Double Happiness

That’s it! After YEARS of toying with the idea, Yvonne has finally taken the plunge and got herself lasik-ed. The procedure was done at one of the best lasik surgeon in Singapore. It cost us more than what we could have paid at some other low-grade clinics, but hey, we didn’t want to mess with her eyes, this is a lifetime investment!

The operations were a success. You read correct: operationS, with an ‘S’, because it was one operation per eye, with 2 weeks delay in between each. That was to assess the healing process of the first eye and proceed with more confidence on the second eye.

Yvonne now no longer needs neither glasses nor contact lenses. Her vision is not absolutely perfect though, there is some minor residual degree left but this could be due to some swelling and we need to wait between 1 and 3 months for both eyes to stabilize before we can make a final assessment.

Regardless she is now free of glasses and contact lenses and it means that when she opens her eyes at night, she can see ME, as opposed to that big pink blurb. Since I am infinitely more sexy than a big pink blurb, I must say I have some expectations as to what might happen next (hehehe).

Er, *cough*, so anyway, we decided to post some pics of the stuff she had to do to take care of her eyes after her surgeries. For one thing: she had to wear eye shields at night to prevent accidental rubbing during sleep. It means she looked like this:

For second thing, she had to ensure that no water whatsoever would come in contact with the eyes during showers. That meant earing special, sealed, water-proof shields for shower too, and she looked like this:

So that’s it, freedom at last, hopefully till her old age!

Rock Star?

or Bank-Robber?

Here are some pics of the kids playing with water. You’ll see more pics of Tristan because Celestine is a bit scared of water-rushing, noisy fountains.

Our outing at the swimming pool allowed us to confirm that humans INSTINCTIVELY hold their breath under water, they don’t have to learn it. We discovered this when both Tristan and Celestine lost their balance in the pool and went under water entirely. They did not panic, they did not gulp water, they did not cough, and they did not cry. Mostly they were surprised.

That being said, they were unable to stand up again by themselves while under water, so they still HAD to be rescued. Luckily for them, Yvonne and I were paying attention while sipping our cocktails…

Interesting uh? Next scientific experiment: “Do babies react well to electric shocks?”

Just a quick post to show some pics taken today at the playground:

(click images to view full size)

Yesterday we finally received the soft claws package from the US, so it was time for a little manicure for Storm. If you recall, we bought that solution after Storm scratched Tristan very badly. We picked the blue pads so it is very easy to spot whether she is still wearing them, or whether some claws need replacement.

Storm was not happy when we fitted the pads, but since then she has tolerated them without a fuss, looks like this solution might really be a winner for us.

The package contained 40 pads, supposedly for 2 full applications (4 legs x 5). In our case, since we are only worried about the front claws, we should have enough for 4 applications, which is great.

Here are some pics of our beautified Storm

In case you haven’t checked the soft claws’ website, this solution causes NO HARM to the cats whatsoever, muuuuuuuch better than declawing.

As you may, or may not, know, we have 3 cats: Storm, Yuki, and XiaoBao. The three of them are all very adorable, but have very different personalities.

XiaoBao is a natural born coward, he spends most of his time hiding somewhere, coming out only for his basic needs (eat, pee, poop). And even then, he will hold on if he senses that any unknown presence is in the house. He’s only really comfortable with Yvonne or me around.

Yuki is the pretty one, she craves affection and does not have an ounce of shyness in her. In fact, she will tolerate a lot of abuse just for the chance of getting a good caress.

Storm is the snobbish one, she likes Yvonne and me and only tolerates the rest of the world. She’s not shy but she just doesn’t care about people. And although Storm likes us for sure, and follows us around, it’s all on her own terms: she likes some distance between her and us, about 1.5m. She comes closer once in a while to get a caress but don’t you try to force her to come closer or force her to stay there.

XiaoBao and Yuki, by their nature, are very peaceful, they have never, and probably will never, scratch or bite. XiaoBao, in uncomfortable situations, only aims to escape. Yuki, might move a bit but will stay around in the hope of getting something back. Storm on the other hand might hiss, scratch or even bite.

This has not been a problem for us because we’ve learned early on to give Storm the space she needed. It’s a problem now though because the babies do not understand that. Storm will not try to harm them. But when Tristan sees her and runs after her, if he manages to corner her, there’s danger for him.

Yesterday, that just happened. Storm was hidden under a cabinet and Tristan spotted her. As he went towards her she panicked and scratched. Apparently cats aim for the eyes. She aimed well. Below is a picture of the result:

It could have been a lot worse...

This is not acceptable and we are very worried. We love our cats but we cannot let them get to the babies’ eyes. We’ve considered declawing, but I cannot bear to do that to Storm, declawing is horrible: it’s basically an amputation of part, or whole, of the last bone of the cat toes. We’ve considered giving her away, but I cannot bear to do that to myself. Storm was our first cat, and we got her when she was only about a month old. She was literally our first baby.

I found an alternate solution called soft paws, which are basically glued-on rubber paddings for cat claws, preventing them to scratch furnitures (and people in the same stride). We’ve ordered a pack yesterday and we hope that it will work out. If not, we’ll have to seriously reconsider the dreaded first and second options again. I don’t want to think about it just yet…

Today (22 Sept 2008), Celestine and Tristan both muttered their first 4-syllable sentences and they were:
“bon-jour pa-pa”
“al-lo mum-my”
“al-lo ko-ko”

Until yesterday, they could only go as far as 3 syllables, mainly for food items:
“ba-na-na”
“po-ta-to”
“pa-pa-ya” (which Tristan insisted until very recently was “Pa-ya-ya”)

It’s also interesting to see how their communication improves as they realize language can get them what they want. The most striking example so far is the word “UP”. We have a rather tall bed which the kids cannot climb on their own; we do however carry them on it in the morning so they can play with the quilt. Nowadays, if we are slow to take them up, they would come to the side of the bed and firmly say “UP”, to which we must comply and take them up. “UP” is also used:
1) when they want to get out of their playpen
2) when they want to be taken out of their feeding chairs

The unstoppable human urge to communicate is well on the way, we look forward to all the conversations to come.

What’s great about having twins is that they learn from each other. This means they progress faster than singleton because they benefit from each other’s experiments and experience. The problem is, they learn everything from each other, both the good and the bad. Case in point for the bad, the finger in the nose. We don’t know who started it, we just know they thought it was funny to do it at the same time

(click to see large view)

… are obnoxious parents who keep telling you their kids are the most gorgeous in the world. For us, it’s especially irritating because we happen to know who the cutest really are: Tristan and Celestine. It’s a bit shameless of course, but indeed in our case, it happens to be true, hahaha. So here is a little tribute to our little Apollo and Aphrodite, feel free to “Hooo” and “Waaa” in the comments

A few videos to celebrate our fast growing babies.

Firstly they both like music and dancing, and they have all the cool moves from their daddy .

Second, Tristan can climb out of his 60+cm high playpen. There is now officially no place in the house he can not access or get out of… AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Then again, just when he thought he got it all figured out, being over-confident bit him, see the last video to see what I mean (don’t worry, he’s fine).