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| Samantha & Sydney February 13, 2006 |
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Stories
June 1 ~ Rather cranky day. The girls didn't nap yesterday and Sydney in particular was EXHAUSTED and cranky. Several temper tantrums. We went out to dinner at Max's. Sadly, Daddy has to go back to work tomorrow.
May 31 ~ Gilroy Gardens. Arguably the best day EVER for Sydney & Samantha. They had a blast. The ice cream cones was one of the highlights. They HAD to have their own (which was mostly wasted), but they were so proud to each have an ice cream cone of their very own.
May 30 ~ We had a raccoon sneaking into the laundry room through the pet door. It quite liked Jasper's kitty food. Now we are taking several precautions to keep the raccoon away. Especially since there was a recent outbreak spread of some raccoon disease to children a few towns away. Yikes!
May 27 ~ Mike took the girls to a Little Hands playdate at a local park (trying to keep in touch with those families). I stayed home to recover from the overstimulating kid's museum that nearly brought on vertigo for me. In the afternoon, we split up and ran errands. Mike took Syd to pick up Jasper from Groomers and drop off his car at the shop. I took Sam to pick up meds for Syd and the Chiropractor for me. After the kids went to bed, we watched Enchanted (sweet movie).
San Jose Childrens museum. Very crowded and sadly, not impressed with the place (especially since it cost so much). Other wanderings around the south bay, no nap. Went for ice cream and Syd flipped out (overtired) and she wanted mommy's ice cream sandwich not the strawberry sundae.
Early bedtime. read more than 10 books. "Jammies" "Tuck in" "NO sleep sack" (may need crib tents soon... without the sleepsacks, my fears of them climbing out of the cribs scares the heck outta me). They now sleep with Nemo, Dori and the ducks (that Joanna got them, they still adore those ducks). BIG nemo phase still continues. Still like Tigger & Pooh too.
May 25 ~ Played outside. Went to dinner at Red Robin for dinner and ToysRus.
Syd & Sam are doing better in restaurants and eating. They like to sit in booths (sometimes on a booster seat). They are big girls now!
The girls went for a ride around the mall on a "bus" stroller built for two... whilst mommy did some unsuccessful shopping.
This evening, I escaped for a massage and errands. Mike took excellent care of the girls and put them to bed. Now maybe the parents can watch a movie?
Hoping for better weather asap.
Graduation from Little Hands on Tuesday.
Mike is taking vacation at the end of May and we'll go on a few adventures to Gilroy Gardens and more.
Aunt Cassie is going to visit for a month this summer!
Great Granny & Great Grandpap are going to visit in August!
Mike will have his 40th birthday in August. We are planning a trip to Monterey to celebrate!
Mike is probably going to India for work in September.
Grandma (and hopefully Grandpa too) will visit in September!
Samantha & Sydney will start preschool in September!
May 17 ~ Mike took the girls to Stanford Shopping Center for the Kidgets Pirates event. They got Pirate hats, swords and eye patches and learned to say "ARG".
Meanwhile, I attended a potty training class from a rather grumpy child "expert". I learned a few things, but mostly none of us were impressed with the speaker (especially her attitude).
The girls have a minor virus (some vomitting and diarreah). I spoke with another mom whose kids recently had the same thing... Her Dr's office confirmed it was going around. So just trying to keep them hydrated and clean. Lots of extra baths.
May 15 ~ SCBMC event for Moms... I got a free 15 minute massage and mingled with 200 other local moms for some pampering.
May 14 ~ Last evening class for Little Hands. Teacher Lalaine and Angela organized a night out for us moms at Vivace. We shared activities to keep all the little ones happy and cool this summer.
Last week, I moved Sydney's crib 90 degrees so that her crib is no longer touching Sam's crib. Naps have improved! Also, I think the new Lactaid milk is helping overall too. Either way, I'm happy that we are back in a napping phase (knock on wood). I wasn't ready for them to give up naps already.
Sydney & Samantha are increasing their vocabulary, speech, pronunciation, understanding, communication, phrases, etc. It's amazing to be able to communicate! Of course, it's frustrating for all of us when we can't understand some of the mumbled toddler words!
Have I mentioned that the girls call each other "CeCe" aka sister? Sammy has been going through a bossy and pushy phase. Syd is a tattle tell. Syd often says "CeCe push you", meaning Samantha pushed me (whether she actually pushed her or just upset her in some way).
Sydney was tested for food sensitivities. She is sensitive to several things, but especially cows milk. I've been experimenting with rice, almond and other milks (not soy cuz she's sensitive to that too). After a month, we have now switched to Lactaid cow's milk (what I drink being slightly lactose intertolerant) and it seems to be okay! That's great news because cow's milk has proteins and fats (and other nutrients) that the other milks don't provide. We've reduced her medications (but haven't been able to eliminate them yet. Hoping to soon). One of our Drs recommended a total elimination diet of just about everything imaginable (dairy, wheat, gluten, soy, etc). We chose to focus on the milk sensitivity.
May 4 ~ Little Hands picnic at Twin Pines Park. It was very windy/cold, but we had a little fun.
May 3 ~ The girls were excited to go to a PARTY! One of mike's friends had a birthday BBQ and the girls had a good time.... However they are now very afraid of sharks because of the Finding Nemo movie playing while we were there. Syd especially needs alot of reassuring that a shark isn't going to hurt her. I'm guessing the beach and aquariams are going to scare her this summer!
May 1 ~ Our first choice preschool has been secured for September start dates for both Syd & Sam! More details to come later....
April 30 ~ Big news: Aunt Cassie (aka Mel's 14 yr old sister) is coming to stay with us this summer for a month!
April 19 ~ Gilroy Gardens. The girls loved it! Samantha wanted to go on (almost) every ride again and again. My proudest moment was them riding some of the toddler rides without us. Like the little cars and fire trucks! They are growing up so fast. We have season passes so plan to visit often.
April 14 ~ Mike took them to a SCBMC event. They are still talking about the puppet show! They loved it! Big bad wolf and 3 little pigs were a huge hit.
April ~ Syd & Sam are attending daycare 3 x per wk now. It's given me more time to recover and I'm happy to report that my dizziness and vertigo are slowly improving.
Sydney did a little poop on the big potty today.
The Claim: Identical Twins Have Identical DNA
It is a basic tenet of human biology, taught in grade schools everywhere: Identical twins come from the same fertilized egg and, thus, share identical genetic profiles.
But according to new research, though identical twins share very similar genes, identical they are not. The discovery opens a new understanding of why two people who hail from the same embryo can differ in phenotype, as biologists refer to a person's physical manifestation.
The new findings appear in the March issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics, in a study conducted by scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and universities in Sweden and the Netherlands. The scientists examined the genes of 10 pairs of monozygotic, or identical, twins, including 9 pairs in which one twin showed signs of dementia or Parkinson's disease and the other did not.
It has long been known that identical twins develop differences that result from environment. And in recent years, it has also been shown that some of their differences can spring from unique changes in what are known as epigenetic factors, the chemical markers that attach to genes and affect how they are expressed - in some cases by slowing or shutting the genes off, and in others by increasing their output.
These epigenetic changes - which accumulate over a lifetime and can arise from things like diet and tobacco smoke - have been implicated in the development of cancer and behavioral traits like fearfulness and confidence, among other things. Epigenetic markers vary widely from one person to another, but identical twins were still considered genetically identical because epigenetics influence only the expression of a gene and not the underlying sequence of the gene itself.
"When we started this study, people were expecting that only epigenetics would differ greatly between twins," said Jan Dumanski, a professor of genetics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an author of the study. "But what we found are changes on the genetic level, the DNA sequence itself."
The specific changes that Dr. Dumanski and his colleagues identified are known as copy number variations, in which a gene exists in multiple copies, or a set of coding letters in DNA is missing. Not known, however, is whether these changes in identical twins occur at the embryonic level, as the twins age or both.
"Copy number variations were discovered only a few years ago, but they are immensely important," said Dr. Carl Bruder, another author of the study at the university. Certain copy variations have been shown in humans to confer protection against diseases like AIDS, while others are believed to contribute to autism, lupus and other conditions. By studying pairs of identical twins in which one sibling has a disease and the other does not, scientists should be able to identify more easily the genes involved in disease.
John Witte, a professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, said the findings were part of a growing focus on genetic changes after the parents' template had been laid. This and other research, Dr. Witte said, shows "you've got a little bit more genetic variation than previously thought."
In the meantime, a lot of biology textbooks may need updating.
Dr. Dumanski pointed out, for example, that as his study was going to press, the following statement could be found on the Web site of the National Human Genome Research Institute, the group that financed the government project to decode the human genome: "Most of any one person's DNA, some 99.9 percent, is exactly the same as any other person's DNA. (Identical twins are the exception, with 100 percent similarity)."
That, we now know, no longer appears to be the case.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Identical twins apparently do not have identical DNA.
Mike is on vacation today. We spent the morning playing, opening gifts, at the park and in the side yard. Not sure what we'll do this afternoon yet. But thankfully the girls are napping for now. I'll try to get some pics up asap.
Happy Birthday Syd & Sam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, I have a sinus infection and clogged ear. Mike went to Dr today, still coughing bad. I'm dealing w/ alot of anxiety issues mostly related to my vertigo/dizziness stuff. Mike's job is more overwhelming than ever. Just trying to survive another week......
We are looking forward to the big bday next week. Hoping to have a fun day w/ the girls.
I have photos to upload but being sick it's hard to find the time or energy. I'll try soon.
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