First, John started back to Mother's Day Out today. Here is a picture taken by his Mom of his first day of school. He certainly looks eager! I hope he still feels this way in 10 years!
A few weeks ago I rode along with the twins for a short trip to WalMart. It was after dinner, early evening, and so not very crowded. Still, the ride in the car there and back, and the 20 minutes cruising the aisles, were about all the children and parents could take! They got home ready to bathe and put the kids to bed, and I jumped in my car and headed home, the prerogative of a grandparent!
Shopping with the twins at WalMart.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Mimi came to visit and we spent some time with the twins, including going out to lunch. Claire and Jake were waiting outside with Mom and Dad when we drove up, and they were waving at us and looked so cute.
Claire shows Mimi a new puzzle.
Jake reads a book Mimi brought for him.
Mimi plays with Claire and Jake
We had fun watching the twins play with Mom and Dad.
And Claire and Jake enjoyed showing JanMa's IPad to Mom
Jeremy plays with Claire and Jake
Claire tried on my shoes...
Jake tried out his Mom's shoes...
At lunch, I sat between the twins. Claire loved to color. She would hand me a crayon and say, "Here you go, JanMa" I would say Thank-you, and she would say, "You're welcome". Then I would hand her a crayon back and she would say Thank-you and I told her You're welcome. We went through this many times while we colored!
Jake didn't want to stay in his seat and color!
Earlier in the week, the twins had come to JanMa's house for a few hours. I opened the window to the courtyard, and they had fun climbing in out out the window. Despite the wooden truck and other toys I had out for them, they preferred to play with the brooms in the courtyard and climb in and out the window.
Twins play in the courtyard
And they do love the IPad. Here they quickly gather around Bill when he starts it up, before this Claire was very cautious of Bill.
Jake is starting to say more works, I have heard him say bubbles, cat, and I swear he said JanMa one time!
I spent 2 days and nights with John and Taylor and Ashley while Jason was out of town. I had a great time playing with John, and Taylor didn't cry when she saw me! She actually let me hold and change her and give her a bottle, and even smiled and laughed at me and with me.
Ashley has the kids in a great routine. They are up early, have breakfast and some cartoon/play time, then go outside to play before it gets too hot. The patio is covered, with plenty of chairs and the wading pool.
Taylor and John look outside, eager to go out and play.
Taylor likes to play with and in water. She can crawl in and out of the wading pool, and pretty much stays on the patio, since she doesn't seem to like the feel of the grass on her hands or feet.
John likes to play on his fort/slide. He also likes to climb up there and throw a ball for me to catch/chase, and then I toss it back up to him. He also likes to play chase, as in "tase me, Manmaw". I, of course, will do whatever he says, get him whatever he wants, and just generally spoil him silly. When we work up a thirst, it's back inside for late morning activities, a snack and some cartoon watching. Taylor gets a bottle and goes down for a morning nap.
John loved my IPad. I had put some apps on it for the twins and for John, and once I saw how much he enjoyed it, I loaded more apps. Some of the best ones were the Thomas the Train books, great graphics, and in addition to the book with all the interactive touch spots, the app includes a coloring book section, a jigsaw puzzle section and a game. One of the games was a matching game with 16 cards, like Concentration. I watched John touch the cards randomly, then he managed to luck out and match a few up and they disappeared off the screen. Before he finished that first game, he had figured out about matching up identical cards! By the time I left, he was successful with the hard level, 32 cards. At only 2 1/2 years old!! He also liked the Sesame Street books and even a lot of the free apps.After Taylor wakes up from her morning nap, it's more playtime with John, then time for lunch. One day I picked up some chicken tenders for all of us, along with fries and chocolate shakes for John and myself. He likes cream gravy, but that is only part of his mix. He dips his fries in ketchup, then cream gravy, then ranch dressing! A full range of tasty experiences.
After lunch, Ashley and I watch the kids play inside, and Taylor gets to practice her walking. She is now standing and letting go, standing up in the middle of the room on her own, taking a few steps before falling, and when she gets her balance right, she can take quite a few steps.
About 1:30 - 2:00, both kids go down for afternoon naps. I want to emphasize that both kids are very good about going to sleep whether at naptime or nighttime. That is a testament to how good of a job Ashley does with keeping the kids in a routine. And I want to mention that while they napped, so did I!
After naptime, it's time for some vigorous play. Taylor can hold her own with John, following him and getting into his toys. He will hand her a toy to distract her, race to his room (play my room, Manmaw!), and try to stay just out of her reach. But when she catches up to him, he is gentle with her. He may want to push her aside, but he does so in a gentle way!
Then it's dinner time, and afterwards, more outside time, in the wading pool and out in the yard. Then bathtime, Ashley bathed Taylor and put her to bed, and then I bathed John. After bathtime, some quiet time with tv, then storytime and to bed. Then not long after, I made my way to bed too!
My raised inflatable bed set up in the office at their house.
It was full days of fun for me with the kids, and work for Ashley with preparing food, cleaning up, and doing household chores in addition to watching and playing with the kids. Brings back my own memories of raising my two kids, and makes me glad I'm a grandparent now, 'cause after 2 1/2 days, I could go home!
Bill and I met Jeff and Jaime and baby William at Beck's Prime, an upscale hamburger place that also serves prime rib and steaks. But you still have to stand in line to order and go pick up your food yourself. The burgers were good, and LARGE. I had regular fries and Bill had the sweet potato fries. The best part of all was watching William. He sure remembers Bill and will focus on whatever Bill is saying and doing. UNLESS I'm there with the camera, he isn't so sure about me, but he doesn't cry anymore when he sees me. Bill was sharing his sweet potato fries with William, and the little guy really took to them. He would eat the bite Bill gave him, then grab Bill's arm for more. This went on til the fry supply was getting low, then Jaime gave him a drink of water with a straw, but NOT in the way you would expect. Take a look at the video below.
The next day we had lunch again with William at a Wings place, along with the other set of grandparents. William again loves to interact with Bill. He even likes to tease, holding his arms out to me for a pick-up, then pulling back when I reach for him. He still isn't quite sure about me, even when I don't have the camera out.
Back at Bill's house, William shows off his innate male desire to control the TV remote. Here is his scrunchy face look, that he seems to use to express himself. And here is William and Grandpa Bill, sharing a moment together.
Back at my home front, I am testing out an inflatable raised bed. It will make trips to Debbie's lake house and to McKinney when I plan to overnight at John's house. It deflates to quite a small size, can be easily transported, and is good to have for whenever overnight guests exceed the number of beds.
After Jennifer caught Claire trying to get over the top of the crib side, Jeremy did the toddler bed conversion and now the good news is that the twins can get in and out of their beds by themselves. Of course, the bad news is that the twins can get in and out of their beds by themselves! So the first night, they got in and out of each others' beds, played in the nursery and had a good old time for over an hour. Jake opened the dresser drawers and pulled all the clothes out, he also climbed into Claire's crib to play with her. She would have gone on to sleep, but Jake tends to fight going to bed. The first nap they took in the new beds ended up with the nanny letting them take pillows and lay down to watch TV, where they crashed and napped late in the day. But so far at night, even if left to their own devices, they chatter and play for awhile, then miraculously end up asleep in their own beds before morning!
Video of twins new beds
The twins also like playing outside. I took them out late in the afternoon on the driveway where it is shady. They played with chalk and the bubble machine. Jake liked to run into the garage and touch things he shouldn't. Claire would follow him and then touch the same things.
Video of twins playing in driveway
The twins also have bathtub crayons. They can write on the sides of the tub and it wipes right off. They love bathtime, and this adds to the fun.
A few weeks ago I rode along with the twins for a short trip to WalMart. It was after dinner, early evening, and so not very crowded. Still, the ride in the car there and back, and the 20 minutes cruising the aisles, were about all the children and parents could take! They got home ready to bathe and put the kids to bed, and I jumped in my car and headed home, the prerogative of a grandparent!
Shopping with the twins at WalMart.
And Claire and Jake enjoyed showing JanMa's IPad to Mom
Jake tried out his Mom's shoes...
At lunch, I sat between the twins. Claire loved to color. She would hand me a crayon and say, "Here you go, JanMa" I would say Thank-you, and she would say, "You're welcome". Then I would hand her a crayon back and she would say Thank-you and I told her You're welcome. We went through this many times while we colored!
Jake didn't want to stay in his seat and color!
John likes to play on his fort/slide. He also likes to climb up there and throw a ball for me to catch/chase, and then I toss it back up to him. He also likes to play chase, as in "tase me, Manmaw". I, of course, will do whatever he says, get him whatever he wants, and just generally spoil him silly. When we work up a thirst, it's back inside for late morning activities, a snack and some cartoon watching. Taylor gets a bottle and goes down for a morning nap.
After Taylor wakes up from her morning nap, it's more playtime with John, then time for lunch. One day I picked up some chicken tenders for all of us, along with fries and chocolate shakes for John and myself. He likes cream gravy, but that is only part of his mix. He dips his fries in ketchup, then cream gravy, then ranch dressing! A full range of tasty experiences.
It was full days of fun for me with the kids, and work for Ashley with preparing food, cleaning up, and doing household chores in addition to watching and playing with the kids. Brings back my own memories of raising my two kids, and makes me glad I'm a grandparent now, 'cause after 2 1/2 days, I could go home!
Bill was sharing his sweet potato fries with William, and the little guy really took to them. He would eat the bite Bill gave him, then grab Bill's arm for more. This went on til the fry supply was getting low, then Jaime gave him a drink of water with a straw, but NOT in the way you would expect. Take a look at the video below.
Here is his scrunchy face look, that he seems to use to express himself.
And here is William and Grandpa Bill, sharing a moment together.
Of course, the bad news is that the twins can get in and out of their beds by themselves! So the first night, they got in and out of each others' beds, played in the nursery and had a good old time for over an hour. Jake opened the dresser drawers and pulled all the clothes out, he also climbed into Claire's crib to play with her. She would have gone on to sleep, but Jake tends to fight going to bed. The first nap they took in the new beds ended up with the nanny letting them take pillows and lay down to watch TV, where they crashed and napped late in the day.
But so far at night, even if left to their own devices, they chatter and play for awhile, then miraculously end up asleep in their own beds before morning!
Video of twins playing in driveway
Video of twins using the bathtub crayons.