties which were across the room. Change number 2.

Riley went through 3 pairs of training pants in 45 minutes, but then seemed to get the idea. After cleaning up 3 seperate puddles on the floor, I was quite happy to see Riley sitting on her potty reading a book. When I walked up, she looked at me and said, "Potty." I of course praised her for potty sitting, and not wetting her pretty panties. Then the odor hit me. I checked the potty, no poo there. I looked on the floor, no poo there. I checked the panties, no poo there. Then I hear Sam from the other room saying, "Poooooo", and my heart sinks for I fear what I will find. I go in the other room, and there is the offending poo, on the floor by their toy shelf, slightly smeared, but mostly intact. I look at Sam who has poo all over her hands, and the realization that this is not going to be easy with two kids to potty train. I know, I know, I should have expected it, but I had to hope. Anyway, we washed Sam's hands, cleaned up Riley, put diapers on both, and dressed them (did I forget to mention they kept stripping down to nothing?), and put them in bed for naptime. During naptime I cleaned up 2 more puddles of pee and one spot of poo that I found, and seriously debated whether I wanted to continue this psychotic experiment when they awoke.

When they did get up, they came out to see their Aunt Cathy who was over to visit. In the course of the visit, Sam proceeded to show me all the places where she had spread her poo, pointing and repeating, "Pooooo, pooooo, poooooo". Apparently she had sat on both bikes, thank goodness the seats are plastic and cleaned up easy. There was poo on the floor, mopped it up. There was poo on a stuffed toy, tossed it into the laundry for later cleaning. There was poo smeared on the toy shelf and toy bins, cleaned it up.''

Put diapers on both girls, called it a day. They win.

Day 2:
2 pairs of panties wet through, 1 pile of poop on the floor. Heavy sigh.

The best part though was when they went down for their nap. After they were asleep, I peeked in only to find 2 completely buck naked babies sleeping in their cribs with all clothing, bedding, etc. thrown out. The only remaining item was Riley's training pants which she was hugging and laying on like a pillow. I carefully diapered each one without turning them over (they were on their tummies), covered them with blankets, tiptoed out of the room, and am not considering sitting down with a couple of shots followed by a beer back. I think they've won day two as well.

Marshmallows do not belong in bed...

nuf said.

My new alter ego

Your Superhero Profile

Your Superhero Name is The Nuclear Samurai Your Superpower is Accessorizing Your Weakness is Itching Your Weapon is Your Turbo Hammer Your Mode of Transportation is Pogo Stick

What's" your Superhero Name?

Thanks to the Human Ranger for that one.

Tough Weekend

This last weekend was a little tough for me, and certain things will continue to be tough throughout the week. First and foremost, the girls have been weaned. It's been 3 days now with no nursing. Riley is adjusting a little more quickly than Sam, but both seem to be appeased if we get up and have some OJ. Of course, as odd as it sounds it's just as hard if not more so on me as it is on them. Realistically though, it's been a long time since they actually got any quantity, and I'm sure not much in the way of nutrition or antibodies.

Secondly, I worked Friday night and was up all day Saturday cuz I had a project I wanted to get done with my sister-in-law, Debbie, and cuz my MIL was here.

Third, I had a busy Sunday which ended with a hockey practice. It was all fun, but tiring just the same. Came home and the girls were still awake, so I rocked with them a bit. They indicated that they wanted to sleep in their cribs in their room, so I put them down. Then began to have a massive panic attack (they've NEVER slept in their own room before.) It didn't last long though, because soon they were crying to get out of their cribs, so Mommy (me) happily picked them up, rocked a bit more, and then went to lay down with them in our bed. Snuggle time is good.

That brings us to this morning which is a longer and unfinished story at this moment, so I will have to save it for later today.

Just for Andrea

No poop in the potty.

Happy Hollow (again)

Last Thursday we went to Happy Hollow with our playgroup (all twins) and had the usual good times. This time though, the girls learned to walk around holding onto the stroller instead of riding in it. This was kind of nice because I didn't have to keep getting them in and out of it and more importantly it wore them out. They napped for 3 1/2 hours that day. Woo hoo! They also got to wander around the maze for the first time. It's built just for their size, so they really enjoyed that until Sam started to get a little tired and needed some coaching to get out. After all the rides and walking the girls (and the rest of the kids) were quite hungry, so we hit a private little picnic area there and let the kids have at it. They all thought it was great. They traded food, "chatted" with each other (who knew what they were saying), and in general had a good time. In addition, the girls got to practice their cheesy smiles some more, and Riley waved at all the people from the carousel.

Time to get caught up

In the last week I have unpacked and moved a good deal of my office/sewing room, taken the girls to Happy Hollow, the park, and for photos, we went shoe shopping, and the girls now have 3 brand spanking new pairs of shoes (one will have to go back), I've worked on my Mom's birthday gift, I bought new sheets for our bed, Riley has built a lovely paint can sculpture, and Sam has made a snack of a ballpoint pen. I may or may not blog about all of these in more detail over the next couple of days. Only time will tell (and my friends who want to rat me out.)

Oh yeah, and we got an elephant slide.

Late night blog Haiku

I would like to blog,
but have no time in spite of
requests from Andrea.