Daylight savings time, holidays, and the Halloweenies

I used to love "falling back" to CST. Unless I had to work that night, it meant one more hour of sleep. Then I had babies and the extra hour was lost in the turmoil. Last night we put the kids to bed a little later than usual and they slept to about their normal time, which was fine until they all decided that they wanted lunch at 10:15am! Oh, well. They were satisfied with toaster strudels and a side of their favorite green beans. I, on the other hand, have been out of sorts since this morning has seemed extraordinarily long. I've watched Claire learn that throwing herself off the couch onto the blanket is great fun, Kevin cry really loudly when he got his finger pinched in a book, Delaney discover "hair" equals the stuff on our heads, and the Backyardigans discover that you can shake chocolate milk in the absence of a stirrer.



Even though November is still, technically, autumn, once Halloween is over, it just feels like winter. I'm thinking about roasting turkeys, prelit fake vs. real Christmas trees, and how amazon.com is trying to screw me over on their 4 for 3 promo. (Pssst, Amazon....splitting my order into 2 so it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria should get you a lump of coal in your stocking.



The kids did a good job trick or treating. Bob was on call so I loaded the girls in the wagon and Kevin walked until he could hitch a ride in Katherine and Samantha's wagon. We just went around the cul de sac and then up to visit Bob, which was just about right. Kevin was a lion, Delaney was a polar bear, and Claire was an elephant (all costumes Tom Arma- love them!)

The ending of an era

That's Claire in the white and Delaney (with her very best oversmile) in the brown.

How do you turn down these smiley faces?? I'm feeling a little verklempt tonight. My babies went to bed without their nightly snack from Mommy because I've decided to try to wean Claire and Delaney before we go to Las Vegas in 3 weeks. It's partly because I don't want to wean by abandonment, although they do fine with whole milk and regular food, and partly because my supply is going down and their more voracious nursing sessions cause some pretty bad vasospasms that I could sure do without. It'd also be nice not to have to haul the pump to Las Vegas.

Bob and I took Kevin to Trev's last football game on Friday night and had Assembly last night so they hadn't nursed for the last two nights, but this is the first time I've been around at bedtime and not nursed. It was odd to be just cleaning up the kitchen and not snuggling them to bed. I think I'll try the "don't offer, don't refuse" plan that I used with Kevin. It'll probably be more challenging for me than for them.

We made it 15 months and I always had it in my head that once we got past a year, it'd be a mutual decision to keep going. If we aren't completely done by the time we leave and they want to pick it up when I get back, it's no big deal, but their sessions have really tapered off in number and duration so I think they're ready too.

In other news, I'm typing this from the kitchen table. That's right- I've gone wireless. I found a relatively inexpensive laptop (allegedly a "family Christmas present" and for Kevin to use instead of my desktop;) ) and, with the invaluable help of my friend Nancy, I got a router set up. It's pretty neat and even Bob thinks it's handy to have a computer in the kitchen!

Top Chef finale

Casey choked, Dale missed big on one dish, and Hung was the winner. I was sort of hoping to see Casey win. She seems to have a good sense of what she needs to do even though I think she's by far the least experienced of the group. Hung was the best technical chef and just didn't make many big mistakes. Yes, he did stupid things like finish the trout challenge way early, look all arrogant, then forget lemon juice, but what he lacked in personality ( and perhaps caution- no running with knives!) he made up in skill. Dale was good with the BS, but he seemed to lack focus and had a hard time executing his vision completely...plus I didn't need to hear about the cowboy conquests!

St. Louis

St. Louis was a good trip. The weather ended up being in the low 80's- good thing I brought some warm weather stuff for the kids. It's got a ton of things to do with kids, but it's pretty easy to get around and would be good without kids too. We went to the zoo, Grant's Farm, the Arch, and Bob and Mom went through the courthouse. We stayed at the Hilton at the Ballpark. Terribly slow restaurant, mediocre room service, but decent rooms.

I'm always surprised at how much longer it takes to get places with kids, especially twins. People seem fascinated with them. We got so many looks and comments that after a while I just quit counting. I need some flip cards that say: Yes, they're twins. 14 months. Both girls. Yes, they keep me very busy.

Kevin had a bit of a rough trip. He came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease on Friday/Saturday. He'd complained that his tongue hurt when he ate, but we thought he had just bitten it because Bob didn't see anything on the middle of his tongue where Kevin complained of pain. Sunday morning he was super cranky and I finally convinced him to let me look. The whole edge and underside of his tongue was covered with sores. Poor guy! We were going to stay in Iowa City Sunday night, but decided to push through, which turned out for the best. Kevin was completely wiped out, but slept better in his own bed. In St. Louis, he'd insisted on sleeping in the regular bed instead of the crib. He had a little bit of a time getting to sleep and staying in the bed. He also fell out the first two nights, but I think our crib days are numbered!

Oktemberfest 5K

Bob and I finished the Oktemberfest 5K in Marshalltown yesterday in 33:48, so about 5 minutes faster than our first 5K on Labor Day. It was a lot flatter than the run around the lake, but we ran more too. Bob's sister Peggy started with us, but sent us ahead after a couple miles. I can't believe I'm saying that a 5K was really fun, but it was, even though we did get passed by the top 2 10K placewinners. Oh, well, I guess my next goal is to not get beat by the guys running twice as far as us!

We stayed in Marshalltown Friday night and the kids did fine without us so I think we're good to go to Vegas:)

The Beauty of Twins

Sometimes that fact that I have identical twins just amazes me. It seems like such a miracle that two little beings came from the same egg/sperm hookup. Yes, they are different in some ways. Claire smiles with her mouth, Delaney smiles with her eyes. Delaney has thicker hair, a little cafe au lait spot on her left forearm, a tiny notch in her ear cartilage, and will put her hand up to her mouth like "Oh! Oops!". Claire can scream like a horror movie star. Delaney is a little more laid back, Claire a bit more intense, but I couldn't say "Oh, that's Claire" or "Oh, that's Delaney" just based on behavior.

Sometimes, their sameness is almost comical. This morning, they fell asleep as we were out walking. They tend to fall asleep in exactly the same position- arms, legs, head, everything-and I was reminded of this picture from June when they fell asleep in their stroller as we walked around the loop.

Sometimes it's just the joy they seem to derive from having each other around. This afternoon, they were playing here in the office and pulled down their pajamas from the changing table shelf. They were just delighted with these new "toys" and put them over their heads and around their necks like the fanciest scarves, crawling around the house and giggling with each other. I grabbed a litle video and tried not to disturb the moment:)

Of course, 20 minutes after I took the video, they were tired and getting a little cranky. I had given Delaney the tiny piano toy and when Claire heard it, she high-tailed back over and tried to grab it away. Delaney put up a good fight, but Claire didn't earn the nickname "Pirate" without good reason. Delaney ended up in my lap getting a little snack. I'm not sure Claire was convinced she got the best deal when she saw that, but then they switched places and everyone seemed content in the end. I imagine it was a vision of the future.

A Kevin funny

This morning, we were driving out to my mom's house. She lives on a gravel road so there are just stop signs. Kevin just turned forward facing in his seat so he has a lot of questions like "Why isn't there a green light here?" so I've been telling him about red lights meaning stop, green mean go, and yellow mean watch out.
Since we were with my mom, I asked him to tell Grandma what red lights meant.
Kevin: "Stop!"
Me: "Green lights?"
Kevin:"Go!"
Me: "What about yellow lights?" thinking that he might not remember.
Kevin, without missing a beat: "GoGoGoGoGo!"

My mom about busted a gut laughing. I'm sure I've said "GoGoGoGoGo!" when I've come up to green lights turning yellow, but I had no idea he'd put two and two together!