Mostly January (a.k.a The Second Month)

January began with two earthquakes, one week apart, shaking our apartment. They were only about a 4.0, but they were centered 10 miles away and we definitely felt them. My mom and I rushed over to be human shields for the nearest baby. For the first one, I was pumping and for the second one I was nursing. That says a lot about how much my day involves my boobs. And how often they're out.


Julia and James practice their "Walk Like an Egyptian" poses


Julia's foot

James met the activity gym in mid-January (it took longer to convince Julia), and also really enjoyed his vibrating bouncy chair. He also liked to climb up me (Mt. Mommy) to lift his head up and look around.


Seeing how much Julia loves the activity chair, Mark wants to try it too.


James multitasks by playing in his activity chair with learning how to drive around New Jersey

We thought James was too young for tummy time but one of the nurses at the Newborn Club put him on his tummy and he and his horse-like neck took to it like a horse fish to water. When I tried it at home the second time on 2/5 he flipped over from his tummy to his back, which amused us all. A week later in February Julia was doing the same.


James seems uninterested in mommy...


Maybe it's because of her hideous fashion choices...

Julia smiled for the first time on 1/26... well, the first time that wasn't probably gas. James followed suit two days later. Smiles are the best.


Julia tells Mark a secret. It's probably about pooping.


James the pin-up girl

The twins felt rain for the first time on a trip to the Newborn Club. They also went on their first stroller outing around the park on 1/27, followed the same day by their first trip to a restaurant (Lunch with Tony in Alviso) that wasn't at Kaiser. We were really paranoid about taking them to a restaurant because of germs so we kept them in their stroller, covered with blankets. They stayed asleep... until the ride home.


Toga! Toga!


Mark and James go nose to nose

On their doctor visit on 2/8 they received their first booster shots. I heard many horror stories going in ("I don't know who had it worse. The baby was crying. I was crying...") so I was expecting bad times. They both loved their sweet rotovirus vaccine, administered orally. But then came the shots. I held each baby tightly and they did scream, but for only a minute. During this visit both babies peed on the doctor's examining table. It was kind of like taking your dog to the vet.


Don't crawl one step closer!


No, James!

My mom stayed with us for the entire month, until mid-February. She thought she would stay with me until I could get by on my own (since Mark went back to work after the babies were two weeks old), but we discovered that even two adults are no match for two babies. Somehow they still had us outnumbered. Julia demanded a lot of attention and wanted to be held by the hour. I remember weeks 6 and 7 were particularly hard. I made an offhand comment to Mark one Saturday that I wanted to take a shower that day because I hadn't since the previous Sunday. He said "really?" (not in a bad way, just surprised) and I broke down in tears.


These new self-adhesive babies are the greatest


Grandma and her angels

My dad couldn't stay away from his grandbabies for long and he visited for several 4-day-long blocks at a time. When he arrived he'd make a mad dash for a baby and his big chair and hold babies by the hour. We actually had to tell him not to run across the room to scoop up a baby. ("No TV for me," he'd say after hunkering down in his chair. "This is all I need.") My mom and dad both watching babies was great because it freed us to run errands, see friends, and go out to eat. When we'd leave they'd make jokes about how they were going to flee with the babies across the border (whether Mexico or Canada, they kept it a secret) while we were away.


Grandpa masters the art of feeding James


Julia asleep on her favorite place - Grandpa's belly

Weights and Lengths:

12/07/09 (birth)
James - 5 lbs., 9 oz.; 17.8"
Julia - 4 lbs., 9 oz.; 18.1"

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

2/08/10 (2 months)
James - 9 lbs., 0.0 oz; 21 1/4"; head: 14 3/4"
Julia - 7 lbs., 11.5 oz.; 20 1/2"; head: 14 1/4"

How Do You Like Them Newborn Photos?

Do you remember our beautiful maternity photos taken by our friend and professional photographer, Sophie (Sophia Field Photography)? Well, we returned to see her for newborn photos (babies' first trip to San Francisco!) in January. (See my Yelp review!) How lucky are we to have a friend who specializes in maternity and newborn photos? At one hour each way, the trip from San Jose to San Francisco is still the twins' longest car ride by far. Thankfully they slept both ways.

She suggested we visit her within three weeks after the twins were born because, after that, babies start to lose their newborn-ness. Well, we made it there a month and a day after they were born, hoping their prematurity would (for once) give them an advantage.

She said not to worry - that she knew we'd have to feed them and there would be crying. She was used to it and patient. Very patient. James was pretty game for photos (still is), but Julia kept crying. And then when we took a family photo of the four of us she slept through it!

Watch as James looks like a different baby in nearly every picture.


I think this is the best photo of all.


Mark and James


We bought solid color onesies for the occasion. The smallest size I could find was 0-3 months and you can see they're swimming in them.


My dad's favorite photo. He calls this "Popeye."


Me and James


Julia looks like some sort of an evil tree elf!

twins@google

Mark begged me to let him take the twins to Google for months. Overprotective mom that I am, I didn't relent until the end of March. But in my defense, this wasn't just me being needlessly cautious - the doctors and nurses at Kaiser also said to wait at least 3 months. Plus, there were those pesky flus going around (seasonal and swine), and my babies were vulnerable preemies.

So we dressed them up in their hoodies, put on socks that look like shoes, and paraded them in (surprisingly we didn't choose the matching Google outfits.). They've rarely left the apartment so it was fun to dress them up to be seen. Mark actually reserved a conference room at Google for the occasion. I told him ahead of time that, since he mostly works with guys, he shouldn't be too offended if they didn't show up or weren't as in love with the twins as he is. To my surprise, many of his co-workers did show up and were really sweet and interested in the twins! Mark's co-worker Megan Q ("MQ") quickly spirited Julia away and took her on a tour of the Google Maps department. Meanwhile I held James, hoping to show off his high wattage smile to everyone, but he was a little too distracted by all the new people and places.

Hey! Remember that movie There Will Be Blood? Here's the movie poster for it. (Talk about a random digression...)

There Will Be Blood

Mark sent out an email "advertising" the twins' visit and made his own version of the movie poster.

There Will Be Twins

In the email, Mark also told his co-workers:

James will be focusing on tool-related issues (mostly spitting up on keyboards) and Julia will continue to concentrate her efforts on export (take that as you will).

I guess this makes sense if you're a computer nerd?

Some more pictures from the day.

Julia before disappearing with MQ


Joakim with Julia.

Our friend Brendan asked if MQ and Joakim were Bizarro Kathy and Mark. (Note: Bizarro Kathy and Mark should not be confused with Wathy and Wark, our um... Latvian cousins.)

Our 2002 holiday card starring Wark and Wathy

Mark shows off James to some Google nerds


Not the whale tub they're used to


The Google sign in the Google Maps department is papered in maps

Mark created the map behind us, found in the lobby of the Google Maps building.

Now take a closer look at the twins' blankets...


Here's Julia's...


And her Google badge!


And James' blanket...


And his Google badge!

So, Who Do They Take After?

Ever since the little ones were born, there's been much talk about who they look like. Let's start with the easy one...


J u l i a

Julia looks like Mark. I was shocked not to have noticed it until she was two weeks old and someone brought it to our attention. Now it seems totally obvious. They have the same nose, ears, and big eyes, plus their facial features are similarly proportioned.


Julia in her first month at her resembling Mark-iest


Mark with a death wish on his first birthday. I like that the cake is decorated with "M.P." Also, I want that apple chair.

I've been told Julia looks a little like me in this photo where she's in mid tumble.

J a m e s

Then there's James. Overall he seems to favor my side of the family. It might not be immediately apparent, but I can see it in our noses (poor guy), deep set eyes, and mouth. He also has my translucent (read: very pale) skin. He has blond hair like Mark's, but it has a slightly reddish cast. (Mine is obviously dyed red now but it had a slight auburn cast as a child.)

James at two months; me at 3 years

James has big hands and feet, a really strong neck (somewhere under all the chins), and seems to have the build (and budding gut) of a Mikulis man.


James kind of looks like both my brother and me. Apparently when we were children my parents would mix us up, so they'd have to embroider our names on all our clothing.

You'll have to take my word for it, but of everyone James most strongly resembles (I think) Uncle Michael (here pictured with a chocolate cigar). Here's James at his resembling Uncle Michael-iest. James also looks like my dad, obviously pre-beard.

Even though James is more Mikulis-y, he still has some Pilloff in him. I definitely see a resemblance to Mark's brother, Daniel. James has Daniel's slightly curly hair and face shape.


James at his resembling Uncle Daniel-iest


Daniel and Mark at Google in New York City. (The Google sign is made of actual Lego.)


Mark (center), a.k.a. Julia clone, being crowded out by his siblings. My mom thinks Julia will look like Mark's sister Rachel, and of course I think James resembles Daniel.

Here We Go a Diaperin'

At first the twins weren't thrilled with diaper changes, but that all changed at about 1 1/2 months. I made up my own song and started singing it to them and smiling while they were being changed. Soon James and Julia loved diaper changes! James has actually been in the room while Julia is being changed and started smiling when he heard the song. (In fact he's still a bigger fan of getting changed than Julia.)

To the tune of the traditional English carol, Here We Come A-Wassailing with only a few lyrics changed:

Here we go a diaperin' upon the changing table
Here we go a diaperin' as far as we are able
Love and joy come to you
And to you a clean diaper too
And God bless you and grant you a diaper free of poo ("Yes you!" or "I love you!" or "Unlike this one!" if diaper is soiled)
And God bless you and grant you a diaper free of poo

I follow this up with the Hokey Pokey while I dress them:

You snap the left leg in
You snap the left leg out
You snap the left leg in and you shake it all about...


One of my favorite pictures of James


This might be the first real photo of Julia smiling. This one from when she was three weeks old doesn't really count.

James pees on us about once a week while getting changed. My mom was worried her laughter after he pees was encouraging him to do it in the future, so now when it happens she gets all serious and tells him, "James, that's not acceptable."


You better use a pee-pee teepee!

Julia occasionally pees on while being changed, too. My mom says she never heard of a girl doing that before (possibly because I had some decorum as a baby), but my friends with little girls say they definitely peed, too. When Julia pees while Mark is changing her he tells her, "Well played, Julia. Well played."


No class, Julia.

We've had some bad poopy diaper incidents. While I was changing a three week old James, he decided to poop right then and fecal shrapnel ended up three feet away. Another time at Newborn Club, while in a lucite bassinet, my mom was changing James and held his naked legs in the air while we had a nurse come over to tell us whether the contents of his diaper were diarrhea (answer: no). All of a sudden James let loose a poop salvo that hit the bassinet like gunfire, entertaining/horrifying the other newborn parents. I was walking by at the time and actually ducked. I was saved by an inch of lucite. My mom's white fleece jacket was not so lucky.


Don't keep my naked butt and legs in the air too long!