Easter in Manila

Happy Easter!

Hot weather is really starting to kick in here.  This time of year is the hottest, but it is also relatively dry.  It has only rained a couple of times since we arrived in late December, but the rainy months are on the way shortly.

Our Easter celebration was pretty low key.  We thought that there was going to be a big outdoor mass nearby us this morning, but it looks like that didn't happen.  So, we ended up having pancakes here at home and going for a walk.  The fun part was giving the girls their Easter baskets after we ate.

The baskets were actually from the baby shower our friends threw for us last year.  We set them aside to ensure they made the move with us (along with some party hats on reserve for the girls' birthday).

Stacey put together these cute baskets.  Lucy's on the left and Clara's on the right.

We thought that the girls would go right for the baskets when we went into their playroom, but Clara was distracted by a pair of sneakers she was carrying and Lucy was suspicious.  She wanted to take her time to check it out.

Here is Lucy letting us know about the strange appearance of baskets.

A consultation between them before making any moves.

Clara traded up from a sneaker to a plastic egg.  Lucy pulled the bunny out.

Stacey put little animal crackers in the plastic eggs.  It was funny - the girls do not eat in their playroom, so when Stacey opened up the eggs and gave them the cookies they thought it was to pretend to eat.  They held them up to their mouths and made the mmm mmm sound that they do when they pretend to eat the cloth banana they have.  Only after Stacey actually ate one of the cookies did the girls give it a try.

As we were playing this morning, I picked up Clara (top photo) and cradled her and said "who's the little baby" in a silly voice.  She didn't particularly find it amusing, but Lucy saw it and thought it was pretty funny, so she came over and wanted to do it.  Then I went back an forth doing it to each as they laughed really hard.  

Here are the girls (Clara above and Lucy below) a bit later on.  Although Stacey sewed these dresses last summer in Maryland, they are perfect for a hot Easter day in Manila.

Curtains

Here is another YouTube video of Clara and Lucy entertaining themselves.  Please do not be alarmed by the body on the floor.  I wish the picture were a little clearer.  Lucy is carrying the plastic toys, in case you are keeping track.

Laughing

Clara and Lucy have quite subtle and sophisticated senses of humor.  I took this video last week and think it is pretty funny.  It is only really interesting if you can hear them, so make sure your volume is on.  Here is the You Tube video.

Clara is in the pink dress, Lucy in the flower print.

Couple of things that are amusing - you can see that Clara carries a nearly-destroyed copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and a foam "B" from the mat in their playroom.  Lucy also has a few round foam pieces in her hand.  They will pick something up and carry it around for hours.

You can also see that Maggie is in the background.  I was recording this at her dinner time, so she was doing a scan under our dining table to see if there was anything left from the girls' snack.  I think Maggie is judgmental at times of my parenting choices - for example, if she were in charge she would not let the girls walk on the couch (especially since she it not allowed up there).

Life in Manila

Again, it has been a long break since my last postings, but I have some photos I thought would be fun to share, so here they are.

Our complex is situated at the end of a fairly large pedestrian shopping area called High Street.  Every weekend there are activities on High Street, usually with corporate sponsorship.  This is from a couple of weeks ago when we took a walk and Stacey brought the girls close to see a fountain.  As you can see, it is a popular spot.  For some reason, people seek confirmation frequently that Clara and Lucy are twins.  It seems obvious , but it always comes in the form of a question.

Lucy in blue and Clara in red having their morning milk.  Stacey is putting a barrette in Clara's hair.  They both pull barrettes out almost as soon as they are put in.  Therefore, their vision is greatly reduced by their curls.

The girls love to spoon their own food, but to not have great accuracy in the direction it travels.  They were very excited by the introduction of their own bowls which have suction cups which are supposed to keep them in place.  Although they work hard with the spoons, they also still dig right into their oatmeal with bare hands when it gets too frustrating.

Yesterday we went for a walk within our complex.  I was on the other side of the koi pond and Stacey pointed me out the girls.

There is a nice seating area where people gather to look at the koi.  This is right by our apartment, so we get a good view of the pond from our living room and bedroom windows.  Sometimes the koi stare back.

We are starting to get into a routine of going to the pool on Saturday afternoons.  This is Lucy carrying the pool toys.  They both love to carry the bucket.  The shovel might actually be more appropriate for a trip to a sandy beach, but they have found it useful for shoveling water in the pool.

Our "swimming" actually is much more splashing around in a section of the pool that is probably about six inches deep.  Perfect for the girls.  They really enjoy climbing in and out of the pool and playing on this wooden deck, too, which unfortunately gets really slippery when wet.  

Stacey doing leg lifts with Lucy.

Clara proving the value of a shovel in a swimming pool.

Striding with great confidence into the water.

Post swimming bath.  Almost as much fun as the pool.

Post bath teeth brushing before going to bed.  We do this every night with mixed results.  We use kids toothpaste, which they love.  But we also call this lollibrushing since it seems like they are much more interested in licking off the toothpaste than actually making any contact between the bristles and their teeth.  Hopefully this will become more effective over time.

Climbing the Slide

Here is a cute video of the girls on the playground outside our apartment.  You can see what a good climber Clara is becoming.

19 months

Today is the girls' 19 month birthday.  We celebrated by giving them dinner and a bath.  In other words, we kept it pretty low key.  By the end of the day we are all ready to fall over, especially Stacey since she is on the job with them all day.

the girls at their 19 month birthday party - brushing their teeth.

They are doing really well and although they can drive us crazy at times, they are also incredible sources of amusement and affection.

One of the best things to see is that they are increasingly interacting as they play.  I think I mentioned before that they can make each other laugh really hard.  One example, that makes me cringe, is when we are changing Lucy's diaper, for example, Clara will come over and stick her finger in Lucy's eye.  They both think that is hilarious.  Another game, which is easier to watch, is them chasing each other.  It is so funny since there are times when the chaser loses track and the chasee continues to run and seek protection from nothing at all.

They are saying just a handful of words, but they obviously know what we are talking about or asking them a lot of the time.  I can be in one room of our apartment and send either of the girls to give something to Stacey.  They love to unload and load things.  A bedtime ritual for them is to dump a canister of Q-tips on the floor and then pick them all up and put them back in.  The love it.

In the apartment complex here in Fort Bonifacio, the staff is incredibly polite to all of the residents.  And there are a lot of staff members around all the time.  There are uniformed guards, doormen stationed at each entrance, a very large cleaning staff who are always mopping the hallways (which are open-air), a gardening crew that comes every morning to pick up any blossoms that have fallen on the walkway over night and to clip the greenery, a medical staff, and on...  There is a very clear hierarchy of employees, so the doormen and guards always say hello and always call us by name (I think they also keep a log of when we come and go).  Anyway, all of this to say that many of the staff know Clara and Lucy and will call them by name as well.  I suspect that we are also pretty known to the people who work in the restaurants and stores nearby - we are fairly conspicuous as we walk around.

The last thing I'll mention in this post is that they are both starting to move pretty quickly now on their feet.  They are not quite running, but walking nearly as fast.  We have been walking much longer distances with them and they seem to really enjoy it.  Stacey was pointing out to me the other day that a challenge for them now is holding up their arms to hold our hands as we walk together.  She noticed that they were switching hands frequently with us.

That's all from Manila tonight.

The girls in containers

It seems like any time one of the girls decides it looks like fun to sit or stand in something that is just big enough to fit them, the other will decide it would be a good idea to try to squeeze into the same space.  Most of the time this results in some serious unhappiness for all parties and neighbors, but sometimes it works out OK.

Our folded double-stroller served as a small playground while we were in a hotel after arriving in Manila. 

A great children's chair can double as a laundry basket. 

Technically, for a moment, they were both in the basket.  

Riding on a luggage cart in DC. 

Our first hotel in Manila was designed with twins in mind.  Two perfect spaces for them.  What they did not realize is that even if there are two identical items, both girls want the same one of them.  Much of their time in this hotel was spent jamming into the same little nook. 

Plenty of room, for now, in our new egg chair. 

Stacey got this picture in our apartment while I was at work.  The next day she happened to go back to the same store where they had given her this large paper bag to carry her things home, so she showed them the photo of how an extra paper bag can be used.  They thought it was cute and gave her an extra two bags to take home!