Susan Lin — My Blog Blog Blog

Wow, it’s been a LONG time since my last post. Too much to catch up on so I’ll just pick up like I’ve been posting everyday.

I have started to potty train Jay Jay. Isaac doesn’t show much interest. I put him in underwear and when he peed in it, he very piteously told me he “need diaper.” Jay Jay has been doing well. I had her in pull-ups but since she still kept peeing in them, I changed her over to underwear and she’s been wearing underwear all the time for the last several days. If I’m good and put her on the potty every 30 minutes, she usually pees in it several times a day with maybe an accident or two. Yesterday, she had three accidents, today she had none. And she POOPED in the potty too! She gets an M&M every time she pees and she tries to collect even when she didn’t do anything. Isaac has stopped asking for the M&Ms. I will try potting training with him in a few months. Here is Jay Jay in her training pants.

The kids are obsessed with the Wonder Pets. They have learned a couple new words from them, including “teamwork” and “celery”. One day, I decided to let them know what celery was and Jay Jay liked it. In fact, here she is chomping down on some celery with peanut butter.

We recently went to Chuck E. Cheese’s for my friend Belinda’s twins’ birthday party. Jay Jay was happy to ride all the rides.

Isaac didn’t want to get on the ride and the only way we could convince him to ride was for Dan to ride with him. But it was silly because Dan could barely fit onto the seat.

Isaac, however, continues to amaze me with his focus and long attention span. He played with this thing almost 45 minutes. I kept looking over to make sure he wasn’t running away but he was always there, moving the balls around.

Today, I made some muffins and had the kids help frost. Well, they frosted one each and made a huge mess but I think they enjoyed it.

And finally, Jay Jay now has a “cheese” face which is pretty stinkin’ cute. Here she is saying “cheese!” And yes, her hair is, as Yi Yi would call it, a hot mess.

I read an account of a mom who sacrificed herself to protect her baby son from a falling roof and while my sister tells me it was a made up story, it brings tears to my eyes because I know I would do the same for my children without a second thought and it’s a reminder to me to show my children love everyday because you never know when that proverbial roof is going to fall.

Today, I realized yet again how much I enjoy dancing and should do it while my body still lets me.

We had been planning this trip for several months and because it was another large family trip, Sara and I have dubbed it, The China Trip, Part Three. We had a lot of folks going, including our family with Fatima, my mom (my dad decided he needed to work), Don and Sadako, Sara and Kevin, Kevin’s sister Courtney, and Kevin’s mom and stepdad, Deanna and Scott. We also managed to convince Anh and Lam to come although at the last minute, they had a death in the family so they were not able to get there until the very end of our trip.

While this was not the first trip or vacation with the kids (we dragged them along on our cruise to Mexico in March), this was the first that involved a flight and I was plenty anxious. We had planned to bring their car seats and they had their own seats since this was a five hour flight. Plus, apparently, once they are two, airline companies require that they have their own seats although I’m sure tons of people “fudge” their kids age to get around this. I brought lots of new toys and snacks and even considered bringing an emergency pacifier (although I ended up not doing it). Dan came up with an awesome way to connect the car seats to a luggage cart which turned their car seat into a stroller. We packed relatively light (since Alaska Air charged $20 per checked luggage) and we had to check the pack-n-plays.

The luggage/car seats turned out awesome. It was very easy to secure them and made it easy to move the car seats around. Those car seats are really heavy! When we landed in Maui, we passed a family of four. Mom was pushing the two kids in a stroller and dad was carrying the two car seats. He stared at us when we passed by and I thought, so glad I have a husband who came up with this ingenious way to combine car seat and stroller. The flight was really uneventful. We had four adults total (me, Dan, Fatima and my mom) and two kids so we had plenty of extra hands. Other than being restless and moving around a lot, I thought they did really well. There was pretty minimal crying, only Isaac cried for a few minutes when landing and Jay Jay didn’t seem to care at all.

Sara, Kevin, Courtney and Deanna met us at the airport with leis. They were there to meet Scott as well so Dan and I went to get our minivan rental and the seven of us (plus Sara) piled in and drove to Ka’anapali.

I had booked a two bedroom, two bathroom unit at the Whaler based on Deanna’s recommendation. She and Scott have been going to Maui for many years and love this place. Unfortunately, there was construction going on (they were remodeling the lenais which is a fancy Hawaiian term for balcony) but because of that, we got a discount so I felt like we got great deal. I wasn’t too worried about the noise and it turned out to not be a problem at all. The unit had a washer and dryer (which was awesome) and a kitchen which we did use a little but not that much. Because it was a private unit owned by someone, there was a number of stuff in the pantry and closets including sand toys, buggie boards, and a lot of canned and boxed foods. There was even a bottle of wine with a price tag of $85. The Whaler was right on the beach and next to Whaler Village which is a moderate sized outdoor mall. We had lunch at Leilani’s with the whole group and then hit the beach.

Jay Jay was skeptical about the waves but because we kept saying “Whee!!” when the waves came in, we convinced her that it was fun and she seemed to enjoy it. Isaac, however, would not have anything to do with the water, even refusing to look at the waves. He was okay playing in the sand.

Our second day in Hawaii was pretty boring for me. I was with the kids and we basically stayed inside the condo or walked around Whaler Village. Dan and Sara went to the Sheraton which was two hotels over to do their dive refresher course in the morning. In the afternoon, I think we walked around the shopping area of Lahaina and had lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise. My mom, Don and Sadako went on a sunrise van tour to Haleakala. They were picked up at 1:45 AM (yes, that is correct!) and arrived at the top of Haleakala about an hour before sunrise. We knew it was going to be cold so I gave my mom two jackets, hat, gloves and scarf which she didn’t all bring. Thus, she was terribly cold. She didn’t seem to be all that impressed with the sunrise other than it was above the cloud cover but I’m still glad I made her do it. Because of the time change, the kids got up at 4 AM, local time which was 7 AM pacific time. Even though I was still on Pacific time myself, just the idea that it was 4 AM local time made it difficult to get up.

Our third day in Hawaii, Isaac got up at 4 AM again and Jay Jay slept in until 5 AM. I had booked a lu’au at the Sheraton for myself, Sara, Sadako, Fatima and my mom. I had never been to one and although I figured it wouldn’t be too terribly exciting, I thought it would a nice outing for my mom and I sort of feel like you have to attent at least one lu’au. It actually was a lot of fun. I booked the one at the Sheraton because it was easy walking distance. They got us seated, gave us lovely, fresh leis and then we walked around some exhibits. One lady was demonstrating how to tie a large piece of fabric into multiple styles of gowns, another exhibit showcased wood carvings and another lady demonstrated these poms poms on strings that my mom (and me) had a good time trying to toss around.

The food was tasty. I think the best tasting thing was the beef which was flavored with some type of teriyaki. The Kalua pork (where they roast a pig underground) was good too. They also had poi which is basically taro made into a mush. It really doesn’t taste like anything and the color is this deep purple. I imagine that natives eat it like the way we Chinese do with our water rice or jook, just something to bland things out. But since nothing really needed blanding, I had a taste and that was it. The entertainment was what I expected. A number of hula dancers, men and women. They kind of all looked the same after a while but it was still entertaining. They also had a fire dancer which was exciting.

On our fourth day in Hawaii, the kids managed to sleep in until about 6 AM. We had an early day too because today was our trip to Molokini. It is a tiny little uninhabited crescent shaped island that has great coral reefs. Sara, Kevin, Dan and Scott went diving and Courtney and I went snorkeling. I had decided not to dive because I really didn’t feel very comfortable diving. I didn’t feel like I learned it well the first time and the idea of going diving again was really making me anxious. I’m glad I decided to just go snorkeling. I had a great time and got to see lots of stuff, even at the surface, including a sting ray. Dan had suggested that I bring my wetsuit and I’m glad he did because I was much more comfortable in the water with it on. I should just always assume that I am going to be cold. Anyways, the highlight of the trip for me was the dolphins that swam up to our boat. Our boat captain was obviously a very experienced guy and was able to get the dolphins comfortable with the boat and they swam right up to the side of the boat. There was also a baby dolphin that was playing around, doing jumps. It was pretty amazing.

After our dive/snorkel trip, we tried out Aloha Mixed Plate which is a small eatery in Lahaina. This would be the first of four meals (for me) at this awesome little place. The premise is that Hawaii is a mix of a number of different Asian cultures, including Korean, Japanese, Filopino and Chinese. These groups of people would work together and during lunch time, they would share with each other what they brought from home for lunch. Thus, you have this big mixed plate. The place is small, outdoor seating only, right next to the beach and you have a lovely view. Pretty much everything I had on the menu was delicious and the prices were very reasonable. Like I said, this was the first of four meals that I had here!

In the afternoon, Sara, Kevin, Dan and I went up past the Westin to an area of the beach that had a reef to snokel. It was a nice little area and we saw some more stuff, including puffer fish and a Moray eel. I’m definitely feeling much more comfortable in the water now. I think if I took another dive certification course and had some more practice, I would dive again. But in the meantime, I’m happy to snorkel and I’m glad Dan has others whom he can dive with. Dan, Sara, Kevin and Scott went on a night dive at one point but I don’t remember when it was. Maybe it was the same day they did their dive refresher at Black Rock at the Sheraton.

On our fifth day, the kids were getting up about 6 AM consistently. I had booked an excursion with my mom, Don, Sadako and Fatima to do a submarine trip. I had seen advertisements for it and Sadako had mentioned that she and Don were interested in one so I went ahead and booked it. It turned out to be way more interesting than I thought it was going to be. We took a 15 minute boat ride out to the submarine dive site. The submarine came up and unloaded it’s previous passengers and we boarded. It seats 48 guests and a number of crew. The seats are narrow and you’re sitting back to back with another row of passengers but you can see through a number of portals and if you turned around, you can see through the portals on the other side of the sub. The sub dove down to about 130 feet and travelled along the floor of the ocean. There were tons of fish and we saw a school of fish which was neat. There were a few fish that came right up next to the windows which was neat. And we saw a ray. It was about an hour and actually quite entertaining and I’m glad I went. Don’t think I need to do it again especially if I try diving again but it was cool. Then, after our morning excursion, we had lunch…. at Aloha Mixed Plate.

The sixth day was Halaekala day. I have no idea when the kids got up because me, Sara, Dan, Kevin and Fatima left our snug beds at 1:30 AM and arrived at the bike shop at 2:30 AM. We were on our way up the mountain by 3:00 AM. It was a very windy (as in a lot of curves) and Dan got a little motion sick. There wasn’t much to see because it was still so dark outside. The driver pointed out a bunch of landmarks since we were going to be biking back to the shop but since you couldn’t see anything, I didn’t pay that close attention. I didn’t sleep though. When we arrived at the look-out tower, we bundled up and went outside. The bike company provided windbreakers and wind pants which were actually really nice, especially the wind pants. While I wasn’t toasty warm, I wasn’t uncomfortably cold. We waited around for a bit and watched the sunrise. It’s pretty amazing to be on top of the mountain, looking over the cloud cover. I think the actual sunrise isn’t as neat as the 30 minutes or so before the sunrise when a little bit of light starts coming out and you gradually see more and more. Once the sun comes up, it’s pretty overwhelmingly bright and then things don’t look quite as dramatic.

After the sun came up, we drove up a little higher to the summit, walked around there a bit and then they drove us back down to start of our bike ride. I don’t know if others enjoyed it but I really enjoyed the bike ride. The first 10 miles or so is fairly steep with a bunch of turns. You pretty much ride the brake all the way down but you have this amazing view as you come down the mountain.

You start getting into more inhabited areas and we stopped along the way at Kula Lodge for breakfast. It was here that Fatima decided she did not want to continue the bike ride, saying she was very tired and didn’t get any sleep the night before. So we helped her call the van which came to pick her up and we continued the rest of the trip down. The rest of the trip was through small towns and the road was more bumpy. We still went pretty quickly and before I realized it, we were turning into the parking lot of the bike shop. I’m sure glad Kevin knew where he was going because I didn’t. I was totally shocked that we had arrived. I thought for sure we had many miles still to go. It was a total of 23 miles and it probably took about 2.5 hours which included a very leisure breakfast. I really enjoyed it. It was one of my favorite memories of the trip. On the way home, Kevin mentioned some tide pools and we stopped by to take a look. We ended up spending more than an hour there, exploring the area. There was a couple who was cliff diving and although it was fascinating to watch, it was totally scary and dangerous. Okay, it was really cliff jumping since they jumped feet first but still, it was definitely dangerous. There were some small fish and I think Dan found an eel.

I think for lunch, we ate at Aloha Mixed Plate again. Then, it was nap time.

For dinner one night, we ate at Star Noodle. It was fancy-ish Asian noodle place. We had a made a reservation but it got screwed up so we had to come back the next night and in return, our waiter got us free desert which was great. They had all sorts of noodles and I ended up with ramen. It was yummy but I have to say, I had something similar a few mornings later at, yes, Aloha Mixed Plate that was even better and cost less. But I mention this because this one of the big meals we had together with everyone. We ate all together once at Leilani’s, then all together for dinner Aloha Mixed plate, then another time at Star Noodle.

The next day, our seventh day, the kids got up early probably between 6:30 AM and 7 AM. In the morning, we went shopping in the morning at Lahaina. I’m very proud of myself for not buying very much stuff. I’m trying harder and harder to not accumulate too much stuff and spend more time with “experiences” rather than stuff. I bought two dresses and a hat on this trip (not including food). Kevin, Courtney and his parents left today so we were left by ourselves. In the afternoon, since we were just sitting around, I suggested we go snorkeling again which made Dan excited. We drove up the highway to Ukumehame Beach State Park. I didn’t snorkel, I just sat and read. Sara snorkeled a little. Dan spent the most time out there. Sara said there wasn’t a whole lot to see and Dan didn’t seem much either but he was just happy to be out scavenging for things.

Our last day in Hawaii, the kids have finally gotten used to the time switch and got up at 7 AM. We had breakfast at, you got it, Aloha Mixed Plate, with Anh, Lam, baby Zac and Anh’s mom. Our original plan was to have four or five days together but because of a sudden death in Lam’s family, they had to delay their trip. They arrived the night before we were supposed to leave. However, we were able to meet up for breakfast and later, they came over to our condo to hang out while we packed and got ready to leave. Baby Zac has grown up so quickly and has gotten cuter each day. And while it seems impossible, even though he looks different every time I see him, he always looks more and more like Lam.

After saying goodbye to Anh, Lam, Zac and Anh’s mom, we piled into our minivan and drove to the airport. We had to do a little re-distribution of one of the luggage which was slightly overweight but it was done quickly and we had no other problems. Our trip back was even less uneventful. Again, Jay Jay didn’t cry at all and Isaac cried just a little on the way down. They even had a good nap on the plane. We landed, got our luggage and made it home.

Sara and my mom stayed for a week afterwards. Sara left for LA a few days ago and my mom returned back home last night. While it has been a great vacation, I’m glad for things to go back to normal. The kids did very well with the traveling. Although they enjoyed all the fun and attention, they probably would have been just as happy splashing in the baby pool at home or in the bathtub. At least, I know Isaac would have.

So I have to mention a few more things. This was the first time we met Kevin’s mom, Deanna, stepdad Scott and sister Courtney. They were very pleasant people and easy to get along with. We would visit them often and bring the kids. Their apartment’s carpet was plush and the kids would lay down as soon as we got in the room. We saw a lot of them, between meals and activities and just hanging out and I’m glad we got to spend our vacation with them. I especially liked Courtney who was very friendly and very good with the kids.

It took the kids a couple of days to get back into the regular schedule with the time change but I think they are finally back.

This was a long blog post and there are plenty of things still to write about (our awful neighbor, the play structure, Fatima’s year coming to a close) but this is enough for one post. Good night!

So Fatima talked to me one night about an au pair friend who decided she had had it with her host family treating her badly and wanted to split. She needed a place to stay and while I was a little hesitant since I didn’t know the details, I said okay, she can stay with us. Her name is Joy, she is from South Korea, and her host family lives in Elk Grove. Apparently, she has been with her family for almost 11 months now but continued to feel ill-treated. I was happy to have her stay with me, especially since she had no where to go between waiting for her flight back to South Korea and she did not want to be staying with her host family.

All in all, she stayed two nights with us and was a gracious guest. I feel bad that she had such a rotten experience with her host family but am glad that we were able to help out and was proud of Fatima for seeking her out and helping her during a rough time.

One of the activities we did while Joy was here was baking. I made banana bread using the leftover over-ripe bananas and I let the kids play with various ingredients, including flour, sugar, and a bunch of spices. I had done this once before but with flour and water and that made a huge mess very quickly. This time, it worked much better. The kids had a great time adding shaking the spice bottles. They both tasted a number of spices, including even the spicy ones. In fact, Jay Jay had enough of the red pepper flakes to make her nose run which I thought was hilarious. Anyways, cleanup with two additional adults was way easier, as was the fact that there was no water this time. I think we all had a good time and the banana bread turned out quite well too.

Jay Jay: Oooo, cool! Oh no!! Train. Spoon. Fork. Dog. Foot. Tongue. Elbow. Elmo. Truck. Socks. Apple. Plane. Fly (for butterfly).
Isaac: Apple. Dog. Juice. Poo poo. No. Oh no!

What I Did Today: Woke up at 5:20 AM because of the kids crying. Dan got up, thankfully, and I went back to sleep. Woke up around 7:15 AM, heard the kids making noises downstairs with Fatima watching them. Checked my email and then went back to sleep. Got up at 8:30 AM. Sneaked out of the house. Went to Kaiser IVF office to pick up my sunglasses, ask for a prescription refill and drop off a box of sharps. Got gas at Costco on Expo. Went to Goores to buy a “back up” pink blanket for Jay Jay. Dropped by the recycling center to dispose of a bunch of cardboard. Came home. Played with the kids a little. Scrubbed clean the two Phil and Teds clamp on chairs. Tried out underwear on the kids and laughed when Isaac peed because he had such a “I don’t understand what is going on look” on his face. Started to feed the kids lunch with Fatima but decided I was too sleepy. Laid down for a quick nap while Dan finished feeding the kids and put them down for a nap. Got a call from my mom at about 1:30 PM, waking me up from my nap to tell me they were about 90 minutes away. Did some work on the computer. Stalked my sister on Latitude for the next 90 minutes because I was really excited they were arriving today. Put on clean sheets and made the bed in my mom’s room. Got Isaac and Jay Jay up from their naps. Hung out with them, my mom, Sara and Dan for a little while. Got changed and went to work. Stopped by at Panda Express to pick up some food along the way. Worked from 5 PM to 12:30 AM. Stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my prescription but decided the line was too long. Came home. Checked email and Facebook. Ate some somen noodles. Wrote this blog. And now it’s 1:45 AM and it’s bedtime.

This morning, I was a little restless at home with the kids and wanted to get out and go somewhere. I called my friend Belinda to see if she was up to an impromptu playdate but she wasn’t home. So as I packed the kids up into the car, I was trying to decide where to go. I ended up at Roseville Fountains which is an outdoor mall that I go to every now and for playdates with SMOM. I had no agenda, really but I knew it had a few things that were interesting to the kids so I figured we could probably kill some time there.

Well, I had a really fun time. The kids are really well behaved. They needed a little corralling every now and then but they would basically follow me around. We hung out at the fountain for a little bit. It’s a fountain that has a bunch of jets that sprays water up in the air (like what they have in front of the Bellagio in Las Vegas) and they usually set it to some music. Jay Jay always get excited by fountains and Isaac was okay getting up close too although he didn’t like getting sprayed by the mist. We wandered around a bit. They have a number of really cool metal benches that are plasma cut into fun designs like butterflies and leaves and the kids like to play on. Then we wandered to the play structure and the kids played there for a few minutes. Not very long, no more than 10 minutes and only Jay Jay went down a slide and played with the various things there. Isaac was content to just follow Jay Jay around and play with the gate, opening and closing them. They both wanted a drink of water from the water fountain although Isaac wasn’t very successful at drinking from it. Then they found a couple of puddles that they splashed around in for a bit. Jay Jay decided that her face needed washing because she would stick her hand in the puddle and then rub her wet hand all over her face. After a while, Isaac started doing that too. Then we wandered into a grassy area and the kids played in the dirt, digging out globs of wet dirt. I prayed that there were going to be no worm incidents and thank goodness, there was not. There were a number of dogs out for walks and the kids got to up close with a small, long haired dog that both kids were convinced was a cat.

After they got good and dirty, with dirt underneath their finger nails and dirty water all over the faces, we walked over to Whole Foods. They have fun shopping carts decorated as cars that have steering wheels (thankfully, TWO steering wheels) so the kids really had fun turning the wheels while I wandered around Whole Foods, marveling at the amount of prepared foods they had. I ended up buying a teriyaki chicken bowl, a small tub of fruit and two cartons of milk and we ate lunch outside Whole Foods, sitting in the shopping cart. They ate lots of the chicken and rice, turned down all the vegetables, and finished all of the fruit and about 1/2 of the milk. It was kind of neat with the fruit because it was a medley of cantaloupe, grapes, honeydew, and pineapple and each kid would point at the piece of fruit they wanted and it was NEVER the same one so each kid got to eat what they wanted.

Afterwards, the kids played inside Whole Foods for a bit. In their indoor seating area, they have a play area for kids which basically consists of a number of plastic vegetables, wooden blocks, toolbox containers, trucks, and a bunch of bins (like a grocery store) so kids can pretend they are “stocking” a grocery store. Anyways, it was new and different and the kids enjoyed chomping on the plastic vegetables, pretending to have a tea party, and building up and knocking over blocks. It was a little hard to drag them away but they were content to be deposited into the car/shopping cart and I bought some gelato. I gave each kid a spoon and let them out of the cart. I would scoop a big bite of gelato on the spoon and they would suck on it until it was gone, then come ask for more. I’ve been trying to get them to say “more please” but it still a struggle. They will say each word individually but not together. Anyways, after the gelato was slurped down, I bought train tickets and we took a ride on a small train around the Fountains. Both kids have shown a lot of interest in trains recently and both seemed very excited when they saw the train so I thought they would like it. Jay Jay really enjoyed it, was happy to get in the train and sat contently on the bench and watched the sights. Isaac clung on to me and wouldn’t let me put him down and cried for the first half of the ride. But once the train started ringing the bell and tooting the horn, he seemed to like it better and in the end, seemed like he was okay with it.

By then, it was time to go home for naps and I thought I had worn out both kids. Jay Jay was ready for her nap soon after getting home but Isaac fussed and cried for an hour for settling down. I think I’m going to do to something his reluctance to sleep. While we have gotten rid of the pacifier recently, I think the crying and fussing before he settles down for nap and bedtime is probably more that he doesn’t want to go to sleep. Hopefully I can came up with a solution because I am not ready to let him give up naps.

Okay, it’s late and I’m getting up with the kids tomorrow morning. But I just wanted to write this down because I really had a fun time today and I just want to remember it later on.

My moms of multiples group has this thing on Facebook where you post what you did that day, usually in one long, run-on sentence. It’s just kind of interesting to see what other moms are doing. So, just for fun, and for memory sake, I’m gonna do that a few times.

Woke up at 7:30 AM, nudged Dan to make him get up because the kids were yelling to be let out of their cribs, got up at 8:00 AM, got dressed and ready for work, ate a bowl of cereal, shared said bowl of cereal with the kids and let Isaac drink all the milk from it, changed the kids, packed a lunch, went to work, saw 10 patients (actually a good day at work), texted Dan on the way out and stopped by to get gas, pick up a sandwich from Togo’s, and some smoothies from Jamba Juice, met Dan and the kids at a park, hung out for an hour before deciding I was hot, came home, Dan and I fed the kids dinner, gave them a bath, got dressed for bedtime, read a book with both kids, put Jay Jay down for bedtime (she cried for 15 minutes before settling down), gave Isaac his bedtime milk, read a book, put him down for bedtime (he cried for 30 minutes before settling down), played a few games of Ascension on the iPad to help pass the time before they stopped crying, cleaned up, now waiting for Dan to finish cooking the pasta before we have dinner.

We are in the process of weaning the kids from the pacifier. It has been a tough couple of days although it is not nearly as bad as when we let them cry it out for sleep training. The first night, both cried for about an hour before falling asleep. Last night, it was about 30 minutes each. Tonight, Jay Jay settled down after 15 minutes although Isaac still protested for 30 minutes. Nap time has been harder too but both have managed to fall asleep after 20-30 minutes of crying. I think it has been going better than I expected although there definitely has been some anxiety on my part. It’s never easy to hear your kids cry and know you can do something about it but ultimately, it’s necessary. They have their dentist appointment on Thursday and I want to be able to say, “Yes, they no longer use pacifiers.”

Okay, I think the pasta is ready. Food coma, here I come.

Seriously, I can’t get myself to post more than once or twice a month!

So a lot of things have happened since my last post. A lot of centers around the kids but there are non-kid related news too. Both Jay Jay and Isaac continue to learn quickly. Today, the theme at Tricks was fast and slow and while I didn’t think they caught one during gym class, when we were sitting on the couch and I started to do some things fast and slow, it was obvious that they understood. They are growing so fast. I keep telling everyone that I love the stage they are in now because they are so loving and curious and playful. They have opinions but can be easily swayed. Their little personalities are growing more and more. I know I should be enjoying each day and each hug but every time I get a hug or a kiss from one of them, I keep thinking, one day, they won’t want to do this anymore and it makes me feel sad.

Anyways, they are learning a lots of new words now. Even Isaac is starting to say new words. He says “star” (or really, “dar”), “ba ba” (for bubbles), and “car”. While he doesn’t talk as much as Jay Jay, his comprehension is really great. I gave him some pieces of paper and told him to put it in the trash and he understood me perfectly and did exactly that! Jay Jay’s vocabulary continues to grow with “star”, “hair”, “foot”, “ear”, “nose”, “mouth”, “so so” (hand in chinese), “mao mao” (cat in chinese). I even heard her try to say “battery”.

Their physical abilities continue to grow as well. They run now and can climb up things (like the metal cargo nets at the playground). They are quite impressive on the iPad, being able to play a lot of games. Isaac knows how to find his favorite shows on Netflix using the iPad. They are showing more interest in brushing their own teeth and washing their own hands although they are not very good at it yet. Isaac continues to be a neat freak.

I have moved them out of the high chairs and into booster seats which is nice because I don’t have to wash those large, bulky trays anymore. I had to buy another chair to use the booster on and both Isaac and Jay Jay were very interested in helping me put the chair together. Isaac was especially enamored with the little drill I used.

The twins turned two a few weeks ago and we had a small birthday party for them. Aunty Sara made the most awesome decorations and cupcakes. It was Sesame Street themed so the cupcakes were Elmo and Cookie Monster. Both kids had fun eating the cupcakes!

The party was smaller than last years but it was still lots of fun. Sara and my mom made way too much food, as usual. We had a pull-string pinata, a small pool, and a water sprinkling ball. We did pack up some of the food to take with us on an outdoor picnic right after the party. The picnic was an au pair event. It was held in a park at an event called “Pops In the Park” which turned out to be a much bigger event that I thought and we had a hard time finding everyone but it turned out just fine.

We’ve been on a bunch of playdates and the kids got face painting for the first time by their Fa Fa.

On a sadder note, one of my uncles passed away. It was my dad’s 3rd brother who lived in China. Apparently, he was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer and was hospitalized but ultimately, it was complications from his diabetes that he died from. There was a funeral service in China which my Uncle Otto attended. I didn’t know him very well but even though he and my dad were on the outs the last few years, I think he is still my dad’s closest sibling.

Today, Henrik’s father died. I actually saw him a number of times and rather liked him. He was a very charismatic man and I can imagine what a charmer he probably was when he was younger. He had been steadily declining over the last few months and while I don’t think his death was a complete surprise, it was still probably sooner than expected.

On a happier (hopefully) note, I underwent a frozen embryo (just one) transfer on July 5th. I have been taking it easy the last several days and will be back to work starting tomorrow. I do my blood pregnancy test on July 13th but I am sure I will be doing pregnancy tests sooner than that. I’m sure it’s because we actually have kids now and the pressure isn’t so great but I am definitely less anxious this time around. But keep your fingers crossed.

What else is going on?

Sara and Kevin moved in together. They got a kitten whom they named Leeloo Dallas Multipass. My mom and Sara came up for a visit during the kids’ birthday. We’ve selected a new au pair named Lisa, from Germany, who will come in October.

And that’s all folks!

Last week, Anh, Lam and baby Zac came up for a visit. It was Anh’s last hurrah before going back to work. They spent a few days with us and we also took a trip to Napa to eat at Bottega. Baby Zac is quickly growing. It was such a flashback to when the twins were that age. There is such a focus to eat, sleep, eat, sleep. But baby Zac is doing wonderfully, already doubling his weight before three months of age. And of course, it was always wonderful to see Anh and Lam. I am really lucky to have them as friends. Even though I don’t always talk to her everyday, every time I see her, it’s like nothing has ever changed.

Yesterday, I got all motivated and decided to take the kids to the zoo. I even bought an annual family pass and am determined to get my money’s worth (which comes out to about four trips). We weren’t there for too long since the kids still need a nap in the afternoon but we saw a few animals and the kids had their first merry-go-round. Jay Jay seemed okay with it although she didn’t seem to love it and Isaac, well, was being his usual hesitant and unwilling self. But all in all, it was a good day. We fed the ducks, saw a few animals, had some bad zoo junk food and the kids passed out on the way home.

Then today, it was off to Davis for a Pinkerton lab reunion. We went to Davis a little early, I drove around showing Fatima some of the memorable places in Davis, and we stopped by to look at the dairy cows next to Tercero where I used to live on campus as a freshman. We then went to Gap to buy Jay Jay a new dress since she spilled pretty much all of her Jamba Juice smoothie on herself and her car seat. Then it was lunch at Dos Coyotes and hanging out with some old friends from the Pinkerton lab, including Dr. Pinkerton, Emily, Kim, Marzieh and Ya-mei. We didn’t stay long since, yes, it was time for the kids naps but it was still awesome to see everyone.