The best thing about jolly July is that the month opens with a special celebration: Nicholas and Antoinette’s birthday.
Happy Birthday!
Unlike their first birthday where we visited Hong Kong Disneyland twice, and had a buffet lunch with the Basadours and some family members in Cebu (Philippines), their second birthday celebration was a very simple, no fanfare one except for the balloons and “Happy Birthday” streamer that Jeff and I put up very early in the morning while they were still asleep.
It was so simple that I even forgot to take pictures except for this:
Nicholas gets a haircut
The following day, Nicholas was out with his Dad and Uncle Joe for his first haircut. The story is: Jeff have always wanted to get Nick to a barbershop and have the boy get a haircut. I begged him not to. His curls were just too cute to be chopped off. But Jeff insisted that the long hair is making Nick’s life miserable and uncomfortable. On July 2014, Jeff and I came up with a final agreement: Nicholas gets a haircut the day AFTER he turns two years old. The date is July 2, 2015.
I overslept that day and didn’t know that they already left. Antoinette was in her crib for her morning nap. I specifically told Jeff to bring a ziplock bag so he can keep some of Nick’s curls. I also wrote a note to the barber, which Jeff didn’t bring! Good thing he brought a ziplock bag.
Antoinette’s salon visit
Eighteen days after Nicholas got his haircut, we decided that Antoinette should get one too. Her hair was so thin, frizzy, and all over the place. We reckoned that a visit to the salon might do the trick. Jeff thought the day, July 20, would be a good day to take Toni out for a Daddy-daughter day. The first stop: the salon.
Playmates, buddies, best friends
In between these haircuts, the twins have gone with us to my doctor’s appointment. They continue to be each other’s playmates (aside from me, Jeff, and the dogs). Nicholas is very affectionate towards Antoinette. He hugs her and kisses her. Antoinette hugs and kisses him back. Well, sometimes. But there are random moments when she is just nice to him and would allow him to rest on her shoulders.
My current favorite moment is when they watch nursery rhymes or Winnie the Pooh and they do this:
But almost always, the random pictures I take of them/us any day always leave a mark in my heart.
The Other Ruffolos
We are very blessed to be with family here in Kalispell. Jeff’s older brother, Joe and his wife, Sheryl, have been very generous and helpful to us. Last July 10, for instance, Sheryl took us (the twins and I) to a summer outing with her co-workers to Echo Lake (or is it Lake Echo?). The twins had a blast “swimming” in the lake, riding a boat, eating (too bad I have gestational diabetes, I wasn’t able to take advantage of the dessert buffet), and just being with other children and other human beings.
Daily Walks
As I mentioned, I have gestational diabetes (again!) in this second pregnancy and so I am on a strict diet. Jeff has Type 2 diabetes and (thank you Lord!) he is now with me in this high-protein, low-sugar, low-carbohydrate diet. After every meal, we take 10- to 15-minute walks as advised by my diabetes specialist. In these walks, we also take the twins with us.
Arts and Crafts
I am not an artsy person but I try to expose the children to arts and crafts. We make handmade cards for special occasions. I also buy them a lot of coloring books and hundreds of crayons and coloring materials to use any time they want (as long as they don’t write on the walls). I like seeing them writing, coloring, and drawing than watching TV.
When I wrote that Antoinette’s attention span when it comes to drawing/coloring lasts three hours, I wasn’t kidding.
The Geek Squad
These days I have observed that the twins have developed a closer relationship with Jeff. They’re still afraid of him especially when they do something mischievous. He is the disciplinarian after all. But they don’t mind asking him for help these days.
“Daddy, I want apple.”
“Daddy, please get the ball.”
“Daddy heeeelp!”
To end this recap of jolly July, here are photos of Jeff and his geek squad, otherwise known as the “hobbits on their internship”.
It was a very noisy but very jolly July for us at Casa Ruffolo. Here’s wishing that August will be AWESOME!
