Let's get interactive with YOU

So many times I get comments on who looks like who, so I figure it would be fun to see what friends and family think. I have a poll set up to the right of the web page that will last a week, let us know who you think Hannah or Sophie looks like.


Thanks :)

First time away

Besides running errands when mom and dad Sakai were here or when my parents were here, I've never really had anyone watch the babies out of our house until today. Hsin and Sonya were nice enough to watch the babies while I went to my dental appointment. On top of watching them (which took a while since I had not only a cleaning, but several fillings done), they were jet-lagged as well, so I am very, very thankful!!! Thank you so much!

The babies were great this morning and I kept a watchful eye out on Hannah. According to Hsin (whom we, meaning Der and I, got updates via IM and phone call) and Sonya the girls did good. Mommy and daddy, on the other hand, hahahaha just kidding we knew they were in good hands. I did miss the babies terribly and got a taste of what I might feel when I go back to work.

Sophie was passed out when I got to Hsin and Sonya's place and Hannah shortly followed, so I thought the ride home would be good. It has been so long since I was commuting during "pau hana time" (after work hours for you mainlanders) that I forgot how bad traffic really was. I knew it was gonna be bad, but I didn't think it would be that bad. Either way I prepared myself psychologically prior to our journey home for some major crying since I knew the stop and go motion was not gonna help in our ride home. It took us roughly about an hour and then some to get home and of course someone had to fuss to let me know that I took too long to get home. Yup, Sophie was the culprit and of course I tried my darnedest to get home quickly and safely and once I got home she passed out again, bah! You can bet that Emi was really happy to see me as she is the great little doggy that could hold her potty time in.

So after a busy day of running around, the girls did well or so I thought since the night wasn't over yet. I managed to pass out after dinner and some quality play time with the girls. Der was not so lucky, while I was napping he fed Hannah and of course she managed to throw up on him. Somehow daddy is almost always the "lucky one" for some nice warm milk regergitation. Poor daddy!

Sophie has been really interactive lately and here she makes mommy and daddy proud as she grabs the dangling toys to produce the music on the bouncy! We're now ready to introduce some toys to the girls.

Of course after I saw Sophie I had to try Hannah out and well she didn't quite know what to do, so I helped her out. She's better at swatting and kicking.

Sophie welcoming home daddy.

Hannah still passed out after the ride home from Hsin and Sonya's.

I love the nightlife...

I got to boogie on the disco 'round, oh yeah.

Yes, I'm old enough to have lived through the disco era. Some of you reading this might have no idea what the title and above sentence is in reference to, unless you know your 70's music trivia. I find it funny with a different meaning of the song, not going out to party, but staying up long hours. Like say all night long with some fussy babies. Hmmm.... Ok enough dorkiness, I have to have some comic relief on the situation, so you'll have to excuse my humor.

Anyway, we've been battling with Hannah's spitting up and throwing up for a while now, we've been re-assured by the doctor that this is common and okay since she is gaining weight. However this is becoming a real annoyance as for the past few days she's been throwing up a lot lately and with her crying session today it makes me wonder if she has GER (Gastroesophageal reflux) or what is commonly known as acid reflux. Most babies will outgrow this by the age of 3 months or by 1 yr old it will be completely gone (I can't imagine living with this for a full year! Poor baby!!!). Hannah will hit the 3 month mark by Friday and it looks like it's getting worse. When I read the BPN (Berkeley Parents Network) forums and a bunch of other online perturbed parents' forums I find that their doctors react the same way unless it seriously affects the child such as weight loss. LAME!

I found some tips online that may help, however we have been doing it to some extent. I guess we'll have to be more strict with our methods. 1 - sit the baby up for 30 mins after feeding, 2 - keep baby's head elevated during sleep time, and 3 - smaller feedings given more often.

I guess with all the late night battles it finally took it's toll on Derek and he's caught a cold (he's actually feeling better today). As for me I'm tired as heck and I hope I don't get sick, because we all know when I get sick I get it really bad. I also hope the babies don't get sick too!!! 'Tis the season :(

Hannah sucking on her fist, "YUM!" Sophie chillin' in the pink bumbo. They both seem to like the bumbos and can sit quietly for some time in it.

Sophie waving to daddy. Hannah's turn to chill.

Cry me a River

And I'm not talking about Ella Fitzgerald's song nor Justin Timberlake's song. Although I probably got the idea of the title from Ella's song.

Today the girls have been fussy, particularly Miss Hannah. This was the first time she was just plain fussy. She wasn't hungry, she didn't need a diaper change, and she wasn't tired. She liked me talking to her and giving her my full attention, but as soon as I couldn't, a rage of cries came shooting out of her. This is out of character behavior as both girls are pretty much calm babies. Of course when Hannah cried, Sophie decided to join in because she didn't want to feel left out.

Good happy babies seconds before the fussiness begins (Hannah on the left and Sophie on the right). Yes, that's right I got two smiles :D

Hannah showing off her cries while Sophie is thinking about joining in on the fun.

I guess like us adults, babies have their off days and I hope this is a rarity. We shall see tomorrow...

Smiling Faces

When my dad was here he used to sing a song I think he made up which went something like this, "Smiling faces, smiling faces...". Funny because I sometimes sing the twins that too although I know nothing of the song other than repeating "Smiling faces" over and over again. The girls seem to like high pitched voices and will smile uncontrollably to it. Hannah is just miss smiley, but Sophie is slowly coming around as you can see here. I had both girls propped up next to each other and trying to get both of them interacting with me since both girls were up and active all day long today. I had no time to do anything, but give them my full attention which meant that Emi was sad and lonesome and I had a hard time eating my lunch and doing other things I wanted to get done. Ah, but such is the life of a parent...

The beginning of our interactive time together on the bed.

There goes Sophie with her smiling face.

And there goes Hannah!

I had both girls going off, but of course I'm not too quick to the draw with the camera to get both girls smiling at the same time. Oh well, I'm sure I'll get it sometime soon :) When I look at their smiling faces I forget that I had a million things to do and of course I just melt. I wonder if they know what they do to mommy?

In other news Sophie has been eating up to 6 oz of milk which is kind of scary in my opinion she seems like she is on some food binge as she is always hungry (probably a growth spurt as Liz pointed out). On the opposite side of the spectrum Hannah isn't eating much and does a lot of sleeping these days. Right now Hannah is "mittened" (yes I make up my own words, hey I'm from Hawaii for Heaven's sake!!!), she's been scratching up her face regardless of me cutting her nails really short. Both girls love sucking on their hands, they make a fist and seem to enjoy sucking on that. I always hear, "Slurp, slurp, slurp!!!" yes it is very loud when they do it. Also Sophie is turning into a drool monster.

Other than them watching television with me and hating tummy time there isn't much else to report.

Black Friday

Today was Black Friday and actually there wasn't much shopping going on today other than some dabbling here and there. I did end up purchasing some outfits at Carters and some socks at Old Navy for the girls. Sophie is currently out of NB's and Hannah will be joining her soon enough, so I need to prepare for the jump.

I also spent the day sorting through some clothes that was passed on to us by friends and relatives. It's fun for me to put together outfits for the girls. I really enjoy it and I find myself wanting to spend all my money on getting them all gussied up. I do hold myself back as I know from experience that they grow way too fast to spend crazy money on outfits that they'll only wear once or twice. With that being said my recent purchases were of clothing items that can be interchanged and hopefully I didn't buy too much.

Hannah had a boo boo from daddy who was trying to cut her nail, but instead cut her finger. Poor baby!!!

Hannah and her cute pink outfit and cute little pink shoes :)

Sophie in her new Gap onesie playing with daddy making funny faces.

Daddy and Sophie watching TV.

Got Bumbo?

So while we were at Eric's house the other day we decided to try the bumbo out with Hannah. She didn't quite keep her head up, because she was a bit tired. We decided that Sophie has better neck control and went home to try it out today on Soph Soph. Here is Miss Sophie and her bumbo in action:

What is this thing? (Sophie's surprised look)

Sophie's close up.

Daddy catching mommy in the background, putting the twins outfits together for the day, as Sophie hangs out in the bumbo.

Later we decided to try out Hannah again. Here she doesn't know what to think of it.

And later Miss Smiley appears :)

Ok mommy, daddy I'm through with this thing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The twins spent their first Thanksgiving at the Headley house. Thank you Yvonka and Pieare for the Thanksgiving dinner and for the treating us like family!

Our first family portrait since the hospital. Hannah with daddy and Sophie with mommy.

Der with Soph Soph and Aunty with Hannah Hannah.

Soph hanging with mommy and Uncle Curtis calming Hannah down.

Playtime

More playtime

Success

It's not the greatest picture I've taken of Soph Soph, but it is proof that she is smiling!!!

Cutie Pies

The girls are smiling and giggling a lot these days which makes Der and I so happy. I usually can't catch it on film, but I was lucky today to catch Hannah smiling. In this photo session both girls were laughing, cooing, and smiling :) TOO CUTE!!!

Hannah on the left and Sophie on the right all bundled up on a cold day like today.

Hannah on the left with a great big smile and Sophie on the right, her smile is missing because she's just too fast.

Sunday fun

Finally managed to find the Christmas outfit with reindeer antler hoodie :) Tell me if that isn't worth searching for 2 weeks. Although I only found one in a size 0-3, I bought one in a 3-6 also just to see if it could fit Sophie since she's bigger. In the pic Sophie is wearing the 0-3, I'm afraid the 3-6 isn't gonna work :( So back to searching for one more outfit.

Hannah's been having a hard time lately. As I write this entry it is 3:30 a.m. and she's kept me awake all this time. She's been having issues with her eye and keeping milk down. Ironic pic huh?

Today we went to see Aunty Carla and I got a new hairdo (Thanks Ms. Yamanaka!). Daddy got a haircut too. Here Emi checks out my new hair and Soph Soph is sitting on my lap.

New Friend

Today we went to visit Anna and Benson in the hospital to welcome baby Ethan Riley. I wasn't sure if I should post his pic up as I didn't ask his parent's permission, so no pic posting as of yet. It was nice to see our friends there and Sophie got to hang out with Aunty Neren and Uncle Mark for a bit. Hannah was on a sleep marathon and slept today for 6 hrs straight (from 12-6 p.m. right through the ride to the hospital, all the noise at the hospital, and on our way back home)! I think Der and I are in trouble tonight. That was the extent of our day's happenings as I was just too exhausted to do anything else.

Sophie already being prepped to be a rocker chick. Thanks Shawntay for the onesie! Derek was very excited to have one of them wear that. He'll probably pose with one of them with his own Slipknot t-shirt, so they can be matching hahaha!

Uncle Mark playing with Sophie in the waiting room at Sequoia Hospital.

Sophie in the lavender jacket and Hannah in the pink jacket. Both girls passed out after we came home from the hospital. I just love those jackets that my mom gave to them, they're so darn cute!

Hi Allie

Allie finally had time to blog check it out:

Allie's blog with Soph Soph

Playtime

What do babies do for fun? I have no idea, but I figure these bouncy chairs might do the trick. Hannah had fun for a little while as she smiled at me and laughed, but it was momentary. She realized she rather have mommy pick her up. Maybe it's the younger child complex? Sophie doesn't mind sitting alone playing by herself.

Sophie on the left and Hannah on the right. Playtime for the twins.

Hannah smiling at the dangling toys.

Soph Soph.

Hannah's good eye.

Little Wonders

our lives are made
in these small hours
these little wonders,
these twists & turns of fate
time falls away,
but these small hours,
these small hours still remain

I was searching for these cute Christmas outfits for the twins that have reindeer antlers on the top of the hood at Babies R Us. I'm determined I've called practically all of the stores around the bay area and apparently it feels like I'm trying to get a wii because they come in stock, they go out of stock and you can't place them on hold. Anyway I was on hold while the clerk at BRU was checking on the item for me...point is they played this song while I was on hold Little Wonders - by Rob Thomas (of the band Matchbox 20). I remembered that song from somewhere and so with the help of the trusty internet and Google I found that it was the theme song to "Meet the Robinsons", an animated Disney movie. I really enjoyed that movie not only because it was free hahahaha, but because my team from my ex-company took me to it as a good-bye party *choke*. I was 4 months pregnant at the time and it just seems like eons ago when that happened. Great movie and I know the twins will really like it when they get old enough to watch Disney movies.



Anyway I'm rambling I think the decaf mocha I drank today wasn't decaf, enough about me and on with the babies...

Sophie's shirt says it all :P

Hannah sucking on her hand. Look at her poor eye :(

Picture of a missed smile, Sophie is just too fast!

Last night was a sleepless night for mommy and daddy. Right now I'm running on empty I'm surprised that I haven't napped, but I think it's starting to take its toll on me as I write this entry, so that's my excuse on bad grammar, content, etc. Hopefully the twins sleep through the night tonight. It's really a hit or miss on whether or not that happens. Signing off until next time...

Quest for daycare

The search continues... Today the twins and I went to see another daycare which was closer to my workplace, but it was by far the worst one we saw. Tomorrow I'll comb the ads again and see what I can find, although I think we need a break ok maybe I need a break hahahaha! The positive outcome from all of this is that I'm slowly firming up those flabby arms by carrying the car seats (yeah right! But one can dream) and I'm becoming a pro at getting the twins in and out of the house quickly. That stroller that was confusing in the beginning is now easy as pie :D

I stopped by work, since I was in the area and running low on food intake. I grabbed some Burger King and met Eric and family at the big J (we call Juniper that, our fearless leader came up with that nickname).

Sophie getting a discrete diaper change in a vacant cube.

Hannah riding the big bus with the window view at the big J.

Hannah was not a happy camper and we were trying to get that grumpy face, but every time she saw the flash she stopped making that face.

Earlier Hannah had no problem making this face.

Mommy and Sophie hanging out.

Sophie likes staring at the stuffed animals these days and she's starting to talk and laugh at them. If she were older you'd think she was crazy, but since she's just a baby it's so darn cute.

Hannah's not into staring at the cute birdies and butterflies, she rather see mommy :D

Other News:

Hannah's eye infection hasn't gotten worse, too early for results of medicine and massages.

Sophie has been smiling more and she even laughs.

Both babies have been cooing and doing the baby talk which is extremely cute.

Sophie is about to outgrow the NB's and move into the 0-3 clothes and also go into size 2 diapers.

Hannah has caught up with Sophie in taking in 4 oz of milk.

Both girls use their left hands more than their right as in grabbing, swatting at things, and sucking on their hands. I also think both girls will be thumb suckers which to me is strange because I never sucked my thumb as a baby and I believe neither did Der.

Sophie finally is at ease in the baby bjorn YAY!