Farmer Timo

We were turning our backyard over last weekend to plant grass (hopefully we'll have a plush green lawn next spring) and Timo was most insistent on holding the hoe and helping out.



Cameron just stood on the sidelines playing with her sidewalk chalk...or rather wearing her sidewalk chalk...

Nothing special...just thought they looked cute siting on the bench having snack time at the park together...

Monkey Love

These little ride on cars are by far the kids favorite toy. They are constantly on them going up and down the hall or across the kitchen floor. I'm not sure where Timo got the idea to give his monkey a ride but he sure was having fun. I like the way Mr. Monkey is always riding backwards.

You know it's love when you give your monkey a ride on your car!


Of course Cameron wasn't to be left out...she ran in her room and took her monkey for a ride too.

Controlled Chaos

I had the pleasure of babysitting Jordan Rosas this week. We've kept her before but I had Young as extra help...but not this day...it was 3 on 1 and the kids were winning left and right. Jordan is just a few months younger than the twins so it was kinda like having triplets...so to all my triplet mom friends...how on earth do you do it???

I have to say the biggest problem I had was Jordan wanted to sit in my lap a lot which didn't go over very well with the Ko kids...lots of pushing and shoving to get in the hot seat. And I thought two babies crying at once was loud but nothing compared to three! There was also a bit of fighting over toys and Cameron trying to love on Jordan a bit too much...but we all made it through and even managed to smile and laugh a little...
Cameron and Timo showing Jordan how to climb on the containers and "jump" off...jumping off is just a big step down to the floor but they love saying "JUMP!" every time they leap off.

Watching a few music videos so I can get dinner made...seems like everyone got hungry and cranky at the exact same time so I used Baby Einstein to buy me a little time.

Good thing we just got these travel chairs so Jordan could eat at the table with the twins. Timo wasn't really cooperating...just as I was taking the pictures he shoved his plate away and took off his bib. Two out of three eaters are good odds, huh?

After dinner laps, Timo was having a blast chasing or being chased by Jordan. A good time had by all!
(sorry some of the pictures are a little blurry...I'm still trying to figure out the new camera.)

Laps In the Kitchen

Nothing like running on a newly mopped kitchen floor! The kids had been doing this for about 5min before I shot the video and as you will see, Cameron is getting tired.

Feeling The Love

Yup, this is what it's like around our house these days...


Timo was actually trying to tickle Cameron as you can see in the pictures below...just not sure why he had to sit on her.

Big Kid Cups

We're trying something new at dinner now...drinking out of big kid cups. I think I've mentioned how I'm soooo over sippy cups but realistically I know sippy cups will be a part of our lives for a while longer. But there's no reason why we can't start learning how to drink out of cups and shorten that sippy cup time!

So here we go, the kids drinking out of big cups, on their own. I tried it a few nights ago and it went over fairly well. I put just a little milk in the cups just in case it ended up on the floor...good thing I did as you will see in the video...

Cameron was pro from the git go which isn't a big surprise. She is such a neat eater and barely gets any food on her or her bib or tray. I had to refil her cup 3 times! Good job baby girl!!

Timo on the other hand...still needs some practice...no sticking your hands in the milk son!

Park With a View--Chinatown

This past weekend we hit the Autumn Moon Festival in Chinatown but ended up at the playground almost the whole time. The Festival was so crowded and the kids only lasted about 30min in their stroller with all the excitement going on. So we duck off the streets and headed to the little playground in the middle of downtown. What beautiful views! This playground truly lets you know you are living in The City...skyscrapers all around and lots of diversity among all the kids playing around you. There was lots of Chinese kids, of course, but we also heard German, French, Thai and Korean being spoken among the parents and kids.

This is another playground where the structures reflect the community it belongs to, pagoda style tops.

The kids and slides...they love to go down them but love climbing back up them even more.

A few sights from the festival...it was really crowed with dragons and drums going all through the streets.

we got these little drum toys for the kids on the way out...hours of fun but snacks always take top priority!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Cameron is getting better and better at singing Twinkle Twinkle. She is watching Timo act crazy so it's a little distracting for her but she still kept going. Yeah Cameron!

Timo can do the Itsy Bitsy Spider but now gets distracted by the new camera. Every time we pull it out to video him, he stops and tries to grab it...it could take a while to get any pics or video of him. (I think because we gave him the old broken camera, he now thinks every camera is his new toy)

Pausing For a Few Days & Milestones

So remember I mentioned we broke our camera on vacation?? Well, we got out new one but haven't had a chance to load all the software and whatnots so that we can upload the pictures...Therefore, I'm out of new pictures right now. But get ready...once we get things loaded this weekend, there will be a super overflowing of posts...stay tuned...

I did want to mention a milestone for both kids. Timo looked at Cameron the other day and said "dis-ter" while pointing to Cameron. I'm always saying "don't hit your sister", "please give that back to your sister", "tell your sister you're sorry and give her kisses", so I guess he finally connected to her.

And Cameron put two words together "daddy bite". She was eating a banana and Young asked for a bite so she walked over to him and said "daddy bit?"

Good job kids! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you!!

Mr. Monkey

I get the feeling Timo doesn't want all the stuffed animals in his crib anymore...except for Mr. Monkey...

I love me some Mr. Monkey...

Pick Your Battles

Why does Park and Rec think it's a good idea to run the sprinkler at the park during prime playing hours...10am??? It was a losing battle from the time we walked down the hill to this park. As soon as Timo caught sight of the water he was trying to get out of the stroller. There was not turning back without a battle I wasn't willing to fight this particular day.

I'm not sure why I was so bothered by this or why I began to feel so inadequate as a mother. Maybe because I just didn't think it was a good idea to let your kid run around through the sprinkler in a public park on a slightly chilly day setting a bad example for all the other kids who couldn't play in the water. I was totally one of those parents that other parents were looking at saying "how could she let her kids do that?" or "look at those kids running wild...?" I know, I've been there. I think this is an example when it's difficult to have multiples. I watched as the other mothers would come by with their one baby, scoop them up and easily keep them away from the water or maneuver their single seater stroller around the spray and puddles...distract the child with something else and be able to give them their undivided attention to make up for the utter disappointment the toddler feels for not being able to play in the water.

I'm getting the feeling that having multiples works completely for the baby and completely against the mommy. It's simple math 2:1...They already outnumber me before we even get started. So after about 10mins of beating myself up, trying to ignore the stares of the other mommies, and repeating "it's just water, it will dry" over and over, I had a change of heart. Sure my kids may lack the constant one on one mommy time other singletons get but then a day like the sprinkler in the park day comes along and I know how much fun my kids had playing in the sprinklers when other kids couldn't. I guess we all pick our battles at some point.

Timo got away from me the other night before I could get the clothes on him. Nothing like playing with absolute freedom!

He is going through a phase of complete defiance of clothes. I'm sure our neighbors on the whole block can tell when when we're trying to dress him...he screams at the top of his little lungs. I call it our daily wrestling match and mommy wins...most of the time...

Watermellllummm

Cameron does love her watermelon...

What Happened??

No pictures for today but I just had to post as ask what in the world happened to my sweet little boy over the past two days?? How did he change into this rowdy aggressive punk bully brother to his sister? I was in shock yesterday when he put Cameron in a head lock over an apple!! As I was running over to unwrap his arms from around her neck he quickly overpowered her, grabbed the apple and shoved her to the ground! I know what your thinking...and yes, I do feed my children so it wasn't out of absolute starvation.

And this isn't the only incident over the past few days. I've witnessed him hitting her in the head, slapping her back and pushing or pulling her in whatever direction serves his purpose for whatever toy she has that he now wants. What happened?

My big question is where in the heck did he learn this behavior from? It's not like Young and I ever fight like that, he doesn't watch much TV unless is Thomas the Train or Sesame Street and none of his other friends seems to have such inappropriate behavior. Is it an inherent instinct you automatically assume as the older brother??? Having an older brother myself, I know all too well the bruised road Cameron has ahead of her. I'd like to think this behavior will not be allowed in our house...but I do have a finger on reality...it will only get worse. When will she start fighting back???

Park With a View--Alamo Square

We have such amazing parks here in San Francisco that I decided to start a new series called Park With A View. We get the most beautiful views of our city while watching the kids run around!
The first park is at Alamo Square...home of the famous "Painted Ladies" houses. Now grated, most of these pictures are of the kids but we just wanted to share some of our beautiful city with you.

I love this playground because they designed it to imitate the surrounding Victorian houses.

Cameron insists on climbing up the slide and runs back and forth over the bridge not holding on. I'm finding I'm more relaxed about them running around the play structures and I think they really enjoy not being shadowed so much...freedom!

The kids kept sliding their cars down the slide and I would throw them back up...lasted at least a half hour. Then yummy snack time in the shade...t was so hot this day, can you see how flush their faces are?

FBC Family Picnic

The weekend before Labor Day was our annual church picnic. I've been going to the picnic for about 6 years now and this is the first year it was foggy and cold. But we tried to make the best of it and the kids had fun regardless. We only have a few pictures because some friends took the kids off to play so Young and I could relax and enjoy.
Timo hijacked Noah's little car and basically sat on it the whole time. Noah is just learning to walk so he was happy just trying to push Timo around.

Someone was making balloon animals and shapes and Cameron really loved her new eyeball hat!