Alone again

How a week can fly by!

My mom has gone home, leaving me with the terrible two again. They are really adorable but refusing to sleep right now, hence the label "terrible". As I'm sitting typing this they are banging on their cots and calling "mama". As they have not yet napped and are still being pleasant about it, I'm leaving them in their cots until they fall asleep or start to cry.

I honestly don't know how working moms do it all! Last week, although I was only working half day and had my mother here to look after C and E and do all the house work, I was still exhausted by the weekend. Hats off to all those working moms who do it all! That being said I enjoyed the chance to go working again, no screaming and crying and adults to talk to.

I even got to go out for a date with Z on Friday, dinner and the movies which was lovely. We had a delicious meal at our favourite indian restuarant and then we saw The Reader which was interesting if a little inconsistent. Although I don't see why Kate Winslet got the Oscar, I've seen other movies by her which were much more deserving!

What I really enjoyed though was on Saturday we all went out for lunch with my mom as a belated birthday meal. The cafe we went to is quite child friendly with a small play area and they had enough high chairs to go round. The girls had a waffle which Ciara ate most of, but even Enya ate a bit, so I didn't feel too guilty. It was just nice to be able to eat out with the girls in public without too much stress.

I'm moving in the direction of putting the girls into cloth nappies during the daytime, unfortunately even the cloth nappies (or even especially the cloth nappies) are unable to hold the night time deluge so I've accepted it as a fact of life until I can think up something else to try. I would like to ask though why they always seem to wet through the night after their bath though, don't they like smelling fresh and clean?

On that note I'm off to bake some biscuits, we've guests due this afternoon again.

All me....

I worked again today and am working half days for the rest of the week. I'm really enjoying being back at work although at the end of the work time I run out the door and hot foot it back home to my darlings. I think the reason I'm so happy at work is because I know it is only for one week and next week I get back to being a fulltime mommy.

My mum is enjoying having her granddaughters to herself and they have been very well behaved for her up to now (or so she says anyway). The girls have warmed up to her beautifully and now go to her for cuddles when I'm not there. Granny even got to help with the bathing this evening, her comment afterwards was she was glad she never had twins!

We checked out the 3rd Kindergarten on Tuesday: it was also really big with 70 children and nicely laid out if a little rundown (but clean). The hours suit as best of all the kitas we've seen so far but I still prefer the first kindergarten as they seemed to offer more activities and work a bit more with the kids. At this kindergarten I had the feeling the kids are just there to be kept busy, the educational development takes a backseat. Unfortunately my boss can't give me an idea in which hospital I will go back to work in which is a factor in our decision to which kindergarten the girls will go, from the sounds of it she will only know next year. There are 3 hospitals in the group and I will be sent where the need for a part time physio is greatest.

Oh well off to bed, I have another busy day tomorrow that is being crowned off by a visit to the dentist tomorrow evening!

Granny is here

I'm not going to be posting much this week as My mom is here and we've got lots of things on the go.

Yesterday we all went swimming which was great. The girls are getting so much more confident in the water now. Enya is even crawling/walking around in the paddling pool by herself, last time we went there she clung to me like a limpet and wouldn't let go. They love being in the big pool too with their swimming rings on especially if there are any bubbles or waves around. The other thing that was much better this time is Enya tolerated the shower after the swim even though there was no warm water left, last time we had a major meltdown in the shower (and that was with warm water).

Today we all went to the Aquarium. The girls were fascinated (as was daddy), watching both little faces as the fish swam by was priceless. I even gave in to Z's request for an aquarium based on their reaction (I've been resisting for the last 6 years). My absolute favourite was the underwater tunnel in the tropical tank, being surrounded by the sharks,turtles and brightly coloured fish. Even the coral seemed to be rainbow coloured, I can't remember the coral reefs I've seen diving being quite so brightly coloured, but then the lighting isn't quite as good when diving in the open ocean. On the occasions that we let C and E out of the pram, they had their noses up to the glass and were trying to catch the fish as they swam past.

The only problem of the day was our twin buggy was too wide to easily thread through the human masses and we couldn't stand anywhere too long as we pretty much blocked the way for all but the skinniest of those behind us. They obviously didn't consider twin prams when they designed the aquarium.

Even though the girls missed their morning nap and were overdue for lunch they didn't start performing until we left the underwater world. Thankfully the food area in the neighbouring mall had a microwave so we could warm up lunch for C and E, one problem less to deal with. After lunch we laid the girls down in their buggy seats while the big people got some lunch, during which time the little people fell asleep (finally). We were then forced (tee hee) to walk through the shopping mall while the little people slept on, as the saying goes: "let sleeping babies lie". I even nearly bought Ciara a new pair of shoes!

Surprisingly after a very long day with only an hour long nap, the girls didn't fall asleep during the hour and a half long drive back home. Instead they entertained their granny and kept her from napping. They did however crash straight after dinner and we haven't heard a peep from them since.

Hopefully they will be nice to granny tomorrow as I'm off to work for 3 hours tomorrow morning. That means my mom will have the terrible two finally all to herself. I'm sure she will enjoy not having me hanging over her shoulder, as try as I might I'm very protective of my little munchkins and tend to interfere more than is probably necessary.

PS still no spell check, when are they going to fix this feature??

toddler tantrums

Ciara continues to believe she is a terrible 2 year old and regularly throws herself on the ground in a full blown temper tantrum. Boy, I can't wait until she is actually 2.

My favourite is when she starts throwing herself around while sitting in her high chair. Z and I have discussed our reaction to temper tantrums and agreed we will ignore her as far as possible but her highchair antics are too dangerous to ignore. Safty first and all that, so I now stand behind her chair but refuse to look at her or react to her until she calms down. Thankfully she calms down very quickly usually when she sees we are not giving her the attention she wants.

So far tantrums are not in Enya's playlist but I'm sure it'll come. I'm just dreading when they decide to do a double blow out in public, up to now all our temper tantrums have been at home! Not a comment on the regularity of the tantrums unfortunately, more a comment on how hard it is to get out the house with twins!

Eye guy....

....is looking wild and wooly these days, really he looks like a mad professor, and made us wait an hour and a half for our appointment (didn't even dilate their pupils so can't use that as the excuse this time).

However everything is looking good, both girls even saw the 3-D image this time. We didn't think Enya would but at the last minute she reached towards where the star was on the image card, so she also got a tick for depth perception. Even their lenses got a clean bill from the orthoptic lady (that was a worry as Z had congenital cataracts which were inherited from his dad).

Apart from the interminable waiting time it was a reletively painless visit, yet again Ciara has made a dozen new friends while she wandering around the waiting rooms. Enya did her usual observer routine and checked out everybody thoroughly where Ciara just walked up to various people and started patting them on the hand and babbling to them. Amazing how completely opposite they are in some regards.

We don't need to go back for another 6 months thank goodness. I can't wait to see how long and unkept the eye guy's hair is by then!

Other news: Ciara has teeth 9,10 and 11 coming through, Enya has tooth no. 5 coming through. I'm going back to work a few hours next week while my mom is here, I need to keep my finger in the pie so to say. Ciara can now take her shoes off unaided, the only problem is she keeps chucking it on the floor, not good when we are out shopping!

PS excuse my poor spelling, spell check isn't working right now!

Whoops!

Missed the girls' 18 month anniversary!

We were away visiting family this weekend as Z's grandmother celebrated her 87th birthday. It is so stressful staying in someone elses house that isn't set up for toddlers, there were nicknacks everywhere and paper lying around and stairs, my girls are fascinated by stairs. The nice thing was we also had about 5 babysitters (not counting the kids who thought C and E were great new toys), I didn't even get to give Ciara her bottle on Saturday night. Z's brother took her and the bottle off me which really surprised me as up to then he hadn't shown any interest at all in his nieces. Finally our girls have met all their aunts, uncles and second cousins, they only have one more cousin to meet and then the german introduction is complete. Oma (Z's gran) enjoyed seeing her great granddaughters and even said if she is still around in summer she's going to come down to visit us again. I think we will take pity on her poor bones and come up to her instead, she doesn't like to travel!

The journey home was really tough as the girls woke 40 minutes in to the 2 hour journey and then cried and performed the rest of the way home. They were so tired as they hadn't slept that well away from home and bored with being supervised the whole time and then being fastened in their carseats was the last straw. Both Z and I sighed a huge sigh of relief when we finally got home, them bathed, fed and into bed. They were in bed by about 5pm and slept through to 7am (with small squawks in between). To be honest Z and I weren't much better, it was an exhausting weekend!

Anyway tomorrow we have our next appointment at the eye guy, I'm hoping the trend continues and their eyes remain good. Although I wouldn't mind if the waiting time is less, trying to entertain 2 toddlers in an overfull doctors room by myself will not be fun!

Kindergartens

We got to visit two of the Kindergartens today to have a look around and start the registration process. Two more different institutions I couldn't imagine. What I'm listing now is more for my benefit than yours, so I can record the pertinent facts to compare with the other 2 kindergartens when we visit them at the end of the month

The first kindergarten is set on the edge of a wood and is an older building which has seen some hard use, but has a very comfortable atmosphere. I found it quite messy almost chaotic but I liked the informal feeling and that the kids were allowed everywhere. It is very nature orientated with Wednesdays being wood days (exploring and walking) and they even grow potatoes and peas in a small plot of land. They accept children from 2 years old although this year is already full, but at least they are used to younger kids. They have place for 65 kids so it's quite a big kiga but they divide into 3 classes with 2-3 teachers per class. They are building a sport hall and sleeping/nap room this summer, which will help with the claustrophobic feel when the kids are all there. They also only close over Christmas which gives us a lot more freedom with holiday planning.

The second kindergarten is a much nicer building, with a lots of space although the grounds are not as nice. I found it very structured, only 4 kids allowed in the sports room at any one time, 45 minute music lesson on Wednesday afternoon, every second Monday morning is walking in the woods and scheduled gym periods. It was very clean and tidy though which I did like. They also do take younger kids apparently but are also full for this year. They have 3 teachers for 22 kids and only offer 45 hours of care per week. The meals are prepared by the catering service from the Kinderklinik and from experience I can say they are mostly very good. Unfortunately the kiga is on the other side of our village and they closed up to 30 days per year (2 weeks over summer, a week in autumn and a couple of days over Easter plus a few others as needed). We are number 5 on the waiting list for next year August.

Both Z and I have preference, surprisingly for the same Kiga and reading over my list I think it is quite clear for which one. We won't however be registering the girls definitely until the end of the month when we have visited all of them.