Gornstein Cleaning Crew

On Friday afternoon, Clara and Emma, The Gornstein Cleaning Crew, helped the cleaning ladies with their dusting

Today, Mommy took the ladies on an early morning trip to Target. Mommy discovered that there is no traffic, an empty lot and of course, no lines. Mommy bought some new crayons and paper that Clara and Emma enjoyed breaking in later in the day. Mommy's favorite moment of the day is that both Clara and Emma decided to read one of Mommy's toddler books- Mommy thinks it is a conspiracy to learn all the tricks so that Mommy won't be able to figure things out the next few years.

On The Road to Recovery

Yesterday and today are being spent relaxing and healing. Emma slept through the night on Wednesday and Thursday. She has had a little bloody nose and some discharge from her eyes- all normal. She has been fussy, but like Mommy wrote earlier this week, much of that is due to the teeth that she has coming in.

Clara still has lots of green snot and Mommy is very much trying to wait until Monday to give her the antibiotic, which is frustrating, because Clara has had whatever she has for over a month. Clara has been saying some more words and continues to love playing with keys, which she says. She loves taking Daddy's keys in the morning and trying to open the gate with them and just carry them around.

Both Clara and Emma haven't been much interested in meals. Mommy was pleased that they both ate graham crackers and yogurt shakes, but hopes that they will try something else in the coming days. Picky, picky!

Mommy was glad to go out last night to The Rivertown Play Group's first Gimme a Break aka Mom's Night Out. It was a huge success, with 18 people in attendance and lots of fun.

This morning, Mommy asked Clara to give Emma a hug, so Emma went and put her arm around Clara. And, Mommy even got some photos.

Emma's Eye Surgery

Just a quick post, which Mommy will add more to later, but to update those following the blog on Emma's surgery.

Overall, it went well. She was a tropper all day. She loved making friends with the staff prior to the surgery. She didn't love the IV and wanted to tear it out and has had a bloody nose all day and was not interested in letting anyone clean her face. On top of that, Mommy and Daddy think the most pain that she has experienced has been because of the teeth that she has ready to burst through! The doctor said that Emma did need the surgery and was glad we did it now instead of waiting.

Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes!

For the full story, start reading here:

Mommy woke Emma up at 4:00 am to give her some breakfast. At the advice of Uncle Adam and Aunt Christina, Mommy gave Emma some juice, a apple bar and a banana. Emma didn't cry and seemed happy to be eating and said hi to Grandma Gornstein who came to say good morning. Emma watched some tv with Mommy and then hung out with Daddy before leaving for the hospital at around 6:30. Emma arrived in good spirits and walked around the admitting area saying hello to everyone. Once upstairs, she liked playing with the toys and riding the car. Mommy changed Emma to her hosptial pjs and Daddy tried to keep her entertained. In true Mommy fashion, there was someone that both Mommy and Daddy knew... yep, really. Daddy went to college with the couple and Mommy knew the woman through friends. Their son was also having the procedure. Mommy didn't want to make a big deal of leaving to take Emma to the surgery floor, so Mommy just waived to Daddy and said "see you in a few minutes." After arriving on the 2nd floor, Mommy and Emma were put in a small room with another kid and few adults having surgery. Mommy sang lots of songs to Emma and she was quite happy to be around the other people. Emma enjoyed playing with Mommy's blue hospital hat and got to wear it herself. Emma cried very briefly when the put her under and it happened so quickly, Mommy didn't even really get to think about it. Mommy went upstairs to meet Daddy and went to get a drink. Soon, it was time to go see Emma in recovery. When Mommy and Daddy arrived, Emma was screaming. Apparently, she had woken up and didn't like the iv in her arm. She also had a very bloody nose. Even with Elmo and her blankie, Mommy and Daddy couldn't calm her down. Still, Mommy and Emma were rolled in a wheelchair back to the 9th floor. Mommy and Daddy tried to get Emma to drink some juice and rest, but she was not happy. Finally, she did drink and Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to take her home. She was so overtired and scared, that she needed to just nap. So, at about 12 pm, Mommy and Daddy left with Emma who slept all the way home.

Clara was a very good girl with Grandma Gornstein and enjoyed her day. She had speech therapy at 1:30. Grandma and Daddy tried to clean Emma's face by saying "pretty, pretty," and Emma ate some applesauce and graham crackers. She was very tired and just wanted to be held and watch tv, which Mommy and Daddy decided was okay.

Clara and Emma both went to bed without too much of a fuss and Mommy and Daddy soon followed!

Saturday Fun

Today, while Daddy went to work, Mommy kept Clara and Emma very busy.This morning, Clara and Emma went to Great Play for a make up class. There were three other sets of twins! And, Sonya was there with her Mommy and Daddy and Nathan was there with his Daddy. On the way out, the ladies got to see Eli and meet his Daddy. Emma also said "Hi Eli" after Mommy said it.

In the afternoon, Mommy took Clara and Emma to the Borders in Scarsdale for the birthday celebration for Elmo. They enjoyed listening to Elmo stories, coloring Elmo pictures, eating cookies, dancing and making cards for Elmo. They also enjoyed wandering around the kids section and keeping Mommy on her toes! And, most exciting to Mommy, Clara said "Elmo" and repeated it when she saw him on her diaper as Daddy just changed her!

If It Isn't One Thing, It's The Other

In case Mommy and Daddy didn't know that having twin toddlers was a handful, this week confirmed it.

Mommy took some photos of the rental car. Clara and Emma didn't know what was up and can't wait for their roomy car to return!

Yesterday was a bit of a nutty day. Clara and Emma enjoyed Great Play, except that Mommy couldn't get the stroller out of the rental and needed another mom to help carry the ladies inside. Clara and Emma loved doing the obstacle course, playing with the bubbles, the small manipulative toys, swinging in the air and of course, their all-time favorite, bouncing on the trampoline. After the nap, which Mommy woke them up from, Clara had her appointment with the Audiologist at Mercy College. Emma was a trooper and played with one of the students and enjoyed singing songs and playing with stickers. Clara's results weren't great and she showed some hearing loss. They also did a test which showed fluid in her ears. Mommy and Daddy thought she may have had an ear infection bceause she was pulling on her ears, so Mommy took Clara and Emma to the doctor in the late afternoon, in the snow. Clara doesn't have an ear infection, so now she needs to go to an ENT. The ENT will most likely put tubes in Clara's ears. Once the tubes are in, Clara will re-take the hearing test. At the same time, she begins speech therapy this week which will help her catch up. The good news is that Mommy and Daddy know why Clara's had a tough time talking and sometimes doesn't seem to hear what is going on and that most of it can be fixed. The doctor was kind enough to do Emma's pre-op visit on Wed. afternoon instead of making Mommy come back for a scheduled appointment on Thursday morning. Emma also thought she worked at the doctor's office and took some business cards to hand out to people on her way out. Yes, really.

Mommy was very glad Daddy was able to go pick up the car this morning! Woo hoo!
Today, Emma did very well in PT. She enjoyed bouncing on the ball to the "5 monkeys jumping in the bed" song and liked trying to learn to run by chasing Heather around the family room. Emma showed her new skill that Mommy noticed this morning. Emma has added two new songs to her repetoire- "Patty Cake" and "ABC". For "Patty Cake," she says the word and gets her hands ready to "slap 5." For "ABC" she smiles wide and seems to know when the letter "z" comes and then says "ABC" when cued by "now I know my..." Clara still has that pesky runny nose and likes to take tissues and wipe her nose, the doll's nose and then Emma's nose.

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A Visit to Mt. Kisco

For lunch, Clara and Emma drove with Mommy to Mt. Kisco to meet Jeremy, Sophie and Max at Bellizzi's. Daddy was at work and Ali was on a business trip. This branch has a much bigger play area for little kids. Clara and Emma were very intersted in the car again, but did enjoy sitting in the rocking chair, climibing on the equipment and pressing the buttons to make music. Emma saw the fish tank and kept saying "fishie, fishie." They enjoyed a pizza lunch and visiting with friends.