Name That Tiger

Mike Vogts posted on FaceBook:

 

I sometimes play "The Adjective Game" with the girls.

Kayla: Daddy you're funny.
Me: You're super funny.
Kayla: No you're super funny.
Me: You're exceptionally funny.
Kayla: No you're exceptionally funny.
Me: You're surprisingly funny.
Kayla: No you're surprisingly funny.
Me: (searching for another word)...You're staggeringly funny.
Kayla: No you're staggering funny.
Me: Staggeringly.
Kayla: Staggeringly would be a good name for a tiger.
Me:....Yeah, I think it would be.

Mornings

Our work schedules necessitate getting the girls up around 6-6:20am, which is about an hour earlier than their natural wake-up time. And it shows to, as getting them going is always somewhat of a chore. We learned early on that simply turning on the lights and telling them to "get up" wasn't sufficient, so most mornings the "Scoop" is performed, which is essentially just picking up each girl and holding them for a bit while they stumble into consciousness. It works to varying degrees, but there is usually drama of some kind, particularly from Megan, who in the evenings fights sleep like a Viking warrior. There are always grumbles, and sometimes even tears, during the process, but of course once they're away for a bit and get a little breakfast they perk right up and are ready to roll.

So this is part of the background you need to properly appreciate the scene this morning. The other part is this: Kayla and Megan have been pretty sick the past few days, with the flu/norovirus (according to the doctor). Started in Thursday evening, and lasted until Sunday night; even water was coming back up for the duration. Jenn had them to the doctor Saturday, got some anti-nausea pills along with the diagnosis, but it was a solid three days of nothing staying down for very long. The girls were just wrecked; they'd get up out of bed and want to "wake up", go into the living room and watch cartoons for about a half hour, drink a few sips of water, throw it back up, then ask to go back to bed and sleep for another couple hours.

Finally yesterday the fog lifted and we were somewhat back to normal. Ate a lot of crackers and toast all day without issue, played somewhat normally, and while they were still somewhat lethargic it was otherwise a normal day. Bedtime came late last night, around 8:30, because sometimes schedules get disrupted and Mommy and Daddy don't pay attention to the clock. Megan was out like a light, but from what I hear Kayla outlasted Daddy.

This morning I instinctually faded closer to 6:30 for the girls wake-up time, as I suspected this morning was going to be a rare chore. They were better yesterday, but not all the way, and probably did not get as much sleep as they should have due to the late-ish night. They've been off-schedule since Friday, weren't back to full strength, would be hungry....my guard was up. Sure enough, simply exposing Megan's face to light was enough to elicit guttural groans, and the flat-out crying commenced as soon as I picked her up. Usually as long as they can sit on your lap and snuggle in a bit they're OK in the mornings, but this morning Megan was just flat crying, not even wanting to lay her head down on me. Even her body language was protesting: "I do not want to be upright for any reason whatsoever, and you're histories greatest monster for making me do so". This went on for a couple minutes, until finally she settled down and stopped crying, but clearly wasn't in any mood to go get dressed, or do anything but try to fall back asleep on me. Kayla was likewise still motionless in bed.

Then the strangest thing happened. I, almost rhetorically, asked them if they wanted pancakes for breakfast. Megan sat up and looked at me, saying "Mommy said we could have toast for breakfast." Sure, of course, you can have toast, and I'll even cut the crust off, even though I did this a dozen times yesterday and swore I would never make toast again. 

And that was it, the switch was flipped. Megan started telling me something about her dolly and immediately went to get dressed. Kayla got up on her own and started doing the same. They were chattering in that way they only do when they're happy: a non-stop barrage of facts, stories, and remembered occurrences as they seek your affirmation on what they think and experience. Actually making the toast (and waffles, as it turns out) was literally the hardest part of my morning after that. 

You just never know.

More gymnastics pictures

The pictures Jenn took at the girls gymnastics class were somewhat blurry, as they were taken from behind the glass of the gymnastics area. Luckily as someone with advanced computer knowledge, I was able to enhance and sharpen these images, to give you a better idea of  how the girls did in their class.

I won't lie, they seem to have a talent for it.

I did it

In Andover out on east Central there's a municipal park that I've taken the girls to a few times (though not as often as I should). Pretty standard stuff as far as city parks go: the two main features being a couple of jungle gyms. One is kind of roped based, with a plastic super-structure (thanks, Star Wars) filled with strategically placed holes and climbing hand-holds. The other is basically fort-themed, with a couple of slides, one straight and one "twisty" that is considerably higher up.

Each time we've gone, there's been a progression on what the girls are capable of doing. The first time, navigating the "swinging bridge" on the fort was the big achievement. It's one of those contraptions that is jointed several times over the length, and slopes down in the middle. The effect is a perpetually changing, uneven surface, and kids have to carefully navigate themselves over the bridge or risk getting stuck. That first time, the girls a couple of times did just that, getting a leg a bit out of place and not really knowing what to do next. But after a few tries and restarts, they were able to get from one end to the other, and this was a proud achievement.

The second (or maybe third) time was the twisty slide. Daddy said no the first couple of times we went, as the top of this slide is about 20 feet in the air, and all kinds of horrible scenes of little girls flying off into a random direction while daddy desperately tries to run and catch them fill your mind. Absurd in retrospect, of course. There's got to be at least a 2 foot groove in the slide at the top; you literally can barely see the top of their head as they begin sliding down. The sides are curved inward as well, almost to the point where it's completely enclosed. I should have of course known that designers and lawyers had long ago performed a strange dance that lead to this incredibly safe piece of playground equipment, but understand, the last time I spent significant time on a playground, the infamous "bump" slide at the Canton Grade School still existed, where the "side" was about an inch high, and the "jungle gym" was just a bunch of pipes welded together in a cube-like pattern.

They handled the "big kid slide" without issue of course, loving every minute of it. Kayla also surprised by easily handling a set of circular climbing stairs that, likewise, takes her up at least 10 feet to the safety of the fort, which she found the best way to head toward the slide again. Again, Daddy was a bit nervous about this, but her footing was sure, and even if Megan was still content to run around the long and safer way to get back into the fort, it was clearly another day of big achievement.

Then this Sunday, we decided to attack the rope gym. This one is definitely made for bigger kids, as to get on it properly requires risking an unsteady "web" of rope suspended semi-horizontally, which itself requires being able to sort of leap out onto it, as there's a good 2 foot gap between where the ropes are anchored to the structure and the web structure begins. They tried this but were not ready for it, as they kept getting high centered on the initial connecting rope, not stable or sure enough to make it out to the web.

However, the back side of the structure also contains a multi-layer climbing activity, which if you make it to the top, puts you a good 10 feet above the ground, sitting on the crest of the up-sloping web. This is also something we've tried before, but have never defeated, getting scared when faced with open air on the third level.

Not this time. Megan was the first to reach the summit, surprisingly. She hoisted her leg up further than I would have though possible, allowing herself to leave the comfort of "ground" and hang momentarily until she could pull her self up through the hole and onto the third landing. Kayla had one false start where she chickened out, but I think couldn't stand the thought of Megan being able to do it and not her, and similarly made it through on the second try. The pride on their faces was so evident; I tried to photograph them both, but the sun was in a bad position to get a clear shot. "I did it" and "I did it too", however, are exact quotes, uttered by both girls at the moment of their triumph.

As I thought about this later when posting the photos from my phone, it occurred to me that "I did it" might be the greatest thing you will ever hear your child say. There's a balance there to figure out. Be there, be helpful, but make sure you're not doing it for them. She has to figure out she can lift that foot off the second landing and hang on with only her hands. You did it, big girls.

Language

Do you want to learn to speak 3 year old? Sure, we all do. But who has time for boring drills or memorization? With Rosetta Stone: 3 Year Old, however, on your first day you'll be saying words like:

- Old McDonald's: Any fast food restaurant, whether it is actually McDonalds or not
- Forsmithias: Any yellow flower, except dandelions
- Last Morning: An indeterminate amount of time usually - but not necessarily - in the past. Can refer to any hour of the day as well, from actual morning to the dead of night

Stressful week at home this past. Thanks to a project at work I spent what seemed like about 80 hours in the office getting some servers rebuilt, while Jenn took care of the girls almost exclusively while battling a cold/fever as well. Get's better to, as I'm in KC this weekend for training. Jenn, the girs and I are going to be taking a mini vacation up here to KC at the end of May, though, so some relaxation coming up. Well, as much relaxation as you can get with two 3 year olds at least.

Girls for their part are continuing to grow and develop like weeds. Probably 99% potty trained at this point. Sometimes the pooey thing is a bit of a problem, and there is an accident every once in a while, but more often than not they're running off to the bathroom on their own, with a shout of intent. We don't really do a good job of keeping track of their height or anything, but every once in a while I'll be struck at how tall they look or how heavy they feel.

Kayla continues to be the one most concerned about what she's wearing. Usually wants to be in a dress, always very concerned about being in a skirt or having the right shirt. Not uncommon for her to change clothes 2 or 3 times in the evenings. Once she learns about clothes matching and styles it'll be all over. Seems like she might have a Daddy's Girl streak in her too; always quick to say that she liked basketball/football/Jupiter/whatever boring program Daddy watches those rare times he commandeers the TV. Favorite TV right now: Doc McStuffins.

Megan cares about fashion sometimes, but not nearly as much as Kayla. Flat refused every dress Mommy offered the other day in favor of a long-sleeve KU shirt and grey pants. Likes the iPad/laptops more than Kayla, though both girls have cooled on the iPad somewhat lately. She likes rough-housing more than Kayla, and is always ready to be thrown around or "get" Daddy. Favorite TV right now: Little Einsteins.

What it's like to be a parent

The whole bedtime/wakeup thing is always an adventure for us. Kayla and Megan usually get put to bed by 7:30 or 8, but when they actually go to sleep tends to vary, depending on how much tired energy they have. Usually it's by 8:30 but often it can stretch to 9:30 or beyond, which can make for some rough mornings.

On weekends they'll naturally wake up around 7:30 or 8, and be happy as clams, but on weekdays I have to get them up by 6:30 or so, to have time to get us all ready and out the door. That extra hour makes a world of difference; they're almost never ready to get up, and are usually pretty grumpy about it. A ritual of sorts has been established, a small little play that is acted out every morning.

IGNORE ME!: Daddy comes in to wake us up, to stunning indifference. If they are not already, both girls will quickly cover themselves with whatever blanket or pillow is near to hide from the sudden light, while Daddy gently prompts that it's time to get up, usually while killing time playing Words with Friends. Any suggestion of getting up, going potty, getting dressed, or any other activity is met with grunts of discord from beneath the covers. This is just the warm up; I know better than to rip off blankets or scoop them out of bed so soon, as this will just lead to Grumpy.

It's Fun Game Time!: Sometimes hiding beneath covers will lead to a game of hide and seek or peek-a-boo, which, if we're awake enough, will elicit some smiles and laughter. Once in a while the girls completely hide themselves beneath the covers, at which point they magically transform into "lumpy blankets" that can be playfully probed by Daddy. Sometimes Mommy is able to execute The Scoop Maneuver with minimal collateral damage. Occasionally there is some success with suggesting that someone can "win" the race to get potty'd and dressed first, or perhaps promises of breakfast if we happen to be really hungry. Grumpy slowly begins to melt away. This phase is of course pleasant and enjoyable, as playing with your children is pretty much why anyone becomes a parent in the first place. However caution must be exercised, because we are entering the...



Danger Zone!: We reach the critical phase, Grumpy Defcon 4. Fun Game Time will usually result in an awake and happy child, who will be glad to trundle off to the bathroom to begin her morning routine. However, if you push the issue too fast, or don't engage in the appropriate amount of Fun Game Time (which is unknown, of course), we immediately enter Condition Grumpy, resulting in a refusal to go potty, disapproval of any and all clothes suggestions, and a generally cantankerous attitude at least until we've been able to absorb 5 minutes of Dora. Losing the battle at this stage is heartbreaking, because it's one of those situations where you instantly know when you've misstepped, but you also know there's no chance at recovery.The magical wake-up script has been broken, and there's nothing to do but grin and bear it.

Rinse, lather, and repeat every weekday for the next 15 years.

Dang, I don't even want to go back and look how long it's been since I made a post. I know it was well before Christmas. If only there had recently (ha!) been a holiday that, via tradition, would have encouraged me to resolve to do better at posting regularly. Oh well.

Despite the lack of documentation, we do continue to thrive here. Girls are continually getting bigger and smarter. Potty training is *this* close. Kayla considers herself trained it seems; though of course there are still accidents, she will mostly go when we prompt and occasionally on her own as needed. Megan is tailing a bit in this area, but it hopefully won't be long now. In fact Mommy and Kayla are out and about right now, having a day of shopping at "special" stores, which of course will coincidentally be wherever Jenn wants or needs to go. Megan had to settle for Best Buy with Daddy.

Our biggest challenge as of late is dealing with little girls who still need to learn a few rules about how it's acceptable to act. We're not taking the word "No" very well lately, resulting in some spontaneous crying fits, or more humorously, Megan crossing her arms in a huff, wrapped around her torso about as far as possible, looking very much like the worlds cutest gansta rapper. I imagine it's poor discipline theory for me to laugh at it, but sometimes these things cannot be helped.

But overall they're both slowly becoming fully functional humans. Letters and numbers are recognized; Megan could tell we were in Lane 5 at Best Buy today. We want to read books as often as possible, do puzzles quite a bit. One of the more popular games is "Mommy", where one girl will pretend to be a baby (human, puppy, kitty, cow, whatever), and the other will care for her.

One thing lately that has been interesting to me: You can see the bond between the twins..."deteriorating" is not the right word, perhaps "getting some slack". There was a time when one girls going to daycare without the other (because of sickness) was a very distressing event. Tears from the girl that had to stay home, confusion for the girl going on the car ride over ("Where's Megan/Kayla?"), and reports of the girl at daycare "not being herself" when we picked her up. Kayla stayed home with both me and Jenn a couple days last week though with a cold/sinus infection, while Megan was sniffling but well enough to go to Miss Kelli's, and it wasn't nearly the problem it once was. Again today, Mommy took Kayla out to celebrate her being a "big girls", and while there were some tears from Megan initially, they were because she didn't get to do something special too, not because Kayla would be away. We went out to Best Buy real quick, came home and ate some lunch, watched Team Umizoomi, read some books and laid down for a nap, no big deal. Only a couple of mentions of Mommy and Kayla being home soon.

Expected of course, but still fascinating to watch. They continue to develop their own personalities. Kayla will often want to change clothes as soon as she gets home from daycare, because Mommy and Daddy will typically ditch their work shirt and put on some shorts or sweats in the evenings; most of the time Megan couldn't care less. Megan though seems to have much more patience with using the iPad, figuring out how to get it to do something, etc.

September Zoo Trip - Los of pictures!

Last September, just before the girls' third birthday, we took them to the zoo.  It was the first time we'd done so, even though the zoo is just across town.   We met up with our friend Tricia and her daughter, Emma and toured the zoo with them.

Megan and Kayla

We'd planned to do it before, but never quite got around to it.  We thought it was warmer than it was when we ventured out, so the girls were a tad underdressed for the weather.
Daddy rectified that situation quickly by buying each of them a long sleeved blue Sedgwick County Zoo t-shirt!

Megan and Kayla

First we went to see the giraffes.  Grandma Ruth Bingham really likes giraffes, so I'm including lots of giraffe pictures!

Baby giraffe running over to the momma giraffe

Daddy and Megan watching giraffes

yeah, I don't know either.  Let's go with Kayla and Megan since Megan had polka dots on her bow earlier.

Kayla

 Let's stick with Kayla and Megan.

They had fun getting up close and personal with some of the animals.

We tried to get them to pose with the sculpture, but couldn't get their attention at the same time.

Emma, Megan and Kayla watching a gorilla

Emma, Kayla and Megan with the bear

Megan, Daddy and Kayla, watching penguins

A Peacock -- wandering around near the penguins

While we were at the zoo, we also stopped at the playground area.  The girls LOVED climbing and sliding!

Kayla

Megan

Megan

Kayla

Kayla

Megan

We had a great time, and look forward to doing it more this coming spring!

Traveling

The past month has been a busy one, punctuated by a couple of trips.

The week of May 15th I was in Atlanta, GA, at a Microsoft conference, which of course meant that Jenn was a single mom for five days. She did great of course, but it's always a little bit draining when you're trying to wrangle both girls for an extended period by yourself. Compounding this was the fact I had to work most of the Saturday after I got back...it was definitely a long week.

The conference was at the Georgia World Congress Center, which is right downtown next to the Olympic Park, Georgia Dome, Phillips Arena (where the Atlanta Hawks play), Coca-Cola World and CNN's headquarters. It's really a pretty nice area; you can take a train right up from the airport, all kinds of hotels and restaurants within walking distance, couple of mall-type places, etc. Anyway, one of the other attractions in the area is an aquarium, and I decided I was going to hit it up at some point for some gifts for the girls.

I walked over the the place around 3 one day, and a couple of very unhelpful women told me there was no one available to take me to the gift shop, the exit to which I could see not 30 feet from where I stood, because "everyone was getting ready to leave for the day". The aquarium closed at 5 of course, I suppose I should have raised a fuss, but figured I had better things to worry about. As it turns out, walking back to the hotel I passed a children's museum, who were more than happy to let me drop into their gift shop and give them ~$50 for 10 minutes of work. I ended up with a stuffed Grover and Cookie Monster, which were well received, and occasionally fought over (mental note: GET IDENTICAL TOYS WHENEVER POSSIBLE!)

Our second trip happened last weekend, as Jenn and I made Memorial Weekend longer, and went up to KC for a couple days while the girls stayed with Granny and Grandpa. They had a wonderful time by all accounts, and in fact getting them out of Granny's house Sunday night was a little traumatic.

In another burst of development, we've seen the girls progress with the concept of talking to someone over the phone/video. While I was in Atlanta, Jenn and I tried to do a video call session between home and the hotel room. We were hampered by the hotels terrible internet being hammered by 500 or so geeks, but it was good enough to get a picture through for a while. Girls have done this with Granny a couple times as well, and usually they express mild interest at best, and are off to do something else quickly. Same for trying to talk to someone over the phone.

Then all of the sudden, we're calling them last Friday night after pulling into KC, and they're responding to questions, telling us about how they played on the swingset, saying bye-bye at the appropriate time, etc. During our KC trip we bought them a couple of toy phones from the Disney store, and yesterday evening I busted them out during a bout of fussiness-fueled desperation, and for several precious minutes they were having quiet conversations with Mommy or Grandma or Whomever, telling them they were fine and how they played at Ms. Kelli's. Just this evening as well, Mom called to tell me about the trouble my uncle Kevin's family is having with flooding up in South Dakota, and the girls conversed with Granny over speaker phone for a bit, like they had been doing it all their lives.

Jenn has commented several times recently as well about how much they seem to be growing up. Indeed, every morning on the drive over to daycare, the conversation becomes a little bit more coherent and relevant. Though, as an aside, a note to Kayla and Megan if and when they read this many years from now: Yes, there are birds, I see them too, you don't necessarily have to point out every one to me.

A-B-C's

As most of you already know, the weather this "spring" has been quite up and down, as Old Man Winter has put up more of a fight this year for whatever reason. So to, has the Vogts household. It seems like we're on about Month 3 of some immortal cold. The girls haven't suffered nearly as much as mommy and daddy, but we've all taken our turn. I am debating the wisdom of surrounding the four corners of the house with perpetually burning fires as proof against further disease.

Still, spirits rise along with the temperature, as we find ourselves at the two-and-a-half year marker. Aside from bouts of colds, the girls have been doing fabulously, and in fact last night brought their continued development into focus.

I needed to mow the lawn after I got home from work, so Ruth came over and watch the girls until Jenn got home. After this was done, Ruth stayed on a bit to go over some tax stuff with Jenn, while I watched the girls. Earlier they had discovered an ABC puzzle, tucked away by the television, and desperately wanted to partake. So we opened it up, and (at least I'd like to think) learned some ABC's. How much learning actually took place I'm not qualified to say, perhaps it was all in one ear and out the other. But they at least can mimic back the letter when told what it was, and could recognize most of the pictures on the puzzle when told what the letter stood for.

Once again, you tend to lose sight of the forest for the trees, unless you purposefully stop and take inventory of what's going on around you. Kayla and Megan regularly have conversations between themselves, that a third party can understand as well. They can easily undress themselves (as we sometimes find out if we put them to bed or down for a nap too early), and can do a half-decent job of getting at least their pants on sometimes as well. They'll interact with TV a lot more, tell Dora which way she needs to go in the maze, or recognize when a character is sad, happy, or silly. We generally have an opinion on what clothes are acceptable when dressing in the morning, unless Daddy is in a hurry and forces the issue.

We also greatly anticipated the birthday of Cousin Jordan recently. Mommy took the girls shopping at  Toys R Us for some Lego sets. Cake and ice cream was the favorite topic of conversation the rest of that week. Had a great time at Tommy and Charlene's, tearing around the basement, and actually doing a pretty decent job of keeping up with Jalen, believe it or not.

Potty training continues with sporadic results as well. We had Great Success! the other day, both girls going big girl potty Sunday night before bed, as well as the next morning after we woke up. Since then, however? Eh, not so much. The process continues.

Sickness and Schedules

After the girls were first born, Jenn obviously was home with them for a while, and I actually took over after that for about 3 weeks, give or take, mostly because I get more vacation than I can use, and I could. This took us to around Jan '09 without needing any kind of daycare. Jenn's mom Ruth took over for us at that point; she'd walk over in the morning, and take care of them until I got home at around 5 or so. Which was awesome of course - daycare showing up at your house - but couldn't last forever, as we knew. Seems like I'm remembering she took care of them until about 9 or 10 months old, until they eventually became too heavy and too active for her to keep up with 5 days a week, and still keep her sanity. So, we started looking for daycare options.

While we looked, we briefly toyed with the idea of me becoming a stay-at-home dad. We weren't sure what our daycare costs were going to be, and whether they might threaten to make my take home pay redundant. As it turned out, the answer to that question was "No", but for several days I was seriously considering the possibility, what it would mean for my life, whether I'd have been able to handle it, etc. I'm sure that overall it would have been great, but honesty compels me to admit that there are times when I could not imagine having to take care of the girls by myself 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Times like this weekend, for example.

Kayla and Megan are sick. A cold ravaged the house a few weeks back that the girls mostly recovered from, save for an occasional cough. It was never serious enough for us to worry, we know by now that the answer from the doctor would have been "Push fluids, watch her appetite, let us know if there's a fever or it gets worse". Late Friday and this weekend, however, the cough started getting worse, and we started seeing all the classic "I don't feel good" symptoms. We had Megan in on Saturday as she was the first to start a fever, and had the worse bark. They told us it was probably viral, but gave us an antibiotic just in case it was "clinical bronchitis", which seems to be one of those medical terms that translates into "Eh, we're not really sure". Kayla we had in yesterday, same diagnosis/result (although the over-eager PA did try a breathing treatment as well).

You come to appreciate how much kids depend on their routines. This is something every parenting source in the world will mention, but doesn't really sink in until you've experienced the consequences first hand. Even at 2+, it seems to snowball. A little stuffiness leads to a missed nap. A missed nap leads to a cranky afternoon. A cranky afternoon leads to an even crankier evening, at which point they become overtired and fight sleep more than usual. Rinse and repeat for 3 days, and your result is Megan still awake at 9pm tonight, sitting on Mommy's lap watching House in the living room.

Jenn stayed home with both girls today. It was up and down most of the day it sounds like, but when I got home, it's like a balloon popped. Within about 10 minutes Megan was in an inconsolable mood. She wanted Daddy to hold, then Mommy. She wanted juice, then sent it away when offered. She wanted to sit and snuggle to watch Dora, but why would I expect her to want to sit in that chair? Megan's ability to keep herself awake is legendary, but she really took it to another level tonight. At one point she crawled down from Jenn and wanted to go play with some blocks. She got as far as the block bucket, put her hands in to fetch some....and that's where the effort stalled. In retrospect we maybe should have just let her stay there, she probably would have fallen asleep right there, hands still half-clutching the blocks.

We finally got her down around 9:30, which of course means she'll be 2 hours in the hole to start out with today. There's some concern of ear infection, but they tend to wake up feeling OK, I think we'll probably have to try daycare today. Schedule, how we have missed you.

Superdad

This past Sunday Jenn had some month end stuff to do in the office, so the girls and I spent the afternoon/evening together. Good day overall; we wrestled around on the floor, watched a lot of Dora, the US/Canada gold medal game, and I think the Science Channel was even running a "Planets" marathon of some kind.

Around 4:30 or so Megan was stinky, so we went and changed her diaper. She wasn't having any of it, trying to wriggle out of her sleeper, kicking like crazy, but eventually we got her all zipped up. We went back to the living room just in time to see the US/Canada game go to overtime, and during that break we ate an early supper. Girls ate theirs, I washed each girl up and set them back in the living room, first Megan then Kayla. When I set Kayla down I noticed a spill of something on the carpet, figured Megan must have spilled a bit of sippy or the puppy got too excited for some reason, didn't think much of it and just dabbed it up.

Girls by then were happy to watch some more Dora, so I nuked a Hot Pocket or something and ate while they played. Somewhere around 6:30 or so we started getting tired, so I grabbed Megan and started making ready for a bath.

I had her sleeper completely off before I realized that she wasn't wearing a diaper. I double checked the sleeper....No, it wasn't in there. I looked around on the floor....Nothing there either. I must have stood there for a good 5 minutes, unwilling to admit the truth to myself, but finally came to terms with the fact that my daughter had been running around the living room diaperless for the better part of 2 hours, wearing only her sleeper. Evidently I had just forgotten to put one on during the last eventful diaper change. And yes, that was her "accident" on the carpet that I had blamed on the dog.

I got pretty lucky all things considered; no poopy, and only the one accident. They were rolling around everywhere on the living room floor; had she been water-logged it could have been a nightmare. Really though, if we would have started a "When will Mike forget the first diaper" pool before October '08, I'm guessing the heaviest action would have been way before ~17 months. I feel pretty good about beating the odds.

In non excrement-related news, things continue to chug along nicely overall. As Jenn mentioned I was laid up for quite a while thanks to my back, but seem to be on the mend and can at least get around and function. No surgery, but PT and a couple of epidurals, seems to be working so far. Girls are growing as always, we seem to be just about on the cusp of really breaking through in speaking. The "backpack" and "map" portions of Dora in particular elicit very familiar sounds. We can also sign "please" and "more" like pros, walk in and out of daycare on our own, locate Mommy, Daddy, Kayla, Megan, Grandma(s), Grandpa, and Loki with no problem, find toys by name, and just in general, our sentences are becoming more than a string of "dat dat's".

Christmas in Wichita Pictures

On Christmas Eve, Grandma Ruth came over.  We got out the puzzle the girls had gotten from Granny and Grandpa Vogts. 

Kayla, Grandma, Megan

We had a peaceful evening together, until I tried to drive Grandma Ruth home. I thought it was too windy and snowy for her to walk through the yards. Little did I realize how big of a snow drift there was right in front of our driveway! We got stuck when we backed into it. We later learned there was a sheet of ice beneath it, so we were doomed from the start. Luckily, with a great deal of effort and the help of a kind neighbor, we got back into the garage and our neighbor drove mom home. (Thanks, Ian!)

If only Santa had come earlier, I'm sure the girls would have been happy to drive Grandma Ruth home in their car!

Megan

Kayla

The don't quite have the hang of it yet, but the did enjoy it when daddy helped them around the living room!  At the end, Megan did push herself backwards a little, so with a little more practice, they'll be driving like race car drivers!

Santa also brought them a "Choo Choo Wagon".  No longer in production, these wagons are treasured among parents of multiples.  When you have a double stroller, the kids are seated close together -- and the one in back inevitably begins kicking the one in front.  And grabbing bows out of her hair, in our case.  If you use a side by side stroller, you take up entirely too much of a walkway.  Put them in a big wagon, and you still have a shared space. 

Megan and Kayla

But with this wagon, each one has their own car (with seatbelt)! Each one can see more easily than in the stroller, too! Great for trips around the neighborhood or the zoo! But now I'm turning into a commercial for a product you can no longer find except on ebay and other used merchandise outlets!  It won't replace the stroller, but we're looking forward to using it this summer and taking them on their first trip to the zoo.

The girls did get the hang of unwrapping presents!  Aunt Karen, Uncle Carl and Cousin Nathan used pink and purple dotted paper - in keeping with our pink/purple theme for the girls. Kayla tore right into it!  No stopping them now!

Kayla

Later in the day, we changed into clothes -- and Aunt Karen loaned Megan her Santa hat.  Megan found a Wii remote, and was ready to play!

Megan

Uncle Carl loaned his Santa hat to Kayla, who had found another Wii remote to play with, and they sat with Grandma Ruth!  But getting all three to smile and pose at the same time proved to be a challenge, so I picked one where the girls were closest to ready.  Sorry, Grandma!

Megan, Grandma, Kayla

Cousin Nathan played the Wii, while Kayla just thought she was helping...or was she?

Mike, Nathan, Kayla

Uncle Carl and Megan had a nice talk.  We're not sure anyone understood what Megan was saying, but she was definitely engaged in the exchange and enjoying the conversation.

Megan and Uncle Carl

And finally, the girls proved the age-old fact, that kids like the box best of all.

Kayla, Megan

Merry Christmas!

Just a couple random pictures...

Every morning, the girls like to "help" daddy put on his shoes. Shoelaces can be great fun, you know!

He brings his shoes over to the couch and like moths to a flame, the girls hurry over. They start by picking up his shoes, then move on to tugging at shoelaces.
It's a fun morning ritual. Well, the girls have fun, and I have fun watching it!
(Megan is standing, Kayla is sitting)



The girls don't have daddy wrapped around their little fingers -- nope, not one bit! But after all, who can resist those little faces when they look up at you with their hands out and mouths open...Megan won this bite!



And finally...who can pass up pictures of the girly-girls sleeping....complete with Kayla and her thumb!

Babies in Chiefs gear

Jenn indulges me.



Kayla


Megan


Daddy and his girls


Also, there are a couple new videos up at the Youtube channel.

Girls had their two month appointment yesterday. Kayla weighs 10 lbs 13 oz, and Megan 9 lbs and 13 oz. Megan was a little low on the percentiles for length and such, but is still growing at an expected rate, so all is well. Kayla was around the 50th percentile, for singleton, full term children. Doc found no other problems, they got their shots with minimal fuss and have not shown any negative effects, and all is well.

Jenn went back to work today. Little tough on her, but to be expected, she handled it well. In her stead, I'm taking three weeks off from work, through the 29th, to take care of the girls. Should be interesting; today was pretty uneventful though. Girls slept most of the day, perhaps a little hangover still from their shots.

We were up at Granny and Grandpa Vogts on Monday, took the girls up to the grade school so mom could show them off to everyone there. Then just kind of hung out for the evening; dad and I babysat while Jenn went shopping in Mac and mom went up to a school play for a bit. Sounds like we'll be seeing them sometime this weekend as well, mom's coming down to go shopping.

Other than all that, it's pretty much business as usual. Girls are starting to become more aware of their environment it seems, we can get smiles out of them once in a while, they will follow toy keys somewhat, etc. Kayla in particular seems to be fascinated with chewing on her fists as well, discovering that she has them I guess. Megan has been her usual diva-self, always wanting held.