Posting Schedule

Just a quick "administrative" update. My posting schedule last week didn't work out, so you will now see several new posts that appear today, but were dated before Christmas. Please take a look at the posts starting last Monday, 12/22 because there are some good ones (if I do say so myself). :)

Christmas Cookies

On Friday night after the gym, Sarah got the great idea to bake some Christmas sugar cookies. Sarah did the baking and we all had a great time decorating.


Here's a quick video:

Gymnastics Class

On the Friday before Christmas, we took the girls to Miyagi Gym in Auburn. They teach gymnastics for people from 18 months to 18 years and I think even older. We went to the Parent and Toddler class, which is 18-36 months. They are four week sessions. The first time you go, they let you "tryout" for free. Friday's class was the last one of the year and the end of that 4-week session.

The class started at 9:15 am and went for 45 minutes. Sarah and I went together. There were probably 6-7 other children in the class. There was one other dad. We recognized one of the mom's from Placer High School. She was a grade or two above us. I think her name was Tina May (Sarah remembered her more than I did). It took our girls the typical 15-20 minutes to warm up, but then they were playing like everyone else.


The first activity was a warm-up, which was just running around the mat on a white line. After 3-4 laps, they began what I would consider the more structured activities. They had the children run an obstacle course that involved climbing up pads, hopping down, crawling through tunnels, riding a see-saw, and walking two different directions on a balance beam. The girls still weren't totally into it, but they had fun.

Next was another, more involved obstacle course. The children had to climb up a ladder, hop onto a pad, run up a padded ramp, go belly-first onto a hexagonal "log," roll along the log and do a somersault off, hop backwards about 5 feet, then climb across horizontal bars. It was great fun, especially the backwards hopping. The girls did a Great job. I was surprised at how well they went up the ladder and across the horizontal bars. We have some video of them hopping backwards, too.

Emily:

Ella:

After several laps for each child, the teacher brought out a parachute, and we played various games, all of them involving balloons. At the end of the parachute games, the children got about 5 minutes of free play. Here's a quick video of Ella (white and pink) and Emily (blue and grey) playing with the balloons on top of the parachute.

And here are a few stills from the class.

Grandpa Bud's and the Piano

We went to my dad's house on December 14th for a few hours. The girls had a great time playing with the piano.

Christmas Lights & Parade

We put up Christmas lights the weekend after Thanksgiving and then went to the Holiday Light Parade in Auburn. It was cold, but we had a great time.

Here are a couple shots, and more to come

Because I promised to add some pics this weekend, here are a few teasers, but I have more updates coming this week. Here's what's coming:

• Christmas lights and parade
• Grandpa Bud's and the piano
• Gymnastics class
• Making cookies

And there will be some short videos, too. I'll have these updated and posted by Christmas Day.

Country Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Pictures coming this weekend

I will have some more pictures coming this weekend. One cool update is that both Ella and Emily can recite practically the entire "Night Before Christmas" story by heart.

Disco Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

My Review of Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ Reflector Telescope

Originally submitted at Telescopes.com

Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ Reflector Telescope

Good beginner scope

By PapaTripleJ from Auburn, CA on 12/2/2008

 

4out of 5

Pros: Comfortable Eyepiece, Accurate

Cons: Unstable

Best Uses: Astronomy

Describe Yourself: Casual/ Recreational

This scope is exactly what I expected for the money. A good beginner scope. I haven't used any other telescopes, so I have nothing to really compare with, but this does what I wanted. I've had it for about a month and spent several hours with it. I mentioned it was unstable, which is referring to the fact that the scope has slight jiggles. Not so bad at low power, but noticeable at higher power. It isn't like the whole telescope is unstable or going to tip, just that with an inexpensive telescope, I hear the manufacturer often skimps on the tripod. I'm planning to get some more powerful eyepieces to see the planets, so I am a bit concerned about the jiggling. Even when I am not touching the unit, just peering through the eyepiece, it still jiggles.

That being said, I thoroughly enjoy this scope. It's my first, and I doubt it will be my last. I'm getting some new eyepieces, filters, and more so I can expand my use of it. I would recommend this to anyone getting into astronomy.

Here is a photo I took the first night I got it.

Full moon on first night with scope.

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

Christmas Tree Decorating

This weekend we started putting up Christmas. Sherri came over and helped Sarah put up houses on Friday. Sarah and I put the tree together on Saturday, and we decorated it on Sunday. Sarah and the twins got up early on Sunday to make their first garland. This one was out of paper.

Thanksgiving

Thought you all would like to see a few pictures of the girls at Thanksgiving.

The Great Pumpkin Carve-off 2008

This is from our pumpkin carving party the week before Halloween and then what the front of our house looked like on Halloween night.

Through the Looking Glass

Last night at dinner, Ella did something new. She had a clear plastic cup with water in it. She also had one piece of bread on her plate. She was drinking from the glass when she tried to look through the water in the bottom of the glass and pick up her bread. Because the water creates a lens, she thought the bread was closer to her than it really was, so her hand was about half way between the glass and the plate. It was hilarious. She would do that for several seconds and then put the glass down and finally take a bite of bread. Then she's repeat. After the second or third time, she started giggling. It was awesome! :)

Quick Update - Halloween, Forts, and the Phone

Okay, so this is going to be quick since it's almost bed time. I will post some pictures over the weekend and probably modify this post.

Halloween:
We had a great Halloween with over 100 trick-or-treaters at our door. Ella dressed up as Dorothy and Emily was Little Red Ridinghood.


Forts:
Yesterday, Sarah and the girls built their first fort. I think that is so cool!

Phone:
Today on the phone, Emily was talking to Doug and I asked her to give the phone to Ella. For the first time, Emily said to the person on the phone, "Here's Ella." Also really cool.

Alpaca Ranch

On September 27th, Sherri and I took the girls to a tour of some alpaca ranches around Auburn and Loomis.

The Twins with Grandpa Bud

Last month (I know, I should have posted this sooner), I went down to my dad's house to visit while his half-sister Sharon and friend Christina were in town. It was great to see everyone, but it was especially wonderful to see Dad interact with his granddaughters.

Grandpa Gary's Birthday

We're going to Grandpa's birthday party tonight at his house in Rocklin.

Bandon Trip, Day 8

Today we went to Shore Acres (http://www.shoreacres.net/), which is a state park near Coos Bay, OR. It's a beautifully landscaped garden, small enough to walk through in a couple hours. The only thing you have to pay for is parking for the day - the garden is donation only. There's a large open field and a nice observation area outside the gardens with picnic benches. We had lunch there overlooking the ocean. It's really a beautiful spot.



A little farther up the road is Simpson Reef and Shell Island. There's an overlook where you can see about four kinds of seals and sea lions, as well as many birds and (according to the information display) migrating whales. We saw the former two, but no whales.

Bandon Trip, Day 7

The internet has been sketchy, so I apologize for the skipped posts.

This morning we had Nicole's Famous Potatoes in the form of delicious breakfast burritos. I gotta say, I love Nicole's breakfast cooking. Good stuff! That set us off right for a morning at the beach where we spent a few hours flying kites, exploring some caves, and building lots of sand castles.


That evening we spent crabbing well past sunset. In fact, Sarah, the girls, and I all came home around 8:30 to put the girls to bed. Nicole, Ty, and the Mitani Brothers all stayed out till a little after midnight. In all, including what Sarah and I brought home with the girls, we caught 36 or 37 crabs that night. In all, I think we have caught 112 or 113 keepers this week.

Bandon Trip, Day 6

Went to the West Coast Game Park

Bandon Trip, Day 5

Went to town

Nicole and Ty arrived

They stayed up late crabbing

Bandon Trip, Day 4

Went to the beach in the morning. Stayed up late to go crabbing.

Bandon Trip, Day 3: Let the Harvest Begin!

Sorry for the no-post last night. Internet wasn't working. Here you go a little late.

Well, the bug bit both Darryl and Steven last night. At around 9:00 or 9:15, they hopped in their SUV and high-tailed it to the docks. In about 3-3.5 hours, they came home with 24 crabs!!! Sarah and I had called them around 10:30 or so and knew they had a half-dozen crabs, so we put a pot on the stove and started it heating before the boys came home. I believe they said they got home around 1:30 am. I remember waking up to the smell of smoke and cooking. (Steven and Darryl told us later that they almost set off the smoke alarm.) Anyway, Sarah and I woke up to a fridge shelf and vegetable bin full of crabs.



Good times! Those of you who've known me for a while know that I'm not a big fan of seafood historically. However, Sarah's been gradually winning me over to things like salmon and shrimp. Crab is still one that I'm working on. I like crab meat, but the shells that one sometimes gets mixed in with the meat are not so great. Having said that, there's more than a little satisfaction in catching the little guys (you can only keep the males) and then "living off nature." I know that sounds corny, but I like it. Needless to say we had crab for lunch and dinner. In fact, Darryl and Steven had crab for breakfast, too.

After discovering the crabs, the first thing we did in the morning was all head down to the beach below our house. The tide was pretty low, so we were able to find some star fish, sand crabs, and other cool little sea "things". We made some sand castles, too. Aside from the wind, the weather here is great.


After the beach, we all headed in to town and went to a few shops - mostly the Toy Room (where we bought a few things for the girls and ourselves) and the Cranberry Sweets factory outlet (where we samples everything we could and bought a few treats). We had a great time and then headed home for lunch. Lunch consisted of crab sandwiches. The girls went down for a nap as did I. :) I think everyone but Sarah took a nap.

When dinner rolled around, we had crab salad. Good stuff, really. We didn't do much until it was time to put the girls down for the night. Before doing that, Darryl got an urge to get a Dairy Queen Blizzard, so us three boys hopped on our bikes and rode to DQ. We bought four Blizzards, put three of them in our water bottle holders (the fourth I carried in my windbreaker pouch) and headed home. When we arrived, the girls were still awake, so I put my Blizzard and Sarah's in the fridge (more on that later) and helped to put them to bed. When I came out, everyone was playing Mille Bornes, which is a card game.

I grabbed my Blizzard and sat down to join them. Come to find out that while I was putting the girls to bed, Sarah went to the freezer to find her Blizzard. (Remember, I put them in the fridge, not the freezer.) She saw that the one she thought was hers was half-eaten. She thought I had eaten it (it was really Steven's) so she decided as revenge, she would eat MY Blizzard half-way (which was actually Darryl's). So she sat down (the boys were still doing other things before starting the card game) and started to devour what she thought was my Blizzard. Shortly thereafter, Darryl opened the freezer to get his Blizzard and exclaimed in bewilderment, "Where's my Blizzard?!" at which time his heart sank. He thought the mean lizard-like Godblizzah had stolen his creamy, frozen goodness. Sarah said, "Oh, no" and quickly apologized. But it was too late; the damage was done. When it was all said and done, everyone but Darryl got their full Blizzards, and Darryl was the one who really wanted one. :(

Now I owe Darryl a Nerf football and a Blizzard.

Oh, I almost forgot that Ella and Emily started a new game. They were making pretend tacos and sharing with each other.

Bandon Trip, Day 2

Today we finished the drive up the California Coast on Hwy 101 to Bandon. It was an uneventful drive, which means it was good. :) We went to the Samoa Cookhouse in the morning for breakfast. I think we got there at about 8:45 or 9:00 am. It is a place where they serve the food family style. It's a set menu, so you get what they're serving. It was French Toast, eggs, sausage, and biscuits and gravy, with OJ. Everyone ate great, except Sarah. :(

After breakfast, we headed up the coast on 101 through Klamath, Crescent City, Brookings, and on into Bandon. Along the way, we stopped at a state park, I think it was, where there is often a herd of elk that go around the forest and onto the beach. I can't remember the name of it (I'll have to ask Darryl). We didn't see any elk this time, but we stopped at a visitor center and nearby meadow. We took a nice walk through some redwoods and got a picture of a bear surprising Emily!

After the meadow, we stopped at a beach along 101 just south of Crescent City to give the girls some lunch. We all played in the sand until about 1:30 or 2:00 and then got back on the road. The girls fell asleep around 2:30 and slept almost the whole rest of the way to Bandon. We arrived in town around 4:30, unloaded, and headed out to dinner. We made a quick run to the grocery store, and then came home.

Darryl and Steven are at the docks right now setting their crab nets (they bought licenses as soon as we got to town). Sarah and I just put the girls to bed and are getting ready to head that direction ourselves. Keep checking this blog as I'm going to try updating it daily.

Bandon Trip, Day 1

Yesterday, we left Auburn at about 7:45 and got into Arcata at 6:30. Along the way, we stopped at Alice's in Redding and visited her horses and one of her cattle. We had a great lunch with her and stayed an hour later than we'd intended. All in all, it was a long day, but fun. I think we ended the day just right by going to the beach. It was late and dark, but we had fun. One problem - we sacrificed a Nerf football to the beach gods, but in return found Darryl's cell phone.

Learning to Count

Yesterday, the girls went to Sherri's so that Sarah and I could pack for our vacation this week. Sherri told us about a neat thing that happened while they were there. She had some Cheetos on a plate for the twins to eat. At one point, Sherri told Emily to give two Cheetos to Ella. Emily picked up three and gave them all to Ella. Ella took one from her hand and actually gave it back to Emily. How AWESOME because it shows that there is some sharing, and not only are they learning to count, but they know what the numbers mean. Cool!

Now I know what you all really want. Here are a couple recent pictures.

CCFC 2008

Last weekend, Sarah and I took the girls up to Lake Tahoe to visit with my dad and step-mom. Every year since I was about 8 or 10, I've gone to the CCFC event at Zephyr Point. It's the Chinese Christian Family Conference, and I've had lots of fun times there. We took the twins up there last year for a few hours, but this time we stayed over night. We had a nice time seeing everyone and I got some time to visit with my dad. I have a feeling his memory is really starting to go, so every chance he has to see the twins is a blessing.

Here are some pictures and a video.

Budhist Obon Festival

Two weekends ago, our friend Darryl told us about a gathering at the Budhist Temple in Penryn. There was going to be food (enough said) and a dance to celebrate the ancestors. Good times. So we packed up the girls and headed over. Indeed, there was good food and then the dancing began. Ella especially liked it and got in on the act a bit.

Eating Cupcakes

And the next day we got to eat them!

Ella
Emily

But there's an unexpected ending to this cupcake story. After the four of us had cupcakes for two or three nights, we left them in a plastic bag on the counter while going out to dinner. When we came home, Abby had gotten the bag off the counter, chewed it open (didn't swallow much or any of the bag) and ate a dozen cupcakes. Fortunately, she didn't eat all the frosting, and she never got sick, but boy there was a mess of crumbs all over the floor.

Making Cupcakes

This was from a couple weekends ago. Sarah decided to give all of us a great boost by making cookies. And I bet everyone reading this blog knows two little girls who make great helpers! That's right, the twins did their part. Check out the pictures below.

Petrified Forrest

A few weeks ago, Sarah and I decided we wanted to get away from all the smoke in the air, so we went to the Petrified Forrest outside Calistoga. It was still a little hazy, but a nice break from what we had in Auburn.

4th of July Parade

On July Fourth, we went into town to watch the parade. We sat across from the main entrance to the fairgrounds. Sherri, Sarah, Marilyn, Ella, Emily, and I all had a great time. You can see the girls all enjoyed the old fire truck.

Nora's Birthday

Today we took the girls to Cool for Nora's 3rd birthday. We went to Larry and Dorothy's house. It was so much fun. The party started off in the house. I had some time to talk video games with Collin and Eric. Collin's favorite game series is Mega Man. I told him about the virtues of Zelda. He and Eric are going to have a "father and son" video game night tonight playing through the most recent Zelda game.

About 30 minutes after arriving, I started up the coals for the BBQ and we got ready for the food. We ate outside around the pool before open gifts. Nora got lots of "princess" stuff - Aerial doll from "Little Mermaid," two tea sets, including a pink Disney princess one from Nicole, a set of arts and crafts stuff from our girls, and more. The grand finale was a pink Schwin tricycle, decked out with chrome frenders and lether tassles on the handle bars.

After opening all the presents, we hopped in the pool. The water was excellent and the girls did great. We brought up their green frog floaters that they sit in to help them swim. Danielle had a great one, similar to ours, but with a small sun shade over the top. Very good feature. When we got out of the pool, Danielle and Eric brought up cupcakes and ice cream for dessert. What a treat!

The final event was a Pinata on the front lawn. Eric was the rope man (until it broke). Our girls got to go first, then Nora, Winter, Collin, and Leah. Then we started over. By that time, the Pinata was on the ground, so everyone was just beating it. I helped the girls, then Eric made a small error in calculation. He decided to try helping Nora. As you may know, she is very independent. Here's what happened...

At the Mitani Ranch

Last month, Darryl invited us over to enjoy a BBQ and have some fun in his orchard. We were there to pick plums, and we all had a great time. The girls got to run around in the grass and play with his dogs, while the adults picked plums. And they were some REALLY good plums!

Overdue Update

Today we met our new cousin, Griffin James Musso. Griffin was born this weekend to Sonya and Greg in Roseville. Beautiful, 6-pound baby boy. And now Greg's sister, Julie, is expecting in January. So next year there will be several young ones at Easter. It's wonderful! The twins will have cousins to play with in a couple years and boss around. ;) Just kidding.

While Sarah and I visited the new parents, we dropped off Ella and Emily with their Grandpa Gary. He reminded me that I was overdue in updating the website, so here goes nothing. June 28th was Auburn Family Night Out. We had a great time. I got a couple pictures of the girls.



Emily is happy to have dinner.













Here they are ringing the bell at Pioneer Church













Ella was more interested in the pony than Emily was.

Birthday Party

Today we celebrated the second birthday for the twins. What a fun party! Sarah and I actually were so prepared that around noon we had nothing to do. :) The party wasn't until 4:00. Sherri came early to help us setup. Eric showed up with Nora and Winter first, around 3:50. Then shortly after that was Chris and Layla (with MG), Darryl, Danielle, Gary and Gary, Sharon, and Bud and Roberta. Sarah and Sherri decorated and got the yard ready, I made bread, turkey, and tri-tip, and we had wonderful ice cream cake from Baskin Robins. Good times!

Boutiful Harvest

Today, the twins, Sarah, Sherri, and Sharon all went to our cousin Donald's fruit orchard and picked two baskets full of cherries. Mostly Bings with a few Raniers (the Raniers will take another week to full ripen up). There is something magical about passing on a family tradition that I just can't explain. I think Sherri got some pictures, so if I can get them I'll upload them.

Finally, a new post - Monterey Trip

Hello Everyone, not much time to write text, but I know you all are most interested in pictures. Enjoy! :)

So Sorry

I know it has been terrible with the lack of posts. I have been swamped with work, and each day that goes by I feel more and more guilty. I know I need to post some update pictures, which I promise to do this weekend. Here are some updates:

• Emily is saying "No!" a lot. Even though we know it's a phase, and she doesn't really mean it, she definitely acts like she means it. When we offer her food that we know she likes, she will say "NO!" and scrunch up her face and turn away.
• Ella and Emily talk more to each other, like asking one another to sit with them or play with them. It's SUPER cute!
• Ella and Emily both have ouchies on their chins - I think one of them bumped it on a table and the other one fell at the park.
• They still wake up once or twice during the night. They go to sleep around 9:00 or 9:15 and wake up around 7:15.
• Everyone is doing well.

Thanks!

Toddler Talk, Part 2

The twins are saying so many new words, but they also say a lot of "adapted" words - words that are shortened or changed from their adult version. I know if I don't write some of these down, we'll forget them.
Toddler = Adult
Wiwi = Wiggle
Ganpa = Grandpa
Gama = Grandma
Blankie = Blanket
Wawa = Water
Rara = Rabbit
Hep = Help
Ps = Please (basically, take out all the vowels and the "l")
Dwa = Draw
Many = Medicine

I know there are more, so I'll work them in with the list of new words they are saying. Speaking of that, here are some new words from this week:
Uncle
Rabbit - They finally got this down, sort of
Shhh - They can make that soft sh sound; whereas, before, it was just the S

Their First Song

Well, this morning marked another first. Sarah taught the twins to sing "Tomorrow" from Annie. I may have the title wrong, but it's the one that goes:

"Tomorrow, tomorrow
I love ya' tomorrow
You're only a day away"

They both sang it after dinner together, with Sarah leading. Very cute. I got a little on video with my small digital camera, which I will upload later.

More New Words

I have to keep these short if I'm going to hope to keep them up on a regular basis. :)

On Tuesday, I was buckling Ella in her car seat when she asked for her drawing toy. It wasn't in the car, so I said, "I'm sorry, it's inside. We'll get it later." I swear she said, "Sheesh" to me. As in, "Geez, papa, you didn't think to bring it." Sarah thinks it was more a coincidence because I had said sheesh a minute earlier. Either way, that was her new word.

Then yesterday, we were watching TV and someone said "shucks." I swear Ella and Emily just copied that person exactly. I thought it was funny.

Today's New Word

We went to Cafe Delicias for dinner, and the twins sat in a booth - no booster seat or anything. They're still a bit young, but Cafe D. already had other babies using them. Anyway, Emily was next to me - I was on the outside of the booth and she was on the inside near the wall. I pointed to a space between the wall and the booth and said "hole." She repeated it, so that was her new word for today.

Also, on Sunday, Emily wanted to sit on the Potty Chair. She didn't do anything, but it was the first time she said she needed to use it. About 10 minutes after we took her off, she went potty in her diaper. So, she's getting close.

The Potty Chair

As you might guess from the title, we have potty trainer for the twins. Literally minutes ago, Ella used it for the first time tonight. Sarah was giving them a bath when Ella stood up and indicated she had to use the potty. Sure enough, she went # 2. A few minutes later, after she was in the bath again, she said she had to use it again. This time she went # 1. Of course, we're very excited. And she did it while Emily was in the bath watching, so I'm sure Emily will use it soon. Maybe even tonight - the twins are still in the bath with Sarah now.

Today's New Words

I'm going to start a series of posts , starting with this one, that list new words that I hear the twins say for the first time. Today, there are two:
Garbage
Stay

Toddler Talk

Okay, so Sarah really encouraged me to post this, so you'll need to thank her. The twins are starting to make sentences. I think they max out at three words, but it's very exciting!

Last Monday, something miraculous happened. Ella and Emily were sitting on the couch next to Sarah. I was in my favorite chair. The twins were drawing in their little notepads. Ella asked Sarah to draw in her notepad by saying "Mama" and pointing to her pad. Then Emily started drawing in Ella's notepad, too, but then stopped. Next thing we heard was Ella asking Emily to ,"Draw here please" or "Emily, draw please" and then she would tap the page in her notepad.

Yesterday, Ella and Emily were rocking in my blue Lay-Z-Boy recliner. Emily got up and went around to the back of the recliner to play. Next thing Sarah heard was Ella patting the empty spot on the chair next to her and saying, "Emily, sit please." Oh, I was so bummed I missed it, but it was wonderful to hear Sarah describe it.

Emily is close behind her, too. We think she almost put three words together today, so it should happen any day now.

Counting

This morning Sarah and the twins were in the front room watching some birds outside. Sarah asked Ella how many birds there were, and she said, "One. Two..." Sarah leaped for joy since this is the first time they've counted like that. She carried both girls in here and asked them to count. With a little encouragement, they counted to two. Not to three, yet.

These are a couple from last week that Sarah took and I thought they were cute. Something besides the park pictures from the last two weekends. The girls love their little table and chairs that Roberta gave us.


Emily
















Ella

Another Saturday at the Park

As you may have noticed, we've been going to the park a lot lately. Last weekend, Sarah needed some time to study, so I took the twins to the park. Same thing this weekend. These pictures are from Saturday, the 16th. My mom, Sharon, met us and helped me watch the girls while they played. They have met many new "friends" at the park, and we've now been four times and seen some other children more than once. Besides having fun playing, you can tell they had fun eating their sandwiches.

Sunday at the Park

Saturday at the Park

This weekend

Sarah got the tricycles out and the girls had fun playing around the house.

Also, I know I've said this over and over, but it is amazing how quickly the twins are picking up new words. Today they said Ernie (from Sesamie Street), allowed as in "whining is not allowed," and at least one or two other words we've never heard them say before. It seems like every couple days, they're saying new words. Awesome!

Snow Day!

Last night, the twins had a BLAST coloring on the walls of their bath tub. Sarah helped.

Today was great fun! We had snow, and quite a bit in the morning. It stuck on the ground for least half the day, and I think there are still a few small patches. The twins enjoyed watching it from the front windows.

Change of subjects, I was quite happily surprised today at how well Emily is saying the word "Hello."

Enjoy the pictures.

More Communications

Two days ago, I saw Ella give me a new sign. When she wants us to give her something, she points to her hand. So she holds one hand open, palm up, then takes her other index finger and taps her palm. She did it to me when she wanted my Nintendo DS and then later when she wanted our water markers.

Also, Emily started shaking her head when she means No. Previously, she only turned her head to the side. Now she does a combination of the two.

We're still progressing with getting them to sleep in their own beds. The night before last, they went down about 9:30 pm and Emily woke up at 4:00 am. Ella didn't wake up until after 6:00. They both went back to sleep, at least until about 6:45 am. Then last night, they went to sleep around 8:30 pm. Again, Emily woke up first, but not until 6:15 am and Ella didn't wake up until about 6:35 am. It's been working out very well!

Another First - Big Girl Cups

Last night at dinner, we gave the twins milk from a small (non-sippy) cup. We let them drink it using their own hands. That is a first - we've given them drinks from cups, but we always held it ourselves. It was probably more of a thrill for us than the girls. For the most part, they drank it fine. Ella spilled some towards the end on her shirt and in her lap.

A couple other quick updates:
The girls slept 10 hours straight last night, from 8:30 - 6:50.
They are saying words a lot more now, like "up" when they want to be picked up, and "more" when they want more to eat, and I think the newest is "help" when they want something. Also, I've heard Emily say Abby (one of our dog's names). They're saying so much now, it's sometimes hard to keep track.

Bodies Revealed

We took the twins and went to see the Bodies Revealed exhibit in Sacramento, off Alta Arden, this weekend. Sherri and Darryl were with us, and we all had a good time, but the exhibit was kind of disappointing. The twins did fine; although, Emily got a little too close to touching a couple of the exhibits. She didn't, but it made me nervous.

If anyone is thinking of going to the exhibit, I personally think $24 (which is the adult price) is too much. Less than $20 would be better. I had seen a lot of previews, interviews, ads, and other information about the exhibit before going, and unfortunately, it turned out I saw almost all the best parts of the exhibit before going. I think Body Worlds might be a better way to spend your money, but that's just a guess.

Ella has a great laugh

This morning, we played "horsie" with the girls while they rode on our backs and we ran around the house. Lots of fun. Ella has such a great laugh, too. Sarah was tickling her and they were playing, and Ella was just laughing and laughing.

The twins and I also made a game out of cleaning up the living room. The three of us were putting the blocks and Legos away, while Sarah was doing laundry. It made the chores much more entertaining.

Going backwards for a minute, last night was a "little" rough. Around 12:30, Emily woke up and for the next hour, I think I got up four times for her and once for Ella. But after about 1:30 am, they didn't wake up until 7:00. And we think it's because Emily is getting another tooth popping through. The 3-4 nights before that have been great - the twins are doing very well sleeping through the night.

Now skipping ahead several months, Sarah, Darryl, and I are planning another trip to Bandon, OR. We went there a couple years ago, when the twins were just a few months old, and we're going back this September to the same house. We're really looking forward to it. I'm going to take a week off and we'll go crabbing, tide-pooling, we'll go to the wild animal park, etc.

Sleeping Soundly (Mostly)

For the last three nights, only Ella woke up one time, and that was last night. The two previous nights, both girls slept from 9:30 pm - 7:00 am. Sarah and I are loving it.

Posting Frequency

I just have a short update - last night the twins each woke up once. Not bad at all. I'll work on increasing the posting frequency to 2-3 times per week on a regular basis.

The Rocking Horse

Tonight we went over to Sherri's for dinner. Unfortunately, we didn't have a camera with us, but Sherri brought out a wooden rocking horse from the garage and the girls loved it. They got the hang of rocking very quickly. They were almost too good - rocking way back and way forward. But it was fun to watch and they had such a good time.

Quick update on the sleeping - I'd say for the last five days, maybe a full week, I've had to get up at most three times a night. The last night, I only had to get up once, I think. Sarah and I both agree it's much better not having them in the bed any longer. We loved it while they were with us, but we are sleeping much better.

More Talking

The twins are saying more and more words. The biggest change was that they don't "whine" or "screech" as much when they want something. Instead, they say Mama or Papa. In a related story, they are sleeping better through the night, but when they do wake up, they often say Papa instead of just crying. It's pretty neat.

Emily is getting at least one more tooth. It hasn't broken through, yet, but her gums are very red and she's been cranky. I'm sure it'll pop through in the next few days.

As for me, I'm going to the gym now. Sarah gave me a gym membership for Christmas and I have been seven times in eight days; although, to be fair, I went twice the first day - once to sign up (and I did workout) and a second time for a class.

Pictures

We misplaced the camera for several days. Sarah just found it a few minutes ago, so I'll upload some photos later (hopefully today).


Also, a couple updates:

• We're continuing to get them to sleep on their own. Some nights are better than others.
• They really are saying Mama and Papa more often now when they want something, rather than just whining or yelling to get our attention.
• They're enjoying their toys from Christmas. They love when we read to them, so the books are seeing a lot of action. They also got some water washable markers that they play with in the bath tub.
• We went down to my Dad and Roberta's house in Sacramento this morning and had a good time. The girls were shy at first - they don't see Grandpa Bud and Pa-Pa (Roberta) often enough. But within 30 minutes or less, they had warmed up. We stayed down there about three hours and had lunch with them.
• Ella is getting another tooth in the lower-left part of her mouth.