Two "Lims" on the Family Tree

Getting Free Stuff From Your Cereal Box is AWESOME!

2011-10-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago as Katherine was eating a bowl of "Frosted Mini-Wheats", I saw her reading the back of the cereal box intently.

As we all know, reading the back of a cereal box during breakfast is a time-honored American tradition. Almost as American as mom, baseball, and apple pie, some might say.

"Look Daddy!" Katherine exclaimed excitedly as I joined her at the table.

On the back of the box in big bold letters were the words: "GET AWESOME GRAND PRIX REWARDS!"

It was a free give-away to promote the movie Cars2. Katherine explained the concept to me as intently as if she had just discovered the secret to the Grand Unification Theory.

"You see, Daddy, you collect these codes inside the cereal box. Then you type them in online on the internet. Then they send you a cool prize! Isn't that AWESOME?"

"It sure is awesome," I agreed. "Which prize are you thinking about getting?"

Katherine smiled broadly and spoke with the confidence of a six year-old. "Oh, I'm getting the Pocket Translator. It will let me speak in six different languages! I'll be able to speak to kids in Africa!"

(Katherine had just learned about the continents in school that week, and Africa made a big impression on her for some reason)

"Very cool," I stated, as I turned my attention to something else.

Fast forward about two weeks. Katherine brought me an empty box of "Mini-Wheats".

"Daddy, can we enter in these codes now?" Katherine asked.

"Sure," I answered, as I logged into the Kelloggs.com website.

After a few minutes of registering all my personal information and guaranteeing myself about a hundred more spam emails each day, we got to the point where you entered in the codes. We proceeded to enter in the codes found on the inside of the box.

Make that CODE. There was only one code per box.

For some reason, I thought there would be more than one code per box.

"Where do we get more codes, Daddy? Where is there more cereal?" asked Katherine.

Uh, oh. Problem.

You see, turns out Terri had gotten the box of "Mini-Wheats" on sale at a grocery outlet store where old boxes of cereal are sold. The "Cars 2" movie had premiered in early summer, and we were now in October.

While we still had until June 2012 to redeem our codes, we only had ONE code. We needed five more codes to get that pocket translator.

Now, at this point, let me confess that as child I was totally into free stuff that you could get for free from cereal boxes. X-Ray goggles? Got 'em.   Magic pen with invisible ink? Had that. Sea Monkeys? Please.

So when Katherine asked me how we were going to get more codes, I took it as a personal challenge. My daughter was NOT going to have her first try at a free cereal box prize end in failure!

I proceeded to do what any neurotic father would do in that situation. I drove down our local supermarkets and systematically began to dismantle the cereal isles in search of the cereal boxes that might still be carrying the "Cars 2" promotion.

At our local Safeway I hit pay dirt.

Luckily, this Safeway does not rotate their older items up to the front of the shelves, but continues to stack new boxes of cereal in front of older boxes of cereal. Hidden in back of the shelves I found what I was searching for.

Box after box after box of cereal boxes promoting a movie that went out of theaters over two months ago.

Below is a photo of the result of my quest. I would write more, but I will be busy for the next few days eating cereal and typing in codes. Important conversations with children in Africa awaits!!!

Speaking to kids in Africa is going to be AWESOME!

Ditching Dora

2011-09-05T02:05:00.000-07:00

The girls were watching "Dora the Explorer" tonight. They've watched the show with less frequency over the past year.

Tonight, as the "Map" was going through his usual routine of repeating everything he says three times so that babies can follow what he's saying, Caroline exploded.

Sitting on the edge of the couch, and yelling directly at the television, she shouted:

"OKAY, OKAY! WE GET IT. WE KNOW WHERE TO GO. GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!"

I laughed out loud, and Caroline looked at me and said, "I mean, why does he have to repeat himself so many times? We're not stupid."

I think Dora and company are not long for our household.

First Grade

2011-09-01T01:48:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two years since I last posted. The girls are now in first grade. FIRST GRADE.

Last night, before their first day of school, the girls went to bed very excited about starting school as "graders", as they called themselves. (You know, "First grade, second grade, etc." as opposed to "Kindergartners").

Around 1 a.m., I was still up (night owl), when I heard a noise in the girls' room.

I walked in to see Caroline sitting up in her bed, peaking out of her bedroom window from under the shades.

"What's wrong honey, did you hear something?" I asked.

Caroline turned to me quizzically, and said, "I'm just a little bit confused."

I thought she might be dreaming. "Are you having a bad dream?"

"No, I'm awake."

"What are you confused about?"

"I'm trying to figure out when it's time to wake up," she answered.

"Are you excited about school tomorrow?" I asked Caroline.

She broke into a wide grin and nodded.

"ME TOO!" shouted a voice from the other bed. Katherine popped her head out from under her covers.

We all started laughing. Then I laid down on the floor next to the girls' beds to help them fall back asleep.

My "graders" on their first day of school as first graders:

Hot and Naked

2009-04-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

It's 88 degrees in our house at 7:18 pm.

The girls are running around the house naked, screaming, "I'm nudey!"

Normally, I would discourage this type of behavior. But tonight, if they are cool, I am cool.

Quick Thinking 3 Year-Old

2009-03-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

On Saturday this past weekend we ate dinner at a friends house. Caroline had been playing in their backyard, and was riding a 3-wheeled scooter. She loved the thing.

Today in the car, Caroline asked the following to me and Terri:

Caroline: "Mommy?"

Terri: "Yes?"

Caroline: "Can I have a scooter?"

David: "I don't know, Caroline. Those are pretty expensive."

Caroline: "Well . . . (pausing to think). I think I saw one at Target."

David: "Really? How much did it cost?"

Caroline: "Ummm, about five dollars."

Later that same day, as we drove to dinner, Caroline brought up the subject again:

Caroline: "Mommy, I saw a scooter at Target. It was only three dollars."

Terri: "Three dollars? I thought you said you saw it for five dollars?"

Caroline (not pausing to think AT ALL): "No, the pink one was five dollars, but I saw a RED one for only three dollars."

I'm torn between being very, very proud of Caroline's analytical skills and quick-thinking, and very, very frightened of her ability to manipulate us!

No More Nap Time

2009-01-06T22:02:00.000-08:00

So the girls are slowly but surely starting to drop their afternoon naps.

Some days the girls are fine without the nap.

Other days, this happens during dinner:

Too tired to eat.

The great outdoors

2008-11-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

The great thing about California is the ability to enjoy the outdoors and all it offers. I'm determined to give the girls an appreciation for nature.

Last weekend, we took the girls up to Tahoe, where they got to see it snow for the first time.

Today, I took the girls on their first hike to the Edgewood County Park in San Mateo County. The girls said they had a good time because, "We got to play with sticks and get dirty!"

Katherine even did a full-on belly flop into some mud by mistake. Rather than cry, she shook it off and kept on hiking. I was very proud of her!

Here are some photos from our adventures:

The girls made a snowman.

Hanging out in front of the cabin.

Checking the trail map with their sticks.

Hiking!

Mountain fever made them silly!

Click on any photo for a larger view.

Change happens in small steps.

2008-11-06T01:38:00.001-08:00

Last night as we were watching Barack Obama's victory speech, the girls stopped playing "Candy Land" long enough to look up at the T.V.

The following conversation ensued:

Caroline: "Daddy, what's he doing?"

Me: "He's giving a speech."

Caroline: "Why?"

Me: "That's going to be our next President of the United States."

Caroline: "The black man?"

Me: "Yes."

Caroline: "Oh. He looks nice."

[Resumes playing Candy Land]

It occurred to be at that moment that Katherine and Caroline will grow up in a world where it's is NOT a big deal to have a person of color as President of the United States.

That thought made me very, very happy.

Thank you, Darth Vader!

2008-11-06T01:35:00.000-08:00

At their Halloween parade at daycare, one of the other fathers showed up dressed as Darth Vader.

The girls have never seen Star Wars, and didn't know who Darth Vader was. But something about the mask impressed them, because all week they've been walking around the house saying, "Thank you, Darth Vader!" in low, growling voices.

The Candy Organizing Gene

2008-11-04T00:34:00.000-08:00

All children must be born with a gene that instinctively teaches them how to dump out their bucket of Halloween candy and sort it into little piles.

How else do you explain me finding Caroline, without any prior instructions, in our living room doing this:

Caroline sorting her loot.

Here are some more photos from Halloween night:

We work hard for our candy in the Lim household.

2008-10-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

Even all the free candy tonight didn't sway Katherine's opinion that Halloween means a LOT of walking.

Our conversation toward the end of the evening:

Katherine: "Daddy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Katherine: "Can you pick me up?"

Me: "No, honey. If you want to get the candy, you have to walk up to the door."

(We walk in silence for a few feet)

Katherine: "Daddy?"

Me: "Yes?"

Katherine: "Is Halloween done yet? I'm tired."

Things Kids Say

2008-09-30T22:29:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I went into Radio Shack to buy a watch battery. The girls came in the store with me.

The store was empty, and quiet.

The man working at the register was a "bit" large.

The girls looked at him, turned to me, and shouted, "He's gonna have a baby!"

I was shocked that he still sold me the battery.

Sing along if you like.

2008-08-30T00:22:00.000-07:00

We have fun at our house. Here's proof:

Perspective

2008-08-25T23:52:00.001-07:00

We took the old Pack 'N Play crib out of storage last week to lend it out. The girls of course had no memory of the Pack 'N Play, but enjoyed playing with it nonetheless.

Watching the girls climb in and out of the crib with general ease made me realize with shock and horror just how quickly our "babies" are growing up.

I sifted through my photos of the girls and found a photo from January 15, 2006 (5 months old) to compare and contract with the current photo taken August 20, 2008 (36 months old).

To get a full appreciation of how big the girls have gotten, keep in mind that in both photos:

1. The Pack 'N Play is exactly the same size.
2. Big Bird is the same guy in both photos.

January 15, 1006 - 5 Months Old.

August 20, 2008 - 36 Months Old.

Click on either photo for a larger view.

Don't Take My Macaroni!

2008-08-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

Two nights ago, Caroline started crying and screaming. I went into her room, and she was sitting up in bed, eyes closed, screaming, "Don't take my macaroni!"

When I tried to pick her up to sooth her, she began hitting me (eyes still closed), crying, "I want my macaroni! I want my macaroni!"

There were three interesting observations I made even though it was 3 a.m.:

Caroline LOVES to eat. Even though she is smaller than Katherine, she packs down her food at almost every meal. That evening for dinner, she had polished off a big bowl of Kraft mac 'n cheese, so I wasn't convinced she was hungry.
During waking hours, Caroline never refers to it as "macaroni". We all refer to it as "mac 'n cheese".
For bedtime, Caroline had read the book, "Yankee Doodle", which of course, uses the word "macaroni".

So even though I was fairly certain Caroline was not talking about mac 'n cheese, we nonetheless heated up a bowl of mac 'n cheese. Caroline ate one bite, then promptly climbed back into bed and fell asleep. I'm not sure she ever fully woke up.

I guess we'll never know, but I wonder what Caroline was dreaming about. Yankee Doodle? A big bowl of mac 'n cheese? Daddy witholding food from her? It's a mystery!

Snack Hound

2008-07-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

Katherine LOVES to snack.

A sure fire way to get her to eat her dinner is to tell her, "No snack until you finish your dinner."

Cookies, crackers, jello, ice cream. There isn't a snack Katherine hasn't tried that she hasn't liked.

While Katherine certainly has a taste for snacks, it wasn't until tonight that I realized she also has a nose for it.

Tonight I had just put the girls to bed. I came outside and grabbed an oreo off the counter. I had taken ONE bite, and only ONE bite. Suddenly, Katherine started crying.

I swallowed my bite of cookie and went back inside the girls' room. Katherine wanted to say good night to me once more. So I let her say good night to me, then I bent over and kissed her on the cheek. Katherine stopped crying and her head snapped up at me.

"Daddy?" she asked.

"Yes?" I said.

"What are you eating?"

How in the world did she smell ONE bite of cookie? The girls is a blood-hound for snacks.

Katherine enjoying some ice cream!

I am so proud of my girls.

2008-06-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took the girls to Children's Fairyland for a birthday party. There was a kid-sized ferris wheel that the girls really wanted to ride. But they were a bit hesitant because it was their first "big" ride where they would have to ride without Mommy or Daddy.

But the great thing about having a twin sister is that you always have someone to help you be brave.

Here they are waiting in line:

Waiting for the Ferris Wheel

And then when their turn came to get on they had each other to lean on:

Safety in Numbers.

When they held hands, I was so proud of them!

The Magic of Sisterhood

2008-05-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

The girls have been in their own beds for a while now, but still have needed one of the parents to stay in the room until they fall asleep.

Until tonight. As I write, the girls are alone in their room, talking to one another . . . quietly.

They let Daddy leave the room while they held their books. They've been talking quietly together for the past five minutes, but they have not cried for us or gotten out of bed.

Five minutes later. They are asleep!

When I think about how many more wonderful nights they are going to have talking sister-to-sister before they drift off to sleep, it makes me smile.

Plus, now I can watch Sportscenter!

Things I am thankful for.

2008-05-13T18:08:00.000-07:00

When the girls fight on the way home from daycare over a teddy bear, crying and screaming at each other and tugging on the poor bear, I am thankful . . . for beer.

Goodie Bag Wars

2008-05-11T16:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to not one, but TWO different birthday parties for the girls. The girls got goodie bags at each party.

We made the mistake of letting them hold them on the way home, even though they did not get to eat anything in the goodie bags.

Dinnertime was horrible. Caroline refused to eat and kept clutching her goodie bag. The girls really understand the concept of candy now!

Finally, I had to lay down the law and take the goodie bags away until the girls finished their dinner. If you had been in our house while I pried the goody bag out of Caroline's hand, you would have thought I was beating her with a stick! Even then she didn't eat until I threatened her with bath and bedtime.

Lesson learned: No one gets to hold the goodie bag until after dinner.

On an upside, we had a wonderful time at the parties.

Fun at Pump It Up

These Are Our Mornings

2008-04-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

Looking at the photo below, can you tell which of the girls should NOT take an 8:00 am class when she gets to college?

Some people are morning people, some are not.

It is like this almost every morning. Katherine is the bluebird of happiness, Caroline the grumpy old man.

The Battle Against Sugar

2008-04-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

The battle in the Lim household against refined sugar officially ended on April 20, 2008.

We'd done a pretty good job for 2 years, 8 months of keeping the girls away from sugary cakes, cookies and candies.

However, today the girls ate birthday cake and for the first time actually seemed to enjoy it. They finished off the party with a huge Rice Krispie square. What made it even worse is that Katherine followed the cake around for a good five minutes before the candles were even lit, waiting for her piece of cake.

Here are some photos of the sugar binge and the birthday party, just to officially note the date of surrender:

Katherine enjoying her cake with frosting.

Caroline wouldn't look up at me because she was afraid I would take the cake away!

Devouring a Rice Krispie treat on the way home.

The effects of a sugar high.

Who knew 24 hour pharmacies were hot spots?

2008-03-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Last night around 9:00 p.m. Caroline was starting to wheeze and cough from a cold she caught over the weekend. Turns out it was a minor asthma attack brought on by the cold.

She is fine now, but I spent the better part of three hours with her in the emergency room, just to make sure.

By the time I got Caroline home and back into bed, it was close to 2:00 a.m., and I needed to have her prescription filled so that she could take her medicine first thing in the morning.

Terri found a 24-hour Walgreens near our house, and so at 2:05 am, I set out to fill Caroline's prescription.

I expected to find the Walgreens staffed by a single cashier, sitting on a stool behind the register of an empty, semi-lit store, reading a frayed copy of People magazine.

Instead, when I walked into the store, I was greeted by the blast of rock music blaring from a radio. Up and down each isle, stock workers were busy stocking shelves, each singing their version of the rock song in Tagalog. It was a like American Idol in the Twilight Zone!

There were actually two or three customers shopping in the store. And I'm not talking about people in their pajamas picking up a bottle of milk or diapers. One woman was pushing a cart going aisle by aisle as she scanned a list coupons held in her hand.

Who knew that Walgreens was a hot spot for Tagalog karaoke and all-night marathon shopping?

Truck Stops and Andy Capp

2008-03-07T22:42:00.000-08:00

So this weekend we were in Southern California for a wedding. We drove down Interstate 5.

We stopped in Los Banos, about 130 miles south of San Francisco, and stopped in a truck stop to let the girls run around (Yes, a truck stop. I realize it's not the best place to take a toddler for a break, but on the I-5, you take your breaks where you can find them.).

As the girls played with about 50 windchimes on display in the lobby of the diner (no one seemed to mind all the noise they made), my eyes were drawn to a sign:

"ANDY CAPP CHEDDAR FRIES!! On sale now! $0.79."

Andy Capp Cheddar Fries.

Now for those of you not into comic strips, Andy Capp is a long-running strip about some English guy and his wife. I remember Andy Capp comics very vividly because:

Andy Capp was featured prominently on the front page of the L.A. Times Sunday comics sections throughout the 70's and 80's, my formative Sunday-comics-reading stage.

Andy Capp was featured along with "Peanuts" on the front page of the L.A. Times comic section, so I figured any comic that shared the front page with "Peanuts" had to be funny, right?

I read Andy Capp faithfully for over 15 years with the above reasoning in mind.

In over 15 years of reading Andy Capp, it was NEVER FUNNY. Ever.

Most of the jokes had to do with Andy being lazy on the couch, or making fun of his wife. Or he would be at a bar and end up chasing someone angrily out of the bar. Occasionally he would play soccer, but being English, Andy Capp called it "football." That gag usually had Andy chasing someone around angrily for no good reason. Somtimes Andy would hit on some attractive girls, and then the gag would end with his wife chasing him around angrily. Like I said -- NEVER funny. Did I mention, "EVER"?

Andy Capp - Not funny.

So I hear I am in Los Banos, watching my kids with one eye, while my other eye is fixated on this ad for Andy Capp Cheddar Fries. I wondered, "Did I miss something in all those years of reading Andy Capp comics? Somebody must think that comic is funny or they wouldn't give him his own bag of chips, would they?"

And why in the hell was I seeing these chips for the first time in Los Banos?

Of course, I had to buy a bag. I plunked down my $0.79 and was rewarded with a bag of potato and corn sticks sprinkled liberally with orange cheddar-flavoring.

After eating the whole bag of chips while driving, I reached three conclusions:

Driving while eating greasy "cheddar fries" is hard, because it makes the wheel slick.
You get what you pay for.
Andy Capp Cheddar Fries are about as tasty as the Andy Capp comic strip was funny.

Below are some photos from our car trip NOT related to Andy and his fries:

Caroline reading in the car.

Katherine with her milk.

Hills along the I-5.

A red barn.

The new "improved" San Francisco Zoo

2008-03-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

You probably know that on Christmas Day 2007, a tiger escaped from the San Francisco Zoo, killing one person.

As members of the Zoo, we went back there about a week before the big cat exhibits were scheduled to reopen. All the newspapers said that the tiger exhibits were closed. Signs at the zoo said, "All big cats will not be on display until improved safety measures are put into place."

So imagine our surprise when we turned a corner and ran into this:

Um, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the creature I photographed above a . . . TIGER?

The same type of tiger that attacked and killed someone on Christmas Day?

The same tiger that the signs around the Zoo said "Were off exhibit for your safety and theirs"?

The tiger was about 12 feet from me, separated only by a thin wire mesh fence. Other than good common sense, there was nothing to prohibit me from sticking my hand through the cage.

A zoo employee who was standing nearby merely commented, "Aren't they magnificent?" To which I wanted to ask her, "What do you mean, 'they'? Isn't this the last one left after the other one got shot?" But good manners stopped me from making scene.

Luckily, we survived our encounter with the Big Cats, and took these other non-tiger photos:

Caroline & Katherine at the Meerkat Exhibit

(click on photo for larger view)

With Grandma checking out a big owl.

(click on photo for larger view)

Everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. A miracle!

(click on photo for larger view)

Grumpiness is Hereditary

2008-02-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

If I have any doubt that Caroline is my daughter, all I need to do is wake her up every morning.

It is safe to say that I am NOT a morning person. Caroline is exactly like me in this regard.

When I go into the girls' room to wake them up to get ready for school, Caroline will look up at me, then quickly roll over onto her stomach in the classic, "If I pretend I didn't see him, maybe he'll pretend not to see me."

If you try to say "Good morning!" to Caroline, she will quickly tell you, "No! Be quiet!" Trying to sing to her to raise her spirits is like poking a bear with a stick. A bear that has just woken up from her winter's hiberation, I might add.

When you pick her up to change her diaper (or have her sit on the toilet, as we begin potty training her), she screams bloody murder. If CPS were in the house at that very moment, they would probably take her from us just on the volume of her cries.

It is not until about 10-15 minutes have passed that Caroline will fully wake up and begin to interact. And it is only after she's had some milk or some cereal that she will feel ready to smile and give you a hug.

I hope she never has to take an 8:00 am class in college. I would fear for her roomates.

Throwing Away $$ At the Food Court

2008-02-24T14:15:00.000-08:00

Today is a rainy, windy day, so after church I took the girls to the local mall to run around.

The girls love to eat at the food court, so after checking out the patio furniture at Sears (much more entertaining for the girls than toys!), we headed over to the food court.

Feeding the girls has become so much easier now that they are 2 1/2 years old. No more packing bowls, utensils, or special cups. They can sit in adult chairs and eat with paper plates, plastic utensils, and love love love to have their own "adult" cups of water.

Today I ordered a Hot Dog On a Stick for Katherine, and a chicken burrito for myself and Caroline to share.

Katherine promptly gnawed about three bites of cornbread off the hot dog on a stick before proclaiming, "I don't like it." Katherine then proceeded to eat 1/2 of my burrito, but only the tortilla. Caroline picked apart her 1/4 of the burrito to eat all the black beans and tortilla, and left the rice, chicken, and cheese in small heaps on her paper plate.

The Hot Dog On a Stick cost me $2.75. The burrito set me back another $5.99, of which I ate 1/2. For about $1.00 I could have fed the girls a can of black beans and Mission brand tortillas from home!

Smile!

2008-02-03T22:14:00.001-08:00

For some reason, Katherine now poses for all her photos with this "smile":

Katherine's New Smile

(click on photo for larger view)

She thinks it's a good smile. I don't have the heart to tell her how silly it looks.

Of course, we can still catch her in a candid photo, where she looks like this:

The girls - January 2008

(click on photo for larger view)

Preschool Holiday Party

2007-12-17T10:15:00.000-08:00

The girls had their preschool holiday party, and was it ever a crazy scene. Hundreds of children running around juiced up on sugar and holiday cheer.

The girls had a good time. This is the first year they really "get" the whole holiday scene. Other than some crying when they first got up on stage (see video clips, below), the girls enjoyed running around, watching the older kids perform, and eating lots and lots of sugar.

The party ended late for the girls -- about 8:00 pm. I thought they'd fall asleep on the way home, but they were a bundle of energy after their pizza and cookies. They got home and kept on partying until about 11 pm, two hours past their bedtime.

It was a quiet Saturday morning in the Lim household!

Here are some video clips from the girls' holiday party.

** WARNING: Unless you are: 1) A Grandparent; or 2) A family member of one of the kids in the video; these videos are pretty dull. Nothing exciting happens in them, so you may want to skip them unless you are in one of the above categories.

Caroline Caroling

2007-12-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of the holidays, here is Caroline in her movie debut, singing her version of "Jingle Bells".

Note: Listen closely to the background for the review of her singing from her sister.

Santa Claus, Part II

2007-12-10T22:40:00.001-08:00

As you'll recall, last year, we took this photo of the girls with Santa Claus:

Who is this guy, and why are we sitting on this lap?

(click on photo for larger view)

We figured this year, we had a better shot of getting the girls to take a decent photo with the guy in the big red suit. After all, we reasoned, they are a year older.

To increase our chances, we started a subtle PR campaign aimed at enhancing Santa's image in our girls' eyes. For the weeks leading up to our visit to the mall, we:

Showed the girls T.V. shows and movies with Santa in them.
Sang "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" (See previous post)
Asked them what they wanted Santa to bring them for Christmas.

The brainwashing seemed to be working. In the week leading up to our mall visit, the girls walked around confidently proclaiming, "I want to take a picture with Santa!"

When the big day arrived, we dressed the girls up in their best Christmas dresses and took them over to our local mall.

Ultimately, this is the photo we ended up with:

(click on photo for larger view)

Here are some things you may or may not have noticed about this photo:

Terri and I are in the photo. This is because Santa absolutely refused to let the girls sit on his lap. You heard me. He refused. You'll notice this is an older, more authentic Santa than from the previous year. This Santa, being older and wiser, had no hesitancy in having his helper state, "If there's a chance the girls will kick him, they can't sit on Santa's lap." So Terri and I ended up sitting next to Santa, and holding onto our girls.
Katherine is still crying this year, but at least this year she wasn't trying to leap out of the photograph.
Caroline looks at this photo and is proud of stating, "I'm not crying." However, what you can't see in the photo is Caroline fearfully digging her nails into Daddy's chest and arm, causing them to bleed.
Notice the forced smile on Santa's face. It seems to be saying, "They don't pay me enough for this gig. And with this guy sitting on my right hip, I can't reach my flask."

I can't wait to see what next year's photo will look like!

Tough Crowd.

2007-12-05T22:23:00.001-08:00

You will notice I haven't been posting as many photos recently. That's because I've made the family photo archives more easily accessible. Just look on the right hand column of this site, and you will see direct links to the most recent photos of our family, as well as a link to the entire photo and video archive site. The archives have a minimal password protection so that only friends and family will be able to look at the site: Just login as "guest" and type in the name of the town David was born and raised in (all lower case). Pretty easy, huh?

On to today's entry:

The girls continue to be my toughest critics. I've been battling a cold for the past week, and lost my voice the past few days. So my voice has cracked and croaked whenever I've tried to talk, much less sing.

With that background, the following exchange took place in the car earlier this week:

Caroline: Daddy?

Daddy: Yes, Caroline?

Caroline: Sing "Santa Claus" (Short for "Santa Claus is Coming to Town")

Daddy: Okay. (Cough, cough.)

Daddy: Oh, you better not pout (cough), you better not cry (croak), you better not . . .

Caroline & Katherine: Daddy!

Daddy: Yes?

Katherine: Turn on the radio.

I Hate Caillou

2007-11-27T22:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, "hate" is a strong word. Let's just say Caillou bugs the heck out of me right now.

"Caillou" for those who don't know is a cartoon show about a four year-old kid on PBS. Here he is:

I think he's French-Canadian. I'm pretty sure he's Canadian, and with a name like "Caillou" I just assume he's got some French heritage in there.

Anyway, Caillou is the new favorite show for the girls, having recently supplanted "Sesame Street."

What annoys me most about Caillou is that the kid rarely throw a temper tantrum. And the kid always listens to his parents after they tell him something once.

An example:

Caillou: I want to play with my car!

Mommy: It's time for bed now Caillou. Why don't we put your car on your table, and it will be there when you wake up.

Caillou: Okay, Mommy!

In our house, this same scenario would play out this way:

Caroline: I want to play with my car!

Daddy: It's time for bed now Caroline. Why don't we put your car on your table, and it will be there when you wake up.

Caroline: No! I want my car! Go away, Daddy!

Now before one of you with no child or a degree in child behavioral development points out to me that the point of "Caillou" is to model correct behavior in children, let me say: I know, I know.

But it still doesn't mean I have to like the agreeable little you-know-what.

Tough Love Works . . . Sometimes

2007-11-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

Just when you think you can't do anything right as a father and that your kids have totally gained control of the household, things like the last two nights happen.

The scene: I am putting Caroline to bed. Caroline gets in bed, but then plays with her book, plays with her stuffed animals, or sits up to look around the room.

Both nights, after about five minutes of this, I've looked at her with my most serious expression, and with my sternest voice I've said, "Enough. Caroline, lay down, go to sleep." I then kiss her and tell her one more time, "Good night. Time for bed."

Both nights, Caroline has rolled over and fallen asleep without a protest or a wimper.

I am, like, the best Dad ever.

(Or at least until tomorrow night when she keeps me up until midnight.)

We've Turned a Corner

2007-11-14T14:39:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we took the girls to eat at our local mall.

As we sat down to eat our "Food Court" food, another couple with a single toddler about the same age as the girls sat down next to us.

The parents dutifully set out a booster chair which they had brought with them, along with a plastic bowl, plastic fork, and cloth bib. They then wiped down the table with antiseptic wipes.

Our girls looked over at the family of three with interest. They were eating with plastic forks you get with your food, out of paper plates we grabbed from the food line, on a table we had half-heartedly wiped down with a dry napkin. As the girls watched the little boy eat, their shirts were stained with teriyaki sauce since they weren't wearing a bib.

I think we've overcome our phobia of keeping our girls "super clean". We've turned a corner as parents -- good or bad, we've turned a corner!

We have fun in our house

2007-10-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Lest I forget in years to come, this age is a FUN age with the girls. We have fun in our house every single day. Here are some examples to help me remember the fun things we did when they were two years old:

Hugging each other just because.

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Mugging for the camera!

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Caroline giving her baby a ride on her shoulders,

the way Daddy gives her a ride on his shoulders.

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Built "Ford" Tough

2007-10-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Last week the girls were playing their new favorite game, "Hide 'N Go Seek". Katherine had run into their bedroom, while Caroline stayed out in the family room with me, counting.

Unfortunately, the girls are not yet entirely clear on the concept of "Hide 'N Go Seek", because as soon as Caroline stopped counting and started to run into the bedroom, Katherine immediately left her hiding place and ran out towards the family room.

Caroline turned the corner to the hallway leading to the bedroom just as Katherine turned the same corner coming from the opposite direction. Both were running at full speed.

The result was a spectacular collision that sent both girls falling backwards onto our hardwood floor.

Now, I'll admit that as a father of twins, I've become pretty good at not overreacting to falls. With twins, someone is always falling, and you can't be there to catch them all the time.

But this fall got me up pretty quick. First, it sounded loud. Second, both girls literally fell backwards onto their backs from the force of the collision.

Naturally, both girls were crying hysterically.

I picked both girls up, kissed them, consoled them, and got them their "owie" ice packs.

I watched them closely to make sure they weren't more seriously hurt.

Then, about one minute later, I took the photo below. I'll let you decide if they were badly hurt from their collision.

Ready to start playing again.

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All Aboard!

2007-09-30T22:24:00.000-07:00

Every day when I take the girls to school, we see the local commuter train pass us by. The girls get very excited, and every day they ask me, "Daddy, go on train?"

So this weekend, we took the girls to the Zoo to ride the train. They had a blast.

Riding on the Little Puffer Steam Train.

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Katherine and Mom on the train!

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Caroline consulting her map just before the train ride.

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We also went to see the bears. Katherine is going through a faze where she does not like to get too close to see the animals, which explains this "back up!" look on her face in this photo.

Too close to the animals for Katherine's comfort.

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I also got this cool shot of some grizzly bears:

Grizzly Bears.

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Just Wait

2007-09-23T13:10:00.000-07:00

So today we were at our weekly Target outing waiting in the checkout line to pay for some things.

Katherine was getting antsy about the wait, so she starting jumping around. She tripped, and fell on her stomach. Luckily, she is so good at falling she wasn't hurt.

However, she fell right in front of a young lady wearing a HUGE engagement ring. The young lady looked down at Katherine (who smiled up at her), then looked over at me with a contemptuous look that suggested, "Can't you control your child?"

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I considered a little jumping and falling pretty darned good behavior in the checkout line! I had to bite my tongue to tell the young lady, "Call me in five years when you have a child, and I'll dare you to give me the same look you just gave me!"

*****************************

Some photos of the girls:

Caroline predicted good things for the Bruins this week against Washington, when she chose this hat to wear to school on Friday. I swear I didn't pick it out for her! UCLA prevailed, 44-31.

Go Bruins!

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We had our first storm of the season, signaling the end of summer. The girls were trying on their new jackets from grandma:

Ready for Fall weather.

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Overheard in the car on the way home from daycare.

2007-09-06T22:55:00.001-07:00

I was distracted listening to a program on the radio when the girls were trying to get my attention:

Katherine: Daddy?

Caroline: Daddy?

Katherine: Daddy?

Caroline: Daddy?

Katherine: DADDYYYY!

Caroline: DADYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Still no response from Dad.

Caroline: DAVID!

That got my attention!

Favorite phrases this week.

2007-09-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Caroline: "I funny!"

(Any time she does something that she thinks is very, very funny -- which is just about anything that makes her laugh.)

Katherine: "My Daddy!"

(Part of a game we play. My response is, "My daughter!" She then repeats "My Daddy!" We will keep this game going for quite a while. I am hoarding all this love and attention towards the day when she makes me drop her off at the mall a block away so her friends won't see me.)

Good times at the Lim House.

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Same good times as above, but this time Caroline is looking at the camera (sort of).

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And they're off!

2007-08-30T21:52:00.001-07:00

This afternoon I took the girls down to the horse racing track.

Now, I know that normally the above sentence might cause some of you to place a call to Child Protective Services to report me, but before you do that, let me explain

A co-worker of mine recently invested in a horse named "GoinWest". Today he was running his third race ever at Bay Meadows, so he invited a number of us to come cheer him on. I thought it would be a great opportunity to let the girls see live horses close up.

I was half right.

Caroline had a great time. She climbed up on the fence rails and looked at all the horses, exclaiming, "Oh! Pretty horse!"

Katherine just cried. I think she was overwhelmed by the large size of an actual horse (as opposed to her stuffed animal horse, which is much smaller, and much more manageable!).

This photo sort of tells it all:

Checkin' Out the Horses Before the Race

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Still, we had a great time. Our gracious host brought us into the "owners lounge" where there were free drinks including . . . free cups of ice! The girls were in heaven, since they love to play with ice.

They also got their first smell of cigarette smoke up close and personal, and I'm glad to say they proclaimed it, "Stinky!"

As for the race itself, it was bittersweet.

Goinwest finished third, which was a great finish for him.

However, the race he ran in was called a "claiming race" which in summary means someone else had a chance to buy him before the race. And someone did buy him! Bought him right away from my co-worker after his great race. I don't pretend to know a lot about horse racing (this was only my third time ever to a horse racing track), so the concept of a "claiming race" is not entirely clear to me, but if you want to know more, you can click here.

Here are some more shots of my friend's "pretty horse", as Caroline called him!

Goinwest before the race

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Getting ready to race!

(Before we knew someone else bought him!)

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Time for College Football

2007-08-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

College football season is my favorite sports season of the year. And by "College football season" I really mean, UCLA Football Season!

Two weekends ago we went to the "Stanford Fan Fest" to check out the new Stanford Stadium. We also were hoping to score some free goodies and free food for the girls (feeding twins is expensive, you know!)

Being a UCLA fan, I couldn't go to the "Stanford Fan Fest" without decking the girls out in their best UCLA gear. Terri talked me out of wearing my UCLA shirt, claiming, "The football players will KILL you!"

Turns out she may have been right. While taking the first photo below, I had the audacity to ask a Stanford football player alum to take a photo for us. He looked at the girls' t-shirts, then said, "Not until they take off those shirts." He wasn't smiling when he said it, but he took the photo anyway.

Dressed for the Bruins at the Stanford Fan Fest.

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By the way, Stanford's home opener on September 1 is against -- The UCLA Bruins.

Go Bruins!

Here is another photo from the Fan Fest, plus a photo of the girls wearing their Dodger hats. Katherine always insists on wearing her hat in "rally mode" for some reason . . .

UCLA will be running back their touchdowns that way --->.

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Go Dodger Blue!

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Shhh! Babies sleeping!

2007-08-21T22:39:00.001-07:00

For their second birthday, the girls received a gift of baby dolls from their aunt, along with matching strollers.

The girls love their dolls. They push them around the house. They pretend to put them to sleep. They even feed them dinner.

Their favorite new toys.

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Mmmmmm!.

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This past weekend, I fell asleep on the couch in the afternoon, and the girls left me one of their babies to keep me company (I didn't even wake up when they put the baby on me!). They then walked around the house quietly, whispering to Terri, "Mommy . . . Shhhh! Daddy and baby sleeping!"

Shhh! Daddy and Baby sleeping!

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The Anti-Linus

2007-08-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

God looks after little children and foolish fathers.

Last night Caroline spit up while going to sleep. Nothing major, but enough that she got a little bit on her blanket.

This evening, Daddy remembered that he needed to wash Caroline's blanket, and dutifully placed it in the washing machine.

However, Daddy forgot to look at the clock, because he started the load of laundry after 7:00 pm, meaning the blanket was not available come bedtime.

Mommy placed a different blanket into Caroline's bed, and we prayed that Caroline might not notice her blanket was missing.

So at bedtime, the lights are out, Caroline has her milk, her stuffed monkey, and an entirely different blanket in her bed.

Here's what happened:

Caroline lays down. Daddy sits on the edge of the bed, barely breathing.

Caroline starts to drink her milk.

Caroline sits up.

She looks at monkey.

She looks around the bed.

She lifts up her pillow and looks under the pillow.

She leans over and looks over the edge of her bed.

Caroline: Daddy?

Daddy: Yes, Caroline?

Caroline: Blanket?

Daddy: I don't know where your blanket is. (Note: Daddy is so scared, he's lying to his daughter!)

Caroline: Daddy?

Daddy: Yes, Caroline?

Caroline: Blanket. (a little more forcefully this time).

Daddy: Okay. Here's the truth. It's in the wash. Daddy is cleaning it. It will be back tomorrow. Here's a nice blanket Mommy got for you. Isn't it nice?

Caroline stares at Daddy for an eternity (actually about five seconds).

Caroline picks up the replacement blanket. Caroline rubs her face in the new blanket.

Caroline: Nice!

Caroline lays down and falls asleep.

Daddy sneaks outside and drinks a beer.

What we talk about on the way to school.

2007-08-01T22:56:00.000-07:00

Conversation between Katherine and Daddy on the way to and from daycare every single day:

Katherine: Daddy?
Daddy: Yes, Katherine?
Katherine: Bus (pointing to a truck on the freeway).
Daddy: That's not a bus, it's a truck.
Katherine: Truck.
Daddy: Yes, very good Katherine.
(pause for about . . . 1 second)
Katherine: Daddy?
Daddy: Yes, Katherine?
Katherine: Bus. (pointing to another truck on the freeway)

Conversation between Caroline and Daddy on the way to and from daycare every single day.

Caroline: Daddy?
Daddy: Yes, Caroline?
Caroline: "E-I-E-I-O"?
Daddy: You want me to sing "E-I-E-I-O"?
Caroline: Yes.
Daddy: (singing) Old MacDonald had a farm . . .
Caroline: Daddy!
Daddy: Yes, Caroline?
Caroline: Shhh!
Daddy: Oh, sorry!
(silence . . . for about 1 second)
Caroline: Daddy?
Daddy: Yes, Caroline?
Caroline: "E-I-E-I-O"?

***************************************

As promised, here are some photos from our vacation to San Diego last week:

Caroline & Mommy.

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Caroline at a water park.

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Katherine driving a boat.

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Mission Beach, San Diego.

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Summer Vacation

2007-07-28T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just got back from a weeklong vacation in San Diego with the extended family -- my sisters, parents, and all of the girls' cousins. Photos to follow sometime this week, but for now, here are the highlights:

We went to the San Diego Zoo, and the girls' favorite animal to view was a California Raccoon. You heard me, a friggin' RACCOON. If you've followed this site, you will recognize the irony of this situation.
Katherine threw up on the plane ride home. Like any good parent, I deftly caught the vomit in my hands, conveniently forgetting about the handy barf bags tucked into the seat pocket in front of me.
We flew back home early this morning. The girls passed out this evening around 5:30 pm. Vacations are exhausting!

Old MacDonald, Ghetto-Style

2007-07-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

Katherine has gone urban on us. Having sung "Old MacDonald" for the last few months, she has changed the refrain over the last few days.

Old Version: "E-I-E-I-O!"

New Version: "E-I-E-I - HO!"

Unclear why she made that change, but she says the "HO!" with a bit too much enthusiasm for my comfort!

Can a career as the next Salt 'N Pepa be far behind?

Relaxing Summer Weekends

2007-06-24T22:29:00.000-07:00

In honor of the first official summer weekend, we took the girls to their first swimming lesson at the local park.

Here are the girls in their new swimsuits:

Ready to learn to swim.

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No photos at the pool. Too many safety issues / crying / screaming around the pool. Maybe next week.

This weekend we also had a moon rise early in the evening, giving the girls a chance to "talk" to the moon. It's something they've been doing for the past few weeks. Whenever they see the moon, they'll cry out, "Hi, Moon!" I'm not even sure where they learned what the moon is.

Here is the moon from our living room, plus the girls sharing a laughing moment on the reclining chair:

The moon over the Lim House.
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Katherine & Caroline enjoying a laughing moment together.
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Happy Father's Day

2007-06-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

Since it would extremely egocentric to write about myself on Father's Day, today I'll take a moment to digress from telling you about the life and times of Katherine and Caroline, and take this opportunity to say "Happy Father's Day" to their grandfather ("Yeh-Yeh" in Chinese), and my Father, Harry Lim.

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa!

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Anyone who would like to see some photos of Yeh-Yeh before he was "Yeh-Yeh" (in fact before he was a Father!), and was a jet-setting man about town, we collected some photos for his birthday celebration earlier this year. I've posted a few on our family website.

So to see Yeh-Yeh when he looked like this:

Click HERE.
(When prompted, userid = "guest", password = "montebello".)

Random Twin Comic Strip

2007-06-07T21:47:00.000-07:00

Today's post comes courtesy of Josh, the blogger at The Comics Curmudgeon. If you have not bookmarked this blog site, I highly recommend it. It is always good for a chuckle.

I thought of what I might write to add to the comic strip and comments below, but I really have nothing to add. I just thought it was funny.

ComicToday’s Hi and Lois takes on the tough issue of twin-on-twin violence. I have to say that I’m actually a little creeped out by the way Ditto is slowly and deliberately rolling up the sleeve on his punchin’ arm, while Dot stands a few feet away, cringing in terror, but not fleeing. Fortunately, mom is on the case, making sure that Ditto merely humiliates and degrades his sister verbally.

Baaaaaad Monkey!

2007-06-06T23:07:00.000-07:00

Since the girls have been old enough to climb into normal sized chairs, we have been pretty consistent in enforcing the "sit down" rule. That is: No standing, jumping, or otherwise playing on chairs.

We enforce this rule with two phrases: "Sit down, please", and "Sit down . . . on your butt!"

The second phrase is often used because the girls like to squat in their chairs pretending to sit, but will then use the opportunity to spring in the air like a jumping jack. (Of course in their minds, Mommy or Daddy will always be there to catch them before they crash to the ground!)

So tonight before bed we were reading their favorite books before bedtime, and for the thousandth time, we read their Curious George book, which has this photo on the last page:

Upon seeing this photo, my girls, for the first time, cried out: "Monkey! Sit down . . . on your butt!"

At least I know they've been listening to me all this time.

No Raccoons, Part II

2007-05-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Katherine's fear of raccoons is growing, and we haven't even seen one in over two weeks.

Tonight, I left the shade to one window in the girls' room open, and the window slightly open due to the fact that it is a very warm night.

Katherine absolutely refused to lay down in her bed until I shut the window and lowered the shades. All she kept repeating was, "No raccoots. No raccoots."

I'm wondering if I should buy a stuffed animal raccoon, or if that would just be flinging fuel on the fire.

Tomorrow we learn to do the "Hustle"

2007-05-18T22:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to me, when Katherine holds the "Little People" construction worker, shown here:

she now starts to sing the song "YMCA" by the Village People. She even does the hand spell-out.

Is it child abuse to expose my kids to 70's disco-pop?

Feel free to sing along with us:

YMCA - By The Village People

Daddy's Disco Partner.

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Pet's Welcome -- Kids, Not So Much.

2007-05-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I picked the girls up from daycare a little early, and remembered that we needed to buy more cat food for our cat, Tabby.

I thought the girls would have a good time coming to PetSmart with me and seeing the birds, fishes, etc. After all, what kid doesn't like looking at pets in a pet store?

Unfortunately, I forgot about PetSmart's motto, "Pet's Welcome".

As we were waiting in line to buy the cat food, with me holding a 20-pound bag of "Meow Mix", a woman walked up behind us with a very large dog.

The girls screamed bloody murder.

They tried to climb up my leg as if their lives depended on it. And in their minds, their lives probably did depend on it.

What was most amusing was the reaction of the other customers, most of them carrying/walking their pets (mostly dogs) with them.

They looked annoyed, as if my girls had some nerve screaming over their dogs!

Kids not welcome.

Drama Queens

2007-05-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Not even two years old yet, and already the girls are budding drama stars.

Here's how it all went down at the Lim Household tonight.

Mommy is taking a shower, and Daddy is watching the NBA playoffs with the girls.

Suddenly, Caroline screams out. Daddy looks down, and Katherine is biting Caroline's finger (We've had a full-on biting epidemic in the past week -- hopefully it will be a short-lived phase).

After Daddy gets Katherine to unhinge her jaw off Caroline's finger, Daddy checks the finger (no blood, just tiny bite marks, thank goodness).

Daddy gives a stern talking to Katherine that goes something like this: "Katherine, no biting! No! Daddy is very disappointed in you! Daddy does not like biting. No biting your sister."

Katherine just looks at me. No crying. No laughing. Just looks me in the eye and takes her lecture calmly.

At my request, Katherine gives a lukewarm hug and kiss to her sister at my request. Caroline, still crying bloody murder, take the opportunity to repeat my lecture through her sobs, "No! No bite! NO!"

I get Caroline an "ow-y" ice pack for her finger. Katherine follows us into the kitchen, and asks for some ice to play with, too.

I tell Katherine, "No ice for you. No biting your sister. No ice."

Katherine just looks up at me, then walks to the cabinet where her school lunch bags are kept.

She grabs all four lunch bags in the cabinet, heads to the door leading to our garage, looks over at me, and states, "Bye-bye, Daddy!"

JEEZ!! -- I thought I had until at least five years old for the "I'm running away from home" bit!!!

(Unfortunately for Katherine, the bluff of running away from home works better if you are actually able to unlock and open a door.)

********************

The dramatics was not confined to Katherine, however.

Twenty minutes after the biting incident, Caroline, Katherine and I are all sitting on the couch once more, drinking milk from our sippy cups.

(Okay, I'm drinking water, but you get the idea).

Caroline hasn't cried for over 15 minutes.

Until . . . .

Mommy comes out of the bedroom from her shower.

Suddenly, Caroline is screaming "Owwwwwiiieeeee!" at the top of her lungs, holding up her injured finger for Mommy to see.

I tell Caronline, "Oh, you're just faking so Mommy will pick you up."

Caroline, from the safe cradle of Mommy's arm, shoots me a look that I swear says, "Quiet, you. It was because you were watching the stupid TV that I got bit on the finger in the first place!"

About 20 minutes later, Mommy is busy getting things ready for bed, and Caroline decides she wants some more attention.

She runs up to Mommy holding up her finger, screaming, "Owwwwwwieee!"

This time, however, Mommy is onto the scam.

"Caroline, you're holding up the wrong finger. You got bit on your right finger. That's your left finger."

At that point Caroline at least had the dignity to put her hand down and walk away!

********************

Here are some photos of our girls from earlier in the day, before all the drama. We got this playhouse free from another family whose kids have outgrown it:

Katherine in the new playhouse.

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Caroline checking out the windows.

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No Raccoons Served Here

2007-05-04T00:05:00.000-07:00

We have a new bedtime ritual in the Lim household.

Ever since we moved back into our house following our remodel over a year ago, a family of three raccoons moved back in with us. They come almost every night to our back patio door and feed off any scraps of food which our cat Tabby has left in her bowl.

Thanks to our free nightly buffet, the raccoons are now pretty good-sized.

Caroline and Katherine never really paid much attention to them -- until about a month ago.

About four weeks ago the girls were suddenly VERY aware of our nightly visitors, and VERY scared of them.

I can't say I blame them. The raccoons standing on their hind legs are taller than the girls are.

The site of a raccoon coming to our back patio door (and triggering our motion sensor lights) will send both girls scrambling up our legs and into our arms no matter where we are in the house.

So now, before the girls go to bed, they take us by the hand, and lead us around to both the patio door and the side door. They look out the doors, peer into the darkness, then turn to us and very solemnly state:

"No raccoots."

The kitchen is closed.

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If the raccoons just happen to actually be at the doors when the girls do their rounds, well . . . let's just say bedtime is postponed for a little bit!

The Scoop on Poop * Pea Juice & Vienna Sausages * Two Plus Two Equals Trouble! * Contest of the Day.

2007-05-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Today I'm hitting four different subjects. Why? One, because I've been behind on posting updates on the girls. But more importantly, because the girls have fallen asleep early, giving me more time on the computer!

THE SCOOP ON POOP

Tonight I am the proudest Dad in the world.

After only TWO days of potty training, Katherine took her first poop into her toilet.

That's right -- TWO days of training, and my girl has got the hang of it.

The secret that Mom learned was to read the girls a book as they sat on their thrones.

After all, who doesn't like a good read to help move things along?

Caroline & Katherine discovering the comfiest seats in the house.

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PEA JUICE AND VIENNA SAUSAGES

Just a short four weeks ago, we had perfect eaters. Caroline and Katherine would happily eat just about anything you put in front of them. At the very least, they were open to trying things.

Then in just the past four weeks, the girls, Katherine especially, have become very picky eaters.

Katherine learned to say, "Don't want!" very forcefully, and uses those two words to great effect during mealtimes.

Two items the girls like right now, however, are two items I never really thought about giving the girls.

First, the girls love to drink the juice from a can of peas. Yep, you heard right, the friggin' juice from a can of peas.

Second, the girls love Vienna sausages, or as my friend calls them: chemical sausages.

Two months ago I would have been opposed to giving my girls tightly compressed pork, chicken, and beef fillings. But that was when the girls were still happily eating baked chicken breasts, or ground turkey over rice. Nowadays, when I'm worried about the girls having had zero protein for the last two days, if they want Vienna sausages, then by golly, they get Vienna sausages!

Mmmm . . . chemically compressed meat!

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TWO PLUS TWO EQUALS TROUBLE!

Question: What do you get when you have twins nearing the age of 2?

Answer: Two very harried and harrassed parents!

The girls have officially entered what is commonly known as "The Terrible Twos."

Some common vocabulary heard around the Lim household from Katherine and Caroline nowadays:

"Don't want!"
"Mine!"
"Noooooooooooooo!" (Usually followed by full face-down body-flop onto the floor)

Some common vocabulary heard around the Lim household from Mom and Dad nowadays:

Stop pulling your sister's hair!
Don't stand on that chair!
No hitting / biting / kicking your sister!
Don't throw that cup / plate / fork / chair / chainsaw!
(Just kidding about the chainsaw. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention!)
Get up off the store floor!
Put that diaper back on!

Yet for all their shennanigans, the girls are still a lot of fun, especially when they look like this:

Having fun inbetween temper tantrums!

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CONTEST OF THE DAY

In an effort to generate more comments to this blog site, I'm initiating a "Contest of the Day".

You see, I know you are all out there, because I have a counter attached to this site, and so I know that a good number of people come to this site throughout the day. Sure, I'm no Sarah and the Goon Squad, but there are a fairly decent number of regular visitors to this site, and I know who you are! Based just on the comments from this site, if I didn't have a counter logging the number of visitors, I would have long ago abandoned this site as one lonely father's empty musings on the internet.

So here is the contest. I will post a photo with a question. You answer the question right, you get a prize. Simple enough, no?

So here's the photo, and the person who answers the accompanying question correctly gets something out of our garage (i.e., a tube of bathroom caulk) or kitchen pantry (probably not a can of peas, we need the juice):

Question: Something has scared Caroline at the Union Street Fair. What scared her?

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Belated Easter Egg Hunting Photos

2007-04-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

I figure any event less than a month ago is still fair game for a blog post, so here are some belated Easter Egg hunting photos of the girls.

The girls LOVED looking for Easter Eggs this year. We took them to a local nursery where they hunted for eggs among the plants. However, we forgot our camera, so we don't have any photos.

On Easter Saturday, we took the girls to our Church for an Easter Egg hunt in the parking lot. The girls had a great time. They actually "got it" this year, scooping up eggs and placing them in their basket. Caroline got bored after putting about six eggs in her bucket, and proceeded to stop and try to open each egg. Katherine, on the other hand, really raked in the loot, and didn't stop until her bucket was full!

And "yes", we were too cheap to spring for an Easter basket for Caroline, so she is carrying her Halloween bucket with spiders on it . . .

Caroline with egg and bucket.

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Katherine having a great time with Mommy.

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After the Easter Egg hunt, we took the girls to the local playground and took these action shots:

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You can tell I'm going fast because the wind is blowing my hair back . . .

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Parent Humor

2007-04-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

This comic strip is so RIGHT ON -- that Elmo has completely overshadowed Grover.

Baby Blues
by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Growing Up TOO Darned Fast

2007-04-13T09:21:00.000-07:00

This morning when I brought the girls to day care, they were short a few teachers, so I dropped the girls off in the "preschool room" as opposed to the "toddler room".

The girls LOVE the preschool room. First, it's much bigger, with more toys. Also, the preschoolers are really great with the girls, and the girls love hanging out with the "big girls".

When the girls noticed me wheeling them down the long hallway between the toddler room and the preschool room, they audibly squealed with delight. And once we actually got into the preschool room, the couldn't unbuckle themselves from the stroller fast enough.

As soon as I set them on the ground, they ran off to climb the big wooden blocks.

No hug goodbye for Daddy.

No kiss goodbye for Daddy.

No running and crying after Daddy as I backed out of the room.

I have been replaced by the preschool room.

My girls are growing up WAY too fast.

Vigilante Justice - Twin Style

2007-04-06T22:39:00.000-07:00

It is a constant source of amusement to me how the girls help me enforce the rules against their sibling.

The biggest taboo in our house are the electrical outlets. For some unfortunate reason, the girls took a curious interest to them from the time they could walk, and so I've been very tough about yelling "No" and being very stern when they start to reach their little finger towards the sockets (even though they are obviously covered with safety plugs).

Yesterday, as I was getting ready for work, the girls were standing behind me as I stood in the bathroom brushing my teeth. From the mirror, I could see Katherine reach out for the electrical socket in the wall . . .

Before I could turn around however, Caroline yelled, "Don't!" and hit Katherine twice on the head. Then, for good measure, Caroline pushed Katherine away from the electrical outlet, dropping Katherine on her behind.

Now I don't condone hitting, so I know I should have said something to Caroline. But I was too busy trying not to have toothpaste come out of my nose from laughing so hard.

See any resemblance?

"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do 'ya, punk?"

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Multiple on Multiples

2007-04-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

I will never complain about how hard it is to raise twins again.

(Or at least not for the next week. Or maybe just until bath time tonight.)

On Saturday our friends who had triplets came by our house for dinner.

You heard me: triplets.

They are about 4 months old, and very well-behaved.

Still, there are three of them. Add that to our two girls running around the house, and you had chaos.

Seriously, the babies outnumbered the adults 5-4. Add to the fact that our friends visited while UCLA was playing the in the Final Four, and it was more like 5-3, because I spent most of the time yelling at the television and ignoring the kids (UCLA lost by ten to Florida. Go Ohio State!).

The greatest comment of the night was from my friend John, who, while holding two babies in each arm while his wife held the third, stated in all seriousness, "Man, I just heard of a local family who had four babies. I don't know how they do it!"

After our friends left, the sound of my two girls running around the house actually sounded quiet.

Baptism Video

2007-03-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

Katherine and Caroline were baptized this weekend. Here is a video of the moment, thanks to my friend Laurel. You can hear both girls crying, "No, no, no!" as we bend them over the basin:

Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

UCLA in the Final Four

2007-03-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Another break from the Lim girls for some photos from San Jose, California, where the UCLA Bruins Men's basketball team completed a 68-55 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Western Regional Finals, to advance to the Final Four in Atlanta -- their second Final Four in two years.

GO BRUINS!

The Bruins take the floor in San Jose

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The Final Score: UCLA 68, Kansas 55.

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Awards ceremony after the game.

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My nephew Jonathan after the game.

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Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!!

2007-03-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

A huge developmental step in the life of the Lim Twins this evening. Disturbing, yet huge.

The girls have been pushing each other, and fighing over toys and attention for quite a while now. But up until tonight, the pushing and fighting has been one-sided -- one twin pushing the other, and the other coming to Mommy and Daddy crying about the injustices in life.

Tonight, however, the girls went TOE-TO-TOE in a pushing contest royale. Right in front of me, to boot.

It started innocently enough. Caroline had a toy. Katherine wanted it.

Katherine tried to take it by pushing Caroline.

Up until tonight, the usual response would have been Caroline crying towards me, pleading for intervention.

Not tonight.

When Katherine pushed Caroline, Caroline took a step back but she didn't fall.

She looked Katherine in the eye.

Then she pushed Katherine back.

Katherine didn't fall. She looked Caroline back in the eye, and pushed Caroline even harder.

The girls then locked arms and began to tug and grunt at each other, simulteouly trying to push each other over and grab at the toy.

I sat there, jaw on the ground, less then a foot from each, watching my two angels struggle for possession of the toy.

It was their first fight (that I've witnessed), and I was fascinated, horrified, and amused by it.

All I could think of was that ring announcer at boxing matches, Michael Buffer, and his famous phrase:

"Let's get ready to rummmbbblllllllllllllle!"

Where's Michael Buffer when you need him?

Breaking up the fight was almost as funny as watching the girls get into the fight.

As I do for all resolutions of conflict between the girls, I made them hug each other.

It was the coldest, non-genuine hug I think two 20-month old girls could give to one another. They hugged each other at arm's length, and refused to make eye-contact.

Luckily, any worries I had about hard feelings ended five minutes later when I saw them were pushing each other around on their cars laughing as if they'd been best friends all night.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

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A "Time Out" in the Life of Katherine & Caoline . . .

2007-03-15T23:26:00.000-07:00

I took a "time out" from being the father of Katherine and Caroline today and went to Sacramento to watch UCLA play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. UCLA happily handled Weber State, 72-40.

I learned that as big a fan of college basketball that I am, FOUR games in one day makes for a LONG day.

Here are some photos from the event:

Fellow Bruin Allison and me outside Arco Arena, Sacramento.

Getting ready to watch FOUR basketball games in one day.

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Allison carrying/wearing the Bruin banner.
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UCLA takes the floor!

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Just like Orel Hershiser

2007-03-14T00:22:00.000-07:00

Katherine has started stepping into her throw. She even steps with the proper foot. I don't know how she learned it, but she does it.

It may not seem like a big deal, but for a father who grew up with dreams of pitching for the L.A. Dodgers, it's a big deal.

When Katherine throws, she looks just like Orel Hershiser:

What they're doing this week.

2007-03-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

I have to remember to keep tabs of all the new things the girls are learning each week. There are now so many of them, it's hard to keep up.

Some of the milestones the girls have recently hit:

Numerous words. Coming in bunches now. The big ones this week are "boop" (stands for "poop" -- as in when they've taken a #2), "idoptofo" (stands for "identify yourself" -- a game we play while looking out our back window into the backyard), "hello" (not really new, but now used to greet everyone and everything -- including the moon, the flowers, a bird, etc.)
Shaking hands. The girls love to shake hands. Katherine will shake your hand a dozen tims on her way to her bath, and say, "bye-bye". It takes her five minutes to work her way into the bathroom. If you've been reading the blog, this is nothing new, but the hand shaking adds a twist.
Tea time. The girls received a tea set, and now we have good old fashioned tea parties in their room. We didn't teach them how to do it -- they just do it!
Going down the big slide at the park.
Pretending to be a cat. The girls have a book that asks them if they can arch their back like a cat. We spend part of each night pretending to be cats. Of course, the arching the back thing is nothing new if you've followed this blog since the beginning.
Arts and crafts. The girls now color in their coloring books (not inside the lines yet -- we're still working on that), and even made some hats for themselves, as seen below:

Caroline's self-made headgear.

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Katherine's self-made headgear.

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One other thing I just noticed that's worth mentioning. See the photo of Katherine? Notice who's bottom half is in the background?

Yeah, that's me, having just come home from work.

See what I'm carrying? It's a plastic bag. Not even a nice plastic bag. It's one of those bags that you get in the produce section of the grocery store.

I've got my lunch in that bag. I carry my lunch to work every day in a different plastic bag.

You know why?

Because the girls love my lunch bags. They will find them, take them, and hide them. So every morning I can't find my lunch bags, and end up carrying my lunch to work in a plastic grocery-store produce bag.

Yet another thing they don't mention in the parenting books.

A Snotful of Parenthood

2007-03-05T23:39:00.000-08:00

Parenthood in a nutshell this morning:

Your child (Caroline in this case) will save her most green, sticky snot for a time when you have absolutely no kleenex, napkins, or newspaper in your car.

Then, your child (i.e., Caroline) will wait until you are halfway across a bridge, so that you will have no place to pull over, stop, or slow down.

Then, and only then, will she (the aforementioned Caroline) sneeze.

She (have I mentioned this is Caroline?) will then proceed to wipe a huge booger on the back of her hand.

She (Caroline!) will then cry loudly until you reach back your hand and take the booger off of her hand and onto your hand.

You will then proceed to drive across the remainder of the bridge with one hand, while holding a handful of snot in the other.

Your girls (Caroline & Katherine) will meanwhile begin happily singing in the back seat of the car.

That is when you, as a parent, don't mind the snot in your hand so much.

So very, very cold . . .

2007-02-25T21:40:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, Amy at Savage Stories posted a blog showing her kids climbing into their fireplace. It reminded me to take this photo so that twenty years from now our girls will know why the fireplace stopped working due to neglect:

No fires in the Lim household this winter.

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By the way, the girls woreare wearing their UCLA cheerleader outfits because: 1) We were on our way to watch the UCLA women's basketball team play Cal, but we never made it as far as Berkeley; and 2) These outfits will be way too small by next football season, so the girls are wearing them every chance they get!

Exhausted

2007-02-23T09:01:00.001-08:00

Sometimes shopping can be exhausting . . .

Her first modelling job.

2007-02-23T08:52:00.001-08:00

Imagine my surprise when I dropped the girls off at daycare today and saw this hanging prominently from the walls of the day care:

When we signed the girls up for daycare, we evidently signed a waiver allowing photos of the girls to be used for promoting the daycare, and any fundraising campaigns they promote.

It's pretty funny that they managed to get a usable photo of Caroline, because you are twice as likely to get a good photo of Katherine over Caroline. Caroline just does not like to take pictures.

Still, this poster is pretty cool, because I guess they are using this poster at all their daycare sites.

Being the Dad that I am, I thinking about asking to buy this poster so that I can put it in the garage of our house for posterity!

Nonconformist

2007-02-21T23:07:00.000-08:00

This evening, Katherine and I were playing with one of those toys designed to teach children their shapes. It had little colored blocks, pyramids, and balls, and a container with corresponding holes in which the child is supposed to drop each particular shape.

Katherine, I must admit, has not yet shown much aptitude at being able to get the right shaped piece into the corresponding hole. Tonight was no different. She tried to put the pyramid into the square hole, and the block into the round hole, etc. She was getting pretty frustrated.

Finally, she picked up the container and scrutinized it. She played with the lid, popped off the top, then proceeded to place each piece neatly into the container, like so:

Does it really matter HOW the pieces get back in the container, as long as they do?

Katherine then placed the cover back on the container, and turned to me with a look that seemed to say, "Pretty clever, huh?"

Clever indeed. If infant behavior is an indicator of future ability, Katherine may not do so well on standardized tests, but no one will ever be able to tell me she can't solve problems!

Multimedia message

2007-02-18T23:52:00.000-08:00

Gung Hay Fat Choy

2007-02-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Chinese / Lunar New Year!

In honor of the Year of the Pig, our girls celebrated by honoring their culture.

Eating rice on Chinese New Year.

Here you see them at their table eating plain white rice. Never mind the fact that Mommy and Daddy made not one, but two different types of sauce to put on the rice. Nope, the girls like their rice naked.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Ikea the Playground

2007-02-18T11:42:00.001-08:00

Before kids, I used to hate parents who would let their kids run around in a store, playing. Stores were for shopping, not entertaining your kids.

Now, however, with Caroline and Katherine, megastores like Ikea have all sorts of fun things for kids to do. Hence, this photo:

Alike, yet not alike.

2007-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

Anyone who says twin personalities are alike doesn’t have twins.

Our girls are different in so many ways, you almost wouldn’t believe they are raised under the same roof by the same parents.

If you don’t believe me, you are invited to attend the annual drama in our house that occurs during bath time.

We give the girls their baths one at a time. They love taking baths, so we try to alternate who gets to go first each night. At least that is the theory.

When it’s Katherine’s turn to go first, we’ll tell her, “Want a bath?” Katherine will get all excited, and start to slowly move toward the bathroom. Emphasis on S-L-O-W-L-Y.

On her way to the bathroom, Katherine first has to find everyone in the house and say “Bye, bye!” to announce she is heading to her bath. Then she has to stop and give her stuffed animals a hug, because she won’t see them for about, oh, FIVE minutes.

While Katherine is slowly meandering towards the bathroom, Caroline will perk up, having heard the magical words, “Bath time”.

Caroline will wait until Katherine is near the bathroom door, still happily, and slowly strolling toward her bath. Just as Katherine reaches the bathroom door, Caroline will run toward the bathroom door, pass Katherine in the hallway, duck into the bathroom and close the door, leaving Katherine standing in the hallway facing a closed bathroom door, wondering, "What the hell just happened?".

Twins – alike, yet not alike.

Frighten Me Elmo

2007-02-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

A tip for any parent who still has to occassionally sit out on the couch with their child in the middle of the night:

1) This "Elmo Sing and Teach Table" is prone to start playing spontaneously if the batteries are running low ("playing" means that Elmo's head begins to bob back and forth, while he sings a slow, blurry song due to the low batteries).

2) If you decide to watch television while your holding your child in the middle of the night in a dark, dark room, try not to watch, "The Exorcism of Emily Rose", especially sitting next to the "Elmo Sing and Teach Table" whose batteries are running low. Screaming at the top of your lungs while holding a sleeping baby is not conducive to keeping that baby asleep.

Watching this movie + Elmo starting to sing spontaneously = Frightened Daddy.

Fun and sun at the zoo.

2007-02-12T16:47:00.000-08:00

Three days of rain in the Bay Area let up just in time for the girls to take a trip to the zoo with Daddy. Forgot to bring the real camera again, so here is a cell phone photo of us on top of the giant Tortoise:

YAY!! for the Electrician!

2007-02-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

I wrote some time back about Caroline's fascination with plummers. The fascination, it turns out, extends to electricians.

We had an electrician in the house this morning to do some upgrades to our house. I stayed home with the girls for a few hours so that he could do the job.

The twins were fascinated with him. For one, he had a big tool belt with all sorts of neat, shiny objects. Second, he was working behind an electrial outlet that is forbidden territory for the girls. So for much of the morning they stood close by and watched his every move.

The electrician was having a tough time "fishing" wire from behind one of the walls, and spent a good hour trying to "fish" the wire out from behind the wall. After much grumbling, he finally managed to snag the wire and pull it up into position, and which point he exclaimed, "Got it!"

To which the girls replied, in unison, "YAY!" and began clapping their hands for him.

The electrician actually stopped work, turned to the girls, and gave a bow.

This aint' necessarily what you're lookin' for . . .

2007-02-06T23:25:00.000-08:00

Some interesting people find their way onto this blogsite.

When I first launched this blog back in 2005, some more experienced bloggers told me about Statscounter.com. It's a website that gives you a free counter on your blogsite (if you look at the bottom of this page, you can see the counter, currently hovering in the 13,000's, thank you very much Grandma and Grandpa!).

However, statscounter.com does more than just give you a counter. It lets you track visitor activity, so that you can see where in the world people are coming from. You can also see how a person entered your site, and what originally brought them to your site. Sarah, for example, once wrote an entry on how people found her website through all sorts of strange keyword searches on Google.

Every now and then, I'll check statscounter.com, just to see where people are coming from, and how they find this blogsite.

Imagine my amusement this evening when I noticed a visitor from Brazil, who found this site after doing a Google search for images of . . . . "Elvis and Twins".

What the &*#!%*&!! is a person doing looking for images of Elvis with twins? I can tell you they probably didn't expect to find this page.

What was really interesting about my lurker from Brazil is that he/she didn't just leave the site immediately (statscounter.com will tell you how long a person stays on your site). Not having found "Elvis and twins", my Brazilian visitor nonetheless spent 1 minute, 22 seconds on the site, reading about Katherine's crazy hair. Or maybe the person didn't speak English, and was trying to figure out why Google was so screwed up as to send him/her to a baby twin site, for God's sake!

Pretending to Be Angry, But Looking for An Agent

2007-02-06T11:50:00.000-08:00

As a Dad, discipline and athletic ability walk a fine line.

We've been trying to cut down on the amount of food-throwing that occurrs at meals. When the girls start to get full, they start to toss their food all over the place. Not so bad at home, but horrible in restaurants.

Yesterday, as the girls were eating chicken nuggets, Katherine raised a nugget in her little hand and tossed it over the table towards Caroline -- about 3 feet.

Caroline, neat as you pleased, picked the nugget up and tossed it back over the table to Katherine.

What I said was, "NO. No throwing food. Put it down!"

What I thought was, "WOW, my girls can throw really straight. Maybe I ought to start teaching them how to catch . . . "

Beware of Overprotective Father

2007-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks have been very, very cold. Something about an Arctic cold front from the north. All I know is that it's been too cold for the girls to go outside.

So this weekend, when the weather finally warmed up a bit, we lost no time in taking the girls out to the local park to stretch their legs.

On Saturday, I took the girls by myself to the park while Terri was working. Our park is great, because it has an enclosed playground especially for infants and toddlers, away from the "big kids" playground. There is a fence enclosing the entire playground, with safety gates to keep toddlers from running off into the main park.

As I approached the play area, I noticed that there was a set of grandparents who had brought a toddler into the playground. The toddler was off climbing the play structure with grandma, while grandpa sat at a bench, reading a book.

Sitting on the ground next to grandpa was a small dog, about two feet long, one foot tall, white and fluffy.

I immediately noticed that the dog was unleashed in the toddler area, and other than grandma, grandpa, and their grandchild, there were no other kids in the play area.

Now, if it were just me, a small, 2' x 1' white fluffy dog would be no reason for concern. But being alone with two 18 months old, my internal "Daddy" alarms went off. Just a small nip of a finger from a strange dog could have huge consequences.

My worst fears were realized when I opened the toddler gate and pushed the girls' stroller into the play area.

The dog got up to see what the commotion was.

Grandpa didn't look up from his book.

The dog walked over to the stroller.

Grandpa didn't look up from his book.

When the dog got about two feet from the stroller, grandpa still hadn't moved, and the girls were starting to whimper, as if to say, "Surely, Dad, you are not going to let this monster get too much closer to us?"

When the dog was close enough to jump or bark at my girls, and grandpa still hadn't moved, I finally took action. I used my foot, and gently nudged the dog away from the stroller and back towards the bench where grandpa was sitting.

Grandpa FINALLY looked up from his book. "Oh, he won't bite," said grandpa.

Trying to be polite, yet firm, I responded, "Yeah, well, my girls don't know that, and proportionally, he's as big as a horse to them!" I smiled, even though I wanted to shout, "Get your dog out of the toddler play area!"

My tone must have had just enough of an edge to it, because grandpa was nice enough to take the dog and tie him up to the gate just outside the play area.

I may not have made friends with grandpa this weekend, but at least I'm not taking the girls into the hospital for rabies shots!

***************************************

On a final note, there are two great things about taking the girls to the park:

1) They love climbing the play structure, riding the swings, and playing in the sand.

2) They fall asleep about an hour earlier on nights when they get to go to the park!

Playing in the sand (color is funny because I used my cell phone camera).

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Caroline looking for a Ritz cracker.

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Watchin' the tennis players.

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Time Flies

2007-01-17T09:49:00.000-08:00

Last night I dismantled the girls' cribs in anticipation of twin beds being delivered tomorrow.

Holy cow, they are growing up fast!

Car Wars

2007-01-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

The girls are fighting over one of these cars today:

YES. There are two of them. YES. They are exactly the same. NO. I don't know how they can tell one apart from the other.

My girls are nuts sometimes.

Here they are fighting over a bag. Yes a bag. We have, like, HUNDREDS of them. Yet they both wanted THIS one.

Is it wrong as the Father to sit back and laugh silently to myself while they fight over a bag?

Mystery at the Mall

2007-01-01T22:42:00.000-08:00

Back on Christmas Eve, after we took the photo of Santa (see "Girls' Second Christmas"), we stuck around the mall to let the girls run around a bit and relax from the horror of meeting St. Nick.

While following Caroline as she wandered around the front of the Nordstrom Cafe, I came upon this scene:

It is was a table in which no one was sitting. On the table, however, were the following items:

A large M&M cookie with one small bite taken out of it.
A child's cup of milk, still completely full.
A glass of ice water with the ice cubes still unmelted.
Six napkins in various states of use.

Caroline stayed in the area for over 20 minutes, and no one returned to the table. No one cleared the table, presumably because they were waiting for someone to come back. After all, no one abandons a perfectly good (and expensive) Nordstrom Cafe cookie, milk, and water for no good reason.

As we finally left the area, I took the above photo, and forgot about it until downloading images from my camera into my computer this evening.

I took the photo, because I was curious: What happened to the people at this table?

A few conclusions that I've deduced from the photo:

There was a child sitting at the table, as evidenced from the child's cup of milk.
The child most likely was eating the cookie, as evidenced from the small bite taken out of the cookie.
There was only one parent with the child, as evidenced from the fact that only two chairs were set around the table.
The child and parent had just sat down when they left in a great hurry, not even bothering to take the cookie or their drinks, as evidenced from the fact that the child only managed to take one small bite of the cookie, and drank almost none of the milk.
The child and parent had left just minutes before Caroline and I wandered by, as evidenced from the ice still in the cup of water.

However, as to what actually happened, I have no clue. However, as a parent of twins, I was able to come up with a few theories:

The child threw the mother-of-all-temper-tantrums, causing the parent to pull the child out of the mall in a great hurry, without taking the expensive snack and drinks.
The child's nose started to bleed, requiring the parent to rush the child to the bathroom. There, they either left for home, or it took over 20 minutes to stop the bleeding, at which point the parent thought their snack would have been tossed out, and they abandoned the snack without coming back.
The child wet/pooped in his/her pants, requiring a hasty exit from the mall, again abandoning aforementioned snacks.
The other parent found child and parent at the table, and had found an incredible deal on overstocked beef sticks at the Hickory Farms wagon, and the family rushed off to buy them, abandoning the cookie and drinks.
The child and parent walked into a nearby store just for a minute, fully meaning to come back to their table. However, when they returned, a strange man was taking a picture of their cookie and drinks, and so they ran off to report him to security. When they returned, he was gone!

We'll never know why that poor cookie, milk, and water were abandoned. But feel free to leave a creative comment on what you think happened.

New Year's Eve Review

2007-01-01T00:41:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve - 11:35 p.m.

Am I at a party? No.

Am I drinking champagne? No.

Am I dressed in formalwear? No.

I am a parent of 17 month olds. I just finished putting Caroline down in her bed, and now I'm watching "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" -- with the volume muted, of course.

I realized that I haven't done an update on the girls development in quite a while. Like many parents who blog, I use this blog as a future baby-book for the girls, so it's important to occassionally update what they are doing developmentally.

So without futher ado in the final 25 minutes of 2006, here is a recap of what Katherine and Caroline are doing as of December 31, 2006:

Walking, running, climbing, and falling. Their favorite furniture to climb is the sofa in the family room.

Climbing the sofa.

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Riding their "Little Moose Mountain" cars around and around the house.

Pushing each other around in their "Little Moose Mountain" cars.

Fighting for toys when they think Mommy and Daddy aren't watching.

Fighting for Mommy's purse.

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Hugging each other when they realize Mommy and Daddy ARE watching.

Hugging each other after fighting for Mommy's purse.

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Saying the following words, among others: "Kitty-cat", "doggy", "more", "all done", "no", "stop it", "yes", "WOW!" "YEAH!"

Dancing to every song their hear.

Dancing to "Ring-Around-the-Rosey" with each other and with Mommy and Daddy

Holding hands in preparation for dancing.

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Favorite Foods: Cheerios, Kix, Cheese, Mac 'n Cheese, Fruit (all kinds!) and Teddy Grahams.

Snacking on Teddy Grahams

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Mexican Music Sundays

2006-12-31T23:23:00.001-08:00

We found a new place to dine on Sunday nights. Celia's Mexican Restaurants have live music on Sundays. The music consists of three guys with guitars who walk from table to table playing traditional Mexican music.

The girls loved it. They were so well-behaved before dinner because they were distracted watching the guys play the guitars and listening to the music.

In this photo, with the three guys playing in the background, Katherine is giving me a look that says, "Can you believe there are three guys walking around our table playing music?!?"

Mobile Phone Photos

2006-12-29T11:37:00.001-08:00

I just figured out how to send photos from my mobile phone to this blog site. Since it's the only way I've been able to get photos off my phone, you are hereby treated to: "PHOTOS FROM MY PHONE."

Caroline at the Airport On the Way to Visit Grandma & Grandpa.

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Caroline wearing reindeer antlers at day care.
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Santa Claus at the day care Holiday Party.
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Terri and the girls looking at Christmas lights.
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Girls Second Christmas

2006-12-29T08:58:00.000-08:00

The girls had a great Christmas. They enjoyed looking at our Christmas tree (they managed to get the tree to lean, but never pulled it down, thank goodness), opening all their gifts, and then playing the the wrapping paper and boxes!

The only part of Christmas I don't think they enjoyed was when we made them take this photo at the local mall:

Who is this guy, and why are we sitting on this lap?

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I love Santa's expression. He's definitely got the look of "They don't pay me enough for this!"

Happy Holidays to all!

Go Bruins!

2006-12-23T22:34:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of books written about the differences between Mothers and Fathers, but all you have to know about the difference in how Terri and I raise the girls is to look at how they have been dressed on the past few weekends when Terri is working:

Katherine wearing Daddy's favorite shirt.

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Ditto for Caroline.

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I am still so fired up over UCLA's upset victory over u$c in football, I have the girls wear these shirts every chance I get.

Go Bruins!

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Los Angeles City Champions!

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New Photos Posted

2006-12-17T23:30:00.000-08:00

New photos are posted in the Photo Archives in a new easier-to-view format. Photos are updated to the end of November.

Sign in as "guest" and use David's hometown as the password.

More photos like these in the photo archives.

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How much for an actual ROOM

2006-12-16T14:21:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago we were in Southern California visiting David's family for the holidays, and we had our first emergency room trip with the girls. Caroline slammed a bathroom door on Katherine's finger.

I'll tell you all about that horror story some other time (Katherine's finger is fine, by the way, and is now completely healed -- no stitches or broken fingers, thank goodness).

Today I just want to comment briefly on the bill I received from the local community hospital we took Katherine to.

Like many small hospitals, the ER was packed when we arrived. We ended up getting seen and treated in a chair in the hallway of the ER. Never made it into an actual room. A chair. In the hallway. Next to the bathroom, no less!

So imagine my surprise when I looked at the bill today.

The largest charge: "ROOM CHARGE": $330.

$330 for a chair next to the bathroom? Thank goodness we didn't actually get into a room.

We paid $330 for this large piece of gauze on Katherine's finger.

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Here is a recent photo of the girls at Casa de Fruta (on the way to L.A.)

All aboard the Casa de Fruta Train!

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Crossover Marketing Really Does Work

2006-11-29T06:29:00.000-08:00

As the girls begin to get "older" (i.e., 16 months), they are become more and more familiar with that centerpiece of American family life -- the television.

Whereas before the girls might stop and look up at the T.V. screen only if a particularly catchy song started playing, now the girls will spend a few minutes watching T.V. if something catches their eyes.

And the girls are living proof that crossover marketing really does work.

Case in point. This is currently the girls' favorite book:

The girls will read this book umpteen times a day, and they love to point to the little Bernstein Bear in the book and call him "Duh-bee" (whatever that means, that's what they call him).

So yesterday, the girls are in our bedroom, playing with the TV remote, and they change the channel to --- the Bernstein Bears Cartoon Show.

I had no idea there was a Bernstein Bears Cartoon Show to go along with the books. For that matter, I have no idea whether the books came first, of if the television show came first.

All I know is that my girls somehow figured out that there is this cartoon on T.V. that resembles their favorite book.

They walked real close to the T.V., and started shouting, "Duh-bee! Duh-bee!" at the Bernstein Bears dancing across the screen.

If this keeps up, I'm thinking I'll have to buy the girls a new Bernstein Bears book:

I wonder if the book has a subtitle, "Too Much TV (Unless you're watching our show)"?

Happy Thanksgiving - New Videos

2006-11-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Many of you have asked me when I'm going to post some new videos. Consider them posted. Click HERE to view them.

If you need the password, email David.

Fearless and PRETENDS to Be Fearless

2006-11-22T09:09:00.000-08:00

Caroline is fearless.

At the playground near our house, she will climb up the steps of the play structure all by herself. She will go down the "big" slide all by herself. God help you if you try to hold her or help her -- she will slap your hand away and scream at the top of your lungs to "LET ME DO IT MYSELF!"

This fearlessness is both exciting and terrifying. Exciting because our little girl is developing her own personality and a sense of confidence that any parent would be thrilled to see.

Terrifying because she IS fearless. Nothing phases her. She will practically jump off the top of the slide, then land on her butt and slide down, laughing all the way.

At the Mall, Caroline will walk off to explore something new without a second look behind her to see if we are following her. This means we constantly need to keep our eye on her, to make sure she is nearby. It is tiring work.

Katherine, on the other hand, PRETENDS to be fearless. In actuality, she is much more cautious than her sister.

Katherine will always look back to make sure one of us is nearby. And when she climbs stairs, Katherine will not hesitate to accept a helping hand from Mommy or Daddy.

This photo really illustrates this point:

Doesn't everyone have one of these "freakin' out over the big character" photos?

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This photo was taken at the Cal-UCLA football game earlier this month.

First, notice who is in the photo: Daddy and Katherine.

Next, notice what Katherine is doing. She is screaming bloody murder because the Bruin mascot behind her is scaring the HECK out of her.

What you don't see is what happened before the photo.

Katherine was PRETENDING to be fearless. She saw the Bruin mascots, and kept trying to get to them so that she could touch them.

However, as soon as she actually was put close enough to them to touch them, she realized she wasn't as fearless as she thought, and she screamed and cried until I took her away from them. (At which point, of course, she tried to get over to them AGAIN).

Second, notice who isn't in the photo -- Mommy and Caroline.

That's because Caroline had run off somewhere and Mommy was chasing her down. Like I said, FEARLESS.

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-02T22:27:00.000-08:00

The girls enjoyed their second Halloween, their first where they actually had a clue of what was going on.

Last year, they were pushed around in a stroller by Mommy and Daddy.

This year, the girls were more mobile, and they had a good time trick or treating at three different locations.

First, they went to their daycare, where they walked around the office building where the daycare is located, and got treats from the various businesses in the building.

Caroline and Katherine with their friend from daycare.

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The Lim Family Halloween

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Then, they went with Terri back to her workplace, where they trick or treated some more!

The girls with Terri's workmates.

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Finally, later in the night, they walked around our friend's neighborhood (our neighborhood is too hilly) to about ten houses. Caroline especially enjoyed running up the pathways to each house, and would laugh and squeal as she made her way to the front door of each house.

The girls figured out how to hold their buckets in front of them and wait for people to drop candy in them. However, about 20% of the time, they would then try to sit down and play with whatever was placed in the bucket!

Because they are not yet eating candy, we brought the candy home, and gave the girls toys to play with. They spent the rest of the night in their costumes playing. They were having so much fun, they didn't want to take their costumes off.

Katherine as a duck.

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The only exception to that is that you will not see any photos of Caroline with her duck hood on. She simply refused to wear it.

Happy Halloween!

Looking for the Great(est) Pumpkin

2006-10-29T19:12:00.000-08:00

Last year for Halloween, the girls were only three months old, so we didn't get them a pumpkin.

This year, however, was a different story.

We took them to a large pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay, where they grow their pumpkins locally.

Besides the pumpkin patch, the girls got to go to their first petting zoo. Katherine wasn't too into the animals. Caroline pretended to be brave -- until we actually got into the pen with the animals. Then she freaked out and wouldn't let Daddy put her down. Despite their fear, they both touched a sheep, a goat, and a rabbit.

Ultimately, we selected one medium sized pumpkin for them both to share.

Here are some photos from our day at the pumpkin patch:

The Lim Family in the petting zoo.

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Katherine with her pumpkin.

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Caroline resting in the pumpkin patch.

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The Lim girls.

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Two "Lims" on the Family Tree

Getting Free Stuff From Your Cereal Box is AWESOME!

Ditching Dora

First Grade

More photos and stories coming soon

Hot and Naked

Quick Thinking 3 Year-Old

No More Nap Time

The great outdoors

Change happens in small steps.

Thank you, Darth Vader!

The Candy Organizing Gene

We work hard for our candy in the Lim household.

Things Kids Say

Sing along if you like.

Perspective

Don't Take My Macaroni!

Snack Hound

I am so proud of my girls.

The Magic of Sisterhood

Things I am thankful for.

Goodie Bag Wars

These Are Our Mornings

The Battle Against Sugar

Who knew 24 hour pharmacies were hot spots?

Truck Stops and Andy Capp

The new "improved" San Francisco Zoo

Grumpiness is Hereditary

Throwing Away $$ At the Food Court

Smile!

Preschool Holiday Party

Caroline Caroling

Santa Claus, Part II

Tough Crowd.

I Hate Caillou

Tough Love Works . . . Sometimes

We've Turned a Corner

We have fun in our house

Built "Ford" Tough

All Aboard!

Just Wait

Overheard in the car on the way home from daycare.

Favorite phrases this week.

And they're off!

Time for College Football

Shhh! Babies sleeping!

The Anti-Linus

What we talk about on the way to school.

Summer Vacation

Old MacDonald, Ghetto-Style

Relaxing Summer Weekends

Happy Father's Day

Random Twin Comic Strip

Baaaaaad Monkey!

No Raccoons, Part II

Tomorrow we learn to do the "Hustle"

Pet's Welcome -- Kids, Not So Much.

Drama Queens

No Raccoons Served Here

The Scoop on Poop * Pea Juice & Vienna Sausages * Two Plus Two Equals Trouble! * Contest of the Day.

Belated Easter Egg Hunting Photos

Parent Humor

Growing Up TOO Darned Fast

Vigilante Justice - Twin Style

Multiple on Multiples

Baptism Video

UCLA in the Final Four

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!!!

A "Time Out" in the Life of Katherine & Caoline . . .

Just like Orel Hershiser

What they're doing this week.

A Snotful of Parenthood

So very, very cold . . .

Exhausted

Her first modelling job.

Nonconformist

Multimedia message

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Ikea the Playground

Alike, yet not alike.