Saturday, October 24, 2009

expensive box

Hello friends and family,

Remember that $120 kitchen we bought for the twins? Apparently the coolest thing about the kitchen is the box it came in. Kendra is very resourceful and creative. She cut out a window, wrote "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on it the leftover piece, and taped it to the front of the box. Then she cutout the shape of a door in the back and magically the corrugated material transforms into a playhouse.


Just like that we have the most expensive box in the world. We paid $120 to empty out the contents (the kitchen) and create the magical world of disney right in our living room. Go team Webb! They still occasionally play with the kitchen, but it will be a sad day in our house when the cardboard goes in the trash.

By watching parents interact with their kids through the course of my life I developed a sense of what to expect. Not because I assumed everything in my experience would be identical to others, but I noticed some patterns of commonality. One of the incorrect expectations is how "cuddly" babies and toddlers would be. I thought our twins would spend several minutes at a time just sitting in comfort with my arms wrapped around them. However, Easton and Layla have been completely uninterested in cuddling with us for any length of time during the day. We play and swing and hug and everything else related to interaction, but it is a rare situation where either of them wants to just kick back and rest in my arms. They both seem to be more interested in whatever the other sibling is doing so they go! Go! GO! together.

Based on recent observations it appears the tide is turning.


There was no boo-boo or problem causing Layla to rest against Kendra like this, but the length of time was enough for me to grab the camera and take a picture! I'm looking forward to getting in on those cuddle times as they occur more frequently. :)

Kendra turned Easton into a superhero by adding a blanket as a cape and a sippy cup full of Superfood.


we aren't sure what to name our little superhero, but it can't involve the thumb sucking. Otherwise the name will follow him through life with a negative connotation. No need to introduce a complex... Kendra is using one of her hair scrunchies to hold the cape on, but every superhero is really held together with bobby pins from the women in their life. Didn't you see The Incredibles?

There are so many concepts which are impossible to explain to a 20 month old toddler. Earphones and digital music players are one such example. Kendra gave each of them one earphone with an explanation of how to put it in their ear.


It was like showing fire to a caveman. They were astonished to find music comes through the earphones. Easton put it in his ear, then out, then in, then out (repeat 20X). Layla was less interested in figuring out the functionality. She just wanted to dance her little feet off and sing along.

Last night was "date night" for Kendra and I. We went with three of our good friends to see Phil Wickham in concert.

Other than the failed attempt to subdue my Szechuan beef breath resulting from our chinese dinner together, it was a great success. The concert was amazing. The most stressful part of the evening was leaving the twins with our first official baby sitter. This is Casey and Kendra, who is reacting as "the happy mom returning home to find everyone well".


I was not nervous about her, but rather the entire concept of leaving our babies, I mean, toddlers with one person. I'm almost 3 times as old as her and I KNOW how difficult taking care of twins can be. She is extremely capable and I am very relieved at how well she did. When I was her age I was barely smart enough to keep my shoes tied and nose free of boogers in public. She, on the other hand, made the task of caring for twin toddlers look like a piece of cake. I wasn't a nervous wreck during the evening, but there's just something about leaving kids with a baby sitter for the first time.

Other people and couples like David and Tam have watched Easton and Layla for an evening, but that's a no-brainer considering how well-adjusted they are and familiar with Easton and Layla as individuals through other gatherings.

Needless to say, Casey did an excellent job and I will gladly invite her back to our house. She'll be number 1 on our list of baby sitters.

Time to get ready for the work week kicking off tomorrow morning! See you again soon.

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