Eats and treats

I'm proud to say that I feed my family a home cooked meal every day. Whether it is breakfast, lunch or all three, I enjoy cooking for everyone. At this point, with the babes, there are a few things that I know they will eat, but mostly I'm still discovering what they like, or don't like. Thankfully, Frank is always along for the ride, too.

My love for cooking began a few years ago, before having kids. I would have lofty resolutions to cook at least one new recipe a week. I probably tried new recipes about every other week. I would go in spurts of inspiration, but would fall back on my regular fan favorites. Once I was able to feed the babes last year, I began slowly rediscovering my love for cooking, nutrition, and providing a home cooked meal for the family.

When I first started feeding the babes, it was for "tastes" only. We are now providing five meals a day - three full meals and two snacks. While I am looking for a new job, I've had more time to devote to meals. Together with Chelsey, the babe's nanny, we are able to pull together delicious recipes to make, or even create. Between the two of us, the babes are fed well and well-fed.

I have a few children focused cookbooks that I refer to in addition to a few websites which provide a wealth of new recipe ideas and inspiration for when I'm feeling like a kitchen pioneer. One of my main goals is to find a way to alter recipes to have low to no sugar, add spinach where possible, and ensure that everyone has at least three to five servings of fruit a day.There are plenty of ways to incorporate those into every meal - and it's a fun challenge. Chelsey was so inspired by the cooking, given her personal focus on health and nutrition, that she started blogging the recipes that she has made for the babes -- Happy Thoughts, Happy Tots. Please give her site a look for the details on all of the delicious recipes.

Some of the most recent babe faves include Spinach Pancakes and yogurt bites. The spinach pancakes are green and so delicious. We use strawberries and honey as our topping, too. I will occasionally post links to her blog so you can see the deliciousness that the babes get to enjoy.

Oh, and one other bonus, we try to use (Great) Gram's pottery in the photographs to display the food. It's a good way for us to showcase her fantastic work using scrumptious food.

Here are a few pics from the recent recipes and the happy babes to prove how much they love it. Sign up to follow her blog!

Green Smoothie Muffins

Spinach Pancakes

Itty Bitty Berry Froyo Bites

Chelsey is as excited about feeding the babes as I am. We are so lucky to have her in our lives.

14 months -- movin' and groovin'

Over the last month, the babes have really begun their triumphant marathon into toddler-town. They have outgrown their baby toys. They are wearing 18 month and larger sizes. They babble like they are talking with us. Everyday, we are amazed at what new thing that they have embarked on as little tiny humans. They are twins, but they sure are individuals.

Cora is completely walking now. She hasn't mastered running and she is no stranger to falling down. We notice that when she gets tired, she falls even more. We call her our bruiser. She will walk around the corner with a red spot on her head, and neither of us were there to see what happened. She loves to play chase. She loves when Frank scares her. I often whisper in her ear, "where's Daddy?" She squeals and goes to find him. "DaDa" is still the most favorite word to use, as it applies to a lot of things. Sometimes, she will even say, "Da-Dee." Curious George is "juh." Dog is "duh." Thomas the Train is "Tuh." And she can almost say "teeth" when it's time to brush teeth. She says it with a smile so we can see all seven of her teeth. Cora loves to bounce to dance. She shakes her head no when she doesn't like something, too. She just began signing more, although she just uses her two pointer fingers. We understand. We so value the communication.

Sutter has been signing "more" for a few months now, which is a half clap, half point the hand. So he half has it, but we understand. He often uses it in place of food, as we haven't begun working on that sign, yet. When he wakes up in the morning, he will sign "more" as if he is saying, "OK, I'm ready to eat now." I can't blame him, as I often wake up hungry. He sometimes signs it when he is on the playground, too. He just learned how to go down the slide by himself. He loves it. He gets off, crawls over to the steps and goes back up to the top again. He has taken a few steps here and there. I think he is just a few weeks from walking. He babbles so much that it sounds like he asks questions, as his sentences end with a slight inflection higher. He loves to play by himself with his toys or read his books. But he still likes to be held...a lot. He may be gaining independence, but he still needs to be held.

The reality of having two kids going through similar milestones at approximately the same time is really starting to set in with me now. I often hear other people at the playground exclaim, "you're a saint," or "double the trouble." While those statements come from a place of sympathy or exhaustion, I suppose I'm starting to understand that it does take an extreme amount of energy to keep up with the demands of these little ones. They have only begun to start playing with each other, although that needs a constant referee. They will start off separate, perhaps gravitate to what the other one is doing, and then promptly try to take it away. The other fun game that they play together is opening and shutting the door. Eventually, one of them gets slammed in the face or knocked over. It's all part of learning to live together, but it's non stop.

They require an ongoing change of activity, too. I'm often looking at blogs for ideas on how to continually entertain them, without having to buy new toys. I know we have a lot of toys here, but I want to find creative ways to entertain them. I build walls with blocks, and they knock them down. I hide toys in baskets for them to uncover. And we play chase. Lots of chase. It's fun and keeps me moving. I wear my fitbit everyday and at least cover 5 miles just walking with them and playing around.

I've been exploring all of the parks of SF to find the ones that are toddler friendly. They must have fences, no sand or bark, and decent parking. There are three that fit that bill and two are near my house. The kids eat the sand. The bark is terrible to walk on at this age. In a few months, we'll be hitting up the other parks. For now, I appreciate what we have.

Frank & I have been taking the kids around town on the weekends. We have even ventured out to eat a few times. That's always a race, but I really enjoy not cooking for a meal or two. Plus, I get a glass (or two) of wine. Takes the edge off the madness of keeping the babes entertained for the 45 minutes we are at the table, leaving cheerios and peas all over the ground.

In my heart of hearts, I would blog everyday. I love reminding myself of what they've done, what we've done, and what we can expect. The reality is I'm pooped by the time I sit down after they go to bed at 7:30. I enjoy my reality tv shows and love to check out. High five if you feel me.

Here are a few photos from our session in the tunnel at home. They love to play with the tunnel. They also love to look outside from their perch on the couch. There are lots of things to see here.

Year One is Done!

We did it. We made it through the first year. I didn't have (m)any doubts, but I'm sure glad that it is behind us. We looked over all of our photos, recalling those moments that seemed so endless at the time. Each day brought us a new milestone. Each day really felt like 24 hours of  a non-stop, round-the-clock learning curve. These first 12 months were amazing. I'm glad I blogged to remember them fondly.

I love this little girl so much. Look at that face.

We are one today.

Let me get those blocks.

Remember when they were six weeks old and we put them in the chair? Oh how they've grown.

And now that they're one, it's as though we are moving at a milestone a minute. Every day, we experience something new that they've discovered - whether it's their voice, a new tooth, a new bruise, or each other. 

It's like living with Pete and Repeat. They are copy cats of each other, and they love to mimick us, too. If either Frank or I cough, they cough, too. Even if they are busy reading a book, or playing with a toy, there is a "cough cough" from the other room. With each other, we sit them to eat facing each other. Last night, Sutter decided to lick the yogurt out of the bottom of his bowl. He put the entire bowl on his face and licked away. Frank and I started laughing. So, Cora decided she was going to put the bowl on her face. She didn't lick it like Sutter, but she wanted to be sure that we saw her, too.

Cora loves to try to wrestle with her brother. When Sutter crawls by her, she often rolls her head back into him, laughing. She will lay on him and he often will keep crawling. But there are those times when he will crawl over her and she just loves it. He knows it makes her laugh because there is that Sutter smirk that makes me see he is up to taunting her.

They both love to use their walkers to get around. We have three of them now, and one is a burger food truck. Usually, the one that is the most popular is the one that the other has. However, sometimes, they like to walk with the same one at the same time, which is super cute. But it usually ends up with one possibly biting the other, or perhaps running into the wall and falling down. Teamwork just doesn't happen over night.

Always the tongue appears during serious Cora concentration.

Coming down the hall, folks, is the brother of the demolition derby twins, Sutter James!

Hi...I can crawl out to the patio by myself. But I could use a little help coming back inside, please.

When they're feeling mellow, they love to go through their books. There are books that are favorites. Reading includes picking a book. Sitting down, possibly on top of the 10 other books that were just pulled off the shelf. Opening the book and turning pages. Both of them talk to the books. Sometimes, there are pages that we've pointed out to them that they go back to time and time again. Sutter has a favorite page in a book that has textures. It's a picture of a comet, which has red sandpaper to scratch. Cora has found the love for a dog in another book. She can say "duh, duh" when she sees the picture. They both have taken apart "Pat the Bunny." That book didn't stand a chance. Cora even licked one of the bunny so many times that it is matted now. We continue to encourage reading as much as we can.

At their one year check-up, we discovered that they quintupled their weight since they were born.  Cora weight 24 pounds, 13 ounces, measuring 31 inches. Sutter weighed 24 pounds, 4 ounces, measuring 31.5 inches. Cora's thighs are holding all that weight right now. They are so meaty. Sutter has started to lean out a bit.

Cora has three bottom teeth, crooked, but they're here. She has three top teeth coming in now, and that sometimes makes her want to bite her brother. Sutter has two teeth on the bottom, with two on the way on top. He is drooling...a lot. We have begun brushing their teeth, as a ritual in the morning and the evening. Strawberry banana toothpaste just sounds awful, but if it's getting their teeth cleaned, then let's get it done.

What do they eat? Just about 95% of what we make for them. Since I'm unemployed I have the pleasure of making their meals for them. They have five meals a day and are down to 21 ounces of milk. They had their last bit of formula last night. Since they turned one, we were given the green light to feed them anything, which was exciting since the naughty list of food gave me some challenges for cooking.

Breakfast includes 4 ounces of milk and either Gerber Oatmeal with pureed strawberries and honey or whole wheat pancakes with strawberries and blueberries on top. They take a morning nap at 8:30 a.m. until 10 a.m. Snack at 10 a.m. includes 3 ounces of milk and usually some carby thing. Our favorite treat is a 4 ingredient cookie - over ripe bananas, oatmeal, cinnamon and vanilla. They are delicious. Lunch consists of a 3 ounce bottle of milk, spinach with something - like dahl, sweet potato, peas, and maybe cheese. Or a recent fan fave is black beans, refried beans, corn, rice, spinach and cheese. After their afternoon nap, they enjoy another 3 ounces of milk and some fruit. Blueberries are the favorite, followed by strawberries, peaches, pluots and more. But they also enjoy steamed zuchinni or cauliflower. Dinner is often a meatball of some sort or pasta. I've been trying to create one meal for all of us to eat. What a challenge! I am happy if everyone likes what I make. The reality is, the kids meal takes priority and I enjoy take-out more now for Frank and I, than I ever have.

We had a lovely celebration for their one year birthday. There was a fantastic turnout of family and friends. It was so much fun to celebrate this milestone as a family. It took a whole lot of love, support, and encouragement from all of you to get through this first year. So, thank you.

I printed out over 200 photos as a reminder of the last 12 months of changes.

Double bubble was the theme, so it's only fitting that the bubble covered our faces.

What a GRAND photo!

We let them eat cake!

Cheers!

A week of firsts

Starting this week off with Mother's Day and ending with the babes first birthday sparked a vivid memory of one year ago. Last year, on the Saturday before Mother's Day, I attended my only prenatal yoga class, bloated feet and all. I followed it up with a prenatal massage. I enjoyed myself that day, realizing that these moments to myself would be far and few in the very near future. On Mother's Day, 2013, Frank and I celebrated by watching "The Great Gatsby" and eating Chinese food at the Westfield Shopping Centre. He gave me a new attachment for my iPhone camera. It was a lovely day. I recall talking about all of our expectations of what it would be like to be parents that day.

Monday at work seemed like a typical day. Ironically, I took a photo of the view, not knowing that would be my last day in the office for four months. I had a nagging feeling inside because my feet and lower legs were swollen and they weren't going down despite what I did. Tuesday, I attended my first "New and Expectant Parents of Multiples" meeting where I received tons of good ideas. I just didn't know I would be using them so soon. Wednesday I went to the doctor's out of concern...and well, you can see one of my first posts for what happened next! What a whirlwind.

Here I am, a year later. I just celebrated my first Mother's Day weekend as a mother. I only fantasized about what it would be like to have one year old twins. With any good fantasy, I'm thrilled at how well things have gone. The days were long to get here, but now it seems like just yesterday I was learning how to tandem breastfeed. I am combing through all 2500+ photos I took since they were born to see how much they've changed and realized how much Frank and I have changed, too. It was such a joy to take them on the Carrousel in Golden Gate Park and climb all over a jungle gym with them.

Since my last post, they've hit some major milestones and so have we. First, we visited Oahu, Hawaii, for the babes first, and definitely not last, Hawaiian vacation. They swam in the ocean for the first time. We ate out at a restaurant three times with them and gave the bus staff some serious cleaning to do. We realized that they can survive a plane ride, but that buying everyone their own seat for a long flight might come sooner than we would like to pay for it. Finally, they can catch up on their sleep in a car.

Cora has been practicing standing up, nearly holding herself up for over 30 seconds at a time. She loves to use her walker to get around the house. Although, when she hits a wall, she looks back to see if I will help her get out of the jam. I always congratulate her when she makes a turn on her own. Because sharing is not a concept they understand yet, the walker was causing more tears than necessary. I found a fun walker for Sutter that has snapping alligators. We now have more collisions and potential demolition derby babes on our hands.

Sutter is cruising while standing, although he still isn't able to climb or stand on his own yet. He seems to just be a few weeks behind Cora in those development milestones. However, we've seen his curiosity for figuring how to work his toys has accelerated. He is learning how to stack things, put balls in holes, and use levers. He is also babbling more, almost looking at us with a questioning look. It's just the beginning of "how come?" "why?"

They have three teeth between the two of them. Based on the frustration during meal times lately, we assume more are on the way. Our night time routine now includes brushing their teeth. They love to read books that have the touch-and-feel pages.

Finally, they've really discovered each other. This was the ultimate parent moment I've been waiting for since they were born. They've taken their activity mat and used it as a tent, tunnel, or screen. They also like to touch each other's heads. When one touches the other, they just sit still and wait until it's over, even if it is when one is getting scratched in the eye. OW! We try to monitor this, but I have to blink and often miss the crime. But it's their laughing that makes me so happy.

I'm out of work right now, but seem to have lost my ability to time manage properly. I just want to spend time with the kids, but I also want a job. I'm working on it. It's the first time I've been out of work.

Cheers to this week of firsts. I look forward to what's next.

10 things at 10 months old

The babes turned 10 months old on the 17th. It was a day to reflect on things that happen at 10 months-ish old.
 

1. Getting to be in each other's crib is hilarious.

2. You can get your first tooth without complaining, or Mom knowing that it happened. Thanks to Aunt Sara, we found out Cora had her first tooth. I thought it was an almond sliver.

3. Crawling is the number one thing to do - either forwards or backwards. Cora moves at the speed of light forward. Sutter is perfecting the backwards crawl-to-sit move. Sutter took his first full crawl forward on March 24.

Cora moving down the hall, photographed by Sara Ancich photography

4. They drink five bottles a day, although they don't always finish them. We would rather be crawling, per item #3.

5. Eating solid foods is fun, messy, and mostly delicious. The dustbuster has a permanent home near the kitchen now. Cheerios elicit excitement when the box comes out of the cupboard. Dahl, sweet potato and spinach is one of the fan favorites to eat for dinner followed by mango and peach Greek yogurt with cinnamon for dessert.

Cora wonders why she can't eat in peace.

Generally happy, Sutter is a little more picky than Cora.

6. Cooking for the babes is an ongoing and rewarding challenge, as they are starting to develop their palates. We have at least one meal a week that is the same for everyone. Most recently, it was tortellini.

7. Swings are still the favorite activity at the park, although the slide is pretty fun, too. Sutter enjoys going down the slide, with hands at the ready to catch him if he falls back.

photo by Sara Ancich Photography.

8. Making music makes Sutter smile. He loves the musical instruments that we have - shakers, drums and guitar. It makes him happy.

9. Pulling things out of drawers makes Cora yell at the top of her lungs, just so you know that she is up to something suspicious. She often stands on her tippy toes, with very straight legs, to get the most out of her activity.

10. Dada is still the favorite, and only, word. We love Dada!

More posts, sooner next time!
xo