is that my tongue?

I caught Little M experimenting with his tongue.

Today we caught him experimenting standing up without holding on to anything. He managed to balance for about 3 seconds!

Cupcakes!

Thing 2 is not so crazy about chocolate, but the other two are. Best of all, the cake and icing are milk-free!

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2 going on 20

Here is Thing 2 sporting one of my sunglasses and looking very mature.

I don't have pictures like this of Thing 1 because when she doesn't want to do something, you can't make her do anything. Trust me on that one. You wouldn't believe how many times we've already butted heads.

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big changes on the way

Daddy accepted a job in Texas, to start in little over than a week so it's crunch time. He will go ahead and make the drive to Texas next week without us, and return to us for Christmas. We will then all make the drive there right after Christmas.

In the meantime, we need to return most of our belongings we took with us to live with the in-laws back to our house, so that the moving company can pack them all up. I want this done before Daddy leaves next week because it won't be easy for me to do all that by myself. It's exciting, it's scary, it's worrisome, but we are all eager to start this new chapter of our lives.

In the meantime, in the midst of all changes brewing, things are still the same...at least some of it. Yesterday, I took Curious George on an errand with me. While walking around at Kohl's, we passed by the intimates section. He grabbed a bra and snuggled his face against it, "Mommy, you need to get this, so your boobies can be warm and soft and snugly!" All I could do was grin. :)

Then late in the afternoon, I asked him to try some Pringles chips. He is very picky and would only eat orange chips (Doritos), so we always encourage him to try new things. But he absolutely refused to try Pringles. I kept on pressing the issue, being the stubborn mom that I am though. Finally, he got frustrated and said, "MOMMY, IF YOU KEEP MAKING ME EAT SOMETHING I DON'T WANT, I WILL RUN AWAY FOREVER!"

I looked at him with serious face, and said, "Well, if run away, you may get left behind when it's time for us to go to Texas."

He didn't have anything to say about that. :p

The other day, it was Thing 1 that provided the amusement. I was using my laptop browsing through purses, when Thing 1 sat beside me, crinkled her nose and cocked her head and asked, "dot com, Mommy?" It will only be a matter of time before this little girl become as savvy on the computer as her big brother.

Thing 2, on the other hand stays pretty much under the radar. Even she starts trouble, we happen to mostly miss it. But what's amusing is that when we tell her to go to time-out corner, she says, "Ok, Ok, Ok." She also continues to call Thing 1 "Jojo". We remind her that she's Jojo, but she does it anyway. Oi!

random pictures

As big as she has gotten (around 75th percentile for both height and weight), Thing 2 insists on putting herself in the smallest box she can find.

In the meantime, Thing 1 has perfected this "What the heck is wrong with you?" look.

This is Curious George's Lego collection. He has progressed "helping" daddy put them together, to putting some parts of it himself, to completely assembling them. Lately, he has taken them apart and make his very own designs. He has since bought a few more small once since this picture was taken. He is asking for big expensive ones for Christmas.

oh the faces she makes

This is Thing 1 while we're eating at the mall while at home in VA. She made the exact same face that Thing 2 usually makes. She was just drinking her juice and made the silly face. I'd like to know what she's thinking about though.

a morning at the aviation museum

We brought the kids to the aviation museum since Curious George has been more and more interested in planes lately (as evident from the books he has recently checked out at the library). Sometimes the bedtime stories aren't stories, but explanations of what airplane parts do. Anyway, the museum was much smaller than we expected, which worked out in our favor - it was easier to let the girls walk around. What also worked in our favor was that it was in the single digits in the morning and so aside from us and another family, there was nobody around!

Curious George was so excited, he could hardly stop talking and pointing. But then, the gift shot interested him more so the excursion was cut short.

We were accosted by this kid the minute we walked in because apparently, him and his brother are fraternal twins. One boy asked Curious George how he tells his sisters apart, and he went out a dissertation about checking the color of their earrings (with demonstration).

The girls had to wait a few minutes before they could be free of the stroller. Daddy and I were too busy from loosing him. The boy and he stuck to each other like glue and then were off somewhere before we could see what direction they were heading.

Daddy explains to Curious George and Thing 1 the medic airplane.

Thing 1 (pink) & Thing 2 (blue) watch Daddy try the flight simulator.

Experimenting on some of the exhibits that explains some principles of Physics.

It's the girls turn on the airplane. Only Curious George wants in too so Thing 1 was demoted to the backseat with Thing 2. Thing 1 wasn't happy about it.

We went to the local restaurant for lunch. And like Curious George have always done, he asks for the lemon the glass and sucks on it. Oh, how Daddy and I enjoy watching the resulting sour face. He started this when he was less than a year old, and so we decided to try it on the girls. This is Thing 2's sour face.

And then it's Thing 1's turn. It may seem cruel, but it's so much fun to watch. :-)

Before heading home, Daddy drove by the airport in hopes that Curious George would see a plane take off. And he did! It remains to be seen if he'll be as interested in planes like he is in trains. But as parents, all Daddy and I could do is fuel his curiosity.

sometimes the twins have the best time on their own

Thing 2 on the left, Thing 1 on the right.

Teeth update: Thing 1's upper left molar is 1/2 out, and her the upper left is starting to poke through. The 2 lower molars are not far behind. All four of Thing 2's molars are also erupting.

Thing 1 now wears a pink enamel flower earring and Thing 2 wears a blue one (thanks Nana). With the color contrast, we're hoping Curious George would now be able to tell them apart (though it's difficult at times, since their hair is so long they cover their ears).

the twins' 2nd Thanksgiving

The girls had fun at their grandparents' this weekend, though they are still weary of Nana & Papaw. But as long as the grandparents didn't try to pick them up, they were fine. Oh but they did enjoy all the food!

Thing 2 seems to be establishing a Thanksgiving tradition of making this exact same face. She started last year.

She is an expert at giving evil eyes, but she also has an innocent look.

Thing 2 studies the xbox. She wants to be a 'big girl'.

She thinks she's finally mastered it!

And finally conquers the xbox! "Who's your mama!"

Perhaps not. One must always be on a quest for knowledge.

is he having fun? or is he silently asking for help?

On a lovely day, sometimes the kids just want to be with their Daddy (or more to the point, they all want to be ON Daddy). Halleluiah!

I think it's all fun and games until someone yells for help!

And Daddy is yelling for help. Can't you just hear the silent scream?

But the kids sure are having fun with him.

(Thing 1 in pink, Thing 2 in white)

Combi Savvy, our new stroller!

The girls and I checked out the Combi Savvy (thanks to the recommendation of some great twin moms!) stroller yesterday and test drove it around the store. It's an awesome stroller. It's so much lighter than the Graco DuoGlider. Here it is being test driven by Big Brother when he came home from school. Poor Thing 1 was left out of her own stroller.

I don't know what it is about this look, but Thing 2 has got Big Brother's TV look down pat, without needing the TV! Thing 1 is looking goofy as well with her tounge partly out.

I don't know where Thing 2 is but she's definitely note here. Perhaps she's day dreaming about being the only child, especially when Big Brother steals her crackers.

sporting a big boy haircut

Someone's hair was getting too long. With him overheating all the time, we thought it was finally time to just shave it all off. Well, OK, it was ME who thought it should all go. I gave fair warning to Daddy that the little man was ready for his haircut, but it took him a few minutes before he joined the party. When he walked in on me, I was using the 1-inch hair attachment on the top of the little man's head. "I want the top long!", Daddy said. Um, you should have ran up here when I called you. Here is the big boy modeling his new do.

Thing2 and Thing1 hangs out with Big Bro.

my 1-year old are swimsuit beauties

Had we made it out to the water park today, this is what the girls would have looked like. The hat is from LandsEnd, but I only got the pink because apparently, they ran out of the white. So for the past week, I went from store after store to find another similar sun hat, but couldn't find one. Finally, I phoned LandsEnd and just ordered whatever color they had. I ended up with a red one, shipped super fast for free! Gotta love the costumer service there!

I took the picture and Thing2 ended up squinting because of the flash. And after that, she just kept on doing her squinty face. Notice her 4 huge upper teeth and the 2 on the bottom.

Gotta love Thing2's many silly faces.

Thing1 displays her lovely swimsuit. She's been playing with her tongue for the past several days like that. She has the same amount of teeth Thing1 has, but you wouldn't know it since she's always hanging out her tongue!

Thing2 discoveres the sexy back hole! Hers have one too.

Thing2 now gets fascinated by her sister's hat. Did she want to wear the red one instead?

Jarred green beans with rice and meatsticks for lunch

'Nuff said, Jojo. 'Nuff said.

Cuteness Check

Here are a few pictures taken from 2 weeks ago. I'm slacking, I know.

I told him I was going to take his picture and this is the pose I got. I do believe that's chip stain on his face.

I snapped a photo of Katie and this is the face I got because of the red-eye reduction light. Her eyes got even bigger after the flash. This is also the first time I was able to use a barrette on her!

Little Jojo has a perpetual look of mischievousness, it seems. Cute barrett!

The Danger of Falling Asleep with your Kids

Matty didn't go to school today because a bad tummy ache kept him up last night.

This is what happens when you decide to take a nap with your children and your toddler wakes up before you. I'm just glad I put the girls in the playpen, or they may have met with the same fate.