John and Edna

For anyone who has ever called me "Scrooge"

2012-01-14T23:45:00.000-08:00

This podcast is a great explanation of how I feel about Christmas gifts-doesn't it drive you nuts to know that you are probably spending $50 to give someone $10 of happiness? I think I called Liz at least 4 times to make sure I was at least getting close to an 80% value of happiness in my gift-giving.

The Faces of CaMacy

2012-01-07T13:37:00.000-08:00

When the girls were first born, we would often get asked if they were identical. As newborns they looked similar:

Higlight text to see if you can guess which is which --> | Camy left, Macy right |

And they did look similar, as most newborns do. There were a few tell tale signs. For me ears were first way I could keep them seperate, then noses, then smiles. Then personalities got a chance to come through. If I am sitting on the floor and one jumps on my back I can tell which one it is by their approach and style of landing. Although knowledge this does not preclude me from the parenting trait of calling out the wrong name when trying to audibly intervene in unfolding mischief.

Three years later, we still get questions if they are identical. Friends try to guess which one is Macy or Camy. The 50/50 odds never seem to be in their favor. It's tough. I am able to keep their children seperate becuase one is a head taller than the other and has dark instead of blond hair. Camy and Macy don't even stand still long enough for one to figure out which is which.

I remember an exercise I participated in when I was growing up where I was presented with two oranges. My group and I were asked to describe the two fruits. We set out analyzing and came up with a list. The moderator then noted that all of the points we made were describing how the oranges were different from one another. We did not note how much they had in common. The point of the exercise was to highlight the inclination we have to highlight differences rather than appreciate what we have in common.

As I was trying to manage the hundreds of pictures that end up on our camera, I noticed a few pictures that I liked in particular. I noted them, and pulled them into a program together. Soon I had a pretty good collection of shots of Camy and Macy. They do have their differences. Now as I look back at baby pictures, it is much easier to distinguish the two girls. So many features that were then invisible are not readily apparent after seeing how they have grown up. But it is the things we share in common that are important.

Here are some of the pictures from the last few months of Macy that I liked:

And here are some of Camy:

Visit to Tilden Park

2012-01-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, we went to Tilden Park with Grana & Tibu.

Tibu demonstrated the open-hand feeding method, which may or may not be better than just being bit. Macy thought it was very humorous.

They even tried feeding a few animals:

Then we walked over the play structures nearby:

And then we went to the carousel:

Trip to Santa Cruz

2012-01-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

We traveled down to Santa Cruz the week before Christmas. We went to the beach, rode a diesel train, ate food, and saw the Muppet Movie. Below are some pictures of the same.

Camy enjoyed drawing in the sand.

Macy worked on a sandman.

The girls also enjoyed riding on a train:

This was the canopy of trees as we rode up and down the hill:

We also got the girls to stand in one place long enough to snap this picture:

Picutres of Edna are rare. She is usually behind the camera. So I was mostly on point this trip, and we have some pictures with her in it:

Trip to Yosemite

2011-11-30T18:32:00.000-08:00

We went to Yosemite National Park last week. (Pictures courtesy of Edna)

The favorite activities (most preferred first) were
1. Throwing rocks in the river
2. Climbing on rocks
3. Seeing waterfalls
4. Drinking hot chocolate
5. Riding on the park bus
6. Looking at wildlife
7. Riding in the car
...
99. Sleeping
100. Hiking

We received many smiles and few scowls from other hikers at the park as our girls were collapsed, crying on the trail, begging us to carry them for part of the 1000ft paved "hike" up to Bridal Veil Falls. Wills were exerted, and character was built.

We eventually made it up the path as some sort of disjointed family slinky - with parents periodically hiking in place and children eventually running to catch up. I don't know that I could say I "enjoyed" the hikes, but I did not necessarily dislike them either. But it did end in the only picture with all four of us in it.

Although I can't claim to understand the pattern of not wanting to hike because there were other times when they were skipping and running down the trails. If it was cold (and it was chilly in the morning), Camy definitely wanted to be carried.

For other hikes we traveled like this:

Here are the girls in a "cave" we found while climbing rocks:

We also stopped by the Ahwahnee Hotel to warm up. The girls spent most of their time on the warming bench in the fireplace trying to blow out the fire.

We did see deer, squirels, stellar jays, crows, and ducks. No bears. I would be hibernating by then if I were a bear.

The girls were very excited to see the rainbows in the water falls. They also enjoyed throwing rocks whenever the occasion arose.

Women in Business Conference

2011-11-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

This last weekend I went to Utah for BYU's first annual Women in Business Conference. I've been working with a few other women (and an extremely supportive crew at BYU) to organize this event for about a year and a half. It was fantastic and exceeded our expectations. I absolutely enjoyed it!

The event was filled to capacity- 250 women, including many great friends that I haven't seen in years. Getting the chance to reconnect with these women was the highlight of the conference for me. I found it inspiring to see a large and varied group women who are smart, hardworking, focused on the gospel, and happy. Though many of us are often criticized for pursuing careers and many have not had the ideal major life events (thus leading our pursuit of career), this didn't really come out. The focus was on the good we can do and how we can support each other.

I meet Whitney Johnson (author of my favorite blog)- she is just as wonderful in person as she is in her blog.

I also spent time with my family. I'm realizing both that I am more like my family than anyone else, and that I also like my family more than anyone else. They/we are hilariously fun.

And with the weekend theme of strong, smart, good women, I spent Sunday with my Grandma. She is 93, but still active and sharp. She was just as lucky as I am in finding a great husband who supported all of her crazy schemes. He supported her decision to go to graduate school in Boston when they had 3 young kids (in the 50's); he never pushed her to join the church that he loved (though she eventually did); and he cared for her through all of her health problems. With her, too, I saw more of myself in her than I have before.

Then I came home to my little girls and my husband. Despite the tantrums, dirty laundry, dirty dishes, and other household work, I am so glad to be home with my family....but excited for next year's conference!

Halloween

2011-10-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

Grana made the outfits, Edna made the shoes. Camy was a little unsure at first, but once the idea of candy was conveyed, she warmed up quickly.

Watershed moment

2011-09-24T17:03:00.001-07:00

Something happened this week for the first time. Macy was sitting on the couch at night... and fell asleep. There was no kicking, screaming, negotiating, song-singing, feet dragging, sister poking, food begging, false potty alarms, running away, hiding, pajama removing, body limping, distracting, begging. She just put her head down. She was feeling tired, and went to sleep. This made me realize that I just might win this game. They are starting to wear down...

Poaching pictures

2011-07-24T20:34:00.000-07:00

Edna takes the pictures and I post them. That used to be how it worked. But I have been MIA in the blog. So here are a few picutres that I was able to grab from the camera.

Here are the girls reading a book with Tibu.

This is how the girls looked after the Pioneer Breakfast on Saturday. They did not want to eat, but they did enjoy playing in the dirt.

Here are two pictures of Camy. Even on a bad hair day, pretty cute kid.

Pictures

2011-07-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

I finally started organizing the thousands of pictures from the last year (we haven't slowed in picture taking, just in sharing them). Here are a few. Macy dresses and accessorizes by herself, which may be obvious from the pictures.
And a few of Camy- this girl is non-stop energy.

Other Stuff

2011-06-22T20:19:00.001-07:00

Johnny and I went to Mexico last month with Tibu. It was a great trip. We went on two dives a day for 3 of the days, and all of the dives were great. We saw dolphins in the wild for the first time- both from the boat and from the water. I didn't take enough great pictures to justify a separate post, but here are a few of the ruins we saw (I need to take more pictures!). We went to 3 sets of ruins- I'll have to look up the names. All amazing. I debated changing my name to John for the trip so we could be John, John, and John, but I went with "Not John" a few times.

The highlight this week is new dolls and furniture from Grana. I figured that since we can't use the bottom three shelves of our book shelves anyhow, we may as well turn them into townhouses.

And here is one of my favorite recent Cam pictures. They still love finding airplanes.

Fun night- pillow fight with Dad, wearing "dance suits" and the typical crazy hair.

Father's Day

2011-06-22T20:06:00.000-07:00

I put together a collage of John and the girls for our Father's day cards. I love these!

The first twin bed

2011-06-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

This is for Liz! I finished one of the many projects I've been working on- a bed for the girls' room. It is not fine woodworking, but it is functional, and I think it is the look I am going for. It probably took a total of 10 hours over 2 weeks (which was every spare minute I had). I still want to paint the walls, but we are debating how long we will stay in this house- a few months? a few years? We all like living here, so maybe I should just go for it!

Reading the sign

2011-04-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

For MLK day we took the girls on their first hike/trail run. I taught Macy to read the sign on the Huckleberry Trail- she reinterpreted the Huckleberry marker to mean "No grapes"- resulting in "No bike, no horse, no doggie, no grapes." Sorry it is sideways.

Hugs at the Beach

2011-04-24T22:40:00.000-07:00

I stole this from Kate's blog- I love it!

And I'm borrowing this from Charlie & AM

Life in Caifornia

2011-04-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

Our blogging has suffered at the cost of having way too many distractions in our new homeland!

With the pick up in the economy Johnny (John's West coast name) is back to long hours at the office- he leaves around 4:30 am and is usually home by 6 pm or so.

I am still home full-time with the girls, but I also picked up a part-time job that I do from home while the girls are asleep- I LOVE it! I have always loved working, and this allows me to still work a little and not miss out on being home for my daugthers. I've also found other projects that I am excited about that allow me to feel like I accomplish something and, again, give me some sort of "work".

And the girls! They are growing up, and they are huge fans of their grandparents who conveniently live about 10 minutes up the highway. They love to "'nuggle", dance, cook, and read stories. In February they began their diaper-free life and I love seeing the confidence and sense of independence this gives them. We've also met lots of wonderful moms and kids to play with in California. Our social skills need work, but we are making progress!

PICTURES:

Crazy things happen during naps. Here is some aftermath.

We tried keeping a printer/ copier in their closet until this happened

Macy loves clothes, and she knows what she likes. Here are some of her staples- ball hat (worn daily), purple dress, dance shoes, and a headband.

And Camy continues to be as accident prone as ever. Since moving she has chipped a tooth and badly cut her lip, run into a wall corner leaving a gash in her forehead, cut (possibly completely through) the middle of her tongue after a dance move gone wrong, endured a block to the eye resulting in her first black eye, run into a filing cabinet resulting in her second black eye (2 days after the first), and many other less notable injuries.

Most of these are due to her love of running (I can't get more than a few seconds at a time), and she is sometimes cross-eyed- we are looking into that.

Stake Conference Announcement

2011-01-30T17:23:00.000-08:00

This morning in stake conference the stake president repeated the stake business that had been conducted the night before. The announcement made over the pulpit went something like this:

Stake President: "As second counselor in the stake presidency we have called John H. M. III- not to be confused with John H. M. IV, who is also in our congregation. And I hear there could someday be a John H. M. V?"

JHM III: "Talk to Edna."

To clarify- no, we are not expecting. I'm wondering if Uncle Mike put him up to this. I thought it was hilarious.

It also reminded me that John sent me this head line earlier in the week. Bill Clinton Says Wife Wants Grandchild More Than Presidency. I wish Chelsea Clinton luck.

Camy kneading bread

2011-01-09T16:48:00.000-08:00

Or as she likes to call it "squishing" the bread:

A day with dad

2011-01-02T20:35:00.001-08:00

Last Tuesday, Edna went to her sisters wedding in UT. I stayed home with the girls and these are a few of the pictures that resulted.

One of the first things we did was feed the blue jays. My grandpa had trained jays to eat peanuts out of his hand. Right now we are lucky enough if the girls don't bang on the glass window and scare the jay away. But they enjoy throwing peanuts out the back door, and have a surprising amount of patience to wait and see the bird come by.

As we got ready to go to the park, we ended up pulling out hats while we searched for coats.

First we headed to the bank. Over hundreds of years of experience the banks have learned that children have no tolerance for waiting in line, but if they provide suckers, the kids might manage 10 minutes or so. The blue mouths are just a side effect.

Once at the park, Macy had a great time sliding down the slide - head first, which I thought was rather bold. She seemed pretty pleased with herself.

Camy was also willing to take a try at the two-story slide, but was a little less headstrong than her sister. She was more content to walk along the structures.

I tried in various shots to try to capture Macy's perpetual forward momentum. This is the closest I got.

The girls have also enjoy playing "simon says". We haven't added the simon says part yet. The video is a little bigger than our site allows, so you will have to travel over to YouTube.

Hugs

2010-12-15T10:19:00.000-08:00

Prancer

2010-12-14T19:52:00.000-08:00

Macy got some tap shoes from her cousin Hailey. She was pretty tickled with them...

Statute of Limitations

2010-12-03T19:52:00.001-08:00

I have watched this video many times. Its short. Its a blooper. I probably shouldn't admit to laughing about it as much as I have, but it has been long enough since taken, maybe I will be ok.

Its a quick snap shot of life. Cam is fishing for a wooden spoon. She's pinned down her one leg by sitting on it and is precariously perched on the other, but a steadying hand makes the position feasible. Then just as she conquers the wooden spoon, she lets her want to share with Macy distract her steadying hand. Its not until she is about a third of the way down does she realize that her leg is pinned. You can see it try to kick out for balance, but no dice. No where to go but down. Thud. I wonder how much kids cry because they are hurt, and how much is just frustration with all the different things you have to keep track of just to stay on your feet. It doesn't seem fair sometimes.

Picture dump

2010-12-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while I get this crazy idea that if I were to go through and just delete all the 25MB photos that are blury, I would get half my hard drive back. But then I run across pictures like this, and the blur just seems to work.

And then you get to looking and you get stuck looking at a few pictures a little longer than the 1 second you can spend on each one to cover all you pictures in something rediculous - like 4 hours. And you realize you will never be done.

And then you give up and are happy that at least if you go looking, you can find some pictures worth looking at again.

But lots of time has been put into organizing and classfying photos automatically, but if camera makers really want a killer app that will help improve their customers lives, they need to create cameras that will either keep you from taking photos you will never want to look at again or offer to delete the blurry, overexposed, bad photos. Then I wouldn't be in this position in the first place.

New Nickname

2010-10-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

The girls hair is finally starting to grow in. This has led to one of Camy's new nicknames: Captain Crazy Hair.

Turning 2

2010-10-17T13:51:00.000-07:00

Camy and Macy turned two on Wednesday this past week. Given that we are close to family now, we celebrated three times: once on Tuesday, once on Wednesday, and once on Saturday. Below are the cakes and purses that Edna made for the girls and each cousin who was in attendance. Below is a picture of all the cousins on my side of the family. Camy and Macy are warming up to headbands and bows, but hats are still pretty hit and miss, so no party hats for them. As part of the set up, we used our recently unpacked moving boxes to create cardboard castle and paper pit. Below is one video. When our internet gets hooked up, I will post more videos.

My favorite blog

2010-09-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

I don't actually know Whitney Johnson (I think John does), but I love her blog. She frequently has guest bloggers including many of the most amazing women I know. They are all brilliant, strong, happy, good women that I love hearing from. I think they are mostly women that have been much more brave in their careers than I was/am and they have such a great perspective. As I've debated whether the housewife life makes sense for me, I love that these women share how they have found the right balance for them- and how they've learned to be better moms, better professionals, and better people. Once we get settled in California, finding my ideal balance is the next big project.

Leopard cat

2010-09-12T19:13:00.000-07:00

The girls and I met this beautiful kitty on our way out of our apartment on Friday. I only had my phone camera so it isn't the best picture- he is the size of a domestic cat but is spotted like a leopard. We recently learned about Bengal cats on Animal Planet, and I suspect that is what he is.

Pictures for Dada

2010-08-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

I'm always short on time, but here are recent pictures.

Moving West!

2010-08-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

This is old news to many (about 3 weeks), but we are moving to San Francisco! John started a new job recently, and the girls and I will move out in a month or once we have a place to live and have things settled and stuff. We are all super happy about this. Ok, really- I'm trying not to sound like a teenage girl, but I am that excited.

I wanna talk to Dada, please

2010-08-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

The girls were out jumping when my sister was on the phone with her husband. Macy walked over and clearly said "I wanna talk to Dada, please." By the time I found the camera she was a bit frustrated and not talking as clearly, but here is what I captured.

P.S. Most of what Macy says are sentences ending in "please", and as I opened our blog both girls pointed to Tibu and said "Beebu!" We are talkers.

Last picture on my camera before it went bonkers

2010-07-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Utah!

2010-07-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

For months I've been craving some good laughs. Then I found out that my youngest sister Emily would be visiting my sister Liz for the summer (meaning two of the most fun women I know are in the same place)...I HAD to crash this party. So, when John needed to fly to San Fran, the girls and I tagged along as far as Utah. My sisters and I have been acting like fools and laughing our post-baby bodies back into shape.

The little ones have also had fun. They swam with cousins, started wearing pig tails, and learned about many things like go-gurt and scooters.

and they enjoyed my birthday.

Camillie colored everything with chalk- here she is at work by the Koi pond

When its quiet

2010-07-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Quick, go looking. This is usually where I find the girls:

Macy in the Park

2010-07-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

We went to the park. It was my day for Macy (odd days in even-numbered years). I had the camera. Here is what I got.

Same park trip

2010-07-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

But Camy was around for a photo or two.

Snuggling Baby

2010-07-11T17:43:00.000-07:00

As the girls have gotten older, they have lost what I thought was some of their snuggliness. I think when younger, they just didn't have the coordination to do what they wanted. As toddlers they had very little interest in being held. But as they get bigger and seem to tire at times, they are regaining some of that snuggliness.

The word of the day (every day) is ball

2010-07-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

The contest between "ball" and "shoe" as the #1 repeated word is a closely contested struggle in our house. Ball refers to circles, balls, and balloons. Here Macy is very concerned about the balloon not in her hand, but the one that escaped to the ceiling. This balloon was the gift of CVS. The girls said "ball" so many times in the store that the attendants just gave us their balloons.

Sideways Sidewalk walk with Macy

2010-07-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

Take a walk with me and Macy. First, we must stop and listen to a car stopped at a light and dance to its music.

Next, we must stop and point out every plane that flies over head. We live 20 miles from two of the world's busiest airports. This happens often, but she makes it look amazing each time.

Goldfish in a bowl

2010-07-09T19:16:00.000-07:00

The girls are small for their age. Edna wonders if we move them out of their crib if they will grow bigger - kind of like goldfish will only grow to a certain size in a small bowl. She may have a point.

Circular Reference

2010-07-08T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the girls looking at this blog. So now they can look at themselves looking at themselves. Mostly I just like the picture of Camy...

Father's Day Gift

2010-07-07T14:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, Edna got me a head lamp for father's day. Camy likes it too.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-07-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

A while back, we went to Lisa's home for an Easter egg hunt. The girls did alright with finding eggs and finally got some sunglasses that we would let them hold.

Working from Home

2010-07-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

I have been spending a lot of time in our "home office" these days. Actually our dining room, but it has French doors, and is one of the easier rooms to cordon off.

This is a sight I see regularly:

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-07-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

Edna has been perfecting her chocolate chip cookie. Trying different recipes, comparing them in Excel, and trying to get just the right proportion of chocolate, sugar, butter, flour, etc. They are pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.

This has also led to many opportunities for the girls to learn about cookies - one of Camy's favorite words. As you can see in the picture below, she still struggles getting it all in the right place. Macy is more efficient in eating her cookies.

Family Resemblence

2010-07-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

This is a picture I have had for a while, but never got around to posting. When newborns come, there is so little information beyond sex, weight, and # of toes that we struggle to find other things to talk about to describe the life transition that begins with a new addition(s) to the family. One of the games played is "who does she look like?" At the time we felt Camy looked like Edna and Macy looked like me. This bore out comparing baby pictures too. Here are Camy, Edna, John, and Macy.

Now we say that Macy still looks like me. Camy has her days where she looks very much like her mother, and other days like me - a bit of a chameleon.

Homo Newyorkus - aka Hairless Albino New York Monkies

2010-06-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

Edna took the girls to the Zoo this week. Here they are at the monkey house...

Visiting Grenada with Grana and Tibu

2010-05-29T07:27:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a trip to Grenada. In addition to scuba diving, we were able to spend time with Grana, Tibu, Uncle Sean, Aunts Kate & Lauren, and cousin Ellie.

Tibu and Grana were ready with the usual battery of stories to read.

The girls still needed watching, so we did that - sometimes with one eye shut, sometimes with both. It was nice to have others around to help keep them out of trouble.

Macy's fascination with balls continues. Tibu found some limes on a tree to serve as balls. Macy began learning how to catch this week.

The girls had their own bed to sleep in - much larger than the crib they sleep in but much less restraining. Putting them down for sleeping and naps was a much more active process than dropping them off at the crib and letting them come to terms with sleep.

The word for the trip was go. "Go" meant getting dressed and going somewhere. Dressing up was also involved, which Macy loved.

Macy enjoyed the water at the beach, which was very warm, about 85F.

Camy preferred to stay a little further up shore in the sand. Eventually she warmed up to being carried near the water and then getting her feet wet.

When we arrived home, Camy also helped with the unpacking, by putting on clothes.

Bucket Head

2010-05-17T07:06:00.000-07:00

While Macy was at the park the other day she decided to try on one of the buckets in the sandbox. It fit rather well. The other four kids in the sandbox thought it was great and tried the same thing - not all of them knew you should dump out the sand before attempting. Macy was so happy with the fit, she wore the bucket home.

Trying out bigger shoes

2010-05-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

The girls have become interested in trying on our shoes and walking around. They get very frustrated when it doesn't work well, which is often. And they don't return them to where they found them when they are done. I wish they would stop, but every kid tries, and it is fun to watch. Now if I could only find my shoes...

Victory

2010-04-29T00:14:00.000-07:00

Executive Summary: John fixed his laptop

Growing up I have one distinct memory of taking things apart. Our hair dryer would not switch between the different speeds - it would only run on "high." My dad got a screwdriver, I helped open it up, and he decided it was beyond what he wanted to deal with. He put the screws back in; the hair dryer never worked again - at all! The moral of the story was clear - don't disassemble what you want to work again.

Well, one of the hinges on my laptop broke recently, which made the monitor flop around unless perfectly vertical.

Its getting old - beginning its sixth year this summer. But upgrading will be troublesome (Windows 7 vs XP, getting new software, other computers in the house will still be XP). So I purchased a new hinge for $10 on ebay. But this means I have to take apart the computer (see story above).

This would be the third time I have opened up the laptop. The first time was to replace the fan assembly. The second was to fix the keyboard that stopped working after I put it together the first time. But this would be more involved: removing the modem/daughter card, removing and rewiring the PCI adapter, removing and rewiring the wireless antennae. Sounds serious.

Here are pictures of the the monitor detached and dissasembled, the "screw map" (to keep track of all the screws coming out of the monitor and base), and all the spare parts that were piling up as the project progressed.

Foolishly I started at 11:30pm. "This will take just a second." But this is like surgery, you can't just walk away after an hour and come back... Four hours later, I get the last screws in... BUT... It still works...so far... Here's to progress...

Some habits carry over quickly

2010-04-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

When the girls carry around dolls, they tend to carry them two at a time - just like they themselves are carried. And, as it turns out, they carry the babies in similar fashion to how they are chartered.

Here is Camy demonstrating the two-babies-in-one-arm method, necesarry when you are also trying to schlep a stroller and diaper bag down the stairs too.

Here Camy is is showing the more typical one-under-each-arm carry:

Here is Camy after careful coaching, "head in one elbow, feet in the other elbow, rock her gently side to side". It lasted long enough for a photo, but was short lived. Just didn't make sense I guess.

Table Manners - a long, long journey

2010-04-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

We still have a ways to go with table manners:

Leaving the table without being excused.

Feet on the table.

Drinking from the milk carton.

Boogey boarding on the table.

And in case you have noticed, these are all pictures of Camy. Macy does very well sitting in her chair, just one issue:

We won and only lost to one ten year old

2010-04-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today was the second annual Larchmont Library paper airplane contest. I took the girls to the event. Camy slept through the whole thing, which was nice in retrospect. Macy was content to run around the library and throw the orphan planes left on the ground.

The contest takes place in the art gallery of the library, where a second story balcony over looks a long corridor of paintings. Each contestant throws his or her airplane from the balcony - farthest flight wins.

Because the corridor is narrow (about 6-7 feet) most of the dart-style planes would run into the wall. So I crafted a glider and tuned it to fly straight with little initial starting speed. My plane went about 40 feet, which gave me a glide ratio of about 2.7 - okay but far from optimal.

The average plane went about 20 feet with a standard deviation of 9 feet.

One youth went 41 feet to win the whole competition. He was particularly proud of his accomplishment, but probably not proud enough to go home and write about it on his blog ;P Macy and I won the 18+ age group.

Taking pictures

2010-04-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Almost all of the pictures on the blog come from Edna. Over time she patiently tries collects moments from the day. I take those photos and turn them into blog posts.

Recently I had to get pictures for passports. As I went into "get this checked off the list" mode, Camy was happy to play along. Macy was having none of it and only gave me mug shot stares. I took 199 pictures with only 9 where they were looking forward into the camera and not fussing.

Oh, so behind

2010-04-08T21:57:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is 1 AM, but I'm realizing that if I don't decide to neglect my responsibilities (and sleep) I won't do anything other than chase toddlers, clean up, and otherwise manage our home.

Here are a few pictures from the last few months.

Twin Buddies

When we went to Boston we made sure to see Will and Lilly. Will and Lilly have pretty great parents, and they are a few days younger than Macy and Camillie, so a play-date/ parent hangout was in order.

Exploring

Our two favorite activities are going to the park and watching out the front window. Either way, we are always on the lookout for "'og" or "'uirrel".

Excessories

Have we mentioned that Macy likes accessories? She wore that glove, that is as big as her head, for about a week.

Camillie

And we need more time for Camy. She is a sweet little mellow girl. She loves to see how things work and takes particular interest in anything that plugs in.

Little Mommies

2010-03-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

This week Grana sent the girls their own babies and a complete set of accessories. I don't think Macy realizes that babies don't always come in twos. This was the only moment that Camillie spent time with her new niece.

New Things

2010-03-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

(Edna) Growing up I spent many, many hours over many years running parts in my dad's metal lathe. It was not glamorous or exciting work, but it was work, and paid for a few years of college. My first contact with John was during these college years, and I never would have thought that some day he would use this lathe. But last week, with a bit of coaching from my dad, he did. It was fun to share a bit of my earlier life with John!

(John) Last week we were in UT. While visiting Edna's family, her dad was kind enough to lend me the manual to his metal lathe. After learning some basics, I designed a chess piece to be turned on the lathe. Glenn helped set up and check my work. Out of the scrap piece of aluminum he had on hand, these two pieces came out:

Camy and Macy love putting them in their mouths - they are just the right size...

Road Trip

2010-02-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

So when we got our floors refinished, we had to empty two rooms and three closets into the rest of our apartment. The house had small discrete pathways carved out. The girls are a challenge to keep out of trouble in a nursery of open space. In a dense forest of towers of teetering stuff and volatile organic compounds from the stain and finish, it was time to leave. So any city that had a hotel with pool at a good price became a destination. We visited Stamford CT, Philadelphia PA, and Atlantic City NJ. Growing up, the central purpose of going on vacation seemed to be the hotel pool. And every night we hit the pool. And as usual, I am about 2 years early for what the girls would enjoy. The pools were heated but not warm enough. What the girls did love were the safes and the remotes. Here is a video of the girls cracking the safe in Atlantic City. Here are a few other photos from the trip. Edna and I make it into photos so rarely, we might as well use the ones we have.

More Monkey See, Monkey Do

2010-02-20T11:10:00.000-08:00

With the floors refinished, there has been plenty of dust to clean up. The girls have been happy to do their part with a swiffer Edna made just their size.

At music class there is a song that goes, "when I'm silly, I spin around" and so they spin.

Love-hate relationship

2010-02-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

Macy loves putting things on her head.

Macy hates when things she puts on her head get stuck.

Camy feels the same way about hangers.

Japana-macy

2010-02-18T10:27:00.000-08:00

Macy's hair is at an interesting crossroads. Long enough that it pulls away from her head, but short enough that it sticks straight out when it does. It looks like she stiffled a sneeze and it escaped out the back of her head.

Apparently japanimation characters suffer from a similar condition.

Misfits

2010-02-17T13:25:00.000-08:00

I have been sorting the various sizes of clothing for the girls to help our stuffed living room exhume all the effects that have been crammed in for the floor refinishing.

For all the different sizes the girls have gone through, chances are the clothes don't fit some where. To try and cut/sew clothing for children of all shapes and sizes across different ages is a challenging task for the clothing industry. For us to keep up on laundry, and not be tempted to grab a pair of clean size-up PJs is a challenging task too. So when I see this picture it fits a memory of seeing them run around with the feet bunched up under their heels that rarely seemed to rest. I think the ankles on pajamas wear out before the feet do...

Amazing perspective

2010-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

I read a NY times article that I would recommend to most. In it the author refers to children by saying, "I have never even idly thought for a single passing second that it might make my life nicer to have a small, rude, incontinent person follow me around screaming and making me buy them stuff for the rest of my life". But later in the article he wonders, "there are also moments when some part of me wonders whether I am not only missing the biological boat but something I cannot even begin to imagine — an entire dimension of human experience undetectable to my senses..." And so in my adventures with two small incontinent people, I have seen a few things that I have found in the "dimension of parenting" (a dimension not too far from the twilight zone). Like this picture Snow is many things: it's cold, white, can be made into balls or shoveled, but that is not what you see in Macy's face. Snow is magical and fun and new. Parents get to see that daily with snow, bubbles, cardboard boxes, electrical sockets or leaves. And to have the chance to have two unique rediscoveries with each experience is a great bonus. Camy enjoyed touching the snow while Macy enjoyed walking through the snow.

The chocolate gene

2010-02-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

Our family loves chocolate. My uncle Pat had a sign in his kitchen that read, "Chocolate - It's not just for breakfast." Macy has taken this to a new level: "Chocolate - even if you dig it out of the trash, it's still finger-licking good.". Admit it, you know it's true...

Toothbrush negotiations

2010-02-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Brushing teeth was not on my radar of parental expected duties. Bathing, diapers, feeding, walks, animal noises were all pretty well expected. But kids have teeth, and they need to be brushed it turns out.

Macy and Camy have no interest in having ME stick a toothbrush in their mouths. So toothbrushing is always a short-lived negotiation: the more berry-flavored orajel training toothpaste I put on the brush, the longer I have to run the brush around the girls' teeth before they suck off all the gel and permanently clamp down on the brush with their molars; thus ending the negotiation.

And so we negotiate nightly. And after they clamp down like little moray eels on their prey, I leave them to chew on the toothbrushes for a while. From the video below you can see they are starting to get the idea. Grandpa Harold, DDS would be proud...

Another week coming

2010-02-14T01:01:00.000-08:00

Another parent's birthday is coming up - my dad's. So we will fire up the blog and work through the backlog of pictures, videos, and observations this week. Happy birthday Dad.

John's advice

2010-02-08T21:10:00.000-08:00

On last week's road trip (hope to have more on this later) John and I decided to visit some of our nations treasures. While crossing the street we found ourselves walking behind a female security guard. I was freezing, and mentioned to John that I should have worn pants like the ones the security guard was wearing. John's response: "If you are going to wear pants that make your butt look big, it's probably a good idea to wear the gun so no one says anything." Words to live by.

No Offense, but...

2010-01-31T21:09:00.001-08:00

Over the last month or so our family has visited each of the four areas where I've lived: NYC, Boston, San Fran, and Provo. Each area has things I love, and some things I would change if I ran the world (I rarely mention running the world lately).

After an evening of singing some Jason Mraz with the girls, I was thinking I like this guy and he is clearly from California. Then I started thinking about why it is that I can tell that he is from California. In the more wester places I've been, people are just happier and way funnier. Maybe it's the cold, a culture of wanting to feel important, or tight quarters, but in Boston and NYC there is more concern with being offended and offending.

I think we need more reggae music (preferably with lyrics I can't understand). And funny people.

Camy Trailblazes

2010-01-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

The girls received a tunnel for Christmas. Because we were travelingc, it did not arrive until today. It took a second for Macy to warm up to it again, but once she saw Camy barrel through, she was quick to follow.

A Public Service Announcement

2010-01-09T04:52:00.000-08:00

These are twins drinking milk - about 13 minutes before they are done.

These are twins drinking chocolate* milk - 5 minutes.

Any questions?

*if you consider carnation instant breakfast "chocolate".

A recent, but age-old problem

2010-01-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

Watch this. (Jump to 1:35 if you are short on time).

Then watch this:

Compare and contrast.

When Macy was younger, you could put her down in one place on the floor, come back, and she would still be there. That was nice. She will be wearing her snow suit more often going forward.

Trouble is brewing already

2010-01-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

In the last few weeks changes have come quickly. Walking has become Macy's preferred means of transportation. She has started to put things on - a particular liking for purses (which is odd, since neither Edna or I really use any type of handbag). And as these photos show, she has started to talk on her calculator:

I thought I had at least another 18 months before behavior like this came along. I can already hear it: "Hey dad, for only $90 more per month, we can get unlimited minutes and texting; that's a great deal isn't it?"

Uhg.

Jingle Bells

2009-12-11T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-10T21:01:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-04T20:29:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-03T06:03:00.000-08:00

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

Four Seasons

2009-11-01T20:11:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-31T10:09:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

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

Turning 1

2009-10-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-10T11:01:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-25T00:01:00.000-07:00

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 "!"

2009-09-24T00:01:00.001-07:00

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

2009-09-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Vocalizations

2009-09-22T00:01:00.000-07:00

A quick disclaimer: we don't use software to track our readers. I don't know how many people visit or how frequently. I know my mom visits frequently the old-fashioned way - because she tells me so. So there is no need to log in to your international ip-address scrubbing proxy server before coming to the site for amateur videos of Camy and Macy.

Speaking of which, here is an amateur video I enjoy. The girls are becoming vocal. In addition to the usual babblings, some of their sounds are starting to sound like they are intended to convey meaning. My favorite part in this video (even though it is portrait oriented, sorry; you can turn your head, turn your monitor, or pretend it is an M. C. Escher Relativity painting), is at 0:07, where Camy realizes she dropped her pen by saying, "Oh!" Then Macy comes in with some pretty typical Macy chatter.

[technical difficulties loading this video, will try later]

This next vocalization has less contextual meaning, but seemed pretty intentional. At 0:08, Macy says, "bop!" Don't know why I get such a kick out of it, but she felt like she needed to stop and say something. Meanwhile, Camy is inspecting a LittlePeople goat with her pen. We have "Macy pens" around the house - pens with the ink cartridge removed. Camy apparently found one. The girls have also been seeing how things react to being prodded by different things: pens, spoons, bottles, etc.

Vegetables: cauliflower, broccoli, carrots. Vitamins: check

Happy Birthday Mom

2009-09-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Here at the "Family of John, Edna, Camy, and Macy" blog, we watch our readership statistics very closely and implement the most sophisticated statistical software to understand our readers better.

And of the 3 of you that read our blog, no one visits more often than my mother. Eight hundred and twenty days have passed since the first blog post, and we have made 59 posts since then, which means that someone who checks in daily to see what updates we have made leaves disappointed 92.68% of the time. The other two of you only leave disappointed 48.78% of the time.

Well, not this week. In celebration of mom's birthday, I will do three things every day this week: post something new on the blog, eat my vegetables, and take my vitamins.

Here is a video that is similar to the one posted on May 10, 2009, except Macy is the one with the giggles (Camy chimes in late and off screen) - sadly dad has not learned any new tricks since that video, but the twins are very accommodating:

Vegetables: green bell pepper, cos lettuce, arugula, fujishima pepper, cherry tomato (yes, technically some of those are fruit, but you know they taste like vegetables, are you trying to ruin my mom's birthday?) Vitamins: check

Man vs. Machine

2009-09-08T18:13:00.000-07:00

Parents are generally faster, stronger, smarter than their children for a period of time. These advantages aid many aspects of parenting: feeding, changing, protecting, etc. But one aspect where I have found myself at an immediate disadvantage to my children is in will. For example, Camy is determined to learn about electricity. She sticks fingers in sockets, pulls endlessly at the safety covers put in sockets, puts three-pronged plugs in her mouth, and pulls on every electrical chord found. Usually, I will simply pull on a leg to displace her a foot or two. She crawls back to the point of interest. I pull back. She crawls back. I pull. She crawls. Pull. Crawl. Back. Forth. Pull. Crawl. I'll change tactics by throwing in some fuzzy, plush, or foam distraction with muted effect. We eventually relocate. I lose. Every time.

Macy loves her legs. She kicked when she was "young." She jumps now. When she was about five months old, I counted the number of times she kicked me while changing a diaper: forty-eight times, about once every two seconds. Bath time is like Shamoo at SeaWorld, except the whale jumps every two seconds.

So this evening, I picked her up to see if she wanted to try taking a few supported steps. She took that as another invitation to start jumping. She's done this before - so much so that friends of ours offered us their jumper that hangs in a door frame after taking care of her for a Saturday afternoon. As usual, after 5 or 6 minutes, I have had my fill of jumping, and my mouse-and-keyboard arms are getting tired. But I wonder, "Does she ever really tire of jumping? Surely she must wear out after a while, right?" So I ask Edna to set up the camera.

After another 5 or so minutes that feel a lot longer than the previous 5 minutes, I seriously begin to believe she can do this forever. She is going to kill me.

Mentally, I dig my heels in and my mind bends to how it felt during cross country races when trying to pace, overtake, or break an opposing racer. She starts to lift her feet and hang! But then starts jumping again. Then her knees buckle and she starts arching her back - a definite sign of wanting a change. But then starts jumping again. Would my fate be the same as that of John Henry or Garry Kasparaov?

The time-lapse function shoots a photo every second and then replays 15 of those shots every second. So this video documents the final 9 minutes of our race, which puts the total bout at around 15 minutes. Those are some kickers she has! Can you jump rope for 15 minutes? I can't even comprehend the question.

She eventually crawled off to the kitchen to find stranded goldfish on the floor, as if nothing had happened. But I won. I WON! I just hope I can get out of bed tomorrow to go to work...

What is it like raising twins?

2009-08-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Edna came up with one of the better descriptions I have come across: "Having twins is a cross between winning the lottery and an ant infestation."

I've never won the lottery, but the ant idea is pretty spot on.

Red Licorice > Goldfish > Cheerios

2009-08-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Around the fifth grade, I had to do a science experiment where I formed a hypothesis, tested the hypothesis, and drew a conclusion from my test data. My ~~lab rat~~ sibling was presented with two cups - one red, one yellow. A vanilla wafer was always hidden beneath the red cup to see if the sibling recognized the successful pattern of choosing red. I stood behind the subject with a clip board recording the test results. Like many things in life I don't remember the final result (I didn't even know then about the statistical tests I would need to draw such a conclusion, but I had construction paper, Polaroid pictures, and a folding three-part peg board presentation going for me, which carries far more weight in elementary school than some silly chi-squared test), but a fascination with experiments and measurement began.

So now as a dad with two ~~lab rats~~ daughters, I have ample time to look for patterns. Here is one:

Camy is presented with an equal number of goldfish and cheerios (one goldfish already in hand, but that is not statistically significant):

The null hypothesis, H₀, is that she prefers neither over the other and will consume them at random.

This next picture shows all the goldfish gone, all the cheerios remaining, and Camy reaching for the reserve of goldfish.

What are the odds? 1 to 251.

While we cannot prove the preference of goldfish over cheerios, we can clearly reject the premise that she prefers each equally. As for me, I prefer goldfish to cheerios too.

When Edna came back from Utah, she brought back some Red Vines licorice, which is not typically distributed out here on the East Coast. It was the best breakfast I have had in months. Then, she discovered, that a local Target has started carrying Red Vines [insert chorus singing "Hallelujah"], which means I can now eat lunch and dinner quantities of Red Vines.

Now Macy has never snatched a goldfish from my mouth, but that is what she decided to do when she saw the Red Vine:

Camy did the same thing:

This led me to the conclusion that licorice > goldfish. And by the transitive law of baby food preference licorice > cheerios. But now, eating licorice and holding the girls are mutually exclusive activities.

Lastly, a video. This one pretty much shows that sleep > goldfish. The real question is licorice > sleep? Maybe we'll find out in the next few days...

July baby stunts

2009-08-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

This made me think "Raccoons"

This is the day after the red-eye flight. John claims Macy forgot how to eat. You'll also notice some remaining evidence that she has discovered how to uncap pens. I was wishing John would come home early.

The girls love their night light, but Camy had moved on by time I got the camera.

And here they are wearing matching tiger grins. They didn't want me to unpack.

I walked in on Macy whacking Camy to try to get her to wake up. When Macy saw me at the door, she pulled her best innocent pose. The hands at her side look pretty natural, eh?

And for the grandparents.... John time lasped about 10 minutes of crib time to 30 seconds. I'm sure this could be improved with the right music, but I only have so much time.

Pictures in the Park

2009-07-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

With the girls fully mobile and still up during the night, we are slow on the posting. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our afternoon in the park.

And a few pics from Saturday in the city. Here are Macy and me waiting for cupcakes in SoHo.

And here we are Sunday afternoon.....Macy has had some rough nights lately.

A few other updates for the past month

My youngest sister Emily has been here for a few weeks. I have LOVED having her here! I commented to someone that it is like having a nanny, a cook, and a full-time buddy all rolled in to one.
I was asked to run all of the activities for our church congregation. We had a July 4th party that was pretty unorganized, but once I get my act together it should fun.
John was asked to serve as a counselor to the bishop for our church congregation. This will take a few more hours of his Sunday and probably a few extra nights a week.
John has harvested the local yeast (or whatever it is he has done....anyway, we have our own "yeast beast" growing in the kitchen) and is working to perfect "Westchester Sourdough".

-E-

Macy's new trick

2009-06-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

She can find the button herself.

Mobile Macy

2009-06-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

For a while, we could count on Macy staying put. Camy was moving, but Macy would just "swim" in place. We now have two mobile children. This fact was underscored for me when I took them to the park. While on the blankets, Camy scooted over to the edge of the grass and started double-fisting grass into her mouth. By the time I accosted Camy, cleaned the grass out of her hands, fished the clovers out of her mouth and put her in the middle of the blanket, Macy was on the other end of the blanket uprooting grass to eat. Macy back in the middle found Camy back at the edge speed grazing. Camy back, Macy out. Macy back, Camy out. After the third iteration, I realized I was outnumbered. We went for the swings. Here is a video of Macy's first scoots - not as aerobatic as Camy, more efficient and low profile:

The other behavior that has developed recently is the girls will now crawl into our laps when we are sitting on the floor. It's endearing.

tout passe, tout lasse, tout casse

2009-06-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

John's been doing all the posting lately. For the past month I've spent my spare minutes helping people with finances, putting together a baby shower, trying to make progress on the home improvement, and enjoying going out as much as possible. Last week, though, it seemed like we had an unusual amount of.... stuff that reminded me of the title of this post (tr.=Everything passes, everything wears out, everything breaks.).

Camy cut tooth #7. She just started sleeping at night again.

Macy is working on teeth #4 and 5. They both like biting our knees and shoulders.

Macy discovered cookies (new family rule: No food in the car or car seats)

The garage door bit the top of our car (added emphasis on existing family rule: No playing Indiana Jones while driving)

In addition to the ants everyone else has, we had a visitor with 6 legs and a body over an inch long. John was working late, so I saved the day- half the bug almost escaped. (Sorry, Kate. No picture)

The GPS fell off the window.

After a miserable trip to the store, we got in the car to find we had only 3 of the 4 ridiculously expensive shoes that we started the trip with.

All in all, not a bad week.

Rule #3: Don't feed them after midnight

2009-06-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, before John and I were married, we would drive 3 hours each way to visit each other. After a long drive John would be very tired, and I learned that when John is very tired he says crazy things. It's been a while, but last night we had a great chat. (John has been playing a lot of board games and reading about GM)

J: I'm worried we are going to end up on a dead end in the board. With three people, one of them should know where the dead ends are.

E: Yeah, why's that?

J: I don't know. It seems like once you have three pegs, though, you should be able to triangulate.

E: And we have four pegs!

J: Yeah, three pink ones. One thing the game of life teaches is that it's easier to have a station wagon from the start. I mean, before you even start college, you've already got a station wagon. And a convertible one! No one even makes convertible station wagons. GM should have thought of that. They made cup holders.

E:Yeah, maybe GM wouldn't be in so much trouble.

J: Yeah, convertible station wagons for everyone once you finish high school. I don't think a station wagon would fit in our garage though.

E: True.