The Nutcracker

The alphabet is huge in our house. We sing the ABC song, in two different styles. We call out letters when we see them on the street. Many toys display the alphabet - including a set of flash cards. The N card represents a nutcracker on it.

Cora asked me, "what this, Mama? What this N?"
"That is a nutcracker. I have one that I will show you when Christmas is here."

She promptly stands up, puts one hand on her hip, and her other palm face up, questioning me, "Where Christmas go? Mama, Mommy, where Christmas go?" She looked left. She looked right. She turns all the way around and runs to the couch which is in our front window. "Where Christmas? I don't see it outside. No (looking left.) No, (looking right). She gets off the couch and runs back to Frank & I, who are just 6 feet away.

This all happened so fast, I couldn't understand what she was looking for until she came back and said, "Mama, I can't find Christmas."

I had to stifle a laugh. She genuinely thought Christmas was laying around the house or outside.

It's always a challenge to explain things that we take for granted we had to learn at some point. The kids are soaking up everything that we say and do. It's amazing to see and fascinating to realize that we all had to get these same concepts. We are proud of their development. They continue to amaze Frank & I everyday.

These 2 are 2!

What a ride it's been since we've turned the corner on their second birthday. They are busy. They are talkative. They are emotional. They are funny. They are particular. They are wonderful. But whatever it is they want, they want it now!

I thought I would rewrite a children's song to exemplify our lives right now.

One, Two
Buckle my shoe...I can do it myself!

Three, Four
Open the door...No, Cora, NOOOO!!! I open door!

Five, Six
Pick up sticks...Mama, I need more sticks. No, I need more goldfish. Mama, I need pretzels

Seven, Eight
Lay them straight...OK, focus on you. Don't hit your sister. Sutter...no, NO! 

Nine, Ten
Let's do it again...Mama has a good idea, show Mama how you can do it by yourself?!?!

I've put together a host of favorites, from the last year and a little more! It's 18 minutes long, so sit back and enjoy it at your leisure.

Favorites in case you can't see the embedded video.

Thanks for all your love and support.

are you cussin' with me?

Oh the joys of learning to talk, and as a parent - listen.  It's been wonderful to hear the Babes trying to  talk. They are working on communicating with us, putting at least two or three words together. But not every letter is enunciated. I mean, they are only 21 months old. But, wow, is it funny to hear these mistakes. Let me give you a few examples, but let me warn you, there will be some profanity.

Clock - found in all the books as one of the first words you need to learn. In our house, it does not have an "L." We had a digital clock in the kids room. One morning, when we walked in, Cora exclaimed, "Cock, Daddy, Cock, Cock!" Frank and I looked at each other with the "what the heck" expression on our faces. We realized that she was saying clock, but wow, did that take us by surprise. That following weekend, we went to the zoo. After having lunch near the lions, Cora said, "Mama, Cock! Cock!" Thankfully there were other parents around with toddlers who gave us that knowing glance. We were all in the same boat. For the record, there was no clock.

Fork - the common utensil. We use these every day. But for Cora, this was announced to me as the other, very naughty four-letter, F-Word. "Mama! F*C%! F*C%!" Wide-eyed and smiling, I nodded and repeated, "Yes, Cora, FORK, FORK," with all the emphasis on the ORK.

Stick - we place with building blocks that are large lego blocks. To teach them how to build them, I began using the single block to stack on other single blocks. I said, "let's make a stick." We had been doing this for a few weeks, when Sutter looked at me with a smile on his face. "DICK, Mama, DICK!" Yes, honey, that is a STICK!

SIT - The kids love for us to sit in a very specific place. They call us over to read a book. They point to the chair in the living room when it's time to watch TV. Pointing to the remote, they say, "MOTE, Dada, MOTE. SHIT, Dada, SHIT." That's enough to make us laugh out loud.

KITTIES - Chelsey told us the other day that Cora saw some "titties" walking across the street. Wouldn't that be a site?!?

We love the learning. Sutter recognizes all of his letters. Cora is nearly there. They both love counting - 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 6, 7....

When they see a bunch of letters together on a sign, Cora calls it the ABC. ABC puzzle. ABC picture.

It's so exciting. We just want to continue to educate them as much as we possibly can.

fun at Sunset in February in downtown SF.

Sutter created a valentine with the help of Dada at the San Francisco Parent of Multiples Valentine's Party.

And a happy new year!

The new year always brings on a time of reflection. What did we accomplish this year and what do we have to look forward to next year. Let's take a look back!

Well the City Babes accomplished so many things this year - from first steps, first teeth, first cupcake, first trip to Hawaii, first tantrums, first words...I could go on, boasting about all of these amazing milestones. At the end of this year, I'm very proud of how much they've grown and how lucky we are to be so instrumental in their development. At 19 months old now, they are full of energy, curiosity and a love for Elmo.

Cora is working on her jumping. She gets to practice once a week in the bounce house at tot time, which is hosted at our local Parks and Rec Department playground. She nearly has it. In the meantime, she says a version of JUMP-AH! Over the holidays, she referred to snowmen as "no-man" and Santa was "oh-ho-ho." She loves asking about her cousin Avery "A-whee", Davin (Di-Da) and Bup (Bup-AH), on a regular basis. She loves to look at the family photos we have in the hall and name everyone she knows. She loves sleeping with a kangaroo, "roo" and her blanket. She and Sutter enjoy playing with doors, or hiding in their closet. On the playground, she will climb the play structures to reach the tallest slide. She will go down those slides, controlling herself with her shoes, if it is too fast. She loves to say, No, although it doesn't always mean no. She does know how to nod yes, although her whole body tends to agree with that nod. She loves to eat, and will often clean up her brother's plate if he doesn't finish his food. She loves to laugh, be tickled, and chased.

Sutter loves Elmo. They both love Elmo, but something about that Elmo voice makes Sutter smile and put his fingers in his mouth as a sign of excitement. When Elmo appears on the TV, his whole body goes stiff as he points to the screen and says, "EH-MO! EH-MO!" It all seemed very innocent that we would allow the babes to watch a little TV here and there. After realizing that Thomas the Train was a non-listening train and should be sent to the scrap yard, I decided to turn on Sesame Street. One episode later, it was all Elmo, all the time. The show left a positive impression on me, so I hope it does for them, too. Elmo has even been our babysitter for a few desperate minutes, occupying them while we get something done in the other room.

In other Sutter news, he has expanded his vocabulary, too. Mama, Dada, CoCo (for Cora on occasion), ap-ah (apple), mana (banana), prezl (pretzel), mil (milk), wa (walk), Ge-Ge (Curious George) and GaGa (Granny). He loves to throw kisses. He still gets shy around some adults. He loves to wrestle with Frank. He loves to run and kick a ball. When playing with toys, he is content to take things apart and put them back together. He just learned how to put things in a row. And then promptly mess them up. At Christmas, I was checking out at a store, and a few boxes fell off a display. He stacked them back up, looked at his fine work, then knocked all of them down. He was smiling, proud of his fine work.

The holidays were very special this year because we were able to be with most of the family. We traveled down to the OC, staying with Bup and Granny. We drove at night, while they slept. That was great. However, when we arrived, they were so excited to be there, dancing around the house, that they did not fall back asleep. Granny Judy (aka Granny Gaga), arrived a day later, just in time for the Babes first gingerbread house decorating. We put strawberry cream cheese as the base and cranberries on top. They ate all of the cranberries and then chomped away on the house. They had a sugar high. It was a joy to watch them. Overall, the babes are loved so much, and it was fun to have them interact with the whole family.

As we enter 2015, I'm excited to see what's next for us as a family. I've added to my list to blog at least once a month. It's on the interwebs, so I have you to hold me to it.

Thank you for all your love and support.
xoxo

Annual new year's day walk on the beach. We love you!

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!