This morning we went to the doctor's for a belated 18-month checkup. We also missed their 15-month checkup... oops! I'm going to be more on top of things from now on. The boys got 3 shots today, including their first MMR vaccination. A couple months ago we babysat our friend's son for a whole week and while he was staying with us, he came down with the mumps! Thank God for protecting Caleb and Joshua from catching the mumps, too!
Caleb is in the 30th %tile for weight at 24 lbs. 10 oz. Joshua is in the 40th %tile for weight at 25 lbs. 6 oz. Caleb and Joshua are both in the 80th %tile for height at 34 inches. Caleb is in the 75th %tile for head circumference at 19.25 inches. Joshua is in the 93rd %tile for head circumference at 19.75 inches.
The conclusion? We have a couple of tall, skinny boys with big heads! And they're both perfectly healthy. Thank God for a good report!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Friday, June 8, 2007
19 Months Old
Although the boys won't be 19 months old until Sunday, I'm posting early since this is going to be a busy weekend for us.
The boys' current favorite words are "apple" and "lion". Joshua will point to any round fruit and say "apple! apple!" If we give him an apple to hold, he will carry it around with him for an hour. He also likes to eat them. Caleb, however, likes to chew apples and then spit them out :( The boys also love to hug their stuffed lion toys and identify the lions they find in their books. Other new additions to their vocabulary include "boo-boo" (since their knees have been continuously skinned for the past few weeks) and "owl". The other day out of the blue, Caleb turned to a page in a book with an owl illustration and pointed to the printed word "owl" and said "owl". We don't even remember teaching that to him. It's amazing what they pick up in passing and remember.
This past week we spent a couple afternoons at the pool. They loved it! I turned them loose in the baby pool and they adapted to their new environment remarkably well. On our first day there, the other moms marvelled as Caleb and Joshua independently forged into neck-high waters while their own 2 and 3-year-olds sat timidly on the edge or clung reluctantly to the wall. Caleb was especially steady in the water and didn't even lose his balance once. Joshua toppled over face-first into the water several times. A couple times I helped him back up, but a couple times he was able to resurface on his own. Both boys revelled in being splashed in the face and having water dumped on their heads. Having been an avid swimmer in the days of yore, it warmed my heart to see my boys take to the pool so well!
The boys have also been creating some artistic masterpieces lately. They were given some nice beeswax block crayons and have been using them to create Jackson Pollock-esque masterpieces. Caleb seems to be especially interested in drawing, which is interesting since he's also been fond of observing art hanging on the walls.
The boys seem to be very strong-willed (to put it nicely) compared to some other kids their age. They do not like to take "no" for an answer and Caleb seems especially prone to throw tantrums if he doesn't get his way. On a recent play date I marvelled as my friend explained to me that her son doesn't touch their trash can because she told him not to. I tell our boys not to touch (or remove trash from or put their toys in) the trash can about 50 times a day. While figuring out how to effectively discipline strong-willed twin toddlers has been frustrating for us as parents, we're realizing that a positive side-effect of their strong-will and determination is that they are relatively fearless and confident. They are not afraid of the dark, going down slides head-first, climbing on playground equipment designed for older kids, big dogs who lick their faces, or being splashed in the pool by rough-housing 5-year-olds. When they fall and skin their knees to the point of profuse bleeding, it hardly phases them. They are, however, still rather skeptical of people they aren't extremely familiar with. But that's probably a good thing.
The boys' current favorite words are "apple" and "lion". Joshua will point to any round fruit and say "apple! apple!" If we give him an apple to hold, he will carry it around with him for an hour. He also likes to eat them. Caleb, however, likes to chew apples and then spit them out :( The boys also love to hug their stuffed lion toys and identify the lions they find in their books. Other new additions to their vocabulary include "boo-boo" (since their knees have been continuously skinned for the past few weeks) and "owl". The other day out of the blue, Caleb turned to a page in a book with an owl illustration and pointed to the printed word "owl" and said "owl". We don't even remember teaching that to him. It's amazing what they pick up in passing and remember.
This past week we spent a couple afternoons at the pool. They loved it! I turned them loose in the baby pool and they adapted to their new environment remarkably well. On our first day there, the other moms marvelled as Caleb and Joshua independently forged into neck-high waters while their own 2 and 3-year-olds sat timidly on the edge or clung reluctantly to the wall. Caleb was especially steady in the water and didn't even lose his balance once. Joshua toppled over face-first into the water several times. A couple times I helped him back up, but a couple times he was able to resurface on his own. Both boys revelled in being splashed in the face and having water dumped on their heads. Having been an avid swimmer in the days of yore, it warmed my heart to see my boys take to the pool so well!
The boys have also been creating some artistic masterpieces lately. They were given some nice beeswax block crayons and have been using them to create Jackson Pollock-esque masterpieces. Caleb seems to be especially interested in drawing, which is interesting since he's also been fond of observing art hanging on the walls.
The boys seem to be very strong-willed (to put it nicely) compared to some other kids their age. They do not like to take "no" for an answer and Caleb seems especially prone to throw tantrums if he doesn't get his way. On a recent play date I marvelled as my friend explained to me that her son doesn't touch their trash can because she told him not to. I tell our boys not to touch (or remove trash from or put their toys in) the trash can about 50 times a day. While figuring out how to effectively discipline strong-willed twin toddlers has been frustrating for us as parents, we're realizing that a positive side-effect of their strong-will and determination is that they are relatively fearless and confident. They are not afraid of the dark, going down slides head-first, climbing on playground equipment designed for older kids, big dogs who lick their faces, or being splashed in the pool by rough-housing 5-year-olds. When they fall and skin their knees to the point of profuse bleeding, it hardly phases them. They are, however, still rather skeptical of people they aren't extremely familiar with. But that's probably a good thing.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
5-Year UVA reunion
This past weekend we attended our 5-year college reunion in Charlottesville. The boys got a very comprehensive tour of the Grounds from their trusty red wagon, and enjoyed being lavished with attention from everyone we passed, as usual.
On Saturday I had the privilege of being a panelist on the Class of '02 panel (thanks to Di for nominating me!). They gathered a group of alumni who've had a wide variety of experiences during these past 5 years, and my claim to fame was (of course) having twins. It was fun (and a little daunting, since it's been a while since I've done any public speaking) to share my perspective as a mom of twins. We were asked questions by a moderator and had to come up with answers on-the-spot, so that was a little nerve-wracking! I was told the panel discussion would be podcasted at some point. I'll put a link to it here if I ever find it. Thanks to Tim for being my personal photographer while Joe was outside chasing after the boys :).
Another highlight of the weekend was seeing Tiki or Ronde Barber (we can't tell them apart!) outside one of the pavillions. He was talking with several people near where Caleb and Joshua were playing on the Lawn, and at one point our boys ran up to the group and Tiki/Ronde turned around and smiled at them! Joe wanted to go up to him and ask if he'd let us photograph him with our boys. We thought he might oblige, figuring he must have a soft spot for twin boys, being a twin himself. But we were of course too shy to ask.
On Saturday I had the privilege of being a panelist on the Class of '02 panel (thanks to Di for nominating me!). They gathered a group of alumni who've had a wide variety of experiences during these past 5 years, and my claim to fame was (of course) having twins. It was fun (and a little daunting, since it's been a while since I've done any public speaking) to share my perspective as a mom of twins. We were asked questions by a moderator and had to come up with answers on-the-spot, so that was a little nerve-wracking! I was told the panel discussion would be podcasted at some point. I'll put a link to it here if I ever find it. Thanks to Tim for being my personal photographer while Joe was outside chasing after the boys :).
Another highlight of the weekend was seeing Tiki or Ronde Barber (we can't tell them apart!) outside one of the pavillions. He was talking with several people near where Caleb and Joshua were playing on the Lawn, and at one point our boys ran up to the group and Tiki/Ronde turned around and smiled at them! Joe wanted to go up to him and ask if he'd let us photograph him with our boys. We thought he might oblige, figuring he must have a soft spot for twin boys, being a twin himself. But we were of course too shy to ask.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Memorial Day at the Beach!
This past weekend we enjoyed our annual Memorial Day weekend tradition of getting together with our college buddies in Virginia Beach. We enjoyed a lovely visit in the comfort of the Hubbards' generous hospitality. While we were there we took the boys to the beach and they absolutely LOVED it! They played in the sand, ran along the shoreline, splashed in the water, and didn't even cry when they got knocked over by a few waves. They really were quite brave. I'm really hoping we can take them back to the beach one more time before the Summer's over.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Blowing kisses & our CSA
Halmoni has taught the boys how to blow kisses when it's time to say bye-bye. It's very cute. Oh, and now they can now walk up and down the front steps without sitting, kneeling, or holding onto anything. They are growing up so fast!
In other news, thanks to the kick-off of our CSA farm share summer season last week, the boys have been eating an interesting assortment of veggies. We got two kinds of lettuce, raddichio, radishes, turnips, parsley, baby bok choy, spring onions, and a dozen fresh eggs. And it's all organic! While these aren't all things we normally keep around the house, I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to fit all these different veggies into our diet so that nothing goes to waste. I've been a sneaky mommy and have taken the oddball greens that I can't figure out what else to do with and mixed them into the boys' daily spaghetti. Yes, I feed them spaghetti every day since it does a marvelous job of disguising the healthy veggies to which they'd otherwise turn up their cute little button noses.
In other news, thanks to the kick-off of our CSA farm share summer season last week, the boys have been eating an interesting assortment of veggies. We got two kinds of lettuce, raddichio, radishes, turnips, parsley, baby bok choy, spring onions, and a dozen fresh eggs. And it's all organic! While these aren't all things we normally keep around the house, I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to fit all these different veggies into our diet so that nothing goes to waste. I've been a sneaky mommy and have taken the oddball greens that I can't figure out what else to do with and mixed them into the boys' daily spaghetti. Yes, I feed them spaghetti every day since it does a marvelous job of disguising the healthy veggies to which they'd otherwise turn up their cute little button noses.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Crackers, carrots, climbing, & car doors
I'm convinced that the boys would subsist solely on Earth's Best Organic Cheddar crackers if I let them. At $2 per 5-oz. box (they can eat one box a day), their addiction can get a little pricey, not to mention that it's not a very well-rounded diet. Well, I'm proud to say that we've been cracker-free for almost a week! Their last cracker was on Monday, and now it's Saturday morning. Instead, I baked some carrot bread and they love it! It took a whole bag of baby carrots, and I added some ground up flax seed and used honey instead of sugar for extra healthiness. They've been eating so much carrot bread that the presents they've been leaving us in their diapers have been bright orange 
This week the boys have started climbing onto the dining table, then doing such wonderful things as shredding napkins and scattering them everywhere. I tell them "no!" and make them get down, but they are very persistent. Also, Caleb's started a new thing where if you call his name or tell him "no" he will lower his head, divert his eyes, and smile slyly while he turns his head and runs away 
By the way, chasing after twin toddlers (who still don't let you sleep through the night) can be very tiring and cause you to do things you ordinarily wouldn't. Like leave car doors wide open in mall parking lots 
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
One and a half years old!
Words the boys can both say and understand the meaning of: Flower, bye-bye, dog, hat, eye, ball, baby, airplane, book, shower, juice, shell, dad.
Words/phrases the boys understand: Hand, foot, nose, ear, cracker, cookie, milk, horse, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, brother, Caleb, Joshua, Do you love ____?.
Words the boys pretend not to understand: No! Don't go into the street! Come back here!
Words the boys still seem not to understand: Halmoni, Mommy :(
The boys' favorite thing to do nowadays is show that they love something or someone by hugging them or, if it's something difficult to hug (such as an azalea plant) leaning into it and cocking their heads sideways and smiling sweetly. We customarily prompt or respond to such actions by asking them, "Do you love the flowers?" and they will bend even farther over into the flower bush. It's like the farther they bend sideways, the more loudly they proclaim their love. I have no idea where they learned to do this, but they both do it and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! When we ask Joshua "Do you love your brother?" he will rub Caleb's head, then wrap both arms around it and squeeze tightly. We know that Joshua means well, but Caleb is not so fond of this display of affection!
Joshua and Caleb love to play outside. They crave it. One of the first things they do when they wake up in the morning is ask to go "bye-bye". Now that the weather is warmer, we usually go outside twice a day, for a walk either riding in or pushing the wagon, or to play in our yard or Halmoni and Grandpa's yard, or to play with their little friends who live around the corner, or at one of the nearby playgrounds. Even though we have a huge beautiful backyard, their favorite place to hang out is of course the front yard, along the curb. They love watching cars zoom by, people walking their dogs (they always point and say "DOG!"), and planes and helicopters flying overhead.
We're pretty amazed at how the boys are able to associate things that are related but not quite the same. For example, in the boys' minds, any furry animal is a "dog". Any plant is a "flower". The other day, they were very intrigued by an illustration of a baby at the bottom of their yogurt bowl, so I told them it was a "baby". Then later on that afternoon we bumped into a neighborhood friend who was carrying her 6-month-old baby girl. The boys pointed to her and said "baby!" I was surprised that they were able to associate an illustration on a bowl with a real life baby. Their baby brains must be processing a lot more than we usually give them credit for!
Words/phrases the boys understand: Hand, foot, nose, ear, cracker, cookie, milk, horse, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, brother, Caleb, Joshua, Do you love ____?.
Words the boys pretend not to understand: No! Don't go into the street! Come back here!
Words the boys still seem not to understand: Halmoni, Mommy :(
The boys' favorite thing to do nowadays is show that they love something or someone by hugging them or, if it's something difficult to hug (such as an azalea plant) leaning into it and cocking their heads sideways and smiling sweetly. We customarily prompt or respond to such actions by asking them, "Do you love the flowers?" and they will bend even farther over into the flower bush. It's like the farther they bend sideways, the more loudly they proclaim their love. I have no idea where they learned to do this, but they both do it and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! When we ask Joshua "Do you love your brother?" he will rub Caleb's head, then wrap both arms around it and squeeze tightly. We know that Joshua means well, but Caleb is not so fond of this display of affection!Joshua and Caleb love to play outside. They crave it. One of the first things they do when they wake up in the morning is ask to go "bye-bye". Now that the weather is warmer, we usually go outside twice a day, for a walk either riding in or pushing the wagon, or to play in our yard or Halmoni and Grandpa's yard, or to play with their little friends who live around the corner, or at one of the nearby playgrounds. Even though we have a huge beautiful backyard, their favorite place to hang out is of course the front yard, along the curb. They love watching cars zoom by, people walking their dogs (they always point and say "DOG!"), and planes and helicopters flying overhead.
We're pretty amazed at how the boys are able to associate things that are related but not quite the same. For example, in the boys' minds, any furry animal is a "dog". Any plant is a "flower". The other day, they were very intrigued by an illustration of a baby at the bottom of their yogurt bowl, so I told them it was a "baby". Then later on that afternoon we bumped into a neighborhood friend who was carrying her 6-month-old baby girl. The boys pointed to her and said "baby!" I was surprised that they were able to associate an illustration on a bowl with a real life baby. Their baby brains must be processing a lot more than we usually give them credit for!
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