Monday, July 30, 2007

Dear Fellow American...

Well, the girls are officially US citizens. They have both received their Certificate of Citizenship from the US govt. This is a big step for us because living overseas has made this a little trickier, but we are done! Yay!

The girls had their second round of immunizations last Friday. They handle the shots really well, so let's hope that continues. Audrey, as I had expected lost about half a pound and hadn't grown, but Quynh had gained about a pound and had grown an inch.

Audrey -- 17.5 lbs, 27.25 inches
Quynh -- 15.2 lbs, 26.2 inches

Overall, they are doing really well. Quynh's cold has finally gone away and Audrey is gaining a lot more coordination. Both are jabbering the days away too. Nothing really understandable, but a lot to be said.

The news of the day is that both girls are now drinking juice and water out of a bottle w/handles all on their own. They love it and I have to say it is a huge help while I am in the car driving! Next stop is sippy cups I guess. As for eating, they chow down on food. And they love the biter biscuits (as do the dogs when the biscuit drops to the ground). We have been making a lot more homemade baby food lately, which has been interesting and fun. They seem to really like it.


More soon!

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Teething Blues

Audrey is in the middle of the teething blues again. It will be her second top tooth. She is an incredibly fussy teether compared to Quynh. However, Quynh's seem to be moving really slowly compared to Audrey's. They both had a tooth come through at the same time and you can barely see Quynh's, while Audrey's is in full view. Oragel to the rescue.

Also, just posted some new pics in the photo album.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Update

The girls are doing great. In fact, both slept thru the night last night without a feeding. They both woke up about 12:30 and fussed for maybe 5 minutes before falling back asleep (on their own!) and not waking until 6 am. As for my sleep, I kept waking up thinking, when are they going to wake up and need to eat!! I know that by writing this they will probably have an absolute horrible night tonight, but at least we know it is possible to sleep thru the night!

Is Quynh ahead of the game? No, I am not one of those parents who thinks her children are gifted based on every little task they complete, but Quynh is definitely a mover & shaker with respect to motor skills. At not even 8 months, this girl is cruising on tables, chairs and anything she can pull up on. She has been crawling for a while, but now she is just fast and thinks the whole house is her playground. My house is moving up a level and things are being pushed out of reach because of her mischievous ways! If she sees me go to another room, she will try her hardest to get there too (stairs included).

Audrey, on the other hand, seems to get pretty pissed off because she lacks this skill. She is still scooting backwards (not forwards yet) and just generally hates when Quynh comes over and rips something out of her hands. I mean full tears, kicks her feet, pissed! I keep telling Quynh that when Audrey does learn how to crawl she better watch out!

The girls go for their 2nd shots on Friday, so I will know weights and lengths again. I think Audrey has grown in length and Quynh has definitely grown in weight. It will be interesting to see. In 4 weeks, do you think over or under 3 lbs?

As for Hong Kong, it is hot hot hot, but crystal clear blue skies. Where did all the pollution go? We are off for a short swim or float really, but at least something to cool off!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Day in the Life of...

Well, seeing how I just came up for a breath of air, I thought I would update everyone on the happenings in the Solberg house. We are completely over our jet-lag and settling into a routine, which is nice. It is so nice to actually have places for things rather than a suitcase. Also, we just now found a place for everything and all the boxes and suitcases are put away. Anyway, our day typically goes like this...

06:30 -- Audrey wakes first, chg diapers and go get in bed with Dad
06:45 -- Miss Q decides to make her appearance
07:00 -- Breakfast time -- usually fruit with oatmeal
07:15 -- Dad leaves (we are working on waving goodbye)
07:15 - 09:00 -- Playtime and change clothes
09:00 -- Bottle and nap time -- This has been about 1.5 hours lately
10:30ish - 12:00 -- More playtime or we get out (not happening too much seeing how hot it is here)
Noon -- Lunch time
13:30 -- Bottle and nap time again (This is anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours)
15:00ish - 18:00 -- Playtime (have been trying to get out at this time, either swimming, a walk, run errands, etc. Also, have juice and starting finger foods. The Gerber Little Graduates are great. Quynh is pretty good at getting them in her mouth, but Audrey would much rather you do the work for her (doesn't that sound like her?)
18:00 -- Dinner time
18:30 -- Bath time
19:00 -- Bottle & bed

Now, Quynh has been waking up around 23:00ish for a bottle, but then will sleep thru the night. Audrey has been waking at 03:00ish for a bottle. One waking per child isn't horrible and we are dealing with it pretty well right now. Plus, they are downing the bottles, so maybe they are hungry. I have tried feeding them more during the day, but they aren't too interested.

Anyway, Audrey cut her first top tooth a couple of days ago and Quynh just cut her 1st tooth! This is a big step because Audrey has been screaming about this tooth for about 3 weeks now! Still can't imagine what she is going to look like with 2 front teeth.

Whoever invented the ExerSaucer is a genius -- it is about the only way I can get some time to get things done around here. I am looking for a jumper, but no luck so far in HK.

Other than all of this, not much new to report.

I am trying hard to get pictures uploaded, but there are so many that I need to go thru and organize, so give me a break. I will post some teasers though...



Thursday, July 12, 2007

I'm Back!!!

Holy Guacamole! We are finally back in Hong Kong! Some days, I never thought I would be saying that. It feels really good to be home. The girls are jet-lagged..again. They have met our other furry children and that has gone pretty well. Audrey loves the animals, but Quynh isn't sure about them when they sneak up on her. I promise I will post some pics soon. The furries are doing a great job with the new additions though.

Quynh has "dada" down but now sure if she really knows that when we say Dada, we mean daddy. Oh well. In time.

Audrey is losing some of her pudge, probably because of the increased exercise. She is on a strict workout schedule (just kidding!).

A lot of people have asked if sleeping has improved and I will say that yes, I think it has, but who really knows seeing how I change their environment about every 2 weeks. Now that we are back home, we will see how that goes.

More soon, happy to be home at the moment.