A lot has happened since the boys turned one. For starters, I am a dental hygienist no more. I never went back to work after my maternity leave ended in February. Michael and I discussed in length about the pros/cons of going back to work for a few days. As it turns out, it's more benificial for the both of us if I stay home as a housewife. No arguments there!! Michael has passed his Royal College exams and is now working as a fully licensed anaesthesiologist. For now, he is locuming at SPH and BC Womens until July 2012, where he will complete a 6 month fellowship in obstetrical anaesthesia at Cedar-Sinai Hospital in Toronto. The rest of the family will remain in Vancouver since it is only for half the year.
In terms of logistics, we purchased a house in July. It's not an old house, only about 12 years old but it's "custom-built", so there are a lot of areas that need full-on renovations. We went through hell and back trying to find the right contractor, but it is finally being renovated. The house is great for our growing family. Michael really liked this house because of the bedroom layout. The boys can each have their own room and share a jack/jill bathroom. Meghan, who is our full-time awesome nanny has her own room with a private bathroom as well. There's a large rec room in the basement all for the boys. We're turning the basement bedroom into an exercise area. There's plenty of storage space downstairs and once the weird kitchen with the half wok style kitchen area has been renovated, it will be great. The backyard is quite the jungle right now. We had a wasp nest that was the size of a large balloon growing on a tree branch that suddenly disappeared. Someone had it removed, cut that branch right off. I'm sure there is also a family of birds living in the bushes in our front yard. We'll have to wait until the spring to deal with all the landscaping. The house is in a really nice area. It's considered to be in Kerrisdale but we're just a block off from Mackenzie Heights.
Onto the boys!! They are fantastic little boys!! They are 19 months now and are active as ever. They can walk, run, jump, and even dance now. I think they were a little slow lifting their heads and crawling but once they could walk, everything happened in hyper drive. They like to talk and have great vocabulary but most of the words they can speak are in Cantonese. I'm not too worried. Once they start school, their English will pick up. I'm hoping they can put sentences together soon. Legend has it that I was speaking in full sentences by the time I was 1.5 years old. They must take after their daddy then. Hehe!! They like to mimic now so we all have to watch our cursing, especially me and my sailor mouth.
As Daniel and Alex are getting older, I think they look less and less alike, even though they are identical twins. Although strangers swear they look identical. Daniel is still the leader of the pack and now he lets everyone know that he's the boss. Lately, they have been fighting a lot for the same toys. Daniel relates "ow" to hitting, maybe because it hurts. Anyway, if he doesn't get access to the toy he wants or if Alex won't give it up, Daniel will scream, shout "ow" and claw Alex in the face. Alex in turn relates pain to rubbing his head, so that's exactly what he'll do, even if that's not the area where he's hurt. Alex totally knows how to play victim and use his pout and teary puppy dog eyes to gain sympathy. I'm told to expect a lot more of this as they get older.
I've also been told it's time to look for preschools for them! Clearly I'm not quite ready for them to grow up that quickly yet. We've been trying to teach them their alphabets but they have no interest at all. Alex can point to all his body parts if you ask him where it is. Daniel knows where his body parts are but thinks this game is beneath him so he'll only play if he's in a good mood. They are both very good at playing with their iPhone game apps. Alex even knows how to unlock your phone to answer a call. They both love talking or pretending to talk on the phone. That is one of their favourite activities along with waving and saying "hi/bye".
The boys watch more tv than they should but I think they know what they're watching. They know the difference between Waybuloo, Cat in the Hat, In the Night Garden, Elmo's World, and Sesame Street. Scary right?
They love their junk food. We all spoil them with good treats, especially if they get hurt. I wish they would show more interest in feeding themselves but just like the issue with holding their bottles, they know it's better to have someone else feed them. Alex will eat and try anything, except he doesn't like the texture of meat. We grind up most of the meat in their meals. Daniel is picky when it comes to his food but he's heavier than Alex by a kilo! Milk is still a staple in their diet.
