It's The Most Wonderful Time of The Year!

December 30, 2008 – Our Very First Christmas With The Boys (38 Weeks)

We spent this very special Christmas as a family of four. It was important to us to enjoy the day with just them. Granted, they didn’t know what was going on except that their parents were going extra crazy with the camera. Nonetheless, we wanted to spend it with only them. The practical parents that we are bought them clothes and rattles. Our family and friends (the Santas) spoiled them with toys. Santa was good to Daddy and Mommy, too! However, no gift will ever top the birth of our twins which we received on the eight of April.
On Christmas Eve, Daniel and I took the boys to Downtown Disney to have their pictures taken with Santa at the Disneyland Hotel. It turns out that Santa isn’t there all day, so we walked around, had lunch, and went to Build A Bear until Santa flew in from the North Pole. Like I told Santa, they are twins but also individuals. Therefore, we had to have 3 pictures. It went quite well.
Daniel’s mom spent the weekend with us. She cooked the traditional Puerto Rican Christmas dinner for us (the day after) of arroz con grandules y pernil. YUMMO!!!
Updates: Daniel is sleeping through the night!!!! Anthony is teething. He asked Santa for at least one tooth before the year is over. Hopefully Santa sent it Priority Mail from the North Pole :)

December 23, 2008 - Christmas Break Here I Come! (37 Weeks)

Friday was my last day of work. Like my students, I was quite ready for Christmas break to get here. These kiddos covered my desk with Christmas gifts. In a year that has been so tough on so many families, I was definitely humbled by the thoughtfulness of their parents.
Daniel found out about a blood drive at the Staples Center being held on December 22nd. If you donated a pint of blood, they would thank you with two free tickets to pre-selected Clipper games. Luckily for Daniel, two of the games are against the Nets and the Knicks. Needless to say, we packed up the boys and went downtown to donate. After the donation, we kicked back at a Starbucks for a bit.
Latest developments of the boys:
They both have taken to the jumpers that my friend loaned us. They also have become quite the eaters of Gerbers' squash, apple sauce, carrots, green beans, bananas, etc. alone or mixed in with their cereal. They are fascinated with Lucky. They'll call out to her and giggle when she follows us, but she won't give them the time of day. I sure hope she comes around soon.
Anthony loves to pull my face to him, squeeze my face, and proceed to suck on my cheeks (a trick he is showing his brother).
Daniel has slept through the night 3 nights in a row. Maybe he is done with the once a night feeding. He had buds sprouting up, but now they are actually little teeth that have risen quite a bit.

December 16, 2008 - I'm Coming Out - (36 Weeks)

Daddy Daniel was busy this week making the outside of our home very Christmas-like. I came home from work on Thursday to see our front lawn covered with lighted trees, Dora the Explorer, Tigger, Mickey Mouse, and some reindeer. The outside of the house was also trimmed with lights. We are ready for Santa! Baby Daniel was busy, too! He sprouted another tooth. Daniel and I were talking to the nanny and she referenced his teeth. I said, "Don't you mean TOOTH?" She then proceeded to tell us he had another tooth pop up while we were at work. Anthony has not had the "great white" appear, but he sure has mastered crawling.

December 9, 2008 - Crawling, Rolling, and Sprouting Teeth (8 Months)

This week has been one with many oohs and ahhhs! For starters, Daniel sprouted his first tooth. While I was out with them at Panera, Daniel smiled at me, and I saw something white beaming at me. I opened his mouth and glided my finger across the bottom gum. My finger felt the bumpy ridge of his tooth. Needless to say, I started crying. This completely explains his crankiness, excessive need to be held, and the temperature he was running. It is kind of ironic that he would be the one to sprout a tooth first considering he doesn’t eat as much as Anthony. Speaking of our Anthony, he is doing his version of crawling. He has pretty much figured out how to put his weight on his knees, lift his bottom into the air, and plop his body forward. A little more practice and he will be doing the military crawl soon. The Christmas tree and Lucky have surely served as his motivation. Daniel,on the other hand, doesn't put out that much effort to get to his destination. He decides where he wants to go and just rolls to his destination.
On Saturday night I took the boys to Uptown Whittier for the holiday sonata. I was reeled in by the horse and carriage rides. It was a short excursion but worth it to get some fresh air and a nice walk along the festive Greeleaf. Hopefully next week we’ll take the kids to get their picture taken with Santa at Irvine Park. My boss says they have a brightly lit night train that takes visitors through a decorated Irvine Park. It takes passengers to Santa’s Village where the kids can have their pictures taken with Santa.

1st Thanksgiving and Milestone Party

December 2, 2008 – 1st Thanksgiving and Milestones Birthday Party (34 Weeks)

This Thursday we celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a family of four! We went to Riverside to share the big day with Daniel’s family. The food was great as was the company. My sister-in-law and her mom definitely out did themselves! We let the boys partake in the meal since Anthony was literally salivating at our plates. They enjoyed some yummy mashed potatoes.
On Saturday we made our way back to Riverside for the Milestone Party. Daniel’s mom turned 75, his brother 50, and his niece 21!!!! We dressed the boys up like little mini-men for the big occasion. Since everyone was so great about wanting to hold them, mommy and daddy had several opportunities to get their groove on on the dance floor. It was a late night for us, but they were quite the troopers during the party and clean up.
Happy Birthday Angelina, Johnny, and Gianna!