Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker

August 20, 2008

And now the moment we've all been waiting for...

Elanor crawls.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:31 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

August 16, 2008

A first

Elanor popped out her first tooth last night.

That explains a lot of night-time crankies lately.

I don't think this is going to be the funnest first for her. Or us.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 12:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 11, 2008

A connoisseur

Elanor (musingly): Hmm..."Music Fun With Tigger." It appears to be a little more weighty than "Shapes With Roo." And certainly less cloying than "Feelings with Kanga."


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But is it a first edition?

Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 9, 2008

potty humor

Thanks to a far spreading accident, Elanor added a whole new dimension to her Winnie the Pooh book.

Ummm, yeah, that was fun to clean up.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 29, 2008

Tonight...

...Elanor learned to clap.

One moment she couldn't clap, the next moment she could. And she's continued it sporadically all night long.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:23 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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.

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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.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:07 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 9, 2008

Raising Daughters

Sometimes, looking ahead across the long years of how difficult a girl's childhood and adolescence can be, it terrifies me to have a daughter. I know boys have troubles, too, but girls still just seem so complicated.

Here is a lovely post that really encouraged me.

Thankfully many of these challenges are still a long way off.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:21 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

July 8, 2008

Mouth Strumming

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

Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:00 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 5, 2008

More 4th Fun!

Elanor wore a festive bow (her first).

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

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

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Ian loved his boy dolly.

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Maybe later I'll post some outtakes!

Posted by Tim and Jo at 8:24 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 4, 2008

Ian n Elanor sez

Happy Fourth of July, peeps!!

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 12:45 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 27, 2008

Babies laugh

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

Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:06 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 22, 2008

Cousins!

Recently, our kids got to meet their cousin Andrew and their dear aunt.

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Ian loved snuggles with his Aunty.

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The kids had lots of play time with their cousin. They played together on the floor. In the pool. On grandpa's lap. And so on.

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This one pacifier got passed around to all three kids.

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Spit-cousins instead of blood-brothers?

Posted by Tim and Jo at 7:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

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.

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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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Posted by Tim and Jo at 6:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

7 months

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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.

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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.

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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.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 6:50 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2008

So sleepy!

We're going to update on the Pittsburgh trip and the kids' milestones.

As soon as we can get them back into a routine that doesn't involve us staying up until the wee hours of the night. And the kids deciding that naptimes are no longer necessary. And the kids feeling like they need attention from at least half a dozen people at a time, all.the.time. Which isn't going to stop anytime soon because we're about to leave on our family camping trip, which will mean more spoiling by adoring aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

*sigh* Our nice little routine has been temporarily suspended. Which is totally worth it to spend time with friends and family, but still...

After fighting her morning nap until nearly the afternoon, Elanor finally caved in. No pacifier. No swaddling. No music.

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 26, 2008

E & B

Yep, it's one of those pesky bees again.

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This is what happens when A Little Someone decides to rock-around-the-clock the night before...

Posted by Tim and Jo at 3:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 22, 2008

rasslin'

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

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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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Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 15, 2008

Look ma, no feet!

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 7, 2008

New skill

Elanor now knows how to unfasten her diaper.

Pretty cute trick.

Except when I went to refasten it, I found she had deposited a present in there.

A few more moments and the Pretty Cute Trick would have become a Massive Diaper Disaster.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:26 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 2, 2008

Overalls: Not Just for Rednecks Anymore

or "How I Convinced Tim that Overalls Are Cool"

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:28 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 22, 2008

Elanor laughs!

Our first video-blog, thanks to Grace!

Posted by Tim and Jo at 5:57 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 5, 2008

The Elanor Dance

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 4:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

February 20, 2008

Ian & Elanor Celebrate

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Ian: Why do they have us dressed up in our adorably coordinating duds?
Elanor: I think it's for our third month anniversary.

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Ian: I'll toast to that [with non-alcoholic milk]!
Elanor: And I'll second the motion!!

Later on...

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Elanor: Woohoo!!

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Elanor: Yeah, baby!!
Ian: Are you sure there wasn't anything in that "milk" they gave you?

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Ian: Put that arm down. This is embarassing both of us.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 3:09 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 11, 2008

Poll: Who does Elanor look like?

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 3:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Accessorizing

Uh-oh, she's starting early!

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And she knows exactly which finger her daddy is wrapped around...

Posted by Tim and Jo at 2:58 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 6, 2008

Mirror, mirror on the couch

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Joanna: The babies are at a really fun stage. They're smiling, and cooing like they're trying to have talk-time with us. They've just discovered themselves in the mirror, too. It's hilarious--Elanor tries to talk with herself, and after awhile, she starts to whine to herself in the mirror, like she's telling that girl all her worries. Many times, she'll reach out to touch the girl in the mirror, knock it over, and start to cry like she lost her best friend.

Actually, this afternoon the two of them seemed to be working on their first fight. I gave Elanor the mirror during the morning play time, and gave it to Ian for the afternoon play time. Elanor whined most of the way through the play time, until I arranged the mirror so they both could see it. Then I wrapped her up for nap time, letting Ian have the mirror to himself. As soon as I picked him up, he screamed his mad scream, one that he reserves for special occasions. They both were fussy until finally I tied the mirror to the swing so they both could look at it. They stared into it quietly until they finally drifted off.

Tim: We took the twins to their doctor a couple days ago for their first round of shots. They were all jolly and gay until the time came for the nasty needles. They were crabby and sleepy during the afternoon but by evening they were back to being themselves. They both have become a lot more responsive in the past week. Ian will smile, laugh and coo back us when we talk to him. Elanor isn't quite as loquacious as him but she smiles and crinkles up her nose, which is really cute.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 11:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 24, 2008

Elanor's first smiles

We love her hippy-trippy psychadelic mushroom outfit...

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Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack