A Day in the Life 2025

Welcome to my annual sociological research data collection on myself where I record everything I do in one day. My plan was to do the first Friday of January, but I forgot about it last week. Last Friday was more pleasant, though! I can briefly report that on January 3rd, I worked in the morning, and in the afternoon the 4 of us went to the California Science Center where we watched an IMAX movie about blue whales. For dinner, we went to Jack in the Box and one kid devoured almost an entire breakfast combo platter.

And now, for the report on January 10, 2025. Buckle up, it's a doozy!!

Location: Pasadena, CA. In the SE part of town, not our regular north-central neighborhood.

Cast of characters: DF, my husband. Gus and Gibson, our 9 year old twins.

7:00 AM wake up, later than normal. I had a hard time sleeping last night due to all the stress of the Eaton Fire, a huge wildfire that sparked in the early evening on January 7th in Altadena and spread out of control due to wind gusts near 100 mph that night. I check my phone for fire updates and see nothing moved closer to us overnight.

7:05 AM the kids wake up and come join DF and me in bed. (Normally, I would wake them up by 6:30 AM on a Friday but school is cancelled due to the fire. We were supposed to have a PTA Blacktop Coffee for parents at school this morning, along with campus clean up...obviously not happening.) DF attempts to keep snoozing while the boys and I play some NYT games. Gibson gets to choose the starting word for Wordle today - he picks ZEBRA. We still manage to solve it, lol. Then we all work together to solve Connections, though none of us understand the purple category and have to watch a YouTube video to learn about [SPOILERS!] the Monty Hall problem.

7:45 AM get up when the children get too rambunctious in bed. They go back to their room to play on their Chromebooks with towels tucked in the crack at the bottom of the door to keep the soot out.

8:00 AM I head downstairs to make some toast and tea.

Aside: Downstairs? Since when do we live in a 2 story house? Well, since we had a fire at our house about 2 months ago, which caused extensive damage to our kitchen and caused us to be displaced. We're staying in a rental house about 3 miles south of where we usually live. It's new construction, 3 bed, 2.5 bath, 1200 sq ft with an attached garage. The fire was caused by spontaneous combustion in our neighbor's yard waste on a red flag fire danger day. So yeah, these fires going on right now in LA County? They've got all 4 of us rather on edge.

But back to the present.

While I eat breakfast, I text/message with people near and far who are checking in on us. We are south of the fire evacuation and warning zones, though we do have bags packed and ready to go if evacuation becomes necessary. Our regular house is in a Level 2 evacuation warning zone. I'm staying in touch with the neighbors over there. The fires got within a mile or so when the flare ups were really bad.

8:30 AM Make breakfast for the boys and retreat back upstairs to our bedroom/my office, where it's less smoky, again with a towel by the door. 

9:00 AM Sign in to work. I'm in my second year as a part-time grant writer, and I've also been dipping my toes in managing our fundraising database. The agency I work for is located in Altadena. So far our campus has been spared in the fire. I draft some language for potential fire relief-related communications and try to chip away at some other projects, though it's challenging to focus. 

11:30 AM done with work for this week. Feed the children some snacks while discussing how math is applicable to politics. I respond to a friend's question about navigating a fire loss (didn't realize my knowledge was going to be useful so soon...). I also finally find out what water zone we're in at the rental. I knew it wasn't Pasadena Water and Power (PWP), but the landlord is paying the water bill so I wasn't sure. PWP is having troubles with water safety and quality due to the fire. Luckily, this house is served by a San Marino water carrier so we're not in an impacted water zone at this time.

11:50 AM the kids still haven't finished their homework for this week, so DF and I enforce a screen break for homework time. In math, they're multiplying 2-digit numbers (like 16 x 13). And for reading, they have a book in Spanish about hydroelectric power development in Sierra Leone. 

12:30 PM They've made a good effort on homework and are done for today. They watch DF play video games or something on his phone. I take a shower and make sure the squeegee off the walls when I'm done. I'm trying to keep the house nice for the owners, and also I hate scrubbing full tile showers with glass doors.

1:20 PM Eat some leftover pasta for lunch. Pro tip for all you dairy-free people out there: Papa John's garlic sauce is dairy free, and it adds a nice kick of flavor to your standard marinara sauce. While doom scrolling during lunch, I find out that PUSD has closed schools all of next week, too. It makes sense, but oh man, this is going to be rough bc DF is going to be out of town all week at a work training. 

1:45 PM Draft the weekly newsletter for our church Sunday School class. One family in our class lost their home, and another member's place of work was destroyed. It's a very challenging time. We're doing our best to support each other through it all.

More doom scrolling, then I eat some cookies and drink tea. The kids play Cat Quest III on the Nintendo Switch.

3:00 PM I consider doing laundry - our washer and dryer are out in the garage, which is probably full of smoke. I stick my nose into the garage and sniff - yes, quite smoky. Outside the front door, it actually doesn't smell that bad. I briefly open the garage door thinking I'll let it air out, but then realize a bunch of soot and ash will blow in if I do that. So I decide to just wash a load of towels and see what happens. Note, this is the first time any of us have opened an exterior door since Tuesday. It's seriously starting to feel like COVID lock down over here.

3:30 PM the children are going crazy. We play Spot It for awhile. They need to do something physical. This house doesn't have a lot of space to run around safely, so I direct them to their room for a (supervised) pillow fight. They wear themselves out eventually.

4:00 PM I gather up some clothes, shoes, and bed sheets that were donated to us after our fire, but that we haven't been using. One of the boys' classmates lost his home this week, and his mom reached out asking for clothes. I'm glad we have a little extra to share.

4:20 PM I move the laundry to the dryer - smells fine! Then I head out to run some errands in my KN95 mask. First, I drop off the bag of clothes. I need to go to the grocery store, but I decide to stop and get gas on the way because we're at about 1/3 tank and I want to be prepared just in case we have to evacuate. After filling up, I try to start the van and...nothing. It's sputtering but not starting. Oh. My. Word. This is the new (to us) 2021 Honda Odyssey we just bought a month ago when our last van BURNED UP IN A FIRE. And now this one isn't starting and what if we have to evacuate and we don't have a working vehicle and I. AM. TOTALLY. FREAKING. OUT!!! 

I look around and realize that, fortunately, I have happened to stop at a gas station that has an attached mechanic shop. So I walk over and ask a guy if he can help because my van won't start. He grabs some type of tester thing and says, oh yeah, your battery is shot. He jump starts the van for me. I'm grateful. I scrap the plan to get groceries b/c no way am I stopping this vehicle now. I call DF and ask him to try to find the Honda roadside assistance info we got from the dealership. I decide to hit the drive thru at Del Taco to pick up dinner, as it's usually a family favorite. 

5:45 PM return home, backing the van into the garage in case someone can come and replace the battery. I call the Honda service line and find out they are not like AAA and won't deliver a battery to me. But they will tow me to a Honda service center, if needed. I'm still freaking out because what if the van won't start next time I try??

6:00 PM wolf down an epic burrito and feel a bit better about life. Also I had a deal in the Del Taco app to buy one get one free, and who doesn't like free burritos? DF and I talk about the van and decide we'll see if it will cooperate to start up in the morning. I'm having flashbacks to when this exact same thing happened the last time we bought a used Odyssey - that a few weeks later, the battery died. I wonder if there is a battery conspiracy going on, but I can't figure out what the angle would be there.

6:40 PM Family video game time - Super Mario Party Jamboree. Surprisingly, there are no tears shed. That might be a first! We just play a few mini games.

7:00 PM Screens off for kids. Epic Gus and Gibson battle when they both go upstairs and somehow manage to start a fight about using the bathroom...even though there are 2 bathrooms up there. Meanwhile I'm trying to pay an invoice to our builder on our ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit). Construction was almost done on the ADU when the fire hit - the first one, in November. Now things are kind of in limbo, but we do owe the contractor money for the work he had already completed. The ADU sustained some fire damage in November. We're hopeful all those repairs will be covered by our insurance.

7:20 PM we play a family game of Coup. It's a card game. I quickly die, per usual. Everyone is happier when mommy dies first.

7:45 PM time to get ready for bed. It's the usual potty time and brushing teeth with a lot of stalling mixed in. Now that we live in a house with stairs, the kids like to play games that involve racing Slinkies, or cars, or other toys down the stairs. Once they're finally ready for bed, I grab their new footless footies from the dryer. (what we call PJs that are one piece but don't cover your feet). It's my turn for storytime tonight, which still involves a Goldilocks story! Tonight the Three Bears' house catches on fire when they are making porridge on the stove but get teleported away. I have to say, fires have been popping up a lot in their stories lately. Trauma coping strategy, I assume.

8:30 PM boys read books in bed. We're running low on library books. Hopefully at least some of the library branches will be able to re-open soon.

9:00 PM they're in bed but arguing. Gus was tapping on his legs while I was singing Gibson his good night song (Silent Night), which caused Gibson to growl-sing in annoyance. Not heavenly peace.

9:10 PM I hear them through the door discussing words they know in different languages. I venture downstairs to switch over one last load of laundry.

9:15 PM Upon returning from the garage, I heard the pitter patter of little feet on the second floor. I find them both underneath Gibson's bed, with blankets. They say something about a fortified bed that I don't really care to understand. I extract them both and tuck them in on the mattress side of their beds.

Then I typed up this epic saga, and that's about it for now. 

What will our lives look like in 2026?? Guess you'll have to come back next year to find out if I remembered to write about it!

A Day in the Life, Year 5

Everything I did on Friday, January 3, 2020
Location: Pasadena, CA

6:30am Gibson crawls in our bed and wakes me up

6:50am I get out of bed to cough and blow my nose for awhile. I've been battling a cold/laryngitis/possible bronchitis for a week. It's getting old.

7:00am Make a cup of tea. It does not taste like vinegar, thankfully. My electric kettle had a bunch of mineral deposits on it yesterday so I tried a vinegar soak. Now it's nice and clean. I find a package of Hawaiian hot dog buns in the cupboard that need to be used up so I toast two and add PB&J for breakfast.

7:15am Gibson comes into the kitchen pretending to be Gus because he wants the jelly bean Gus is owed from last night (our current bribe for using the bathroom by oneself). I feed them some generic Lucky Charms. They mainly eat the marshmallows.

7:30am the boys go back to bed to jump on Daddy. DF switched to a new job this year where the vacation time schedule is very flexible, and he was able to take two full weeks off for the holidays. We've definitely enjoyed having him home! I text our relatives in San Diego that we won't make it down to visit this weekend, since I'm still sick. We'll have to celebrate our belated Christmas even more belatedly, I guess.

7:50am Remember that it's the first Friday of the year and I need to start writing this list. DF and boys get up and play blocks in the playroom (Whomp Kings, a game they made up). I hang out with them for awhile.

8:15am Unload the dishwasher. It has been leaking lately. I clean out the "gunk" trap over the drain, which is super gross. Hopefully that will help. Wash dishes still hanging out in the sink from last year (ha ha). We had company for a week over New Years and we're still recovering. DF and kids are playing Lego Star Wars on Wii now. I take a long hot shower and inhale as much steam as I can before my California guilt kicks in about wasting water. I decide to be brave and wear contact lenses today. We had pink eye making the rounds here so I was wary of sticking my fingers in my eyes, but the kids seem to have recovered fully. Try to install the new phone screen protector I got for Christmas. Drat, it's the wrong size.

9:15am Gibson requests a cookie. More tea for me. Clean off the pile of stuff that has accumulated on the top of our dryer, the family temporary storage area. Send a Christmas card that got returned for an old address. Read the news about impending war with Iran. Try not to despair about the state of the world.

10:00am Time for more Mucinex. Watch the Wii game. Gibson is whining sooo much about the game my ears are about to explode. DF turns it off and takes a shower. The kids and I play "what animal am I thinking of?" and other pretending games.

11:00am I eat black eyed peas and greens for lunch. More good luck coming my way! The boys are playing Legos. They eat some beef jerky, apple slices, and corn muffins. Gus blows muffin crumbs all over the place. He informs me his New Year's resolution is to make more messes. <eyeroll> We have a discussion about death, the afterlife, and options for disposal of bodies. This is a fairly common topic of conversation.

11:30am DF takes the boys to a thrift store to look at toys because they want to spend their Christmas money. While they are out, I run the robot vacuum and do some laundry. I get deeply involved in making a "decade in review" post on Instagram, scouring my photo archives for images to represent the spectrum of my life for the last 10 years. I also reply to some messages that come in from a volunteer organization I work with. We are making plans for our 2020 fundraiser. Just as the boys come back, I field a call related to the fundraiser and croak out some words on the phone for 10 minutes. Doing so makes me feel like a productive member of society.

1:15pm Shoppers return home. They are loaded down with swords, light sabers, smash balls, Legos, and other things I don't recognize.

1:30pm Snack time - granola and frozen blueberries. We all play with the new toys. I trim my fingernails and convince the boys to sit on the front stoop so I can trim theirs, too. DF assembles 26 smash balls.

2:40pm all smash balls have been destroyed. They contain little rubber sports-themed figures. I drink more tea and do more laundry. The kids picked up some banks at the store and want to transfer all their coins from their previous banks to the new ones. We practice some Spanish - hola, adios, te amo - because we're planning to send the boys to a dual language Spanish program for elementary school. I send the robot vacuum to the back of the house.

3:40pm cracker snack. Watch Sponge Bob Square Pants. I install a new game on my phone because I recently got a new phone and am going crazy enjoying all the memory space, lol.

4:25pm load and run dishwasher. Fold laundry. The kids are watching Super Wings.

4:45pm turn off the TV. Attempt to get the kids out the door to a restaurant for dinner. They attack me with light sabers.

5:05pm They are finally dressed. (They had been wearing PJs all day. I let them wear PJs nearly whenever they want because soon enough they'll have to get dressed in a uniform for school every day. If they whine about it, I plan to say, "Remember when you were little and you used to wear your pajamas all day every day? That was nice, huh? Now you are big kids who go to school, so you need to wear your uniform.") We finally leave at 5:15. Stop by the UPS store to return my phone screen protector to Amazon. I don't even have to put it in a box. Whoa, such service. We eat dinner at our favorite diner that has a special with 3 hamburgers, 3 fries, and 3 drinks for $11.99. The boys share a burger (and don't even finish it) and I drink water, so it's a great deal for our family! On the way home, we try to pick up an item from our local Buy Nothing group but the family wasn't home.

6:40pm We're home. I unload the dishwasher, which did not leak on the floor. Yay! The kids are excited to see their toys again.

6:50pm Take anti-anxiety medicine, my current best friend. Drink more tea. Motivate the kids to clean up the playroom by rebuilding one smash ball for each small amount of cleaning effort.

7:45pm Snack time. Gibson requests peanut butter on a spoon. Gus ignores my repeated warnings of bedtime approaching.

8:00pm Time to get ready for bed. Gus, predictably, objects that he didn't get a snack. He scarfs down a few pretzels while Gibson brushes his teeth.

8:15pm DF tells them a bedtime story. It's still called a "Goldilocks" story and bears little resemblance to the traditional narrative. Usually, I do it but we've reached the point in the evening where my voice has faded and the coughing intensifies. I go to make a cup of (disgusting, licorice) Throat Coat tea. While I'm waiting for the water to boil, I read the ingredients and notice it has cinnamon bark. Whoops, I'm allergic to cinnamon! I'm off the hook and choose Sleepytime Vanilla instead. Write some Amazon product reviews while sipping tea.

8:35pm Children are loudly singing the rainbow song from their beds. I go in and tell them it's time to quiet down. After one last hug and drink of water, they go to sleep. DF and I watch a few episodes of Undone, a new Amazon show that is really trippy.

9:45pm I take Mucinex and vitamins and head to bed, propped up on 4 pillows.

Thanks for reading! You can check out previous days in the life here:
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 <-- the most exhausting one

4 Years

Happy 4th birthday to Gus and Gibson! Here is what they are up to these days.

Creative play

• They love to play creatively together. They try to include the whole family when both parents are available. Many evenings have passed with them hopping back and forth on the couch as they pretend to be various Mario Bros. characters. DF and I are assigned to be Bowsers, or sometimes good guys. 
• Everything can transform, when they are imagining. They can go from magic carrot to butterfly to zapping robot in the span of thirty seconds. It's hard to keep up :)
• At night, they want me to make up a bedtime story for them. They tell me what should be in the story. Last night, Gus was a treasure chest and Gibson was a baby bunny who lost his family. 
• We went camping last month - stayed in a cabin. Although they had been running around playing outside all day, they seemed almost compelled into creating a pretend scenario before bedtime that involved crawling through a blanket on their dad's lap.

Physical development

• Both are expert balance bike riders. Gibson always wants to go in front down hills and is a bit of a daredevil. Gus usually lets his brother go first, though he also has a need for speed.]
• DF and the boys like to race their scooters in the alley behind our house
• They love to climb higher than my nerves enjoy - playground equipment, trees, etc

Academics

• After one semester of preschool, we decided to pull them out of school at the end of last year. It was just too much for all of us.
• We attend a local tuition-free Parent Education program, which has been awesome. It's like a preschool where the parents and kids stay together for part of the time.
• They know their letters and can count to 20, with minor confusion in the teens
• We're big into science experiments these days (slime, de-oxidizing pennies, soaking raisins, nature exploration, oobleck)
• Their video game education has begun. They're knowledgeable about all the Super Mario Galaxy characters/planets/lumas. They can sort of drive in Burnout (Gamecube). They like slicing stuff and bad guys on Wii Sports Resort in the swordplay levels. 

Social

• For the most part, they like going to Sunday School at church and have made friends there
• They think "big kids" are cool, like to follow them around, and try to do whatever they are doing (anyone older than say 6). They even joined in a water balloon fight recently without a melt down!
• They generally find babies annoying. We are doing our best to help them form a good relationship with their 18 month old cousin. Gibson was proud of himself during her most recent visit because "I only kicked her one time today!"
• Gus is more of the rule follower and enforcer. He likes to be helpful. 
• Gibson is more mischievous and will see what he can get away with. He loves to laugh.
• They fight with each other a lot and also play together fairly well
• Both boys are super attached to me, sometimes to the point of clinginess. I'm hoping they grow out of it before kindergarten...

Language

• They talk A LOT! I am biased but feel their vocabulary is extensive for their age. People can usually understand their speech. They don't have any "twin language" that I'm aware of.
• Gibson likes to tell us bedtime stories. They even have some plot to them!
• They are getting better with pronouns. Still confusion on male-female and also he/him she/her.
• Their past tense verbs are creative. Made-ed, eat-ed, put-ed
• Pronunciation seems pretty age-appropriate. They still have lots of cute things they say, like "gwish" instead of "squish." Hey, stop gwishing me!  Neither of them say r correctly all the time. Gus's sounds like /w/ while Gibson says /y/. That confuses me sometimes (run could be wun or yun).
• They use multi-syllable words with no problem, like camouflage, elephant, and Saturday. But then they drop the first syllable of other words, like (con)troller, (ma)chine, (with)out, (dis)penser. Actually that last one is pronounced fencer, as in Gus, you be a candy fencer and I will be an ice cream 'chine.

People told me raising twins would get easier, and you know what? They were right. The first 1.5 years are kind of a blur. I'm glad I took photos/videos and recorded my thoughts on this blog. But really, now I feel like I just have two kids who happen to be the same age, and in a lot of ways, that's great!

A Day in the Life, Year 4

Once again, it's my annual post where I record everything I do during in one day.Yesterday was just a regular day over here, so please enjoy my detailed notes!

(Previous years available here: 2018, 2017, 2016)

Location: Pasadena, CA
Date: January 11, 2019
Gus and Gibson are three and a half

6:40am Das Fenster's alarm wakes me up, but I try to go back to sleep

7:05am DF leaves for work. The kids are still asleep. We had a late night last night at choir practice. I think about how I should get up and do things, but it's so cold and my bed is so warm. Around 7:15, I grab my phone and lay in bed looking at Facebook and Instagram.

7:45am Gibson comes to climb in my bed. He says he had a dream about pink balloons. He pretends to be a hug machine but turns into a zapper. 5-10 minutes later, Gus wakes up and joins us. A brief turf battle ensues, as usual. They settle in on each side of me. Gus says he had a dream about me driving a monster truck. Gibson says he was riding on top of my truck and he was a transforming robot. Then they pretend to be Mario and a mole, or a bunny, who was stuck in a hole by a witch and ninjalinos (from PJ Masks).

8:10am Roll out of bed. Potty stop, then they ask to play Kindles. I tell them they aren't charged, so the kids play trains instead. When I find the Kindles and plug them in, they are actually at 70% battery. I don't mention this fact... They sing to themselves as they play, which is a regular occurrence. They play a version of Blokus called "puzzle game" - we made it up yesterday.

8:30am I make coffee and am gone from playroom for 3 minutes before Blokus fight breaks out. Then we have a poop situation to deal with.

8:45am I quickly change out of my pajamas because a person is supposed to come by btwn 9-10 to give us a quote for pruning our grapefruit tree.

8:55am Boys eat pancakes while watching Super Why. I have instituted a 2 hour daily limit for TV/Kindle time. We have a 1 hour sand timer on the entertainment center that I use to track how much they've watched.

9:00am Realize I have no bread or bagels in the house and barely any soy milk. I make instant oatmeal for breakfast. Must go to store today! It's an adjustment not having the kids in preschool anymore. They stopped going at the end of 2018, so I was used to having two mornings a week free for errands and etc.

9:20am Boys are still asking for Kindles. I explain that the TV timer will keep running and it's all part of the 2 hour limit. They say ok.

9:45am The "Boo" characters on their Kindle game need a nap, so we turn off screens. Gus wants coffee (mostly milk, splash of coffee). Still waiting for tree person to arrive. We read a library book about Star Wars featuring Legos.

9:55am Now they want to play Legos.

10:00am Tree lady says the grapefruit tree is in pretty good shape overall and should be pruned every 4 years or so to remove dead and crossed branches. She also mentions that if we give the grass in the back yard a good rake and fertilize in March, we'll have a nice lawn for the summer.

10:17am The boys are happily playing with Legos. I tell them I'm going to take the fastest shower ever and will be right back.

10:21am I get out of the shower and hear a total scream fest going on.

10:40am We've sort of recovered from the big feelings. They're rolling around on the floor under blankets. I am not able to figure out exactly what happened, but I do gather there was a slobber-related problem.

10:45am Almond snack

10:50am Start getting ready to go to Aldi (grocery store)

11:02am Out the door, thanks to a cookie bribe

11:50am Home with only a few extra items that weren't on the list. How can we resist chocolate coins for only 99 cents?

12:03pm Kids are watching Blippi and eating peanut butter sandwiches. They wash their hands with only minimal drama when I had them get the step stool out by themselves. They are really into being independent lately, especially Gus. I make my own lunch by dumping all the leftovers in a bowl with salsa and avocado. Drinking lime seltzer, my latest obsession.

12:23pm I discover half a cup of cold coffee from this morning. Mix it with vanilla soy milk. Yum! Start a load of laundry. Take out trash. Put away rest of groceries. Tidy up and sweep entry way. Unload dishwasher.

12:42pm Gibson hops into kitchen pretending to be a frog. I tell them they've watched enough TV for now. We play block tanks. (Build tanks out of blocks, say boom boom boom a lot)

1:25pm Transfer laundry to dryer. Read the kids a story. Play Blokus and Taboo. (You play Taboo with three year olds by using all the "taboo" words to explain the clue, FYI.)

1:50pm Yogurt snack. We got a 32oz tub of vanilla Greek yogurt at Aldi for $0.25 because it was only 2 days from its sell-by date. Score! I explain how yogurt is made, per their request. Gus says I can only eat vegan cheese yogurt. (They're a little confused about dairy-free)

2:05pm Snack done. Whoa, they barely made a mess with the yogurt! That's a first! Now play cat/dinosaur/transforming car/tackling.

2:12pm Gus asks me to take off his socks, which he is only capable of doing when I don't want his socks being removed. I eat a vegan ranch crunchy pea snack I found at Grocery Outlet.

2:20pm Text Auntie Hipster about making slime when she's babysitting for some friends tomorrow. This inspires me to order a gallon of glue off Amazon for only $12 so we can make more slime here. Gus tells me he want to grow up and get really tiny so he can go into electrical outlets and get zapped.

2:30pm Explain to kids that I need to go to CVS to get contact solution. Tell them we are only getting contacts solution. We are not getting toys or candy. Ask them if they understand, and if they still want to go to CVS. Gibson asks if he can pet the toys. I say yes. They agree we should all go, and they'll ride their balance bikes. It's about 2 blocks away.

2:55pm Finally leave CVS after resisting a lot of begging and pleading for toys and candy. While we are there, we see a friend we know from a local moms group.

3:00pm Arrive at park. It's just a block away. We love our bikeable neighborhood! I've had to learn to talk to Gus and Gibson before we embark about whose turn it is to ride in front because apparently that is a very big deal! They generally do ok as long as we talk about it first. Otherwise it's a crashing, brawling free-for-all for the lead.

At the park, they ride their bikes a lot, go on swings, open a pretend restaurant where they get cooked into a pie by Mr. McGregor, and generally run around. They chase some kids who are using these electronic rolling skateboards until one of the riders informs me, "if they crash into me, this thing will catch on fire!" While I doubt the accuracy of her combustibility gauge, I tell my boys to back off anyway. Some friends from church happen to be at the park too, and all our kids have fun together. I also see another mom I know from another parent class. I feel so connected! At one point, Gibson says, "I want to pee on you," which means he needs to use the bathroom. Really trying to get him to stop saying that...

4:40pm Get home. Give the kids a cantaloupe snack.

5:00pm Use up the last of their allotted TV time to watch Fireman Sam while I make dinner. We're having spaghetti.

5:26pm DF gets home. Gus screams for awhile. Transitions are rough for him.

5:40pm Dinner time. They both ask me to feed them, but Gibson takes over and feeds himself eventually.

6:00pm Dinner is done. DF plays with the kids while I clean up the kitchen. They play Wii. So far I have kept video games separate from the TV timer because it's more of a bonding/fun thing they do with their dad. If I start worrying about their brain development, maybe I'll dial it back.

6:25pm Kitchen is mostly clean. I even wash my cast iron skillet - usually procrastinate on that task. Take Lexapro (anti-anxiety/anti-depressant). I've been on it for a month and I feel like it's helping me handle life better. I research grant opportunities for an early childhood education program that we attend, because I've now been recruited to be on their board.

6:50pm Start bath time. Neither kid wants to take the first bath, so their squirt toys go first. Gus and Gibson both choose second bath. They eventually get in the tub after protesting about the water temperature (too hot for one, too cold for the other). It is the longest bath ever because they both need a poop break in the middle. Hey, I'm glad they tell me so I can get them on the potty. But then they want privacy but I don't want to leave the other kid alone, so I pull the shower curtain around the outside of the tub and stand behind it, looking at the tub rather than the toilet. Oh, motherhood...

7:50pm Give them bedtime snacks and drinks. They're playing pretend with DF. They are baby moles. Then it becomes Mario, Bowser, and a poison swamp. I join in as Mommy Bowser.

8:15pm Start heading towards bed. Bedtime routine involves pajamas, brush teeth, story, song, hug & kiss, one last drink of water, and a Goldilocks story told by mom when they are tucked in bed. I let them each pick one element of the story. Gus usually says Goldilocks drives a wolf house that transforms into something. Tonight it is a bumper car with guns. Gibson says there should be lots of cupcakes and the bears drive a boomer cannon. So I tell a story about how the bears shoot cupcakes out of their cannons and Goldilocks shoots frosting out of her squirt guns and they make a huge tower of cupcakes as tall as a giant.

8:49pm Bedroom door closed. Goodnight #1

8:50pm "Mommy, my head is too hot." "My legs are too cold." "I'm scared of shadows."

8:52pm "Mommy, my head too hot again!" (I flip his pillow over)

8:53pm Gibson runs out to tell me, "I love you so much," then tells me I look like a cat with so much fur when I put him back in bed (because I've taken down my pony tail). Gus wants his pillow flipped again. I try for the 100th time to show him how to do it by himself.

8:56pm Gus needs to go potty. Meanwhile, I've been trying to get my phone to retrieve texts and wind up restarting it. My phone is kind of sad. We need to find out if another carrier has better service in our neighborhood and maybe switch + phone upgrade.

9:00pm I take a chance and get some coconut ice cream out of the freezer.

9:02pm D'oh! Hide the ice cream! Gibson emerges asking to be re-tucked in. That kid can't stay in one spot in his bed, awake or asleep. I tell him to close his eyes and think about something happy to help him sleep. He's going to think about Batman, Spiderman, Hulk, and "different characters."

9:05pm Gus calls me in to ask questions about Paw Patrol. I review the bedtime checklist with them. I emphasize that we did everything on this list, so now it's their job to close their eyes, be quiet, and think about sleepy things. "I'm not coming in here anymore," I declare. I sit on the couch right outside their room and scroll Facebook/Instagram.

9:15pm I haven't heard any more peeps out of them! DF and I watch an episode of Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I read a few chapters of In the Distance by Hernán Díaz, which is the 2019 One City, One Story selection for Pasadena Public Library.

10:30pm Take my vitamin and get ready for bed. Move laundry aside. I'll fold it tomorrow...maybe. Make sure boys are covered up and find Gus "Mr. My head too hot" with a blanket under his head! Play a fish game and a word game for a bit on my Kindle before calling it a night.

And that's another day in the life of a stay-at-home mom with twins!

That Twin Life

The kids have been sick lately so I've been spending more one-on-one time with them with various medical appointments. It got me to thinking about how different a twin's life is than a singleton.

Never being an only child/Always having a sibling
We've all heard tales of (or lived through) the rough adjustment period on kid #1 when kid #2 shows up. With twins, you don't have to deal with that issue! In fact as babies, Gus and Gibson became experts at sleeping through each other's crying since they shared a room.

As parents, we have no idea what it would be like to have an only child, or even multiple kids of different ages. When I took Gus to the park by himself a couple days ago, it felt so strange not to keep scanning the playground for another kid! In fact I was able to carry on a whole conversation with another parent. Bizarro-world!

It's sweet to see their brotherly friendship develop, though. They really do enjoy playing together. When Gus was sick and Gibson had to go to school by himself, I could tell they both really missed each other. Fortunately everyone is healthy again and back in the classroom together.

Can't always have your way
Now obviously this is a situation all kids face at some point, but with twins it seems magnified. You wanted to wear the Batman shirt? Sorry, your brother already put it on. You like riding first down the sidewalk? Sorry, your brother is a faster bike rider than you but also only 3 years old and still learning about empathy and impulse control.

There's hardly ever a time when they are by themselves and get to make their own choices without influence from the other. And when we try to do one-on-one activities like the park trip I just mentioned, well, that resulted in a sobbing Gibson who actually changed his mind about going along a minute after Gus and I left the house.

For parents: no second chances
Your first kid is the guinea pig, right? You work out the kinks and then with subsequent little ones, you've got a better handle on this parenting gig. Or at least that's what I hear. But with twins, you are basically dealing with two guinea pigs. You try your best times two, and then suddenly that phase is over and a new one is beginning. Past experience may or may not be relevant to the next adventure. This is why I should probably write a book about all my awesome parenting ideas because otherwise who is going to benefit from them?

Overall, I'd say having twins is a wild, enjoyable, exhausting ride!

3 Years

Happy third birthday to Gus and Gibson! I've been looking forward to this day when they could play with all the "ages 3+" toys without choking on anything. Ha ha! Actually, they have stopped putting everything in their mouths, so I suppose that's a good sign.

Language
I am not really concerned about them having a speech delay anymore, because they chatter all the time. One issue is that they still use "me" as a subject pronoun, instead of "I." So far I'm just continuing to model correct grammar without making a point to correct them. I figure they'll catch on eventually. In the meantime, it makes for some adorable expressions.

Gibson, tearfully at the park when trying to describe a snack, "No me know me talking about!"
(Turns out, he wanted to eat bunny grahams)

They use the word "love" frequently
Me: Please don't bite your brother
Gibson: But me loooove bite Gus!

I hand Gus a sandwich on an orange plate.
Gus (frowning): Ahh! No me love orange things!

They haven't started asking "why?" yet, but they do ask a lot of questions. Lately, they want to know what everything eats, including animals, plants, the cast of Octonauts, and non-living things like rainbows. Their syntax is, "Mommy, giraffe-es eat?" (The plural of giraffe is 3 syllables)

Pronunciation of some sounds is hit or miss. My current favorite word is "zizzors" (aka scissors)

Physical Milestones
We gave them balance bikes today for their birthdays. They rode around at the park for quite awhile without any major incidents. "Rode" isn't the right word - it was just walking with the bike underneath them. But it actually went better than I thought, so I'm sure they'll be zooming around before long.

They can run fairly fast without tripping.

Potty training hasn't been successful yet. We have a September deadline or else they can't start preschool, so yeah, better get on that soon...

Fine Motor Skills
They make tiny little blobs out of Playdoh.

They're doing better holding crayons/markers, except they don't like to be constrained to decorating only paper.

They are starting to grasp the concept of water color painting.

Personalities
We continue to see unique personalities develop.

Gibson likes to be silly. He is usually resilient and adaptable.

Gus is the rule enforcer. He's got a tender heart.

They are both playful, enjoy music, and are a bit wary of new people.

Overall
They have become little kids. They like babies, but they definitely don't consider themselves babies. They are more interested in playing with other kids at parks and etc. With them starting preschool in the fall and our family hopefully moving to a new home, I expect we'll see all sorts of changes in the year ahead!

Putting Kids to Bed: Crossfit Edition

Are you into working out? Have I got a routine for you! It's called Crossfit: Bedtime x2 (no copyright infringement intended)

Material required:

• A room with a door that can close
• 1 nightlight
• 2 raised platforms, 12" high
• 2 medicine balls, 27 lbs each (or heavier for added challenge)
• Plywood for inclined planes
• Optional: toys and books

Set up:

• Position the two platforms against opposite walls, approximately 5-6 feet apart. Make sure they are stable.
• Build ramps rolling off each platform with a holding space at the top for a medicine ball. Ball should be able to easily roll down the ramp; it should not remain on the platform for more than a few seconds.
• For extra difficulty, rig up a pulley system to open and close the door and allow balls to escape into the hallway
• Scatter toys/books around the room
• Plug in nightlight
• Turn off overhead light
• Close door

Workout method:

• Grab one medicine ball. Place it on the top of a ramp. Be sure to squat and use your leg muscles.
• With your core engaged, turn to the other platform and place the second ball atop its ramp.
• Lunge back to platform #1, scoop up the ball from the floor, and replace it.
• Hop over toys so you don't stub your toe
• Get distracted by hopping and allow ball #2 to escape out the door. Retrieve ball #2 and place on platform.

Reps: 

• at least 100

Cool down:

• Ask your workout partner to come in and sit by one platform to hold the ball in place while you do the same for platform #2. 
• Take deep cleansing breaths. 
• Remain seated until the balls are no longer wiggling and are nearly asleep. 
• Tiptoe out of the room. 
• Pour yourself a glass of wine.

2.75 years

My babies are not babies anymore! Soon, they'll be turning three. I'll try to savor these last few months of year two while they last :)

Language
The highlight lately, for sure. They are always cracking me up with the funny things they say! Here's how they say things, creatively.

Counting: 1, 3, 2, 5, 2, 3
Any letters or numbers: Hey, ABCs!
Sideways: sidewards
Slippery: slippy
Peanut butter: pea burr
Milk: nilk
Smash: mash ("cars no mash me" they say in the parking garage)
Motorcycle: sa-sy-oh (I think? I never have any idea what they are saying for like the first 3 attempts, so then I guess "motorcycle?" and I'm sometimes right)

Some of their favorite expressions include "more" or "too." Example, "more pillows!" says Gibson, every time he's building a fort. They object to things by using too + adjective. Gus didn't want to try gyoza because "too slimy." They can't get on an elevator because "too much people." I have to get the fruit snack off their finger after they squished it up because "toooooo sticky!"

They've figured out the pronouns "you" and "me." Their current favorite fight in the back seat of the van is to mock the person in the sun by saying, "You sunny side! Me shady side!"

Understanding the World
They are convinced that animals pee out of their tails, so they think tails are really funny. I've tried explaining animal anatomy to them, but they don't believe me. However, I'm wary of proving my point by Googling "anatomically correct pictures of animals"...

They remember stuff that surprises me. We had a doctor's appointment, and a week later they remembered the doctor's name, which I'd maybe said twice. Whoa!

They love to laugh! Yesterday, we were watching a show with a couch that sprouted propellers and starting flying around, and they were literally falling over laughing about that. I didn't get why it was so hilarious, but I enjoyed listening to them giggle :)

They understand when I am not happy. But, sort of annoyingly, they ask me about it by saying, "Mommy happy mommy?" This most often happens when I'm scowling about the food they just dumped on the floor or similar events. I've tried responding along the lines of, "No, I'm not happy right now. You are not responsible for my emotions. I'm feeling frustrated about this mess." We recently made a calm-down corner with soothing toys, so sometimes I take a break there to calm down. Meanwhile, the boys just want to fight over the sensory items I got, so yeah, work in progress still...

We tried to convert their cribs into toddler beds a couple weeks ago. It was a disaster. The four crib walls are solidly back in place. Sometimes they ask for "no crib" now but I tell them we're going to wait till they're a little older to try again. They just could not stay in bed - the two of them egg each other on to increasing levels of chaos. And I don't like them frolicking around their bedroom in the dark for all the reasons you can imagine, plus some you can't. For example, we have a rocking chair that spins. One kid climbs into the chair while brother runs in a circle to spin him around, until the runner trips over a toy, or crashes into the wall, or the passenger decides he'd like to exit the ride without alerting the operator first...

Physical Milestones
Gus is solidly jumping now. It's kind of a gallop/jump, where his feet lift off the ground 1-2 instead of simultaneous, but I think it counts.

We went to a St. Patrick's Day festival on Saturday where they tried Irish dancing and managed to lift up and kick one leg without falling over. Then they started freestyling with spins and such :)

I recently took them to a park with a tall boulder climb. It was maybe 8 feet at the top. They both scurried right up the rocks, but only Gus was able to scoot back down; I had to rescue Gibson. I'm taking this as a good sign that he's starting to understand the effects of gravity.

They can go up and down stairs without holding the hand rail, albeit precariously. I wish they would hold the rail, especially in our apartment stairwell that we sometimes use as a short cut, but that rail has been deemed "too dirty, Mommy".

It's been a good few months here in Salmonista land. Having twin babies is insanity, but twin toddlers are pretty fun!

Language Learning

I think we've crossed that "language explosion" threshold over here - Gus and Gibson have been chattering up a storm! It's pretty cute to watch their vocabulary expand and language develop. Here are a few highlights.

• "Hey! Hey! Blaaaanket!" <or other noun> Most often said by Gibson when he sees something new or unexpected. In this example, he got up from nap and observed a blanket on the couch.
• Singing "A-B-C-A-B-C-A-B-C" as the alphabet song
• When they see text, they point and say "letters!" They also say "numbers" sometimes...I am not sure if they understand that letters and numbers are different yet.
• "Me eat ALL!" Said in reference to any food item, such as a box of 40 mini pancakes. "Me eat all pa-pace!" "No," says brother, "ME eat all!" "Boys," I say, "We have plenty of pancakes for everyone."
• And that leads to the first 5-word sentence I heard, "No eat all apples, Gus!" said Gibson, after Gus threatened to polish off a two-pound sack.
• Verb confusion with words like see/look. "No see me," they say, when they mean don't look at me. Most often accompanied by a stay-back gesture when sitting on the potty. 
• Subject/object confusion such as saying "show me" while pulling on my hand, meaning I want to show you something

This afternoon, they had a whole conversation about an ice pack and things that are cold. It went on for a few minutes without any input from me. I was impressed! 

I was told that a good rule of thumb for language development is that by age 3, your kids should be understood by other people (not immediate family members) about 80% of the time. Oh my. I spend all day with them and I only understand like 50-60% of what they say. Good thing we have a few months to work on our pronunciation before their 3-year check up.

A Day in the Life, Year 3

It's time for my annual post, "What I did all day." I started this tradition when the boys were first born and I'll keep going as long as I remember :)  On the first Friday of January (that is not January 1st), I record everything I do over the course of the day. Since my kids are generally with me, it's also a log of their activities.

The rule I have for myself is that I should try to have a normal day - not doing special things just because I want everyone on the internet to know how cool I am. And I don't have to publish every single happening, especially if it involves something like bodily functions that may embarrass the children in the future.

I can tell I have more time on my hands these days and/or more functional brain cells b/c my notes from today are rather long!

January 5, 2018
Location: Pasadena, CA

12:00a All quiet on the sleeping front

6:48a I wake up, just 2  minutes before DF's alarm. This is progress! I had been waking up at 6 but just hiding under my pillow to read Facebook on my phone. Sleeping is a better use of time. Today I read a couple parenting articles while DF takes a shower, even though I've told myself I need to stop reading so much and just be a parent...

I take a shower and get dressed. The kids are still sleeping so I address our last Christmas card to send out (returned due to old address) and make some coffee.

7:43a Hear a cough from the boys' room. They've been a bit congested lately. I wonder if anyone is sick. Put away dishes and eat some breakfast. We don't have a dining room table, so I sit on the couch to eat my cereal and don't slosh milk anywhere. Yay!

8:10a Hear more coughing, so I go into the kids' room to find they are both awake. Gus immediately reports that Gibson has been coughing. Is he worried about his brother? I get them both out of their cribs.

8:20a OH MY WORD I have already heard the word "me" at least 40 times, including "me-self," "me do it," "me first," "me chair," etc.... I was thinking about recording how many times they say "me" in a day but realize I would drive myself insane so give up on that idea. They are eating frozen microwave mini pancakes for breakfast, which the boys insist on helping make (so I have to lift them up and down to reach the microwave buttons). The pancakes are driving wheels and castles today, I am told.

8:40a Start getting boys dressed and changing diapers

8:55a They are both finally clothed. Interlude there where Gus wants yells "ah! ah!" at the trains from the balcony. They start fighting over their toy cash register and want to take out the batteries. I try to explain the concept of batteries to them. They don't care.

9:00a I realize we need to go to the grocery store b/c we're almost out of bread. Then I look at the Vons ad and see all these deals I can't pass up. Vons is the only store where I'll take the boys by myself because they have 2-seater driving wheel carts.

9:20a depart for store. We get the fire truck cart today. They sing "wee-ooh! wee-ooh!" with gusto up and down the aisles and only yank one item off a shelf. Not a bad shopping trip! But I buy way too much stuff.

10:20a back home. They help me carry the groceries up from the parking garage, sort of. At least they both walk the whole way. They eat a yogurt snack while I put the food away. Gibson refuses to eat the blueberries in his yogurt, which is unfortunate as the brand I bought is advertising "now with more fruit."

10:40a I turn on the TV so I can cook in peace. I bought a bunch of ground turkey, so I'm cooking it now and will freeze it in 1 pound packs for future meals.

11:10a We go down to the leasing office to pick up an Amazon package that arrived yesterday. Along the way, we visit the pool, outside fountain, mailbox, and the dry cleaning drop off with beeping buttons on their lockers.

11:30a Home, and time for lunch. They mainly eat cantaloupe and smash up their peanut butter sandwiches. They add an extra "w" sound and pronounce it "swan-wich," which I find adorable.

11:50a Done with lunch, so now they are using the momentum of rocking their bodies back and forth to roll their high chairs across the kitchen floor, and cracking themselves up. After they get down, they want me to play with them in their closet where they close the door and turn on two singing toys, but not to the same song. This is not my favorite game! They pretend to fix things, ask me to read the same book 3 times, and start fighting over a bus toy.

12:35p I'm tired of listening to fights, so I turn the TV on and give them a snack while I eat some lunch, clean the kitchen.

1:05p In bed for nap time. I eat some more, start a load of laundry, and hide the fruit cups I just bought in the back of a cupboard.

1:15p Gus is squealing. I give him some books to look at. Gibson is already asleep.

During their nap, I cut up some chicken to go in the freezer, take out a precariously full sack of garbage, throw my other neighbors' trash down the chute that they leave in the trash room b/c apparently I'm the floor mom, and wash dishes. I have a weekly chore chart for myself, which I do allow myself to slack on but not this week b/c we're just back from 2 weeks of vacation and I was slacking before that :) So today is cleaning the countertops and dusting, plus laundry. Then I sweep the kitchen because of course when I wipe off the counters, I make a mess. I go down to the garage to retrieve the last load of groceries. It takes 4 minutes. I hope no one is going to judge me too harshly for leaving my sleeping children unattended... Then I eat a snack while checking FB/IG. Send some emails and make a phone call for general life stuff.

2:50p Everyone is still asleep, so I sit down to read chapter 1 of my new library book, The Cross & the Lynching Tree. It seems like a good complement to another book I read recently, Just Mercy.

3:20p Hear a creature stirring in the bedroom. Both of them are awake, but Gibson doesn't want to get out of bed for awhile. We all play trucks.

3:55p Applesauce snack, then off to the park. There's a park across the street from our apartment complex, which is one of my favorite things about our location! I pull the kids in their wagon. A drunk guy greets us at the crosswalk and tries to get high 5s from the boys. They eye him warily, as do I. At the park, they go on their favorite things - swing, rolling slide, bouncy bridge. I help them on the monkey bars, and their grip strength is improving.

5:00p Finally back home. It takes us about 15 minutes from the entry door to our apartment b/c they have to admire everyone's decorations, run up and down the hallway, spin in circles by the elevator, try to reach out a window and grab a tree...

5:15p DF arrives home. Boys have been screaming a lot the last 15 minutes. He convinces them to eat some dinner. After they are done, they crawl and DF pretending he is a car while I eat dinner. Then we switch places, except I don't know how to be a car as well as Daddy does, according to the boys.

6:20p Gibson sounds a bit hoarse. I'm worried he's getting croup. His temperature is 99.0. WebMD says to keep him calm, but the boys are currently climbing on a cushion fort. He is coughing so I nix the cushion play and tell them they can pick a movie to watch instead.

6:30p They pick Caillou...siiiiiigh. Luckily it's a video with a bunch of short episodes and they agree to switch to Land Before Time after the first little show. I clean up dinner while they watch TV and eat snacks, then we all snuggle on the couch for awhile.

7:40p Bath time. Lots of roaring dinosaur splashing inspired by their recent viewing, I suspect.

8:10p Out of the bath, try to get them to play calmly with trucks and avoid cushion chaos. Gibson still sounds like his throat is scratchy.

8:30p Bedtime. The routine includes brush teeth, read a Bible story + 2 books, songs, prayer, hugs, goodnight. Gibson's temp is 99.3 but he's not coughing very much. While I'm finishing up with the boys, I send DF downstairs to our local tap house to fill up our growler because TGIF.

9:00p Boys in bed. This time schedule is pretty normal for us, lately. While we were traveling for the holidays they kept staying up late and sleeping in. It's working ok, I guess, but sometimes we do need to get moving earlier in the mornings. Hmm, we shall see how it goes.

DF returns with a beer called White Ghost. It's a Berliner Weisse, a sour. It's different than what I usually drink, but it's pretty good.

I move a second load of laundry to the dryer, start the dishwasher, and type of this novella of my day.

I hope I don't jinx myself by publishing tonight! If anything noteworthy happens in the next 90 minutes, I'll be sure to update the post. As it is, I'm about to head off to bed, after I fold the mountain of laundry currently covering my sleeping surface...

2.5 Years

I'm a few days early on this post, but we'll be in Oregon visiting family on the boys' actual half-birthday. Figured I better record these observations now so I don't forget later!

(For any of my newer readers, note that "Gus" and "Gibson" are blog pseudonyms for the twins. Hopefully you can figure out which one is which, if you know them IRL!)

As is my tradition, I shall now reflect on what the boys are up to these days. Two and a half is a pretty fun age, in my opinion. Yes, it's also dramatic. But for the most part, life is good. I decided to make a little chart here. (Hope it displays ok on whatever browser/device you're using.) I know the experts say not to compare your kids...that's really hard when you have twins, though! How else are you supposed to talk about them, when they're really similar?

Who does it more?	Gus	Gibson
Eats	x
Sleeps		x
Willing to try new foods		x
Fake cries when playing		x
Says "me first"	x
Uses the potty	x
Won't get in the bathtub		x
Afraid of cars in garage	x
Loves to read the Bible	x
Spins in circles		x
Obsessed with trucks	x	x
Says "hi" to strangers		x
Hesitant to go in the nursery	x
Devours lentils (seriously!)	x	x
Says "sorry" if it's warranted		x
Loves his blankie		x
Picks up toys	x

As you can see, they are certainly continuing to develop distinct personalities! It's interesting to me how they aren't exactly turning out the way I thought they would though, based on baby-hood. Gus used to be a bit more chill. As he's gotten older, I feel like he's embracing his role as the older brother, becoming bossy sometimes and demanding his own way. Since I'm also an oldest child, I can't really fault him for it, haha. Gibson, meanwhile, is kind of fulfilling his role as the baby of the family by being a little jokester! They both love to laugh, but Gibson especially has a humorous/mischievous streak about him.

Activities: playing all the time, everywhere. Current fixation is taking all the cushions/throw pillows off the couch to build houses, castles, cars, etc in the living room. They could do it all day long, except that they also fight a lot over who is going to use which of the (identical) cushions, among other things. 

Language: Since their pacifiers have been relegated to their cribs, I've definitely noticed an increase in their vocabulary. They can ask for a bunch of different foods/drinks, name animals, and tell you about various vehicles. And they use verbs, too :) The longest phrase I've heard one of them say is, "No, my wee-oo truck!" (that's a fire truck, if you don't speak toddler-ese). I try not to stress out when I hear other kids of a similar age stringing together whole sentences, though. We were at the library where a girl remarked, "This one doesn't fit" about a gear toy she couldn't get to work. Her mom said she's two and a half. I was like, wow! My kids would just say, "ahh!" or "help!" or "mama!" about that situation...

They understand some opposites like up/down, on/off, and empty/full. Hmm, but that might be more of a cognitive skill than language. I think they also know the numbers 1 and 2, sometimes.

Sleep: They are still taking an afternoon nap, thanks be to God, for about 2-3 hours. These days, they've been going to bed around 8:30-9pm and sleeping till 7:30-8am. I would prefer that schedule to shift a bit earlier, but it's working out ok so I won't complain. I usually am awake by 6:30am so I just try to get stuff done in the morning, quietly, before they wake up.

Eating: Per the above list, you'll note both kids love lentils - specifically, split red lentils, simmered in chicken broth, with curry powder. They've become increasingly picky, but they still like those legumes! Otherwise, they pretty much are subsisting on toaster waffles, peanut butter, dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets, cashews, applesauce, and the occasional carrot. They don't like crunchy carrots, which means I'm still cutting them into pieces and steaming them. Way easier than purees, though! Oh yes, and they would eat popsicles and cookies all day, every day, if I would let them.

Social skills: We've had a few play dates lately where I've been able to watch them around other kids. It's kind of comical because they are fairly good about sharing with each other, but rather oblivious to sharing with new playmates. We were at a kid's house who had a ride-on toy car. Gus and Gibson kept hopping in and out of it, taking turns with each other. When I suggested that the other kids also wanted to play with the car, they were incredulous and protested loudly! 

At parks, they have started interacting positively with the other kids sometimes, especially older kids. They got into a game of chase/tag a few weeks ago with some kids who were about 8 or 9, and there was much giggling all around.

Physical development: According to the bathroom scale, Gus is 26 lbs and Gibson weighs in at 25. They are not quite 36" tall yet. (Learned that the hard way after we waited in line 20 minutes for the Ferris wheel at Knott's Berry Farm...) They're wearing size 2T for most clothes, though 18 months pants. Shoes are size 6 toddler. I wish their feet would hurry up and grow into size 7 b/c the size 7 shoes we have are way easier to get off and on than the 6s. Live and learn, Mom!

They can't jump yet. We just checked yesterday. Gibson stood on his tiptoes and laughed while DF and I hopped up and down. Gus just kept climbing on the couch cushions.

They're a lot better at running without falling/tripping these days, even going down an incline. That's a nice skill to have. Gus is decent at catching a ball from a close distance, but he thinks it's funnier to stand with his hands clasped together and laugh at you when you get ready to throw.

Emotions: parenting literature these days is all about teaching emotional intelligence/understanding/regulation, and I've totally jumped on that bandwagon. We talk about our feelings a lot. Here's a sample of what happened earlier today.

Me: "Gus, look at your brother's face. He has a sad face because you took the cushion he was using. Hmm..." <pause for comprehension> "What can you do to help him feel better?" 

Gus: thinks, then says, "Toys?" 

Me: "Gibson, do you want a toy?" 

Gibson, sighing sadly: "No" (Gibson has a reeeeeally good sad face, I must say) 

Me: "Gus, could you share the cushion?"

Gus: thinks a bit..."Uh huh. Share!"

Me: "Gibson, Gus says he can share the cushion with you! How do you feel now?"
Gibson: "Happy!"
Me: "Oh good, I'm glad you found a way to play together" <yes, that's a phrase from Daniel Tiger. I use it a lot.>

We also play a game where we make different faces, like happy, sad, angry, scared, and surprised. They seem to like it. 

So, there's life in a nutshell. I always like looking back at these reflection posts. Hope you enjoyed reading it, too :)

Not Yet

Do you ever get impatient with your kids? I don't mean in the "will you please finish your dinner??" sense - I'm thinking of waiting for them to achieve a milestone. I had a reminder today that I need to appreciate the season we're in without trying to push my kids to be older than they are.

Sometimes when I'm out with the boys and we're having fun, I think to myself, oh, we should stop at a coffee shop and get a little treat. I imagine us all sitting around a table together, nibbling on something sweet, and having good conversations about life. Obviously, that last part should have clued me in because the boys are just now starting to string three words together ("Mommy help me," Gus said at lunch today when he wanted me to feed him Cheerios. Yes, Cheerios for lunch. We are in a major breakfast-for-every-meal phase over here lately.)

This morning, we were walking home from our weekly free entertainment at a nearby mall. We'd had a good time giggling and dancing at the puppet show, and the boys seemed to be in a good mood. So I thought, hey, let's stop at Starbucks! (I was also motivated by the fact that I hadn't finished my morning coffee at home...)

First, the boys were excited to look at the display board outside with all the flavors of hot chocolate. (They thought they were cookies.) Then, when we went in, they said, "Wow!" I guess they were impressed by their first visit to Starbucks! They quickly started grabbing armfuls of biscotti off the counter and running around the cafe. Using my best calm-yet-authoritative mother voice, I said, "Boys, come here and stand by me." They scampered over. Phew! As I ordered my latte, I returned the biscotti to their shelf and picked out more kid-friendly cookies, chocolate dipped madelines. 

We took our treats outside (because it was 70 degrees, oh yeah, SoCal!) and sat around a table. They happily munched their cookies for about 2 minutes. I snapped some photos. Then the scene descended into CHAOS! Gus only ate the chocolate half of his cookie, then asked for more. Silly Mom, I had picked a package with three cookies. I told them they could share the last one. That was the WRONG ANSWER! They started screaming NO NO NO! as I broke the cookie and it came apart in four pieces. Huge tears! Gus reluctantly grabbed a piece with chocolate, but he wouldn't eat the plain parts. Gibson gobbled up the remaining 3/4 of the extra cookie, plus the original 1/2 that Gus refused to eat. So Gus was even MORE mad when he saw Gibson was still eating cookie while he had none. 

The only other snacks I had with me were Goldfish crackers. The kids informed me that those were NOT an acceptable alternative. At this point I'd had maybe one sip of my coffee, but it was obviously time to go home. I told the boys to go get in the wagon. Gus jumped down from his seat saying "button!" I thought he was going to go play with the donate-your-change-to-help-the-homeless meter next to our table, so I said ok and turned my attention to helping Gibson wipe up. Next thing I know, Gus had run over to the crosswalk and was yelling "Button! Button!" because obviously that's what he was talking about. "Gus!" I yelled. "Get back here!" A pedestrian looked on and probably wondered if he should stop this two year old from crossing the street by himself.

I got Gibson down from the chair and ran to grab Gus. Of course, the wagon was around the corner of the store, so I had to retrieve it. Gibson came with me. Gus stood by the window pointing inside exclaiming "Cookie! More cookie!" I got them both in the wagon and started heading home. We'd gone about half a block when I heard some unhappy squeals behind me. I turned to see Gus laying on top of Gibson, possibly chewing on him, while they both were hanging over the side of the wagon. An older gentleman passing by helpfully pointed out, "Hey, they're going to fall out." I ignored him and said to the boys in a less-than-calm-and-quite-authoritative mother voice, "Cut it out!"

We managed to get home with all our limbs intact. Then I gave them popsicles to eat on the balcony (because I'm sure more sugar will solve their problems...) while I finished my latte in relative peace.

In conclusion, I think I'll wait on my little dream of hanging out at a coffee shop with my kids until they are, hmm, at least 5 years old. Or maybe younger if I just have one of them with me!

Snippets of Toddler-hood

The boys are so creative and imaginative these days. Life is fun with two 2-year-olds! Here are a few things they've been pretending lately.

• Being a witch who blows bubbles on people/animals to turn them into frogs (idea came from their favorite episode of Bubble Guppies)
• Daddy is a car with a radio that plays music (Daddy helps out by singing "la la la")
• Everything becomes a bulldozer, dump truck, mixer truck, or other vehicle. Sandwich crusts are tow trucks, watermelon rinds are boats, etc 
• Fires, fires everywhere. They are constantly playing firefighter. Problem there is they get really mad when brother pretends to spray their head/face with a fire hose...
• They have babies growing in their tummies and are going to be daddies. Uh, what?? I don't know what prompted this one, except we did recently get a book with a pregnant person in it.
• Everything is a baby that cries, drinks a bottle, and needs a diaper change. Not just stuffed animals - a toy truck has also needed a bottle. This is cute until both of their babies start crying and they shove them into my arms! I tell them I already took care of twin babies so now it's their turn.

I'm tapping into the power of imagination for their own good. When we went to get flu shots last week, we practiced what we learned from Daniel Tiger - "Close your eyes and think of something happy." Gibson said he would think about a bulldozer. He only let out one little yelp when he got his shot! I was so proud of him, and of myself because apparently I did not pass on my childhood needle anxiety to him. Gus was a bit more, uh, expressive in his protests, but he still got a sticker at the end of the ordeal.

Bye Bye Binky

(That title is a total misnomer, BTW, but it's just too alliterative to pass up. We never called pacifiers "binkies" and we also haven't said an official goodbye.)

Good news! Operation Gently Limit Pacifier Usage was a success! Honestly, I can hardly believe it worked. I was sure I was going to be surrounded by much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but the whole thing went rather smoothly.

Since I know you're curious, here's how it went down. Yes, I took notes. Detailed notes. I cope with stress by collecting data and being analytical, ok?

Saturday (9/23/17)
Watch Sesame Street video clip of Elmo getting rid of his pacifier. (Episode #4264, if you are wondering. I could only find a bootlegged version on YouTube that I shall not link to, so as not to incur the wrath of the copyright police.)

Talk about how Gus and Gibson are going to keep their pacifiers in bed from now on, not walk around with them in their mouths. They look worried and say, "no."

Sunday (9/24)
When I pick them up from the church nursery, Gus is whimpering and asking for his pacifier, which he somehow lost over the course of the morning. Seeing his sad face makes me more committed to my goal, because I know he can have fun playing in the nursery without a pacifier.

After nap, watch Elmo episode again. Sing the "Bye, bye Binkie" song. [Aside: it is not to the tune of Bye Bye Birdie, although you'd imagine it would be...] I tell them that tomorrow, the pacifier has to stay in bed and they can only use it during sleep time. I say that I want to hear them talk more. They say "ok" but keep happily slurping away on pacis.

Eat frozen bananas for dinner. That's it.

5:55pm (as my stress level rises, the log gets more detailed)
Sing Bye Bye Binky again. Tell them again about leaving pacifiers in bed tomorrow. Apparently they don't understand "tomorrow," because they both take pacis to bed and drop them over the side. Then they ask for a popsicle. Wow! High fives all around!

We then successfully go to the grocery store without pacifiers, which is totally shocking. I have some in my pocket but never have to pull them out.

7:15pm
Back from the store. Boys look at pacifiers in bed and repeatedly ask for them. I try comforting them with toys and blankies, but it doesn't work. I explain if they need pacifier time, it's ok, but they have to stay in their beds with pacis.

7:20pm
Gibson up for a snack

7:24pm
Gus jealous that Gibson got to go on the balcony, so he gets up too

7:43pm
Both back in bed with pacifiers. Gibson was the instigator.

7:44pm
Gus wants more melon. Gibson stays put.

7:46pm
Gus back to pacifier

7:49pm
Both up to play choo choo (where they line up their toy boxes and pretend it's a train)

Pacifier-free until bedtime at 8:30pm

*I'm now going to abbreviate pacifier as P*

Monday (9/25)
7:35am
Gus gets up and leaves P in bed. Gibson up a few minutes later

7:50a
Gus asks for P, back in bed

7:53a
Gus up because he wants to watch me make coffee

8:03a
Breakfast time, then no one asked for P afterwards!

8:50a
Still no Ps! They have stripped themselves down to just diapers but whatever works!

9:09a
They're playing nicely in their bedroom. I say, "I really like hearing you talk more!" They respond by asking for Ps. Oops, guess that backfired.

Gus gets up for about 10 minutes to get dressed and play, but Gibson won't budge.

9:26a
I try a new approach - I leave their room while they sit in cribs with Ps. Tell them to let me know when they want to get up.

9:34a
I hear giggling. Go in to find that Gus has taken off his diaper and, well, you can guess what he's playing with. Good Lord, now Gibson is copying him!

9:41a
Both finally up and dressed, no Ps. Eating popsicles.

Go to library for art time. This turns out to be an extreme test of my patience and willpower, but we make it without Ps. Have to let them cry in the van on the way home and empathize that their Ps are at home in bed.

11:30a
Gus requests P when we get home but only stays in bed for one minute. Tell him I'm proud of him. Gibson is eating lunch, no P.

11:55a
Gus slightly bumps head and requests an ice pack (not P)!

Afternoon nap with Ps, get up after nap time with just a few extra P minutes

3:25pm
I tell them we need to go to Costco. Gus replies by asking for P. Gibson also wants P time, then drinks juice.

No Ps from 3:40-6:10pm but OMG very stressful outing! Ice cream everywhere! I try to take them to the snack bar to get dinner. They see a picture of ice cream on the menu. Silly me, I order it, thinking we can have it for dessert after they eat pizza. Instead, Gibson only eats ice cream for dinner, and that's mostly with his hands rather than the perfectly functional spoon that was provided. Gus eats ice cream first, then wants pizza. Gibson is not interested in sitting around waiting for Gus to finish, so he plays with the garbage cans instead. (Also, FYI the Alhambra, CA Costco is a total zoo no matter what time of day you go there.)

6:10pm
Both are screaming when we get home. I suggest P time. They calm down in a few minutes.

7:40pm
Gus needs about 2 minutes of P time after bath. He is usually really grumpy about getting out of the bath, and tonight is no exception.

8:30pm
Ps in for the night.

Observations:
They seemed to fall asleep faster today for nap and bedtime than usual
Total (awake) pacifier time estimated at less than 1 hour. Whoa! I thought it would be way higher

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Ok, if you have read this far, I think you're part of my hard core fan club, so I thank you for your support and patronage! :) I'll just summarize the remaining days here for you.

Tuesday (9/26)
Both boys ask for P during breakfast. I feed them more food and that seems to work.

I put them in bed for 5 minutes of P time so I can finish vacuuming. Who's the real addict here??

When they are screaming, I ask if they want Ps, but they say no. Play with Kindles instead.

Both in cribs with Ps, and they each have one leg up over the side. They haven't figured out how to climb out of cribs yet. Oh dear...

I make sure to praise them at bedtime for how they are doing so well at leaving Ps in bed, talking more, and being big boys.

Wednesday (9/27)
I have a moms' group this morning, and the boys go to childcare with no Ps and no drama. I'm shocked!

Now that they can talk more, they're sort of driving me insane. I bet they said "Mommy" 100 times each during our evening trip to the park...

Just a few short incidents of pacifier time today. Usage is definitely decreasing.

Thursday (9/28)
Both suddenly request P time while watching TV in the afternoon. It was after two repair people had come to fix something in the apartment. Related?
=====

And now, here we are, October 6 and the boys seem like they've adapted to the pacifier restrictions. They hardly ask for pacifier time at all during the day. They're still pumped to get a paci for sleep time, so I hope we're back to that item being a sleep association. I'm in no hurry to 100% get rid of pacifiers. That will come when we're all ready.

Overall, I'm surprised that it went as well as it did. This was my first real attempt at explaining something to the boys and then having them demonstrate they understand by their actions. (I mean, a complex idea like "Pacifiers stay in bed," not "Throw this wrapper in the garbage can." It gives me hope for the future that, someday, we'll be able to have real conversations where we actually communicate with each other!

Modern Living with Toddlers

I'm really digging living in a modern apartment building. This complex was built in 2006, which is like a full half-century later than our previous residence's birthdate. I mean, I'm not knocking our old house in Memphis. For a place built in the 50s, it was pretty good. It was full of charm and character, like the built in telephone nook in the hallway and the wonky wiring. Take the kitchen, for instance. There were a total of 4 outlets in the whole kitchen. I mean, like plugs. So two outlets with two plugs each. And the washing machine was plugged in to one of them, so that left 3 available for general use (including the microwave).

Meanwhile, I just counted the plugs in my new kitchen and there are 14 plugs. Whoa! 14, just in the kitchen! And the microwave is mounted above the stove so it isn't even using up a counter top plug. It feels so luxurious! Right now I have a phone charger, coffee pot, and toaster plugged in. There's still space to power up all my other kitchen appliances if my heart desired! (Note: I am not confident the fuse box could handle all that excitement.) I've even gotten into using the "delay brew" feature on my coffee pot, since I can prep it the night before and leave it plugged in. As I'm typing this, I realize there's no reason I could not have done this in Memphis, too...oh well, I shall enjoy it now ;)

At any rate, access to electricity is a bonus of living in a huge apartment complex. One of the downsides, I'm finding, is that it's such a production to leave the apartment, particularly when it's just me and the boys. Here's how a trip to the store looks.

Goal: get two toddlers, one mother, and one wagon from a 3rd floor apartment into the van parked in the garage on level P3. Go to store. Buy groceries. Return to apartment with all humans + groceries intact.

First, we get ourselves and our stuff ready to go, which is really a separate subject. To reach the garage, we have to walk down the hall and around the corner to the elevator. There are I think 4 apartments between us and the elevator (on each side of the hall). We're usually taking the wagon with us, so that means the boys have to fight over who is going to pull it, then flop down in the middle of the hall and refuse to walk regardless of if they got their way or not. Also they stop at every door to point at the doorbell and say "ding dong," and they also need to point out all the fire extinguishers/fire hose hook ups by saying "wee-ooh" like a fire truck. Oh, and lately Gibson has insisted on taking his big, fuzzy blankie everywhere we go, so that's in the wagon as well. Once we get to the elevator, we've got to try and only push the down arrow button.

When the elevator arrives, we have to get all 3 people + a big wagon on board. This is more difficult when there are other passengers. Then the kids have to try and push all the buttons, including the alarm. Once we finally get down to the parking garage, someone is usually too captivated by buttons to exit the elevator, but the other one bolts out the door. So I'm standing there blocking the door from closing, grabbing one kid while hollering at the other to stay close to me.

We make our way over to the van, possibly fighting about the wagon again. I buckle them in to their car seats as quick as I can, but I have to keep the other kid from running around the semi-busy garage. I try not to let kid #2 wait in the car while #1 is getting buckled bc inevitably they crawl up to the driver's seat and push all the buttons/pull all the levers while chirping, "drive! drive!" and #1 gets jealous and then *really* won't let me fasten his buckle.

Ok, so now we're all in the car and can proceed to the grocery store. That part is relatively similar to Memphis, I'd say. I still use our double stroller in the store bc they have not quite shown themselves mature enough to handle riding in a cart together if they aren't both buckled in...but they are becoming more and more resistant to the stroller, so I might need to explore other options soon.

Once we have all our groceries and load back up in the car, we head home. Now, we have to reverse the process to get back upstairs from the parking garage, except at this point the wagon is half-full of food that the boys want to take out and inspect. I try to get both of them to squeeze into the remaining space. Usually at least one of them hops out while we approach the elevator so he can push the buttons.

As we get close to our apartment, they remember our neighbor around the corner who has a decorative fountain (no water) with glass pebbles in front of their door. Why, oh why, must you have such an enticing display, dear neighbor? The boys take off squealing and running around the corner while I say, "Boys! Only look at the rocks, no touching! Just say hi to the rocks!" They don't heed my directions, but rather gleefully toss handfuls of pebbles across the hallway. I let them have their moment while I drag the wagon into our apartment, then I go and grab them and return the rocks. They both insist on ding-donging our doorbell before coming inside.

Whew! After all that, it's time for a rest, I'd say!