Adjustment Period

It's been a little over a month now and I think the kids have finally adjusted to their new beds. It's amazing how long it takes for babies/toddlers to transition to a new change. They really loved their beds from day one and now play in their room a lot more, taking toys and sitting in their beds playing. But night time was a little different and it took some adjusting. I think they needed time for get used to their new found freedom and for us to learn how to set new boundaries.

After a few weeks of sleeping half on half off the bed, rolling out of bed and waking up disoriented (I walked in one night and Cameron was standing in the middle of the room), I think they are finally getting good a nights sleep....woo hoo!

And naps are going much better too. Most days I have to wake them up after 3 hours!!

Don't get me wrong...some nights it's like a big slumber party after we put them to bed. We can hear them running, laughing, rocking in the chair...but somehow they always seem to find their way to their beds and fall asleep. They are sacked out when we check on them before head to bed. Sleep tight my little ones!

Exploratorium!

Last Saturday I had this big family fun day planned at this big park in the Berkeley and was really excited about it. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate...it was a sunny but extremely windy day...not a day to be outside. So Young came up with the great idea of going the the Exploritorium. The Exlploritorium is this amazing hands on science "museum" for kids and adults alike. Young and I actually had one of our first dates there...um...

The kids are still a bit too young for most of the exhibits but we made the most of the exhibits they could participate in. I can't wait to take them back in another year or so to really see the wonder on their faces!!

Timo loved the whole water area. They had a flowing fountain that you could control the water flow by putting stones on it. And this one, you turn this cylinder of water around and around to watch the water inside. Cameron loved the weights exhibit. She just kept putting the weighted disks on the tracks over and over again, watching them roll down.

The sand circle was a big hit too...see a common thread...anything that spins was fascinating to them. You turn this wheel and watch the sand fall from the top to the bottom.

And the drums...oh boy, the drums. We could have camped out here the rest of the morning. I'm kinda glad the museum was crowded...we could tell the kids people were waiting to play with the drums so we had to leave them now. That worked pretty well and we made an easy escape!

I wish we had been able to take more pictures but all the exhibits were really hands on, we had no free hands to snap pictures. There was this one bubble exhibit that I wish I had taken some pictures. They had bubble water, a wand with a string that you pull to make a huge bubble. The kids loved the giant bubble but it took both of us, one to pull the string and one to keep the kids from sticking their faces in the bubble! There was also this magnetic area, a light show that you could control, tuning forks...the list goes on and on. We can't wait to go back!

Mr. Fix-It

Timo has always loved his little workbench...banging on it and screwing the screws in the wood...but lately he has gotten into "fixing" everything around the house. I have to be careful what I say now because if I mutter the words "it's broken" or "I need to fix it", he runs to get his hammer and screwdrivers to "fix it". He even gets his trucks and starts tinkering with them, saying "Mommy, it's broken, I fix it". I think it all started when Young was taking down their cribs and Timo really wanted to use Daddy's screwdriver. We told him to go get his tools so he could help Daddy fix the cribs. He's been Mr. Fix it ever since!

Hair Bands

I mentioned before that Cameron is a little more open to me dressing her hair up. Pigtails are rare but I thought she might like hairbands because she could put them in herself. Little did I know that Timo would find them much more entertaining than his sister...
But Cameron did catch on as soon as I gave her a look at herself in the mirror...oh, how she loves to admire herself!

Sofa Fun!

It always amazes me what the kids can get entertainment out of. Our sofa is no longer just a sofa for sitting...it's become our new bouncy house/trampoline/obstacle course. Almost, without fail, every afternoon, the kids take the sofa apart and create some new adventure for themselves. Even if it's nice weather outside, they want to stay inside and take apart the sofa. They stack, slide, jump, bounce, hide n seek, tumble...the possibilities are endless! All this is with little or no assistance from me. Most of the time I walk in the room to find this...



Timo really likes to sit on top of the sofa like this...then slide down behind the cushion and play hide n seek. He doesn't realize he is getting so big and doesn't fit behind the cushions anymore!
Here is one obstacle course they invented...stepping on one stool, running on the sofa, jumping over the other stool and landing on the cushions. And I have to add, they were totally out of breath after about 5 mins of this. It's a good way to tire the kids out for bedtime!


This day Cameron was playing and grabbed the blanket off the sofa the pretend to go "night-night". As soon as Timo heard me say that, he ran to his room and got everything off of his bed. In typical fashion, Cameron had to follow suite and they both had the best time "sleeping" on the sofa and just being silly. We're pretty strict about pacifiers staying in their beds but I made an exception this day...just having some fun. I can see more and more that they are playing together...they each have a built in best friend!

Ice Cream!

We fired up the ice cream machine last weekend for the first batch of the summer season...strawberry sorbet! The kids were so excited to hear the machine and both kept asking to be held so they could see it spinning round and round. I got tired of lifting them up and down so I, very cautiously, let them stand on the counter. They didn't move at all except to get close to the machine. So for their afternoon snack that day we had yummy strawberry sorbet and brownies!

Pigtails!

Cameron has finally started letting me put her hair in pigtails...I think because I call them pigtails. It only last about an hour or so until she wants them out but hey, I'll take what I can get! Here she is last Sunday admiring herself in the mirror...her new favorite past time...

Running Errands with Mommy

It can be really hard finding time to go run errand without the kids. It's way too difficult to take both with me to stores now because they both don't fit in the shopping cart and Timo has discovered he can "help" by taking things off the shelf and rearranging them on another shelf. There is also the excitement of pushing the shopping cart around but unfortunately most stores frown upon demolition derby style shopping. So now I find that our weekends are taken up with me running household errands, coming home and then Young running out to maybe take care of an errand or two...leaving little time for us, as a family, to do fun things on the weekends. It's a major drawback to not living near family that you can just dropping the kids off or have Grandma come over and play with the kids while you run out.

But we have chosen to live out here and chosen to live in SF so I needed to stop pouting about it and make the most of it. It was time the kids learn how to behave and suffer though some errands like I suffer through playground madness every other day or so! I loaded the kids up on day and set out for errands. Our fist stop, Target. I hit the food court first thing and got each a bag of pop corn..worked like a charm! They both sat quietly, Cameron in the seat and Timo in the basket, munching on the pop corn the whole time. Then we hit Kohl's where I let them try on all sorts of shoes before we settled on matching little crocs for them them...they were so happy to have the shoes. I don't have pics of the first two places because I was in survival mode...just trying to get in and out.

By the time we hit Trader Joes, I was so happy with the kids for being so good, I decided to give them a treat and have lunch at McDonald's. We don't do this often and they have never actually be INSIDE a McDonald's...just passed through the drive thru. Oh, what fun the kids had. From waiting in line, ordering, grabbing their own napkins, picking out our table, eating and then throwing their trash in the trash can!!! Every little step was an adventure to them. The only downside is they weren't really into the food. Cameron ate only the apple slices and Timo ate half a nugget, a few fries and drank all his apple juice box. But oh well, they were having so much fun and being so good, I didn't really care what they ate.
After lunch we went next door to Trader Joes. Out of all the grocery stores I go to, TJs is the one place I don't mind taking the kids because they give out balloons....well, at most stores. Of course this TJs didn't do balloons, they do one better...tiny shopping carts for the kids! How perfect!! I got them each a cart and off we went grocery shopping. Timo only turned his cart over once and Cameron only hit two other people's cart so I'd say it was a success.

They did such a good job following me and each other around the store and even stood by their carts while in line at the check out.

When we were done, it was time to turn the carts in at the counter and head up the elevator to the parking lot...but the kids couldn't give up their carts. The VERY nice employee followed us out to the car so the kids could go as far as possible with the cart. Excellent customer service with a smile.
I was so proud of the kids for being on their best behavior! We had a great morning out together. It gave me hope and I tried it again the next week only to be met with melt downs, clinging and just general unhappiness to get in and out of the car a few times. Oh well, I guess it makes the times when it's really fun even more special!

Nothing is Baby Proofable Anymore

Quietly playing kids are not always a good thing! Twice this past week I've had quietly playing kids but upon further investigation...total disaster. I only have pictures of the second mess...the first one was when they got into my tube of Blistex, thinking it was lotion, and has smeared it all over themselves, the walls, the bed and floor while I was trying to get their dinner ready. I kinda went into panic mode because I didn't know if the Blistex would burn their eyes so I scooped them up immediately and dropped them in the tub...no time for pictures.

The second was just a few days later just after nap. I had heard them up but Timo now knows how to open door, so they typically come out once they are good and awake. I was texting Young and fully expected to see them any minute. A little time had passed, I was wrapped up in my conversation with Young and then he asked it the kids were up. I thought to myself, "oh yeah, they are...wonder why they aren't coming out...and why is it so quiet..." This is what found when I opened their door!
I'm guessing Cameron held the bike and Timo climbed up to the top of the shelf and grabbed the lotion. And the funny thing is Cameron kept putting lotion on Timo's face and he kept saying "no more lotion Cameron, no more lotion on face" as he was squeezing it out as fast as he could. But he was so proud to show me he had opened it all by himself!

It's funny, I think our house is totally baby-proofed...just put everything up high. But now, with them getting so tall, their arm reach is higher and their climbing skills, is it really possible to baby proof anything anymore????

Little Mommy

Cameron LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her baby doll...or is it just an excuse to sing. Good thing it's not a real baby...I fear it would have gotten a little sea sick!

Garbage Time...

It seems the simple things can entertain the kids. Boxes, rubber balls and watching the garbage truck! Every Thursday morning the garbage trucks come rolling by and the kids run to the window to watch. The trucks typically come by early while the kids are eating breakfast but this day the truck was running a little late. We were on our way to a play date and as I was putting on their shoes....Timo heard the truck! They both tried to get out the door as fast as they could so I let them out in their socks and put them on the bottom step to watch. ( I ran back inside to get the camera and shoes.) Once the truck was done in front of our house the kids got up and tried to follow it all the way up the street! We were a little late for our play date but it was worth it for an up close view of the "trash truck" as Timo calls it.

Soccer...Week 3

Our soccer class started off with a bang last week! The kids were doing such a good job at holding the ball with their feet, tapping it and then kicking. They also were superstars in dribbling the ball up and down the field...and then it went down hill.

Timo had a little collision with another boy and that was it for him. He didn't want to go back out to the field...and we still had 30min left in the class. Cameron then saw him on the sideline drinking his milk and she wanted some...so she walked off the field, saw her brother was upset and got upset herself. Ugh! Now I had two kids that didn't want to go play soccer. I tried to entice them by how much fun the other kids were having, kicking the ball, hula hoops...nope. I even tried threats like "we're going home if you don't go back out and play" They both started whinning "go home, get in car, wanna go home..." Boy, did that ever backfire!

I decided it was best to leave because at this point I felt really bad for them and all the parents were looking at us. Then the coach pulled out the parachute for playing "pop corn" with the balls and Cameron took off to grab a hold of it. Timo followed and just like that, they were back out running and smiling! Ah, the temperament of toddlers! We only had about 5 minuets left in the class at that point...but way to stick it out till the end of the class kids!

The water break that lasted 25min!

Timothy...live in concert!

We've started going to "story time" at our local library on Tuesday mornings. The super amazing woman does a combination of songs, stories, poems and puppets. I think Timo is amazed that she can play and sing at the same time. Now he constantly pulls out his guitar to play and sing. Check him out...

NIghttime Prayers

We've been "saying prayers" with the kids ever since they were baby babies and it's one of the most special times of the day we have with them. They each get on their knees (or more recently laying down) fold their hands and shut their eyes so tight...it very cute. We always start out with "Dear Jesus, thank you for our day...." and they shout this out as loud as they can. Then they start repeating each thing we say until the end we we say "we love you Jesus...Amen" And then they give a big shout "hallelujah!" with hand in the air! It's kinda funny, I'm not sure how the whole hallelujah started after amen but it's something that just stuck. Now, when we're out for dinner and pray or the kids pray at church, or anywhere really, they always shout "hallelujah!" after Amen. People always turn and stare...oh well, can't contain the gospel in our kids!