Christmas is coming

Getting ready for a party at Daddy's work


Making new friends at the party



Playing with a new toy from Santa



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Santa Claus parade

Max had his first taste of candy cane


By the way, that is NOT Max's pink mitten. (These are a friend's photos that I "borrowed" because we forgot our camera.) Max in fact REFUSED to wear his mittens and his hands were still cold when he went to bed.

(Interestingly, he chose to wear them this morning for an hour of inside playtime. With sleepers, sunglasses, and his Santa hat.)

Big boys drink milk

Something to remember: Just mixed the last little bit of formula...

Snow update

It snowed again during morning playtime - big fluffy floaty flakes the boys could clearly see through the full-glass door. I couldn't find the camera in time to get a photo of their reaction to their first sight of snow but it wouldn't have been as good as the image in my head anyway. Just wait until they find out sometimes it stays around!

Snow!

It snowed this morning - the stay on the ground long enough to see it kind of snow - for the first time this fall. I can still see some on the north side of the street. I don't think there will be any left by the time nap is over, but you never know.

The boys have never really seen snow. It was snowy the day we came from Vietnam, March 4, but we arrived after dark and they were way too busy with things like their first experience of car seats after their first (26 hours of) plane travel to notice something else new. By the time we took them out in their strollers later that month there was no more snow. They wore their snowsuits once, for a brief flurry in early April, but again we weren't actually outside while it was falling and it melted right away.

Merry Christmas!

This is going to be one of our Christmas cards. IF we get to them this year. If not - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Something to remember: Can follow directions, specifically "Get your other boot" and "Give your brother a push".

Taxi!

Something to remember: We have 4 bottles for the boys; 2 blue, a green, and a purple. So we know who drank how much if they get mixed up, we've always given Vanh the blue ones and Max the purple or green. Today I realized that they know whose is whose. If I offer the wrong colour, they will move it out of the way to get to the right one.

Why?

What possessed me to do a post every day in November, just because it is National Blog Posting Month in the US? I'm Canadian.

Hoodies & socks

I didn't understand all the hoodies and socks the boys received as gifts but now that we've been through an Ottawa spring and fall I totally get it.

Something to remember: Saw the first sign of that "wanting to please" stuff we've heard so much about. We've been trying to get the boys into winter boots, which seem to terrify Vanh for some reason. Max was braver (maybe his are more comfortable) and started walking in them right away, to much excited praise from Mommy and Daddy. The next thing we knew Vanh was racing to get his boots too.

Bread Festival

We went to a multicultural Bread Festival at my school today. The boys ate lots as usual and had fun in the gym.

Picture with Santa

Here are the photos you've all been waiting for - the boys'
First Pictures With Santa Claus:


You may be wondering - where is Santa? And where are the babies?

I wasn't there but apparently they refused to cooperate even long enough to get one of these. But they got to keep the candy canes.

Now if we could just decide which one to use on the Christmas card...

For the love of... Please comment!

... well, my husband actually. He was concerned to see the string of zeros in the comments sections this month, and wondered if it wasn't disheartening to keep posting when no-one was listening. I explained that thanks to my handy widgit I know that you are checking me out, on average at least one person an hour, every day. So I know that I am talking to someone.

But he's right - those 0s are depressing. It's time to type us a few words, even if it's just a quick "Happy 1 1/3 Birthday!" that we can add to the boys' scrapbooks. They won't have the widgit to see that you were there.

Happy One-and-a-third Birthday!

Here we are in our brand new matching 18-month hoodies and 6-month pants.

Can you tell who is who?


How about now?

No Twin Clothes

Like most parents of twins and all parents of adopted twins, we did our homework. We know that years of careful research and statistical analysis has shown that it is better for development to separate identity through different clothing and dissimilar names.

So why do so many people still ask why they aren't dressed alike? Most people assume they are boy and girl, even if they are both in the most stereotypical blue/ brown/ car & truck encrusted boy clothes I can find. One woman got quite angry with me ("They're twins? Why aren't they dressed the same?"), like I was deliberately trying to trick her or something

Today I decided to dress them identically, just for fun, and realized that unless I want them running around preschool in their sleepers they have no matching outfits to wear for this time of year. So I'm off to shop for twin clothes!

Fire drill

The boys had their first fire drill at playgroup today!

Okay, I cheated a little bit. They were both outside playing when the bell went. Vanh was even waiting over by the fence in the "line-up" spot where I had strategically put his favourite toy. But Max got to be scooped up and hurried over when the alarm sounded!

Well, not right away - it was a little muted outside and at first we thought the sound was somebody's watch. But we did make it over, and we played, I mean waited quietly, until the all-clear sounded. It was neat to be in the line-up with the kindergarten class - what will eventually be the boys' kindergarten class.

Photobooks

40% off until November 30

http://www.photobookcanada.com

Beware of time sucking vortex...

Daddy Day Care

We have decided to expand our family by offering childcare to (a maximum of) two more toddlers. So exciting! Hopefully the wait won't be as long this time...