And if Kayla doesn't wake up soon -- I might have to eat hers, too!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Valentine's Day Cookies
Back in February, Granny made Valentine's Day cookies for the girls. Cookies are a real treat, and the girls really enjoyed them!
I wish I had a picture of the cookies, as they were all decorated.
There was a large heart with Megan's name, and a large heart with Kayla's name.
Megan woke up from her nap before Kayla, so we had a little bit of time to ourselves.
She remembered the cookies, and while still waking up, munched on her personalized cookie.
These pictures emphasize her need of a haircut at the time...but it's okay, she's had one since these were taken.
Sometimes, she ate it right off the table.
A little drink, after nibbling all the way around the cookie.
Oh wait, this is My Little Pony here I found on the table.
Oh, Hi, Mommy -- I'm waking up! and you've got the camera! I'll smile now.
And I have My Little Pony AND a cookie!
Gallop, Gallop, Gallop
Can My little Pony share my cookie?
Well, maybe I'll eat it myself -- since it has my name on it. Yummy!!
And if Kayla doesn't wake up soon -- I might have to eat hers, too!
And if Kayla doesn't wake up soon -- I might have to eat hers, too!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
If You Give a Cat a Cupcake...
We have a book called, "If You Give a Cat a Cupcake".
This has nothing to do with that.
At least I don't think it does....
Kayla told me she was drawing a cat.
Megan told me she was drawing cupcakes.
I'm taking their word for it!
(Hey, two posts, one day...I'm on a roll!)
Lollipop Girls
Over the last couple weeks, I've had several opportunities to spend a lot of time with the girls outside the house. We get into our routines at home, and things aren't quite the same as they are when we're outside the house. I notice them growing up more. And I let them do different things.
For instance, They got their hair cut last weekend. I'm pretty much a mean mommy when it comes to candy. The girls don't get it from me. That's not to say they haven't had it at daycare parties, or from Granny or Grandma, and within reason -- that's okay. But it's not something I choose to give the girls at this time, and they aren't suffering for it.
So we get their hair cut, and before I realize what the stylist is talking about, she's gotten lollipops from a candy machine for the girls.
Well, I'm a mean mommy -- but I'm not mean enough to take candy out of their little hands in that situation! After all, I couldn't honestly claim I thought it might be poisoned, or that one might be allergic, or any other excuse.
So, the girls had their first lollipops. I'm fairly certain they were the first ones -- because they first called them "ice cream cones". I don't think they've had those yet -- although it's possible that they have and I don't know it....and don't want to, because I'm looking forward to giving them their first ice cream cones in the near future. But I digress.
Lollipops. Not just any lollipops, but Tootsie Pops. Big ones. BIG
ONES!
At least to the girls, and to mommy and grandma as we were
attempting to keep the lollipop stickiness from covering the girls, the
car seats, the clothes, and us. But boy, did they enjoy them!
We took them away so we could get dinner, and daddy and mommy gave them back to them at home. They didn't finish them -- we saved some for the next day.
And boy did we brush teeth that night!
For instance, They got their hair cut last weekend. I'm pretty much a mean mommy when it comes to candy. The girls don't get it from me. That's not to say they haven't had it at daycare parties, or from Granny or Grandma, and within reason -- that's okay. But it's not something I choose to give the girls at this time, and they aren't suffering for it.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
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.
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.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Twin Challenge
And if you're wondering, yes, I can tell who it is from the picture, but I can't describe what it is that makes them look different to me. I can tell you their hairlines are different -- but at any given time, Kayla's may look like Megan's and Megan's may look like Kayla's. The spacing in their teeth is different. Kayla has a mole that Megan doesn't have, but it's not somewhere that shows. They both have pink spots - birthmarks that have faded as they've grown, so unless you know where to look and which one looks like what, that doesn't help either.
But those aren't the things that make me know. They just look different to me.
But in a photo, it's a split second point in time, and there are some pictures where I'm not 100% sure who's who. But that's okay, they're only pictures.
And besides, if you call them the wrong name, they'll let you know!
"That's Kayla, I Megan!"
"I not Megan, I Kayla!"
And Megan will tell you her name is "Megan Wae!" (Megan Rae)
And Kayla will tell often tell you her name is "Kayla Wae" -- but will giggle and tell you the truth, garbling her middle name in a way I can't begin to duplicate in text, "Kayla Madelyn". I think she wants a middle name that she can actually pronounce.
Sometimes it helps to see another picture.
Of course I'm not telling if it's another of her, or one of her sister!
And this next one is from a completely different day, in which they both also happened to also have pigtails.
Answers to follow later!
Monday, March 07, 2011
Making Muffins
I've let the girls help me make muffins from a mix on a couple of occasions.
They help pour in the mix, pour in the milk, and most of all -- they stir.
They've even helped dollop it onto a cool tray before!
The other night with dinner, I had a few bread and butter pickles in a tiny bowl. The girls wanted some, and after handing them to them one by one, I ended up giving them the bowl with a couple pickle chips and a bit pickle juice.
Next thing I knew, they were putting in some peas. And pieces of bread. And some pieces of meat
And stirring.
And stirring some more.
And taking turns adding more smashed peas and bread.
And both stirring together.
I finally asked them what they were making.
The answer was obvious, of course.
Kayla answered first, "Makin' muffins!"
She was quickly echoed by Megan, "yeah, muppins! See?"
If only I had had a camera at the time.
Or maybe it's best that I didn't...
They help pour in the mix, pour in the milk, and most of all -- they stir.
They've even helped dollop it onto a cool tray before!
The other night with dinner, I had a few bread and butter pickles in a tiny bowl. The girls wanted some, and after handing them to them one by one, I ended up giving them the bowl with a couple pickle chips and a bit pickle juice.
Next thing I knew, they were putting in some peas. And pieces of bread. And some pieces of meat
And stirring.
And stirring some more.
And taking turns adding more smashed peas and bread.
And both stirring together.
I finally asked them what they were making.
The answer was obvious, of course.
Kayla answered first, "Makin' muffins!"
She was quickly echoed by Megan, "yeah, muppins! See?"
If only I had had a camera at the time.
Or maybe it's best that I didn't...
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Sick Kids
A while back, I d
Under the weather Kayla
Under the weather Megan
And in a more spirited hour, they decided to play with baby dolls. Although somehow, the grey cat door stop got into the mix. Relocated from the front hallway where the heavy plaster cat waits to block open the front door on warm days, the cat enjoyed the attention of two little girls who fed it toy bottles and sippy cups, and wrapped it in blankets along with their dollies. If only all doorstops received such attention...
Kayla and the doorstop cat
Megan and the doorstop cat
Kayla and Megan
Kayla and Megan
Kayla and Megan
We definitely have had our share of colds, sinus infections and ear infections -- so hopefully this bout was the last one for the season.
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Exploration Place Pictures
We only took a couple pictures at Exploration Place (See Mike's recap in the previous post).
Unfortunately, we got so wrapped up in the girls' excitement, that taking pictures didn't even cross our minds!
Except once, when we were in the toddler area.
We knew the girls like legos -- we learned they like trains!
Megan (purple), Kayla (pink)
Megan (purple), Kayla (pink), Random person
Kayla (pink), Megan (purple)
In the background of the train table picture, upper right side, is part of a Step 2 Roller Coaster.
I had seen these a long time ago on the internet, but we had visions of
all possible negative outcomes. We figured it wouldn't be used enough
to make it worth the cost or the space it requires.
Megan rode it twice and loved it! Then promptly got distracted by the water table.
Kayla, on the other hand, climbed up the steps, starting climbing onto the car, then said, "no" and continued over the car and down the steps on the other side. She never did ride it, and was perfectly content with her decision!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Exploration
We took the girls to Exploration Place today; Jenn's work had a "bring your families and enjoy" type day. A quick recap of our adventure.
Our journey begins around 10:00 this morning. Girls got up nice and early today (7:00), and were showing signs of being tired. Lunch at Exploration Place was scheduled to begin at 12:30. We hadn't really formulated a battle plan regarding nap time, mostly because it's sort of a dicey proposition as of late. The girls are getting to the point where they don't think they need an afternoon nap, which honestly has been their creed since about 9 months, but now have the fortitude and will to see their plans through, typically to the dismay of whomever is around. Most of the time the nap happens eventually, but gone are the days when you could bank on that 11-1 break.
On an ordinary day, lolling heads at 10:00 would have garnered some interest from Mommy and Daddy, but we would have waited for the rally. Today, however, we were on the clock, and when the window of opportunity, however slight, presented itself, we went for it. In retrospect a novice mistake, as play had been relatively subdued all morning; we hadn't even ventured downstairs. The girls spent an hour laughing at our folly in their cribs, and then it was time to "wake up" and get ready.
We arrived at our destination without incident, took a quick lunch, and went about our adventure. I'm not quite sure what I was worried about, what scenario I envisioned, that would lead me to believe a 2 year old child could ever be bored/fussy/angry in such a place. "Here, being who is evolutionarily designed to drink in information, go be bored in this giant room filled with sights and sounds you've never experienced before". We could have spent 10 hours there and they probably still would have been going strong. Some favorites:
- Sharks in the Megalodon exhibit. Sharks being a familiar nemesis of Dora, of course.
- The K'Nex exhibit. I'm not sure how much K'Nex pays for that exhibit, but I know they make it back 10 fold in product sales.
- A castle, built into several rooms, which, with the number of kids running around, actually gives a pretty accurate re-creation of siege warfare, I imagine.
And we didn't even get much into the second wing of the place, though it did seem like that was more "older kid" stuff. A lot of people I know have had a "Meh, whatever" opinion of Exploration Place, and I can see where some of it would get a been there, done that reaction after a couple visits (especially with older kids), but the Vogts Clan had a blast.
Aside from that adventure, things are finally getting back to normal, though both Mommy and Daddy are dealing the the last remnants of colds. The girls are better though, back on schedule for the most part, and continuing to amaze. Full sentences are commonplace, and some of the conversations they have between themselves are starting to make sense to foreign ears as well. Just tonight, Megan warned Kayla not to take her chair while she went to fetch something from her room. Which of course Kayla immediately did, but still. As always, I try not to underestimate what they're capable of, something days like today help with considerably.
Our journey begins around 10:00 this morning. Girls got up nice and early today (7:00), and were showing signs of being tired. Lunch at Exploration Place was scheduled to begin at 12:30. We hadn't really formulated a battle plan regarding nap time, mostly because it's sort of a dicey proposition as of late. The girls are getting to the point where they don't think they need an afternoon nap, which honestly has been their creed since about 9 months, but now have the fortitude and will to see their plans through, typically to the dismay of whomever is around. Most of the time the nap happens eventually, but gone are the days when you could bank on that 11-1 break.
On an ordinary day, lolling heads at 10:00 would have garnered some interest from Mommy and Daddy, but we would have waited for the rally. Today, however, we were on the clock, and when the window of opportunity, however slight, presented itself, we went for it. In retrospect a novice mistake, as play had been relatively subdued all morning; we hadn't even ventured downstairs. The girls spent an hour laughing at our folly in their cribs, and then it was time to "wake up" and get ready.
We arrived at our destination without incident, took a quick lunch, and went about our adventure. I'm not quite sure what I was worried about, what scenario I envisioned, that would lead me to believe a 2 year old child could ever be bored/fussy/angry in such a place. "Here, being who is evolutionarily designed to drink in information, go be bored in this giant room filled with sights and sounds you've never experienced before". We could have spent 10 hours there and they probably still would have been going strong. Some favorites:
- Sharks in the Megalodon exhibit. Sharks being a familiar nemesis of Dora, of course.
- The K'Nex exhibit. I'm not sure how much K'Nex pays for that exhibit, but I know they make it back 10 fold in product sales.
- A castle, built into several rooms, which, with the number of kids running around, actually gives a pretty accurate re-creation of siege warfare, I imagine.
And we didn't even get much into the second wing of the place, though it did seem like that was more "older kid" stuff. A lot of people I know have had a "Meh, whatever" opinion of Exploration Place, and I can see where some of it would get a been there, done that reaction after a couple visits (especially with older kids), but the Vogts Clan had a blast.
Aside from that adventure, things are finally getting back to normal, though both Mommy and Daddy are dealing the the last remnants of colds. The girls are better though, back on schedule for the most part, and continuing to amaze. Full sentences are commonplace, and some of the conversations they have between themselves are starting to make sense to foreign ears as well. Just tonight, Megan warned Kayla not to take her chair while she went to fetch something from her room. Which of course Kayla immediately did, but still. As always, I try not to underestimate what they're capable of, something days like today help with considerably.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
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.
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.
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