Our Kids

Well I might be going quiet for a while. I am off to San Antonio with the girls in tow and I am not sure how often I will get to post. I must admit some trepidation about flying with the girls but I know that it will be fine. We leave at 730AM tomorrow and it is a 2 hour direct flight. The girls are very good so I am not too concerned but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous:)

The girls are doing great, still napping twice a day most days with a long nap in the morning and a very short nap in the afternoon. They are getting pretty good at stabbing things with their forks and feeding themselves chunky foods like sweet potatoes. They are walking, climbing and walking fast (not running), they are often covered in bruises from all the activity. Piper has 8 front teeth and is cutting 3 molars all at once. Lela is very happy with her 6 front teeth and not interested in getting more;)

Lela says about five works all starting with the letter “d”, diaper, daddy, dog, duck and one more I can’t remember. Piper says dog and daddy and sometimes diaper. Lela is making more effort to say what you are saying but both the girls have about 40 signs that they do on a regular basis, which is very cool.

Anyhoo….that is about all that is going on and we will see you soon.

Well I have to say thank you to that being that created the world and made what comes around goes around, karma, and all that. We were blessed with two beauties that compliment each other in every way. For example, Piper is VERY particular about which sippy cup she wants, which spoon, which high chair and she is certain that she wants every single toy that Lela has. As a perfect compliment Lela is so easy going and doesn’t get mad when Piper takes the toy she just went and got from the playroom, takes her sippy cup, takes her snack (and gives her the one that she had) and generally trades for whatever she has. It is very sweet and I am so thankful that Lela is so laid back. Now there is the occasional moment when Piper hits Lela with the toy she just stole from Lela and that does cause Lela some discomfort (in the form of crying on your shoulder) but other than that they get along great.

They are always sharing with each other, trading toys and holding hands. Jason mentioned how they like to touch fingers and when they are in their own stroller (ie. when Jason is with me and we take the two strollers instead of the double) they like to lean up and see one another and touch fingers. When one wakes up and the other is still sleeping, they must check on their twin and make sure that she is still there and then they are happy to be hoisted up and carried out of the room.

It is sweet to see the bond that they have getting stronger. Those of you with sibling children probably notice many of these same traits.

Thanks again to the one that looks over us for making the world go round:)

Subtitle: Everything I’ve learned about parenting came from America’s Funniest Home Videos.

I’ve recently become way too addicted to ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos. Thanks to Tivo I get a full hour of it everyday. While I haven’t actually watched every episode that Tivo has stored for me, sometimes it feels like I have.

The other day Mystique and I were talking about all the things we’ve learned about parenting (and I guess life in general) from watching this cheesy-at-times, but usually funny, show. I stole her idea and here it is:

• Never, under any circumstances, give your child a bat of any kind. This goes double for you dads… you know what they’ll hit.
• Sledding down snowy hills will turn into uncontrollable sledding downhill 80% of the time. 40% of the time you’ll manage to run down a member of your family. 40% of the time it will be a stranger. The final 20% of the time you’ll end up in a lake or a river.
• Pinatas are never a good idea. See #1.
• Never let your child pick how much bubble-making solution to use in their bath.
• Do not keep chocolate syrup in your house until your child is at least 16 years of age.
• Don’t even think about the Barbie Jeep or any sort of motorized mini-vehicle for your child. They’ll either run over your other child or manage to find walls, trees, or steep hills that you weren’t aware of.
• Trampolines are a recipe for disaster.
• Trampolines with basketball hoops nearby are certain disaster.
• Do not try jumping off a swing if you’re older than 16.
• Just don’t try swinging if you’re older than 16.
• Mantra at a zoo: Llamas spit.

That’s all I can think of for now…

jason

This morning, after a nice sleep-in until 6:30am (thank you girls), I got up to bring them their morning cup (bottle) of (soy) milk. As usual, the girls were standing up in the cribs, arms folded over the side walls, waiting for the door to open. I love walking in to that… they both look at you either with a big grin and squeel, or a cute sad face nd a wail. I’m not sure what determines the greeting, could be as simple as “poopy or not poopy”, or maybe as complex as “Piper dropped her blanket and stuffed animals on me and I wasn’t done sleeping.”

Anyhow… this morning it was the combo deal… Piper, though I’m sure happy to see me, didn’t give me much of a smile, but Lela did. I’ve gotten into the routine of getting Piper first, mainly because her crib is closest to the door, but also because she won’t (currently) scream at me when I put her down after changing her. It’s funny how there are just little things that you learn every day…

So I picked her up and she gave me a standard Piper bear hug… I love those hugs. But this morning, after only a small, five-second hug, she whipped around to face Lela, squeeked real loud and pointed her finger at her best friend.

Lela, watching us with her blue sport bottle of soy milk, flashed Piper her trademark big ol’ toothy grin, threw in a bonus Lela-chuckle, and pointed her finger back. Both of the girls had huge smiles on their face as I leaned Piper in so they could touch fingers and finish their “good morning sister, I love you.” And with that, they were ready for the day.

And so was I.

The three Haslup girls went to the Zoo yesterday… pictures are up on flickr, of course. It looks like a good time was had by all… I can imagine the girls would be in sign-language overload seeing all the animals they’ve learned.

When it’s nice out (which is a lot), I get to come home to the girls waiting out on the front patio for me. Actually, they’re really out there just to pick up rocks and bring them to mommy (or put them in their mouth and then bring them to mommy), but I like to think they’re waiting for me. Usually when I get home Piper’s ready for a big bear hug which makes me feel good. Lela’s usually got a big smile on her face and some sort of exclamation comes out of her mouth. That’s her version of the bear hug and it makes me feel just as good. Then I get to sit on the patio with my awesome wife and soak in the good life of a happy family. It doesn’t get any better than this.

So someday I have to put a video together of the girls signing… this morning I apparently didn’t give the girls enough milk because they were both saying “milk please” and “share please” which is cool because it’s putting two signs together. It’s also cute when, if Piper has both bottles, Lela will say please to Piper. It won’t help, but it’s cute

So after a pretty eventful day shopping and lunching with Uncle JJ we came home for some cool down/wind down time. We read books, jumped on Daddy (a lot), played with our new Noah’s Ark toy, climbed on the sofa and even sat in our cribs for a half an hour and made poo poos. After all that we had a bath and got all scrubby clean. The girls have not been able to bath since Friday when we took Piper to the podiatrist so it was much needed and enjoyed.

After our bath Lela took Daddy’s hand and dragged him to the front door where she tried to open it to get out. So cute and a bit scary:) Anyway we got our shoes on and went out for a walk. The girls can walk all the way around our block and we do it two to three times a week. You have probably seen some of the photos of them pushing their strollers, those are the days when it is not so hot and we have a lot of time to kill.

As we were strolling along the path we always take mommy wasn’t paying total attention while walking holding Lela’s left hand. So Lela reached out with her right hand and……yep you guessed it GRABBED A CACTUS. Of course it was the kind that has thousands of little spiny splints that get stuck in your skin and you can’t get them out. It was horrible, she was crying and so confused at what had happened. It took quite some time to get her calmed down and we picked out as many as we could. Then we used the distraction technique and when that failed mommy sang (now I know you can’t imagine how that would calm someone down but it works for the girls:). So after all that drama, the girls fell into bed and fast asleep. I only hope the cactus fairy is kind to Lela tonight and heals all her wounds. Bad mommy:(

The girls are getting better everyday at feeding themselves with their forks. Last night they had mashed potatoes with peas and tofu and did a pretty good job eating with forks and bowls. They are totally off bottles, much to the joy of our pediatrician I am sure. I don’t really see the point, they are vessel agnostic and don’t care how they get the milk into their gullets but whatever, she said no bottles so no bottles. It is easier not to have all those bottles clunking around so I guess we will go with it. The girls don’t seem to care so I won’t push that issue.

They have started dancing when a good song comes on, they love Madonna’s latest CD and are getting into Black Horse and a Cherry Tree which has a good beat. I cleaned up at mothers day with a NANO, iHome, some great framed photos and even a juicePRO (a mini leatherman to carry so I can quickly dissect fruit). We have been enjoying our new music player in the living room while dancing around and wrecking the house, it is the usual for Friday.

Yesterday we went to a podiatrist and had a little wart removed from the bottom of Piper’s foot. Well it is in the process of removing itself, I hope. The doctor asked if it was bothering Piper and I hemmed and hawed and made the doctor in Montana sound like a grass chewing hick when I really should have said, “oh Piper, no she couldn’t care less but it is bugging the crap out of me”. Oh am I selfish or what!

Anyway, we got an indoor slide and we are keeping busy with lots of activity. The summer is going to be long but I think we will plan a few trips to keep us going.

Well I had a great Mother’s day. For those that know me I am not very sentimental about holidays and I forget everyone’s birthdays. Turns out I am sentimental about this one:) I take such pride in being a mom, I really do love it even though it is the hardest job on earth (that I have had anyway). There are lots of rewards but you have to make sure that you soak them in when they happen so that you don’t just blow through the day and miss them.

I am so thankful for the girls and for Jason. We had a wonderful brunch with family and then I sat back and read a cookbook while Jason et al ran around after the girls. I knew that even if they were crying someone was there tending to their needs and I did not feel compelled to lift a finger. It was a great day and all the years I spent “training” to be a mom without even knowing it have paid off.