We put the p-o-o in pool

Saturday was Auntie Kim's annual summer cookout and Wiffle ball tournament for which we made the trek out to Grafton, about an hour's drive. (For us, that's a lot.) We were expecting record heat that day (over 100 F) so my sister's neighbors were kind enough to offer up their pool to those of us bringing little ones. They have 4 kids of their own so adding a few more to the mix is no big deal.

After having some snacks and playing a bit inside, Auntie Stacey and I got the kids dressed in their suits and headed over to the pool. None of the kids know how to swim so we have to hold them the whole time we are in the water, even with their life vests on. After being in the pool for about half an hour, Collette said the P-word. Normally, this would not be alarming. She is potty trained and gives ample warning when she needs to use the bathroom, especially where poop is concerned.  However...she has been on a potty strike, of sorts.  She now refuses to go to the bathroom anywhere outside of home.  Even if a I have a potty ring (just like the one at home) and put it on someone else's toilet, she screams and cries and kicks and just. won't. go.

So, when she said "poo poo," I bolted out of that pool, knowing that she must be pretty desperate if she's willing to go when we're not at home.  As I was running upstairs, cradling Collette, to the bathroom, I realized there was already a bulge in Collette's bathing suit.  I was too late!  Once we were in the bathroom, it didn't take me long to realize that she was done pooping and it was now trapped in her bathing suit.  This was a low moment in parenting for me, to date.  Getting the poop into the toilet and trying my damnedest to not get any on my hands or all over my sister's bathroom was nearly impossible.  Meanwhile, Collette was crying that she wanted to go home to poop (a little late for that!!) and fighting my every move to get her de-pooped.

I somehow managed to get her clean and not ruin my sister's bathroom in the process.  She was still crying, though.  Traumatized, no doubt.  Then, I looked out the window, which faces the aforementioned pool.  And I see everyone evacuating.  And I know it can only mean one thing.  Poop in the pool.  To say I was mortified is an understatement.  I wanted to curl up into a little ball and just die of embarrassment.  Alas, I am a grown up and we grown ups have to face these things.  I changed Collette into her dry clothes and headed over to the neighbor's yard, my head hung in shame.

I climbed up to the pool deck to assess the damage.  And there, right in the middle of the pool, was a fairly large poop.  And it wasn't a floater, because that would be too easy.  No, it was a sinker and it was sitting at the bottom of the pool, mocking me.  My brother was there, laughing at me and disgusted with me, simultaneously.  I asked him where Kerry (the owner of the pool) was and what the "plan" was.  Do pool owners have special equipment for such things?  No, they don't.  The plan was to use a pail and the pool cleaner net thingy to dive down to the bottom of the pool and scoop out the poop.  So, Kerry and I put on some kid goggles, each got a pail and net thingy, and took turns diving for poop.  Ya...that really happened. 

Where was this guy when I needed him?!

How was YOUR weekend?!

Two point Five

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On Saturday, my "babies" had their half birthday.  This isn't something we celebrate (do others??  I'm not sure...) but there just happened to be a fair in town.  Now, if I were a good mommy blogger, I would have remembered to bring my camera to the fair to get pictures of them being big kids and riding rides by themselves.  Remembering three kids seems to be all my brain can handle, though, and the camera was left behind.  We had to settle for Billy's iPhone which is normally fine but on Sunday is self-destructed before we had a chance to transfer the photos.  So, ya...no pics.  But what we had was a very cute shot of them in the car-merry-go-round ride.  They chose the same car - Collette was in the front and Sebastian was in the back.  They loved it.  I got a little choked up at how big they seemed, riding all by themselves.  Another one of those unexpected milestones, I guess.

2.5 has also been an age of "advanced" play.  They are interacting with their toys (and each other) in more meaningful, developed ways.  They collaborate in games, simple as they may be.  Like jumping off the porch, throwing matchbox cars over the fence or taking turns dumping sand on the rhododendrons.  Recently, they acquired some dinosaur toys.  They know a lot of the dinosaurs names already so I tried to teach them which ones were meat eaters and which were plant eaters.  They took it to heart:

On the flip side, we seem to be confirming the theory that the half years suck.  The whining has reached epic proportions.  Things were going so well, I had been slacking on the discipline.  Now its back to counting them all the time.  For those of you who also do 1-2-3 Magic, do you count for whining?  If so, always or just in certain instances?  And what about crying?  For us, whining and crying is a fine line but I feel awful sending them to time out when they're crying.  I feel like I am denying them some mommy comfort that they need.  Then again, they (yes, they - its not just Sebastian anymore!) cry over ridiculous things like my suggesting that they wear a rain coat or serving lunch that doesn't involve yogurt and fruit.

Sibling rivalry has also been peaking.  Sebastian is in a "dat's mine!" phase, and even takes it out on poor Matteo.  But mostly it's just Sebastian and Collette fighting over toys and/or space.  I have a feeling that Billy and I will have to give them some quality one-on-one time to get through this stage of toddlerhood.  I just hope the second half of their third year in life isn't as rough as the second half of their first year.  Because I really did not enjoy 18-24 months old...

But back to the bright side:

They are still happy kiddos over all!

See, TV can teach kids stuff

I'll admit it.  We watch a lot of TV in this house.  Billy and I are serious TV watchers and the kids have followed suit.  I bounce back and forth between feeling super guilty and feeling like it probably won't matter much.  Not that that's the point of this post.  That's a post for another day.  The point is that sometimes, kids can learn stuff from their little shows.  Really important things.  Like how to do The Robot.  It was on an episode of the Fresh Beat Band.  And here are Collette and Sebastian, doing their best Robot:

 So, ya.  That's 1 point for TV watching in my book.

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Sebby-isms

It would seem that all toddlers have those weird, quirky things they say that make us laugh but also question the lead content of the paint on the walls. Sebastian's latest obsession has him saying something that I find kind of funny and hopefully not indicative of some mental malfunction.

His obsession is with my Auntie Kim's car. Now, he has always been into cars - it was his first real word, after all. But his love of my sister's VW is really something else. It's a white Jetta (I think it's a Jetta...) - cute but nothing special, save for the fact that it brings Auntie Kim over to visit. A month or so ago, Sebastian would spot another white sedan and proclaim "Auntie Pim's Car!!" (Note that he cannot say Kim and instead says Pim. We're working on it.) In the past few weeks, he has stepped things up. Now, anything he sees that is white, even the tooth of the whale in a picture in a book is "Auntie Pim's Car." Milk coming up the straw of his sippy cup is "Auntie Pim's Car." Socks. White blocks. The mane on the unicorn rocking horse in their room. All "Auntie Pim's Car."

But that's not even where the obsession ends. Now, he can recognize the VW emblem. So whenever he spots a VW - no matter the color or model - it's also "Auntie Pim's Car." This part of the obsession has translated into finding Infinities ("Leah's Car") and Toyotas ("Auntie Stacey's Car"). The funny thing about the Toyota is that we have a Toyota. I guess he never notices our car's make.

So, what silly things are your kids saying? I know I'm not alone here! :)

My Mini Menaces

When the kids are being mischievous, Billy will call them "amenaza" which is how you say menace in Spanish. Lately, they have been total amenazas, but in the cute way, not the way that makes you want to send them off to military camp.

Example 1: After getting up from their nap, Collette and Sebastian decided to play in my room. They seemed to be playing nicely enough, bring me all of their fathers shoes, one by one. A minute or so went by without a shoe delivery and I wondered what they were up to. Just then, they both ran back to me (I was in their bedroom with Matteo) both soaking wet! I asked them where they got the water and they escorted me to my bathroom, hopped into the shower and turned it on. Lovely. Did I mention that they can open doors now?

Example 2: Matteo is getting frisky as well! He is now able to move forward in his walker. This allows him to actually go after things he wants. The other day, he zoomed up the art easel, pulled off the giant paper and started eating it. But he won't baby food - go figure!

Like I said - menacing, but in the cutest of ways. I'm really loving both of these ages. Not looking forward to the terrible twos...

Escapee

I think the kids know when Billy is on an overseas business trip because that seems to be the time when they do new, and often naughty, things. This time, Sebastian is the culprit. New (and naughty) behavior: crib escaping.

It started (and ended, actually) on Sunday morning. I went into their room and saw that Sebastian's crib was empty which could only mean one thing. He finally realized he can climb out of his crib. I have known for a little while that he is physically capable of doing it, even while still in his sleep sack. Both he and Collette use toddler sleep sacks that have special foot holes. Also, the sleep sacks are on the long side for Sebastian, who is short for his age. So, the sleep sack still gives him plenty of mobility, being so big. However, I was hoping he would just take for granted that he had to stay in his crib and not realize that "hey, I can just climb out of this stupid thing and do whatever I want!" So much for that.

I called Billy (who was in Beijing at the time - he has since made his way to Kuala Lumpur) and told him what happened. I told him what our options were: get crib tents, use the travel beds we already have, switch him to a toddler bed (shudder). Then I remembered one other suggestion I heard from someone in my mother of twins club, not sure who or when but it was filed away in my brain for this very moment. This person had taken out the bottom of the crib that hold up the mattress and simply put the mattress on the floor but within the crib. This only works if your crib sides come close enough the ground that the mattress can't be pushed out. Luckily, our crib fit the bill. Billy agreed that we should try that way as it seemed the easiest thing to do. I quickly got to work removing the support platform and put the mattress back in on the floor. This gave us about 8 extra inches of depth and now Sebastian's head barely reaches past the crib side.



Now I'm just waiting for Collette to make her escape. It's fine though. I'm ready!

I didn't want to jinx it

That's at least one reason why my Valentine's Day post is 2 days late. The other being that I am a bad blogger.

Valentine's Day was pretty uneventful this year. No exchanging of gifts. Just a nice dinner out with me and Billy. Cards to one another. Flowers. The kids did some crafts:

Collette's Valentine to Daddy

But it was Sebastian who made this a special Valentine's Day. He gave me the gift of going a whole day without crying. To be honest, I'm not sure if that was the first time or not. But it was the first day that I ever noticed that he didn't cry. So, either way, it was a big deal for me. Maybe he is turning some sort of corner, developmentally. His language is doing much better but he is still progressing at his own, slow pace. Or maybe it's just his age. In which case, I hope this is more of a permanent shift and not just one of those phases. I can deal with crying every so often but everyday, multiple times a day crying fits over (seemingly) meaningless things is hard on me. Oh ya, and him.

By the way, yesterday was also a no-cry day. He almost lost it over a new car puzzle during our EI session but held it together. We'll see how today goes. So far, so good.

***

On a separate note, thanks for your input on the preschool thing. More on that later.

At least there's one thing we can do on the plane...

Our annual pilgrimage to the homeland (El Salvador) is fast approaching and as it does I am getting more and more concerned about how Billy and I will get through two flights (each way) outnumbered by people who still crap in their pants. Our best idea (other than drugging them, which is frowned upon despite its effectiveness) is to set each twin up with a portable DVD player and let them rot their brains for each flight. This plan will only work if they will wear headphones. So, the lovely and generous Mommy Esq. loaned us her pair. And here are the results:





Now I just need 10 hours worth of Elmo and Wiggles DVDs and we'll be all set!



PS - if you have other suggestions for airplane travel entertainment, I'm all ears. We have magna-doodles and tons of books. Coloring has been big lately, too, so we'll take some crayons along. Other ideas?

Appreciating the cuteness

Lately, I have been feeling the SAHM blues some more, what with the toddler whining, eating strikes, toy fights and infant juggling. To be brutally honest, there are lots of times where my kids kind of annoy me. My threshold for whining is so just so low. I've been having a hard time enjoying this age. I keep fantasizing about them as older, more rational, agreeable beings. All the things we'll be able to do, the things they'll be able to tell me and understand.

But the other day, I had a neighbor/friend/fellow twin momma over for a playdate since we were both flying solo over the weekend. She had 3 kids, too, but did hers the other way around - one first, then twins. Her oldest is nearly 4 and her twins are just 6 months old (and crazy adorable!). Anyway, her son is a typical preschooler. He always wanted to be talking to the grownups, asked a million questions, needed us to explain everything to him, wanted us to watch everything he did, etc. He is a very sweet boy, but it was exhausting, too.

Later, when it was just me and my twins again, I realized, after gaining some perspective, that this age is actually quite cute. They run up to me with unabashed glee and throw their arms around my neck. They run around saying my name because they're so excited to tell me something really important like, "my shoes!!!" or "B!" They still like to play peekaboo. And they are just so tender and sweet at this age. I need to keep all this in mind those times when they start to press all my buttons with the epic whining...

New Discovery

I have been using this oven for over three years and only just now discovered the oven light. The kids delighted in seeing their dinner cook. Now, if their delight would only get them to actually eat it...

FYI - I was cooking black bean burgers, recipe I got here. I cut some into stars in hopes that it would encourage the kids to at least try them. Sebastian did eat two bites of the "ya ya's" so I'll throw it in the win column.

And the crying continues

This is one of those times where I openly solicit advice from my dear readers. I wrote last week about Sebastian's crying, one of those , "oh, being a parent is tough, huh?" kind of posts. But now I seriously feel like I have a problem. Or I think I do. I guess I'm not sure - that's part of the advice I seek.

Like I said in that earlier post, Sebastian has always been a crier. And when you have a baby, its so easy to chalk it up to being a "phase" or just part of that age. But it seems like with him, we never get out of it. To a certain degree, I can accept this. It seems that he is a just a sensitive boy. And he is allowed to be sensitive. I took up the advice I got in the last post and am reading some books on highly sensitive kids. Its helping, but truthfully, not that much.

Basically, I feel like I am not cut out to parent my son. And I feel like he can't enjoy "normal" activities because he gets so upset. I have brought up the issue with EI (a few months back) and they actually suggested letting him have his pacifier when he got upset. They said its age appropriate for a kid his age to have a comfort object and if that was his, and it's the only thing that helps him self-soothe, we should allow him to use it. So, he gets his binky whenever he needs it at home, in the car and in his crib. But I simply can't bring myself to let him have it in public. As if it's the scarlet letter of incompetent parenting. And it's in these public situations where we find ourselves in trouble.

Two good examples: First, we have been doing an EI playgroup since March(ish). The playgroup is very low key and parents stay the whole time. The first half hour is open play, which goes over quite well. No surprise there. The last half hour is circle singing time and that's when the crying starts. 6 months in, Sebastian still cries (and I mean wails, not whimpers or whines) every time we get to the parachute. No matter how much I prep him or remind him of what will happen, he loses his shit every time. And I know what his issue is: he wants to go underneath the parachute. But that doesn't happen until after we shake the parachute and after we go on top of the parachute. So he cries and cries and cries until its time to go underneath. Often, he is too upset by that point to even go under. I have tried holding him in my lap, reassuring him that it will be time to go under soon. I have tried ignoring him. I have tried removing him from the situation. I have tried counting down until its time. But nothing has stopped his anger over this.

The other new fit-inducing activity is gymnastics. The thing is, he likes gymnastics. He likes doing the obstacle course, walking on the balance beam, going down the slide. He especially likes the trampoline. And this is where things start to go south. Yesterday, he was on one the little trampolines. I told him he could have ten jumps and then it would be the next girl's turn. I counted to 10 (very slowly, something we do all the time at home with turn taking and has worked very well) and when I told him his turn was up he got off. But then he immediately wanted to get back on, demanding that it was his turn again. I explained to him that he could have anotehr turn when she was done. No dice. I explained to him that there was another trampoline in the room he could use. I even brought him over there and told him he could have a turn. No dice. He was completely distraught and not able to recover for about 20 minutes. Additionally, he got even more upset while we were in the big room because he didn't want to wait for his turn on the big trampoline. Like the parachute, this is an activity we do every week. Part of me feels like he should be getting used to it.

I'm at a loss. He wants to do these activities and have fun but he seems to sabotage himself. And I try to help him cope but nothing I do seems to make a difference. It would be easier if it were just about him but he has a twin sister and I can't do separate activities with them. I feel like we're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Lastly, it doesn't help matters that he is the only child acting like this. Others may cry from time to time but he is the only one who does it every time over the same things. It's hard to not feel like I'm doing something wrong.

Will we ever get past it? Or will we struggle with this at every stage of his development until he moves out?

Capisce??

Sometimes, I feel like I don't give Collette and Sebastian enough credit. They are growing up so fast and I honestly am having a hard time keeping up. I often think to myself that certain things are far beyond their mental grasp and more and more, I am wrong.

It should be obvious. They talk SO much more. They understand more of what we say. They *seem* to listen more. So, it would follow that they are capable of doing things at a higher level. For example, I didn't think they really understood dress-up play. And, to some extent, they don't. It's not like they can act out mini-plays with each other in costume. But I didn't even think that they would like to dress up in funny clothes. Surprise, surprise - I was incorrect. They have been having fun trying on all sorts of things, most recently, our sweaters and sweatshirts that have been pulled out for the (wonderful!!) cooler weather.

Here they are, in Daddy's sweatshirt, which they both insisted be zipped up while they reminded me that it was "papa's!":




So, I am having to reevaluate how I interact with them and really start treating them like big kids and not babies. Thank goodness I have Matteo for that :)

Colie's First Haircut

Well, it was time for the 'Fro to go. Collette was seriously getting dreadlocks in the back so we had to get her some professional help. In the form of overpriced baby haircuts at Snip-its.

Truthfully, the place was fantastic and, IMO, well worth the price. It was easy to bring all three kids (no, I was not alone!) and let them play while they waited. They could walk around and not be in the way like they would have been at a real hair salon. So, if you need to get your kid's hair cut, I totally recommend this place.

Collette was sold as soon as she get her lollipop. Animal crackers filled in the gaps. Overall, a very easy, fun experience.

Collette with the 'fro

Oblivious to the snips. Thank you, lollipop!!

Have you ever seen a cuter thing in your life?

Toddlers are weird

Just to get this out of the way, yes I'm still pregnant. Yes, that means I am 41 weeks and 1 day along. Tomorrow (Monday) we will try for the third time to get me into the hospital to be induced. I have nothing more to say about it at this point. But rest assured I will put up a post right before we leave for the hospital, one way or the other.

Anyway, to the topic of the post: Toddlers are weird. This one is mainly about Sebastian. Not that Collette doesn't have her adorable quirks but Sebastian is exhibiting a few that I really don't want to forget:

1. He will only eat from the kiddie spoons with yellow in them. We have 4 plastic spoons that they use for their morning oatmeal (they scoop and hold better than their PBKids metal spoons) and two have yellow in them; the other two do not. I can't remember when started to obsess over the yellow spoons but trust me, those are the only two he will use.
2. He is constantly kissing inanimate objects. First it was pictures (I taught them both to kiss a picture of their daddy), then it was stuffed animals but now it has progressed into the random. Like the table. Or the floor. Or a cup. So odd but still, so cute.
3. At dinner, he refuses to eat anything on a spoon (even a yellow one!) - it must be finger food or fork food. If he sees a bowl and a spoon waiting at the table, he starts to cry. If I take what's in the bowl (meat, veggies, rice, etc.) and put it on a plate with a fork, he runs right over to gobble it up.

And I know this list will only get longer as the toddler months continue! What weirdness are your toddlers displaying these days?

Not Yet

I realize I have not posted in a while and thought that might give the impression that I was too busy having a baby to blog. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Still very much pregnant through yet another heat wave. F*** you, summer!

Quick updates, as it's late and I'm sleepy:

Next OB appointment is Wednesday where I will get another internal exam and hopefully get some reconfirmation that Matteo is head down. Also, I spoke with my OB about different scenarios and it seems that there is certainly wiggle room on when I can go into labor - she will let me go up to about a week late, depending on other factors. She also said if need be, we could try inducing with Pitocin but nothing stronger than that. So, good news for a VBAC.

Also, I feel gross writing this but I want to be an honest pregnant woman and tell it like it is. Sometimes, it feels like the baby is pushing down so much he might fall out. The closest comparison I can make is when you put a tampon in but can still feel it, like you did it wrong and didn't get it in the right way. Like I said, gross but honest. It's a very odd feeling and one I'm hoping means that he is almost ready to make his debut.

In toddler news, Sebastian and Collette have both "learned" a number. That number is 2. They skipped right over 1 which I suppose is appropriate, with them being twins and all. I guess that means they should hurry up and learn 3. Sebastian also knows the letter C. Not sure if Collette knows that one as she is not as eager to label things - she is way too cool for that. They are adding vocabulary more quickly, in general, but still not putting two words together so still much progress to make on the speech front. Quite frankly, I'm not that worried about it anymore. They understand so much of what I say and what Billy says to them in Spanish that I think the rest is just a matter of time. We'll continue speech therapy as long as they qualify through EI because I like the services and the feedback but I won't be stressing about it. I have enough to worry about with a baby on the way! :)

Last thing - we are almost done Matteo's room so I will post pictures soon. It's livable but we still have some decorative things to put up.

Stay cool! I'm off to Lala-land...

Thanks Auntie Stacey!

Fav Auntie (Auntie Stacey, my oldest little sister) has been in town from San Diego for a visit since Thursday. She has so many people to see when she comes home but, of course, the twins got more than their fair share of Auntie time.

Yesterday, Fav Auntie came with us to the local lake so the kids could play at the beach. The water and the shade kept us all very comfortable and the kids had a good time, naturally.

Sebastian is checking out the scene

Collette is showing Stacey how to drown stuffed animals

Today, I drove into Boston with the kids and we met Stacey at the aquarium. This was Sebastian and Collette's first visit and they did such a good job! They were remarkably self-disciplined and kept requesting to go back in their stroller. Certainly made getting around to all the exhibits much easier. Of all the things we saw, the penguins were probably their favorite. Collette really liked touching the sea stars (apparently, they are NOT starfish) while Sebastian was not so much excited about touching the marine life. And they loved the Curious George baby/kid room where they could repeatedly dump out a bucket of plastic play fish, fill it up, repeat.

Sebastian demonstrating that touching is fine so long as there is thick glass in the way.

First look at the penguins. Of course the only kid looking at the camera isn't mine.

Collette about to give the penguin statue a kiss.

Collette and Stacey meeting some sea creatures

As a gift to Auntie Stacey for coming out to visit, both Sebastian and Collette say her name! Their pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired but considering how picky they are about the words the will attempt, it is a great honor!

We'll miss you, Auntie, and can't wait for you to come back home in September!!

Thanks Guys!

Earlier, I was looking at one of my FB albums labeled "6 months and counting" and it got me all teary-eyed. Sebastian and Collette just looked so small and cuddly. They were learning how to eat "solid" food. Smiling at each other. Wiggling and jumping (in the baby contraptions). For a second, I almost missed them at that age. (Good thing I'm having another one, right?!)

Later this morning, however, they did something cool and all grown up. They climbed into their own high chairs for the first time. And then I was brought back to reality. My kids are growing up and learning new things, often without me even trying to teach it to them. And I love it. I'm glad that I don't have to pick them up to get in the chairs anymore - it's been murder on my back lately. And it's really cute to watch them climb.

And in other "growing up" news, both Sebastian and Collette did a superb job holding hands and walking through the parking lots yesterday. I have only been practicing with Collette but decided to take advantage of a 1:1 ratio and have both walk. I was with Sebas and I was amazed at how well he did. He's a lot slower than his sister so I have to remember to walk slowly but he held my hand without objection and that's really all that matters.

So, S & C, thank you for making life a little easier for your (very pregnant) momma. I really appreciate it!!

18 Months

Sebastian and Collette are officially closer to two than one. I think this is a mixed bag but, overall, I wouldn't want to go back. I keep hearing how tough 18 months is. And I agree. I love the freedom and independence they have now, as well as their growing ability to communicate their needs but they, of course, have no sense of danger or consequence. This makes willful, mobile kids hard to deal with - there's just no reasoning with them! Only chasing, capturing and strapping them into some child device. This also has me thinking about buying a stroller to fit all three kids. If I do go that route, I will buy this one. I figure the extra seat can be used to store stuff. Maybe I will put the dog in there and get some really crazy looks. :)

Lately, we have been practicing using utensils and walking downstairs. Utensils we have been doing for awhile but now I think I am ready to force them to do it themselves 100%. Or use their hands. I'm sure it will take some time for them to grow out of that. Usually I fill up their spoon and put it in front of them as scooping is their main problem. But I figure they will learn fast if they have no mommy doing it for them.

Collette will only walk downstairs now, as opposed to crawling down. We have to hold her hand but she is getting very good at it and soon I think she will be able to do it herself while holding the wall. Sebastian is practicing but not with nearly as much gusto as Collette. He prefers to practice on smaller sets of stairs and crawl down the big ones.

Here is our attempt at a chair picture, which we have decided to do every half year instead of every month. They don't change too much each month and they don't sit still anyway.


Also, what is with this age and throwing stuff where they can't reach it and then crying about it? And then doing it twelve more times in a row? It's super annoying, times 2. Good thing they're cute.

A Breakfast Must

Warning: This is assvice. Advice that no one asked for and maybe no one wants but I'm giving it anyway. I'm pretty sure that's how you define assvice.

Since Sebastian and Collette were about a year old (maybe younger) we have been giving them Irish oatmeal (steel-cut oats) for every breakfast. As the Head Chef of the Soto Household, I made the executive decision that we would stick to one breakfast, leaving my creative juices flowing for lunch and dinner. 6+ months later, and everyone, even Lola, is very happy with this decision.

Here is why you should try it first thing tomorrow morning.

1. It's easier than you might think. It's true that they take almost half an hour to cook, similar to the way you would cook rice. Compared to a bowl of cereal or even instant oatmeal, this is longer. However, you can make a big batch so you only have to cook it once a week. You can easily reheat the oatmeal in the microwave (not so for oatmeal made with rolled oats) in 30 seconds with a little bit of water or milk.
2. It's easy to add in yummy and nutritious things. Getting my kids, and I assume most kids, to eat fruit isn't a big problem. However, I do have issues with fruit going bad and I also like to buy fresh fruit in season. For this reason, I buy a lot of frozen fruit. Unfortunately, not all frozen fruit thaws nicely - think mushy thawed strawberries. But when added to oatmeal, mushy fruit is no big deal. Even frozen fruit will warm up quickly in hot oatmeal. We have also done nuts and raisins - a big hit but very chewy! You could easily add in prune juice if your having some poop issues. I bet you could get creative and add shredded coconut. For extra flavor, I always cook mine with cinnamon and about 1-2 tbsp maple syrup for the whole batch.
3. It's VERY cheap. Boxed cereal seems pretty inexpensive. And, truthfully, it is. No one will go bankrupt eating cereal for breakfast. But steel cut oats purchased by the pound are much less expensive. I cook my oats one cup at a time. This yields about 3 cups of cooked oatmeal. That lasts the kids about 4 days, maybe more. I add a lot of fruit and that stretches the oatmeal out, but still. One cup of oatmeal (uncooked) costs 60 cents. That means its costs me 15 cents per morning to feed both of my kids oatmeal, plus the fruit. If I gave them cereal (one that I find a close comparison in terms of nutrition and lack of weird stuff) it would cost me 4 times as much.
4. It's a good choice for your body. I'm not going to get into the specifics of nutrition here but oats are great choice, regardless of which kind you choose. Supposedly, steel-cut oats contain more fiber, gram for gram, than the rolled oats or instant oats.
5. Easy for toddlers learning to use a spoon. These oats make a thicker, sticker oatmeal than rolled oats, IMO. Now, you may not like that as a taste or texture preference but for my 18 month olds, its a great food to help them learn to use the spoon. Success is almost guaranteed once the spoon hits the bowl. And it takes some serious flinging (still all to common around here...) for it to fall off.

What do your kids like for breakfast? Have you tried Irish oatmeal?

Finally, Some Words

In the past few weeks, Sebastian and Collette have made some big strides in the language department. Of course, this happens right before Sebastian starts speech therapy (in partnership with his EI therapy) but no matter. I'm just happy that they both have found ways to express themselves.

Both Sebastian and Collette have added a few spoken words to their vocabulary, as well as some signs. Here is where they both are to date.

Sebastian's spoken words:

• Car
  
• Ball
  
• Dada
  
• Mama
• Doggie
  

Sebastian's signs:

• Help
• Please
• More
• All Done
• Eat
  

Collette's spoken words:

• No
• Nose
• More
• Up
• Dada
• Mama
• Doggie

Collette's signs:

• Help
• Please
• More
• All Done
• Eat
• Blankie
• Yes (nodding)

The signs for "help" and "please" have been especially useful - I think Sebastian has been less fussy since discovering a way to ask for things. His frustration level comes down the instant I ask him if he needs help (and then he signs it if he does) - you can see the look on his face change when he realizes that I finally understand him. Collette uses the sign for "blankie" when she gets upset or frustrated as that is her comfort object. For instance, we were playing with some stacking cups during EI today and she got mad about something and immediately signed blanket (and then found it) and all was right in her world again.

Of course I want to focus on their spoken vocabulary but they seem to learn what they want. I tried to teach Sebastian to say "up" for weeks, to no avail. And now, with no pressure from me, he is saying "car." I'm sure I taught him this word - we see enough cars in a day - but I wasn't making a special effort. Yet, that's one of his 5 words. I'll keep trying, because it's my job, but I get the feeling that he will progress as his own pace and say the words he is interested in saying. Which is what all those wise, wise people have told me from the get go. Ah well. Lesson learned :)