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This journal is about raising identical twins.Forty Third month
Previous entriesNote: This page may contain Chinese text in Big5 encoding.
Tuesday, Feb 6, 2001 (3y+6m)
It is the twins' 3.5 year old birthday today. We didn't celebrate.Joanne finishes her morning milk very fast and she brushes her teeth and rinses her mouth afterwards. Jasmine as usual takes a long time to finish her milk.
Joanne is a fast drinker, but she eats solid food much slower than Jasmine. She often provokes the irascible mommy at dinnertime.
The twins went to school as usual. It was a very windy day. The playground session was cancelled because of the wind.
Joanne said she sang along with the teacher. She also said she read the numbers out loud. Jasmine also started to sing along with the teacher. Mommy's threat yesterday at the doctor's office took effects in school too.
At home, the twins played with each other. Jasmine played dead like mom did the other day. Joanne poked at Jasmine's belly and said "�@�q" (charge the battery). They associate the lack of motion with lack of battery and the poke does get a response as if the battery is recharged.
Wednesday, Feb 7, 2001 (3y+6m+1d)
In the morning, mommy always put a thick bathrobe on the twins before letting them go downstairs because the ground floor is very cold before the heat warms up the house. This morning, mommy asked Jasmine to wear the bathrobe when she got out of bed. She refused and said she didn't need the robe because she was not cold and she was not going downstairs. The twins no longer obey us blindly; they like to argue with their reasons.In the morning, Jasmine sang the "happy birthday" song repeatedly. She sang happy birthday to daddy, mommy, Joanne and Jasmine. We didn't tell them yesterday was their half birthday, so it must be coincident.
We had a family visit to the dentist office during the lunch hour today. Joanne went first, but she refused to sit on the dentist chair on her own. Daddy sat on the dentist chair and let her lie on top. Her teeth were healthy and clean to start with. The cleaning was done very quickly. She cooperated very well with the hygienist and dentist.
Jasmine went second. She lied on top of mommy. She was so nervous that she grabbed mommy's hands tightly. Her teeth had a lot of black stains. The cleaning took some extra time. She kept closing her mouth during the cleaning and made the process very difficult. When the hygienist started to use the polishing paste on the teeth, Jasmine cried and refused to go on. She later said she didn't like the grits in the paste.
We took a break and let daddy have the cleaning. The twins watched on the side. Then it was mommy's turn while the twins went out to the front desk to get their toys. George, the office administrator gave them coloring books to work on.
After mommy finished her cleaning, mommy held Jasmine on the chair for more cleaning. The hygienist gave up the polishing and went back to the ultrasonic cleaning tool. She tried her best despite Jasmine's noncooperation. Though Jasmine's teeth were not as clean as Joanne's, most of the stains were removed. Compared to the last two visits, this was a huge success. And most important of all, the dentist found no cavity among any of us.
We had lunch together before daddy returning to work.
Thursday, Feb 8, 2001 (3y+6m+2d)
The twins went to school as usual. During their playground session, they saw mommy outside the fence talking on the cellular phone. They waved and smiled at mommy. In the early months of their school days, the twins would cry if they saw us around school because they missed us. We used to hide from them. Now, they enjoy school so much that it is no longer a problem.Jasmine looked very tired. She got irritated easily. Looks like she was getting sick.
Friday, Feb 9, 2001 (3y+6m+3d)
Mommy took the twins to the "Music Together" class. They went out to lunch with Ronald, Evon and SiuLing afterwards.Jasmine was not very active. She sneezed couple times. I talked to Joanne on the phone. I told her that Jasmine was not feeling well, so she must treat her sister well today. Joanne said okay. We yet to see if she really meant it. Jasmine cried in bed two nights ago because Joanne hit her.
Saturday, Feb 10, 2001 (3y+6m+4d)
We had a storm this week. Since the temperature was rather low, we actually had snow in some area. The snow melted immediately in lowland area. But the mountaintops surrounding the Silicon Valley had the white cap on. It is not very usual to see snow here in the Bay Area.The twins got up early and watched some Cantonese cartoons on VCDs in our room while daddy and mommy slept in.
Mommy and the twins went to lunch with Lil'n'Wil. Daddy took Grandma Chui to an eye doctor visit. Grandma was recovering from her retinal reattachment surgery nicely until a few days ago. Grandma's retina in her left eye was detached again late Thursday. Aunt Elaine took her to see the eye doctor yesterday. The surgeon who did the retinal reattachment surgery for her six weeks ago was on vacation. The doctor on duty suggested she waited till the surgeon returned. Her vision deteriorated very quickly since then. It was quite a surprise because the eye doctor said she was recovering well in her post-surgery checkup just two weeks ago.
The twins returned home after paying a visit to Cousin Natalie. We stayed home the rest of the day and we ordered pizza delivery for dinner. Daddy spent some time in the evening scanning photos for the on-line album. The albums are now up-to-date except for a roll of undeveloped film that is still in the camera.
Jasmine still had her congested nose. I taught her to blow her nose, but she refused to even try. On the contrary, Joanne said she was able to blow out some booger.
Sunday, Feb 11, 2001 (3y+6m+5d)
The twins woke up early and wanted to play some Elmo's preschool games on the computer. Jasmine couldn't breath with her stuffed nose and she drank her milk one sip at a time. She was not allowed to play the computer game until she finished her milk. She took over an hour to finish her glass of milk. Then the twins fought over the computer keyboard and the mouse. We got peace and quiet only when one kid was in the penalty box.The twins woke up early, so mommy forced them to take the nap early in the afternoon.
Daddy went to the office to work overtime.
Monday, Feb 12, 2001 (3y+6m+6d)
Daddy and mommy had a noisy argument in the morning. Joanne dealt with the crisis with a big smile, a big hug for mommy and then asked why everyone was so loud. She might have tried to face the conflict with denial and pretended we were just playing game. Jasmine was troubled by the tension in the atmosphere and dealt with it by crying.After cooling off for half a day, daddy and mommy reached a compromise and everything returned to normal. The twins were glad but still asked a lot of questions about our reactions in the morning. They went shopping at Costco in the late afternoon and then we went out to dinner together.
Jasmine totally recovered from her stuffy nose today. Mommy planned to wash all their bedding after Jasmine recovers from her illness. To her dismay, she found Jasmine and Joanne had already exchanged their pillows. We just hope Joanne don't catch the bug from Jasmine.
Tuesday, Feb 13, 2001 (3y+6m+7d)
The twins went to school as usual.Daddy took Grandma Chui to the eye doctor around lunchtime. Then we went to the hospital at 3:30pm to be prepared for the eye surgery at 5:30pm. However, the surgery was delayed and eventually cancelled because the doctors found abnormal patterns in her EKG reading. They believed her heart condition was not suitable for surgery. So the doctors switched their attention from the eye to the heart. Grandma was admitted to the hospital for further check up. If the doctor gave up the eye surgery, her left eye would go blind. Daddy stayed with grandma in the hospital until almost midnight.
Wednesday, Feb 14, 2001 (3y+6m+8d)
It is valentine's day. The twins performed for daddy a Valentine's dance they learned from school yesterday. Jasmine commented that daddy didn't come back for dinner last night and must be very hungry. She talked like an adult with reasoning behind what she said. They both sent daddy to work with a Valentine kiss.Aunt Elaine took a day off to stay with Grandma Chui in the hospital so that daddy can return to work.
Joanne got the runny nose. She must have caught the bug from Jasmine when they switched pillow on Monday.
Aunt Jun joined us for dinner. Mommy and twins bought daddy a tiny stuffed puppy with a heart in its mouth. Daddy didn't buy any valentine's gifts because mommy already bought one for herself sometime ago.
Thursday, Feb 15, 2001 (3y+6m+9d)
Daddy left home early to visit Grandma Chui in the Hospital. She went through a series of tests. The cardiologist found no problem with her heart except the abnormal EKG readings. He consulted with her primary doctor and found out that her EKG had been like that for the past few years. He approved tomorrow's surgery to go ahead. But he didn't let grandma stay until tomorrow's surgery. Grandma was discharged from the hospital in the late afternoon because the cardiologist had done all the tests he needed. Aunt Elaine took grandma home for the night. I have to take her back tomorrow before the surgery. We had to go through all the extra discharge and admission procedure just because the insurance would not pay for an extra night of stay.Joanne recovers completely from her runny nose. Yet another proof that her immunity is much stronger than Jasmine's. She recovered in just 24 hours while Jasmine took 4 to 5 days.
Joanne asked mommy if daddy could take Jasmine to school. The reason? So that mommy could take Joanne to the shopping mall.
Friday, Feb 16, 2001 (3y+6m+10d)
The twins went to the "Music together" class. They said they didn't sing along today. I asked why. They didn't explain.Daddy took a few hours off around lunchtime and took Grandma Chui to the hospital for her eye surgery. It drove me crazy that the hospital admission insisted on redoing all the paperwork even though she was just discharged less than 24 hours ago. They said they had to follow procedures.
Before the surgery, the surgeon used a flashlight to check grandma's eye. She could still sense light even though the vision was all gone. The surgeon said there was still hope as long as light perception remained.
Daddy returned to work while grandma had the surgery. Aunt Elaine came to the hospital to take over after grandma's surgery. Aunt Elaine stayed in grandma's room over night to take care of grandma. She borrowed a small futon mattress from the twins' room to sleep on the floor.
Saturday, Feb 17, 2001 (3y+6m+11d)
The futon mattress that Aunt Elaine used last night was usually stacked next to the twins' bed as a step. In the morning, the twins complained loudly that without the step, they would fall off bed to death. Daddy put the futon mattress back in their room to quiet them. Aunt Elaine took Grandma Chui to the surgeon for a post surgery check up.Daddy went back to the office after lunch to work overtime. Mommy took the twins to Grandma Ling's place.
Sunday, Feb 18, 2001 (3y+6m+12d)
Mommy and twins still stayed with Grandma Ling. They went out to the mall in San Francisco. Daddy worked overtime at the office.
Monday, Feb 19, 2001 (3y+6m+13d)
Twins and mommy returned from Grandma Ling's place. Joanne bounced on the bed. She fell and hit her lips against an object in mommy's hands. She got a bruised spot on her lower lip. She said it was painful but she didn't cry. Mommy took the opportunity to explain to the twins why we didn't want them to jump on the bed. Joanne jokingly said she looks like Jasmine now because her bruised spot is closed to where Jasmine's mole is.Daddy worked overtime. The twins were asleep in bed when daddy came home.
Tuesday, Feb 20, 2001 (3y+6m+14d)
The twins kissed daddy goodbye when they left for school in the morning. Daddy was only half waken and barely aware of the activities in the room. The twins went to school as usual.Many moms at school told mommy that there was a really nasty flu going around. Many kids in the twins' class were seriously sick with high fever over the past weekend. Grace and Daisy said their kids just recovered and barely made it to school today. The kids also passed the bug to their daddies too. Even the adults were fallen sick with high fever. I hope they didn't bring the virus to school. I don't want the twins to catch this nasty bug.
Actually Debbie and Melinda told mommy about this bad flu over a week ago. Kendrick and Alan were sick with diarrhea and vomiting.
When daddy returned home from work, the twins said they missed daddy. I have not seen them since last Saturday; it has been 4 days.
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2001 (3y+6m+15d)
In the morning, Jasmine counted her fingers. She said "�ڲӭӮ�(when I was little), one, two, seven, ha! ha! ha! �n��(funny)!". What she meant was that when she was little (a few months ago), she counted incorrectly. She remembered that she counted 1,2,7 instead of 1,2,3. She was laughing at herself for making the mistake back then.
Thursday, Feb 22, 2001 (3y+6m+16d)
The twins went to school as usual.The twins attended several weddings before. Together with the wedding scenes that they had seen on TV, they somehow associated lip-to-lip kissing with wedding. Jasmine asked mommy if she could marry her (she meant kissing her on the lips.) Mommy told Jasmine that she was already married to daddy. She suggested her to kiss Joanne instead. Jasmine looked at Joanne's bruised spot on the lip. She refused to kiss because it looked ugly. Joanne covered her mouth with her palm and said "?�� (kiss now!)".
Daddy worked overtime at office and didn't see the twins before they went to bed.
Friday, Feb 23, 2001 (3y+6m+17d)
When the twins had their milk in the morning, Joanne asked Jasmine to hurry up or they would miss their classmate again. They had a classmate at the pre-school who also went to the "Music Together" class on Friday. Apparently, this classmate didn't show up last time. When the twins asked why, mommy lied to them that it was because they arrived late. Mommy usually associated some undesirable events with the bad things that the twins did. For example, in this case, the twins' delay at their breakfast became responsible for not being able to see their classmate. I guess other parents also fabricate this type of action/consequence scenarios as teaching material for their kids. A white lie last week made the twin hurry up this week. It was quite effective.It is amazing how much detail the twins remember in their day-to-day routines. At many occasions, I didn't understand what the twins talked about without knowing the context. I had to ask my wife to explain what happened.
The twins went to the "Music Together" class.
Daddy worked overtime again and didn't see the twins before their bedtime.
Saturday, Feb 24, 2001 (3y+6m+18d)
Daddy got up late because of overtime work last night. We left home at 10am heading towards the Sierra Mountain. We had to turn back because we forgot to bring something. We departed one more time at 11am.On the road, we played a CD that we misplaced for over a year. The twins used to listen to this CD when they were little. This was the first time they listened to it again since they started talking. Amazingly, the twins started to sing along with the songs right away. Apparently, they absorbed a lot by listening before they spoke. Without their feedback, we'd never know when they started to understand and remember.
The lesson learned? Instead of saying "CooCooCoo" to your babies, it would be better off to actually talk to them. Why not give them a head start with the real language instead of wasting time on baby talk?
We arrived at Emigrant Gap sometime after 3pm. It was snowing lightly. We let the twins play in the snow on a slope off highway I-80. We found out mommy only brought three snow boots for the twins. One boot was left at home. Jasmine had to go on the snow in her sneakers. The snow was very powdery. When we walked around, we sank into the snow to knee deep. Even though the twins were lighter, they still sank in deep enough to make walking difficult. And when they fell into some adult's "foot prints", they had a hard time getting out. We let the twins sled down the slope. The snow was too soft and full of sinkholes that the ride was quite bumpy and sluggish. Jasmine didn't want to continue.
When we reached a spot where someone else played before, the snow was packed enough for a good foothold. The snow was so powdery that the twins enjoyed building a snowman with mommy's help. In last trip, the snow was too hard and icy. The twins couldn't do much besides watching. When we got back to the car, we found Jasmine's feet were all soaked. Her sneakers were sparkling clean after rubbing them into the snow as she sank in.
It was snowing on the way up the mountain, we saw signs indicating snow chains were required going further. So I put on the snow chains on the tires. And on the way, we had to stop five to six times to adjust the chains because one cable broke off and scratched the inside of the wheel well. At the last stop, a trucker came over and told me the snow chains requirement was lifted. We could proceed to Reno without the chains.
We arrived at Reno after 6pm. We were delayed for almost an hour because of the snow chain problems. The delay was unnecessary because chains were not required. We should have checked the radio announcement before putting on the chains.
When mommy booked the hotel room on the Internet, the pictures on the web page showed a beautiful hotel casino. But when we checked in to this Atlantis Hotel in Reno, they sent us to the ugly motel building next to the casino. We were very unhappy about the room they gave us. Even the twins complained the room was too ugly. When we went back to the front desk to argue with the manager, she said the hotel could not be responsible for the misrepresentation by their agents. In order to upgrade our room into the casino tower, we had to pay three times the rate. I told her I would tell everyone about their false advertisement and deceptive business practice. The consumers must clarify what type of room they would get because this business is selling two drastically different products under the same label. I would call this "bait and switch".
We made a dinner reservation at the Atlantis seafood restaurant inside the hotel. The earliest available time was at 8:30pm. With over an hour to kill, we went to the nearby sporting goods stores to shop for a pair of snow boots for Jasmine. Unfortunately, they didn't carry kids sizes. We tried the Target store nearby but at no avail.
When we arrived on time at the restaurant, they said they were running behind. We ended up waiting 45 minutes even with the reservation. When we sat down, we were already starving. To add insult to the injury, the waiter and the kitchen were slow. We were lucky that we could walk out alive. By the way, the food tasted awful at a high price. We swore we would never return to this restaurant or hotel again.
We returned to our room. The heater was noisy and inefficient. Noise and coldness woke me up several times in the night despite I was exhausted from long hours of driving and last night's work.
Sunday, Feb 25, 2001 (3y+6m+19d)
Even though we already paid for two nights of stay, we decided not to suffer another night. We packed and left.We had brunch at an IHOP nearby before heading back. We arrived at the snow tubing area in Kingsvale at around 1pm. We bought the two hour tickets for the snow tubing. Most of the snow tubes were very wet with melted snow inside. The twins' ski-pants, socks and shoes were soaked after a few runs. We took a break at around 2pm to dry the kids a little before resuming until our tickets expired.
We headed down the mountain at around 3:30pm. The twins took a nap on the way. Jasmine woke up to take an emergency piss stop. The twins were quite good at bladder control even while asleep. We preferred stopping to a wet car seat. Both twins stayed up for the rest of the trip.
We arrived at home at 6:45pm. Mommy bathed the twins while daddy washed off the mud from the minivan. We went out again for dinner at Golden Island Restaurant.
Mommy said this trip was plagued with bad luck on the first day. We had to turn back before we started. We had the snowstorm on the way. We wasted time on the snow chains when they were not required. We left one of the twins' boots at home. We got a motel while expecting a hotel. We were starved at the restaurant. We couldn't sleep well in the motel room. We really had enough. It was still nice to know that the twins enjoyed the snow tubing despite wet feet in the cold.
Monday, Feb 26, 2001 (3y+6m+20d)
Grandma Chui's eye recovered quite well from the surgery. She could see movement and light and even count fingers at a short distance.During the afternoon nap, Jasmine wiggled too much in bed. Mommy gave her a light spanking on her butt. When mommy was cooking in the evening, Jasmine came to mommy and complained about the spanking earlier. She demanded mommy to give her a kiss to compensate for that. She said she would be angry at mommy if she didn't get the kiss. Mommy had no choice but to obey because Jasmine was quite serious.
Daddy worked overtime again at the office but still returned home early enough to kiss the twins good night. Joanne wanted her good night kiss different. She wanted daddy to approach her cheek from under the comforter.
Tuesday, Feb 27, 2001 (3y+6m+21d)
The twins went to school as usual. They had lunch and then delivered the left over to daddy at the office. They got to spend some time with daddy while daddy ate lunch in the car.Daddy worked overtime again at the office.
Wednesday, Feb 28, 2001 (3y+6m+22d)
Mommy took the car to the dealership in the early morning to repair a broken cup holder. The twins woke up and looked for mommy. Daddy told them where mommy was. They didn't believe me and looked all over the house. When they realized mommy was not home, both twins cried. I called mommy's cellular phone, so that the twins could talk to mommy. When they heard mommy's voice, they broke into more serious crying. It didn't take too long to calm them down.Daddy worked overtime till midnight and didn't kiss the twins good night.
Thursday, Mar 1, 2001 (3y+6m+23d)
The twins went to school as usual.In the evening, daddy went home for dinner and then kissed the twins goodbye before returning to the office. Daddy worked overtime again.
Friday, Mar 2, 2001 (3y+6m+24d)
Happy 15th Birthday to Rudolf Panka from Hungary. Panka is a Hungarian nickname for Anna. I learned something new today. In Hungary unlike in the US, the family name goes before the given name just like in China and Japan.Panka had found our twins' photo albums at www.photopoint.com. She liked the pictures so much that she would visit this journal too. She said she was pleased to see her name in this journal. It may not mean much, but I hope this message brought joy to the birthday girl.
The twins went to the Friday "Music Together" class in the morning. Mommy took the twin to Grandma Ling's place. They returned after dinner. The twins delivered dinner to daddy at the office because daddy worked overtime again. I didn't have much material to write about the twins this two weeks because I was not home most of the time.
Saturday, Mar 3, 2001 (3y+6m+25d)
We had lunch with Ronald and Evon. We went shopping at Costco afterwards. Joanne fell asleep, so mommy and Joanne stayed in the car. Daddy and Jasmine went inside the store. While I was waiting in the checkout line, I asked Jasmine if she was tired. Within 30 seconds, I found her asleep in the shopping cart.We tried to buy tickets to Disney on Ice's 75 Years of Disney Magic and found that it was too late to buy on the phone. Instead of taking chance at the box office, we decided to buy the tickets for tomorrow.
We had dinner in Newark. We stopped by to see Cousin Natalie before going home.
Sunday, Mar 4, 2001 (3y+6m+26d)
In the morning, we told the twins that we were going to see Mickey and Minnie today. The twins asked if they can see Blue's Clues instead. They saw the Blue's Clues Live TV commercial on Nickelodeon the other day. I told them the show was in New York and other East Coast cities, not in California yet. Of course they didn't know what New York was, I was glad they didn't ask. It would be too early to start Geography lesson at this age.When the twins were in Disneyland, they were afraid of the Mickey and Minnie characters in costume. So I asked them if they were willing to take a picture with Mickey and Minnie in the show today. Joanne said yes after thinking about it for a while, but Jasmine said no. I tried to convince Jasmine there was nothing to fear.
We left home before noon and headed towards Cow Palace in San Francisco for the "Disney On Ice" show. It was pouring rain. The rain was so heavy that I couldn't see the road more than 10 car-length ahead. The rain had stopped when we arrived.
We were early but there were already people standing in line to get in. I was really puzzled. The seats were assigned with the tickets. Why would people stand in line to get to their assigned seats? Perhaps in the US, the seats will disappear if they don't get to them early. Of course, we spent the time checking out the merchandises on sales outside the venue instead of standing in line like a fool. Videotaping was not allowed, so the twins wouldn't see any footage again at home.
Jasmine sat with me and Joanne sat with mommy. When the show started, Jasmine wanted to sit on my lap. During the show, she told me that tears ran from her eyes because of the bright light. She always has this problem whenever she watches something intensely. My theory is that she was so tense that she forgot to blink, it was not because of the light. I asked her to blink often and she didn't complain anymore.
When the characters came in and out of the stage, she kept asking me why they were leaving and what was behind the curtains. When the stage light went off and workers moved the props onto the stage, she asked what they were doing. Instead of watching the action at where the spotlights pointed to, her attention was elsewhere. Apparently, she was too distracted to see any live show. She never had to deal with all those other activities when watching TV.
When Snow White came on stage, the kids around us were calling her name. The twins were very interested to know who she was. It dawned on me that I had never showed them the movie classic.
When the villains came on stage, Jasmine told me she didn't want to take picture with those. When the beast in Beauty and the Beast came out, she told me she didn't want to take picture with him either. I regretted that I asked her in the morning if she was willing to take pictures with the Disney characters. Apparently, she was totally pre-occupied with that thought throughout the show. She would probably enjoy the show better if I hadn't mentioned that in the morning. On the other hand, Joanne quite enjoyed the show. At least, mommy didn't say anything unusual about Joanne's reactions.
I asked them which character from the show they enjoyed the most. Joanne said Minnie, Jasmine said Mickey.
We left the venue at around 4:30pm. Joanne asked me "�I�ѲӲӤO�}��" (why I was driving with minimum force). I corrected her that she should say driving slowly. She asked why slowly? I explained that there were cars in front of our car. She jokingly suggested me to drive faster and hit them until the other cars bleed to death. I couldn't explain why, but I had noticed Joanne's violence tendency long time ago. I wrote down such observation in the FAQ page as early as age twenty months.
We planned to get something to eat but the twins fell asleep even before we reached the highway. We headed towards home and got some pastry on the way. Mommy bought some takeout food for dinner.
Before bedtime, the twins asked us if they could see Snow White. Perhaps they saw other kids' reaction to Snow White and realized that they had missed something. It was too late to start a movie, so we promised them the movie in the morning.
Monday, Mar 5, 2001 (3y+6m+27d)
The twins demanded to watch Snow White first thing in the morning. I wondered if the anticipation kept them awake all night.In the evening, I asked the twins if they like Snow White better than Jasmine from Aladdin. They both said yes. I also asked them which dwarf they like best. They said Grumpy and Sneezy. They also mimicked the dwarfs' gesture and got a good laugh at themselves.
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2001 (3y+7m)
The twins are 43 months old today.
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started on Mar 7, 2001