Moy Moy means little sister in Chinese, Cantonese specifically. Moy's real name is Emily, but we call her Emzie, Moyzie, and Moy for short. We call Ryan, Ry Ry or Ry for short. Ryan used to call Emily, Moy. However, as they hit Kindergarten he mainly calls her Emily. Emily prefers it that way because she does not want her friends referring to her as Moy Moy. Can't blame her for that right?
Ryan and Emily are 5 years old and they attend full day kindergarten. Yay, for me because that means I have just under 6 hours to get stuff done. They do fun hardcore learning the first half of the day and after lunch it is more about doing art and play time, more relaxed activities. Getting them to school used to be a read production when they were younger, but now it is a bit easier. Goodbyes were a real big deal for them when they were in preschool at ages 3 and 4. They had this routine where they would gently give me a pinch on the back of my hand, give it a kiss and push me out the door. The preschool teachers thought it was hilarious. Now, they get to school and take off and there are hardly any hand pinches or even a hug. Just a quick goodbye is all I get now. Things sure change fast as they get older. Definitely, cherish the little things they do because soon they won't be doing them any longer.
They generally play well together....sometimes it is about Iron Man rescuing Barbie...how else are they going to play action figures and dolls together? Playing kitchen was always a great gender neutral activity that they did a lot of when they were younger. They really love to play Calico Critters together and it has become a part of their weekend morning routine. Ryan has identified a bunny that stands on his tippy toes and has claimed that to be his bunny. The story behind this is...Ryan likes to stand on his tippy toes or walk like that sometimes because it helps him see. He did this when he was younger and continues to at times, so we coined the name Tippy Toes and call him that sometimes when we catch him tippy toeing. Other than that, board games are something they enjoy now, but they are still learning that not everyone can win all the time.
The last thing I want to note is that although Moy is younger by order of birth, she is actually taller than Ryan. She finds this concept a bit strange because usually a person that is bigger and taller than you is usually older than you in most cases. In this case, she is bigger and taller, yet younger. She says she likes to call Ryan her little brother. We have had to explain this to her a few times over.
I hope this helps everyone get a clearer picture of who Moy and Ryan are. Yes, as a Mom I feel tired and busy all the time. I realize that this busy feeling is only the "tip of the iceberg" because wait until the after school and weekend activities begin, right?
Monday, January 30, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
The Early Years
In the beginning it was just me and my husband, Darryl. Then it became me and Darryl and the twins. When people ask us how hard it was in the early years we tell them it was a blur. If it weren't for photos and videos, we would not remember much. It was all about survival.
We lived at my parents' home for the first month and it was so helpful. We did not have to worry about any cooking, cleaning or laundry even. My parents were just great. I remember going on diaper runs when there was a sale and picking up cases of instant formula at the Babies R Us. All we did was take care of the twins and ate and slept. It was an extremely exhausting time. I recall taking the morning shift when I would wake up at 4AM and start the feeding and changing of the diapers at 2 hour intervals, so Darryl could go to sleep. It REALLY worked out to be 1 hour of rest in between the cycles because when you are doing it alone it takes 1/2 hour to change and feed each baby. Yeah, sometimes they BOTH wanted to be fed at the SAME time and no one wanted a pacifier to buy you time. That called for some creative thinking and arranging. I used to feel nervous about taking care of them on my own for just a few hours even.
When you have twins, organization is key. We made a chart to help us keep track of each baby's "ins" and "outs". We charted the time they were fed and how much they drank. Prior to each feeding, we would change their diaper and we would record each time they stooled. Nobody wants a "backed up baby". Using those tiny sample size 2 ounce bottles was convenient, although probably deemed unsafe now due to BPA and what nots. To avoid a back load of dirty baby bottles, we simply used 8 at most. This way you don't die from bottle washing. We just washed often and thank goodness for those hot water dispensers that boil too. Nothing like hot water on demand to give that clean bottle one last soak. Yes, we not only cleaned every bottle with soap, but soaked each one in 195 F hot water.
As for diapers...Pampers Swaddlers worked well for us, but the garbage man did not come often enough at our house. EACH day we would have 24 diapers to dispose of. My parents only had 1 garbage can outside, so what did we do? When we went to get gas or do some shopping, we had to unload trash here are there around the city. We had to do what we had to do for the short-term. We charted everything until they were over 3 years old. As they got older and ate solid foods we charted the type of stool they had, so we could increase their fruit and vegetable intake if needed. When potty training began we put in the potty training chart for stickers. That is another story and unfortunately we are still working on part of that story for one of them.
Anyway, organization and charting was the key to our success in the early years of this journey of raising twins. At least we had no trouble differentiating them.
We lived at my parents' home for the first month and it was so helpful. We did not have to worry about any cooking, cleaning or laundry even. My parents were just great. I remember going on diaper runs when there was a sale and picking up cases of instant formula at the Babies R Us. All we did was take care of the twins and ate and slept. It was an extremely exhausting time. I recall taking the morning shift when I would wake up at 4AM and start the feeding and changing of the diapers at 2 hour intervals, so Darryl could go to sleep. It REALLY worked out to be 1 hour of rest in between the cycles because when you are doing it alone it takes 1/2 hour to change and feed each baby. Yeah, sometimes they BOTH wanted to be fed at the SAME time and no one wanted a pacifier to buy you time. That called for some creative thinking and arranging. I used to feel nervous about taking care of them on my own for just a few hours even.
When you have twins, organization is key. We made a chart to help us keep track of each baby's "ins" and "outs". We charted the time they were fed and how much they drank. Prior to each feeding, we would change their diaper and we would record each time they stooled. Nobody wants a "backed up baby". Using those tiny sample size 2 ounce bottles was convenient, although probably deemed unsafe now due to BPA and what nots. To avoid a back load of dirty baby bottles, we simply used 8 at most. This way you don't die from bottle washing. We just washed often and thank goodness for those hot water dispensers that boil too. Nothing like hot water on demand to give that clean bottle one last soak. Yes, we not only cleaned every bottle with soap, but soaked each one in 195 F hot water.
As for diapers...Pampers Swaddlers worked well for us, but the garbage man did not come often enough at our house. EACH day we would have 24 diapers to dispose of. My parents only had 1 garbage can outside, so what did we do? When we went to get gas or do some shopping, we had to unload trash here are there around the city. We had to do what we had to do for the short-term. We charted everything until they were over 3 years old. As they got older and ate solid foods we charted the type of stool they had, so we could increase their fruit and vegetable intake if needed. When potty training began we put in the potty training chart for stickers. That is another story and unfortunately we are still working on part of that story for one of them.
Anyway, organization and charting was the key to our success in the early years of this journey of raising twins. At least we had no trouble differentiating them.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Diaper explosion
Yesterday, I was 15 minutes away from going out the door and my twins got into some trouble. Needless to say, my excursion got canceled and it was time to change and go into clean up mode. Here is the background....I have a 5 year old boy who is content to not be very potty trained at night. Good thing Pampers makes Cruisers big enough for him still. What happened???? He took the diaper off, swung it around and slammed it down on the carpet (he probably has done this before without incident) and the sodium polyacrylate in the diaper blew out. This was a new term for me. This is the material that soaks up ALL the moisture in the diaper and keeps the bottom dry. Basically, I had urine soaked gelatinous pellets strewn on the carpet and small nearly invisible ones on the hardwood and bathroom tile (anywhere little feet may have traveled). The funny thing with these twins is, they try to help each other out. My little girl was trying to help her brother clean this mess and hopefully, mom and dad will never find out.
I did a Google search right away on my iphone to see what information is out there concerning this clean up. My first concern was whether it was toxic. Well, I found conflicting information....Pampers says it is not, but a teacher's protocol using this in a science project said yes.
Here is the protocol according to "Seeing Double"
1) Use disposable plastic spoons carefully scoop up all pellets that are in clumps on floor (carpet in this case)
2)Using flashlight, carefully scan the area for remaining pellets and use toilet paper to grasp them off the carpet or anywhere else
3) Using heat (heat dish in our case and base board heater) to make the room warm (not humid) so pellets that you may have missed dry (no longer in gelatinous state)
4) Sprinkle baking soda on the area if you need to deodorize
5) Wait awhile (1-2 hours or so), then use vacuum cleaner to the area
This method worked in our case. The carpet smells okay too. No gloves were used in this clean up and no skin irritation has occurred,
The twins sat in time out for awhile and practiced their reading. There were some nice quiet moments too.
Lessons of the day were...diapers are not toys, and messes need to be reported ASAP.
I did a Google search right away on my iphone to see what information is out there concerning this clean up. My first concern was whether it was toxic. Well, I found conflicting information....Pampers says it is not, but a teacher's protocol using this in a science project said yes.
Here is the protocol according to "Seeing Double"
1) Use disposable plastic spoons carefully scoop up all pellets that are in clumps on floor (carpet in this case)
2)Using flashlight, carefully scan the area for remaining pellets and use toilet paper to grasp them off the carpet or anywhere else
3) Using heat (heat dish in our case and base board heater) to make the room warm (not humid) so pellets that you may have missed dry (no longer in gelatinous state)
4) Sprinkle baking soda on the area if you need to deodorize
5) Wait awhile (1-2 hours or so), then use vacuum cleaner to the area
This method worked in our case. The carpet smells okay too. No gloves were used in this clean up and no skin irritation has occurred,
The twins sat in time out for awhile and practiced their reading. There were some nice quiet moments too.
Lessons of the day were...diapers are not toys, and messes need to be reported ASAP.
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