How Time Flies

Almost two months have elapsed since our last post chronicling our travel adventures, and tomorrow we head out on our last trip of the year... to, where else but Utah! We're driving again, this time Mike will be joining us in the car. We'll be meeting up with my parents and Mike's parents and our siblings at a cabin just east of Park City for Christmas. Should be a lot of fun (though perhaps a bit chaotic--much like our every day life here in Texas). We actually bought a Ford Expedition XL specifically for this trip. The plan is to try it out and decide which we like better, the huge SUV or the more functional, but somewhat boring, Odyssey. Then we'll sell one of them when we get back. We still haven't sold our old home, so right now we have 4 cars and two houses. I'm starting to wonder if Mike is planning to start a second, parallel life.

Samantha is getting bigger seemingly by the minute. We don't take nearly enough pictures or videos of her, but we try to visually memorize how amazing she is every day. She's now sitting up well, though only rolls from her tummy to her back--a problem since she sleeps on her tummy and if she rolls over during the night there are some intense screams until we flip her back over. She is such a social baby--which fits in well with our family, as JJ and Alexis now love to entertain her. It's amazing how much more they interact with her now vs just a few months ago. We're not sure if it's because Sam is more interactive herself, or if JJ and Alexis are just more mature. Samantha is a great baby--we can't get enough of her (except at 3 am.. then we could take less of her).

We don't know when it happened, but JJ and Alexis have turned into these cute little people. It's hard to remember when they weren't able to communicate--they talk so much now. And it's so much fun to listen to them after we put them to bed (safely confined in their crib tents). They now tell stories and ask each other questions constantly. A favorite discussion at bedtime goes something like this:

JJ: DD, you got your pillow?
A: Yes, you got your blanket?
JJ: Yes. And my pacifier. You got your pacifier?
A: Yes. You ready for sleep?
JJ: No.
A: Wanna play?
JJ: Yes! [commence jumping in cribs and giggling uncontrollably]

They'll often play games where they mimic each other while in their cribs. Their favorite thing to do (outside of their beds) is ride their "bikes"... really, they're mini-kick scooters. They're amazing on them and ride them all over the house. Whenever someone comes to the door, they have to ride their scooters to greet them, and do a few laps around the kitchen to show off. Now they like to ride their bikes to go with us to get the mail. We still make them ride in the stroller when we go outside our neighborhood though. The "triple" we bought definitely gets a lot of use!

We have officially potty trained the twins. It was really a non-event since we delayed it for so long (if we go by the "cues" they were exhibiting more than 6 months or so ago). The day after we got back from our September trip to Utah, we went to target with the twins and let them pick out underwear. The next day, we put it on and the first couple of days JJ had a few accidents but quickly learned that he would be all wet if he didn't make it to the potty. One piece of advice we got which I think was very useful was not to use any potty training paraphernalia (like toddler pottys or potty seats or pull-ups). The twins can use our adult toilet with just the aid of a stool. They're pretty good at being able to do it all independently (pulling down their pants, going, wiping, pulling them back up and washing their hands). We just have to remind them if it's been more than a few hours since they last went. We also still have them in diapers at naptime and nighttime and they soil those almost every night--so they won't be ready to be diaper-free for a while. And they are still completely obsessed with poop. Alexis goes #2 on the potty just about every day, but JJ only goes on the potty a couple times a week--the other days he reserves his goods for naptime or nighttime and the security of his diaper. Either way, both JJ and Alexis have to "see it". If Alexis flushes the toilet before JJ can get there to examine the poop, a tantrum usually ensues. And Alexis has to examine every poopy diaper before we wrap it up. And if I have to tell Alexis one more time to get her head out of my butt while I'm trying to go, I think I'll go ballistic.

Having the twins potty-trained has some advantages, but being out and about with three young kids, and two of them freshly potty trained in underwear can be somewhat nerve-wracking. For example, one day I took the twins and Samantha to the store where we had to visit the public restroom (an adventure by itself). After, we got lunch and went to the park, where I started to feed Samantha while the twins ran around. Soon, Alexis ran up to me and declared she had to go potty, so I had to stop feeding Samantha, pile everyone in the minivan and drive home. JJ and Alexis ran inside to go potty (which thankfully they can do independently) while I finished feeding Sam. Back to the park and not 10 minutes had elapsed when JJ announced he had to potty. At this point, I decided to let him go on the grass. When I pulled down his pants, however, he started to squat. Turned out he needed to go #2... so I quickly stopped him and piled everyone back in the minivan. Thankfully, it was now almost naptime so after JJ had finished his business, I threw everyone in their cribs and we all promptly took a 3 hour nap.

We hope everyone has a very merry christmas and a happy new year. Hopefully, we'll post again before Valentines Day!