The Holidays Are Here

Still no new teeth for either babe but they're chewing and drooling on everything in site!  Poppy's got a sort of frog hop/crawl going on and Eve is up on all fours and rocking still but more movement with rolling around.  It's great cause they can entertain themselves a lot longer by themselves now.  We just have to watch out for whatever Esme and Chan might've left on the floor.  Yikes!

Eve started a little "na-na-na-na" talking but nothing of the sort for Poppy yet.  She has the habit of patting you on the arm or back when you pick her up like she's reassuring you or something.  It's really cute.  Chan has been having a lot of fun entertaining his sisters himself too.  He just runs around and dances and goes a little crazy in front of them and they laugh which fuels him.

All four kids caught a nasty cold a few weeks ago and they all ended up on antibiotics for ear infections at the same time.  I figured, we might as well kill all the germs at one time and get it over with!  They all tolerated the meds well and hopefully we're on the mend now.  Allen and I are hoping we can get back to sleeping through the night or a little closer to it :)  We can dream right?  Haha, that is when we actually get sleep.  Poppy wakes up at least twice a night and Eve is just once but she was sleeping through before they got sick.

Esme and Chan are super excited for the holidays.  Our Elf On The Shelf - Doodle, came back and they can't stop talking about him.  The big kids also decorated the whole tree for us but mommy had to make some adjustments afterwards to even it out.  Oh and we even got our Christmas pictures done.  It was a pretty challenging task to get all 4 kids to smile at one time!  Thank goodness daddy is so goofy ;)

Little Ms Happy.

Tree decorating crew. 

Family hike on Black Friday which was the kids choice. 

Thanksgiving at Aunty B's. 

Our abbreviated Thanksgiving crew minus Poppy who was sleeping. 

I love taking pics of the girls after nursing. 

Our daily regimen while sick :(

We couldn't miss this new movie since Princess Poppy is the main character!  What a coincidence!

Everyday silliness!

Babies in a pack n play. 

Our girls

Exciting Updates

Just as Esme lost her first 2 teeth recently Poppy decided to sprout her first one!  The funny thing is that Eve was the one that seemed like she was teething - constantly sucking on things, drooling, slightly fussy but we still haven't seen anything pop up.  All of a sudden one day we noticed Poppy had a tooth.  Poppy also decided she's tired of tummy time and last week she jumped up on all fours.  She's got the rocking on hands and knees down and she's taken a step or two before but she's still working on it.  Eve just got to all fours this week so she's catching up.

The girls had their first trip last month to San Francisco.  Mommy had a conference to go to for work and so Nana and Aunty Amy came along to help out.  They did great the whole way.  With twins you can't sit next to each other on the flight so we had to sit an aisle apart each way.  Luckily we also got an extra seat next to us so we had a little wiggle room.  Their sleep got a little off but blackout curtains in hotels are amazing!  They got many walks through the city but were always glad to get back to our suite so they could take off their shoes and socks and suck their toes :)  They got their fair share of attention too from soooooooooooo many people.  It's interesting how some people just flock to them and want to know all about them.

Esme's bottom two teeth are coming in fast but no signs of any other loose ones.  Chan keeps talking about his loose teeth now cause he wants to be just like his big sister.  The big kids are both still in gymnastics which they enjoy.  Esme hasn't expressed an interest in anything else yet so we'll stick with that.  Chan would love a ball sport but we have to wait till he's at least 4.  We're not sure how we'll coordinate all those different practices but we'll figure it out sometime.

Halloween came and went quickly this year.  Esme was excited to trick or treat but Chan wasn't sure what he was getting into.  We just went around our neighborhood which is perfect for them.  Esme was Elsa and Chan was Yoda.  It was cute since he chose that over a Spiderman costume.  The babies stayed home with Nana and Papa who passed out the candy at our house.

Twinsies!

"Brrrrr mom!  It's cold in San Francisco!"

"Why do we have to wear all this stuff!"

Thank goodness for Nana!

Checking out the city life below.

Our happy girls :)

Chan and Esme were enjoying homemade popsicles while we were gone. 

The view from Alcatraz.  We actually had great weather in SFO.

They just rolled into each other on the bed and ended up like this. 

Chan likes to offer his super heroes some down time once in awhile ;)

Cousins on Halloween.

Thanks for the outfits Faye Faye!

They're not looking like little itty bitty babies anymore!

Ruffle butts!

Catching Up!

Our little girls are catching up!  They had their 6 month visit today and are both 15# (Poppy was heavier by 4 ounces) and just under the 50th percentile for weight.  Pretty good since they started out completely under the growth chart.  Eve measured at 50th percentile for height too but Poppy was just 25th percentile however we're not sure how accurate that was.  Regardless we're so happy with their progress!  Oh and they both have pretty large heads or big brains as daddy likes to say :)

Eve is constantly blowing bubbles and making noises with her throat.  She also continues to drool which she's done since she was born it seems like.  Her mouth has always been a little leaky which is funny since she's the baby with the stronger suck/latch.  It seems like she's spitting up less after feeding which is nice and that might explain her weight getting closer to Poppy's since there was more of a gap last time.

Poppy loves to talk and coo.  I even caught Eve laughing at Poppy recently when she was squeeling.  It was precious!  They're finally starting to get interested in each other when they're on the floor together.  And they are also love food!  They're continuing to try all sorts of new purees and they also enjoy things to suck on like pears, apples, teething biscuits, etc.  Eve goes a little nuts and screams whenever you take any food away from her.  Pops doesn't seem to care as much.  

Esme is still losing teeth and now is missing the bottom two central incisors.  She likes to stick her tongue through there when she shows people.  And she's constantly checking the other teeth to see if there's anymore loose ones in there.  She's loving kinder and really progressing with her reading.  She's constantly practicing her letters and writing out sentences while asking us for help.

Chan of course wants to do everything Esme is doing and so he's practicing his letters too.  Chan is also loving that the babies laugh so much when he plays with them.  He's such a great big brother.

Our big helper.  Esme likes to feed the babies which is a huge help. 

Eve can't get enough of this teething biscuit!

Pops putting on her charm :)

Big sister hard at work and little sisters hard at play.  

We try to take an evening walk around the neighborhood most days.  And sometimes this is how the walk ends.  Ha ha!

Little lady Eve

Post nursing photos are my fave.  

They weren't so sleepy after nursing this night.  

These might just be their Halloween costumes.  

Peanuts!

Poppy studying the big kid toys.

Eve was so excited about her first trip to Coconut Island. 

Nakey, nakey babes!

Pops!

Teeth Talk

There's lots of talk about teeth these days in our house.  Esme woke up with a sore mouth during Labor Day weekend and turns out she had two loose teeth - the bottom central incisors.  And then this past weekend she lost her first one!  She just came off the floor at gymnastics and had her tooth in her hand.  I was shocked!  I was expecting a lot of tears and a tooth dangling by a thread for a week but she braved it.  She said it was extra loose that day and so she just reached in and yanked it out.  It's amazing how much she's matured since the twins were born and since starting kindergarten.  She's a whole new kid sometimes.

Anyways, that night she had a sleepover with her cousins so I told her the tooth fairy only visits when she sleeps in her own bed so we waited till the next night.  She dutifully put her tooth in a little heart shaped pillow and placed that under her pillow.  Then in the morning Chan woke right up and came bawling out of his room.  I asked him what was wrong and he said "the tooth fairy didn't come to my room."  Ha ha!  I guess we didn't explain that part to him.  He wanted to go in Mimi's room and wake her up to see what she got.  Too cute!  Esme had a whole story about how she woke up when the tooth fairy came and they hung out.  Pretty funny stuff!  We recently read this book called April and Esme Tooth Fairies that's adorable and you should check it out if you get the chance.  I'm thinking this was her inspiration.

The babes are also teething it seems.  Everything goes to their mouth, there's lots of drool, they love it when you rub your finger along their gums, and they've been batting at their ears for awhile too.  Still no signs of any teeth though.  Eve is now rolling over both ways and pretty comfortable with that.  Poppy can do it but she's content on just one side where Eve just wants to keep on moving.  Poppy has found her toes though and loves grabbing those.  She has yet to get them to her mouth though and Eve still hasn't touched her toes.

The girls are definitely plumping up too as we just switched them to size 2 diapers.  And I recently packed up all the 3 month clothes and they're fitting in 6 month gear.  They're catching up!  They'll be 6 months next week and we just started them on solid foods too.  Eve of course loved it and Poppy is still figuring it out.  So far they've had rice cereal, carrots, and peas.  No more breastfed poops :(  It's completely stinky now.

Our toothless gymnast

Feeding time!  Rice cereal mixed with mama's milk.

Pops wasn't so sure about it. 

Eve couldn't get enough!  This girl is ready to eat!

Napping poolside in Kona.

Eve is too cool, hanging with her Aunty B.

Chan and the "baby sisters" as he calls them.

Teething rings are the best

They both love these things. 

Pool time on the lanai at home.

Shih Cousin Reunion 2016 - Boulder, Colorado

Sorry for the long gap between posts, but we've been a bit busy.  However, Chan and I did take a little vacation from the family and went to Boulder, CO to see some cousins.  This was Chan's first trip without his whole family and he was pretty excited.  He likes to make a fashion statement with his headband and hat!

We took a red eye from Honolulu  to Denver and luckily, Chan was in a good mood and always silly.

When we arrived, he couldn't contain his excitement, but he was really excited to meet his cousin Whitney for the first time.

We got to the rental house and enjoyed to amenities, including the large bathtub.  

On the first night, we went to eat at Empenadas

The next night, we had a potsticker making contest.  Here are my entries.

Chan finding his name in the window

The next day we spent fishing at the kid's fishing pond off of Boulder Stream

Uncle Jonathan shows Chan how to fish

Chan shows Auntie Cynthia and Uncle Jonathan his skills

Fishing with Cousin Kai

Walking across the rock bridge

Chan and I climbed as far as we could at Pioneer Park.  We turned back because of thunder and rain

Of course, we went back to fishing after that

Kai caught himself his first trout

We also visited Baby T-Rex

Chan took home baby T-Rex

Here's one of Googers, Whitney and Kai

We had lots of fun with cousins

We went to the park on the last day

And finally one of us in front of a "buffalo"

And here's what I had to do for most of the trip