Twins

Shanti spelling her name

Shanti spelling her name

Disneyland

April 14, 2011

We took the girls to Disneyland. They (and we) had an awesome time.

Funny story. At the end, we visited the Tiki Room. The thunder storm and talking totem poles scared Shanti. She had nightmares for several days. She blamed me personally because Mimi had told her previously that Art & Logic wrote the software that was used to program the motion animation.

"Daddy - why'd you do that?".

Adrienne @ 4

I asked Curt if he thought Shanti looked like Adrienne.  He sent Mimi and I  this nice note and photos of Adrienne at 4: 

Hi Mimi and Paul,

I promised myself I would do this as a weekend project when Paul asked if Shanti and Adrienne looked alike. I know when we look at pictures you send we see Adrieene immediately, more so in Shanti but also in Sage. I will let you judge for yourself. I found a couple of pictures when she was around four. I was suprised that I didn't really have that many close-ups but most of the pictures I have were of the three of them doing stuff together. I found myself going down memory lane and remembering vivid details as if these events took place yesterday but only realizing very fast that I am no longer a spring chicken and these events took place twenty some years ago.

 

I hope all is well and we wish all of you a very Happy Easter.

Love,

Curt and Kay

 

Yoga Teacher

This past week, Mimi has shown a yoga kids DVD to the girls. It's been a big hit - very cute to see the girls doing the tree stand and down dogs.

Tonight, Mimi was upset about a landscaping project our gardener is working on. Sage came over and said: "mommy, let's do yoga.". She then played the role of teacher and took Mimi through a series of (improvised) asanas designed to calm her down. It worked wonderfully and was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Sent from my iPhone

Answering Machine message circa Dec 2010 - March 2011

Answering Machine.mp3

Fan & Chair

At bedtime tonight, Sage was a chatterbox - which is wonderful since she's had bronchitis the past few days and has been too feverish to chatter.

She told me that she's going to have two babies: a boy named "Fan" and a girl named "Chair". They will live with her and Shanti in their own house. Mimi and I will live up the street. First I'll be an old man, then i'll be a grandfather. Mimi and I will wear glasses. Mine will be blue. Mimi's will be brown.

I don't care if I'm old. If I get to be a grandfather, I'll be thrilled.

Sent from my iPhone

Sado

Out of the blue, at breakfast, Sage starting talking about Sado.  She explained:

"Sado is another country, far far away.  In Sado, you're allowed to waste food and throw food.  Rip paper.  Hit people.  Break the glass toys of grown ups.  Hurt old cats and leave conditioner in your eyes." 

Shanti then chipped in: 

"In Sado, there are no bathtubs.  You can bring big sticks in the house.  Break crayons.  Eat paper.  Break birdhouses.  Draw on couches.  Spit.  Break things and bite people."  

Other characteristics of Sado: 

- There are no naps in Sado. 

- You can make a big mess and not get in trouble.  

And finally, you can say "Damn It!" 

 

Lake Arrowhead

At Lake Arrowhead to play in the snow. Here we are building a snow girl.

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Adrienne's family heritage

From Curt (Adrienne's Dad) regarding their family heritage:

Hi Mimi and Paul,

Thanks so much for the nice note and update on how fast your girls are growing. We enjoy hearing about them. We know how fast time flies. Just this weekend we had birthday parties for our two grandchildren who turned 3 and 4 last week. It seems like yesterday when they were born.

Right now we have no immediate plans to go anywhere, but that doesn't mean that we won't make plans. We would love to come out sometime, we'll probably just have to make time sometime and make the trip. We just got back from Maui last week. We went to Kona a year ago to celebrate our 30th and figured we would go again in five years, but we went for our 31st and Adrienne and Sam joined us. We had to leave a couple days early and stayed in Phoenix two nights to beat the blizzard but it all worked out fine.

The German is on my side of the family, but my roots pass thru the Ukraine. There is an area called Bessarabia which is around the Black Sea and Odessa. Sometime in the 1700's or 1800's the Russians wanted people to come to the region and farm so many Germans left Germany to farm the area in Bessarabia. The people were somewhat autonomous and allowed to keep their German citizenship etc. A lot of the towns had German names at that time too. When the revolutions were occurring in the late 1800's the Russians went back on their word and was going to make the Germans serve in the army so they left in droves. Many of those ended up in the Dakotas because the land and weather were similar. My grandmother was born over there in 1895 and when she was 12 she came to the US. I think my grandfather on my mom's side was also born there and came as a baby in 1898. They all ended up in North Dakota.

Kays heritage is Czech. Both her mom and dad are of Czech descent. I don't know that much about older generations because we don't know of anyone who is into geneology. On the Weispfenning side I have two cousins who are into it and I can trace my grandmother Weispfenning's (nee Rath) family back to the 1500's. My grandfather Weispfenning tree goes back about 7 generations, but the tree is wide and my cousins have figured out a lot of the members. We even have a Weispfenning family group on Facebook and it has been fun getting to know some of them.

Neither me or Kay know of any allergies that anyone has to food. Me, on the other hand am sometimes affected by pollen in the air but that is more normal amongst a lot of people.

It sounds like dancing, crafts, and other activities will keep you on your toes. I remember running back and forth between soccer, wrestling, track, band concerts, etc. It was great hearing from you. As I said earlier, we will have to just try to plan a time somewhere to get together.

Take care.
Curt and Kay

Gentle Barn

We took the girls to Gentle Barn last Sunday, an animal sanctuary for abused farm animals in Santa Clarita. It was awesome. Shanti fell in love with a turkey. They fed carrots to horses. Pet cows. Met an emu (which scared Sage). They fell asleep in the car on the drive home and we ended up driving all the way to Pasadena. We found a new park to explore and stayed their until sundown. We tried to eat pizza at Casa Bianca but it was closed. We ended up trying a new pizza restaurant in Eagle Rock called Capri. It would have capped a perfectly lovely day, but on the drive home, Sage threw up! She had an allergic reaction to the pizza! Who puts pesto on margherita pizza? Who puts walnuts in pesto? Capri does! Poor Sagey... It was a wake up call for Mimi and I. We need to be 100x more vigilant with Sage's nut allergy. We got benadryl in her right away and she was ok. But it was still scary...

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Shanti & Strider

Shanti and Strider are having a love affair:

Download Video

She also spends a lot of time petting and hugging Mia (although we have to watch closely to make sure she's being gentle enough). The wait has finally paid off for the cats. They now have two more humans to shower them with affection!

Halloween & Birthday

Sage in the bathrobe she got for her birthday:

In their birthday dresses:





Arriving at The Little Gym:





Shanti sitting on me at their party at at the Little Gym:




I wish I remembered what was so funny:





Some of the guests:





The cake:





Cupcakes at Berolina's:





Sage modeling her birthday present from their friend David, the only little boy at their party:





Shanti with the Maisy books they got as presents:






Heaven is taking your Daddy into buying you an iPod Touch for your birthday:





Halloween is a month long event:














With Aunt Val (who picked a great time to visit):



Stevie Nicks jr?




The Otter & the White Bengal Tiger:









Sisters:

Pumpkin Patch

Mimi:

There is a pumpkin patch right down the street from us with a moon bounce and petting zoo. I can't believe I allow my kids to go to those, but they LOVE them so much, especially Shanti. We've been going every day for the past 3 days at the girls request. Shanti stays in with the animals for over 2 hours straight every day!

Sage goes back and forth between the animals and the moon bounce.

Anyway, I must be doing something right because Shanti made me SO proud yesterday! There was another 3 yr old in there with her. Her dad was obnoxiously having her chase after the pig and the ducks (who were clearly terrified). I've taught my kids to be respectful of the animals, and not to chase them or even try to pet them if the animals seem afraid. And I've noticed pigs always seem afraid.

Anyways, Shanti and this little girl were the only kids in there. The girl approached Shanti and said "lets go chase the pig!" Shanti said "no!" The girl persisted, grabbing Shanti's arm and repeating "lets go chase the pig!" Shanti said firmly "NO! I don't scare animals. I hug them!" The girl tried to grab Shanti's arm again and Shanti said loudly and firmly "I need some space!" while gently pushing the girls arm away. The girl looked completely confused and tried again to grab Shanti's arm. Shanti repeated herself and again gently pushed the girls arm away, also turning her back on the girl. The poor kid looked so confused and her brainless dad just stood watching the whole thing.

Apple Picking

We took the girls apple picking this weekend. There's a collection of farms in the hills above Yucaipa, about 80 miles outside of LA. It's called Oak Glen. There are shops, restaurants, produce stands, and a few orchards where you can pick yourself.  We picked Red Delicious, Rome Beauties, and Granny Smiths - enough to last for a couple of months.  The girls enjoyed it and were quite good in the car.  

Goodbye Grandpa Frank

Mimi's Dad died on Saturday night, September 25.  Sadly, the girls never got to meet him.  Fortunately, Mimi was able to be with him for several days the week before he died and shared one particularly lucid day with him and her other siblings.  It was his last time smiling and laughing with his children.  The Hertzog family laughs a lot when they're together.  It's something I've always admired and cherished about them. 

Here is Frank's obituary: 

There were a couple of key child development milestones that came out of this.  First, the girls spent their first set of nights without their Mom since they came home from the hospital.  We were very proud of how well they handled it.  At night, the girls and I slept in the master bedroom.  Sage would fall asleep on my left shoulder and Shanti on my right (or right on top of my chest).  After a while, I'd sneak away and the girls would end up snuggling together.  

 

During the night, I'd bed hop.  I'd start in the other bed, but then grab a girl (usually Sage) when she would wake up and get her back to sleep before she woke up her sister.  Then the other would wake up and off I'd go.  I didn't get my best sleep while Mimi was away!  It sure is sweet co-sleeping with both girls, though.  

Finally, and I can't emphasize how big this is, Mimi weaned Shanti.  I have video of their last nursing session.  It's so sweet and so sad at the same time.  Shanti has been such a doll in accepting this.  

Lake Arrowhead

Location:Lake Resort Rd,Lake Arrowhead,United States

Eras that are over: Sage's bottle

Well, not quite. Sage still goes to sleep for naps and bedtime with a bottle of water, with ice if she can get her way. But it's been almost a year now since she weaned herself from her "bottle-boo" with formula. One night last year, shortly after her birthday, she got sick and threw up her formula in bed (3 times!). She never wanted a bottle with formula after that. She sometimes drinks cow's milk with meals, but never in a bottle...

It's a little hard to remember just how dominated our lives were by Sage's bottle. Stopping after work to buy the formula (Earth's Best Organic). Traveling with sponge, soap, bottle brush, and dish rack to clean and dry them. Always having a bottle ready to be mixed in the car. Bringing a cooler with ice packs to keep her FOUR bottles cold at night!

Her water bottles are still a part of our lives, and she'll have to give them up soon. But they're nowhere near as invasive as the formula bottles were.

Of course, the bottles were her way of bonding with me since we co-slept and she couldn't breastfeed. So naturally I miss the formula bottle era even though life is easier now.

A&L AnCon 2010

A few quick notes:

We stayed in the Arzner Suite at La Quinta again.  During the summer, there are a lot of crickets in the area and some get in the rooms.  Every night before bed, Sage would make me rescue each cricket and relocate it outdoors before she'd go to sleep. 

Lady Daisey (Daisey, A&L's longest tenured graphic artist, and her husband Brit) performed at the suite after dinner one night.  It was the girls' first concert:

Download IMG_1103

The company is getting pretty big these days:

There are two sets of twins in this picture.  Our girls on the right and Bob and Marlee Nagy's children Alex and Lila on the left.  Sage and Shanti had a good time hanging out with Alex and Lila.  James and Shannon brought Jasper and Sterling, as well. 

Temperatures were a moderate 105 degrees :-)

Today was fun

Saturday. Shanti and I had our usual outing. Breakfast at Starbucks (Shanti likes the protein plates and orange juice) followed by Petco. She likes to pet the kitties who are on display for adoption. Today she held one named Ollie on her lap for the first time. She also likes to shop for dog toys. 2 weeks ago she saw a porcupine. She remembered and was excited to go buy it. They were all out of porcupines, but she was happy buying an elephant for herself and a gorilla for Sage. I should clarify that these are chewie, squeaky, rubber dog toys. To each their own... After Petco, we went to the park to ride the baby swings then home for a lovely 2.5 hour nap together in the rocking chair. Shanti clung to her new dog toys the whole nap.

Meanwhile, Mimi took Sage shopping at Target. Their objective was to buy toys for the kids attending next week's Art & Logic Annual Conference. They returned happy, but wildly over-budget. Sage LOVES to shop. Here's Sage at Jamba Juice (her and Mimi's weekend treat place):

Later in the day, when we were all back together at home, Mimi was drawing with the girls. This is what Sage drew (with Mimi's help):

The girls missed each other and played joyfully with each other for the rest of the day. It's a fun, fun age especially when they play for stretches without fighting.

Location:Pineridge Dr,Pasadena,United States

Malibu

For my birthday, we went to the beach. Our first thought was to go to the South Bay, but we found out last minute that there was a volleyball tournament going on so we headed to Malibu and were lucky to get the last room at the Malibu Beach Inn.

It's a small, narrow beach south of Surfrider and the pier. Lots of rocks. Strong currents. We kept the girls out of the water for the most part. Our time on the beach was remarkably relaxing. We actually got to spend decent stretches of time sitting on chairs watching them play.



Most meals we ate at the Inn's over-priced kid-unfriendly restaurant. For one dinner, we went to the Beachcomber next door. Highlights: mojitos (both of which I ended up drinking), the sunset, and best of all, Shanti kissing me!




Mimi (of course) talked me into staying an extra day. Amy came out to help. She built sand castles with the girls while I did my A&L management call from the beach, and Mimi packed. We spent the balance of the day at Point Dume then went home happy and tired!

Location:Malibu, CA

Milestone: All By Myself!

I've been waiting for today for 2.5 years.  Today was the first day I took the girls off on an adventure by myself!  We're getting ready to go east for the month of June and Mimi needed to pack.  To give her some space to do it, I took the girls from 12:30 until 6 PM.  We went to 2 Strike Park, Starbucks, and then to Orean for drive thru French fries.  The girls fell asleep in the car before the French fries arrived. 

It wasn't easy, but I was able to do it, and I'm excited to do it again next week and many, many more times after that.  It's fun for me and it's the best way that I can give Mimi a break.  

Shanti at the park and then Starbucks:

Bedtime ritual with Sage

I have a feeling that this will start to evolve soon so I want to write it down now while it's still fresh...  Sage and I run through the same basic routine every night at bedtime.  When we finally go into Sage's room - after bath, after playing with Shanti, after saying goodnight to Mom - I put a new diaper on her and get her dressed in her pajamas.  This can take 15 minutes when she isn't in the mood to cooperate.  I always let her pick her own PJs.  For many months now, she's had strong opinions about what she wants to wear, not just at bedtime, but all the time.  Then we go into the bathroom and brush her teeth.  Recently, we've added a step.  After brushing her teeth, I hold her up to the window box and she pets Strider and Jasmine.  Back in her room, we make sure that both the overhead light (the "big light") and the smaller light on her dresser (the "little light") are on.  We get into bed and she snuggles up on my left side (like she has every night since we brought the girls home from the hospital) with her Goodnight Moon Bunny.  On my right, I have a cooler with 4 bottles of water (this used to be formula in the "old days").  She drinks her bottle and we read books.  I normally let her pick a set of about 5 books at the beginning of the week and we read the same ones every night that week.  She, of course, negotiates for more books so I generally hold one book in reserve as her "bonus" book.  When we're done with that one, I say: "Time to turn the Big Light out.  Do you want to do it or shall I?"  She may pause for a few seconds, but she ALWAYS chooses to do it herself.  Often, she tells me and Bunny to wait on the bed while she does it.  She gets up, walks to the door, and turns off the light switch.  Then I get up, pick her up, sit on the IQ air next to the dresser, and hold her up so she can turn off the Little Light.  It can take her a minute or two to do this, sometimes because she's stalling and other times because it's just hard to do with her little fingers.  Often, she turns the IQ air off before I pick her up and then tells me to turn it back on after she turns the light out.  Don't ask me why.  Sage just likes things a certain way!  Once both lights are out, I either carry her back to bed or she walks, whichever she prefers.  For a long time, she always wanted to walk.  Recently, she always chooses to be carried.  Once she's back in bed, with Bunny and her bottle, snuggled up on my left side, I tell her that I love her more than anything "you, your Mommy, and your sister" and then kiss her goodnight.  If I'm lucky, she'll fall asleep in 5 minutes.  If I'm unlucky, well, let's just say that we end up running through the whole routine a second time! 

Feet on the table

Shanti likes to tease Mimi. One of her favorites is to put her feet on the table. When Mimi tells her not to, she says: "Ella and Sydney put their feet on the table.". Mimi laughs and says: "Eliza (their mom) doesn't let them do that!".

Today, Eliza brought Ella and Sydney over for a play date. Shanti asked her if she let Ella and Sydney put their feet on the table. Eliza asked Shanti what she thought the answer was. Shanti loudly and immediately answered "YES!". "No", said Eliza.

At night, after they had left, I heard Shanti say: "look Mama-I have my feet on the table just like Ella and Stdney!"

"That's Hard To Do!"

The period from 2 to 2.5 is magical. Their language development is stunning and their personalities come into focus. It's super busy though and I haven't found the time to write much. I probably shouldn't be writing now. Sage is jumping off the couch and Shanti's swinging her new baseball bat. I think the only way I'll be able to journal any of this is to write short, semi-coherent posts and hope they trigger enough memories later to fill in the detail I'm sure to miss.

A few favorite phrases from this era:

"That's hard to do!". Shanti started this one, but Sage says it a lot now too. Shanti's accent when she says this is indescribably adorable.

"I do it!". The toddler anthem!

"What's that?". Books take 10x longer to read these days because Sage has to ask this about every single thing on every page.

"Here Mama (or Dada) for you!". This is always accompanied by them giving us something. Yesterday, outside, it was dandelions. Just as often, it's a banana peel or the like.

A "big girl" milestone

Some mornings I wake up before everyone else and get started on the chores. I put the monitor on and listen for Sage to wake up. She normally cries if I'm not there.

This morning, I was happily cleaning the cat boxes. When I came back into the kitchen, there was Sage. She had woken up without crying and come downstairs by herself. It's a little thing, I know, but it felt like a big milestone. She probably had no idea why I made such a big fuss and wouldn't stop hugging her!