Bike Ride

The boys and I took a 6 mile bike ride on Sunday. We took the I-90 trail to Lake Washington Blvd, which is closed to car traffic on Sundays. The route involved riding in car traffic, which the boys did great on. Even before they learned to ride their 2-wheelers, we've been working on bike safety so I knew they were ready for it. When we stopped after a busy block, Isaac had this look on his face that was a huge combination of "I'm so scared!" and "I did it!" I reminded them that doing something even if you're scared of it is the definition of bravery.

We stopped at Mt Baker Beach to play in the sand, and again at the hydroplane pits to watch some people pull their lasers out of the water.

The ride home had a big hill. Even though we weren't able to ride up the whole thing, I was impressed by the boys' positive attitudes as we pushed our bikes up the steepest parts.

More stories from Mom-mom

More stories care of Mom-mom

Isaac was reading the book "The Lost and Found Puppy" and he gets towards the end of the book. He looked like he was ready to cry. I asked him what was wrong. He says "Awwww, this book is so cute" and he showed me the last page. It said "At last the warm, dry puppy felt his worries disappear. The mother cat had offered him some food from her own dish." Isaac said "If I was in that story, I would give the cat a kiss."

We had just driven up to the beauty shop and when I turned off the car we heard some loud music from a nearby car. Isaac and Aaron both said "I know that song." I, of course, did not so I asked what song it was. Isaac said, "It's Single Ladies by Beyonce", with a tone meaning Mom-Mom, don't you know that song!

When we went to the park yesterday, Isaac and Aaron rode ahead and got there before I did. They met [their friend] Gus and his mom, Sarah. When I finally showed up, Sarah asked me how far apart in age the boys were. I told her one minute. She chuckled and said that Aaron had told her he was 6 months older - and she wanted to know how that happened since they obviously look like brothers!

Birthday! etc.

Isaac and Aaron turn 6 today! Happy Birthday guys!

A few days ago, Aaron fell off his bike and landed pretty hard on his head. He passed out for a short while, and was acting funny afterwords so I took him to the ER. He had a concussion, but otherwise checked out OK. His helmet took the brunt of the impact, fortunately. Today he was recounting the event and referred to it as, "That time I fell off my bike and was obnoxious..." I was too busy holding in laughter to correct him.

Other funny sayings:

Aaron told me he got "caught red-handed" (I'm not sure what he was doing). Isaac said "Where?" and started looking at Aaron's hands.

Aaron got in the car with my mom and said "What is our next destination?" My mom asked him where he learned the word "destination". Aaron said he learned it from my parents' talking GPS device.

6th Birthday Party

Apologies for not updating in so long! Yesterday was Isaac and Aaron's 6th Birthday Party. They turn 6 on Friday.

The party was at Chuck E Cheese. There was pizza, video games, skee ball, and a visit from Chuck himself.

Pictures from the party can be found here

Before the party, we went to Mom-mom and Pop's house, where the boys were given a pair of real rollerskates (to replace the cheapo Fisher-Price ones that broke). They got some roller practice on the back deck.

Boys in TV commercial

The boys are in a TV commercial that just started airing yesterday. They both play one character, Michael, who's tearing apart a PC:

Here's how they got the part:

The ad is for Guarenteed Education Tuition (you can see Aaron on the home page there). My folks have been buying GET credits for the boys in the past. The GET people just looked in their records for twins and the boys went to an audition and got the part.

Teaching Children to Problem-Solve

One of the things I like about Positive Discipline is that the techniques not only discipline children at the moment they're misbehaving, but it also gives them tools to solve their own problems over time.

One thing we constantly battle with is leaving lights on around the house. After watching the inauguration, Isaac liked the song Simple Gifts that was played. He told me that I should whistle that song when there's a light left on around the house, and he would go find it. He calls himself the "Electric Ranger". I haven't had to nag about lights since. Instead we have a fun game to share between the two of us, and Isaac is learning responsibility and stewardship for the Earth. The most amazing part of this is that I wouldn't ever have thought of a solution like that in a million years!

School Evaluation

At the beginning of the school year, the boys were having some trouble adjusting to Kindergarten life. It was showing itself in behavior like not listening to teachers and not showing respect for school property. Taken individually, the behavior wasn't anything outside the norm for a 5-year-old, but at the same time, it's not a pattern that should become a permanent part of their school lives.

The boys are doing a lot better now that we're almost half way though the school year (that went by fast), but we still consented to letting the school psychologist give them an evaluation.

We just got the results back yesterday, and while the findings aren't much of a surprise, there are a few interesting things. Both boys tested very high in cognitive and academic areas, and very low in social and emotional areas. I knew this would be the case, but I had no idea how strong their strengths are and how weak their weaknesses are. They are probably academically advanced enough for a gifted program (we find this out later*), and certainly socio-emotionally delayed enough to qualify for special services and instruction. Two chips off the old block, really.

A couple gems from the evaluations:

"Isaac engaged easily in conversation. When he told the examiner that he held his eyes open the whole time without blinking while watching a Charlie Brown movie the examiner said she didn't believe him. He said it was true with a smile on his face. The examiner laughed and said she still didn't believe him. He smiled. When prodded he said it was not true."

Aaron's scores for Basic Reading and Reading Comprehension are in the >99.9 percentile, or "off the charts" as the psychologist called them.

The next step is for all involved to develop an IEP for each boy, which will probably include stuff like more 1-on-1 time with staff (counselors, teachers) to work on socio-emotional skills, and ways to harness their strengths in reading towards improvements in social skills.

* Update (3 Feb 2009): Both boys were accepted into the gifted program.

Feeling Lucky

The boys and I were looking at the calendar this morning:

Dad: Today is Friday, Shabbat starts tonight, [etc]
Isaac: I'm feeling lucky!
Dad: You are lucky! It's the last school day of the week, we get to see Mom-Mom and Pop for dinner, [etc]
Isaac: No, it says that on your shirt.

I was wearing a google shirt.

Aaron snowboarding

IMG_3738, originally uploaded by sauerkraut.

We had enough snow to snowboard down the street!

There And Back Again, by Mom-mom

Welcome our guest writer Mom-mom, who tells the story of going from Bellevue to Seattle and back to pick up the twins...

Mom-mom was scheduled to take care of Isaac and Aaron on Monday since YMCA Winter Camp would probably be closed due to the large amounts of snow over the past few days.
Pop was going to drive Mom-mom to the city, to Rainier Avenue and she was going to walk up the hill to Joseph's house, spend the day with the boys and get a ride back to Bellevue at the end of the day with Pop. Mom-mom was not driving yet due to the recovery from her back surgery and the snow storm.
Mom-mom and Pop woke up early on Monday morning to find out that Pop's office was closed due to the snow storm. Consequently, he wasn't driving into the city. What was Mom-mom to do?
Mom-mom knew that Joseph was counting on her. She had to find a way to get into the city. The buses were not coming up the hill to her house, if they were even running at all.
So, Mom-mom made got warmly dressed, made a "Seattle" sign and at 5:50 a.m. walked two blocks away to the main street, carrying her sign. She had plans to walk to the either walk to the Park and Ride, about 2 miles away, all down hill - or hitch a ride with someone going into the city.
The second vehicle stopped when the driver saw the sign and asked if he could help. Mom-mom explained that she wanted to get to Rainier Avenue at I-90. He said he could take her there. The driving was slow but the 4 wheel drive SUV did well in the snow. The driver's job was to drive patients for treatment such as dialysis in a small bus. Mom-mom felt comfortable with his driving and safe in his car. He took Mom-mom to her requested stop, about 6 blocks down the hill from Joseph's house. Joseph's neighbor was blocked off due to the hills and the large amount of snow.
When Mom-mom arrived at Joseph's house at 6:50 a.m. he was just getting dressed. Mom-mom thought that it would be better to take the boys back to Bellevue since Pop was not in the city to drive her back home at the end of the day. The boys were still asleep and Venessa was getting ready for work. The boys woke up shortly after, got dressed, had breakfast and put on their snow clothes to walk to the bus stop back on Rainier Avenue. At least it was all downhill this time, though the going was slow. The first few busses that drove by were completely full and could not stop for us. Eventually we all got onto a bus and we went downtown near Joseph's office. Joseph walked on the work and Mom-mom and the boys walked to a bus stop for a bus back to Bellevue. She had enough money for cab fare if a bus did not come, but that could have ranged from $50 - $60. Luckily, a Bellevue bus showed up before an empty cab. The boys were very patient waiting for the bus, talking to the other people waiting for the bus to Bellevue.
The bus took us all the way to Bellevue, even using the freeway exit just down the hill from Mom-mom's house. The only problem was that there was no bus stop there and the driver was not allowed to drop off riders at an unsafe intersection. Mom-mom and the boys stayed on the bus for several blocks further and then were able to get off of the bus.
Now the walk continued, with the occasional stop to fix socks that kept creeping down into snow boots, to put mitten back on that came off to touch the snow or to adjust heavy backpacks that didn't seem to stay put on little backs. They walked for about 6 blocks and then the boys plopped down in the snow and were too tired to continue. Mom-mom was pretty tired too, but we were one mile from the house. What to do now? There weren't any busses going up the hill in the snow. Pop wasn't able to drive down the hill to pick them up. Even the Baskin and Robbins was closed so no stopping for treats.
Mom-mom decided the only way to get back home was to find another 4 wheel drive SUV to drive them all up the hill. The boys had seen the "no hitch-hiking" sign on the walk as they crossed the freeway. Mom-mom told them that since they weren't going on the freeway, it was OK to put out their thumbs and hitch a ride for the last mile home. They tired of holding out their thumbs after a few minutes and found it more entertaining to throw snowballs into the street. This time may cars drove by without stopping, most of them not heading up the hill but turning at the intersection to head to the shopping area. After about 15 minutes, a driver stopped to drive the tired three-some up the hill. The SUV even had some toys in the back seat to play with for the short drive home. When we arrived in front of the house, Pop was there shoveling the snow. The boys were having so much fun with the toys in the car, they were reluctant to get out of the car. Seeing Pop in the snow helped to entice them out of the SUV. We thanked the driver and he went on his way. It was now 11:00 a.m., 5 hours after Mom-mom had left home that morning.
What an adventure! The boys mustered up some energy to play in the snow a bit and sled down the little hill in front of the house. Mom-mom was totally exhausted and went into the house to rest before the day of playing with two 5 year old bundles of energy. The boys were snowed in at Mom-mom's and Pop's house for 3 days. They played in the snow, celebrated Chanukah and even had a virtual candle lighting with Joseph and Venessa via webcam. That was a wonderful experience.
All in all, it was a fun week, a bit tiring for Mom-mom even if it did take her mind off of her recovery for a while.
She hopes that the boys will remember this adventure with their "hitch-hiking Mom-mom". She won't forget it for some time!

Seasonal Pun

Aaron has been interested in puns and wordplay for a while. Now he's making puns of his own.

A couple days ago, Mom-mom, Isaac and Aaron were delivering holiday cookies and candies to Mom-mom's neighbors. One neighbor had a gate at the beginning of the path. Aaron noticed a spring closure on the gate. As we walked through the gate Aaron touched the spring on the gate, then with a smile Aaron said, "Mom-mom, 'summer' [he meant 'winter'] is over and 'spring' is here!"

Family Meeting

I'm taking a parenting class and one of the suggestions is to do "weekly" family meetings (as "weekly" as possible).

It sounds terribly cheesy but the teacher kept stressing how much it helps families run smoothly, handle issues, etc. So I figured it couldn't hurt.

Last night was our first family meeting. We tried it over dinner, but Aaron suddenly got "full" and left the table (and thus the meeting). After dinner, I decided to lure everyone back by having the meeting over dessert.

We started by thanking or complimenting everyone at the table, including ourselves. Isaac thanked Aaron for offering a piece of gum, even though he didn't take Aaron up on the offer. Complimenting one's self is actually very difficult...a few of us couldn't think of anything, so we decided we'd try again next week.

We also planned a "fun activity", and it was interesting to hear what the boys thought was "fun". My favorite suggestion was "take a bath!" We decided on having one boy play on the computer with one adult, while the other boy takes a bath (with the other adult keeping him company in the bathroom), and then switching activities.

All in all, the meeting took about 5 minutes (about as long as it takes a 5 year old to savor a Peppermint Jo Jo cookie).

Proposition 8 Protest

02383-20081115-0051, originally uploaded by huzefa_mogri_photography.

Here's a photo of Aaron and me at the Proposition 8 Protest in Seattle. Aaron made that poster himself. It says "NO 8" and it has a crossed-out letter 8. In the upper-right is a guy shaking his head no.

Election nervousness

Aaron: "I dont waaaant John McCain to win"
Amber: "Why not?"
Aaron: "He already killed someone and now he wants to kill Obama!"
Amber: "Who did John McCain kill?"
Aaron: "Um, i think it was Aaron Burr"

I know McCain is old, but not that old!

Self-haircutting pirate

IMG_2556, originally uploaded by sauerkraut.

1. Aaron cut his own hair. You can see it up at the middle of his bangs.

2. He also has a lazy eye, so he has an eye patch (pirate style!) to wear for two hours a day, until it gets better.

Aaron in GET ad

Aaron in GET ad
Originally uploaded by goldberg

2 Feet Off The Floor

Aaron was checking out the Growth Chart on the wall at my parents' house. It has been there since my sister and I were young. Aaron wanted to see how tall he was. He noticed the directions on the bottom of the chart - "Place 2 feet off the floor". He wanted to know how that was possible to measure yourself if your two feet were off the floor! I explained to him that it meant that the bottom of the grow chart was to be placed on the wall at the 2 feet level for the height to be measured accurately. Sometimes learning to read can be too literal for a 5 year old!

Oh, snap!

"Oh, snap! My shoelace is untied!" -- Isaac, this weekend

"I solved it without crying"

Yesterday at school, there was a birthday party in the class and each child got a different toy. Isaac got one of those "magnetic" doodle pads where you lift up the top sheet and the drawing disappears. Aaron got a bubble wand.

My mom just called to tell me that both boys were both claiming ownership of the doodle pad, and asked me who it really belonged to.

Just a few minutes later I got a voicemail from Aaron:

	Voicemail You'll Love Share this ...

Apparently, he was able to relinquish ownership of the doodle pad without crying!

If you can't listen to the audio clip, it says "Hi Dad, I solved it without crying. I left a message for you. Love, Aaron"

Extra chair?

Aaron and Mom-mom were talking on the phone last night. When she told him that Dr. Joy was joining us for Shabbat dinner, Aaron asked if she had an extra chair. Mom-mom told him we did have an extra chair and that Joy's whole family was coming. He asked if it would be more people than we had for Passover. I was surprised that he thought back to Passover and remembered that the table was full. Mom-mom told him that there would be even more people than Passover and everyone would have a chair. He seemed satisfied with that.

Gay marriage

The boys were talking about who they wanted to marry when they grew up, and I explained why we can't marry people that are already in our family. We started talking about gay marriage, and Aaron said:

"It would be easier for a boy and a boy to marry because they could just have a Batman cake. A boy and a girl would have to split the cake, half Batman, half Pocahontas."

Time Machine

Isaac told me he invented a time machine and went into the future. I asked him what was different about the future. Here are his observations:

1. There are no cars, only flying insect cars.
2. Hot dogs are the same, except they come with robots.
3. There are no animals, except rats, mice, cats, and dogs. No big animals.
4. Everything costs $1 except some things cost $100, but you can get $1 for free from a ... machine [I didn't understand what he said].

So there you have it, the future looks pretty good, unless you're a big animal.

Doing Shabbat Dinner Dishes

Doing Shabbat Dinner Dishes
Originally uploaded by love2bfree53

Passover

This weekend was the beginning of Passover, so we had a Passover Seder at Mom-mom and Pop's house. Usually Isaac is the little Rabbi of the two, but this night was different from all other nights, as Aaron took the lead and read much of his Sammy Spider Haggadah to the group.

We flipped things around a bit this year and let the boys each hide half of the Afikoman. Aaron hid his under a couch cushion, and Isaac hid his under a table in the office. I think the boys had fun watching all the grownups searching around the house.

When Aaron opened the door for Elijah he said "I see Elijah's car!" While the boys were at the front door, we secretly drank some wine out of Elijah's cup and tried to convince the boys that it was Elijah who drank it, but they were too smart for that.

My love changed

We were eating tacos for dinner one night this week, so I had the hot sauce out. The boys usually try one drop of hot sauce and dislike it. But this time Isaac put a lot of hot sauce on his taco and took a bite and liked it.

I commented, "Wow, you put a lot of hot sauce on your taco."

He said, "Yeah, I used to not like hot sauce, but now I love it."

I said, "Looks like your tastes changed."

He replied, "No, my taste didn't change, my love changed."

Walrus Truck

Isaac saw a utility truck carrying two stacks of upside-down cones on the front.

He said, "Look, a walrus truck!"

Fortune Cookies

For Chinese New Year, the boys each got a fortune cookie at school. Aaron's fortune said something about expecting a "financial windfall." He asked me what "financial" meant and I explained it to him.

He immediately said, "I'm going to buy gum!" to which I replied something like "You can buy whatever you want with the money you save."

I could see the gears turning in his head as he thought for a second, and then he set his sights a little higher: "No, I'm going to buy every toy in the world."

Red Blood Cells

A story from Pop:

I was burning some junk mail in the fireplace yesterday. Aaron came by and wanted to keep the embers going so I suggested that he get the bellows to add oxygen to the fire. After pumping the bellows for a few minutes Aaron turned to me and said: "This is just like the way our bodies add oxygen to the red blood cells."

Some quotes

Waiting at the bus stop...

Aaron: "I wish the world was full of love"
Isaac (who had just commented on how dirty the bus stop was): "I wish the world was full of Swiffers"

On poop...
Aaron: "Poop has corn in it. But not corn for eating."

And on MLK day...
Aaron: "I see Martin Luther King Jr. everywhere, even on our street!" (We live off of MLK, and he had noticed the street sign earlier)

Snowboarding

Snowboarding 1-12-08
Originally uploaded by love2bfree53