Jingle Bells

Definitely in the top 5 toy list were some plastic eggs filled with rice that Grana sent to the girls for Easter. Mom has since stepped or sat on all of them - draining them of their magical shaking properties. The remains of one is still suffering a meager existence being held together with masking tape. But to replace those tired eggs, Grana sent jingle bells. The girls were slow to pick them up (perhaps because I enjoyed using the velcro strap to attach the bells to their ankles and wrists, which they hated), but once they figured out that they could be use to make noise, they became all the rage.

Macy May's Spotlight

As a father of twins, I have been self-conscious about how much attention one child receives over the other. I suppose all parents deal with this concern. I remember particularly when Camy was the first to learn to crawl, she got plenty of press for the milestone.

Now Macy is toying with the idea of standing and walking. In addition to a video, here are some other Macy pictures.

MIA, Boston, Family Pic, Remodeling

I’m still here!

As our most loyal readers know, I started this blog twoish years ago. I asked John if he approved, but his response was “I’m not going to tell you ‘no.’”

Since then, John has started posting. If fact- he has written the last 19 posts. I do all the great photography, and he steals it!

But anyway. Some recent happenings….

Trip to Boston

My Grandmother, my Dad, and my Aunt Sharon came out to Boston, so I decided to take the girls up to see them. About two hours into the drive I started to wonder if this trip was a bad idea. According to my new GPS, the drive should take 3 hours. However, this assumes that there are no delays- traffic, refueling, restless or hungry babies, etc. Our drive took just over 5 hours. One way. Mostly due to baby caused delays.

I enjoyed spending time with my dad, aunt, and grandmother. I loved this trip because I haven’t had much time with many members in my family for a long time. I’ve lived on the east coast over 10 years now, and when I go home every one still has his or her regular work and responsibilities, so I see everyone for maybe an hour or so a day. I love seeing how much my dad enjoys being a grandpa. Ten hours of driving was totally worth it.

Family Pic

John mentioned this year’s annual autumn Sunday afternoon. This is my favorite picture from the drive. In the unlikely event I get Christmas cards out this year, I might include this one.

Remodeling- Progress!

After two years we've decided that we just weren't moving fast enough on the renovations, so we hired a wonderful contractor. We now have a bathroom that has been stripped down to the studs, a brand new tub installed, and lots of things in boxes in the nursery that in a few weeks will be part of our new bathroom. Yeah!

Girls laughing together at the towels

You can't see Macy's face as well, but you get the sense that her laughing smile mirrors Camy's. Don't know what was so funny about the dish towels, but they had a blast.

Walk in the park

Just a quick walk in the park by the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.

Four Seasons

Each year during autumn, at least once, we will drive along one of the local highways while listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Last Sunday we went for our fall foliage drive up the Hudson River to Sleepy Hollow.

The low light made for difficult shooting. So as failed attempts to shoot the leaves returned various blurry shots, I decided to work on a psychedelic collection of fall leaf pictures:

Halloween

Grana made cookie outfits for the girls. Edna also made a cookie monster onesie for one of the girls. So Macy was the cookie and Camy was the baby monster (Edna also went as a cookie).

What I like about this next picture is that its the cookie that is about to take a bite out of the cookie monster. Poor cookie monster doesn't even see it coming. When do kids cease to be fascinated with putting their fingers in others' mouths?

Yes, that is blue hair. Macy sure got a kick out of it - both seeing Camy with blue hair, and getting her own doo.

Quick learners becoming more vocal

The girls are picking up new tricks and understanding surprisingly quickly. They are also beginning to understand that somethings don't work out as planned, and they don't like that. Think about that: they are forming future expectations of their actions as a benchmark against which to be disappointed when they don't pan out. Who taught them this? How would you teach it, if it had to be taught?

Case in point. We have a glass-top table. Camy used to stand under it and try to finger all the different objects she saw from her vantage point - content to simply look and see the different objects. Now she understands that all those objects are on top of the glass. She has also learned that Halloween candy is exceedingly desirable. Combine this with her new-found willingness to express any fret with crying, and that leads you to the pictures below.

So close, but just out of reach - even though in plain sight. We have all been there at different points in life on different magnitudes of disappointment. Welcome to the club, kid.

Climbing makes sharing more difficult

The girls' mobility has introduced new situations, like the one below:

Turning 1

We did a few things around the girls' birthday on Tuesday. Edna made cakes for Macy and Camy. Camy licked the frosting. Macy played patty cake.

We received some chairs.

We also started putting together the nursery - a long time coming! Here is a video of Macy enjoying the new flooring. The difference between running and walking these days is not in speed, but in how loud she breathes...

We also played in the boxes that the chairs came in.

Simple pleasures

I never realized how fun it was to climb into a bucket, until I saw Camy's smile upon doing so.

No Shirt, No Shoes, Service

Quick post. We haven't put up a slide show for a while, so here you go. The girls are coming up on the one-year mark, and as I look at theses photos, I wonder if we really needed to buy any clothes at all? The last 11 months have been all about sleep, survival, and sustenance. Maybe the next year will involve putting on a shirt once in a while. Part of what happens is that the girls are most agreeable after eating, which should definitely not be mixed with clothing. Eh, something to work on. This link might work better for some.

Motorboat Macy

Macy is quite adept at the raspberry, or Bronx cheer, or what ever you call "PBTHPTBPTHBPHTH". She loves it so much that other considerations like a soaked front side from drool, don't even register. She just goes and goes and goes. I would think her nose would itch after a while, but she doesn't mind. Here is a video of her raspberry and simultaneous desire to get the camera:

Vegetables: carrots. Vitamins: check.

Pots and Drums

When Edna and I got married, we received some gifts from Williams-Sonoma, and with each gift came a small, wooden mustard spoon. The girls have found a use for those spoons. Four is about the right number because each hand has a spoon and no one feels compelled to take someone else's (Macy, I am talking to you).

Vegetables: green beans, squash, red peppers, broccoli. Vitamins: check.

Back to the park

Here are some photos from earlier this summer that I never posted, starting with the two girls swinging.

When muppets smile, their lips don't curl; their mouths just open more. Here is Camy putting on one of her muppet smiles while swinging.

I wish this one were more in focus, but it was the best swinging smile I got out of Macy that day.

The girls are always working on their immune systems, as Camy shows here:

Vegetables: carrots. Vitamins: check.

Camy "!"

There was a time when I wanted to give my child the middle name of "!" - a loud tongue-clicking noise. Cooler heads prevailed when we named Camy and Macy, but since then the girls have learned to click there tongues.

However, I have yet to catch this skill on camera. I have tried a few times, and even though the girls are imitating more and more, something about the camera throws them out of sorts. Not all bad, because sometimes you end up with a short clip like this:

Vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots. Vitamins: check.

Babies + Berets = Blurry

Babies don't wear hats. You've never seen it happen. If a photo of a baby exists with a hat on, then it has been photoshopped.

I bought hats for the girls as my only impulse buy where I thought, "Oh that is so cute." That same thought that keeps entire chains of baby clothing alive. Since then, they have grown out of the dresses, but only recently grown into the berets.

The problem with hats is by the time you place the hat on the baby head, remove your hand, get the camera lined up, and push the button, the hat is gonzo:

But, BUT, if you put a pot lid on their head, they will sit with contemplative stillness for as long as you want:

Thanks Camy.

Vegetables: carrots and avocado (yes, fruit, but if its green, it counts). Vitamins: check.