E a t i n g f o r 3

Halloween 2011: Pebbles and James James

2012-01-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

I actually decided what the babies would be 360 days before this past Halloween. I saw a picture of Mark's college friend Maggie's twins, dressed like Pebbles and Bam Bam, and thought, "Brilliant!" So in August I started looking online for those costumes, but had no luck. I e-mailed Maggie to ask where she got hers. She said her mother made them, but would we like to borrow them? And I was like, "Uh, YEAH!" So we got awesome costumes without any fuss. But then there was a problem - Julia's costume was just too small. I was barely able to get it on her once, and I didn't want her to start despising a costume she was going to have to wear over and over. Thankfully Maggie included extra material when she sent the costumes so my mom was able to sew Julia a costume that matched James's. (A HUGE thank you to Maggie and my mom by the way!) Julia already had a leopard print diaper cover (doesn't every toddler?) so she wore that too. Maggie sent a giant bone for Julia to carry and I bought James a Bam Bam bat. I considered getting Julia a red wig to be Pebbles, but I thought her natural hair looked cute, and trying to get her to keep a wig on would have been a big headache. So they weren't exactly Pebbles and Bam Bam. Instead we called them our Cavebabies.

The next tricky part was convincing Julia to wear a bone barrette I bought. After putting it in her hair once, she had no interest in ever wearing it again. Eventually I showed her how pretty other barrettes were in her hair and I would tell her I was putting one of those in her hair while instead attaching a giant bone to the top of her hair. Over time she discovered my ploy and actually liked wearing the bone. It would be funny if in the future she refused all other barrettes in favor of the bone, as though it was a perfectly normal look for a 2 year old girl.

"Hey! Where's the other barrette I thought was in my hair?"

Side note: because of the bones in their costumes, the babies now refer to the letter "I" as "bone" since the "I" in their alphabet set is shaped like one. I like to think that they sing the alphabet song:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G
H, bone, J, K, L, M, N, O, P...

James models the letter "I."

The first Halloween event on the babies' agenda was Googleween for Kids. We had to park really far away and then Julia wanted to walk though the parking lot backwards. I laughed at Mark trying to speed her up, because I was holding the hand of "normal-walking" James. There ended up being just too many people in line for activities the twins wouldn't care about yet (like facepainting) so we didn't enjoy ourselves. We left and showed off the babies around Mark's office instead, and went to Googleween for Adults, kids in tow, the next day. There, the babies enjoyed their first funnel cake. (By the way, James had a run in with the ground a week before Halloween. That's not animal carcass blood smeared across Bam Bam's face.)

The babies play on a green sofa in Mark's office.

The only picture taken at Googleween itself. Apparently I was a victim of a zombie apocalypse. Who knew?

Next on the babies' busy schedule of Halloween activities was the Las Madres Cupertino 2009 playgroup's Halloween party held at a glamorous locale called a Sports Basement community room. Some of the parents organized Halloween crafts but my kids were more interested in carrying around balloons and eating quesadillas. Each parent brought a non-candy item (we brought bath toys), and the kids went from parent to parent trick-or-treating. (To the parent who brought Halloween pencils: Seriously? When is my under 2 year old going to be using those?) The babies also sat in my lap for song time.

"Who cares about crafts when we have balloons?!"

Why does James always get so serious when he holds balloons?

James the bashful

It's like Where's Waldo? but with Cavebabies.

The big trick-or-treat night was next. Last year I thought they were too young and it was too hard with their early dinner time, so this was our first time trick-or-treating. They got the hang of taking candy pretty quickly. We ending up having so much fun I wish we had gone last year. We've only lived at our house for a little over the year, so it was our first time meeting many of our neighbors. Sometimes the neighbors would start chatting with us but Julia would say "bye" and turn to leave, having decided that "Operation Take Candy" was complete. And, as if walking with toddlers wasn't slow enough already, much like at Googleween Julia also preferred to walk backwards.

Setting out for their first trick-or-treating.

The house full of single guys next door didn't know how to deal with babies so they just put the candy on the sidewalk and backed away.

The babies, like the cave-people they portray, know nothing of cars and traffic safety. Luckily Mommy does.

I've noticed for a long time that James is often very cautious around men. This was definitely noticeable while trick-or-treating. At one house he clung to my leg when a man answered the door, and then at another where a woman answered he started to walk inside.

It didn't take long to catch on to the idea of "take whatever you want."
(I think this is the house where after taking the candy, James decided to head inside and make himself at home.)

Julia's already distracted by the thought of her next candy score.

The road of the candy-chaser is a dark and lonely one.

TONIGHT WE DINE ON CANDY!

The babies didn't eat their candy treats (more for Daddy!), but they loved carrying them around the house, as though they were new toys to collect and hoard.

The trick-or-treating haul.

Last on the babies' activity list was their weekly Mom's Night Out playdate, this week at Stacy's house. She hosted a Halloween playdate where the babies dressed in costume, put stickers on a pumpkin, and colored a treat bag (full of Halloween goodies). They also ate ghost-shaped Rice Krispie treats. James polished off his; meanwhile we found half of Julia's in the toy box. (Thanks, Stacy, for many of these pictures and for all the Halloween treats.)

The key to making the bone look work is to just own it.

James can't get enough of his Rice Krispie treat.

"I will reluctantly eat half of this Rice Krispie treat, but you'll find the other half hidden somewhere else in the house."

James models his Bam Bam bedhead while covering his pumpkin with stickers.

Stacy's house has rocks in front, so we decided it would make a good photo op.

Julia is clearly channeling Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C.

"Cavebrothers are weird."

Rachel P. took this cool Hipstamatic print version.

Because of James's run in with the ground, I elected to wait a few weeks later when his face had healed to take photos of the babies running around in costume.

James licks his chops before heading in for the attack.

Sometimes cavemen take a break from catching their quarry to read a book about rainbows.

Julia looks like she's doing a witch doctor dance. (I recognize those from Scooby Doo.)

Here are some Scooby Doo witch doctors. At any rate, Julia has the right arm upraised, but is missing the crucial "skull staff."

Blunt weapon stand-off

"Captain Cavemaaaaaaaaan!"

James is more of an open mouth kisser.

"Help! I'm being attacked by vicious Cavebabies!"

Best Books Part II: 15 to 24 Months

2012-01-10T14:24:00.000-08:00

We’re finally moving away from gimmicky lift-the-flap books to some with a bit of plot. Here's my first post on books: Top 10 (or 11) Books for Babies 15 Months and Under. Although the books included on the previous list were the twins' favorite books when they were younger, easily half would still appeal to an older toddler. We now must have over 100 books, between purchases, gifts, hand-me-downs, and garage sale finds.

James gets stuck in book quicksand. (22 months)

James climbs to get to the stacks of books. (22 months)

Top 10

Hug (by Jez Alborough)
This book has few words so as a parent telling the story instead of reading it, you’re less likely to get bored. But the main attraction is the really sweet story. My kids loved it so much that “Bobo” was literally their second word, and they’re so cute yelling out “Bobo” whenever they see their favorite little monkey in the book.

James reads about giraffes hugging. (23 months)

Barnyard Dance! (by Sandra Boynton)
The text of this book has a great square dance-rhythm that makes it a joy to read. I put both babies on my legs and bounce them to the rhythm which makes them giggle. When we get to the end they say “more” and I read it again and again until my legs give out. All the Sandra Boynton books I’ve encountered have been good. From Horns to Toes is fun - they learned how to shake and shimmy from that. And Birthday Monsters! is a favorite (Julia gets super excited by the cereal confetti), and I imagine it will become even more popular as they learn about birthdays.

Good Night, Gorilla (by Peggy Rathmann)
This is another book with minimal text so you have to tell them the story. It’s really cute with lots of fun details. (Look for the stuffed animal version of each animal in their cage. I like that the elephant has a stuffed Babar.) Julia thinks the wide-eyed expression of the zoo keepers' wife is hilarious, and says "Eyes! Eyes!"

Wheels on the Bus (Raffi Songs to Read)
This book prompted me to sing the song to the babies. I know you can sing it without the book but they love looking at the pictures while also doing the hand motions. The book clearly takes place in an unnamed European country that may or may not have crazy Frenchies packed into a bus.

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (by Dr. Seuss)
It's a classic for a reason. The babies love imitating the noises, especially the page with lightning and thunder.

Julia makes my friend Natascha read her Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? (20 1/2 months)

Which baby is not one of Natascha's twins?

Just Like Daddy (by Cecilia Johansson)
Each page of rhyming text shows a baby and daddy animal. It's pretty adorable and there's textures for them to feel, too.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar (by Eric Carle)
Again, a classic for a reason. The babies love touching the holes left by the caterpillar eating through the page, and having me name all the food. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (we have the "slide and find" version) by the same author is another good book. In fact James likes it so much he will name the animal on the next page without seeing it, and knows them all in order.

Daddy Kisses (by Anne Gutman and Georg Hallensleben)
This is another cute daddy book. Each page shows a different animal daddy and how it kisses its baby (on the nose, on the eye, on the paw). And then it's fun to kiss your own little one there. Julia learned to "aroooo-ooo" like a wolf because of this book.

The babies usurp Mark's Father's Day gifts: Daddy Hugs and Daddy Kisses. James doesn't seem to be enjoying his Daddy Hug too much right now. (18 months)

Potty (by Leslie Patricelli)
As far as I can tell every book in this series is awesome, but I'm trying to only name one book per author. We also have my favorite, Tubby - which made my last list, as well as Yummy Yucky. This is by far my favorite book to read about the potty, and they laugh and get excited when the baby finally goes - and I quote - "tinkle tinkle toot."

Shake a Leg (by Constance Allen)
This is a good book (featuring Sesame Street characters) to get kids acquainted with different body parts. It's fun to watch them try to flap their arms, honk their noses, and make muscles.

Honorable Mentions

Dr. Seuss's ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! (by Dr. Seuss)
This book also has a nice rhythm. The babies love it - mostly because Daddy likes to rile them up with the “Jerry Jordan’s Jelly Jar” page. Now they skip the beginning and go right to this, their favorite part.

Baby Einstein: My First Book of Numbers
I don't actually read the text. Each page shows a different number and that number of items. So on page one there is one baby, one flower, one marble, one duck, and so on. It's funny to watch the babies imitate me counting.

Put Me in the Zoo (by Robert Lopshire)
The twins love this classic, especially since they're obsessed with colors and the leopard's spots turn a different color on every page.

James is engrossed reading about what color the leopard's spots will turn next. (16 months)

Go, Dog, Go!: P.D. Eastman's Book of Things that Go
This is another beloved classic for a reason. I show with my fingers how the dogs go up the ladder to the top of the tree at the end and it's funny to see the babies mimic me.

James is excited about Go, Dog, Go! Meanwhile, Julia doesn't like sharing a lap. (22 months)

ABC, A Sliding, Pushing, Turning Book! (by Moira Butterfield)
This is a good interactive book that's a bit unique.

James is obsessed with the x-ray on the other side of the water spout. (20 months)

Ten Playful Pups
I call this their "abacus pup" book because there are 10 puppies that can be moved to help them learn how to count.

Julia moving her abacus pups. (17 months)

Gossie (by Olivier Dunrea)
This is a cute little book and one of the first one's they've liked with some plot. I also like Peedie by this author, but Ollie is a bit of a slog.

Spot Goes to School (by Eric Hill)
This is a nice book with flaps (but it's not all about the flaps) that excites kids about starting school. Julia particularly loves this one.

Books that Most Pain Me to Read (a.k.a. I inwardly groan when the babies hand these books to me to read and sometimes I "accidentally" skip pages)

You Can Name 100 Trucks
There's nothing to read, just illustrations of 100 types of trucks. And some of the trucks are really obscure like the grapple skidder.

Julia usually likes You Can Name 100 Trucks but today she shares my opinion on it. (21 months)

James falls asleep while reading the most boring book known to baby-kind. He probably fell asleep somewhere between the foam pumper truck page and the crab loader page. (22 months)

Five Little Ducks
Anything involving counting down *slowly* from five to zero with the same text on every page except for a different number. Kill me.

Humpty Dumpty
It's always been a stupid story, and at this age it's particularly stupid. Who wants to explain what Humpty Dumpty is and what he's doing sitting on a wall?

Naked Humpty Dumpty story time! (Actually, Julia's wearing a diaper.) (18 months)

Meet James and Julia at 12-15 Months

2012-01-06T14:33:00.000-08:00

When new parents ask me, "When does it get better?" I tell them, "13 months." (And thank you so much, Mom, who, when I asked this question the second month the babies were born and wasn't sure how I was going to survive, answered "Oh... uh... 2 1/2 years..." That was a fun year of wallowing in hopelessness.) At 13 months our babies are suddenly able to entertain themselves. (Woo hoo! Mommy can eat lunch! And use a laptop while doing so! Miracle upon miracle!) Being able to entertain themselves is due to a combination of increased maturity and mobility. And then on top of it, being a parent gets more exciting because our babies start to understand what we are saying and follow simple commands. Toddlerhood kicks cute infant butt!

Health
The first day of this 12-15 month period doesn't start well though. To celebrate his first birthday, James has a febrile seizure and ends up in the ER. Thankfully by the next day he's feeling good enough to smash his birthday cupcake. I think it marked the first time the babies were sick with fevers for more than a day, and let me tell you, it was not fun. They have fevers again in late February and one night James is up for 4 3/4 hours. He wants me to hold him until he falls asleep (and I oblige him since he's sick), and over and over again he almost falls asleep but then gets fussy that he can't get comfy in my arms, and then I have to get him calm and sleepy all over again. Julia wakes me up every 25 minutes one night, and the next day I cry thinking of having another night like it. In minor health-related news, James gets a rash around his mouth, off and on for the next several months which we're told is a drool/pacifier reaction.

James in the ambulance about to take his $1399 three block ride to the hospital. (Yay for insurance at least.)

James the cherub with Daddy in the ER.

James doesn't seem too interested in his birthday cupcake...

...But eventually he gets into the smash portion of the birthday proceedings.

Visits
Bubby visits in mid-January, and my parents visit off and on these months. The twins begin beaming and smiling when grandparents visit, which has to be the best reception ever.

Julia gives Grandma a head massage. Thai style.

My parents arrive with my brother for Christmas, and it's the first time Uncle Michael's seen them in a year. The babies wear their Christmas outfits and crawl down the hallway to open their gifts. James is more interested in the wires leading to the stereo and TV. Michael is sweet and wants to play with the babies but is afraid of hurting them, not unlike Lennie in Of Mice and Men. I put Julia on his lap and tell him to clap with her, and that there's no way she'll get hurt, and they share a nice moment.

Julia will learn to love being held by Mommy on Christmas.

"I'm gonna hug her and love her and squeeze her and call her Julia."

We have a non-grandparent babysitter for the first time so Mark and I can attend the Google holiday party. The babysitter is our friend Matthew and he comes over early so the babies can get acclimated to him. Unfortunately all they do is cry when he tries to hold them. Thankfully, they don't wake up once we leave. Mark and I also go on our first overnight trip since I was on Jeopardy!, and it's a Google-financed trip to Monterey for Mark and his Google cronies. The babies, playing with Grandma and Papa, don't seem too excited to see us when we return.

The babies go to their first baby social engagement - their friend Ronan's one-year birthday party, where they experience a ball pit for the first time but are unimpressed. We also visit the rehabilitation and nursing facility down the street for the first time, with the babies dressed in their Valentine's Day outfits. For Valentine's Day, I become a crazy mom who rents Cupid wings for James to wear for a photo shoot. Eventually when the pictures are on display, James will hate me as a teenager and will mysteriously never have friends or girls over. (I kind of regret not paying double to just buy the wings for all my future embarrassing-my-son needs.) Speaking of pictures, back in August, Mark and I were with the babies when a man approached us and said he'd be interested in taking pictures of the twins. I know this sounds like a good pedophile pick-up line, but he was an amateur photographer with really good equipment and was interested in shooting babies for the first time. I finally got around to e-mailing him when the babies were nearly 14 months, and found he'd be happy to come by the next day to take pictures.

James and Julia (who's obviously having the time of her life) in the ball pit.

"Thanks Mom for making it so that I can never have friends over."

The babies visit Google and James laughs as he crawls really fast down long hallways and visits engineers. The babies also go on swings for the first time in our backyard. Our neighbor's daughter Megan comes over to observe the twins for a class at Stanford. But first, she comes to the door one day and says she lives down the street and has noticed that I have babies, and could she come over one day and observe them? I think to myself, "Wait, so a stranger who's been watching us wants me to let her hang out with the babies?" But then she mentions that she's the daughter of our neighbors ("Ohhhhh....") and it all makes sense. (Might want to open with that next time instead of the "I've been watching you" stuff.)

First time in the swings. James's knees are in danger of being eaten by his socks.

Crawling
At the twins' one year appointment I mention to their doctor my concern that Julia isn't crawling or making transitions between positions like sitting from lying on her back or pulling up from sitting. Doc Rossin says not to worry about it, and that with twins they tend to want to compete and catch up quickly with the other. Right then one of the babies starts clapping and, as though to punctuate the doctor's point, the other begins clapping. Within the next couple days, Julia becomes mobile! On 12/8 she starts crawling and is already pretty fast, and the same day she pulls herself up for the first time in The Zoo (but nobody sees it - we just find her there standing). She starts sitting up on her own a few days later, and on a couple occasions she flips over in her crib in the middle of the night and cries out to be righted.

While a giggly James will try to crawl to our room when we chase him asking, "Where's James going?" Julia prefers to cruise there charmingly slow, inching along the mirrored closet doors and hallway wall. When I change one twin's diaper, the other always wants to pull to stand and then cruise along the changing table from end to end in front of me, like a bird on a perch. Near Christmas, the babies start crawling to meals and we call it The Running of the Babies. Julia likes to make an undead moan while she crawls. James is faster and will stop and wait for her. If he turns and crawls toward her she will squeal with delight and crawl away like it's a game of tag. And repeat. They also always stop to bang the air vent. Sometimes the whole process to get them to dinner can take awhile!

A typical Running of the Babies. 1) James leads the way. 2) Looking back to see where Julia is. 3) Julia pretends that James is going to chase her so she crawls back to the nursery. 4) Eventually Julia makes her way back from the nursery to dinner.

First Steps

Starting in December, the babies try standing unassisted. They love when one of us lies down and so they can practice standing over us. Part of their practicing involves purposely falling on us. (Ooof!) Grandma says that Julia took a few steps on 2/20 (at 14 1/2 months). The following day, Mark and I put the laundry basket slightly out of reach and Julia ups her game, taking up to 4 steps at a time, which we caught on video. James takes his first steps on 2/26 - two of them - from outside of The Zoo to the Jumperoo. Since all the nursery furniture is reachable via cruising, we speculate whether they would have walked earlier if they'd had more motivation to get to things that were out of reach.

Eating
At snack time Julia daintily eats her food one piece at a time, while James uses his hands like a conveyor belt to constantly relay food into his mouth with much of the food missing its target. Similarly, when I give them something bigger to eat like a quarter of a waffle, Julia takes little nibbles while James shoves it all in. Julia cracks us up with how excited - as in dancing-in-her-seat-and-hyperventilating excited - she gets for Puffs. She's so single-minded that she tosses all non-Puffs over the side of her high chair, and if I spoon them into her mouth she'll let them fall out not unlike a golden retriever releasing a slobbery tennis ball. In March she reflexively tosses teriyaki tofu over the side of her high chair before remembering, "Oh yeah, I liked this last time."

In addition, Julia will often not eat or even try a food that's on her tray, but if she find it petrified on the floor later, it's fair game. She also will try to hand you lint, and if you don't take it in time it goes straight into her mouth. Meanwhile she thinks strawberries are the food of the devil. She has textural issues with food and doesn't like solid pieces of food in her purees, even if it's a food like carrot which she likes in puree form.

Julia and her bib of pea carcasses

Sleeping
At the beginning of the year, one baby always seems to wake at 4:30 a.m. while the other sleeps until 6. On top of it, they go through a period where they won't take afternoon naps. I end up driving to playdates and having them sleep on the way, and then when I arrive, continuing their naps in the driveway.

Baths
I take a bath with each baby for the first time in January, and even though it's fun I don't do it again for a long time because I decide it's too much trouble (not to mention it uses a lot of water and I get cold waiting for the next baby).

James needs to up his game to Julia's level of bath multi-tasking.

Books
While Julia freaks out over Puffs, James freaks out over books. At story time I put both babies in Bumbo seats and James often immediately crawls out of his to get to the books. Even signing "book" before story time gets them very excited. Once when Bubby read two books to them, James, as though expecting more, made a sound like "That's it?" Julia kisses one of the babies in Time to Eat on her own so I offer her the other babies and she kisses them all.

James reads his book at mealtime like it's the morning paper.
"Did you know stock in teddy bears went down?"

Music/Dancing
In January they start dancing to music a little bit. Julia does it more than James (he starts doing it more in March) and her dancing mostly involves moving her head left to right. When her toy laptop plays a certain Spanish song, she moves her shoulders as though doing a salsa. Her eyes get big and she'll start dancing in her chair when certain songs start, especially Old McDonald, Bling-Blang, and Baby Beluga. (Because I like to speculate about their future professions I will guess that she'll have a career in music.) When I sing Julia Sleeps Tonight to the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, James adds in his own "ah ah ahs."

~~Diapering~~ Poo Talk
I start calling Julia "Squirmy" because of her penchant for squirming while getting changed. Julia poops every chance she gets while James prefers to poop once a day and each poop is trouble. One day it's an avalanche that thickly covers his leg and goes into the foot of his pajamas.

This is what happens halfway through the diaper change when Daddy changes Julia on the floor.

Interaction
Much of the twins' interaction still involves taking toys from each other. Papa claims that Julia is smart and scrappy from having to deal with a bigger brother and that he's seen her put a toy she wants most behind her and then play with a decoy toy she knows James will take. One day I see James get mad when Julia takes the stacking cups. Later he takes the prism-shaped toy from her and she goes for the cups which she knows he'll want, and sure enough he drops the prism (which she regains) to take the cups. Babies and toy sharing is like a ballet! The twins also love holding onto the crib bars to cruise and then shriek as they head towards each other. ("Sibling! Right ahead!")

The twins cruise around the crib at the same time.

One day I leave the nursery and hear James cry out. I go back in and Julia (not James) is trapped under the laundry basket, and James is standing there, keeping it on top of her. She seems unperturbed but I free her right away, and then I immediately regret not taking a picture first. I'm a bad mother because I spend the next couple weeks trying to lure Julia back underneath the laundry basket so I can get a picture. I'm tempted to hold the basket up with a stick and put Bunny underneath it.

I finally got the pictures below in late March and I swear I didn't set this up.:

"Do do doo... Not doing anything suspicious here. Definitely not planning on trapping my sister in a laundry basket or anything like that."

"Got her!"

The culprit always returns to the scene of the crime...

...and then plays drums.

Affection
When I lie on the ground or even sit, the babies are always coming over for love (or if you're Julia, often to attack your face - more on that later). They like when I do some soft wrestling with them - rolling side to side and snuggling.

Here's me rolling side to side with James in his lion costume in October. Or maybe he's mauling me.

The babies experience a lot of separation anxiety these months, particularly Julia, and don't like it when we leave them for a moment. They are particularly sensitive to me leaving when they first wake up or when they're the only twin awake from a nap (the latter is still going on and as I write this they're just shy of 2 years). I always say "I'll be right back" when I leave the room. One day I start to tell Julia I'll be right back before I get up to leave and she starts crying. Clearly she knows what those words mean.

Games
Papa teaches them the game of "So Big!" which they love and Grandma likes to play with them through the windows of the Learning Home. They try to close the windows down on her.

"How big is Julia? So big!"

Language
Both babies like to say "Dada" often, especially James who often says it when doing anything, not necessarily with Daddy in the room. On 1/19 Julia says her first word after "Mama" and "Dada": duck! She says it when looking at a book on ducks and when Papa does his Donald Duck impression. "Duck" is also James's first new word and he says it 2/5. Three days later after saying "duck," Julia has her second new word: "eight," which she learns from her toy laptop. However, they stop using these words a week later and don't really talk again until August, with one exception: on 3/4 they learn to say the word, "hi."

In the meantime, they start learning lots of words, just not saying them. On 12/26 Julia touches her ear when we say "ear" and they can touch their noses on command. They also learn other body parts like tummy, fingers, mouth, lips, teeth, hair, and head. Papa teaches them to wave, and they both hit their high chair tray whenever we say "tray."

It's good my parents visit often because I had no idea babies would be able to understand simple commands at this age. At the beginning of February when my parents say "car," "egg," and "computer" the twins go to the appropriate toys in The Zoo. Papa teaches Julia, and later James, lots of commands for their Learning Home such as turning the light on and off, opening the door, opening the mailbox and putting mail inside, and ringing the doorbell. By mid-February, James is almost caught up to Julia in knowing the names of things.

I try teaching the twins "more" one day at snack time by signing it to them when they're out of food, and they learn it that day. Food apparently equals motivation. A week later they both sign "more" during their snack and when they get pureed foods, but then get upset when I give them more of what they're eating. I think their definition of "more" is more of some other food, but not the one they're eating.

My parents teach Julia to say, "Aaaaaah" after she takes a sip of something, as though it's refreshing. One day my mom comments aloud how she can't find her coffee mug, and Julia looks exactly where it is and says, "Aaaaaah!"

Julia's Personality

By mid-January we notice that Julia is starting to look like a little girl and not a baby anymore. She no longer has her baby mohawk either. While she's lost her baby mohawk she's gained a new trait: her tongue often hanging out! (We wonder if she got this from my maternal grandmother.) And she looks and does things daintily, especially compared to James.

Julia still sometimes wakes up with bed head mohawk. (Don't we all?)

Julia's tongue wants to see what's going on, too.

The words that best describe Julia would be quirky, flirtatious, and fun-loving. Julia loves when she's hit softly with anything. This started when Mark began dropping sofa cushions on her and she would shriek in delight. I often bat at her with my knee high socks.

She squeals when happy, and, like James, especially loves when I say "I'm going to get Julia!" or "Where's Julia going?" and chase her around the room. When she gets trapped in a corner I let her escape between my legs. One day Papa tells James, "Wanna wrestle? 1...2...3..." waiting for James to charge him as he's done in the past. Instead Julia goes for it! After this she loves charging us when we say "1...2...3..."

Grandma says Julia's a wild child with a mean streak like me (whatever does she mean?). A good lure to get Julia to come over is to lie on the floor - she'll crawl over smiling, making her undead "ehhhhh..." noise and then play with your face. And by "play" I mean she is rough. She gets a crazed look and attacks! She usually goes for the teeth, though no facial feature is off limits. Often Julia and James do this tag team-style and crash into us, sometimes while holding hard toys. He falls as though he's a - future career prediction alert! - professional wrestler and after awhile I don't even notice the body blows because I'm busy trying to keep my eyeballs safe from the little girl. Julia will grin devilishly when you firmly tell her "no" (like when she's going at your face or trying to flip over during a diaper change) and she'll do whatever it is again.

Julia the Dentist...

...and James the Ear Nose Throat doctor.

Basically if you lay down, not only is your face fair game to Julia, your tummy is as well. She also loves to lift shirts to see people's tummies and hit their bare bellies. (Our poor guests.) She likes to cuddle with me by laying across my tummy perpendicularly while I rock her back and forth.

James also likes to play "Where is Mommy's belly button?"

Julia LOVES to grab my finger when I lean forward over her in the stroller to stretch before I run. (I start running with the babies in our jogging stroller in December.) Sometimes grabbing my finger involves getting her hand free from under three blankets. And sometimes she remembers to extend her finger to play with me, and I think, "Oh yeah - I almost forgot to do my stretches. Thank goodness for Julia!" She's also delights in putting her tongue through The Zoo fence and grabbing my toes through it. She will wave her foot at Papa while he's giving her a bottle so he'll try to put her foot into his mouth. She also loves playing peek-a-boo while standing in The Zoo. Similarly, Daddy will get out of her line of sight behind the kitchen counter and he'll suddenly pop up to surprise her, which endlessly amuses her.

Babies bundled up and ready to go on a run

Julia's all tuckered out from grabbing my finger.

I call Julia "My Little Clock" and "My Timekeeper." She gets upset if we're out near dinner time, as though thinking, "Why aren't we home? We need to drink milk soon!" She also loves handing things to people. One day she hands me every piece of cheese she doesn't want to eat.

Loves
Emptying anything (especially the basket of diapers)
Playing peek-a-boo
Rubbing her feet together fast like she's starting a fire
Hanging out in the corner of a room
Face attacks

Peek-a-boo!

Hates
Non-Puff foods
Cold washclothes on her face
Stoplights (she starts crying when the car stops as though to say "I want to get home faster for milk!")
Wearing socks (she pulls them off)

Favorite Toys
PINK BUNNY
Busy Gears (a distant second)
Stacking Cups
Learning Home
Laptop
Spin and Sing Alphabet Zoo ("spin spin-a-letter")
Music Table
Standing Musical Caterpillar
Hide and Squeak Eggs
Diapers
Exersaucer
Jumperoo

Favorite Books
Noisy Peekaboo!: Vroom! Vroom!
Noisy Peekaboo!: Choo! Choo!
Little People Christmastime Is Here!

James and Julia read Little People Christmastime Is Here! with Uncle Michael and Papa.

Favorite Foods
Puffs and Cheerios
Rice cake
Baby Mum Mums (rice rusks)

James's Personality

The words that would best describe James these months would be: shy, affectionate, serious, adventurer, and giggler.

While he was the worst Batman villain ever, The Nuzzler, when he was six months old, now he's his sidekick, The Cuddler. I entertain him in the Exersaucer by using the attached dragon puppet to kiss his hand. He hugs the puppet and buries his face into it and closes his eyes. (Awwww!) He also starts using his Puppy Dog as a pillow. He gives us lots of affection as well.

James and his Puppy Dog pillow

James becomes a very giggly boy by the end of December. One day he giggles so much I devote an online photo album to it.

My Giggly Boy

James likes to crawl/charge at Papa so Papa will flip him over and wrestle (and cuddle). James loves being tickled, too. Lots of things make him giggle:

Yawns. (He continues to find yawns hysterical. And when I take pictures of him, I often yawn to make him laugh.)
Calling him "Crazy" on the changing table (see video)
The sun making stripes on the wall as it's filtered through the blinds (he giggles and slaps it)
When I whisper the first line of my Banana Mango song (to the tune of Conjunction Junction) and come in loud on the second line
Escaping the nursery and being chased
Getting hit with my knee high socks

Hitting sunlight stripes is hilarious.

Speaking of liking to get hit with my socks and giggling, James continues to be quite the foot fancier. He giggles when I kick his feet with mine when he's eating. He's intrigued by my green fuzzy socks (as is Julia), but he will keep trying to cuddle with them while they're on my feet. I bought shoes for him to wear on Christmas but I couldn't keep them on because he kept pulling them off to chew on them. (Much like her brother, Julia tries to eat her shoes as well.) And of course, he tries to eat Julia's shoes and chase Bubby's slippers while she's wearing them.

"Are these Mommy's feet? They feel like Mommy's feet...

They taste like them, too..."

Another of James's obsessions is playing with Julia's stroller harness, and when I take him away from it to put her inside, he has a tantrum. Mark rolls a big red ball around the room and James is thrilled to crawl as fast as he can to get it. I also will hold the carton of the Hide and Squeak Eggs and move it around the floor as he crawls after it.

His favorite activity is playing with all the non-toys in the nursery. He loves closing the nursery door, sliding the closet doors back and forth (until we had to remove them), and slapping the diaper pail and hitting it against the wall.

By the end of February James figures out how to put some shapes into the Learning Home. A few weeks before, I discover that James can stack his (aptly named) stacking cups in order. I distribute five randomly and say "go" and he excitedly orders them. Once he stacked six in eight seconds. By the beginning of March, he can stack all eight easily and put all the shapes into the shape sorter on the door of the Learning Home. He's clearly a budding engineer like Daddy... or maybe a champion cup stacker?

While he's a sweet boy, James is a bit oblivious. He loves to crawl into my arms when I'm holding Julia. He'll climb on top of her just to get to me. He also will plow through Julia when cruising, as though she's not there. And he's still a toy bully.

James really tries to please... me anyway, his sister - well, I'm sure she can confirm via non-appreciative squeals, not so much. He knows not to eat books and puzzle pieces (though later I do allow puzzle piece munching), and I'll see him put them near his mouth and look at me. If I catch his eye he smiles and puts whatever it is down, like "Oh, what's this doing near my teeth?" and pretends he wasn't going to chew on it, but smiles the whole time like he's playing a game with me. Unlike Julia he stops doing something "bad," temporarily at least, if I say "no."

Loves
Giggling at yawns
Babbling "Obby Bobby!" and making lion/possessed frog sounds
Looking at light fixtures
Wrestling with Papa
Tossing things from his high chair

Hates
Laying down for diapering
Not getting his way/being thwarted
Waking up from naps
Having to wait to get milk at the end of his meal
Getting his nose/face cleaned
Having stacking cups taken by Julia

Favorite Toys

PUPPY DOG
Stacking Cups (a distant second)
Dragon puppet on Exersaucer
Dinosaur bibs
Spin and Sing Alphabet Zoo ("spin spin-a-letter")
Learning Home
Diapers
Music Table
Exersaucer
Jumperoo

James plays with his new Learning Home.

Favorite Books

Where? (He's sometimes able to slide parts of it open by himself, but usually not. That's when he whines until I have to slide it for him, ad infinitum.)
Little People Christmastime Is Here!

Favorite Foods
Puffs and Cheerios
Peas
Rice Cakes
Tofu

Both

Favorite CDs
Raffi - Baby Beluga and Singable Songs for the Very Young: Great with a Peanut Butter Sandwich
Sing Along with Putumayo
Swing music
Classical music, particularly Build Your Baby's Brain
A CD of lullabies made by my friend Leslie M. (Many of the songs are by Kenny Loggins - or as I call him, KLog. Who knew he did children's music? Inchworm is our favorite.)

Favorite Songs (other than those on the CDs above)
The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room (bedtime)
Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing (bedtime)
Danny's Song
You Raise Me Up

Serenades by Mommy while the Babies Eat
Do Re Mi (works best to calm them)
Part of Your World
Feed the Birds (Tuppence a Bag)
A Spoonful of Sugar (yet another from Mary Poppins)
There's a Light Over in the Frankenstein Place (yes, from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)

"Feed the twins, tuppence a bag..."

Further Serenades by Mommy, Christmas Edition
O Holy Night
Christmas Time is Here
Winter Wonderland
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
O Come All Ye Faithful
Angels We Have Heard on High

Playmates
Maya and Brandon (mom: Kashi)
Dante (dad: Derek)
Oliver (mom: Rachel P.)

James and Maya play with the Music Table.

Dante

Some Highlights of (non-jar) Foods Introduced
Chocolate cake (birthday!)
Banana
Avocado
Bread
Black beans
Cheese tortellini
Brown rice
Corn, carrots, and green beans (Julia drops them overboard)
Watermelon (first food I've seen make James stick his tongue out so it could not be put inside)
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Graham crackers (smashed up in baby food to get Julia to get over her textural issues)
Homestyle potato and onions (Julia loves all starches) at Country Gourmet
Pineapple (I hid it inside a waffle; consequently they let the waffle fall out of their mouths)

"Maybe bananas and graham crackers would make a good hair gel..."

Weights and Lengths:

12/07/09 (birth)
James - weight: 5 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 17.8" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~75th percentile
Julia - weight: 4 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 18.1" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~10th percentile

1/07/10 (1 month)
James - weight: 7 lbs., 2.9 oz.; length: ~21"
Julia - weight: 6 lbs., 4.4 oz.; length: ~18 1/2"

2/08/10 (2 months)
James - weight: 9 lbs., 0.0 oz <5th percentile; length: 21 1/4" <5th percentile; head: 14 3/4" ~8th percentile; weight for length: ~25th percentile
Julia - weight: 7 lbs., 11.5 oz. <5th percentile; length: 20 1/2" <5th percentile; head: 14 1/4" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~17th percentile

3/06/10 (3 months)
James - weight: 11 lbs., 2.6 oz. ~10th percentile
Julia - weight: 9 lbs., 8 oz. ~5th percentile

4/08/10 (4 months)
James - weight: 13 lbs., 14.5 oz. ~30th percentile; length: 24" ~18th percentile; head: 16 1/2" ~44th percentile; weight for length: ~60th percentile
Julia - weight: 12 lbs., 4 oz. ~21st percentile; length: 23" ~10th percentile; head: 16" ~42nd percentile; weight for length: ~58th percentile

6/07/10 (6 months)
James - weight: 18 lbs., 2 oz. ~62nd percentile; length: 26 1/4" ~48th percentile; head: 17 1/2" ~73rd percentile; weight for length: ~80th percentile
Julia - weight: 15 lbs., 6.5 oz. ~45th percentile; length: 25 3/4" ~50th percentile; head: 16 3/4" ~51st percentile; weight for length: ~44th percentile

9/17/10 (9 months)
James - weight: 21 lbs., 3.5 oz ~55th percentile; length: 29" ~62nd percentile; head: 18 1/2" ~87th percentile; weight for length: ~65th percentile
Julia - weight: 18 lbs., 7 oz. ~50th percentile; length: 27 3/8" ~50th percentile; head: 17 1/2" ~61st percentile; weight for length: ~50th percentile

12/6/10 (12 months)
James - weight: 22 lbs., 15 oz. ~53rd percentile; length: 30 1/2" ~75th percentile; head: 19" ~93rd percentile; weight for length: ~59th percentile
Julia - weight: 20 lbs., 12 oz ~48th percentile; length: 29" ~50th percentile; head: 18" ~70th percentile; weight for length: ~62nd percentile

3/22/11 (15 months)
James - weight: 25 lbs., 2 oz. ~59th percentile; length: 32 1/2" ~84th percentile; head: 19 1/2" ~97th percentile; weight for length: ~55th percentile
Julia - weight: 21 lbs., 12 oz. ~29th percentile; length: 31" ~68th percentile; head: 18 1/2" ~78th percentile; weight for length: ~25th percentile

Best Baby Toys - 8 to 24 Months Edition: And Just in Time for the Holidays!

2011-11-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

James is like Scrooge McDuck in his money bin. But replace money bin with crib of toys and a sister. (21 1/2 months)

Some baby toys are exciting the first ten minutes and then rarely picked up again. Everything on this list was used and used and used and used and fought over and used some more. And sometimes the toy in question was rediscovered and used in an unexpected way!

Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home
It's a little pricey but totally worth it. I recommend scouring Craigslist for a used one. We were lucky to get ours as a gift (thanks, Mom!). This is a great toy for babies who are learning to pull up or cruise - it's sturdy and won't topple on them - and it's great for a long time afterwards, too. Because of this toy we found out that the babies could follow directions - among them, opening the mailbox, ringing the doorbell, and opening the window. They love to dance to "Itsy Bitsy Spider" too. A few months later I bought the Fisher-Price Laugh & Learn Learning Farm at a garage sale for $20. It's also a really good toy but the babies and I prefer the Home.

Julia crawls through the door of her Learning Home for the first time Christmas morning. (12 1/2 months)

James prefers to climb the Learning Home. (15 months)

Julia has a closed gate policy when it comes to feet in her farm... (17 months)

...and also James.

Playskool Busy Gears
The babies took to this toy right away, and sometimes even worked together to put the gears on the pegs. James likes putting different toys on the middle gear while it rotates to see what will happen.

"I can hold 6 gears at the same time. Yay!" (17 months)

James's latest experiment: putting his Magnetic Bug Stackers on the middle rotating gear. (18 months)

Stacking Cups
They're so simple and cheap and the babies love them (thanks, Mom!). First, when the babies were under a year they just liked holding them. Then sometime after their first birthday they realized they could stack them. I'd put out four or five cups and they'd stack them and eventually they could do all eight. Next I had to buy another set (bowls this time, which look cool but don't stack as cleanly) because there was too much fighting over the most prized toy in the land. (We had the Especially for Baby Stacking Cups but almost any will work.)

"Julia, you want this stacking cup?" (11 1/2 months)

"Yoink."

Julia does her best pig nurse imitation from that one Twilight Zone episode. (12 1/2 months)

Mega Bloks
We were lucky to get a huge tub of MegaBlocks from our friend April. I regret not giving the babies the Mega Bloks earlier (14 months would have been perfect) because they like them more than the other block sets I've bought for them, and - even better - these connect together so they're easier to use.

Julia's still learning how stacking works. (22 months)

Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Bounce & Spin Zebra
The twins constantly ride their zebra and their rocking horse with great enthusiasm. The zebra also comes in pony form and may have just gone out of stock. Try to find it on Craigslist - ours was $10 at a garage sale. While I like our Radio Flyer Soft Rock and Bounce Pony (looks like the one in the link but ours didn't come with sound), if one of the twins (ahem, James) rides too vigorously they can fall off. (This has only happened once or twice.)

Julia goes for a bounce and spin on her zebra. (19 months)

James does some stunt riding on the pony. (20 1/2 months)

LeapFrog Learn & Groove Music Table
There are lots of music tables around. I don't know if ours is better than the others, but everyone seems to have this one. In fact one night, Mark and I were driving through the Town of Los Altos, which doesn't believe in street lights, when suddenly our headlights illuminated something in front of us: the Music Table sitting in someone's gutter. It truly is everywhere. My friend Stacy introduced the twins to hers and they took to it right away, so I sought it out at my first twins' garage sale and scored one for $5. One nice thing about it is that it comes with removable legs so the babies can use it when they are (barely) sitting up and also when they can stand.

Julia takes her Music Table playing very seriously. (11 months)

As soon as she turned 18 months, Julia just wanted climb the Music Table... (18 months)

...Even without the legs. (21 1/2 months)

Puzzles
There are a lot of good wooden puzzles out there. We have three of these Melissa & Doug ones (thanks, Leslie, for 2/3 of them!). Another I *really* like is the Melissa & Doug See-Inside Numbers Peg puzzle, which I got for $1 at a garage sale (I should just make a typing shortcut for "$1 at a garage sale"). Even though the puzzle is for ages 2 and up, the babies immediately liked it (in fact it's been their favorite toy period for the last couple months) and found it easier to place the pieces than other puzzles marked for the under 2 set. But best of all, it got them really interested in numbers! I didn't even try working with them on numbers other than giving them the names of numbers when asked, but now they're really into naming all the numbers, especially their favorite, 8, and now they're counting, too. The alphabet version of this puzzle is marked for 3 and up, which makes me think the parts are chokeable. It's too bad they don't make a version for their age group.

James in his puzzle corner... which happens to be in the middle of the room. (21 months)

It doesn't look impressive here, but Julia was carrying her favorite number puzzle and all the pieces. (22 months)

This Maxim EverEarth Arctic Wooden Puzzle is pretty cool too (thanks, Lila!). Each animal is created by putting two shapes together and then that resulting shape can be placed into the puzzle (to understand you should probably see the link). The pieces are double-sided (one animal on each side) which ups the complicatedness factor. It's a little above my kids but they've been growing into it. At first I'd make the animals for them so they'd just have one shape to put in the puzzle, but now they're able to put the puzzle together themselves for the most part.

We also have the Melissa & Doug Farm Sound Puzzle which is fine but doesn't warrant a "must buy." I'm only mentioning it as a non-sequitur so I can talk about how it scares the crap out of me every night. The rooster makes a sound whenever I turn the light off. It's our most haunted toy - sometimes it just goes off on its own. (We also have a pets sound puzzle - I can't find a link - courtesy of Bubby, with bigger pieces that are easier to manipulate. This puzzle seems to be only slightly haunted.)

Edushape Rollipop Advanced Ball Drop Set and Tomy Ball Party Bounce (second link includes other toys from a hall of fame best toys list as well)
I got this sort of Franken-version of both sets at a garage sale for $6. (Mark finally figured out by looking online that the toy I had bought had pieces from two different sets of toys.) The twins like it a lot and I can see them playing with it for quite a few more years, especially since it's been popular with visiting 4 and 5 year olds. It's pretty cool to watch the balls run down multiple ramps to get to the bottom. I wish the Tomy version wasn't discontinued but maybe you can score one on eBay.

The babies playing with their Franken-toy. (20 1/2 months)

Melissa & Doug Deluxe 10-Piece Alphabet Nesting and Stacking Blocks
James particularly likes this toy from Bubby. He can stack blocks, and as soon as he's done he can nest them. You know he likes a toy a lot when he gets mad if Julia even gets near it because of course she'll mess everything up by pretty much existing. The other plus to this toy is that it includes letters of the alphabet.

A blackberry mustachioed James shows off the box holding the alphabet nesting and stacking blocks. (23 1/2 months)

I also mentioned two toys in my post, Baby Gear I Couldn't Live Without: Part 2 (a.k.a. Don't Be Surprised if I Give You These Things as Baby Gifts) that are still awesome. (Go to the Baby Gear link to find out why they're so awesome):

Sassy Look Photo Book
Early Learning Centre / Stacking Faces bath cups

Honorable Mentions

AquaDoodle Mat
It's hard to make a good scribbling surface for the babies that doesn't involve your floor or table getting covered in crayon (usually I tape paper to their high chair tray and let them do it there). But this mat means they can scribble whenever they want with the water pen. This is an honorable mention because as much as I like this toy, it hasn't been all that popular with the twins.

Julia depicts the candles from Many Days, One Shabbat. Her drawing is like looking at a photograph. (23 months)

A standing toy is essential at this age and the best one the babies have that is a standing toy only (more on a great standing and riding toy in the next paragraph) is a shopping cart. We have the Step2 Little Helper's Grocery Cart. Second place in the standing toy division is their doll stroller that I picked up for $1 at a garage sale (I cannot find our Graco one online). Another plus for both the shopping cart and the doll stroller is that they both can do double duty as "pretend" toys. While I like our shopping cart, another brand might be cheaper and just as good. I wish I could find fake food for it that wasn't marked as 3+ years (that always makes me think it's chokeable). I had to keep the teddy bear in the doll stroller for awhile because if it was empty, Julia would try to sit in it.

Gears are Julia's favorite food at the grocery store. (18 months)

(21 months) (Thanks, Stacy, for the doll stroller pictures!)

The twins started playing more and more in the backyard at this age so it's good to get a ride-on toy. With regards to ride on cars, their favorite is this one, the Little Tykes Cozy Coupe (I have an older version of the one pictured). It's kind of like a Flinstone car in that they sit and power it with their feet. The only problems are that 1) it's hard to get in and out, and 2) at first they constantly need to be pushed and this thing is hard to maneuver. I prefer that they use their other vehicles because they involve less Mommy participation. Those would be their Little Tykes Push and Ride Doll Walker and their Playskool Step Start Walk 'n Ride (this one can also be configured to be a walker). It's pretty easy to find ride-on toys at rummage sales. Actually, our Fisher-Price Go Baby Go! Stride-to-Ride Dino is probably the best ride on toy of all. I know I should put it in the backyard (that's what my parents intended when they gifted it), but it looks so nice and new I hate to do it. It's both a walker and a ride-on, but the babies were already strong walkers when they got it so they missed out on the walker part.

Julia tries out a Cozy Coupe for the first time with Daddy. (17 1/2 months)

Julia seems to drive pretty well, but she could use a little help with her backing up skills. (19 months)

Julia and James on their Push and Ride Doll Walker. (Julia at 18 months; James at 19 months)

Julia has an unorthodox way of checking the engine on her Step Start Walk 'n Ride. (19 months)

James likes to engage in some stunt Dino riding. (23 months)

Another essential toy to have is a shape sorter. I really like the classic Tupperware Shape O Toy Ball. In fact, it's the only toy that was once used by one of the twins' parents - this was Mark's toy as a baby. I like that it has harder shapes to put in. However, the big design flaw for me is that the two halves to open the toy are hard to pry apart - even for an adult! So even though it keeps the twins entertained, they keep coming to me to open it for them to get the shapes back out. And we all know the whole point of toys is to keep the kids out of our hair for awhil, er... I mean, to promote self-reliance... or something? We have another shape sorter ($1 at a garage sale - I know: shocker!), Fisher-Price Brilliant Basics Baby's First Blocks (ours is an older version with 4 instead of 5 shapes). It's good in that they can open it themselves, but it doesn't have as many different types of shapes to challenge them as they get older.

James sorts some shapes. (19 1/2 months)

Two Toys I Want to Get

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Latches Board
Whenever I see this toy I joke that it teaches kids to unlock doors and escape. It teaches fine motor skills and is kind of like several puzzles in one. If someone has this toy at a playdate you can bet that James will immediately find it. Not knowing this, my mom recently e-mailed me that she had purchased this toy for the twins' birthday, and that James would really love it. She knows my boy well.

James heads to the latches board at someone else's house like a moth to flame. (20 months)

Tunnel
They've just started to like crawling through tunnels at other peoples' houses and at Gymboree. We plan to get one with our Huggies points. It seems like all the ones on Amazon have chokeable warnings. Maybe it's me, but I think that a tunnel is a little big to fit in their mouths.

James's first tunnel. (11 months)

Julia's first tunnel. (She's usually our daredevil, but it took a nearly a year for her to be interested in trying one out). (21 1/2 months)

Questions I Get Most Often (and Some Other Ramblings)

2011-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Are they twins???
Yep, sure are. I know they don’t look that much alike but they’re twi...

But he’s so much BIGGER than she is...
Well he’s big for a boy and she’s small for a girl.

He must be older. How much older is he?
He’s one minute older.

Obviously that one minute is why James is nearly 4 pounds heavier. While it’s true that the first twin out in a vaginal delivery (Twin A) is usually bigger, any differences after the first few weeks due to birth order go away. I’m not sure what people who ask me about it are thinking - that James came out two months early and fattened up while Julia luxuriated inside my womb eating a spa diet of tofu, arugula, and tomato wraps?

But let’s go back to my twins not looking alike...
While James and Julia looked more alike when they were first born with their blond widow’s peaks and wrinkly newborn faces, they don’t look much alike now. Both are pale with blue eyes but the similarities end there. James has dirty blond hair and definitely looks like my side of the family while Julia has medium brown hair and definitely looks like her Daddy. I think it’s fun that they look so different and we get to see such different genetic combinations in them.

They actually look alike the first month...

Stretching out on the warming table, just after birth, the babies still look alike because they look like every other wrinkled Caucasian newborn. (1 hour)

Kickin' it in the car seats and showing off matching blond widow's peaks. (2 weeks)

Still looking pretty much alike the second month...

According to James Lipton, the appropriate term of venery is "an armload of babies." (1 month)

Julia and James practice their "Walk Like an Egyptian" poses. (1 month)

Different lengths and head shapes by 4 months...

James and Julia go head to head... Uh oh. I've been spotted. (4 months)

But then by 6 months you can really see the different in the twins' hair color...

The awesomeness of Jean Diapers. (6 months)

Most twin moms I know have babies that definitely look more alike. I really only know two sets of twins that look less alike than ours. They would be my friend Kathy who has one twin, Ava, who looks Sicilian like her daddy with dark hair, big dark eyes, and a stocky build (Kathy's words, not mine) and the other twin, Bella, who looks Irish like Kathy with red hair, blue eyes, and a build like a beanpole. (No, this Kathy is not actually me.) One other interesting set of twins I know is my friend Tesin’s. She is Chinese and her husband is Irish, and one twin, Kimai, looks totally Chinese, and the other, Caitlin, looks totally Irish. By chance they happened to give the Irish name to the Irish-looking baby.

Least alike twin competition winners: Ava and Bella.

And tied with Ava and Bella for least alike: Kimai and Caitlin.

Surprisingly I’ve only gotten the boneheaded question asking whether James and Julia are identical or fraternal once, which I’ve heard boy/girl twin parents get asked a lot. Incidentally, Mark and I watched a National Geographic special on twins and apparently you can have identical boy/girl twins. As I understand it, all twins undergo mutations so they’re never completely alike. In very rare instances, one of those mutations can affect the chromosome that determines the sex of the baby.

Do twins run in your family?
Actually, they do. My mother’s first cousin Beverlee was the surviving twin at birth. And my father’s Aunt Veronica had identical twins, Karen and Susan. On Mark’s side there are two sets of Pilloff twins: Grandpa Herschel’s first cousin, Lawrence had twins as did another first cousin's (Benson) son Steve.

My cousin Beverlee is on the far right in the first picture and on the left in the second with her daughter, Debbie. Incidentally, she looks so much like my mom they could be sisters. (In fact I've heard stories about my mom borrowing Beverlee's ID. I wonder whatever for...)

Here's my mom for comparison. She only wears over-the-top floral hats when she's out for tea.

However, this probably had nothing to do with it since our fertility clinic had me take a drug to increase the possibility of my getting pregnant. Thankfully the first drug they gave me - Clomid - worked so I didn’t have to go down the path of self-injectable drugs or IVF. My nurse told me that taking Clomid would give me a 8% chance of getting pregnant with multiples. I was given an ultrasound after taking Clomid and two eggs were visible. Then I was given a steroid shot in my butt (not too unlike Jose Canseco) with doctor’s orders to go make a baby the following night. (Side note: the month before this attempt, FIVE eggs were visible and I told the nurse I did not want to try that month. The doctor was disappointed with my decision when he found out, which makes me think: bad doctor.)

Asking if twins run in your family is a loaded question (as mentioned in this awesome, awesome video that’s a must see for twin parents). A lot of people who ask this are clueless, but there are others that are surreptitiously asking to find out if you had ferility help. I was actually asked this during my Jeopardy audition in front of a room full of people, and sort of stammered an answer ("no, well yes, but no...").

Uh Oh, Julia Has Opinions

2011-11-03T14:52:00.001-07:00

Julia started the day by pooping on her favorite pink pajamas. (How's that for an opener? Eat your heart out, Bulwer-Lytton.) I knew there would be a scene once she realized she'd have to wear different pajamas, so I tried to work quickly and got some snowman ones halfway on her before she noticed. Then came the tears. "Piiiiiink!" she cried. I left her on the floor to fuss about it. Eventually she just lay there, sulking and occasionally emitting a long drawn out, "piiiiiiiiiink..."

Julia wearing the pink pajamas in question. Obviously these are the most beautiful pajamas ever to grace humankind. (22 months)

"Piiiiiiiiiink..."
This is what Julia looked like before she gave up, except wearing totally repugnant snowman pajamas. (21 1/2 months)

Then it was time to eat. Julia was not happy that Blue Monkey Bib was in the wash and rejected the other two bibs I offered. "Booo!" she kept saying to indicate that she wanted her favorite blue bib. I then brought in four more bibs and those were summarily rejected as well, and by rejected I mean she continually cried "boooooooo!" still hoping I'd make the blue bib magically appear. I refused to offer more bibs so she reluctantly accepted Hippo Bib as though it were bib sloppy seconds.

Julia having a tantrum. She starts out small and fetal and then stretches out when she nears the end. (21 1/2 months)

Then it was canteloupe time. Julia remembered that I often give the babies forks for canteloupe so she asked for one ("for!"). I gave her an orange fork and she was upset. "Piiiiink!" she cried.

After breakfast, it was time for my run with the babies in their stroller. I decided to go a different way today and Julia immediately noticed the difference. "Ap-pulll!" she kept crying, since we usually pass an apple tree on my run. Her crying lasted about 2 minutes - she was very determined to go by the apples. I tried showing her pumpkins and a mail box on the new route, hoping that that would make her more interested in going that way in the future, but she couldn't have cared less. We ended up going by the apple tree on the way home, and I was like, "Look! Apples!" and she was stony silent like, "Whatever." I think she might have even let out a long sigh, rolled her eyes and sent her baby friends a text about how moms are sooooo lame.

"Apple trees are only cool at the beginning of a walk, Mom."

After we got back it was time to get dressed. Noticing that her outfit was purple, Julia asked for "pur-pulll" socks. The first ones I took out were lavender and I had to convince her that they were indeed purple. She accepted them but looked about as thrilled as when I had given her the hippo bib.

A poor substitute for "real" purple.

And then before her nap, Julia started calling out the names of things she wanted to bring into her crib. However, I couldn't understand her and she preferred to fuss instead of getting up to get them herself. Eventually I just threw everything I could find in front of her so she could get them her damn self.

"Let me out. I have more crap I need to take with me." (21 1/2 months)

And that was my morning.

Julia's cry face through the (all of two) years:

(2 months)

(4 months)

(5 months)

(10 months)

Don't mess with this Julia. (16 months)

I like how Julia's instinct when upset is to flash her tummy. (18 months)

Papa comforts Julia after she falls. (20 1/2 months)

Baby Gear I Couldn't Live Without: Part 2 (a.k.a. Don't Be Surprised if I Give You These Things as Baby Gifts)

2011-10-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here's Part 1.

For Birth and Beyond

Blackout Curtains
We put up the first set of blackout curtains in James's room when the babies were around 19 months old, and in Julia's room two months later. Oh, how I wish we'd done it sooner. James immediately started sleeping in an extra 30 minutes. Everyone should have these up in the nursery from day one.

A Big Plastic Mirror

I'm pretty sure it's not the prettiest or cheapest one in the world, but our soft alligator plastic Fabler mirror from Ikea is the only one I know of. We haven't mounted it yet so sometimes we lean it against the wall and sometimes we put it on the ground. It's great that the babies can play with it. I took this idea from my friend Derek, and my friend Kashi saw ours and got one too.

Julia wants to admire the pants on her head in her mirror. (16 months)

Sing Along with Putamayo CD
It's only the best CD for kids ever made. You could play the first three tracks in your car and would be able to successfully pass them off as non-children's music. Then the fourth song, Old MacDonald, would kick in and your passenger would have a big clue, even though the song's a jazzy version. Not only do I love this CD, so do Mark and my parents. And the twins particularly love the first two songs. Putamayo is known for their great CDs that appeal to kids and adults. We also have Putamayo's Jazz Playground which is pretty great but not as amazing as this one. Our two Raffi CDs, Baby Beluga and Singable Songs for the Very Young: Great with a Peanut Butter Sandwich (thanks, Leslie!) are much loved by the babies. In fact their very favorite song, period, is Baby Beluga, and when they hear the first notes (well, technically whale noises) of it they excitedly jabber "Baby! Baby!"

Best kids CD ever.

Summer Infant Tiny Diner mat
We bring these plastic mats with us whenever we dine out. The little plastic suction cups adhere to the table, there is a little trough to catch errant pieces of food, it is easy to roll up and transport, and you can just wipe it clean when you're done. Kiddopotamus makes a similar one as well. (Thanks to my friend Kashi for recommending them!)

James and Julia using their mats for the first time. Apparently Mommy wants to starve them and only feed them peas. (21 months)

Photo Book for Baby with Pictures of People They Know
This may seem like an odd thing for a baby to have, but ours LOVE their Sassy Look Photo Book. They can see Mommy and Daddy and be reminded of their relatives that live far away.

I made a collage of the twins' baby friends using Picasa for the their photo book. Now they point to the other babies wanting to know their names and Mark says, "I don't know your baby friends."

For 0-4 Months

Swaddle Me's
My kids easily broke out of blankets, which if you think about it can be kind of dangerous since you aren't supposed to give loose blankets to babies. Then we discovered Swaddle Me's which are essentially velcro strait jackets. Schweet.

Julia as Hannibal Lechter. (2 months)

For 4 Months and Up

Bumbo Seats
My kids loved sitting in their Bumbos. Well, James did anyway. Julia often tried to hurl herself backwards to escape (see video here). I fed the babies in these for a couple months and read to them this way, too, because they could sit up without assistance. We didn't have the versions with trays which I regret because they would have come in handy for feeding and giving them toys or books to read. (Without trays, food can fall in their laps, and with regards to toys and books they constantly dropped them and I had to keep picking them up.)

A typical feeding: Julia tries to escape from her Bumbo halfway through. (7 months)

Jumperoo
Just watch Julia in this video and you'll see why you should get a Jumperoo. Both my kids loved it. You may want to have them do a test run at someone's house though because my friend Sara's daughter wasn't as big a fan. Ours was the Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo.

Julia having the time of her life in her Jumperoo. (11 months)

Pottery Barn Kids (or Land of Nod) Chairs
Yeah, they're expensive (think $100 apiece or more) so buy them used. I did and saved 75%. My friend Kashi wanted hers so badly she got some used that were embroidered with other kids' names! Thankfully I found some that hadn't been personalized. These chairs are so much nicer and better made than the kids' chairs you see at Toys R Us, all of which are covered with cartoon characters.

It doesn't matter that there are two chairs, the twins always want whichever the other's in. (20 months)

Snack Traps (and Lids!)
We got a Snack Trap as a hand-me-down from April and it's great when you're on the go or at a playdate. The snack stays in and comes out (hopefully) only when their hand reaches in. I think it's easier for babies to get their hand inside this one compared to similar products. One key thing: the lids are sold separately. Make sure you buy them though, otherwise you might find Cheerios in the bottom of the diaper bag.

Once Julia got her Snack Trap, she lay here eating contentedly for the rest of the playdate. (19 months)

Sippy Cup Leash
Make sure you have one of these. It doesn't matter the brand (here's ours by Booginhead) - just GET IT. Otherwise their sippy cup will be on the floor of restaurants and other places you don't want it to be.

Julia's pink and blue sippy cup is only on the footrest of the stroller instead of Pinkberry's floor, thanks to the sippy cup leash. (18 months)

Bath Cups
I'm trying to restrict this list to gear and not toys, but not only do the babies love these Early Learning Centre / Stacking Faces bath cups (thanks Bubby!), I HAVE to use them to convince them to go into the bath. Each cup has different types of holes (tiny holes for water to come out like a sprinkler, a spout like a watering can, etc.) for water to flow through. I often have a baby upset to go into the bath and then I show them how much fun the bath cups are. Anything that makes bath time easier is a necessity in my book!

A Chinese Crested hair do-ed Julia plays with her bath cups. (20 1/2 months)

For 12 Months and Up

Vital Baby Straw Cups
I am in love with these cups and I evangelize them every chance I get. Here's why: they are one of the only ones on the market where the straw portion is on the inside of the cup. That means your little one isn't going to chew through it causing you to 1) hope they don't choke and 2) have to buy replacement straws. The straw cups we had before these cups were awful. They didn't have volume markings and there was always an ounce or so of liquid that couldn't be reached by the straw. Not problems with the Vital Baby cups. Vital Baby cup tip: The clear hinged lid can be removed. I recommend only using it when you're on the go and need to seal the cup-- otherwise it's just one more piece to clean. Also, always make sure the internal plug part is in securely - otherwise it might leak milk. (Don't let that deter you from buying the cups. If you follow my directions they are great!) Vital Baby also makes great silverware that color coordinates with the cups.

Julia with her cup. (20 months)

Apparently there is a room in my home of only blue objects and James and his cup are inside it. (20 1/2 months)

Honorable Mentions

Superyard
You will probably want a superyard to use as a playpen, or as we called it, The Zoo. Our friend April passed two sets of the North States Superyard Classic XT Gate (which link together) down to us. If the grandparents are over often, you may want to consider a superyard with a gate since they might find it hard climbing over to get to your baby, and it's more convenient for you too. We still use our superyard to block the TV and call it The Great Barrier Reef.

James looks forlornly from inside The Zoo. (10 1/2 months)

James cuddles his horsey while wearing 15 bibs (you can't see all of them) and a hat. Meanwhile the Superyard in the background is configured to protect the TV (and hold excess toys). (21 months)

Baby Gate
Everyone seems partial to their own baby gate and can't open other people's. That said, I do love our Regalo Easy Step Walk Thru Gate.

When we first put the gate up Julia acted like she was stuck in prison. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the time she banged a tin cup against the bars. (16 1/2 months)

Crib and Crib Mattress
I can't complain about our $100 IKEA crib and our $39 Walmart SweetDreams crib and toddler mattress (both have high ratings in Baby Bargains).

Daddy puts Julia's crib together again when it's moved to another room. (21 1/2 months)

Julia acts like she can't get out, despite the crib not having a back.

Julia and James have fun testing out the mattress. Apparently it passes their all-important jump test. (21 1/2 months)

Mostly September, October and November 2010

2011-10-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

Just like the posts devoted to Mostly June, July & August 2010, I realize this post will seem very similar to the Meet James and Julia at 6-12 months ones. It was poor planning on my part. The other posts were meant to be more about their personalities at that age. This one is more about what date they first cruised, stood unassisted etc. I tried not to have too much overlap between the posts. Enjoy?

"Happy fall!... over!" (12 months)

Visits
My parents visit off and on per usual. Papa loves showing off the babies, especially when we eat lunch in downtown Los Altos, and if anyone makes the mistake of smiling at them, he wheels the twins right over to them. Bubby visits twice, once with Grandpa Herschel, at Thanksgiving.

The babies try to stow away in Grandma's luggage. (11 months)

While eating at AG Ferrari, Papa leads by example. (9 months)

"Bring on the turkey!" (11 1/2 months)

We take the twins with us to the Winter Twin 2009-2010 barbeque (we end up following James around as he crawls everywhere), and to Googleween (Google's version of Halloween for babies). We also visit the pumpkin patch twice.

Daddy moves the blanket at the twin picnic. Looks like he has a stowaway. (10 months)

Julia and Daddy at the twin picnic. How is it they so often have the same expressions?

James warily eyes Toto at Googleween. (10 1/2 months)

In Julia's version, Dorothy gnaws on her ruby slippers three times to go home. (10 1/2 months)

Julia tries to eat her first dirt clod. (10 months)

We had so much fun we made a second visit to the pumpkin patch so Papa could come.

Health and Doctor Visits
In September we see a our pediatrician about the babies' bad diaper rashes. Apparently they have yeast infections! Poor little guys. At the beginning of appointments the nurse measures their heads. The pediatrician always rechecks James's head himself to make sure it's not growing too fast and that he doesn't have a condition like hydrocephalus. That's how you know you have a big head, James. Meanwhile the pediatrician casually mentions that Julia has "preemie head" - a head that's narrower due to pressure from a certain brother in the womb. The babies get their flu shots and surprise us by not crying or showing any reaction. What kind of magical flu shots are these?

Julia treats a pediatrician's office like a rock star treats a hotel room. (9 months)

Julia discovers a fun house mirror during her trip to Kaiser. (9 months)

Crawling
James learned how to crawl at the end of August and spends September honing his skills. He is adept at crawling over the obstacle course of Boppies, towels, toys, and Bumbos like a soldier army-crawling on his stomach through mud under barbed wire. He also is a multi-tasker and likes to carry toys in his mouth while crawling.

James and Papa crawling. (9 months)

First picture of James crawling alone. (9 months)

James multi-tasking. The best part was when he'd occasionally reach up and spin the disks while carrying the toy with his mouth. (9 months)

James likes to try to make a crawling getaway and giggles whenever he crawls somewhere he knows he shouldn't. When the door is open to our bedroom, James will try to crawl as fast as he can to get inside and then to Mark's bathroom. He will smile and look at me before he takes off, and if sees me trying to stop him he'll giggle and crawl faster, often with his legs giving out from under him.

James sometimes crawls to me and climbs up me for a hug, which I think is so sweet. When I mention it to Mark, he tells me he just likes to climb people. I think, "Naaa..." but then later I see James trying to climb Julia. (For the record, she's not thrilled.)

James howls at the moon while climbing Daddy. (10 1/2 months)

Papa has Julia lie across his legs and because she doesn't seem to realize it's tummy time, she doesn't hate tummy time like she used to. In mid-October Julia starts scooting a tad - a few inches or a foot here and there. A month later she really wants to get to her new xylophone toy and to get to it she sort of crawls for the first time (her first real crawling is a few weeks later though). By the beginning of December she's constantly going from sitting to being on her tummy. Much like James before he started crawling, she also flips onto her tummy a few times when she's supposed to be napping.

Speaking of which, James continues to love flipping over. He's like a potato bug that hates being on its back. He tries to flip over in his crib, on the changing table, even while drinking a bottle, which because of the effect of gravity on milk, isn't very successful.

Standing
By 9/24 James had been trying to stand for a week. On this day he kneels and curls his foot under his knee and he makes it, while holding onto the changing table... and then he makes a mess of the shelf he can now reach by emptying the basket of diapers one at a time. Then he nearly spits up into the empty basket. Two days later when I enter his room in the morning, he greets me, already standing in his crib. By 9/30, James can cruise from one end of the changing table to the other, usually to get to the wipe box.

On 9/2 Julia briefly stands by herself - no hands or furniture. A few weeks later Papa holds Julia's hands above her head and gets her to "walk" for the first time, which makes her squeal with delight. We all try to help Julia learn how to pull herself up to standing, and she tries and tries, and just can't. Then on 11/6 I put her in a sitting position a little farther back than usual and she does it! (The victory is short-lived because she's not able to replicate her success for several more weeks.) By the next day she's already cruising, albeit slowly.

Julia's doing a pretty good job on this standing thing... oops. (9 months)

Julia tries to pull up... whomp! (10 months)

They both constantly cruise around the room from the changing table to the Pack N Play, and - the tricky part - across the divide to the crib. They also like to cruise along the walls of the Zoo, and on 12/3 James rests against the wall, no hands.

James cruises from one piece of furniture to another for the first time, while wearing his Buildasaur pajamas. (They're of course a combination of two things boys love - dinosaurs and tools.) (10 months)

Motor Skills
James has been holding his own bottle for awhile, but at the end of September Julia starts holding hers as well. Julia has good fine motor skills and is able to activate the sound on her monkey book. She also picks up puffs one at a time with her thumb and index finger whereas James tends to eat them with a swipe of his paw. This also explains why his chair is so messy after a snack.

~~Diapering~~ Poo Talk
Julia is 2 for 2 on number 2 in Armadillo Willy's changing table visits. I declare that it's her favorite place to poop. On her third visit we realize she's pooped when we arrive home so we assume that we weren't vigilant and that poop was aimed at her favorite barbeque joint.

Julia gets ready to do some damage at Armadillo Willy's. (10 1/2 months)

James is oblivious to the destruction going on beside him.

One day Julia brings on the A-poo-calypse - it's impressive when one diaper is so bad the poo gets on two babies. (In the flurry of activity getting poo off Julia's forehead - how did it get there by the way? - Grandma puts Julia's poopy pajamas on the side of the changing table and James grabs them.) It's also a bad sign when I think that James looks like Poo Hitler during this incident, but thankfully what I thought I saw turned out to be a shadow over his lip.

One day I go to pick up Julia and I can see poop all the way up to the top of her diaper. Like any good mom first I get the camera. My mother is appalled. (In my defense I never actually posted the photo even though it was a good one.) Incidentally when I go to change Julia I'm scared if I lay her down it'll smoosh out so I take her clothes off while she's standing and scoop out the poop from above.

Enough Julia poop shop talk, you say, what about James? Well, one morning he has a turd that make it all the way to the foot of his pajamas.

Teeth
James's first tooth is sighted coming in on 9/14. Nearly a week later we see the one next to it coming in as well. Unlike Julia with teething, he's a tad fussier and needs to be held more. And then four days later we notice that James has two more teeth coming in on the top. I start brushing their teeth with a washcloth.

Julia showing off her chompers while preparing to eat her favorite food: lint. (11 months)

Eating
In early September, they both drink water for the first time - Julia at Quizno's - and they start using sippy cups a week later.

On 9/15 the babies eat in high chairs for the first time, instead of their Bumbo seats. Four days later they try finger foods for the first time, in the form of apple puffs. James gets the hang of it and likes them. Julia's not so sure... Less than a month later it's clear Julia wishes all her food could be in puff form. Mark says Julia will major in puffs and James in slapping things. "I think they have those majors at Cal State schools."

James and his purple puff eyebrow piercing. (9 1/2 months)

"Yogurt? I don't THINK so." (9 months)

James definitely drives feedings and is very vocal during them, making the entire process very stressful to everyone involved. He cries during the feeding, and also if I get up to get more food. It's clear food is not coming fast enough for James's liking. I'm sure it's because he wants to hurry up and get to the milk, which is served at the end of meal (as our pediatrician recommended). I end up making up songs about the different foods they eat to calm them. Two of my works of art are below. (My other best ones are about apples, beef and spinach, and blueberries.)

The Apricot Song

Apricots - they're small and they're orange
Apricots - nothing rhymes with orange
They're kind of like a peach and they have a small pit
They're tasty when they're dried
Apricots are another food you have tried

Yogurt Starts with a "Y"

Yogurt starts with a "y"
Not many words do
Like yak and yellow and yardstick
All these words do

Yogurt starts with a "y"
Not many words do
Like Yentl and Yonkers and Yiddish
All these words do

(Other notable words that make an appearance: Yogi, yoga, Yoda, Yemen, and Yasmin Bleeth.)

By early October the twins move up to three feedings a day. Julia is a good eater for awhile and actually eats meat and vegetables. But there are other times that, like James, she keeps crying during their meals, even when served her favorite foods.

The babies try barley teething biscuits for the first time. Julia daintily chews on hers like you're supposed to while James gnaws through it like a beaver and we have to retrieve big chunks from his mouth so he won't choke. Bubby and I have to retrieve them from his mouth. The babies eat jarred Thanksgiving food.

Even babies get Thanksgiving dinner. Flavors from left to right: Apple Turkey Cranberry, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Cinnamon, and Pumpkin Apple.

Sleeping
My book says that 9 month olds know how to get you to pick them up from their cribs and rock them to sleep, which makes me think "You little fakers!" I promptly change their naptime ritual. Now after putting them down I only go back in after five minutes of crying (I know - not long), and say "I love you" and rub them briefly and then leave without picking them up. If they cry another five minutes I do the same thing. Usually it takes 10 minutes and then they're down for the count.

By November, James, and to a lesser extent, Julia, require relaxing in the form of singing and rocking before a nap or they won't nap. Otherwise James gets too keyed up and keeps getting up to stand. Sometimes I end up taking a 5 p.m. walk to eke out a nap from them. Generally the babies' temperaments were affected very little by teething, but one day Julia keeps me up for two hours in the early morning when she's getting her third tooth on top. When she refuses to nap that day she ends up melting down in the Andronico's parking lot and at bedtime. That's when she screams and when I calm her, James cries - standing in his crib. So I put her down to lay him down and she screams, and repeat. This also happend at nap time the next day. Ah, the joys of twins.

Julia finally gets her own crib (instead of a Pack N Play) in mid-October. But she doesn't get to use it long. Following Bubby's suggestion, in early November I put the Pack N Play in the other room to separate them at nap time. They both take their morning nap for the first time all week! A Thanksgiving visit by Bubby and Grandpa Herschel followed a few days later by moving Julia's sleeping place around (we give her a separate sleeping room for night time so the twins won't wake each other up, and then a week later move her into our room when my parents visit), all affect Julia. Julia screams for several hours several different nights, and James joins in once. Once I try putting Julia into the swing to help relax her, but since I haven't used the swing since she's gotten bigger I don't anticipate the seat flying back due to the extra weight and she ends up falling with her whole body landing face down.

Language
On 9/2 James starts waving bye bye (usually when Grandma sings Happy Talk to him), and Julia follows suit the following day (and cannot be stopped thereafter), giving a nice send off to my parents as they leave for Alabama. James makes his first sign on 9/14 for milk. It happens during their solid feeding and I don't know what to do since it's not their usual time for milk so I do nothing. I feel bad about ignoring their attempts to communicate so the next time he signs milk, Grandma and I sign it back and both babies recognize it and they start crying so we give them milk.

By mid-September, both babies say "Mamamama" for me occasionally. My mom says that James often says it when I'm not there and he's upset and wants to be held by me. One day Julia tries really hard to say "Mommy" but it comes out as a two syllable screeched hodge podge. By early November Julia likes to say "Dadadada" a lot, while James tends to stick with "Mamamama." He also starts saying "Papa" for my dad.

They both have different sounds they love to make. Julia's are raspberries. James loves to make a sound with his lips hitting together or clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He smiles if you imitate the sounds he makes. Sometimes he makes loud and long i-yi-yi-yi-yi noises in the middle of the night. He likes to make a gravelly froggy sound. (We call it many things: possessed frog, gargle, beached whale, lion roar.) Sometimes he pauses when he's almost done with a bottle to make the sound and then nonchalantly continues drinking.

Papa and James have a conversation. (10 months)

Books
James and particularly Julia LOVE books. After I read them a bunch, I offer them the pile and Julia goes nuts trying to scoot to it. She particularly loves touching the Noisy Peekaboo book. She makes happy noises when holding books, too. When the babies aren't read to we keep the books away from them, because they like to take big chomps out of books. (Writing this now I feel kind of guilty that we did that, but seriously we have a Julia-bite in the corner of her Ambulance book that looks like a shark must have gotten into the house.) We hide books behind pillows and blankets because they otherwise FREAK OUT when they see books. After awhile they figure out our hiding places.

When I read flip-up books, the twins take turns (usually anyway) flipping up parts. They get to know the books so well they even know where the hard-to-see flip-up part is on the triangle page of Flaptastic Shapes (I've had to tell adults where to find it). Julia loves the stringy tail in Tails and she pets it again and again and makes a long zombie sound ("ehhhhhhhhhhh"). James puts his mouth up to the fat fish and the elefish (an elephant-like fish) in Hooray for Fish as though he wants to eat them.

For about a month whenever James reads a book with a mirror he gets really close and puts his mouth up to it. Julia kisses her reflection on the mirrored cube toy.

Julia's my lovey dovey. (9 1/2 months)

Affection
I play a game with the twins where I hold them up and say "James/Julia is standing and he/she... gets a kiss!" They like it and James sometimes nuzzles me. By November both babies are starting to hug us at times, especially James. And a few weeks later they both like climbing in my lap at the same time.

One morning my mom tells me that James kept looking down the hallway for me. When I come in he says "Mamama" and wants me to pick him up.

Interaction with Each Other and Sociability
Most of their interaction these months still involves taking toys from one another, which they do now more than ever (as seen in this video). James is kind of a toy bully and Julia usually lets him take her toy, but sometimes will retaliate or distract him by pulling his hair, plucking out his pacifier, or clapping her feet together when he gets close.

By November they smile and laugh and babble to each other more.

"Julia you want this cup? Yoink." (11 1/2 months)

Conversation over breakfast. (11 1/2 months)

James is the Coppertone baby, and Julia's the little dog tugging at his bottom. (9 months)

Julia and James "talk" to each other. (10 months)

At about 7 months, James would cry if his toy was taken away. Julia remains very easy going and still doesn't cry when this happens to her. By the end of October, James gets very fussy whenever he's stopped from something he wants to do, much like a 2 year old. Despite the babies having a lot of stranger anxiety at the Google Picnic in August, they don't seem bothered by the thousands of people at Googleween. One day at Neto's, an older gentleman gets too close to James which causes him to cry. When I explain this to the man, he comes at James again and says "He's not crying because of this?" and gets in James's face again. James howls. Stupid old guy.

Playtime
My parents teach the babies to hold the crib railing and bounce to different songs. James's is the theme from "Bonanza" and Julia's is "Pop Goes the Weasel."

Some of the games they like (other than those mentioned in this post):

So Big
Being held upside down
Our pretending to eat their feet
Grabbing my feet (James)
Roughhousing with Papa

The babies enjoy playing in the backyard. Julia isn't crawling so she likes sitting with Papa on the picnic blanket. James likes to crawl around and pull out big clumps of grass. Papa calls him our Lawn Mower. Even more than the grass, James likes to crawl on and hit the concrete. Once after crawling all over the place, he started coming over to me smiling - which was sweet - but with muddy hands! Sometimes we blow bubbles which Julia likes, but James just stares, possibly afraid that they will hit him in the face again.

James de-grasses our yard, one clump at a time. (9 months)

Grandma gives Julia a flower. (9 months)

James crawls on his favorite surface - concrete. (9 months)

Bubbles are drawn like a magnet to James's face. (11 months)

Papa likes to show the babies trucks and tractors where they've just started building 53 new homes, literally next door. James watches squirrels in the backyard very intently with Grandma one day. (Of course the squirrels in our area are infamous. One once tried to wrestle a muffin out of a 4-year-old's hands.)

Grandparents and grandbabies watch the bulldozing going on next door. (10 months)

One day Mark has a slumber party with the babies in our bed and tucks them in with blankets. He gets them sleepy and then puts them down for naps in their cribs.

Slumber party with Daddy! (10 months)

Foods Introduced
(All are from baby food jars except cereal and yogurt)

Raspberries*
Blueberries* (big fans)
Prunes*
Pasta
Turkey*
Blueberry/sweet potato puff stars (Julia REALLY likes)
Barley and spelt (multi-grain cereal)
Corn*
Plain yogurt (not a hit)
Chicken* (hard to tell what they dislike more, Chicken Apple Compote or plain yogurt)
Peach yogurt
Apricot* (a hit and they like my song)
Banana yogurt
Cheese (jack)
Turkey (deli meat shaved thin)
Potatoes*
Broccoli*
Lentils* (both do not like)
Spinach*
Beef*
Banana rice rusk (Baby Mum Mum)
Barley teething biscuit
Cranberry* (and later dried)
Garbanzo beans*
Raisin* (and later cut-up)
Pumpkin*
Dates*
Onion*
Tofu (first non-Puff finger food victory for James; Julia won't try)
Rice cakes
Cheerios

*from baby food jar

Weights and Lengths

12/07/09 (birth)
James - weight: 5 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 17.8" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~75th percentile
Julia - weight: 4 lbs., 9 oz.; length: 18.1" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~10th percentile

1/07/10 (1 month)
James - weight: 7 lbs., 2.9 oz.; length: ~21"
Julia - weight: 6 lbs., 4.4 oz.; length: ~18 1/2"

2/08/10 (2 months)
James - weight: 9 lbs., 0.0 oz <5th percentile; length: 21 1/4" <5th percentile; head: 14 3/4" ~8th percentile; weight for length: ~25th percentile
Julia - weight: 7 lbs., 11.5 oz. <5th percentile; length: 20 1/2" <5th percentile; head: 14 1/4" <5th percentile; weight for length: ~17th percentile

3/06/10 (3 months)
James - weight: 11 lbs., 2.6 oz. ~10th percentile
Julia - weight: 9 lbs., 8 oz. ~5th percentile

4/08/10 (4 months)
James - weight: 13 lbs., 14.5 oz. ~30th percentile; length: 24" ~18th percentile; head: 16 1/2" ~44th percentile; weight for length: ~60th percentile
Julia - weight: 12 lbs., 4 oz. ~21st percentile; length: 23" ~10th percentile; head: 16" ~42nd percentile; weight for length: ~58th percentile

6/07/10 (6 months)
James - weight: 18 lbs., 2 oz. ~62nd percentile; length: 26 1/4" ~48th percentile; head: 17 1/2" ~73rd percentile; weight for length: ~80th percentile
Julia - weight: 15 lbs., 6.5 oz. ~45th percentile; length: 25 3/4" ~50th percentile; head: 16 3/4" ~51st percentile; weight for length: ~44th percentile

9/17/10 (9 months)
James - weight: 21 lbs., 3.5 oz ~55th percentile; length: 29" ~62nd percentile; head: 18 1/2" ~87th percentile; weight for length: ~65th percentile
Julia - weight: 18 lbs., 7 oz. ~50th percentile; length: 27 3/8" ~50th percentile; head: 17 1/2" ~61st percentile; weight for length: ~50th percentile

12/6/10 (12 months)
James - weight: 22 lbs., 15 oz. ~53rd percentile; length: 30 1/2" ~75th percentile; head: 19" ~93rd percentile; weight for length: ~59th percentile
Julia - weight: 20 lbs., 12 oz ~48th percentile; length: 29" ~50th percentile; head: 18" ~70th percentile; weight for length: ~62nd percentile

Julia Meets New Pink Bunny

2011-09-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

Before the twins were born, their grandmother bought them each a stuffed animal. "Puppy Dog" was destined for James and "Pink Bunny" was destined for Julia, and while James is clearly fond of Puppy Dog, Julia is in love with Pink Bunny. As in, you've never witnessed a baby more in love with her stuffed animal. She sleeps with Pink Bunny. She feeds Pink Bunny a bottle. She tries to burp Pink Bunny (which sometimes looks more like beating Pink Bunny with a bottle, but she means well). Once last November I could hear that she was awake from her nap but she wasn't crying. After 20 minutes I peeked in on her and she was just lying there talking to Pink Bunny and hugging it. (I e-mailed Mark that I thought Julia was making out with Bunny, and he asked if she'd left a scrunchie on the doorknob.)

Julia gives Pink Bunny a nice hug. (19 months)

Julia finds it hard to contain her enthusiasm for Pink Bunny. (10 months)

Julia sleeps in an interesting position while holding Pink Bunny. (20 months)

But recently there was a problem with Pink Bunny. Julia developed a fondness for chewing on Pink Bunny's right arm and, over the course of months of this, the arm had turned grayish-brown and picked up a smell to match. Let's review the photographic evidence...

(17 months)

(18 months)

(16 months)

Sometimes a chomp out of Bunny's leg will do in a pinch. (16 months)

The arm was also frequently damp and we began to wonder what sort of microscopic life it might be hosting. And because there was a music box sealed inside of Pink Bunny (pull the cord on its back for a lullaby) we couldn't just toss it in the washing machine.

Try to guess which arm Julia liked to chew on.

Possible mold colony close-up!

The solution? Buy a replacement Pink Bunny. My mom originally bought Bunny from Carter's for $8, but that was two years ago and they no longer sell it, so I looked online. The best price I could find, new or used, was on eBay for $25. (I suspect there's a thriving market of people stockpiling loveys at bargain prices while they're available and then reselling them later to buyers whose babies have lost their loveys.) But what choice did I have? I paid up and a week later a brand new Pink Bunny arrived at our house.

I asked Mark to take some pictures of old and new Pink Bunnies before Julia forever made new Pink Bunny not-so-new:

"Old Pink Bunny meet new Pink Bunny."

"Okay, pose together for the camera..."

"...and now new Pink Bunny will demonstrate its superiority."

Next we had to decide how to give it to Julia. Mark wanted to show her both bunnies together and blow her little mind but I thought that was a bad idea. I was worried enough already that Julia might instinctively reject new Pink Bunny. What if Julia sniffed new Pink Bunny and said, "I smell eBay!"? We decided to discreetly insert Pink Bunny into the mix of toys in the play area and just let nature take its course. And we caught it on camera:

Julia meets the new Pink Bunny: http://www.youtube.com/user/pilloff#p/u/0/93GqgW7pSko

My favorite part of the video is when Julia's suddenly turns her head and looks over Bunny like "That's not my Pink Bunny." But in the end she accepted Pink Bunny and as far as she knows new Pink Bunny is the one true Pink Bunny.

For posterity's sake here's a retrospective look at old Pink Bunny. This may be best enjoyed with Through the Years playing in the background.

(14 months)

(16 months)

Julia's a brave girl to wear Papa's shoes. (18 months)

Last known picture on July 14, 2011 of Julia with old Pink Bunny, taken while Julia tries to brush her teeth with a toy screwdriver. (19 months)

Now my worry is that Puppy Dog is next because his nose is always wet from James carrying it with his teeth...

James about to pounce on Puppy Dog's snout. (14 months)

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode

2011-09-16T14:18:00.000-07:00

Now that it’s been a year since I taped my Jeopardy! episodes (8/10/10), and after writing about the try out, my preparation, my strategy, the trip there, the Green Room (in two different posts), and random Jeopardy! arcana, I figured it was FINALLY time to finally write about my actual episodes.

See the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here and (if you want) follow along below (several paragraphs down) as I talk about various questions. For all game questions, go to the Jeopardy! Archives for my game. If you watch nothing else watch the (big spoiler alert) part where I win. It’s a good ending. And I’m not just saying that because I (even bigger spoiler alert) won a crapful of money. It was definitely the most exciting game of the week.

Jeopardy! tapes a week worth of episodes in one day. So after a morning of watching the Monday-Wednesday games and eating lunch, we had another practice round. My friends in the audience were surprised that I skipped the Geography category in favor of Skiing (something I’ve never done before in my life). It’s probably stupid but I didn’t want my competitors to know my strengths.

Right afterwards, they drew our names out of a hat to see who would be in the Thursday episode and to determine our podium positions. Finally my name! I really didn’t want to be in Friday’s game lest I actually win, since then I’d have to come back. My make-up was re-touched and then we were back out again.

I was strangely not nervous all day long. Standing up at the podium just seemed surreal, and the 100 or so member studio audience made it feel more intimate - as though there wouldn’t be millions watching at home. There were many other piddly things in life I've been much more nervous about, and despite my fears lifelong of being on Jeopardy!, surprisingly this wasn’t one of them. I think it had something to do with having babies and realizing there are much more important things in life besides crashing and burning on Jeopardy!.

First they recorded our Hometown Howdies (here’s the video of mine).

Hey Bay Area, I'm Kathleen Mikulis from Mountain View. Watch me on Jeopardy! to see if I make enough money to actually afford living here.

Then everything happened pretty much in real time. The music started, and on cue I looked into the camera with a smile I had to hold and hold...

And it Begins...

Let's meet today’s contestants. Personally I like the hot stay-at-home mom from Mountain View, California.

:50 At the time I don’t get Alex’s joke about “casual Thursday” since I'm not one of the two male contestants who skipped wearing a suit jacket but I laugh anyway.

So the game starts. I realize immediately that my strategy of waiting until the light comes on to ring in is not working. (Contrary to what you might think, ringing in first on Jeopardy! isn’t about buzzer speed but buzzer timing. Just to recap how buzzing in works, there’s a stagehand that flips a switch when Alex finishes reading the question. If you buzz in before the light (not visible to the viewers at home), you are locked out from answering for a whole half second. It doesn’t seem like much but a half second is everything on Jeopardy!.) I’m up against a three day champion who is definitely at an advantage having been able to practice his buzzer timing.

I have to change to the riskier strategy described in Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy! of trying to anticipate when the stagehand will turn on the light to buzz in. It’s maddening because you waste several questions buzzing in too early or too late trying to get the timing right.

3:46 My stoner next door neighbor still teases me about my semi-soft ice cream guess. (The answer was fudge. As in the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival offers sauerkraut-flavored fudge.)

4:42 You can see me looking at the scores (3800-2000-200) right before commercial break and thinking maybe this going on Jeopardy! thing wasn’t such a great idea...

What is "Crap. Look at my score..."?

What is "Crap. Look at my score..." close-up?

How I felt going into the first commercial.

Interview

5:00 Interview with Alex! I thought I’d be really nervous at this part, but I sort of forgot about the interview during the commercial break. In case you’re wondering, every break consists of you testing your buzzer and getting pumped up by the Jeopardy! wranglers to play again. And in the meantime I tried to follow another Trebekistan strategy of using the break to look at the category names and try to predict what questions might come up. The first break is especially distracting because that's when each challenger gets a picture taken with Alex.

Beeeeep! Contact with Alex! Beeeeep!

You have to submit five facts about yourself to Jeopardy! as well as answers to some other questions (“What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever visited,” etc.) to fulfill the wranglers’ hopes of your uttering something somewhat interesting while on TV. Based on my faux interview with a wrangler that morning, I was under the impression that Alex would either ask about the twins or my background in geography/cartography. “Since Alex hosts the Geography Bee he likes to talk about geography,” I was told. Nope, Alex caught me off-guard by asking about my 1300 Yelp restaurant reviews. They cut out the part where I said I’d been to 60 Thai, 10 Ethiopian, and 16 Persian restaurants, and 21 Indian lunch buffets just in the Bay Area, I guess in order to spend more time talking about middle guy’s quest for a giant hamburger.

Then Alex asks “Are you not a good cook?” which sort of paints me into a box. Do I tell the truth and say, “Well, I’m an okay cook but don’t really enjoy it, and definitely don’t have time lately with the babies, and really the ethnic food I can buy in a restaurant is never as good what I can make at home"? or do I just provide a good end to the conversation? And thus I set women’s lib back 50 years by saying “Don’t ask my husband that question.”

"So, home audience, let's see if I can come up with an uncomfortable question to ask."

In case you’re wondering about the other stories I submitted besides Yelp reviews, being a twin mom (they wanted me to mention the babies' birth as a "Day that Will Live in Twinfamy"), and being a cartographer, they are:
-Getting fired from a Polish travel agency for not speaking Polish
-Visiting 66 different Chevys restaurants (and winning a contest to fly to NYC and New Orleans to go to more, and going to 10 Chevys in one weekend)
-Moving to my first house literally the day I return from Jeopardy!

And I answered the bare minimum of their leading questions. (Why did I choose my major? I love maps and memorize capitals for fun. Unfortunately not part of the curriculum. Do you have a dream job? Yes, writing questions for Jeopardy!. Hook me up, Alex. Funniest travel memory? Puking my guts out in a plane over the Pacific and having to sneak into business class to puke in their bathrooms after my puke clogged the ones in coach. I can’t imagine why they didn’t use that story.)

If I’d become a 74 game winner like Ken Jennings you could have expected to hear about all these (non-)adventures.

The Game Gets Worse Before Getting Better

6:53 I actually know most of the NFL questions (that shows how easy they were), though admittedly my football is so rusty (was it ever NOT rusty?) that I would have said Aiken (as in Clay) instead of Aikman (as in Troy).

7:42 The score is 5600-3000-200 - my worst deficit of the whole game.

Worst. Score. Ever.

7:58 Benne wafers are apparently from Charleston. Who knew? Apparently a woman from my church did and she gifted me some after my appearance.

9:37 Too bad I didn’t get this Daily Double (answer: Manuel Noriega) since I knew the answer. (In retrospect I'm glad the scores were exactly as they were at the end because being forced to bet so much meant I walked away with a lot of money. But almost as good as me not getting this question, Matt didn’t know it and lost $2000. (Sorry, Matt. Nothing against you and you're a nice guy. I just have to think about the ultimate outcome here.)

When I went to take a screenshot of Matt's expression, my video pixelated and I got the image at the top. I would have opted for the clearer image at the bottom but I kind of prefer the top one.

10:18 Go to commercial break. The score is 5800-3000-2000. And Mark and Brendan are visible in the studio audience! (You can barely see Lila's black and white top but she's mostly hidden.)

Mark is the guy on the farthest right, three rows down, and Brendan is the curly-headed fellow near the middle, with Lila in between, per the red arrows.

Double Jeopardy

10:51 I land on a Daily Double. The wranglers told us not to add excess words to the game (such as shortening category names), but I throw my cares to the wind. I mean how often do I get to say, “Alex, I’ve always wanted to say `Make it a true daily double...’”? I’m thinking the answer to my question is “dress” when suddenly “sari” comes to me since the category is "Welcome to India." Now I’m in second place: 5800-3000-4000.

I sound and look unsure when I answer but I know I’m right and say a small “Yay!” when Alex confirms it.

The India category goes well for me. I’m in the lead after my Bay of Bengal answer, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t notice: 5800-5000-6400. In my Winner’s Circle interview after the show (but cut from the version that aired online), I was asked about whether I'd traveled to India as though India was my strength, but really I only got the three middle clues in the category and missed the first one...

11:57 Yes, I guessed you could take a tour of an Indian state by elephant. Get your laughing over with.

"What is ruining my momentum on the India category by guessing something stupid?"

12:06 Science category with The Clue Crew. Crap. I play Jeopardy! by scanning clues for dates and facts so I am no good at these clues where I have to actually listen.

12:45 The Clue Crew is releasing aerosol into the environment for no reason.

13:41 The score is 10600-5800-6000. Not looking good.

I (barely) get a question right that's delivered by Wolf Blitzer. I’m sorry for ever making fun of you, Wolf. No, not really.

Judging by your abysmal Celebrity Jeopardy! appearance I’m not too surprised your favorite movie is about playing hooky from school...

"Oh, Wolf..."

Even Wolf Blitzer can’t bear to see his score.

13:51 I get a question about the zodiac sign Gemini. You can see me smile when Alex says, “The twins.”

What is something you should have asked me about in the interview instead of whether or not I'm a good cook?

14:01 We get a question about Virgo that no one rings in on.

Triple stumper faces! Mine's the only embarrassing one.

14:09 I get the Daily Double about Sagittarius. I expected this sign to come up the whole category, so I was ready for it.

"Ppppppff... what to bet, what to bet..."
Waiting for the question...
"Hells yeah!"

I’m in the lead! 10600-5800-11200.

It only lasts until the next question. But still, for now, in the lead!

14:43 Crap. A whole category devoted to French. Looks like I chose the wrong language to take in high school.

16:36 And the last question about Great Expectations gets me into the lead! Thank goodness for 9th grade English!

16:47 You can see me look at the scores and see that I’m totally surprised and excited to be in the lead. 12600-8600-12800. I'm not exactly subtle about looking at my score either.

"That sound means it's the end of the round, and Kathleen looks like she's a deer stuck in headlights."

My series of "I'm in the lead!" faces. Kind of like the stages of denial, except not. The first stage: surprise. The second stage: relief. And the third: gloating.

Meanwhile, here's Matt.

Final Jeopardy

Although I haven’t really been thrilled by the categories all day, the Final Jeopardy! one is right in my wheelhouse: Art and Artists. I may have taken the wrong language in high school, but thank goodness for AP Art History! (I got a five on the exam and it’s the only subject I ever got an award in at the end-of-the-year assembly in high school, so yay!) Plus this is a category that’s hard to study when preparing for Jeopardy! so that’s to my advantage.

During the commercial break, I do my Final Jeopardy! math and make my wager. I check my math three times while everyone waits on me. I definitely don’t want to lose at Jeopardy! because of a calculation error.

17:09 It’s a Video Final Jeopardy!

I need glasses for driving and seeing distance, and got contacts just for Jeopardy! (And may I just say, they were a nightmare to take in and out. The first time, I finally got ONE in after an hour and a half!) Anyway, despite my contacts I still can’t see the picture clearly. (In fact I also thought the category clues to be a little small.) When I squint it looks like there's a woman on the left side of the painting instead of the sunflowers (so did Mark, watching from the audience, and he has 20-20 vision so maybe Jeopardy! should look into not making clues so small). I think the question is asking for the two people pictured and I’m starting to panic. This is my category! I’m in the lead! Don’t blow it!

I know the guy pictured is Van Gogh. Who’s a famous lady painter from that time period? Cassatt? I know it’s wrong. And then suddenly I realize what’s being asked and in the last second I furiously scribble “Gauguin.” (Actually when I first saw the painting I immediately thought it was in the style of Gauguin but I didn’t think that was what was being asked.) My light pen actually stopped working as I wrote the last letter of “Gauguin” since it times out at 30 seconds. (I didn't actually realize I had misspelled Gauguin - where did that "h" come from? - until I was writing this post.)

Here's me squinting while everyone else writes down their answers.

And here's me furiously misspelling "Gauguin."

18:25 I decide I better tell Alex my answer before he can say it so there’s no doubt of my intent to the judges. (In fact, my friends said they saw Alex look toward the judges, as though for confirmation, when my answer was revealed.) My answer is shown on the screen and I keep saying “Gauguin” like I’m Rain Man, and in the process step all over Alex’s joke, “What is Van Gogh and Laugh In?"

Waiting to find out the answer...
The moment I find out I won.
I think the Jeopardy! wranglers would approve of my happy win face.

And that's the way it's done: ~~barely squeaking by with a win~~ playing awesomely.

I will never wash this hand again.

18:07 Yay! I’m a Jeopardy! champion!

During the commercial break I see Mark, Lila, and Brendan in the audience looking super excited for me. When the game ends I realize two things. 1) Jeopardy! goes by really fast, and 2) It’s a LOT harder than it looks!

This chart shows the game dynamics. I was very lucky.

Winner's Circle

18:54 Winner’s Circle interview with Alex as the credits roll. (The winner, second place, and third place contestants are always lined up left to right facing the audience.) People often ask me what Alex was like, but because of game show rules you have no interaction with him other than what you see on TV (and the picture taken with Alex during the first commercial). I remember that Alex was proud of his “Laugh In” joke in the Winner’s Circle (“I thought that was funny,” he said), and then the rest of the time I was so excited I ignored Alex to mostly talk to Matt about the game and Final Jeopardy!.

Giant maniacal laughter on the video screen

I was created by Merv Griffin? Who knew.

Poor ignored Alex. And to add insult to injury he's covered by an ad for Gold Bond.

After the Winner’s Circle, I’m immediately put in front of a camera onstage for the Winner’s Circle interview that goes on the Jeopardy! website. Here's the embarrassing transcript, pasted verbatim from The J-Archive. Thanks so much, J-Archive, for including every "um" and false start:

How does it feel to be the new Jeopardy! champion?
Oh, to win Jeopardy! is the world to me. I am... [laughs] beyond belief, ecstatic. I never expected this to happen. I still feel like I'm dreaming; I need to pinch myself. Um, I--I'm sti--I'm just in shock, I never thought anyone was going to bring--beat Matt, let alone me. [Laughs] So...

How did you prepare for your appearance on Jeopardy!?
Um, when I had time... [laughs] which is very little... Uh, I-I read a little bit online. Uh, I'm moving in two days, so, I had very little time, since I'm packing, also. Um, but, mostly, read some books and hoped for the best. Made some spreadsheets; my husband made some flashcards from them for me.

How did you feel about your competition today?
Yeah, he was really intense to beat. It was hard--the first round I had to f-f--kind of recalibrate what I was doing to start beating him on the buzzer. And, uh, and... and also, the--the football category did not help me. [Laughs] Um, but, uh, tried to f-f-get that all solved out for Final Jeopardy!--for, uh, Double Jeopardy!, and thankfully things went my way, and I eked out just above him at the end, so, that was--that was very lucky.

Mark did make me flashcards for Shakespeare play summaries but I only used them for 5 minutes. (I mostly just looked at spreadsheets that I made.) The only thing I studied that ever came up was Liszt, and unfortunately I didn't understand the clue in time.

Kathy in the Winner's Circle: Worst. Interview. Ever.

I totally didn’t prepare for the interview. The interview was pretty lame and I really just wanted to be done with it because I couldn't think of anything interesting to say. Later I wish I talked about how I'd wanted to be on Jeopardy! since grade school, but once I got old enough I was too afraid. When Adam Carolla was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars he gave a speech that it’s good to do something you’re afraid of - like dance on television, and that was one of my inspirations to try out for Jeopardy! (I actually told this to Adam Carolla in person when he signed my book after a comedy show. He said something nice like he was just approached for Dancing with the Stars, whereas I had the guts to go out and be on Jeopardy!.) But to be honest it wasn’t just Adam Carolla, it was the aggregate of every time I’d hear something along the lines of “Is there something you’ve always wanted to do?” And I'd immediately think "Jeopardy!"

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part VI: Winner's Circle

2011-09-15T15:04:00.001-07:00

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

18:54 Winner’s Circle interview with Alex as the credits roll. (The winner, second place, and third place contestants are always lined up left to right facing the audience.) People often ask me what Alex was like, but because of game show rules you have no interaction with him other than what you see on TV (and the picture taken with Alex during the first commercial). I remember that Alex was proud of his “Laugh In” joke in the Winner’s Circle (“I thought that was funny,” he said), and then the rest of the time I was so excited I ignored Alex to mostly talk to Matt about the game and Final Jeopardy!.

Giant maniacal laughter on the video screen

I was created by Merv Griffin? Who knew.

Poor ignored Alex. And to add insult to injury he's covered by an ad for Gold Bond.

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part V: Final Jeopardy

2011-09-12T13:54:00.001-07:00

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

Although I haven’t really been thrilled by the categories all day, the Final Jeopardy! one is right in my wheelhouse: Art and Artists. I may have taken the wrong language in high school, but thank goodness for AP Art History! (I got a five on the exam and it’s the only subject I ever got an award in at the end-of-the-year assembly in high school, so yay!) Plus this is a category that’s hard to study when preparing for Jeopardy! so that’s to my advantage.

During the commercial break, I do my Final Jeopardy! math and make my wager. I check my math three times while everyone waits on me. I definitely don’t want to lose at Jeopardy! because of a calculation error.

17:09 It’s a Video Final Jeopardy!

Here's me squinting while everyone else writes down their answers.

Waiting to find out the answer...
The moment I find out I won.
I think the Jeopardy! wranglers would approve of my happy win face.

And that's the way it's done: ~~barely squeaking by with a win~~ playing awesomely.

I will never wash this hand again.

18:07 Yay! I’m a Jeopardy! champion!

This chart shows the game dynamics. I was very lucky.

Next time: Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part VI: Winner's Circle

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part IV: Double Jeopardy

2011-09-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

10:51 I land on a Daily Double. The wranglers told us not to add excess words to the game (such as shortening category names), but I throw my cares to the wind. I mean how often do I get to say, “Alex, I’ve always wanted to say `Make it a true daily double...’”? I’m thinking the answer to my question is “dress” when suddenly “sari” comes to me since the category is "Welcome to India." Now I’m in second place: 5800-3000-4000.

I sound and look unsure when I answer but I know I’m right and say a small “Yay!” when Alex confirms it.

"What is ruining my momentum on the India category by guessing something stupid?"

Judging by your abysmal Celebrity Jeopardy! appearance I’m not too surprised your favorite movie is about playing hooky from school...

"Oh, Wolf..."

Even Wolf Blitzer can’t bear to see his score.

13:51 I get a question about the zodiac sign Gemini. You can see me smile when Alex says, “The twins.”

What is something you should have asked me about in the interview instead of whether or not I'm a good cook?

14:01 We get a question about Virgo that no one rings in on.

Triple stumper faces! Mine's the only embarrassing one.

14:09 I get the Daily Double about Sagittarius. I expected this sign to come up the whole category, so I was ready for it.

"Ppppppff... what to bet, what to bet..."
Waiting for the question...
"Hells yeah!"

I’m in the lead! 10600-5800-11200.

It only lasts until the next question. But still, for now, in the lead!

14:43 Crap. A whole category devoted to French. Looks like I chose the wrong language to take in high school.

"That sound means it's the end of the round, and Kathleen looks like she's a deer stuck in headlights."

My series of "I'm in the lead!" faces. Kind of like the stages of denial, except not. The first stage: surprise. The second stage: relief. And the third: gloating.

Meanwhile, here's Matt.

Next time: Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part V: Final Jeopardy

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part III: The Game Gets Worse Before Getting Better

2011-09-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

6:53 I actually know most of the NFL questions (that shows how easy they were), though admittedly my football is so rusty (was it ever NOT rusty?) that I would have said Aiken (as in Clay) instead of Aikman (as in Troy).

7:42 The score is 5600-3000-200 - my worst deficit of the whole game.

Worst. Score. Ever.

When I went to take a screenshot of Matt's expression, my video pixelated and I got the image at the top. I would have opted for the clearer image at the bottom but I kind of prefer the top one.

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part II: The Interview

2011-09-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

(Again, you can see the Thursday, 10/21/10 episode here.)

5:00 Interview with Alex! I thought I’d be really nervous at this part, but I sort of forgot about the interview during the commercial break. In case you’re wondering, every break consists of you testing your buzzer and getting pumped up by the Jeopardy! wranglers to play again. And in the meantime I tried to follow another Trebekistan strategy of using the break to look at the category names and try to predict what questions might come up. The first break is especially distracting because that's when each challenger gets a picture taken with Alex.

Beeeeep! Contact with Alex! Beeeeep!

You have to submit five facts about yourself to Jeopardy! as well as answers to some other questions (“What’s the most interesting place you’ve ever visited,” etc.) to fulfill the wranglers’ hopes of your uttering something somewhat interesting while on TV. Based on my faux interview with a wrangler that morning, I was under the impression that Alex would either ask about the twins or my background in geography/cartography. “Since Alex hosts the Geography Bee he likes to talk about geography,” I was told. Nope, Alex caught me off-guard by asking about my 1300 Yelp restaurant reviews. They cut out the part where I said I’d been to 60 Thai, 10 Ethiopian, and 16 Persian restaurants, and 21 Indian lunch buffets just in the Bay Area, I guess in order to spend more time talking about middle guy’s quest for a giant hamburger.

Then Alex asks “Are you not a good cook?” which sort of paints me into a box. Do I tell the truth and say, “Well, I’m an okay cook but don’t really enjoy it, and definitely don’t have time lately with the babies, and really the ethnic food I can buy in a restaurant is never as good what I can make at home"? or do I just provide a good end to the conversation? And thus I set women’s lib back 50 years by saying “Don’t ask my husband that question.”

"So, home audience, let's see if I can come up with an uncomfortable question to ask."

In case you’re wondering about the other stories I submitted besides Yelp reviews, being a twin mom (they wanted me to mention the babies' birth as a "Day that Will Live in Twinfamy"), and being a cartographer, they are:
-Getting fired from a Polish travel agency for not speaking Polish
-Visiting 66 different Chevys restaurants (and winning a contest to fly to NYC and New Orleans to go to more, and going to 10 Chevys in one weekend)
-Moving to my first house literally the day I return from Jeopardy!

And I answered the bare minimum of their leading questions. (Why did I choose my major? I love maps and memorize capitals for fun. Unfortunately not part of the curriculum. Do you have a dream job? Yes, writing questions for Jeopardy!. Hook me up, Alex. Funniest travel memory? Puking my guts out in a plane over the Pacific and having to sneak into business class to puke in their bathrooms after my puke clogged the ones in coach. I can’t imagine why they didn’t use that story.)

If I’d become a 74 game winner like Ken Jennings you could have expected to hear about all these (non-)adventures.

Next time: Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part III: The Game Gets Worse Before Getting Better

Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part I: And it Begins...

2011-08-30T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Bay Area, I'm Kathleen Mikulis from Mountain View. Watch me on Jeopardy! to see if I make enough money to actually afford living here.

Then everything happened pretty much in real time. The music started, and on cue I looked into the camera with a smile I had to hold and hold...

And it Begins...

Let's meet today’s contestants. Personally I like the hot stay-at-home mom from Mountain View, California.

What is "Crap. Look at my score..."?

What is "Crap. Look at my score..." close-up?

How I felt going into the first commercial.

Next time: Kathy's Thursday Jeopardy Episode Part II: The Interview

Our Babies Are Models! Sort of.

2011-08-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Sara has a home business as an illustrator, called Stinkerpants, and people commission her to design really cute wedding invitations and stationery commemorating other events. Recently she started her own baby clothing line with her drawings of animals (with cool Chinese zodiac ones, too). She sent us two t-shirts for our twins to model for her web site. I’m not sure if the photos will actually make it on the site since I haven’t seen them there yet. (There's a slideshow of a few babies wearing her shirts here.) My logical brain says that I’m sure it was hard to choose among all the baby models. My Mommy brain says “What do you mean `hard to choose’? You’re talking about your my babies who also happen to be the world’s cutest babies.” (But seriously, Sara, no pressure to use the photos of our babies. I mean, I understand that you don't want other people to feel bad that their babies aren't as cute as ours.)

After I sent her the first batch of photos she told me she had hoped for a picture of them together. HA HA HA HA HA. Obviously not a mom of twins OR toddlers. I last was able to easily take a picture of the twins together at 11 months or so. Now I can never get posed photos of them. The monthly photos are impossible. Recently I made the babies a photo album of their parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncles. I included a collage of their baby friends, and asked the parents of their baby friends to submit photos if I didn’t have any. Almost all of the twin parents sent me photos that were slightly blurry because it is impossible to take a picture where both twins are next to each other and looking at least near the camera. Basically if I happen to be holding a camera and the twins walk anywhere near each other I start snapping away hoping a moment will magically occur where they both look up at the camera and smile.

I’m not sure if the pictures will ever appear on the site but it was fun to take them, and we have cute free t-shirt souvenirs. Below are some of the best shots, taken in late April and early May. They include some shots I couldn't submit because Sara's animal drawing is obscured.

This is the best shot I could get of the twins together, but that's not saying a whole lot. James wanted Julia's hair bow which did not please Julia since she was still wearing it.

Julia shows off the Stinkerpants logo on her shirt... as well as her diaper.

I didn't submit these, but these are from one of the first times Julia used the slide.