I was really worried about today. I had a ton of errands to run. We had to buy Eddie's book for his internet course, find some time to buy milk and food, do laundry, and complete all of this in time for Gracie and Luke to go to bed. I have to say I am pretty impressed with the Twinsies. I've been careful not to show them that I am sweating and so they are perceiving that I am in charge. We were able to accomplish everything, except the laundry, in time for them to be in bed by 7 pm. They weren't asleep until 7:45, but at least it wasn't 9 pm.
When we got home from our errands, I made the babies a quick cold dinner. They had ham and cheese, which they devoured. In a moment of Momminess, I decided to try green beans. I know that Gracie loves them, but they haven't been one of Lukie's favorite foods. Wow! I don't know what has changed, but those two finished an entire can of green beans. It was like they were candy or something! Even the Teddy Grahams were shoved aside for more green beans.
I got pictures of it and I wanted them to be today's 365 photo. However, I took them with my cell phone and I just realized I left the darn cable at school. Ah, well. Tomorrow is another day!
I also decided that Barney is my new friend. There's nothing better to watch than Twinsies bouncing in their seats to a giant purple dinosaur singing about green grass growing.
After dinner, we played on the carpet. We read Moo, Baa, Lalala a thousand times and played Steal the Binky. At one point, Gracie became obsessed with a pair of boots I bought for her but have yet to actually let her where. I have no idea why. Maybe it is buyers remorse or maybe I just can't find anything I want to pair them with. I got some great pictures of her trying to get the shoes apart so that she could put them on.
While she was obsessing about putting the boots on, Lukie was playing Godzilla, knocking over any toy within the sweep of his arm. Elmo was the first casualty.
Jeez, these kids are fun!
After about an hour wait, we made it up to see Santa. We hadn't told them anything about Santa. I did not want to overwhelm them at all. Lukie had a great time giving Santa high 5s and touching his suit. Gracie was having none of it and stayed firmly in my arms sucking on her binky. Finally, Lukie sat on one side of Santa and I put Gracie down next to Santa on the other side. They got 4 shots. In three of them, Gracie looks like she is trying to flee from an axe murderer. This one was the only one that was printable:
We hope Santa has just as much fun with you!
I was going to leave you in the dark about the adventure that was our drive to Disneyland, 
but I have a picture I need to share. The Twinsies have been sick for the last two weeks. I am hoping that since we are out of the smoking room and into a non-smoking room, that will be the end of sickie poo-ness. On our way to DLand, the screaming started and I quickly realized that Gracie had a fever. We were more than half the way there, so Eddie pulled off the freeway (nothing free about it that day) and took us to a Rite Aid where we purchased Tylenol and quickly drugged the Little Whoville. Luke was next, but the eyedropper the pharmacist gave me was less than helpful. To make sure he got his entire dose, I let him hold it and he kep sucking on the end until all of the cherry flavored medicine was gone.
We met the Kytes at the Rain Forest Cafe and on the walk to the entrance, Gracie kept pointing at the waterfalls and saying "agua" clearer than anything! Having dinner with three big kids, four 1-year-olds and four adults is pretty challenging, but we pulled it off. Afterward, Gracie and Luke were ready to be allowed to run like crazy, so I found a little sectioned off area and we let the kids go wild! Much fun was had by all and we got some great pictures.
I swear that if I win the lottery, the Kytes and the Uribes are moving to Washington (the state) and are going to start a Twin Momma commune. Other Twin Mommas just get it. It's so nice to be understood!
It has become a fun past time of Gracie and Luke to ride up and down on it. They will walk in front of him and out the side door. They'll slowly walk out onto the platform and hold onto the rail. Then, they scream with delight as he pushes the button to go down. They are very well trained and always safe. It's so cute to watch them with their Daddy.
using a binky because they would not be able to part with it. Then, other articles reassured me that using a binky allows babies to soothe themselves.I had convinced myself that binkies were not to touch the Twinsies mouths. I did not want 37 year olds living at home because could not grow past their infancy. That is, until I was rolled into the NICU and saw my babies with their little binkies in their mouths. The nurses had decided for me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to rip the offending binkies from them or just leave them be. When I saw Gracie calm down as soon as the binky was placed in her mouth, I realized that I was being lame. I was using fear created by everything I had read to keep my children from experiencing calm when I could not be there. The nurses couldn't be there 24 hours a day, hovering over the babies, and neither could I.
When we came home from the hospital, I tried to use the binky only as needed and discovered that the babies only really wanted them when they were very tired. I could also use them to get a few more minutes to prepare bottles when necessary. Honestly, the spit the binkies out more than they kept them in. The hospital had provided us with Soothies and they did not have anything that would catch on the roof of the babies' mouths to keep them from falling out. This was problematic when they would spit out the binky and I needed to run from wherever I was to pop it back in.
We eventually found the Playtex Ortho Pro, specially designed to provide room for growing teeth and to stay in the mouth when the babies relaxed. We love these things! I've recommended them to new moms everywhere. Gracie and Luke's teeth are fine even though they still use the binkies.
As of 5 days ago, Gracie and Luke are 14 months old. By some standards, their binkies should be a thing of the past. They are not and I'm not apologizing for it. However, I've noticed that Luke, at least, has already started to say good-bye to his binky. His favorite binky action is to toss it as hard as it can possibly be tossed. Occasionally, this means that binkies are found under carseats, in the trunk, 1/2 mile back down the road. The binkies are also a source of 
fun because of the Musical Binkies the Twinsies play all day. Gracie will start with the pink one and Luke will start with a blue. By 30 minutes later, Luke will have stolen Gracie's binky and run away, happily. Gracie steals Luke's binky more often. They think it's fun. It can be frustrating, but when it comes down to it, the binky is still needed at bed time. The binky helps Gracie and Luke when they are falling asleep. About an hour after they fall asleep, the binkies get spit out. If they wake up in the night, they have learned to feel around for them and stick them right back in.
So what is the binky plan? I'm hoping that if I start keeping the binkies away from the Twinsies immediate sight, they may start needing them except at bed time. One article I read said that babies will wean themselves from binky use and the more of a deal that I make of it, the worse it will be. They seem to be fine if I hide the binkies. The only issue is when they are tired.
I don't want to be the Mommy with 3 year olds still using binkies. In fact, if we can be done with them by 18 months, that would be awesome.
Shall we start a countdown?
T-minus 4 months and counting...
Here's how Papa Bear and the Baby Bears watched the game for the first half.
When the Baby Bears woke up, we had lunch!
Go Bears!
The Twinsies have lots of things they like to do. For example, they like to steal one another's binkies. They like to dump out all of their books. They like to climb on their table and see if they can reach the top of the couch (Gracie discovered this one. She scared the heck out of Eddie). They like to steal one another's snacks (okay, this is mostly Lucas stealing Gracie's food). They especially enjoy dumping every last toy out of the organizer, because, hey, Mommy and Daddy love cleaning up after babies!
But Lukie's new favorite thing to do caught Eddie and me off guard. Gracie and Luke have a Busy Ball Popper by PlaySkool. When I first bought it for them in July, they looked at it like it was a snake. They promptly lost 3 of the 5 balls it came with, so we are down to playing with just 2. Luke has found a different use for it. Storage.
This morning, I was looking for the phone and realized that Lukie was hitting the Busy Ball Popper. He seemed rather despairing in his beating of it. That's when I saw this:
Here's another view:
If you look closely, you will see the phone, 2 binkies, 2 glow sticks, some paper and one of the balls stuck in there. I was so stunned at what I saw that I had to grab my camera.
This isn't the first time he's put things in there. We've found Cherrios, Gracie's binky, tubes of diaper rash cream, shoes, a necterine seed. Clearly, the thing is meant to be for storage!
The problem is that once he puts things into the Ball Popper, he can't get any of it out. I usually have to take it apart and fish each of the items out. Sometimes are easier than others. This time, the orange glow stick gave me quite a challenge. A pair of scissors were needed to grab ahold of it.
Of course, 30 seconds after I got everything out, Lukie was already trying to put everything back in.
I know I posted a few of these pics on the Pumpkin Patch slide show, but they are so cute, I can't resist.
Date: October 2007
Another Halloween outfit...(these are 0-3 months and they were still in Newborn and smaller sizes)
Gracie hardly fit in the 0-3 months onesie!
I love this look on Lukie's face!
There's nothing better than bringing cupcakes and having free dress on your 10th birthday! These two were so excited that they kept r...
