What we've been up to

This post is a compilation of all the posts that I would have posted if I had taken the time to post in the last two weeks. :)

The Great Blueberry Race

I used to hate sharing food or drinks with my mom. She would argue with this (in fact, we have argued about this) but she eats fast, and it's nearly impossible to get your fair share. Impossible, that is, until Catie came along. While sitting on my mom's lap, Catie ate all of the blueberries off her plate faster than you could say, well, blueberry. The look on my mom's face was priceless.

Parks and Playgrounds

There are like 5 million parks around here. We went to a park yesterday, and played on the playground there. The twins love going up and down the steps, and occasionally taking a turn on the slide. They really don't have much experience with swings (every baby swing I've seen in Doha has been broken) so they're not sure if they like them or not. But, what did they really want? Nick wanted to steal some woman's phone, and Catie wanted to snatch her daughter's baby doll. What kind of kids am I raising?

What kind of daughter am I raising?

Holy temper tantrums, Batman! Catie is testing my every nerve lately. She isn't listening to a word I say. "No, no" means nothing to her. I'm going insane. Monday, we went to the mall with the intention of practicing walking in public (ie holding mommy or grandpa's hand and walking nicely) but we underestimated the stubborness of my children. Catelyn would just sit down on the floor if I didn't go exactly where she wanted. After about 5 minutes of fighting, I put her in her stroller, which she fought tooth and nail (read: arching her back and screaming.) She didn't stop screaming for about 10 minutes. Grandpa took on the role of bad guy and held her tight while keeping her in the stroller until she calmed down. Afterward, all she wanted was for me to stroke her face. She was exhausted, and so was I. I just have to keep reminding myself that this won't last forever. She's learning new words everyday, and some day in the not so distant future, I will be able to reason with her. I have hope. On the way home, we passed over the railroad tracks and Catie said, "choo choo." Isn't she smart?

Playing with Grandpa