Those moments

This week has been challenging.  Jacob got sick first on Tuesday.  Then Sophia and I got sick, and now Dad is sick.  Whew!  Couple of cool things about this week though....despite being sick:

1) Of course, I don't love when my kids are sick, but I have to admit, I love that when Sophia is sick, she is a cuddle bug.  A couple naps this week were spent on me, in the rocking chair, with her cute little snore :)  I didn't care what housework needed to be done, or what "me time" I was planning during their nap....for me, this was heaven.  (ok, so it killed my neck just a little)...but it was so nice.  Being a mom of twins, I hardly ever got to enjoy this.  With two, it was impossible to rock them both at night, so we trained them young to put themselves to bed....a good thing in the long run, but still I felt denied moments like this.  I'm happy that at least occasionally, I get this opportunity.  :)

2) Friday was probably my sickest day, thank goodness Nathan stayed home to help w/the kids.  A moment I will never forget w/Jacob was him coming in to "check on" mommy after they had dinner.  Sophia and Daddy came in as well, then Sophia was off and ready to watch Sesame Street.  Jacob stayed in bed with me a little while.  There he was w/me, in a dimly lit room, acting so silly.  He snuggled really close, did his 'fake' snoring and said to me "I sweeping", followed by giggling of course. He also kept getting in my face, and what he whispered to me I can't remember, but I do remember that popsicle breath.  :)  It was impossible not to laugh....and impossible not to feel like the luckiest mommy on Earth.

School Dayz

I'm a little late posting this, but I wanted to talk about their first preschool experience.  They started a 2 day a week program this fall, Tues & Thurs, 9 to 1:30pm at a church nearby.  It's going great now, but it did start out rough.  Actually, we talked about school a lot over the summer and they seemed pretty excited.  Here they are on the way to school, their first day.  :)

Sophia did great from day 1, she never cried and she seemed to enjoy it.  Jacob, had a pretty rough transition, poor baby.  When I went and picked them up on the first day of school, Alyson (the owner) was waiting outside the classroom to greet parents.  She looked at me, smiled and said something like "Ok...." (I knew it was not a good day when she started her sentence that way) "Jacob had a rough day, but there were moments when he did stop crying."  Yikes!!  He had another rough couple of weeks...here's one picture I snapped just after his 2nd week. This was taken just after I parked the van, ready to walk them inside.

That face!!  Wow, that says it all.  Well, thankfully, that has passed. We're mid way through our 2nd month and they are both very excited about it.  They love carrying their lunch bag & putting it where it goes once we walk in the classroom.  They both tell me bits and pieces of their day (including which kids went to timeout and why)  :-)  Some of their favorite activities at school are: Tumble Bus which comes once a week, Signing with My Smart Hands, also once a week.  (We actually took her class a year ago, that's us on her front page!) They also come home with lots of crafts.  They have really awesome teachers, I'm sure that makes all the difference. They love it (now) and so does momma!!  Here are more pics of them playing after I pick them up.  (Oh and an added bonus, my good friend, Jenny, enrolled her daughter there too.  So they had another familiar face in the classroom!  Yay!)

Puzzle for sale

Yesterday afternoon Jacob had a Tantrum (yes, with a capital "T").  It all started with this puzzle he got frustrated with...it was a new one I just picked up w/a 3D fire station.  He didn't understand the "3D" part, he kept wanting to lay all the pieces flat.  Well, after getting frustrated, there was no turning back and needless to say it was a huge task getting him to finally calm down.

This morning at breakfast, he's smiling at me and says "Mommy I not "uh-set" more.  Happy."  I said, "Good!  Do you remember when you were upset yesterday?"  "Kay," he says.  "Why were you so upset, Jacob?"  He replies: "Mommy I uh-set a-ta puzzle." 

It surprised me that he just brought it up out of the blue like that.  I'm glad he could communicate that with me.  :)  What a big boy.

Would anyone care for a 3D firestation puzzle?  Just let me know!! It's for sale :)

Milestones

These babies are growing and growing before my very eyes.  I have been meaning to make an update as to what they're into these days.


Sophia (or "Pia") as she calls herself is a big talker these days. She'll  probably be our "informant"....ha ha.  But that's good, every family needs one.  :) She's so smart and has quite the sense of humor!  She likes to play the "what's your name" game.  I ask her what her name is and she makes up something silly (and after saying it of course giggles non stop) Then I ask what Jacob's name is, my name, etc...and she makes up whatever funny sounds she can come up with.  Every day they are different.   It's so hilarious.  Her favorite tv show:  "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" bar none.  We have come to know Mickey & the gang quite well....she requests this show all day and even will tell me which episode to put it on.  I love, love, love watching her when the show starts.  She sings the intro song, especially "role call".  And I love how she says "Oh DADA" (just to be funny...instead of "Oh TOOTLES") She keeps us laughing and she knows it.

She just said "I love you" for the first time a few days ago....we were reading "How a Dinosaur says I love you" and the very last page says something like "...and that's how a dinosaur says I love you"  She'd say that last part out loud and ever since we read that book, she started responding to me at bedtime with: "I yava you, Mommy".  That makes my night, each and every time :)  And speaking of bedtime....every night after prayer....she starts singing (kinda shouting actually) "God Dess da MOON, God Dess MEEEEE!"  (The actual song/prayer goes like this:  "I see the moon, the moon sees me...God Bless the Moon, God Bless Me")  :-)  Her version is the cutest!  Sweet, smart, beautiful Sophia!  I "yava you", baby girl.

Jacob Thomas....Mr Thomas....my sweet lil man...what can I say?  He's a cutie and a lil clown!  He too, has become very chatty, practically overnight. A few of my favorite things he says right now:  "Iss hard to dooooo" (when he does anything slightly strenuous), "Dada wong way!" (if Dada ever turns a different way going to work as we watch out the window)....and "Kay".  This boy does not say "yes", he says "kay."  I asked Jacob tonight (since he doesn't say it out loud yet) if he loves mommy...he said "Kaaaaaaaaay"  :-)  If I were to ask him if it's raining outside (and it is) he would say "Kay." I don't know where he came up with that, but I love it. I'm ok if he never says yes in his life, just "kay" :)

He still signs a lot, in fact, most of the time when he's talking, he will sign the words he knows.  His memory really impresses me.  The other day I started singing "My team and I play football..." (Signing time song) but I couldn't remember how to sign "practice".  I asked Jacob if he remembered & he did, he showed me. I looked it up (just in case) and he was right!  I thought that was amazing given we hadn't seen the episode that showed us this word in months.  He also sings and signs "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" very well and if we're singing the ABC song...his hand is moving as if he's signing the letters.  Smart boy...if I do say so myself!  Like Sophia, he likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, another favorite is Thomas the Train (we typically watch that on staggered nap days when Sophia is sleeping...then he can actually enjoy it).  He *loves* the movie "Cars", too.  (He especially loves watching it with Daddy while eating a bowl full of popcorn. :-)  This lil man gives the best hugs and kisses and is mama's silly, sweet boy.

So much more to write but that'll have to wait.  Mama's gettin to bed!  Just want to say one last thing: to my lil angels.  "We have no idea what tomorrow has in store, but today, from the bottom of my heart, I love you.  Always and forever."

We love Daddy

Hi Daddy,

Jacob and I just wanted to wish you a very Happy Father's Day!


Right Dajub?

"Wight!!!"

There are many reasons we think you are the best daddy in the world.  Should we list them?  "Yes."  "Kay."


You always wave to us at the "nindo" and blow us kisses before you goto work

And when you get home from work....we get lots and lots of hugs & kisses, too!






We love that you fill our sandbox with sand so we can have GOOD, MESSY FUN!!

You take us to nice restaurants so we can have YUMMY "ghetti" and our new favorite....calamari!

We love when you take us to the park so we can climb around and swing *really* high!

You are so much fun and you take care of us all the time...whether we are showing off new skills at Little Gym...

 

stealing your food....

or just at home, playing or cuddling

And you take good care of mommy, too.  :) 

So thanks for all you do Daddy.

WE LOVE YOU!!

Happy Father's Day!  from Pia, Jacob (and Mommy)

Softball FEVA

The kids and I went to Lauren's softball game on Saturday, their first experience at a live game!  It was a blast.  Mari played earlier that day, we couldn't make that one unfortunately (but they did win, woohoo!)  Lauren's team, the Dolphins, played a challenging team and did not pull out a win, but they made some great plays and Lauren's last time to bat was AWESOME.  Great hit!  I can't believe how grown up my God-daughter is.  :)

Jacob and Sophia sat in my & Nana's lap the whole time, their eyes were glued to the field the whole time.  And they enjoyed their first snow cone, too.  (Hee, hee blue teeth.  Wish I snapped a pic of that!)  They talked about "Yorin's bay-ball game" the rest of the day.  :)  We'll have to see Mari play next time.  Great job girls, you did awesome!

Daddy Lines

Nathan says some funny stuff to his 2 year old children.  I think I'll start jotting some down.  :)

This morning:
"Let's just relax and watch this movie." (right)

and before nap time:

(to me) "I'm trapped between 2 midgets!"

Dad is hilarious!  (More to come...)

My two are two

104 weeks sure go fast!  :)  Happy birthday to my 2 lucky charms!  They've both changed so much, especially in the last month...so many new discoveries and new words.  We're having a lot of fun!

This is their "teddy bear" shot last year and here's one I took this morning...where did my chubby little babies go?

 Some fun facts about Sophia, age 2:

• She wuvs her daddy!  This one's a daddy's girl!
• She's great at letters, loves reading them out loud even if she does read them backwards sometimes.  (The other day she said "A-S-U"...she was reading USA, in her order)
• She likes to assign things to people...for instance...every time we read a book, if there are balloons or flowers, animals, or cars...she will assign the pink, purple or red ones to herself, the rest are either Da-jubs or Mama's or Dada's...Nana and Aunt Ninny do get a balloon or flower sometimes, too...ha!
• Her conversations are getting super funny at this age, dinner is so much fun b/c I can't wait to hear the day's recap :)
• Favorite foods: all veggies (except asparagus), ketchup, most fruit,  hummus, spaghetti ("Sta" as they call it) and red velvet cake!

Jacob, age 2:

• Luckily, I get one, too!  This one's all mama's!  :)
• His Favorite Song: "Colors of the Rainbow" from Signing Time.  He signs along and it is the cutest thing in the world!  He has quick hands! 
• He loves to line things up...lines up his cars, blocks, crayons.  Maybe it's a boy thing? The other day we went to check the mail and they love putting acorns inside the postal boxes (the big ones meant for packages) When we were about to leave I went to empty them & noticed Sophia's acorns laying any which way, while Jacob's were nice n tidy...all lined up. I had to smile.  :)
•  He's very patient.  Sophia is more particular on which crayons, cars, trains, etc that she plays with....but he is fine playing with the other ones *most* of the time. He's also quick to hand things over if she's upset and wants something he has.  Nathan and I've always noticed that Sophia is very nurturing to him in other ways, like she'll bring him his lovey and pacifier if he's upset, or she'll bring him a drink if she gets one for herself.  I think this might be his way of taking care of her.

I hope they always take care of each other....and are the best of friends some day.  Happy birthday sweet babies, mommy love you bunches!