And the word for today is...

The boys are fascinated by lights. There are two sconces on the wall leading upstairs to their bedroom, and when we get to the top of the stairs, we let one child turn on the lights, and the other turn off the lights. Since we are trying to help the kids start speaking actual words, we repeat "light" when we pause to look at the lights and when we let them turn the lights on and off. They love flipping the light switches, so much so that I have to move Graeme's crib away from the wall at night because he kept turning on the light a wee bit too early for Liam's taste. Of course, Graeme's first word is "ight" or "igh", which sounds like the urban slang word for all right.

Liam says it too sometimes, but his first word inspiration came in the bathtub. We have a collection of different colored rubber ducks, given to the boys by Sean's Uncle Skinny and Aunt Jane. The kids love these ducks, and I repeat "duck" whenever they are holding one or two. Liam now says "duh" (thankfully without the teenage attitude) most of the time when I ask him what he's holding. So there you go, "ight" and "duh". I'm so proud.

I think their next word may be belly. Graeme has started lifting my shirt and looking at my belly when I'm sitting near him. Somehow my twinskin has not blinded him yet. Anyway, he looks at my belly, then will pull up his shirt to look at his. Liam will then pull up his own shirt and look at his belly if he's sitting nearby. If I'm changing one, the other sometimes comes over and touches the exposed belly and bellybutton. Graeme's also touching my ears and trying to touch Liam's eyes. I guess the My First Body book with pictures of babies' body parts is influencing them.

I finally bought a tiny cleaning set. I found a Mr. Clean set, so it's blue and yellow as opposed to the lavender and pink sets that dominate the shelves. One will hold the mop, the other the broom, and they will clean the floor sitting on their little butts. Pretty funny. Sean swears when they do this that they're not his kids.

On another note, some Singaporeans are fond of those little signs for the rear window of your car, like the "Baby on Board" ones that were so popular in the U.S. years ago. Here they usually say "Baby in Vehicle" or "Kids in Car" or something boring, but we saw two quite funny ones last weekend. The first was in the American Club parking lot, and it said "Cheeky Monkey" with a picture of a cartoon monkey's head with big cheeks. I almost left a note with my number because the sign would be so perfect for Liam. Maybe I'll see it again and do so.

The second sign thankfully does not pertain to us, but viewing it did cause loud laughter, so I thought I'd mention it with a brief explanation. The trunk of a car is called the boot here, another British term. The sign said "Ex-husband in Boot". You gotta love it, unless you're an ex-husband with no sense of humor.

As promised, Sean will blog soon about his Singapore experiences in taxis, indoor plumbing, and some other fun topics.

To all the other Harry Potter geeks: We will try hard not to call you at 7:01 PM Eastern standard time on July 20th and start reading the final book to you. It is released over here on 7/21 at 7:01 AM, and we're 12 hours ahead of you guys. Happy reading this weekend!

Control

They say S'pore has two seasons: outdoors and indoors. Singapore is close to the equator and is tropical, so it's quite hot and humid most of the time. In many buildings, the air conditioning (or air-con) is set at a temperature so low that you need at least a long sleeve shirt or light sweater to be comfortable inside. There is central air in large buildings, but most apartments and homes have an air-con unit in each room except for bathrooms and storage areas. The units in our home are high up on the wall and have remote controls.

The boys' playroom is about 400 sq. ft., and the air-con unit doesn't cool the entire room always. We bought a 4 ft. tall cylindrical oscillating fan which sits in the corner opposite the unit, so together they get the job done. The fan has its own remote too. When we enter the playroom, we turn on the air-con and fan, and turn them off when we leave. Graeme is clearly becoming more observant lately, because a few days ago after I turned on the air-con and fan, he crawled over to the toy organizer, grabbed the toy Elmo remote control, pointed it toward the fan, and pressed a button. He then pointed it toward the air-con unit and pressed a button. He has since done this every time we go into the playroom. I told Sean we have to be careful with our actions as well as our words in front of the boys from now on. The age of mimicry has begun.

Liam couldn't care less about pointing the remote toward objects. He's obsessed with trying to get on the couch and large chair in the playroom. He will stand in front of the couch and stick his leg on top of the cushion, like some tiny ballet dancer warming up. He then whines once he realizes that he's too short to hoist himself up. Those are the times when being cute and unintentionally funny saves him, and I'll help him up. Once atop the couch, he rolls around and looks over the edge and acts like he's somewhere special.

Both boys are standing better than ever and close to walking. For the past month they would crawl, then straighten their legs like they were doing the downward facing dog yoga pose. Then they would look between their legs and laugh, as if to say, "Look at my hiney!", or continue crawling with straightened legs so they looked like gorillas. Now Liam will stand up from the gorilla, slowly lifting one arm at a time straight out to his sides. Then he'll raise his torso, try not to fall over, and fall over anyway after a few seconds. If I'm close by, he'll lean toward me, falling into my arms. Graeme stands up from the gorilla or from his knees and is slightly steadier than Liam. Today Graeme even took two steps after standing, but I'm not calling it walking yet. It's more stumbling than walking at this point, but it's a start.

Soapbox #1 (Sorry Grandparents)

As many of you know, I am a pharmacist. I may not be practicing right now, but the health care professional will always be here. I have noticed that most Singaporeans are smaller than Americans in terms of weight. Yes, there are overweight people here, but they seem to be a small minority. We all hear about the obesity epidemic in the U.S., which is real. No epidemic over here. Why? Part of the answer is a diet low in red meat, fatty cheese, junk food, etc., and high in fish and veggies. The other important part (besides genetics) is exercise. In just a few short weeks here, I have seen more middle-aged and elderly people exercising than in my entire life in America. I know that some Americans in this age group exercise, I just haven't seen very many of them.

What I have seen here are large groups of people age 40+ performing calisthenics and tai chi outside in classes led by gray-haired men. I have also seen many pairs of older people walking through the S'pore Botanic Gardens in 90 degree weather. It just seems like a way of life over here, and that's a good thing, not only for physical well-being, but also for mental health.

I am inspired by these exercisers, and hope you will be too, if you don't already exercise. I am walking for fitness now after almost 2 years of no formal exercise. Though I'm tired because I still haven't caught up on all the lost sleep of pregnancy and parenthood, I have forced myself to walk most mornings with the boys in their jogging stroller before it gets too hot. I'm finally starting to firm up a little, but the difference in my mental well-being is what I've noticed more. I am sleeping better, and I actually feel as though I have some energy now. I will soon start karate workouts again. I have missed the dojo, and now I am ready to resume training.

I know, I know, it's easy for me to say and do because I'm not working. If you don't already, just try to make some time to do some form of low impact exercise three or more times per week. Check with your MD first, especially if you have any physical issues and/or have not exercised in a long time. Take it easy in the beginning. You will ache the first few weeks, perhaps, but you will get to a point soon when you feel good instead of exhausted and sore. Just do something!

Exercise benefits young toddlers too. After swimming, Graeme and Liam sleep better and take longer naps. They are fascinated with climbing the stairs too, so I encourage this activity as much as possible. I'm not sure how much physical benefit they get from dancing to music, but it certainly is good for my mental health to watch them bouncing when they hear a tune they like.

Enough already with the advice. I promise to keep it light next time. Maybe Sean will contribute some humorous S'pore and Hong Kong anecdotes - he's got a few to share already.

Wow, Yow, Ow

Graeme and Liam aren't really talking yet, at least with words that can be understood by us. They are doing plenty of talking in their own language, to each other, to objects, to me. Graeme does have a word he sometimes uses correctly - wow, followed by several rhyming made-up words. Yow is his favorite. He will point with his thumb out, forming an L, and say, wow, yow, wow, yow. I think he may be calling me a loser, but I hope not.

One would think ow would be the favorite word lately. You see, the boys are dental prodigies. They can't just cut one tooth at a time. Liam has 3 molars coming in, and Graeme has 2 molars and 2 incisors coming in. There's lots of drool around here, and they want to chew on everything, especially their baby Crocs, Little People figures, and the foam alphabet playmat which they could probably chew through if I let them. Somehow there has been only one biting incident since my vampires post.

There are a few items to add to the list of joyful things for the boys. The most important one is hiding. They love to hide behind the curtains and the Lazy Boy in their room. They will play peek-a-boo with each other and the curtain, cackling maniacally. Today Liam actually tried to fall asleep behind the recliner. Guess he didn't want anyone watching.

Graeme also has started cleaning and is teaching his brother. They will open the closet door, get several washcloths off the shelf, and rub them on the floor like they are dusting. They will also "dust" their little table in the playroom. When we visited another set of twins recently, Graeme took their play mop and sat on the floor "mopping" for at least 15 minutes. I'm going to buy them their own cleaning play set, though I have noticed the only ones at Toys R Us here are in the girls section and are pink with lavender accents. In this culture of female household help for most of the middle and upper classes, my guess is that there are a lot of men here who have no idea how to clean, nor do they intend to find out. Well, if they change their minds, they can come visit us. I just stole a play ironing board that someone on our street left out for garbage pickup. The boys can teach ironing lessons once they can stand up for longer than 6 seconds.

Graemileptics

When Graeme is excited, he gets on his knees, flaps his arms, bounces up and down, and makes hilarious noises of joy with a wide-open mouth. We have deemed this activity Graemileptics, after a children's song which mentions catileptics, a cat's seizure-like shaking occurring when a nearby tone-deaf lady sings. Liam is also expressive and likes to bounce, just not quite to the degree that Graeme does. Also, Lizures just sounds terrible. I thought I'd share some of the things which are currently making the boys quite happy:

1. Jumping in their cribs - the baby equivalent of jumping on the bed, with help from the side rail. Shouts of glee always ensue while jumping. This is especially true when I hold one of them and jump on the mini trampoline.

2. Splashing water with their hands and/or feet. They love making a complete mess with water in the bath, smacking the surface quickly or throwing their washcloths out of the tub. If there is a small bit of water on the floor, they will also rapidly bend and straighten their legs in it while yelling something happily in baby-speak. Their first swimming lesson this past Saturday was lots of fun, with only one whiny moment from Liam. The lovely British instructor was surprised at how well they took to the water. We were not surprised at all.

3. Climbing on the slide Grandma Arlene bought for their 1st birthday. Of course, this can lead to fights when they both want to stand on the top part, but overall, the slide is a winner. Both boys like to go down head first, with assistance of course.

4. Climbing anything, in Liam's case. He will crawl into my lap, fake as though he wants a hug, then use my leg to climb higher and try to get up onto something. If a box is on the floor, Liam is on top of it in seconds. He is the Monkey after all.

5. "Throwing" balls. Liam is actually getting some aim, but the ball still goes behind him half the time. Graeme is more into rolling, but will throw also.

6. Anything electronic, particularly the cords attached to these devices. I'll finally lose those last 15 pounds by chasing these two away from outlets and cords. They have a some kind of radar for this stuff.

7. Music. Depending on the song, Liam will dance (bounce slightly) while seated or standing supported. Graeme will bounce too, but usually must be encouraged. They are most likely the only people in the world who enjoy my singing, too.

8. Bean bags. Climbing, landing from a parent throw, or being spun around the tile floor on the bean bag is a pleasure for both boys.

9. Story time, which requires two books so they can each hold one and "read" along with me, usually sideways or upside down.

10. Destroying anything just built by me, such as Lego men or towers of blocks.

11. Eating. If I let them, I think they would eat their food like Ralphie's piggy little brother in The Christmas Story.

11. Mommy or Daddy coming into the room. Their little faces light up, and our hearts grow from two sizes too small to quite large.

I hope this list reminds everyone to find joy in the little things of life. I think I'll go jump on my bed for a bit.

They called me Fanny

When I was a baby, my parents called me Froggy or Tiffany Toadfrog in reference to the way I slept with my legs curled up and butt in the air (a sleep position which appears to be passed along to my little ones). My brother called me Gubbit, after trying to say ribbit when talking about me. Later, I was called Fanny in junior high, then Kermit because I supposedly looked like the Green One when I smiled. Guess the frog thing came full circle.

Sean was Booger as a baby, Sean Bean as a kid (way before the actor was well-known), Ponix later on, and E. Brown in college, after children's book character Encyclopedia Brown. No explanation needed for that one if you know Sean.

I have many nicknames for Graeme and Liam. Liam is Li Li, an endearment I have promised myself and my husband that I will stop using after his 2nd birthday, mostly because it sounds like a panda on loan to a U.S. zoo, and partly because it is pretty babyish. He was E.T. because of his round head and tiny neck when he was younger, but things are evening out now. The latest is Monkey because he loves to climb on everything, including me. He also looked like a mutant chimp when he was born due to copious amounts of dark hair on his head and complete baldness everywhere else. Sometimes I call him Singapore Liam, number one super-baby, sung to the tune of the Hong Kong Fooey song. Graeme is G-man, Gramalama, Grammykins, and Gray-may, which is how some computers pronounce his name. I also call him Orangutan from his jealousy-fueled recent climbing bouts and, of course, the orange-red hair.

Even Singapore has several nicknames. It's the Lion City, or the Fine City, after all the fines which may be imposed if you spit in public, litter, jaywalk, etc. The best nickname is S'pore, which warms the heart of this microbiology major. Even the local paper uses that one.

Vampires & the Left Side

We have finally moved to the house we'll be living in here. It then took a week to get the Internet hooked up, then another week to set up the wireless properly. Sean and I are on the couch with our laptops tonight, reflecting on the terrible habit the boys have started. Graeme has bitten Liam three times this past week (drawing blood once on Liam's apple-like cheeks), and Liam has bitten me twice. Sean better watch out - no telling who will bite him. Seems like Sean has passed on this lovely behavior. He was a biter until his Uncle Bill bit him back when Sean was three.

Our amah (housekeeper) started this week. Her name is Dasem, she's from Indonesia, and she has experience with twins. We'll talk more about her later. Now I can finally get a little rest and organise* the house. Driving has been an experience too. It's British, with the steering wheel on the right, and driving on the left. The parking garages, called carparks here, have tiny spaces to fit in as many cars as possible. Everyone folds their side mirrors in after parking. I've gotten used to driving on the left side, though I must admit that the second time a drove (and first time alone), I got in the front left side and sat for a few seconds before finally realizing that it helps to have a steering wheel and pedals to drive. Evidently this will happen again, since one of my new friends almost got in the wrong side despite living here for two years. I will also have to explain the U.S.-bought road play rug to the boys when they're old enough to notice that it's different from the roads and signs here. "Give way" is my favorite road sign so far. It seems more polite than "yield". "Mind the gap" is the best transportation sign, though. So much better than "watch your step" on the subway.

*English here is British, so we'll have to watch our spelling when we return.