Father's Day

Today was my third Father's Day.  I could tell that Jacob and Mason were excited 'cos they'd been talking about it for days - but I think that was because they'd get to open my presents, which is one of Mason's favorite things in the whole wide World.  Here's how the day went down.

Part One - The Good Bit
I awoke to two little muchkins jumping on the bed shouting "Happy Father's Day!"  Mason insisted on opening the present she gave to me which was a cool T-shirt containing a picture of Darth Vader with the caption "World's Greatest Dad".  I also got a coffee mug with a picture of the kids and myself sitting in a beer garden (which will now become my new work-mug) plus a few cards.  One of the cards had stickers in which said things like "Super Dad" and Mason and Jacob stuck them all over my T-shirt.  I was the happiest dad in the World.  We had breakfast (Jacob and I had bagel and lox and Mason had toast) and I drank coffee out of my new mug.  I was the happiest dad in the World.  We all played outside, blowing bubbles and chasing each other in the sun.  I was the happiest dad in the World.  Jacob and Mason were shattered and needed a nap.  They took one, Ann did some work and I chilled out on the couch, watching the Sci-Fi channel.  I was the happiest dad in the World.  When the kids woke up I got them out of their cribs and we worked on some jigsaws.  Mason's already mastered the 48-piecer and was helping Jacob with it.  It was so nice to see them playing together and laughing with daddy.  I am blessed with my family.  I was the happiest dad in the World.
And then the day went pear-shaped...

Part Two - Father's Day Comes Crashing Down.
It was about 5pm.  Mason looked over at me and, out of the blue said "No more Father's Day for you!"  I was mortified.  She repeated it and then grabbed the "My Dad is my Hero" sticker off my chest, screwed it up and threw it to the ground.  What had happened to my little girl?  How could she have grown from a sweet almost-three-year-old to a teenager with personality issues?!  I'm still perplexed as I write this and remember the malevolent look in her eyes as she said it.  I'm not one to bear a grudge but when it comes to their third birthday, just before she's about to blow the candles out on her birthday cake, there'll be a little voice in my head trying to convince me to whisk the cake away and say "no more birthday for you!"

Wearing Mommie's Boobies...

No explanation necessary.

Poopin' for Poppins

You read that right.

A few nights ago Mason pooped in the potty for none other, but the promise of Mary Poppins.

Let me rewind a little bit...

Earlier that day I was sitting with Mason and Jacob on the couch and we were looking at videos on YouTube. It all started because Mason was wearing "Little Mermaid" pajamas and it crossed my mind that they had never actually seen "The Little Mermaid" and I thought they would really enjoy the song "Under the Sea". Which they did. So we moved onto "The Bear Necessities" from the Jungle Book. And then Mary Poppins...which was a total winner. Their favorite was "It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary!" They loved it.

So later that day Mason said she wanted to go poop and if she could wear a diaper. But she also wanted to see Mary Poppins again on the computer. So Harvey told her that if she pooed in the potty she could watch Mary. And low and behold, the bribe totally worked! She's gone one more time since then. But I can't remember if it was for a bribe or not. What a big girl!

Jacob has yet to go poo on the potty since his enormous, log roll, bigger than him poo a few months ago. Poor little guy is still traumatized I think.

Happy Birthday Lewis!!!

Happy birthday to our big cousin Lewis!!!
We miss you so much and hope that you have an awesome day.

XOXO

Mase & Jake

The Terrible Twos

We're currently having fun with the TERRIBLE TWOS in stereo.  I'd heard about 'the twos' from other parents but had no idea what it would be like.  Here's a brief rundown...

Mason's started to demand things such as "Daddy, go get my water!"  When we tell her to ask nicely she'll bark out "Daddy, PLEASE go get my water!"  She also went through a phase of hitting Jacob.  This has fortunately died down because it put us in a really difficult position - Mason would hit, or sometimes just tap Jacob and he'd start crying.  Now, should we tell him to hit back or not?  What would you do?

Jacob's recently become defiant.  He'll do something that he knows is wrong like throwing toys around or pulling on the curtains and then keep doing it even when, or should I say, especially when, we tell him not to.

I know this is just normal 2-year old behavior and they'll eventually grow out of it (with our help) but it's a little frustrating, particularly when they gang up on us!

Can't or Can't?

Mason's becoming bilingual.  She speaks both American English and English English.  This is most apparent when she says "I can't do it, daddy".  Although Jacob and Ann pronounce can't with an American twang so that it sounds like "CAYYNT", Mason speaks more like the queen that she aspires to be one day with a "CARNT".  Personally I can't see anything wrong with the way she says it but it cracks Ann up!

1st Haircuts & Central Park

As I had mentioned previously, we took Mason and Jacob into the city a few weeks ago to get their first haircut. We went to Cozy (a special kids place) on the upper west side. Was a great day actually. They got their hair cuts in the morning. Then we went to lunch at a bar and sat outside. Then took the kids to Central Park. Which they absolutely loved.

I was the one more worried about their first hair cut (especially Jacob's) then they were. But you'll be glad to know all went well. Jacob's hair is still wicked curly. But sadly his tuft is gone. Actually, at this point you can barely even tell I had it done. Cause I wanted to start slow, didn't cut off too much. Just tried to give it shape. And Mason's hair looked awesome as well. No more split ends...it's all even now and she looks cuter than ever - as if that's possible.

Funny thing is that Mason's haircut took, maybe 10 minutes. Jacob's 30. No joke. And Jacob was nervous to sit in the "race car" they provided for kids to sit in, so he sat in Daddy's lap. Mase was race care all the way. Mase watched Dora. Jacob watched Barney. And they got snipped.

Here are our pics from the day.


A little snuggle with daddy in the am.


Before the fro gets chopped.


This is EXACTLY how my hair looks when I brush it out.


She's an old pro...even though her first time.


Very concentrated on Dora...pay no mind to the sharp scissors.


Now he's playing with Daddy's phone. The ultimate distraction.


Live action.


The finished product. I wasn't crazy about Jacob's side part, but you'll be glad to know it's back to normal now.

And ladies and gentlemen...we give you CENTRAL PARK....









Best time eva!!

Don't think I haven't noticed...

that I haven't posted in like, FOREVER!!!! I know. I suck. But I just can't seem to manage the whole working mom blogger lifestyle. Something has to give. And unfortunately, the blog goes by the wayside. But hey...there are lots and lots and LOTS of things going on besides work. Which is totally over rated by the way. But yeah, been working crazy hours, advertising hours, in the city for the past 2 weeks. Plus, us Lieberman's have a lot going on...which I'll let you in on a little later, but for now, let's get back to the cutest twins in the universe. My Mason. And my Jacob. I put a pic up top for your viewing pleasure that we took last weekend I think. They are cuddling. Like they are in toddler beds which they might get soon...Awwww.

A big shout out to my hot English husband for not letting the blog fall completely by the wayside and updating all of our fans out there with like, the past 9 entries I think? OMG. Savior.

So quick hits...let's see...Mase and Jake are growing by leaps and bounds. Seriously they get bigger every day.

They even had their first haircut on May 21st. (i know and i haven't blogged about it...bad mommy...totally momentous event that i completely slacked on.)

They went to Brooklyn for the first time Memorial Day weekend to Forte Greene Park. Yup, babies first trip to Brooklyn. They really enjoyed going over the bridge. As we were riding over a little conversation happened between my first born and I.

Me: We're going to Brooklyn guys
Jacob: Bookyn?
Me: Yup , Brooklyn.
Jacob: I like Bookyn....can I say it again Mommy?
Me: Of course you can, say it how ever many times you want.
Jacob: Bookyn! Bookyn! I like Bookyn!

And that was before we got there.

Mason's thumb is doing great. She's using her left hand again all the time.

Let's see...

Both Mason and Jacob have taken a new liking to "Dora the Explorer". I think thanks to their friends Burke and James. They even watched it last weekend INSTEAD of Gabba. OMG. And they still love Barney. Curses Grandma!

Potty training is going awesome. They are both getting really good at it. And wear underwear almost all of the time now. If I put them in a diaper it is either because I'm being very lazy and don't want to keep taking them to the potty or they request one to go poop in. Which they do. When they need to poop. They refuse to go on the potty. I've even tried bribing them with getting to wear big girl and big boy "Yo Gabba Gabba" underwear but it totally didn't work. Actually, this is funny -- just this morning Mason told me she needed to make a poop so wanted a diaper on. As I always do I asked her if she wanted to go in the potty. And she said, "No. But I'll go in 5 days. That's when I'll be ready." 5 days??? Really? I have no idea where she got that number from, but the whole thing cracks me up.

Mason got lost in Target this weekend. I was 2 seconds from crying when we found her. Totally my fault. I was supposed to be watching her. Harv had Jacob. I looked up and it looked like she was with Harv and Jacob so proceeded to shop. Come to find out a couple of minutes later that Harvey was not watching her because I was supposed to be and we couldn't find her ANYWHERE in the immediate vicinity. My heart sunk as it was a busy Sunday afternoon. I went to go find an employee to report she was missing, walked around the corner and there she was. With an employee on a walkie already and a bunch of other people surrounding her. But she didn't cry. Didn't seem upset. I honestly don't think she knew she was even lost at that point. I tried to tell her that you don't wander off where you can't see Mommy and Daddy. Yesterday we were talking about it and Harvey said to Mason, "Cause when you wander off you make Mommy worried, Daddy worried, Jacob worried...and Mason worried." And Mason's reply was, "Nah, I wasn't worried." OK. Honestly, how do I handle that one.

Lastly, they are way into Jigsaw puzzles lately. Those Melissa and Doug wooden ones. I started them off with 12 piece ones. Then moved on to 24. Now they are on a 48 piece Pirate Ship that I can barely do. But they love it.

Ok -- I've babbled long enough. And I have more posts to post, but that's generally what's been going on in Lieberland lately.

Over and out.

Dentist

Today was Mason and Jacob's first visit to the dentist.  Mason sat in the chair first and chose chocolate flavored toothpaste.  Jacob followed, choosing to sit on my lap rather than on his own in the chair and selected a strawberry flavored toothpaste.  I'm pleased to say that both have excellent (and just the right amount of) teeth.  They were rewarded with new toothbrushes, a little tube of toothpaste each (sparkle fun flavor - yum!) and a couple of stickers.  Everyone in the dentist's office commented on how well behaved they were and how cute they look.  Well, what do you expect?  They are the cutest twins in Hoboken!

The Sharing Chair

Here's a picture of the sharing chair.  It's one of our new games.  Jacob and Mason sit on the chest near the window, sometimes allowing daddy to sit with them, sometimes telling him not to sit (actually it's Jacob who dictates who sits where on the sharing chair).  We take a bowl of apple slices and the sharing begins - Jacob takes a bite of a slice, passes it to Mason who takes a bite and Jacob takes it back for the last bite.  Not only does he determine who gets to play but, by careful exploitation of the rules, he ends up with twice as much apple as everyone else.  That's my boy!

The Sharing Chair in it's full glory.  In this variation we play with a bowl of apple slices and a bowl of strawberries - Yum!

Drinking Problem?

When I get home from work sometimes I'll have a beer.  It's tasty and refreshing.  Jacob and Mason like it when I have a beer 'cos they like to look at the bubbles in the glass.  Sometimes I'll unwind with a nice glass of whiskey.  Mmmmmm.
I got home yesterday and Mason said this to me: "Daddy, we have to buy some more beer, but you can have some whiskey.  We have some whiskey, daddy.  Mason and Jacob don't have any more beer for you, daddy."  That's it.  Word for word.  I had to write it down immediately so I wouldn't forget.  Drinking problem?  I don't think so.  Maybe I have a too-smart-kids problem instead.

Laurie Berkner has a lot to answer for

For those without toddlers, Laurie Berkner writes and performs songs for kids of our kids age ... and Mason and Jacob love her.  Most nights we have a little Laurie-time where we'll play them a few songs before bathtime.  Here's a couple of vids from tonight's exploits.  Take care when watching - you might start to feel a little dizzy!

 

"Sneaks" - One of their favorites.  The sneak-twins hide under the blanket and then emerge oozing chaos!

 

"Magic Box" - For some reason they insist on buying tickets to ride in their Magic Box (which is just the blanket since we took away the large box they used to sit in - bad parents!)

Muddy puddles

Just like Peppa Pig, we love jumping up and down in muddy puddles.  Big shout out to Nia for our fancy boots.

Quick pic

Nowadays phones are far more than just phones.  Fortunately this means you're never without a camera so I can catch moments like this - a particularly favorite picture of mine.

Can daddy drive please?

Okay, I've been holding off from posting this for a while but we here at Wonder Twin Power Activate understand the need to create a legacy for our kids no matter what the personal embarrassment is to oneself ... or to one's wife.

A few weeks ago we took the kids out in the car. Ann was driving.  As she backed out she tapped (very lightly) one of our neighbor's cars.  The next time we took the car out Mason said: "I don't want mommy to drive."   When we asked why she said "because I don't like it when she hits other cars."  The cute part os that we still feel the need to justify to Mason every time Ann drives.