October 6, 2008

A royal proclamation

Ian wishes for it to be known that he is once more King of the Castle.

Unauthorized pacifier heists, as well as attempts by sisters to inflict bodily harm upon his personage will no longer be tolerated.

Explorations of his kingdom have recommenced with his returning energy.

He also pleads for clemency for any little acts of mischief that might accompany his recently regained good humor.

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October 5, 2008

Convalescence in Three Acts

Act I: "Tit for Tat"

Elanor: *plays with toy*
Ian: *takes toy*
Elanor: Wahhhhhhhh!!!!
Ian: Wahhhhhhh!!!!!!

*Reverse roles and repeat*

Act II: "Survival of the Fittest"

Elanor: The Boy is slow and weak. The perfect time to push him over. Plus there's the whole throwing up on my head thing for which I need to exact my pound of flesh.
Ian: *is pushed over*
Ian: Wahhhhh!!!!
Elanor: Wahhhhhh!!!

Act III: "The Nap"

*After Elanor stays up for hours in the middle of the night, and together the twins have exhausted their parents beyond belief with their whining and crying, the two protagonists fall asleep for a nap*

Ian and Elanor: *sleep*
Tim and Joanna: Finally we get some sleep!
Tim and Joanna: *eyes close*
Ian and Elanor: *eyes open*
Tim and Joanna: Wahhhhhh!!!!!

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October 4, 2008

Madison, GA

Last weekend--before the family got sick--we took a little day trip to Madison, GA.

Madison was an odd mixture of the beautiful Old South--it was barely spared by Sherman on his infamous "march to the sea," so much of the lovely Antebellum architecture is still in place--and more disturbing parts of the Old South as well--in antique shop, we walked in to see a Little Black Sambo book flanked by Confederate memorabilia on either side. The incongruity and inappropriateness of the hopefully unintentional combination made me gasp out loud.

The whole town was covered in antique stores and book stores. Once again, we puzzled our heads over the lack of great book stores in the academic town of Athens. One of the antique stores was insane, stuff piled everywhere. But it had great books, a whole section of used children's books for under a dollar. We added a pile to the kids' library, some for now, like a Cheerio's book and a couple for later, like a story written around and illustrated with paintings by Peter Breugel.

It was a pretty, quiet town to walk around with the kiddos. There was a tiny museum, which even included works by Picasso and Rouault in the collection.

I love the reuse of industrial architecture. There was a mall made out of an old mill, and here's a livery transformed into the local lawn and garden store.

We could totally picture aged southern aristocrats drinking iced tea and rocking on the porch of this inn.

At lunch, we were given lollipops for the kids. Just in case it looks like we're negligent parents, I'll let you know we only gave them a few licks. Of course, Ian wanted to do it himself!

Elanor got so excited, she kept her little tongue out waiting for the next lick.

Ahhhhh....purple ecstasy!

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October 3, 2008

The last man standing...

...so, Tim and Elanor both succumbed to the stomach bug as well.

Tim's better, Elanor's not too bad, but poor little Ian can't seem to shake this. We're taking him to the doctor today. I'm all bleary-eyed from the last few days, trying to take care of three sickies, hoping I won't get sick myself.

You think a mom of twins changes a lot of diapers on a normal day?

Plus, Elanor pulled her whole "I won't go down without a fight" routine last night. Think of that as a sort of Patton-esque statement, dramatic, persistent, and loud enough to keep the whole house up. Thankfully Tim was better enough to give me a hand, spelling me out when I would get to the end of my rope.

At 2 AM, I gave up and took Elanor for a morning drive. She fell asleep, and even though she was woke up when we came into the house, she was at least calm enough to be rocked back to sleep.

They're all whiny, too, poor babies. Their endless pacifier and toy heists now result in tears of despair. "I'm...too weak...to...take...the...block...back........"

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September 30, 2008

In 20/20 hindsight...

...Joanna realized that plopping Elanor into the bath with Ian-who had just vomited and was not about to leave that action in the past tense-was not the best parenting decision she has made to date.

I'll just leave that story at "ewwwwwww."

A lot of things have gone into the laundry today. Unfortunately, not even bilingual bunny escaped the fray, and I don't think he can go in the washer. Gave him a good scrub, and hope that'll take care of it.

This is not a shining day in the annals of parenthood. Or babyhood, at least for Ian, poor, wee man.

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September 26, 2008

More 10 month fun

"What came in the box?" our readers might ask. Well, you didn't, but we'll show you anyways.

Before we moved down south, our dear church in Pittsburgh gave us a gift certificate for the babies. After buying the necessities, we still had enough left to buy a few fun things for them. Every couple of months, we'll go to the store and get a fun toy for them--this time a shiny, new, red car. Thank you to anyone from Grace who's reading this!!!

"A car. For me??? Thanks mom and dad!"

"Whee........"

And this one makes me dread Elanor's sixteenth birthday.

Beep, beep!

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September 25, 2008

10 months

There's so much I could say as we begin the 10th month of these babies' lives. First signs, first words (dada and mama), mischief, play, games, more mischief, laughter, best friends...

Actually, once we can get them up, I think some videos will give you some ideas of life these days. For now, enjoy the Box Collage!

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September 22, 2008

Hansel und Gretel (aka Ian und Elanor)

Ian and Elanor (hand in hand): Let's go eat the goodies, the goodies, the goodies, let's go eat the goodies, la-ta-ta-ta-ta!

Ian: Ist good ja!
Elanor: Ja! Ja! Ist good!
Ian: Und yummy!
Elanor: Ooh ja! Und yummy ja!

Tim: So the twins are ten months old now. Their main preoccupation these days seems to be food. As far as Ian goes, Joanna refers to him as a "social eater." Anytime we have food near us, there he is waiting for a bite. In the last few weeks he has been going to Joanna, pulling himself up on her legs and begging until he gets some, but more recently he's been accosting me with his cute puppy look as if he's saying "Look how cute and little I am. Why don't you give me a little bite of that."

Elanor can't quite pull herself up yet so when she sees we have food, she frantically crawls towards us and implores us with her "starvation wail." If the "starvation wail" doesn't cut it, she lays her head down in her hands in an attitude of despair. Unfortunately, her chubby little thighs belie her protestations of ravenous hunger.

Their favorite things to eat these days are corn puffs, rice puffs and Cheerios. To keep Ian occupied, we line up a row of these finger foods on the couch and he works his way from one end to the other. We do this with Elanor too but we put the Cheerio trail on the floor to encourage her to crawl more.

We should start calling them "Hansel und Gretel" and write a parody of the Grimm fairy tale. Even better we could write a parody of "Bewitched Bunny," a parody of the Grimm fairy tale. A parody within a parody. And we'll leave you with this...

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September 19, 2008

Little Russia By the Sea: The Rest of the Day

After walking the boardwalk for awhile, we headed back to the main street (Brighton Beach Avenue) in search of coffee.

Along the way, we stopped at a specialty foods store, M&I International Food Store. The pastries were decadent. We gazed for a long time, wondering how many people were hired just to make desserts.

We each bought some Russian chocolate as gifts. Unfortunately, since I don't know Russian, I have no idea why Napoleon is galloping across the chocolate bar.

We then continued our quest for coffee. Now, here's where things got a little weird. Even in Europe, if a restaurant is called a "cafe," you can stop there for coffee, even if it's one of the fanciest restaurants in Paris. In Little Russia--not so much. After being turned down at a couple of places where we asked if it were okay to just get coffee and dessert, we stumbled on an unassuming little place.

A couple sat next to us who treated us as if we were guests in their home. They moved chairs for the bulky double-strollers, commented on our food, smiled at the babies, and greeted us as they left. Old men chatted at another table, and then offered blessings on the little ones. Along with our coffee, we had a plate of crepes with chocolate sauce and fruit. I love the red in this picture.

The light was getting dim, so we headed back for one last stroll along the boardwalk. We got the kids out to wiggle before the long trip home and watched a community volleyball game on the beach.

Finally, we watched the sunset over the beach, silhouetting Coney Island in the distance.

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September 17, 2008

Little Russia By the Sea: The Park

Right off the boardwalk is a lovely little park. Adults played dominoes while the kids cavorted.

Our kids love, love, love swings.

Unfortunately, Ian seemed to be getting a little green by the end, so swing fun was over.

Which leads us to the final installment: the rest of the day!

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Little Russia by The Sea: The boardwalk

It's a three mile boardwalk reaching its end point at Coney Island. As we walked along looking for a place to have a picnic, we passed gorgeous cafe's overlooking the sea.

We both finished reading Tolstoy's War and Peace recently, so Tatiana's caught our eye.

We found a pavilion and sat to have our pies.

In this pavilion and others like it, old friends chatted and old men played chess. A biker stops to look over a shoulder while a dog sniffs for scraps. I had never wanted to live in the middle of a big city, but now I understood the desire--this place was busy, bustling, and tight-knit; we sensed a real community at work.

And the views were gorgeous.

Refreshed by our time by the sea, we brought the kids to a park before heading for another walk in the city.

Next installment: Kids in the park (just for fun!)

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September 15, 2008

There and back again

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September 9, 2008

Adventures in traveling

We made it safely to New Jersey!

The actual travel process went incredibly well. That is, after being The One Person No One Wants to Follow In The Security Line. The first security person told us to go through the handicapped and special assistance line. The next one told us it was handicapped only. You'd think that twins in a stroller would qualify for special assistance. Go figure!

And no one told us car seats have to go upside down on the conveyor belt. That is until after everyone's baggage stopped up behind us! And then the stroller lost a wheel...

The kids did great on the flight. We had two aisles to ourselves, plenty of room for the kids to stretch out, squirm, etc. Baby puffs (like Cheerios only airier) made the taking off and landing a bit easier. Note (to anyone else with babies who might be thinking of air travel): the kids were registered as lap babies, and even though the plane was almost empty, AirTran wouldn't let us use the car seats. Just FYI!

We met up easily with Teresa, and made it back to her nifty little apartment. The kids were a bit restless, and loved crawling all over her house. Talk-times and a long breakfast have been punctuated by laughing with the kids and rescuing Teresa's house from the baby marauders.

Teresa lives in a cool, mainly immigrant based city somewhere outside of New York City. Driving through the town was a multicultural event. As Teresa played South African music, bits and pieces of Hispanic music, rap music, and sirens counterpointed against it.

In the afternoon, we went out for a late lunch at a Turkish restaurant. We drove through areas where many of the signs were in Arabic, and Halal meat was advertised in almost every grocery window. We shared sharply flavored hummus, a cucumber, tomato and fresh feta salad, and a yogurt-sauced bread and chicken dish.

Don't know whether this is insane or not, but tomorrow we're planning a trip to Little Russia (or Odessa) By the Sea. After reading War and Peace in tandem, and many long discussions on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, we couldn't resist a place that boasted a St. Petersburg Bookstore and Russian street food along the boardwalk.

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September 5, 2008

Change of scenery

I know this is a bit crazy...

...but the kids and I are going to fly up to NJ to see my old roommate Teresa on Monday. Woohoo!!!

My dad has a business trip to NYC, so I have an extra lap to take them as lap babies (saving us hundreds of dollars). It was all rather spontaneous, but thankfully Teresa doesn't mind spontaneity, either.

Any advice on plane travel with babies?

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Giddyap!

Yeehaw!!

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Open wide!

Our darling daughter has delusions of dentistry.

Hold on. Let me check that back right molar. Hmmmm........

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September 3, 2008

Baby Food 102

(Top to bottom: peaches, carrots, sweet potatoes, yellow squash, chicken, black-eyed peas)

Well, the last batch of baby food lasted us a looooong time. Partly because we started them out slowly, partly because it was just a whole ton of food. See Baby Food 101

So, I got together with my terrific aunt and made a bunch more. Here's what we made, notes on how we made it, and the approximate cost. Again, it took about 2-3 hours for the whole process (minus shopping, which we needed to do anyways), and we have at least enough for a month. We put them into approximately 9 oz. containers.

2 lbs. blackeyed peas @ .85/lb. (see earlier entry) =$1.70 Made 10 containers
2 lbs. peaches (a gift) =5 containers =$0.00 Made 5 containers
4 lbs. carrots @ .70/lb. = $2.80 Made 9 containers
7 lbs. whole, hormone/antibiotic free chicken @.89/lb.= $6.25 Made 10 containers
3 lbs. sweet potatoes @ 1.00/lb.= $3.00 Made12 containers
2.5 lbs. pears @.90/lb. = $2.25 Made 5 containers
3 lbs. yellow squash @.80/lb. = $2.40 Made 5 containers

56 containers x 9 oz. = about 500 oz. of food
Total cost approximately $18.50, round up to $20.00 for tax, etc.
$20 divided by 500 oz. of food = $.04 per ounce. Or $.16 per 4 oz. jar

• Blackeyed peas, sweet potatoes, carrots: see earlier entry
• We cooked the fruits (pears and peaches) in their own juices with a small amount of water to keep from burning. Same for the squash, except we added water to cover the bottom of the pan.
• We boiled the chicken, allowed to cool in the broth it made, shredded it off the bone, and pureed it with some of its broth in a food processor. The chicken seems kind of expensive at first. But it's really good quality chicken, and I think a lot of the baby foods combine chicken with less expensive stuff, like rice. We'll get a similar effect through mixing it with veggies and rice cereal, so actually I think it's a really good deal for what we got out of it.
• Sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas are the cheapest, and both incredibly nutritious.
• We decided not to do apples this time around. The cost and labor just wasn't worth it with the price of apples right now. I think we'll just get some organic, unsweetened apple sauce next time it goes on sale. I also want to do some spinach or other green veggie for them, perhaps in the crockpot.
• BTW, there's a great entry on making crockpot/slow cooker baby food here. I'm definitely going to try this out. I was thinking that pumpkin or other winter squash, when they're in season, would be a good choice.
• Also, we would have saved a ton of money if we had gotten our food at a farmer's market. Take advantage of it if there's one near you. Seriously.

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September 2, 2008

Ian & The Ministry of Silly Talks

Ian has developed a falsetto voice.

It's not shrieky at all, it's high and sweet like a boy's choir, but with a vein of humor running through it.

He uses it to make his sister laugh.

And to "narrate" his day.

Just thought I'd share...

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August 29, 2008

9 months!

Well, we missed a picture celebration of 8 months, but I think the vacation pictures can count for that.

They're doing so much these days. It's hard to keep track. It's a scarier time, with both of them crawling around the house, but it's such an exciting time. Socially, this is just a thrilling time. They love just being near us, and are so excited when daddy gets home from work. They're real friends now, doing things to make each other laugh, waking each other up in the morning for their own little "talk times," Elanor waddle-crawling after Ian who's zipping around the house, so fun.

And they each have their fun little tricks. Ian taught himself to crawl up the stairs yesterday. Elanor claps her hands while saying "yayyyyyyyy."

Anyways, obviously I could go on and on, but enjoy the pictures!

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August 14, 2008

Other memoirs from our time with "Aunt" Jess

Thanks to Aunt Jess...

Ian sticks his tongue out.

Elanor waves bye-bye.

They both (sort of) give us five.

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August 11, 2008

Shall we dance?

Ian: Swing your pardners round 'n round, watch them while they hit the gr..."

Elanor: I thought he said "Do-si-limbo!"

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Bits and pieces...

Tim: This weekend the kids came down with roseola. They had high temps on Saturday but by Sunday were back to normal. Not much of a rash yet though. We stayed home most of the weekend and just left them in their diapers to cool them off. One side effect of the condition is that they drool incessantly. We get slimed with baby goo whenever we play with them or pick them up! It's to the point where their diapers get wet from the outside in.

They are doing well, though, and have a ton of energy. Ian crawls over everything (including Elanor). He can now pull himself up to standing position and scoot along the couch. We'll need to buy a baby gate soon before he discovers the stairs. Elanor is expanding her reperatoire of cute things. She claps and goes "yay" when she's especially excited about something and is now reading to herself - she turns books around in her hands, turning the pages while she says "da...da...da..da..da."

Joanna: Speaking of books, Ian has discovered the travel shelf on Tim's bookcase. I frequently find him (totally serious here!) perusing maps of Paris and guidebooks to London that he's pulled onto the floor.

Uhh, can someone say precocious?!?!?

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Fun with dad and "Aunt" Jessica

A few more pictures from last week...

They loved sitting in grandpap's lap.

Jessica made the kids laugh soooo hard! They would just squeal with laughter.

Everyone's smiling!

Tired after a long day...

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August 9, 2008

Double trouble!

The other day I put the kids in their swings for their morning naps. I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a shriek. Startled, I listened again, and realized it was not a shriek of pain but of hysterical laughter.

I crept down the stairs to see what was going on. I didn't want them to see me, so I hid behind the couch to videotape it. It was totally their moment, a brother-sister moment that had nothing to do with me.

Ian had crawled completely out of his straps (still don't know how he did this--it must have taken a lot of skill and at least five different moves to get out). He was making monkey faces at Elanor, and periodically grabbing her swing to swing along with her. She responded by giggling incessantly.

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August 6, 2008

Why I love having twins...

The moments of almost unbearable sweetness.

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August 3, 2008

Peek-

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July 25, 2008

Vacation: The Kids

Tim and Joanna: This past week, we spent a little mini-vacation with the grandparents at Tybee Island with little jaunts into Savannah.

The first morning before breakfast we took the kids down to the beach for a taste of the old briny. Elanor liked playing with the sand but Ian was a bit skeptical of the whole ocean thing. "What is this grey watery stuff and why is there so much of it and why am I in it?" They would grab some sand in their hands and stare at it as if they were thinking "what...the...heck...is...THIS...stuff??" Ian remained somewhat wary of the ocean for the rest of the visit.

Tim was sympathetic--considering all of the unknowns in the ocean, a healthy skepticism was not an inappropriate reaction on the part of our little guy. Between the sun, the sand, and pondering the incomprehensible forces of nature, Ian soon tired himself out.

They loved their beach toys. Even though they had no conception of their proper functions, the brilliant colors and unusual shapes amused them.

Elanor loved the water in every shape and form. The pool was her favorite, though. She would laugh, cackle and shriek for joy as she kicked in her little floaty. She also loved looking at water, especially if it had bright little fishies swimming around in it.

We buried the twins in the sand up to the waists and they didn't seem to mind, as long as we kept the waves from creeping up on them. They took a few tastes of sand and found that it didn't sit well on the palate.

The apartment was equipped with a double sink that was just their size. Some days they seemed to have more fun getting the sand and gunk off of them as they had had putting it on themselves.

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Family portrait

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July 11, 2008

Elanor grasps the concept of book

For awhile, she's been trying to turn pages as we've read to her. I set her down with Brown Bear, Brown Bear and left her alone.

She sat turning the pages for several minutes.

It's so amazing to see these ideas appear for the first times. She has grasped the whole idea of book. Not just the single object that sits in her hands, but that there are other objects symbolized by the same idea (Book), and the concept that you do the same things with these other objects, whether mommy or daddy holds them or she holds them.

If I were a philosopher, I'd know the words to explain this. Or if I could pull back all of the fuzz from my brain that's accumulated from late nights, early mornings, and plenty of spit-up. But it's still fun to sit back and watch it happen.

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July 8, 2008

Mouth Strumming

This has been a source of endless amusement lately--for us and them. Enjoy!

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July 7, 2008

Transitions

So, this is probably a new parent thing, an insight that most experienced parents have already had.

But over the past few weeks, I've realized that my babies are much happier when I actively create transitions for them.

After a meal of solid foods, they used to fuss and cry, even if I could tell from their cues they weren't hungry anymore. And they would continue to freak out while I tried to wipe their faces, trays, put away the food, etc. I think they must have been thinking, however babies think, "Why is this good thing being taken away from me?" (even though I as an adult could tell that they were no longer hungry).

Now, as soon as they're done, I hand them each a clean spoon to play with. No more tears for them, and a chance for me to clean things (and them!) up before the gook has a chance to dry. Then they get down and play.

The flow-chart (not to totally geek out here) for this would be (a) eat (b) transition=spoons (c) get down and play.

I suppose that's what we've been doing for awhile with sleep-times/naptimes, but hadn't thought about the wider applications of transition times.

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July 5, 2008

More 4th Fun!

Elanor wore a festive bow (her first).

Ian found his favorite perch--an uncle's head!

Their cousin gave them dolls. Actually, these three look like little dolls all in a row.

Ian loved his boy dolly.

Maybe later I'll post some outtakes!

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July 4, 2008

Ian n Elanor sez

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June 30, 2008

discipline

Ian's new skills have brought us into new realms of parenting. He can get into everything. Sometimes what he is trying to do is amazing, his combination of physical strength and problem-solving skills are mind-boggling at times. Sometimes, it's a day full of moving him across the living room away from the "no," and having to repeat that process ad nauseum. Elanor doesn't get as many no's because she's not nearly as mobile, and in general she can be redirected more quickly than he can.

So far, we've only set up a very limited number of no's, some of them of a more serious nature than others: don't touch the DVD player, don't turn over the living room table, don't pull your sister (or brother's--we've realized Elanor can be the silent but deadly instigator here) hair.

Jonathan's post really made me think through some thoughts that have been bubbling through my mind lately.

With pregnancy, there are variations, but most of the advice can apply to most pregnancies. Don't drink, smoke, etc., eat well, and so on.

When it comes to parenting advice, especially in regards to discipline, advice runs the gamut. From people we know in real life, to blogs I've visited, to parenting experts, there are so many conflicting voices. Plus some of the books by experts subtitle their works to indicate that this (and only this?) is parenting "God's way." Some say that you should "always" discipline this way. Others say you should "never" use this technique. And sometimes I feel like we're fumbling our way through the always and nevers trying to find what's best for our family.

The thing is, though, every parent is different, every child is different. Though there are principles that can be applied across the board, I don't think there will ever be one system that fits everyone into it. Already, we're seeing that Ian and Elanor have very different personalities, and that we'll have to handle them in different ways. It's hard, even when tone of voice and redirection are the main discipline tools we're using right now. It's trying to find the right tone of voice that shows I'm serious (no, this is not a game!) without breaking his heart. There are certain tones of voice I use that just crush his little spirit. I want an obedient child, not a squished one!

I really like this. About how it's too easy to idolize having the perfect family, and putting that in the place of Christ's work.

I also appreciate those who remind that the goal of discipline is part of discipleship. Not that punishment won't eventually be part of that, still thinking through all of that, but that discipling and training our kids is the focus, rather than punishing them.

And our old pastor's reminders that believing in the covenant, we have no place treating our kids as "vipers in diapers." He also said, right before our children were baptized, that apologizing to our kids when we make mistakes is one of the most powerful discipline tools we have, and that it's best to get a behavior to change using the gentlest means possible to accomplish that change--anything else is overkill.

And after a discouraging days of no's and redirecting, when I was greatly longing for immobile babies, I appreciated Tim's reminder that Ian's mad skillz aren't things to be discouraged about, they're things to rejoice in. He's growing up!

And, the other day, after telling him "no" as he crawled ever closer to the DVD player, he stopped, looked me in the eye, and turned around. I was astonished--he had a choice, and he used his will to make the right choice.

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June 27, 2008

Babies laugh

In case the sound of laughter might brighten up someone's day...

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The Pacifier Swap

Remember this?

The pacifier games get more elaborate as time goes on. Sometimes we can't even keep track of whose is whose.

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June 22, 2008

Saturday in the park

Yesterday, we took the kids to a little local park.

Among our recent realizations as parents is that many of our activities are going to revolve around our kids' activities from now on. I know, pretty obvious. But going to the park and watching the geese hasn't been on our top to-do-list in the recent past. But now, it's one of the fun perks of parenting. Anyways.

While we were at the park, we took the inevitable two-in-one-swing pictures. A twin forum Joanna is on had a whole series of these pictures awhile ago, and we're just now catching up. Enjoy!

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7 months

The kiddos have made some huge developmental jumps lately.

Elanor loves sitting up. She can sit up for 15 minutes at a time at this point. If she falls backwards, she's fine. But if she topples forward, she gets stuck and cries for help. She's also started rolling all the way over, though she still does what we've named her "yo-yo-roll," in which she rolls three-quarters of the way over, grabs whatever toy she wanted, and unrolls herself back to the original position.

Not only does he still roll all over the place, Ian crawls. He crawls mostly with one hand, so he looks like a man dying of thirst in the desert inching his way towards the oasis.

Ian likes exploring the broad landscape of our living room. Elanor likes grabbing one toy and studying its minutest detail. Ian is never still. Elanor doesn't mind sitting and chatting, or playing quietly.

Ian got to sit in the big boy seat of the shopping cart for the first time this past week, grinning almost the whole time. He looked like a midshipman manning his mast, keeping a lookout for specials of the week as we cruised down the aisles.

They both talk up a storm. Once we figure out our new computer, we'll post a video of their favorite oral past-time: humming while we strum their mouths. Elanor will even strum her own mouth, using her entire arm to do it. Their other favorite thing to say is "dadadadadadada...," which causes Tim no small amount of satisfaction. Joanna, on the other hand, secretly squishes together their lips to teach them how to say "mamamamamama..."

We've also realized that we've stepped into a whole new world of parenting with two fully mobile babies, but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.

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We love Aunt-stina (& her mum's dog!)

(& her mum, too, we just didn't get a picture!)

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June 18, 2008

Ian's Father's Day present

He started crawling on Sunday evening. With a lot of belly dragging, but still crawling all over the place.

He's unstoppable now!

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June 15, 2008

Happy First Father's Day!

The kids are blessed to have two fun grandfathers,

One great-grandfather,

And a daddy who adores them!

A daddy...
-who wouldn't ever miss a play time with them
-who can't keep his hands off of them in the morning before he leaves for work (because he's missed them so much overnight), even if they're still sleeping
-who has changed at least as many dirty diapers as mommy
-who got up with them almost every night until they started sleeping through the night
-who makes them smile and laugh just by walking into the room or saying hi
-who prays for them each day

Happy First Father's Day, Tim!!!

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June 9, 2008

Turning the table

Should I be a little nervous that my six month old can flip over a table?

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Sunday best

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June 5, 2008

Feeding two

I imagine that spoon-feeding two is quite different than feeding one. Except--and I hope that this doesn't gross anyone out (they share everything anyways)--at this point it's still one spoon and one bowl. And a sore arm from feeding double the bites!

I hope that they're already learning patience. They're pretty cool about waiting for their turn most of the time. Whoever is waiting for their bite waves all of their limbs and coos in anticipation. The coos become exponentially more intense if you give the other one two or more bites. Somewhat like a turtledove morphing into a raven.

Dinner is frequently interrupted by conversations. These kinds of interactions more than make up for any extra work that we have with two babies instead of one.

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May 30, 2008

First time swimming

Ian: Yo, peeps! The tag is "Ian" not "Gilligan." And stop singing that ^&*^%#$^&* tune.

Ian: Dude, I'm freezing already! And I can't get that stooopid song out of my head.

Elanor: I saw what they did to you, Lil'-E. I know my time is coming...

Ian: I'm cool if I got a pretty girl's attention.

Elanor: I'm chill' if I got everyone's attention!

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May 20, 2008

Happy half birthday!

We don't know whether to put on our party hats...

...or our birthday suits!

More from mommy and daddy once they recover a bit from their Pittsburgh spree!

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May 6, 2008

First icky twin comment

So, I was in the waiting room with the twins today waiting for Tim to get done with a check-up. Elanor was sleeping, and Ian was quietly playing with his toys.

There was an old man a few seats down from us, snoring away. All of us in there were (respectfully) trying not to giggle. A nurse came in to call someone back and started laughing so hard that she forgot who she was calling back.

Old man wakes up, looks at our kids and says in a horrified voice, "Good G**! Twins!" In the tone of voice someone would use in talking about a natural disaster. And he topped it off with everyone's favorite bit of sugary, southern insincerity, "Bless your heart."

When I told Tim, he suggested a few three, four and seven letter words I could have used to respond.

I just told the man what great babies they were. And talked rather loudly to someone else about how wonderful it was to have twins.

Grrr. Don't diss my babies.

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April 29, 2008

Reading with daddy

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5 months!

We're about a week late on this one! But the kids are now five months (one week and one day).

A lot has happened over this month....

*The twins are getting more mobile now and as a result we are having to be more mobile too! The days of leaving them on a couch or bed are gone. They aren't quite crawling yet but they manage to twist and turn their bodies in such a way that changing them and getting them to sleep in their swings is more difficult.
*Ian can roll over. And over. And over. He rolled all the way across the living room and turned on the DVD player the other day. He looked so surprised when the sound and picture came in.
*Elanor can roll over--about 3/4ths of the way. She can't quite get one chubby little thigh over.
*Elanor sat up for the first time by herself a few days ago. It took a few seconds before she plopped back down again.
*They both really play with toys now, turning them, manipulating them, stealing them from each other...
*Their senses of humor are developing incredibly. They've understood physical humor for awhile (tickling, etc.). But now they understand the role of timing in humor. We can say things over and over, changing the rhythm, stopping in the middle, etc., and they'll both die laughing.
*Feeding them solids (rice cereal at the moment) is going really well.
*They're still sleeping through the night most nights. Every once in awhile someone will think 1 AM is play time, but that's pretty rare.
*We've started reading to them, and they're fascinated by books. They especially like one that has a fluffy kitty to pat. They'll both reach up and stroke the fur.
*They're both so joyful these days. A lot of time they'll wake up beaming when we go to get them up in the morning. And they love seeing daddy when he gets home from work.

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April 22, 2008

The letter "v"

Alli has been doing a really cool series of alphabet photos--go check them out!

In honor of that, here's the letter "v"

"V" is for Very funny look on Elanor's face!

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We give "real" food

We answered our children's pleas and gave them solids last week.

Ian liked the new toy on his high chair better than he liked food.

Note to selves: Don't introduce Ian to a new skill set when he's already overtired.

Elanor was totally getting into the feeding experience. She was very curious about what was going on, and would even open her mouth as the spoon got close.

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rasslin'

I heard an angry cry from Elanor and rushed into the living room to find this.

It's WWF baby style! Ian the Enforcer is hulking up with his no holds barred approach. Will Elanor the Baby Faced Diva pull a two-and-a-half count or is she busted open? Is this flat back bump the end of her wrestling career, or will she come back with a flair flip? Stay tuned next time...

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April 15, 2008

We want real food!

Ian: What do you think it will take to convince them that we're ready for solid food?
Elanor: Well, I did see that they got us some nifty portable booster seats thanks to the advice from mommy's twinstuff friends. And mom did spend a day making baby food!

Ian: Maybe if I eat this box of crackers they'll realize we're ready.

Elanor: Maybe if I eat my finger...

Ian: Maybe if I eat my foot...

Elanor: Maybe if I eat you. Mmmm....man flesh!