For back-story to this post, click here.
This morning we were all sitting at the table eating breakfast. Owen was eating waffles and was explaining to us, in detail, that June was eating waffles too. He went on and on and on about June (par for the course these days) — how she was sitting in the chair right next to him, she was eating waffles, he was putting the syrup on her waffles for her, she was eating “very well,” etc., etc., etc. Kyle’s reactions to Owen’s long monologues about June are quite funny — About half the time he seems to just roll with it and take it all in stride; the rest of the time he sort of looks at Owen like he’s an absolute lunatic – like, “um, hey brother, let’s get real, June is not here, not at all man.” This morning Kyle just sat there blurry-eyed, half-dazed, and confused about all of this, basically eating his pancakes, ignoring all this June-talk, and minding his own business. Meanwhile Braydon and I did what we do when it comes to June… nod our heads affirmingly, slowly respond to Owen’s chatter with “oh! uh huh! wow! yes! oh! uh huh! wow! yes!”, raise our eyebrows and roll our eyes at each other. It just seems endless– this incessant talk about June. Anyway, this morning, Owen’s going on and on about how June is sitting there at the table with us eating breakfast, Kyle’s deliriously trying to just ignore it and eat his pancakes, and Braydon and I eventually were desperately trying to move on to other topics. I said to Braydon, “So, what’s on your agenda today?” He happily took the bait and started to tell me about his day. Meanwhile, Owen clearly realized that we were no longer a captive audience, that we had moved on to other things, and that no one in his family was actually listening to him anymore. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Owen take another bite of waffle, briefly ponder his current situation, then look at “June” (i.e., the seat next to him). Suddenly he wiggled around in his booster seat to sit up straight, poofed his chest outward, shot his right arm up in the air, pulled the sleeve up, leaned toward “June”, and said very proudly: “Hey, June, FEEL MY MUSCLE!”
Since I posted about Owen’s crush on June (click here), I have received a handful of emails from eager parents ready to sign up their precious daughters to marry Kyle and Owen. I knew there was a contingent of people in the adoption community who have adopted from China who were reading this blog. Interestingly, it seems from my own anecdotal evidence (totally unscientific data here…) that most adoptive families of twins in the U.S. adopted from China. Of course adoptive parents of twins are interested in each other’s lives. But I had no idea how many of you would want to line up your girls to marry my boys. Woweeee. I hope that over time my fear of K & O having troubles finding dates (due to racism) will be dead-on-wrong. Maybe?! You all are giving me some hope here! Anyway, for the sake of honesty and truthfulness in blogging I feel I need to make something perfectly clear—
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Kyle and Owen are not available for marriage.
Not because I don’t believe in the idea of arranged marriage either.
Rather,
because…
Months ago I already finalized the deal.
[[[Disclaimer: obviously this contractual arrangement only pertains if 1) one or both of my sons are not gay, and 2) one or both of my sons believe in the institution of marriage]]]===========================
The boys have already been ‘given away’ to the beautiful and lovely and smoochingly gorgeous Summer & Aubrey (of the Twinchatter blog ~~ click here).
The girls a a year older than K & O (those girls can keep them in line! perfect!!! ), very outgoing/fun (a prerequisite for sure! perfect!!!), love to travel (definitely a must! perfect!!!), and, importantly, I love their mama (I think we’d be best friends if we could live near each other; unfortunately I live in Pennsylvania and she lives in Alaska). In my mind, Aubrey and Summer are clearly the perfect girls for K & O. Owen is going to Summer (the cutie pie on Twinchatter with short hair), Kyle is going to Aubrey (the cutie pie on Twinchatter with long hair). Trish (the boys’ future mother-in-law) and I have already worked it all out. Our husbands, at least from what we can tell, concur. All four children have checked each other out via the blogs and all seem good with the arrangement. Just thought you all should know. See below photos of my beautiful future daughters-in-law, in Alaska, blowing kisses to their future husbands via the blogosphere… Awwwww…. adorable.
P.S. please don’t get all up in arms about me poking fun at arranged marriages. I do know a bit about the custom, and Braydon and I have had friends/colleagues who are in arranged marriages. I know some of you will probably be all bent out of shape re: my cultural insensitivity. just try to keep in mind… this blog post is only half-joking. I fully intend on doing everything in my power to see my boys marry Summer & Aubrey some day.
Over the dampening grass the moon brought the luster of dusk to everything. The air was cooling from the day’s heat and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves with the scent of fall corn. It was so quiet you could hear the earth and it felt like sitting on top of the world, not in it.
They are actually calling it a thermos now…. When they got to have mac & cheese the other day, they both exclaimed:
“[That other little boy who had it the other day] will be so sad! He will be crying because he has no macaroni and cheese! I will give him some.”
I am not so sure that the boy cried or that they would have given him some – but I guess it’s the thought that counts.
The American Meteorological Society’s Glossary of Weather and Climate defines Indian summer as: “A time interval, in mid- or late autumn, of unseasonably warm weather, generally with clear skies, sunny but hazy days, and cool nights.”
It has been hot here for the past few days. Today it was in the low-90s. The boys and I spent the afternoon at the pool. It was bittersweet for me because it was so fun and beautiful and yet I knew this was very possibly the last real pool day of the season for us (it can’t possibly stay this warm for very much longer). The boys are so blissfully oblivious. They just engage with life in every moment and don’t think about what has been or what is to come. I know most all young children are like this. But to me, Kyle and Owen seem particularly so. I have noticed this about them since they were about 10 months old and taking their first steps. I remember being so struck by it then. And I still think of it almost daily as I watch them in the world.
Well, this has been going on for a couple of weeks now, so I think it is safe to say that this is not just a fleeting thing… Owen has a major love interest… his 1st crush… he talks about her all the time… he regularly pretends he is playing with her… not a day goes by that we don’t have to listen to him go on and on and on about her. Owen has a big crush… on… June. As in, June (click here), from Little Einsteins (click here).
For those of you not intimately familiar, here’s a brief bio:
“June– Six-year-old June loves pretty things and is an organized planner who is also a talented dancer and exercises high vocabulary. This graceful, Asian-American girl may appear as dainty as a flower, but the team turns to her whenever there’s a physical challenge.”
Supposedly, June’s “favorite dance move is a leap.”
So, there you have it.
This evening, right before dinner, the boys got in big trouble for “talking back to Mama.” They were running around like little maniacs, and were so revved up that Kyle actually started choking and spit up. Owen then ‘pretended’ to spit up too by drinking some water and then spitting it all over the floor. They were both laughing so hard that I thought they were going to die from not breathing. I suppose this is real funny stuff if you’re a three year old set of twins. Anyway, as the 35 year old mother, it was not funny. It was almost time for dinner and I told them —very firmly— to calm down. I told them to go sit on the couch and do 10 deep breaths. Instead they both started running in circles around the downstairs. At that point they were in BIG TROUBLE. I grabbed them and got down to their eye level and said: “GO. SIT. ON. THE. COUCH.” Kyle knew I meant business. He ran to the couch. Owen ran after him, but once he got on the couch he turned to Kyle and made a funny face. The two of them started cracking up laughing. I said: “YOU TWO BETTER WATCH IT!” At that point they both started laughing like crazy people. Owen then said: “WATCH IT!” in a crazy tone of voice, slightly under his breath. That, at least in this house, most definitely = talking back. Big time. I sent him straight to his room. He ran up the stairs and into his room, then proceeded to scream and cry up there like he was being tortured. Kyle sat as quiet as could be, on the couch, looking down at his lap, avoiding eye contact with Braydon and I, and not even daring to move a muscle. After about three minutes I told Owen to come downstairs, told Kyle to get off the couch, and told them both to go put their shoes in the laundry room and then wash their hands for supper. They dutifully and quickly walked straight to the laundry room (without making a peep) to take off their shoes. Braydon and I were in the kitchen, right outside the laundry room. This is what we overheard~~ Note: I felt like we were having a profoundly vivid flash-forward to their tweeny-pre-adolescent years with the two of them pow-wowing in private about how hard their life is having to have me as their mother…
Kyle: You o.k. Owen?
Owen: Yes. I’m o.k. Are you o.k. Kyle?
K: Yes, I am.
O: Oh. What happened Kyle? What happened to Mommy?
K: Mommy was mad. No, she was not mad, she was frustrated.
O: Oh. But I’m so mad at Mama. Kyle, you are mad at Mama too?!
K: Um, no, I’m not mad. Mama was just a little frustrated.
O: Oh. But, I’m so mad at Mama.
K: It’s o.k., Owen, it’s o.k. Mama was just frustrated. She’s not mad now.
O: You’re not mad at Mama Kyle?
K: No. I’m not. I’m not mad anymore.
O: Oh. But I’m so mad.
K: It’s o.k. Owen, Mama’s not mad anymore. I’m not mad at Mama anymore. It’s o.k.
O: Oh. O.k.
K: You o.k. now Owen?
O: Um, yes. I’m o.k.
Post- Note: Only thing is that I have a feeling that in their tweeny-pre-adolescent years their little private pow-wow’s won’t resolve to be ‘o.k. with Mama’ so quickly and easily. God help me when we get to that point. ;0
A favorite current activity for the boys = sitting in Papi’s office listening to music very, very loud, and ‘playing along’ with various instruments (either on the floor, or –if the instruments are mobile enough– on Papi’s lap). Current favorite songs = 1] O Fortuna, for Chorus and Orchestra, by Carl Orff, and 2] Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, by KT Tunstall (from the album Eye to the Telescope)***
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Sunday morning, out for a walk, with Douglas James and Donald in their strollers.***
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Owen hits the ball (he’s getting good). Currently, golf continues to be Kyle’s sport of choice, but baseball is definitely Owen’s sport of choice.***
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Kyle mows the lawn. He is very serious about it.***
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A highlight of the weekend for the boys was that they got their first tattoo’s! Saturday at the football game the Lehigh Dance Club was giving out temporary Lehigh tattoo’s. Both Kyle and Owen got one — each on their right cheek. They loved it. We finally removed them before bed on Sunday night. ***
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No photo… but we went to the shoe store today. The boys got new fall shoes, and they also each got to pick out a new pair of Crocs (the Crocs they’ve been wearing all summer were almost completely destroyed). They insisted on having the same color. By their own choosing they both chose red (I never even mentioned to them how nice it would be if they chose red for their Thing 1 and Thing 2 costumes). By the way, current feet measurements:
Kyle = size 10 1/2, extra wide, wearing size 11 shoe
Owen = size 11 1/2, regular wide, wearing size 12 shoe
These boys are big.
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And so cute and so sweet. Today alone they must have said, “excuse me?!” and “please” and “thank you very much!” a hundred times each. Plus, at lunch they ordered their own food perfectly politely in the restaurant. And after dinner they each came to kiss me to say, “thank you for supper Mama!” Honestly, they drive us crazy at times, and they are also so, so, so good.
Well, Saturday morning we had a very special experience with the Lehigh Marching Band. Turns out one of my students is the Drum Major (conductor) of the marching band. Whoa! When she found out how obsessed my kids are (well, let’s be real — how obsessed KYLE is) with the marching band, she was all over it. She invited us to come to the football game early on Saturday, and hang out in the field house with the marching band as they warmed up and lined up. Whoa! Of course, we took her up on it. I had told her that Kyle was especially obsessed with trumpets and trombones. When we arrived at the field house my student (the Drum Major) was waiting for us. She came right up and welcomed K & O. And then… suddenly, a trumpet player and a trombone player came strutting right up, with their instruments and everything. (my student had obviously lined this up for us in advance without us knowing it). Whoa! Kyle just stared at the trombone player with delirious wide eyes. He showed the boys the trombone, he played it for them, he let them touch it. The trumpet player even let Owen try on his marching band hat. Whoa! It was huge. Especially for Ky Ky. We watched and listened to the marching band tune up, warm up, line up, get psyched up, and start their tailgate marching. Then we followed them around the parking lots and watched/listened as they stopped along the way playing for drunken tailgaters. Whoa! It was fabulous. Ky Ky is now even more obsessed than ever.
Sheep, 2005*
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Lions, 2006*
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2007*
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I don’t know about the rest of you with young children, but with Halloween being less than six weeks away, the *C*O*S*T*U*M*E* decision is looming large around here. This is the first time that K & O really have a handle on what Halloween is all about. They seem to forget the candy part (strange little three year olds, aren’t they?!!), but they definitely remember the costume part. They are old enough now to decide for themselves what they want to be. And, over the past couple of weeks they’ve been unequivocally consistent. So, as of today, it is OFFICIAL. By their own choosing (I really don’t remember how they got this idea into their head), Kyle and Owen are going to be… Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat. They are also clear and consistent on this: Owen will be Thing 1, and Kyle will be Thing 2. Costume figuring-out has begun. The only thing the boys are adamant about: They say that they need new Crocs to wear as part of their costumes (?? where they got this idea, I have no idea). The only thing they’ve been wavering on: what color the new Crocs will be (red seems the obvious choice to me, but they’re all over the map— yellow? blue? purple?). The last two Halloweens I’ve thought that it could not possibly get any better (K & O have been soooo into Halloween both years)… but I have a sneaking suspicion that at age 3 Halloween might be even more fun this year!
Both boys were home sick today and didn’t go to school. We’re confident that it is just a cold (Kyle has it worse, but they both have it), and that it is nothing serious. I was supposed to be flying out at the crack of dawn this morning, to jet off to a reputable university in a far away state where I was supposed to give a big lecture. I made the decision to cancel it last night when I saw how sick Kyle was. It was a hard decision to make. Any Career Mom out there can just imagine. But I just couldn’t live with myself leaving my bambinos when they’re sick. I feel so good that I made what was — for me and my family — the right decision. Since my whole calendar was already cleared (because I was supposed to be away on a work trip), I was able to stay home today with K & O, and it felt good to be able to stay put with my little sweetie pies. Braydon worked from home most of the day and was able to check in on them from time to time and monitor the flow of Children’s Robitussin and Children’s Motrin.
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Here’s the thing~~~ I think this is the first time, ever, that the boys have both been sick and we haven’t felt like our life is falling apart. This is a big milestone for our family— when the boys were younger it was soooo hard (anyone who has raised twins or is raising them knows what I mean). It was hard a lot, but especially when one or both of them were sick. Dealing with sick twin babies or sick twin toddlers was tough – especially trying to juggle our work while trying to care for them. But now, suddenly, somehow, we seem to be in a different place. The boys are more calm now, more self-sufficient, and more self-entertaining. Today it did not feel like all the balls we are juggling were drastically and dramatically dropping down to the ground all around us. Our house of cards did not feel like it was tumbling. Our life wasn’t suddenly spiraling out of control in crisis. I’m sure for a lot of readers, this is hard to comprehend. But twin moms who are reading — I know you know exactly what I mean. More experienced twin moms have always told me, “oh honey! hang in there! it gets easier!” But to be honest, I didn’t really believe them. But, hallelujah! They were right. Hopefully tomorrow K & O will be back to school, but if they’re not — and we have a second home-sick-day (and Braydon and I have to do the crazy work-family balancing act thing for another day) — then so be it. Bring it on! We can handle it. It’s all good.
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