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This journal is about raising identical twins.Fortieth month
Previous entriesNote: This page may contain Chinese text in Big5 encoding.
Monday, Nov 6, 2000 (3y+3m)
The twins are 39 months old today.Joanne started to cough again. Uncle Ronnie went out with Grandma Chui and Aunt Elaine.
When we told the twins that I would take Uncle Ronnie to the airport after dinner. Joanne said she wanted to go with Uncle Ronnie. I asked her if she wanted to leave mommy and daddy, she said yes. But daddy told her that she could not go because daddy and mommy would miss her. Uncle Ronnie left for Hong Kong.
Tuesday, Nov 7, 2000 (3y+3m+1d)
It is Election Day today. Daddy went to the poll before going to work.The twins went to school as usual. The teacher tested the students on the things they learned since the start of school. The twins failed totally because they didn't answer a word. We know for sure that the twins know the answers because we tested them at home. They know all the alphabets, various colors and shapes and they know how to count to twelve. They are just too shy to say anything at school. Mommy suggested the teacher to retest them in mommy's presence. The teacher needed to check with the school policy. It would be silly if the twins got kicked out of school just because they were too shy.
Joanne's runny nose and cough continued; she looked very tired too.
Wednesday, Nov 8, 2000 (3y+3m+2d)
After their afternoon nap, Joanne had a high fever at 102°F. She replaced her coughing with the fever. When daddy came home, her fever had subsided. After dinner, she was up and running again. Jasmine was very nice to Joanne today because she knew Joanne was not feeling well.
Thursday, Nov 9, 2000 (3y+3m+3d)
The twins were 3 year, 3 month and 3 day old. Joanne did not go to school in the morning because of her sickness. Daddy stayed with her until mommy came back after dropping off Jasmine at school. Jasmine didn't cry today when she walked into school. Actually she didn't cry on Tuesday either. I hope this is a trend.Except the runny nose, Joanne was back to normal. However, she learned to use the fever as an excuse whenever she didn't do what we asked her to.
Jasmine raised her hand and threatened to hit Joanne. She didn't actually hit Joanne, but the threat was a torture to Joanne. That sent Joanne running around the house screaming. Jasmine was amused by this psychological game.
Friday, Nov 10, 2000 (3y+3m+4d)
A cold spell hit the Bay Area. Temperature dropped to the 30's (°F). Mommy and the twins stayed home all day to hide from the cold.
Saturday, Nov 11, 2000 (3y+3m+5d)
We dropped off the twins at Grandma Ling's and then took BART to San Francisco. We went to the semi-annual San Francisco Mart Furniture Sample Sale event. Several of our friends also went there including SiuLing and her family, Debbie and Chris, Poon and Sharleen. This is our first time to this event, so we didn't plan to buy anything. We left the event around 4:30pm, we walked out empty handed. We planned to go again on May 12, 2001.We spent sometimes shopping in San Francisco before returning to grandma's. We left grandma after dinner.
The twins played rough with each other on our bed. Because it was a very cold day, grandma's probably set the heater too warm. Joanne's nose was probably too dry to start with and the rough play pumped up her circulation real fast. When Jasmine accidentally slammed her hand at Joanne's nose, Joanne had a bad case of nosebleed.
Grandpa just returned from China yesterday. He brought back couple of silk-filled comforters for the twins. Though we don't know for sure if the fillings are natural or synthetic silk, the comforters are unusually light and warm. We put the twins' comforters in use tonight.
Sunday, Nov 12, 2000 (3y+3m+6d)
When we asked how her sleep was last night, Jasmine said the comforter was very comfortable. Due to the cold spell recently, the twins had complained to me that the bed was not warm enough. The new comforters seemed to solve the problem.The twins had been using the adult toilet for sometime now. Mommy had cleaned and hid their potty in the walk-in closet in our room. This morning, Joanne went inside the closet and pooped in the potty. She stank the closet and made mommy very mad.
We had lunch with Hing and Lucy and their family. Lucy got a 20% off coupon from Macy's. Mommy decided to join them to shop in Valley Fair Mall after lunch. Daddy worked overtime in the office.
Monday, Nov 13, 2000 (3y+3m+7d)
Mommy took the twins to visit Debbie and Kendrick.The twins turn into two little monsters whenever mommy is on the phone. They will spill water and drop thing around the house. They become rebellious and ignore mommy's commands because they know she doesn't have time to enforce them.
Daddy didn't see the twins much today. I attended a business dinner and returned to office for overtime work afterwards.
Tuesday, Nov 14, 2000 (3y+3m+8d)
Joanne has recovered. But Jasmine started to cough. She picked up the bug from Joanne eventually.Mommy took the twins to Valley Fair Mall. Joanne asked Jasmine to run so that she could chase after her. Jasmine refused to cooperate and Joanne cried. Joanne didn't understand Jasmine was sick and she was not in the mood to play. I believe they had dinner with Jenny et al.
Daddy went to a business dinner again. When I came home, mommy and twins were not back yet.
Wednesday, Nov 15, 2000 (3y+3m+9d)
The twins use the faucet on their own. They know that they are not supposed to touch the hot faucet. Today, Jasmine saw me turning on the hot water. She asked me why I didn't get scalded. That indicates that they start to question our authority and instructions. I believe the fact that the tap water can be freezing cold in wintertime could have started their doubts.After the twins were put in bed, we still heard noises from their room via the baby monitor. When I went to check on them, I found the light was turned on. After some interrogation, I found that Jasmine got out of bed in total darkness and turned on the light so that they could play. I switched off the lamp so that the wall switch wouldn't work. The twins went to sleep without a word. They were glad that daddy didn't scold them.
Thursday, Nov 16, 2000 (3y+3m+10d)
The twins went to school as usual.Jasmine's cough and runny nose got worse later in the day.
Friday, Nov 17, 2000 (3y+3m+11d)
Since Jasmine is not well, mommy and twins stayed home all day.
Saturday, Nov 18, 2000 (3y+3m+12d)
We went to Toys'R'Us after brunch. The twins had a great time with the bicycles. The twins have two tricycles at home. We are wondering if it is the right time to buy them a regular bicycle with training wheels. The bicycles with 12-inch wheels are just the right size for them now. But by next summer, they may need a bigger one. Since the rainy season will come soon with winter, it may be better off to buy a bigger one next spring.We went shopping at Costco. We went home in the late afternoon for the twins' nap time.
Daddy spent the evening and all night scanning photos for the on-line photo album. The album is now pretty much up-to-date with photos from as recent as Oct 31, 2000. Newer pictures, if any, are still inside the camera.
Sunday, Nov 19, 2000 (3y+3m+13d)
We went to the Great Mall for lunch. Aunt Tina and Cousin Natalie joined mommy and twins for some shopping. Daddy went off and spent several hours in the video arcade at Dave & Buster's.Daddy rejoined mommy and twins after they'd finished shopping. We then went to Valley Fair Mall. Mommy needed to return some previous purchase. We found out that there was a special event for the night. There was live music with jazz bands. The mall would stay open until 10pm and many stores offered special discount for the night. We stayed in the mall for dinner at the Sushi Boat restaurant. The twins looked at the pictorial Sushi menu and they pointed and ordered tomago (egg) sushi. The twins enjoyed the live music. They twisted and moved their bodies with the rhythm of the live music right at the restaurant table. After dinner, the twins requested to go in front of the band to see the musicians play. We went home at around 9pm. We all went to bed early.
Monday, Nov 20, 2000 (3y+3m+14d)
For some time now, we have bought the SoniCare toothbrush bundled deal from Costco because of it was quite a bargain compared to the price from last year. We got two toothbrushes for the price of $75 after rebate. In fact, the real reason was that my dentist had been recommending this brand to me for the past two years. The toothbrush bristles vibrate 31000 times per minute, which supposedly shakes off the plaque effectively. The twins liked to use it initially. However, Joanne was startled couple of times when the vibrating head instead of the bristles hit her teeth. From then on Joanne refused to use the SoniCare toothbrush. Jasmine doesn't mind. Since her teeth have the most stains, she needs the electric brush the most.
Wednesday, Nov 22, 2000 (3y+3m+16d)
I lost track of when, but the twins were both recovered from their sickness. We invited Hing and Lucy to our place for dinner. We watched our Chinese soap drama on TV together before they left.
Thursday, Nov 23, 2000 (3y+3m+17d)
It is Thanksgiving holiday today. We all slept in late. We went to lunch with Aunt Jun and Grandma Ling at East Ocean Restaurant in Emeryville. Grandma took the twins to play on the trail along the bay shore near the restaurant. We waited for almost an hour for the table.We dropped off the twins at grandma's place after lunch. We went to watch the movie "the 6th Day". We then returned to dinner at grandma's place. We went home early after dinner.
Friday, Nov 24, 2000 (3y+3m+18d)
It is also a holiday today. We slept in late again.We had lunch at East Lake Restaurant in San Jose. We then visited a nearby plant nursery and bought a pot of orchid as gift. We went to a coworker Peter C's house-warming party in south San Jose. There were many other coworkers in the party, though most of them from a different department from mine.
The twins were bored after awhile. Fortunately, we have brought a Pokemon videotape along. However, the two big-screen TVs in the house were occupied. One was in use for video game, while the other was in use for Karaoke. The hostess led us to a VCR and small TV upstairs. We set up the tape and left the twins in the room. After awhile, the twins came downstairs to look for us. We asked if they needed to go to the bathroom. They told us, they had already done so themselves upstairs. We figured that if Pokemon could not keep the twins stationary, it was time to leave.
We said goodbye to Peter and went to Gilroy Outlet stores. The twins have enough sneakers and sandals, but they lack shoes for more dressy occasions. We bought two pairs of glossy black shoes for the twins. On our way home, we dropped by In-n-Out Burgers for dinner.
Saturday, Nov 25, 2000 (3y+3m+19d)
When we were getting ready to go out in the morning, Joanne was taking too long to put on her socks. In order to save some time, daddy offered to help. She refused to be helped vigorously as usual. With daddy waiting impatiently on her side, she wiggled around to dodge daddy and fumbled with her socks. The struggle worked her up with sweat. She was mad at daddy for interfering and she commented "�Ш�ڦn��" (the anger made me very hot).We went to Claire's second birthday party. Sharleen hired a magician to show tricks to the kids. The twins were more willing to participate with the show than last time. They even had their faces painted. They picked Minnie and Mickey Mouse as the picture on their faces.
In the middle of the day, we couldn't find Jasmine in the party. Later the host helped us and checked upstairs. We found her watching TV by herself in one of the bedroom upstairs. It turned out that she remembered from yesterday and went looking for a TV on her own.
After the party, we let the twins take a nap in the car. We went to Stoneridge mall to join Jenny et al for her birthday dinner at Todai. The twins recognized the tomago (egg) sushi from the buffet and they asked mommy to get some for them. After dinner, we walked around in the mall. We took some pictures around Santa's winter wonderland. When the twins saw Santa coming out of his home, the twins pulled daddy away. They were scared of Santa.
Sunday, Nov 26, 2000 (3y+3m+20d)
We slept in late. We went out for lunch at Sheng Kee Bakery. We saw Doris and her kids there. They were with Ed and his family. I have not seen Ed for over 17 years. The last time I met him was in the East Coast.We went to Costco to pick up the photos from processing. But we found that they were late due to the busy holiday weekend. We had to come back for them.
We returned home early in the evening. We let the twins took their nap in the car while we went inside to setup the Christmas tree. The twins woke up around the time we put up the lights. The twins helped us decorate the tree.
Before bedtime, the twins ran to us panting. They told us they sneaked downstairs to peek at the Christmas tree. I guess it was an adventure for them to go downstairs in the dark. And running back to "safety" was a strenuous exercise.
Monday, Nov 27, 2000 (3y+3m+21d)
Daddy was back to work after a four day relaxing long weekend. Mommy and twins went out with Lillian. They had lunch and went shopping for some picture frames. The twins insisted on visiting Lillian's home and refused to leave until they'd played hide-n-seek with Lillian.
Tuesday, Nov 28, 2000 (3y+3m+22d)
The twins went to school as usual. Our furnace stopped working this morning. The furnace switch failed to respond to the thermostat. So even when the thermostat kicked in, the flame would not ignite, it just blew out cold air. Mommy stayed home to wait for the serviceman to inspect the furnace. He found the problem in the circuit board that does the electronic ignition. Looks like the old style furnace with a pilot light has advantage over this high tech type. He had to order the replacement part. He would need to come back tomorrow to fix the furnace.When daddy got home in the evening, Jasmine told me she hurt her little pinky. She was excited to show off the Winnie the Pooh bandage. Mommy said Jasmine scratched off a small piece of skin from her finger when she closed the drawer. The twins had been picking their own clothes from the drawers for many months. This was the first time with any problem. Joanne told me she hurt her toe when she kicked something. But I couldn't find any bruise or wound. She probably just wanted to play "me too" since Jasmine got all the attention for her injury.
Fortunately, it was not a very cold night. We survived the night with the twins' oil-filled electric radiator.
Wednesday, Nov 29, 2000 (3y+3m+23d)
Daddy took mommy's car to the dealership for a scheduled maintenance. The dealer gave me a courtesy ride back to work. Mommy and twins came to pick me up at the office during lunchtime so that I could get a ride home. We had lunch together in a Vietnamese restaurant near home. I jokingly told mommy that I was turning into Vietnamese soon because I had Vietnamese lunch few days this week.Elizabeth and her kids visited the twins in the afternoon. Mommy and twins stayed home to wait for the furnace man to repair the furnace in the late afternoon.
Thursday, Nov 30, 2000 (3y+3m+24d)
The twins went to school as usual.Daddy is busy with meetings in the afternoon. Mommy and twins got a ride from Elizabeth to the dealership in mid afternoon to pick up the car. Mommy then took them to Mitsuwa supermarket in Saratoga. The twins cooperated well with mommy. They leisurely checked every single aisle in the market. They then dined out with daddy. After dinner, daddy returned to work overtime at the office.
Friday, Dec 1, 2000 (3y+3m+25d)
Mommy took the twins shopping at Valley Fair Mall. They hurried home in the late afternoon because mommy promised to baby-sit Elizabeth's children while they attended their company party in the evening. Laurie and Harrison were quite busy watching DVDs on the twins' computer, they didn't interact much with the twins. I cannot blame them. There is "generation gap" because they are 4 and 2 years older than our twins are.The twins sat on my lap and asked me to read to them. They actually got more attention from daddy when they could not play with their computer.
Elizabeth came back to pick up her kids after 11pm. Their kids were tired and eager to go to bed.
Saturday, Dec 2, 2000 (3y+3m+26d)
We took the twins to attend mommy's friend Irene L.'s wedding. She married to Tom at a church in Berkeley today. The church was quite far from highway. We actually arrived late. Fortunately, the wedding didn't start on time either. We didn't miss anything. As soon as we arrived, Anita's 7 years old Lori was eager to play with the twins.While the new couple was exchanging vows, Jasmine suddenly spoke up loudly. She was upset that her crayon was broken in half. She was about to cry and mommy managed to stop her by giving her another crayon. After the ceremony and the photo session with the newlywed, we fed the twins at the wedding reception at the church. The twins fell asleep in the car when we left. We dropped off the twins at Grandma Ling's place and went to Irene's wedding banquet in the evening.
After dinner, Aunt Tina took the twins home with her. After the banquet, we went to Tina's place to pick up the twins.
Sunday, Dec 3, 2000 (3y+3m+27d)
We had lunch in San Francisco Chinatown. We circled around for a parking space until the twins complained that they were hungry. We had to settle with a paid parking in an expensive parking lot. We had not been to Chinatown for years because we now have all kind of Chinese stores in the south bay and mainly because of parking problems in Chinatown.We walked around Chinatown looking for some Chinese style outfit for the twins. On various occasions, the school would ask the kids to dress in their own traditional outfit. We had none for the twins. Such outfit will become useful during the Chinese New Year too. We weren't able to find two sets in the same color of the right size and right price. We ended up buying two sets in different colors. Jasmine wanted the lavender and Joanne did not mind taking the red one. Since we paid $12 flat-rate for the parking, we took our time in Chinatown to see the toys and other stuffs. We even had dinner before we left.
After dinner, we went to FAO Schwarz. Joanne nagged for a set of rubber balls with Blue's pictures on them. I don't like to yield to nagging especially in the toy store. But mommy said the twins have no Blue's toy and they really like the character. I hope this is not a bad beginning for letting the kids take control of our decisions.
After FAO Schwarz closed at 8pm, we went to the nearby Union Square to look at the Christmas tree. The twins had fun playing in the square. Before we left, the twins lingered at Macy's windows, which were decorated with Mickey Mouse and Santa Claus. The twins were exhausted and fell asleep on the way home.
Wednesday, Dec 6, 2000 (3y+4m)
The twins are 40 months old today.
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started on Dec 14, 2000