Holiday Chaos

The latest with the girls...

Both are walking. Q is walking full time and A has to find something to pull up on first, but then she's off.  So, needless to say, things have been a bit busy lately.  They are also putting their minds together to figure things out.  If one mind can't succeed at getting the cabinet open, then 2 minds together surely can.  

Thanksgiving was great.  We had a couple of fun celebrations and believe it or not, we had a traditional Turkey Day food!  It was great and the girls loved it all -- especially the sweet potatoes.

We are gearing up for the girls birthday which could be anytime this week I guess.  We are celebrating December 9 as their birthday, but they were apparently about a week old at that time.  We hope to have a small bday celebration next weekend and then it's full swing, holiday cheer. 

We are leaving for Canada on the 19th which is seriously cramping my schedule, but I am super-excited about some cold weather.  While it is beautiful weather here in HK right now, it's not putting me in the holiday mood.  I need a coat for that I think.

I have some videos below of the girls walking and playing at a playroom near us.  And, have uploaded a couple of pics from that same day.  

They are growing up so fast.  I can't believe they are going to be 1!

Video#1-Quynh walking around

Video#2-Audrey walking

Video#3-Q&A playing

Happy Halloween!

Q&A were spectacular in their costumes. They went to a Halloween costume party at a friend's house and then we went to a trick or treating party where we just hung with the older crowd. They really steal the show, especially when Q shows off her walking skills with a big smile. A is a complete flirt and clown, she totally hams it up.

I've loaded some Halloween pics in the photo album. Never really got a great photo, but you get the idea of how they looked. I will load more soon as I had a few friends take pics for us that are on their cameras.

Happy Halloween to all!

btw, Halloween is exhausting!

Happenings

We've been busy at the Solberg house. Tomorrow is the girls' first Halloween. First of all, I can't believe it is already the END of October. Where has the time gone??? Q is going to be a ladybug and A is going to be a bee. I had to have the costumes made in China, but overall I am pretty pleased. I think Halloween costumes work better when you are either a little baby (not moving too much) or you are walking. Crawling doesn't really help the costume selection.

Speaking of walking, Q is taking 5-6 steps at a time. Would you call this walking? I am not sure. She is pretty balanced and will definitely be "walking" in a couple of weeks. She can go from a squat to standing without holding on to anything and then can take the few steps. When she walks from me to Wit and back she knows we are going to catch her so she doesn't concentrate as much. However, I have watched her when she doesn't think I am paying attention and when she really focuses, she goes quite far. A is not far behind. She is taking a couple of steps, but not as balanced as Q. Plus, she gets so excited that she ends of falling before she realizes she could take more steps. I can't believe they are almost walking.

Other happenings -- One set of grandparents just left HK and we had a great visit. My mom is coming on Saturday, so we are excited about that. Then it's Thanksgiving. HK doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I LOVE to cook for it. Anyway, it makes us feel like we are in the States for a brief moment. If only we could get a football game...

The girls will be 11 months next week...can't believe the 1st bday is coming up soon. We are headed to Vancouver for Christmas and looking forward to the cold weather. Then I realized that I don't really know how to dress a baby for cold weather. I've started buying some stuff, but we have gotten by on shorts and tanks and dresses for so long that it is sort of odd buying such bulky stuff.

Anyway, will have some new pics to post soon.

Back from Holiday

We made it back from VN and had a wonderful time. The girls were great and handled everything pretty well. They were pretty good during the long car ride and were also good on the plane. No major meltdowns, so it was pretty easy. They kept their nap schedules and sleeping thru the night, so that was fabulous! Otherwise, we had a great time and the girls seemed to really like all the swimming. Quynh wasn't too interested in the sand, but Audrey loved it.

I posted some pics from the vacation in the photo album.

Me and the girls are headed to Cebu this week with a bunch of girlfriends and their kiddos. We will only be out 3 nights, but should be a lot of fun. Hopefully the girls are just as good as they were in VN. Quynh has a slight cold, but seems to be getting over it now. Both are growing and really leaving the baby stage behind...so wild to watch them grow up.

Doctor & Travel

Just got back from the doc for our 3rd round of shots. Wasn't too bad, two simultaneous sticks for each baby. Since our last visit they both have gained 1.1kg and both have grown 3cm each. Weird how they are tracking along so evenly. Audrey, I guess for now, will always be bigger and taller. They are actually doing quite well on the percentiles too. Quynh has jumped to the 25th percentile on weight and the 50th on length. Audrey is 50-75th on weight and 75-90th on length.

Travel -- So this is where living and traveling to foreign countries can be difficult. Everything that the girls eat, drink, wear, and need diaper/medicine wise needs to be packed. Yes, I know, I could buy diapers and formula in VN again, but I just don't want to transition them again and don't like the diapers as much there. Plus, they are in the solids phase where you have to bring food instead of being able to order food that they will eat. Sooo, packing all this crap for 2 for a week is creating quite the load! At least we will be going heavy and coming back really light with formula, diapers, and food for a week out of our bags by the time we get back. Note to self: Wait to travel until you can order food for them, or go somewhere you can actually recognize what you buy.

All that being said, I am so excited to get out of HK for a week. The pollution is kicking our asses and need a change of scenery. Plus, I am excited to see how the girls do since our world tour this summer when things were so up in the air.

We leave on Monday, so will post pics when we return.

Helloooo!

Sorry, it has been SOOO long since my last post. What's going on here? We are crawling in 2 different directions and general chaos has taken over our house. We are having a blast though. The girls have moved to the "big girl" bath meaning we have no more lounge chairs and are free to roam in the bath. Quynh loves the bath because she is a much better crawler/climber, but A-train is learning quickly. They are much more playful and crawling after one another. I am posting a few videos soon. Also, will be posting in the photo album very soon. Should be there in a few hours, waiting for everything to load.

We are taking our first family holiday in a week. Going back to Vietnam, beach town called Phan Thiet. Wit and I have been there before, but are totally excited to go back.

I think the girls are going to be a ladybug and a bumblebee for Halloween. Will be having their costumes made in Shenzhen, so who knows how they will turn out. We'll post pics after I get them back.

Video #1: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4586879545049186669

I've been tagged

I was tagged by E at Fajitas & Pho to write a meme and of course, I have the longest middle name ever!

You have to post these rules before you give the facts:

Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged & to read your blog!

E -- Extra busy lately, the girls are starting Kindermusik and Water Babies this week and I am trying to babyproof the house.

L -- Lake house -- we are in the market for one, anyone got anything interesting?

I -- Ideas on what my kids can be for Halloween?

Z -- Zero words come to mind.

A -- Audrey has learned to crawl in the last week and now has decided to pull up in her crib, but she is not quite sure how to get down yet.

B -- Balance --all about trying to find it.

E --Quynh's first name (Elizabeth) -- lots of ppl in my fam have that name.

T -- Toys. Everywhere.

H -- Holiday -- looking forward to the last week in September when we will take our first family holiday -- going back to VN to an area called Phan Thiet. Looking forward to some beach time!

Ok, that was hard.

Now, seriously, tagging 9 people just sounds wrong. I will tag anyone who has or plans on visiting Hong Kong (you can include yourself if you only stopped at the airport).

Busy days

Sorry, it has been a while since I posted. I try to do once a week, but my weeks seem to be running together!

The girls are doing great...we have some good days and some not so good days. Luckily, I don't seem to be hit by both have a bad day at the same time. Mostly the problem has been teething lately. We've had some strong storms in HK lately and sometimes the wind wakes the girls up, so sometimes they are just grumpy from being tired.

They are both clapping and playing pat-a-cake and peek-a-boo now. We still say dada, no mama, but indiscriminately. I just found Audrey sitting in her crib, so she has somehow found out how to sit up on her own. Still waiting for that to happen so I can see exactly how she does it. Quynh is trying her best to balance without holding on to things. She is getting better. She can now climb down the stairs -- climbing up was never an issue, it was getting down. She is cruising on all furniture and I am trying to baby proof this apartment quickly. They are both eating well, but not gaining much weight. I just moved Quynh up to a 6-9 month sleepsuit because of her length, but the size swallows her. She is just so tiny. Audrey should be getting tooth #6 soon, and Quynh is still working on #2 which I see, but it is moving very slowly.

In September, we start Kindermusik and swim lessons and playgroups, so life gets even busier.

More soon hopefully!

Update

Nothing too big to report this week. Audrey and Quynh both tested negative for TB, so that is good news. Audrey has her 5th tooth coming in and Quynh has her 2nd that just broke through. Quynh is running a slight fever that I am assuming comes from the teething, because she has no other symptoms besides being clingy.

Audrey has become the rolling queen. She can get to everything by rolling and quite honestly, she has stopped trying to crawl because of this newfound talent. Quynh is still trying to master the steps and standing without hands.

Hong Kong is in typhoon season, so its been raining for the last week. Looking forward to starting the fall, we've got Water Babes and Kindermusik lined up at the Amer. Club and lots of playgroups to look forward to.

Below is a video...for those of you who have met Audrey, you will know what a ham she is. Quynh is much more serious, but both LOVE the biscuits. Have a good week!

Hook 'Em!

For all the Texans, you knew this was coming. Hook 'Em Horns! (onesie courtesy of Gumpa)

I am posting some more pics in the Photo Album now, so they should be there shortly.

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!

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.

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!

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...

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.

We have arrived!

We are here...after a LONG trip home, we have made it. It was rough for the girls, they were fine on the long flight, but the last leg from LA to Houston was too much. They had had enough. Quynh slept ALL day today and Audrey for most of the day. I am sure they will be ready to go about 10p tonight, but I am just as jet-lagged so not a big deal.

Everything else is good. Grandparents are spoiling them. Audrey LOVES my oldest brother (and he seems to like her too)! Quynh hasn't really opened up to all the new people yet. She is following me around the room though, which is a plus on the attachment front. Audrey is fine with just about anyone holding her. She loves to be held. Overall, they seem to be doing ok, but a little uncertain about meeting all the new people and my parent's pooch, who thinks they are about the scariest things ever.

More soon!

Good Night Vietnam

Well, we have visas in hand and we are D-O-N-E, done. Wit got into Hanoi this morning and I spent the most part of the day packing up. We had to run by the Cathay office to get tickets and then we met with our agency rep one last time to go over all the paperwork and double-check the visas. Everything looks good.

We leave the hotel around 8:30a Hanoi time and will be arriving in Houston around 6a on Sunday. My mom is meeting me in Hong Kong to fly the long legs of the trip, so that is a great thing! The girls have no idea what is coming, but doing well otherwise. They were both really happy to see Wit and just smiled and smiled at him. He is such a good dad already -- he even lets them play with his Blackberry. :-) I secretly hope they destroy the damn thing, maybe a little more drool would do the trick.

Next update will be from Texas. Good night!

Getting closer!

We have been approved by USCIS and have our visa interview Thursday at 2p. We have known we were approved since Monday, but because we live overseas, we have been trying to sort out which visa to enter the US with. We have chosen a path and we will see where that takes us. The most important thing is the ability to get US passports while in the States to re-enter Hong Kong. So, that is the goal.

If all goes well with visa issuance, we should be out of here Friday night (Hanoi time) and in Houston by 6am Saturday. 3.5 weeks in Hanoi!! It's going to be a long haul, but we will get there some way or another. For those of you wondering, Wit is going to see me to LA and then turnaround on the next flight back to HK. What a great dad!!

I will be in Texas for a week or maybe two visiting family and getting passports and then we are off again to see Wit's parents before heading back to Hong Kong.
~~~~~~~
As for the girls...they are doing well. We had a great day today. Audrey is finally playing a bit on her own and didn't need me to hold her every second of the day. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. Quynh actually took a 1-hour nap instead of her 30-minute regulars and boy, did she wake up a happy girl!

As for night sleep, I guess bad habits are hard to break. I am going to ride out whatever sleep patterns they have right now until I get back to HK and then we will start the intervention!

Audrey did go swimming the other day too...it was about the same as Quynh's experience. Pretty flat -- no thrills, no cries, just neutral. Baths are getting a bit better though. I will post a few new pics tonight.

Sunday Funday

Quynh went swimming tonight for the first time. It was fun? She didn't cry, didn't smile, just sat and looked around like what in the world are we doing all wet. There were other kids splashing so she was definitely checking them out. All I can say is she looked damn cute in her pink polka dots and hoodie coverup. It was difficult for me to take pics because I was trying to hold her at the same time, but I did post a couple. Where was Audrey during all of this?? Sacked out. We will try her tomorrow.

Quynh is also turning into a blankie baby, well, more like a burp cloth baby. She wakes up and starts fussing because she can't find it...put it in her hand and back to sleep. She also sucks her thumb. Audrey likes the burp cloth too, but not as much.

Audrey is going to be the picky eater of the bunch for sure. Still dislikes apples and bananas, but Quynh will clean up the scraps.

Hoping to hear some news tomorrow.

Life with Two

It's almost 8pm and (gasp!) I am about to watch a movie. Today was pretty uneventful. I had to run some errands and get some food for the girls who are chowing down on baby food. Also had to get some more diapers -- you have no idea how many diapers we go through in a day (well, Jenn knows!). No news from the Embassy yet, so we wait into next week it seems. The girls are doing good, we are up to 3 meals a day and loving every last bite. Audrey wasn't too keen on apples and bananas, but loved the pears. Quynh only takes 30 minute naps, so she can get pretty crabby around bedtime. Bedtime is still around 6:30ish and they are still waking at 1a and 5a. It seems to be a pattern that I can live with for a while. Other than that, everything is going well. They are handling the baths a lot better now, not so petrified of being in water, but not quite sure they like it either.

Wit is feeling better, so that is good news.