Almost Done!

My first semester back in school is almost finished! I've done all my work for Statistics, got all 100%'s on my tests, handed in my notebook and did my final presentation. I still have another two biology classes and one more chemistry class next week, and then finals week the week after (just biology and chemistry). I'm a bit nervous about the biology final, but I'm pretty confident that I'll do well on the chem final. So far I've been getting close to 100%'s in both classes (labs, tests, quizzes, homework), and in biology I have a ton of extra credit that will help me get an A for the course. I'm hoping to graduate from RCC with a 4.0 average as valedictorian, so I'm basically on my way!!

Sticky Words Giveaway

There's a great giveaway going on right now at Tatum's Family Reviews. I'm really hoping to win a wall vinyl for Elana for Mother's Day. Go take a look!

Early Intervention

Well, there's nothing to report here except that they came to fill out paperwork and nothing more. They said someone should call me with a month to set up an evaluation. Great...just what I need is more waiting while my twins aren't doing what they should be. Here are some of my worries:

* They're not "sociable" with adults: no waving hi/bye, no imitating us, little eye contact, don't answer to us calling their names when they're engrossed in looking at something else, they don't point to things they want

* They don't understand English (or Hebrew for that matter): they don't respond to commands, they don't say any words that they mean (not even mama or dada)

* Not very good fine motor: Sure they have the pincer grasp down well because of Baby-Led Weaning, but they don't know how to play with toys the "right" way, like they can't stack blocks or push a button to make something pop up...they just bang at things or suck them

I'm just worried about them not behaving like "normal" one year olds...*sigh*

Chem Test and Other Things

I got up bright and early this morning for my chem test. I was proud of myself that I had studied the right way--a little bit every night for the last week. I'm pretty good at chemistry, but I wanted to make sure I had the concepts down. Luckily, the professor gives practice questions which are nearly identical to what will be on the test, and generally there is more than one question for a single topic. Like one of the questions was "Balance these equations" and there were five equations to balance. So I would do two of those and then two of another etc. every night. The only thing I wasn't 100% with was the terminology, because sometimes even when you know what something is it's quite difficult to put it into words. I'm also much better at learning mathematical concepts than at memorizing definitions. But I looked through them several times just to make sure I at least knew the majority of them.

Anyway, I get into the test and the first thing I do is go straight to the definitions. I want to get the worst part done first. :-) I knew all but one without even thinking, and that last one I made an educated guess from what I remembered from the practice questions. Turns out I was right. lol I love that! Then, I went to the rest of the test. Easy peasy. It turns out that studying the right way makes tests so easy you feel like you must be cheating somehow, but you're not. I felt so confident when I handed in my test. If I got anything less than 100%, I'll be shocked. (Especially since this prof grades on a scale, so the first test I got a whole bunch of questions wrong and still managed 100%...go figure.) YAY!

As for the twins, they're doing such a good job taking their medicine when we hide it in milk. We give them 2oz of milk and put the 5ml of amoxicillin in there. It makes it look like and smell like strawberry milk, and I'd bet that's what it tastes like too. The twins don't seem to mind, and I think they actually like the taste. So far they're still coughing, but Chana's "eye goo" is MUCH better! And that's only after a day or so of medicine. YAAAAY! Let's hope the cough gets better really soon, because it's waking her up at night. :-(

Ear Infections

Yipe! The twins have ear infections!! We went to the pediatrician yesterday since Chana is still coughing and her "eye goo" came back. Dovid has also been coughing, but not as much as Chana. So the doctor weighed them (Dovid gained 1/2 a pound!!), and then checked them all over. When she saw Chana's ears she was like "yep...ear infection in both ears". Dovid's ears she was having a hard time looking at due to some ear wax, but when she got a good look, she saw an infection in one of his ears too. So, they're on amoxicillin and I'm hoping neither of them are allergic (like their dear old mom). *sigh*

Note to my sister: Did they check your little one's ears to make sure his wasn't an ear infection too? Is he still producing copious amounts of boogers?

Studying

That seems to be all I do most days, except watching M*A*S*H with Ziva. :-) Well, sometimes I study and watch M*A*S*H at the same time... Anyways, I have a chem exam this week, I had a bio exam last week, and I have a statistics exam in a week from now. And through all of this I still have labs and other homework. But you know? I'm having fun! My goal is to graduate valedictorian from RCC, and the last few have had 4.0 averages, so that's what I'm going for. I'm pretty sure I'll have all A's this semester, but I have to keep working hard to make sure it stays that way!

As for the twins, they haven't done anything new or interesting lately. Not walking, not talking. *sigh* The early intervention people are coming this Friday, so I'm looking forward to hearing their take on things. I know that there's still plenty of time for the twins to both walk and talk, but I just want to see if there is something I can do to help them along.

Well, I'd better get to bed. More studying (and work) in the morning!

Funny Thing

Here's a funny story for you guys...

There are a LOT of Muslims at my school, and a lot of them wear head scarves and modest clothing. Today I had chem lab first thing in the morning, so I wore a head scarf (not tied the Muslim way) instead of a wig. As I walked into the elevator, a Muslim girl got on right after me. She looked at me and immediately said "Salaam aleikum" (which is Arabic for "Peace be unto you"). Hebrew has an identical saying, "Shalom Aleichem". I was a bit startled, but said "Aleikum salaam" back to her so as not to be rude. (Although I have no idea if that is the practice for Muslims, but I know it is for Jews to say Aleichem Shalom to someone who says Shalom Aleichem to you.) When I got off of the elevator I nearly burst into laughter. She actually thought I was Muslim! Me...with the REALLY WHITE skin tone. But I guess wearing a long black skirt and a sweater along with a head scarf (still not tied the Muslim way) in a place that has a large concentration of Muslims (and a very small concentration of Jews) makes me look like a Muslim. How cute, eh?

While we're on the subject, I want to say something. Although some Orthodox Jews may disagree with me, I have a great amount of respect for Orthodox Muslims, excluding the fanatics who enjoy killing people. *Real* Orthodox Muslims are quite similar to Orthodox Jews. We dress modestly, the women cover their hair, we pray several times a day, we fast on our fast days, etc. I would even venture to say that we have similar morals (again excluding the weird ones who like killing). So yeah, I wasn't offended in the least when mistaken for an Orthodox Muslim. I was honored to be considered among this group who practice their religion in similar ways to how I practice my own.

*UPDATE* I took out the last part of my post not because I received any comments from Christians complaining, but I received comments from people who I'm close with who felt that it was inappropriate. For anyone who read it and was *still* offended, I apologize as it was not meant to be in any way.

Now Then...

Pesach's over, and I think I gained like 5 lbs. Ewww. I need to start exercising when I have a few minutes to myself.

The twins are going to be seen by someone with Early Intervention in two weeks. The pediatrician wants them to be evaluated since they still don't seem to understand (or speak) any English (or any other language for that matter). *sigh* I'll let you know how that goes.

Most everyone still has a cold, but I think everyone is getting better. Chana's cough is much better. YAY! And this weekend we're supposed to be going to our friends (the Hoffman family) for a birthday party, but they're also sick so we have to hope that everyone gets better really soon. We're going to be celebrating not only the twins' birthday but also the Hoffmans' youngest and their downstairs neighbor's youngest. Yay for babies! :-)

Meanwhile, go check out the neat games being given away on my other blog for Family Game Month!

Pesach

Well, we're more than halfway done with Pesach, but most of the family is still sick. :-( The twins don't have fevers or vomiting, but they have runny noses. Shmuel has a horrific cold, but luckily no fever or vomiting from him either. His mom also has a cold, and I think Ziva probably still has a cold too (although she is out of town this weekend on a mini vacation).

I've been having fun getting ready for Family Game Month on The Twinners blog, and I already have the first giveaway up. Go check it out!

The twins aren't really doing anything new. They are practicing standing without holding on, but they still don't stand for very long without either sitting down or grabbing onto something. Neither have even attempted walking without holding on. They are both as giggly as ever, and are just the cutest babies in the world. :-)