James and Julia 24-28 Months, Part IX: Julia, My Cheerful, Flirtatious, Demanding, Sociopathic, Clingy, Independent, Funny, Puzzle-Loving Girl

Here is Part I: Singing "Genko Ball" and Wearing Santa Diapers

Here is Part II: Rediscovering the Mall, Gymnastics Party, and Pizza at Papa and Gaga’s Apartment

Here is Part III: Whole Foods Mini Shopping Carts, a Tunnel, and a Giant Box

Here is Part IV: Sliding Down the Wood Chip Pile, Julia Fall Butt, and One-Teen

Here is Part V: High Chair Bookworms, Okapi, and Eating Cold Things

Here is Part VI: The Crib Tent, Booger ‘Stache, and “Come on, James!”

Here is Part VII: James’s First Non-Sister Kiss, Almanzo Stinks, and Dog Fears and Tantrums Begin

Here is Part VIII: James, My Mechanical, Anxious, Papa-Fixated, Frustrated, Non-Compliant, Creative, Musical Boy

Julia

Cheerful and More

Compared to her brother, Julia is harder to get to sleep but generally is easier. While James tends to be negative and is often fretful or frustrated and prone to melting down, she is the opposite: positive and cheery, with a smidge of mischievousness.

Flirt

Julia is my cute girl who loves saying “hi” or “bye” to everyone, and she’s particularly on her smiley game in restaurants. 

Julia makes eyes at Gaga.

Mark captures the essence of a Julia restaurant visit here (which I wanted him to blog about at the time):

I usually leave the baby blogging to Kathy but this was a cool moment and I’m not even sure she was present for it.  

We had just eaten dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Menlo Park and were on our way out. The babies can walk on their own now, so I held Julia’s hand and guided her towards the exit. Standing in the foyer was a party of 7 or 8 people which we had to cut through -- mostly adults, but there was a teenage boy (maybe 16 years old) among them who was lounging on a bench.  

Julia can be pretty charming when she wants to be (and she did her fair share of this during dinner) but, as you can guess, teenage boys aren’t exactly her target demographic when broadcasting her Cute Baby program. We stepped slowly through the crowd and, just as Julia was nearly face to face with the boy (he was half-reclining on the bench and so his face was not too much higher than Julia’s), she turned to him and squeaked in her high-pitched but confident voice, “BYE!”

The waiting party melted. There were several simultaneous “awww”s and even the teenage boy got a big smile on his face. It’s times like these I wish I traveled with a helmet cam.

Julia turning on the charm per usual in the Su Hong foyer

Julia always wants to engage you in a game. She particularly loves “Where is Julia hiding?” (hint: she’s always hiding in her corner of the kitchen), 1-2-3 Hug, and Peek-a-Boo, where her eyes just light up when she’s “found.” For a month we have a big cardboard box in the family room and she prefers to drink her milk in it. She can’t get in herself, but somehow can get out, and she enjoys me putting her in so much (I lift and lower her by one hand: “Airlift!”) she immediately scampers out and has me do it over and over again. Julia also likes engaging me in pretend play, handing me food and we pretend eat.

Drinking milk with Daddy in the cardboard box

Sometimes she gets upset when I take a picture of her, but other times she’ll pose and say, “more pictures.”

Demanding and Opinionated

When I cuddle the twins at the same time, I sit with my legs straight out. Julia always grabs the position closest to me and is mad if James takes it instead. She discovers she can climb into our dining room chairs but then yells to us to get her down, ad nauseum.

She is opinionated and starts giving input on her clothes (pink pig pajamas!) and the color of her washcloth (for a time, pink only). Her hair is like a rat’s nest after a nap but I can’t control her bedhead. She doesn’t like pigtails (I think I pulled a little early on) and fights barrettes.

Sociopath

Julia becomes obsessed with a page in No No Yes Yes where one of the “no” behavior examples is “hurt people.” She walks around the house like a sociopath saying, “hurt people.” She also enjoys standing on Mark’s chest and then jumping down and landing on her butt, announcing, “hurt!” (See video.) One day Julia tells Mark while being changed, “hurt people,” and then kicks him and declares, “more kicking.”

Julia enjoying climbing on/hurting Mark.

Clingy

Mark reports that when I’m at Target one day Julia cries for me off and on while I’m gone. At the end of February Julia wants me to walk her by the hand everywhere, this includes walking to another room or even the changing table. It’s sweet but time-consuming when I have to do things like go back to her room to walk her to the kitchen. She’s really affectionate and slightly more prone to giving kisses and hugs than James. Julia loves 1-2-3 Hug and gives kisses with a fish-like pucker. Often I read to her before naps and she will let me hug her close while I sing to her.

Independent and Helpful

Julia loves “helping” and assisting us with chores like unloading the dishwasher and putting toothbrushes away. She hates having someone else put her clothes on her, and really likes to be independent. She even tries to put on her shoes and jacket by herself (often not well). It’s ironic since only a little over a year before she didn’t crawl and wanted us to carry her everywhere. (That’s when I suspected that she wanted to live at home until she was 30.)

Sense of Humor

One day Julia has me name every one of the 20 blueberries in her book (me: “blueberry, blueberry, another blueberry”), and after each one she points to her mouth and I say, “Yes you eat those,” and she cracks up. She also does this with every item (menorahs, latkes, etc.) in Hanukkah: A Counting Book. Her favorite is when I say, “Maccabees…(she smiles and points to her mouth) We don’t eat Maccabees!” James likes to watch and laugh, and Julia thinks the games she makes up are pretty funny. I think she has a fairly sophisticated sense of humor. She usually makes the joke and instead of laughing herself, she smiles her smart twinkly smile while she waits for a reaction. I know adults who haven’t mastered this.

Julia just LIGHTS up when joking with you and loves playing peek-a-boo with a cute smile. Mark asks her what color her dog puppet, Spot, is and she names every color but yellow and laughs.

Love of Words and Puzzles

I often hear Julia counting to herself in her crib. She loves counting and sounds like the Swedish Chef from The Muppets while she does it. James is better an enunciating but Julia seems to be better at quickly identifying letters. By March she knows where all the pieces go in their alphabet puzzles and she becomes obsessed with them. In April the twins work on their fire truck puzzle together and Julia gets quite good at it.

James and Julia 24-28 Months, Part V: High Chair Bookworms, Okapi, and Eating Cold Things

Here is Part I: Singing "Genko Ball" and Wearing Santa Diapers

Here is Part II: Rediscovering the Mall, Gymnastics Party, and Pizza at Papa and Gaga’s Apartment

Here is Part III: Whole Foods Mini Shopping Carts, a Tunnel, and a Giant Box

Here is Part IV: Sliding Down the Wood Chip Pile, Julia Fall Butt, and One-Teen

Books

When one finishes a meal before the other I clean them up and keep them in their high chair with books. (See video.) After the twins eat their snacks and meals in their high chairs they (but especially James) prefer to stay there and read for another 20 minutes. (Me: “Okay, I guess I’ll look at my laptop…”) They they chuck the books over the sides and request more books. They’re my little bookworms. James also cutely reads books aloud to himself, which is to say he names objects he sees and recites what he can remember from me reading to him.

My bookworm babies want to stay in their high chairs with books after their snack instead of coming down to play.

 I read a book with puppies wagging their tails so I ask the twins what it means when dogs wag their tails and James exclaims, “music!” (This is amusing because Puppy Dog makes music if you pull its tail.) While reading Silly Faces - See Me on the Farm! where a child can put their head in the hold of the middle of the book to look like different animals, James is so excited when I mention that he can put Puppy Dog’s face in the hole that he squirms so I’ll let him down from my lap and he gets Puppy Dog to make him a cow, a cat, and of course a dog.

James thinks Puppy Dog as a cow in the book is pretty funny.

Mark reads the Africa page of Julia’s Find and Seek book. He points to the answer key and asks her to find the giraffe, the lion, and the zebra. Then he points at an animal he doesn’t recognize and, taking a guess, asks her to find the goat. Julia says, “No. Okapi.” Another day Papa reads to Julia and tells her, “I don’t know the name of that dinosaur,” and she exclaims, “Ceratops!” I like that they’re starting to school grown-ups.

James reads Hooray for Fish and on the page with lots of fish he happily cries out, “Holy Mackerel!” I ask him who taught him that and to no one’s surprise he says Papa.

The twins, but especially Julia, still love to point to the other books pictured on the back of Sandra Boynton books, and they inform me which we own and which are at Josh and Sam’s house. (I don’t have a clue which ones Josh and Sam have, but James and Julia DEFINITELY know even though they haven’t been there in months.)

I read Owl Babies for the first time and both listen intently, especially James who looks like he’s frowning as though worried about the owl mama being gone. (I emphasize that the owl mama comes back and put that book away for awhile.) I’ve been asking them questions about faces in books and who’s happy and who’s sad. One day I show them a new book and without prompting Julia says the boy is sad. I ask why and James says, “hat off” (which is correct - his hat flew off). Some people are proud of their kids knowing their colors or numbers, but I am so proud of my empathetic 2-year-olds!

I read a “find the picture” book to the twins that has a picture bank of items to find in a larger picture. James is quicker at finding photos the first time through but subsequent times Julia is faster. She’s a good memorizer. And I notice when I read her Gossie and Gertie that she knows the text that accompanies some of the pages. On one with a picture of both goslings she says “best friends.”

James and Julia are so interesting translating things to their world since they don’t have the vocabulary yet. On a menu where the chicken has a grid of square-shaped grill marks they declare that it’s a waffle. I ask Julia what a boy is dribbling in one book and instead of basketball she responds with something else round and orange: “pumpkin.”

Music

If a song on a CD ends, the twins chant “More! More!” James likes to sing his special song with Papa, You Are My Sunshine. Papa sings Row Your Boat to the twins in the car and stops to let them fill in the words. James gets them right but Julia is sometimes wrong: “Row row row your… stream!” They love riding Papa and Gaga’s knees while their grandparents hum the theme to Bonanza or while riding their horsey and zebra. They also love singing along with Papa and Gaga to Take Me Out to the Ballgame (a song they sang to Mommy as a baby) and particularly like shouting out the “1, 2, 3!” part at the end.

In December Mark plays music for James and Julia on his iPad and James is transfixed, particularly with the song Roll Out. When the song ends James says “Roll Out” and Mark has to play it again and again. Referencing one of the lines from the song, Mark asks James “Who’s his weed man?” and James says, “weed man” which is surreal coming from a 2-year-old. In April Mark beatboxes for the twins and when he finishes they plead, “more beatbox” and Julia spontaneously waves her hands in the air.

Around the beginning of February, James and Julia can sing all of the alphabet song by themselves. James will bang utensils or other toys together and declare, “music!” (See video.) Julia’s funny singing Down by the Bay and loves blurting out “kissing a goose.”

Toys

James and Julia play with their new kitchen (a birthday present), and later in the oven I find a pot, food, a plate, and Elmo. They also like their new Little People Zoo which has a tiny slide and swing for the animal figurines. I have to keep explaining to them though that James and Julia can’t go on the slide and swing, too, since they keep trying to sit on them. One day while taking a picture of Julia she asks me to take a picture of her Elmo and Big Bird figurines. She even poses them for me on top of her Little People Zoo.

Julia asked me to take a photo of her Sesame Street figurines and directs James to implement her vision for placing them on the Zoo.

After playing a matching card game, Julia becomes obsessed with finding matches in other things, including two yellow bristle blocks, 2 letter “g”s in a book, and most randomly two identical small border pictures on different pages in our Entertainment Book.

James perches a car upside on top of a new racetrack toy and announces, “Change car’s diaper.” And this is what happens when James plays with cars for the first time.

Comprehension

In mid-December Julia informs us she’s a pink girl so Mark asks, “What kind of girl is Mommy?” and she answers “Kathy." That’s when we discover that Julia knows Mark’s  and my first names when we ask questions like “Who’s Daddy?” despite no one ever teaching her. She also says “Mom” for Gaga’s name and either “Dad” or “Charlie” for Papa.

The twins see a big cloud next to two smaller clouds and say “Mommy cloud” and then identify the other clouds as “Julia cloud” and “James cloud.” James says “Maya” on the way home from a playdate and I inform them that they know two Maya’s (Kashi’s and Arnita’s daughters) and then Julia says “two Maya” all night.

James puts two bristle blocks together - a square and a triangle - and declares “house.” I’m impressed because it’s so stylized, how would he recognize it as a house? Papa tells James to put the letters (as in mail) in the new toy mailbox. James puts the letter (as in alphabet) puzzle pieces inside instead. James walks with the long and narrow waterwheel, hitting it against the ground, and calls it his cane (just like his Papa uses!).

One day when we return from dinner, James and I stand on the front porch and I inform him that we need Daddy to unlock the front door. He says “up up up” like he has an idea, and tries to use the toy keys he happens to be holding to open the door! (Also, afterwards for months James won’t go in the house until he has a chance to use his toy keys in the lock.)

James and Julia love to pick up my blue ice packs. James, eyes full of wonder, declares, “Ice. Cold!” Julia touches my bare leg and I ask her if it’s smooth. She responds, “bumpy.” James sees our empty Christmas tree stand and says “Christmas tree pot!” (We’re unclear how he figured out its use.) When Julia sees plain white plates with a blue dotted line down the middle in a catalog, she states, “Frosty the Snowman.”

Eating

Meals take 45 minutes (an informal survey seems to indicate other kids take 20 minutes at most). Partly as a result I feel like I have no time with them. Other parents can go places (like the Children’s Discovery Museum which I considered for their second birthday) but I can’t. I would have to leave late because of their long breakfast and return early because of their long lunch, and that adds up. James is particularly slow. He will take a bite and then get distracted and play with his utensils. Then I will try to take his tray away, and he’ll get mad, and take another bite. And repeat. One day breakfast lasts 1 ½ hours. James eats one veggie sausage patty and Julia eats four (a box contains six) before I cut her off. Also, together they eat four packets of instant oatmeal and almost a whole can of baby corn. I begin to wonder if they’re having growth spurts!

They begin climbing into their high chairs themselves. However, we have to keep an eye on them while they do it especially after James climbs up and stands on the seat. The twins also love climbing up and sitting on the dining room chairs.

Climbing into their high chairs

One day James and Julia eat yogurt and James has yogurt on his face per usual. Mark asks Julia, “Who’s messy?” and she points to James and announces, “messy baby.” Another day they try carrot sticks in hummus. James licks off the hummus and when I suggest eating the carrots, too, he eats the non-hummused end.

You can always tell what today's meal is by looking at James's face.

James inhales a grilled cheese sandwich one day in January and says, “Bye bye grilled cheese.” I ask where it went and he says “my mouth.” Later when he eats beans I ask where they went, thinking he’ll say his mouth, but instead he responds “Tupperware,” which is where I put them after they are done eating.

In April James says “eat Julia” and Julia says “no eat Julia.” James then says “eat Julia” again and she responds, “yucky.”

Restaurants

In December Julia stands on a high chair at Cook’s Seafood and announces “bye bye” to everyone. She also walks around the restaurant to stop and say “hi” and “bye” to the other tables. (It should be noted that Mark encourages her to do these sort of meet and greets at restaurants.) On New Year’s Eve at Cook’s James eats without a high chair (or booster) for the first time ever and sits in the booth next to me. Two-thirds into the meal he discovers he can hop down to the floor so he says “bye bye” and slides down repeatedly, driving me nuts. Also on this day Julia decides to enter the restaurant by holding my legs from behind as I walk, walking under them. She decides (even two years later) that this is always the correct way to enter Cook’s.

In January we wonder if the Golden Age of Taking Babies to Restaurants (a.k.a. 21-24 months) is ending. Suddenly they seem to be generally louder and challenge us more often, but really they continue to be model children in restaurants. At Olarn Thai we have to take one of them outside for the first time ever (Julia decided she wanted James’s cup). Still, we’re doing pretty good if it’s only the first time taking one outside. By March when Julia’s loud in a restaurant and we threaten to take her for a walk they both want to go. The taking-them-outside-threat doesn’t seem to be the best solution.

One day at Su Hong James pushes me slightly from his chair and I pretend that he’s moved me way back and he giggles and we do it again and again, and Julia does the same with Mark. On another visit, the table next to us likes the twins and Julia greets them the only way she knows how: by telling them anything that comes to mind. “Cupcake bib! Jacket! Fortune!”

James cracks us up when he eats ice cream himself at The Old Spaghetti Factory. When he takes a big bite that’s too cold for him, his arms go straight out, his eyes get really big, and he smiles and does a little shiver.

Christmas 2012: First Trip to San Diego

We’d never traveled longer than an hour and a half from home with the kids, so this year’s Christmas visit to San Diego was a big first. We couldn’t do it until this year because in the past my mom was concerned that the twins were too young to have any self control, and the newly remodeled house was not baby proofed. Mark and I decided the best plan for our trip would be to drive an hour, eat dinner on the road, and then have James and Julia let the gentle rumble of the road take them to sleepyland.

Well that was the theory.

What actually happened was that our Subway dinner in Gilroy ended up taking 1 1/2 hours (how does it take so long with kids?), and then Mark got to give the coldest diaper changes ever in the back of the Prius. It was 45 degrees outside and windy! Then out of nowhere James vomited when we put him in his car seat. (It turned out to be a slight cold.) 

Last stop for 430 miles!

The kids drifted off to sleep and then an hour later they woke up. After that every 20-30 minutes Julia would stir and then cry for 5 minutes, waking up James. It was a long drive.

Ever since last year’s traumatic Santa photo, James has been terrified of the jolly guy, so when James heard several months earlier that Santa was going to bring presents to San Diego for Christmas, he started telling us he didn’t want to go to San Diego or even have Christmas. A week before we left I told the twins that Santa had agreed to meet with me earlier in the day and gave me the presents, and I hid them in the attic.

Anyway, because of James’s San Diego fear we didn’t actually tell them where we were going until we were 10 minutes from San Diego. Luckily James was happy to hear the news, and when we rolled up to the house at 3:15 a.m., they were pretty excited to see Papa and Gaga who met them at the car and showed them all around the house. 

Gaga gives James a hug upon arriving.

Then it was time to settle into our new sleeping accommodations. The four of us shared my old room, with the kids sleeping on thick blankets on the floor. It took quite awhile to get them settled because they were used to a dimmer and didn’t like how dark it was when I turned off the light. And then there was the night light. Julia insisted on seeing it while she slept while James insisted on not seeing it, so their bedding had to be moved around according. We finally all settled in at 4:30 a.m. and then Mark and I got to hear them sing to themselves while we tried to sleep.

More on the sleeping accommodations: The next night Julia moved into a kid’s travel tent and then I had to take it away by the end of the trip. That was because she would call me several times a night because she couldn’t find her pillow or Bunny because of the way she moved around the inside of the tent while sleeping. James and Julia weren’t used to sharing a room, and until Mark put foil over the windows the room had a lot more light than they were accustomed to so the first couple days they didn’t nap. (And I was so tired that one day I napped on the living room sofa, and I was awakened by my mom not seeing me and lifting up and moving the sofa. How often does someone move a sofa? And why does it happen to be the one time I’m lying in it? Next, Michael woke me to ask if the twins are asleep. He actually woke me to ask.)

Julia and James asleep on the floor of my old room. Julia likes to stick her foot out of the tent Wicked Witch of the East-style while sleeping.

After hearing one of the twins say, “Don’t break it,” Mark entered the room during naptime, and he laughed as Julia quickly dove into the tent upon seeing Daddy as though she knew she was supposed to be in there sleeping. As at home the kids got a small treat every day if they didn’t call us during naptime. Mark heard Julia tell James to call for me one day after they’d finished their naps as though she didn’t want to risk losing her precious candy corn. Another day I heard Julia wake up in the morning and ask repeatedly, “What’s that noise, James?” (Psst, kids... it’s Daddy snoring.)

In preparation for the big arrival of the grandkids, Gaga bought lots of toys, and Papa got new wood for my childhood picnic table and painted it blue. Julia and James hadn’t seen Uncle Michael since last Christmas. Upon seeing him, James wanted “up” from me, meaning he wanted me to pick him up to keep him safe. Julia tried to greet Michael with a fist bump, and then schooled him on how to hold his hand for it since he had it open. 

Julia and James play poker at the table Papa made for them.

Julia gives Uncle Michael a fist bump.

The first morning the twins got to try out their new booster seats during a pancake breakfast courtesy of Papa. James was very intrigued by the chocolate syrup and we let him try just a little bit with his pancakes. (Verdict: Not surprisingly James’s face lit up upon trying it.) Afterwards they discovered the bowl of Rolos, but their interest in them was not to eat but to build. Thereafter following every meal, Julia (who was particularly interested in Rolo construction) lined them up and James stacked them like a fortress.

First morning in San Diego means pancakes for breakfast!

James is excited to discover chocolate syrup.

Julia and her Rolo empire

The twins were not at all used to being in a two story house, and were very good about waiting for us to go up and downstairs. Most mornings they enjoyed keeping vigil at the bottom of the stairs for Gaga to come and join them.

Waiting for Gaga to come downstairs

The twins also got to sightsee around San Diego. Our first stop was the Children’s Pool in La Jolla where the sea lions lounge on the beach. Julia and James were uninterested in the sea lions but liked climbing around on the rocks and running in the sand. Another day they ate a deli lunch at our beloved D.Z. Akin’s. They were excited to pick out rainbow sprinkle cookies from the bakery while Gaga selected her Christmas cookies.

Mommy and James at the beach next to the Children’s Pool.

Julia likes her perch.

Julia visits “The Deez” for the first time.

We visited Balboa Park and walked around the Spanish Village. We met up with Nora and her parents Candice and Steve who got us free admission at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Our kids were so interested in every science exhibit that when we finally arrived  at Kid City (the kiddie area) we stayed for a whole 8 minutes before it was time to go. James cried when he left. After all they had fake food and he LOVES fake food. Nora continued to demonstrate her part-monkey DNA and climbed on top of Candice and Steve’s car.

Nora meets us and promptly flashes Julia.

James at the Reuben H. Fleet

James is in heaven during his 8 minutes in Kid City.

The twins had a lot of visitors. Pam and Keith came to see Julia and James because as Pam put it, “This is the closest I’ll ever get to having grandkids.” John Bregante stopped by with his son Austin and brought the twins candy canes which they tried for the first time. Because it involved sugar, James was particularly enamored. Other visitors included Beth and Danny and their sons Max (3 months older than the twins) and Cole (8 months). We went to high school together and Beth and I had been chatting a lot online since having kids of similar age. We meet up at Princess Del Cerro Park, where I used to play softball and had my birthday party back in 1983.

Gaga, Julia, Pam, Mommy, and James

James holds his first candy cane. John reclines in the background.

Beth with Cole at the Princess Del Cerro Park playground

With my friends in front of the playground at my birthday in 1983. I’m in the front right.

Luke, Michael’s friend since grade school, stopped by one day with his sons Judah (3 ½) and Asher (2). While seeing my mom and Julia put ornaments on the tree, Luke offhandedly mentioned how Asher was prone to breaking things and that he has taken their ornaments off the tree and thrown them. While Asher played elsewhere in the house, Luke continued chatting while the rest of us wondered where exactly energetic Asher was and what he was getting into. Upon their leaving Julia pointed to Judah and announced, “I like this one.”

Julia selects bristle blocks for the tree instead of ornaments.

Luke with Asher

The twins get involved with the pre-Christmas festivities, and we went on several walks around the neighborhood to see Christmas lights. Julia sang nonsense words to the tune of the chorus in Jingle Bells, and then finished each line with a word like “lamp” or “blueberries.” Each time James laughed. Once he didn’t and Julia commanded, “Laugh, James.”

Papa’s birthday was the 23rd, and James was particularly excited about it between opening presents, eating fried fish (he went nuts and kept demanding more), and scarfing down pie. Our gift to Papa was a hat that will match James’s and replace the one he lost.

James is excited about pie and so is flying Julia.

Papa's favorite present

Papa received kid car seats for his SUV just like he wanted. The only problem was the twins were afraid to get in them. James finally did a ride along when Mark and I accompany him, but Julia was still unwilling until a month after Christmas. (Now they are thrilled to ride in them.)

Mark and I took the twins to the Hotel Del Coronado in the rain to see the giant Christmas tree. The real attraction for Julia and James ended up being the old-fashioned elevator. They were too scared to ride but were fascinated by it, and ended up climbing three flights of stairs to keep watching it go up and down.

I walk in the rain through the hotel courtyard with the twins.

Julia and James in front of the Hotel Del tree

We started the gift opening Christmas Eve night and whenever we had a block of time thereafter because we knew there would be a scarcity of time when planning around toddler meals and naps. Julia especially loved passing out and tearing open gifts. Meanwhile James opened an Imaginets magnet set and decided he just wanted to play with it the rest of the night.

James and Daddy play with Imaginets.

On Christmas morning, Santa left the kids presents for the first time (ones you may recall Santa gave to Mommy before we left for San Diego), and James and Julia came downstairs in their pajamas to look under the tree to see what Santa got them. I thought they’d go nuts seeing lots of unwrapped presents at once, but Julia didn’t even want to come over at first. They were pretty calm and just wanted to play with each toy one at a time, and we ended up having to lead them each time to the next toy. They also got presents in their stockings for the first time.

Asleep in the wee hours of Christmas morn

Playing with a gift from Santa

Julia peruses her stocking.

Julia finds a Slinky in her stocking.

Papa the elephant

Kathy wears Julia's tiara.

Mark the court jester

Julia and her new finger lights

After the What-did-Santa-leave-under-the-tree-pleasantries, we started opening gifts for realsies.

Julia and James open their new craft kit.

James and Julia take care of opening our gifts, too.

Julia during a rare moment of only carrying ONE present at a time.

After carrying it over she helps open it too.

Julia wears her new glasses upside down.

Thanks, Mom. Now I'm going to have nightmares.

James and his Tickle-Me-Elmo

Michael likes his annual "Nerd Shirt" gift from Kathy.

Mark pretends to nap under all the wrapping paper.

My dad has been decorating his room with pictures of the kids since they were born. My mom calls it “The Shrine” with good reason - the pictures cover the walls, going all the way up to the ceiling. I finally saw it Christmas night. It was sweet but a little creepy and felt like I’d stumbled into a serial killer’s lair.

Dad, it's sweet but a little stalker-y.

We had to drive home the day after Christmas, and the morning began with another breakfast of pancakes. James and Julia then played 1-2-3 Hug, running between Papa and Michael (whom they’d warmed up to) while Mark and I packed. We left later than planned at nearly 12:30 p.m. which was unfortunate because the twins got frustrated playing with toys once it got dark. And since we had a ridiculously long 1 ¾ hour stop for lunch at Chick-Fil-A (Kids make everything take longer. Much much longer.) we didn’t have that much time on the road before it got dark. Julia fussed every 30 minutes once she fell asleep, and unlike the drive to San Diego nothing was able to soothe her. We finally pulled up to our house at 12:40 a.m. swearing off long drives... until next year of course. And Julia and James keep asking now when we can return to San Diego.

Uncle Michael plays 1-2-3 Hug with James.

And with Julia

During a pit stop during the drive back, the twins were very excited to see this display at Target and shouted, "Bras! Bras!" James then looked at me and loudly asked, "Mommy, are you wearing a bra?"