Movin' on up

About two week ago, we decided that it was finally time to move to a bigger house closer to LA. Our plan was to leisurely check out neighborhoods and get a feel for the rental market, with an eye toward moving in the next few months.

Seven days later, we had found a house, put in an application, gotten approval, paid the deposit, and booked movers. We will be in the new house by Christmas.

I'll admit that I'm a little type-A, and have trouble taking the laid-back approach. This time, though, it was Steve who was out there pounding the pavement, looking at new towns and new houses. I found myself wondering: who is this strange, fast-acting man? I have to say that I really dig him, because he found a great 4-bedroom house with a yard, in a historic town that still has a drugstore with a real, live soda fountain.

What do you think the odds are that Steve's new-found fervor will last through the packing portion of the move? (I'm putting my money on "slim to none.")

Lest you think I exaggerate

She does really, really, really like shoes.

She never stood a chance . . .

against the Zimmerbaby shoe fetish. Here are Steve and his little sister, Sara, in her own pair of big shoes:



Also, could little-kid Steve, Krista and Sara be any cuter? No wonder Annie and Ivan are so dang good looking.

Wherever does she get it?

After seeing this 30-year-old photo of Steve's sister, Krista, I'm starting to think that Annie's shoe obsession (as documented here and here) may be genetic:

Silly twins

Here's one of Annie and Ivan's favorite activities: pushing each other in their doll stroller. As you can see, they don't yet fully understand the concepts of "turning" and "stopping."



In case you're wondering why there is an air mattress in the background of this video: no, we don't have a house guest. Annie has taken to climbing onto the couch, throwing all the cushions into a big pile on the floor, then heaving herself onto them. She refuses to be redirected from this activity, so the air mattress is our attempt to keep her from cracking her head open.

Laundry boat

One morning I put Annie and Ivan in the laundry basket and pushed them around the living room on a "boat ride." Now when the basket is out they love to climb in in and holler, "Boat! Push!" Who knew toddlers have such long memories?

Future fashionista

Here is Annie in an outfit of her own devising: heart stickers, high-heeled boots, and around her waist, a pair of my underwear (fished from the laundry hamper when no one was looking).

Not recommended

A 5-day business trips without your twins.

I had to fly to DC for a week-long conference (absolutely mandatory for my grant; no way to get out of it). I could say all kinds of good things about the trip (uninterrupted adult conversation! valuable legal training! catching up with DC friends!) but really what stuck out the most was that it sucked to be away from my kids.

Happy belated Halloween!

For Halloween this year, I was going to dress the kids as "garden gnomes" and take them to Sydney's for homemade pizza, cupcakes, and trick or treating with cousins and grandparents. But instead, we spent the entire day in urgent care after being up all night with a sick Annie. Turns out it was a bad ear infection on top of some other bug (not the dread swine flu, thankfully). Needless to say, our Halloween plans were thoroughly shot. I was a little disappointed, but mostly just happy that Annie didn't have some serious illness, and that she would feel better very quickly.

As small consolation for missing the Halloween festivities, this morning I dressed Annie and Ivan in their costumes and had a quick photo shoot. They were somewhat confused by the weird outfits, and Ivan refused to wear his beard, but all in all they were pretty good sports.





Every time I asked Annie to smile, I got this face (it's in about fifteen different photos, but I think one gives you the general idea):



Here's Ivan giving me a look that says, "Mommy, why did you to this to me?" Because it's (belated) Halloween, Ivan, that's why!

It's a learning experience . . . no, seriously.

We just got a membership to Pretend City, the local children's "museum." I put "museum" in quotes because it is more like a children's "massive funtastic indoor playground." It will be perfect for those winter days when So Cal temperatures plummet to the low 70's and we all have to stay inside!

The great thing about this place is that the kids can do anything they want and I never have to tell them no. Want to take all the groceries off the shelf in the pretend grocery store? OK! Want to dig in the pretend flower bed? Terrific! Want to flush the pretend toilet over and over and over again? Go for it! Put all the bowls and silverware in the pretend oven? You get the picture.

Because it's a pretend city, the kids/inhabitants can have pretend jobs at the various exhibits and stamp their pretend time cards once they are finished. Annie and Ivan are too young for all that, of course, but the stamp station is still Annie's favorite activity, though her use of it is not quite what was intended:

This and that

Today Ivan picked up a bee and showed it to our nanny. She said, "OH, NO!" and then he got stung. I was worried at first, because my brother is allergic, but apparently Ivan is not.

Ivan has also been picking up words at an incredible pace. Tonight we were reading a book and he pointed to a trash truck and said, "trash." Trash? Seriously? Sometimes I think he absorbs words out of the air.

Annie, meanwhile, has been making great strides in her potty-learning. It's a little tricky, this process: I want to encourage her without pressuring her, of course, and I want her to feel some control over the potty-using. After several weeks of semi-interest, she's recently been asking to sit on the potty A LOT, but it hasn't been exactly, er, "fruitful," if you get my drift. But tonight all that practice paid off, and she used the toilet TWICE, of her own accord!

Roseola strikes again

Steve was buried in work and had to fly to Chicago mid-week, so I spent a few days as a de facto single parent. I usually don't mind having the kids to myself--in fact, it can be a fun break from routine, since Steve tends to be a Rule Enforcer whereas I am a Rule Relaxer.

But this week was no fun at all. Annie was feverish and crabby, throwing food and crying constantly, refusing to nap or sleep, and having tantrums at the slightest offense. She nearly lost her mind when I put yogurt into her bowl at lunch, for example. Then today she broke out in a red, spotty rash, and I realized that she has roseola. It's a very common childhood illness marked by fever, irritability, and sometimes a sore throat and cough. After several days of that, a rash erupts on the back, chest and face. Ivan and Sydney both had it a few months back.

Besides cementing my attachment to Steve, my desperately-needed co-parent, this experience showcased the frustrations of parenting a toddler (or in our case, two toddlers). On the one hand, Annie is an excellent and transparent communicator: the message "I am unhappy" came through loud and clear, thank you very much. But she couldn't actually tell me anything specific about how she was feeling. All I could do was try to decipher her clues, comfort her, and dole out squirts of baby tylenol every four hours. It didn't help much, and I was frustrated.

The good news is that once the rash appears, the other, more unpleasant symptoms are already dissipating. She is doing much better today and should be back to her old self by the weekend.

California

We took the kids to the beach today. The waves were crashing right on the shore, which was slightly stressful, but we managed to keep a firm grip on the toddlers and they had a great time. They are loving the ocean these days, just like my siblings and I did when we were small. Sometimes I get down on California (the traffic! the consumption! the relentless sunshine!) but really, it's pretty great that we can go from sitting on our couch to swimming in the ocean in under 20 minutes.

Words

It seems like I should record some of Annie and Ivan's first words for posterity, so here they are:

Ivan:

shoe
mommy
daddy
nanny
newton ("noonen")
more
please
people ("peepil")
bubble
balloon ("bloon")
up
baby
apple
no
boom! (meaning, I fell or it fell)
uh-oh
poop
meow
woof
ooo-ooo-ooo-eee-eee-eee (what a monkey says)
diaper

Annie:

mama
dada
Newton ("noon-na")
up
more
poop
shoe
uh-oh
bubble
meow
no, no, no, no (with finger-wagging)

Not recommended

Visiting to the library with 18-month-old twins.

More beach

Okay, I pilfered some photos. I'm glad my family is full of shutterbugs.

Down the stairs to the beach:



Nanny, shepherding grandbabies, as usual.



Ivan the mer-man.



A post-swim snack with Syndey.



Bounce house!



What happens when little boys inspect the fire pit too closely.



Outnumbered by children, help!

This and that

I forgot to tell you, Annie and Ivan had their 18 month check-up last week. Annie is in the 90th percentile for height, Ivan is in the 50th. (I am assuming the height comes from Steve; growing up I was always one of the smallest in my class.) Ivan and Annie don't go back again until age 2, which seems crazy, like they really are kids and not babies.

This week Annie and Ivan start two new classes: tumbling and "music together." Our nanny, who used to teach gymnastics to preschoolers, will take them to their tumbling class on Tuesdays. And I rearranged my work schedule so I can take them to the music class on Thursdays. I am excited about modeling my off-key singing and rhythm-less dancing for Annie and Ivan.

Labor day weekend

Here are some pics from last weekend at my mom's condo by the lake. (Again, I totally failed at picture-taking, but luckily my siblings took lots.)

We had lasagna and Ivan decided he does, in fact, like it. Here he is working on his first of two servings. \



Annie also enjoyed her pasta.



Here we are playing "Annie Attack." Our victim, a young cousin of Annie's, is outside the scope of the photo.



Ivan in his swim diaper, scoping out the toys.

Another nice weekend

It was such an awesome weekend. Steve had to work on Saturday (so, okay, that part was not so awesome) but I took Annie and Ivan to meet family and extended family where they were camping at the beach. Usually the kids are apprehensive around the water, interested in the waves but content to stay firmly on dry sand. Not so this trip. Ivan, in particular, was running headlong into the waves, shrieking and laughing. I had to hold tight to both his hands to keep him from being merrily swept away by the sea.

Back at the campsite we made a bounce house out of Sara and Dan's tent and air mattresses. All five of the bigger kids piled in to jump and scream and fall over each other. Then later, after it got dark, we toasted marshmallows around the fire. Ivan refused to try a smore; Annie was dubious but finally took a bite. Then, of course, she wanted to eat the whole thing, leaving none for me. (Sometimes being the parent is SO. UNFAIR.)

Then today, Steve and I took the kids to a little nearby zoo. Annie and Ivan seemed to like looking at the the monkeys and birds, playing on the playground equipment, and riding the carousel. Steve and I also discovered that, in addition to the standard hot dogs and grilled cheese, the zoo snack shack there has the best, most authentic tacos that we've had thus far in the O.C. Also, the guacamole rocked.

We also got some errands done and had some good hanging out time. I failed to take a single photo, but plan to pilfer the family flickr sites for some good shots of the kids at the beach. Stay tuned.

Whew!

It's finally Friday of a holiday weekend, and I have to say, we deserve a break. The last several days have been crazy: our nanny was on vacation, the air conditioner died during 100+ degree weather, our power went out, and we had a series of minor toddler mishaps (including an unfortunate incident involving the closet door and two of Annie's toes). But we made it through.

The good thing about this week is that we got to spend some extra time with the kids. I took them to their Tuesday morning music class, and got to see how much they had progressed in the weeks since I last went with them. Before, they were shy and confused, but now they run to get their instruments, anticipate the songs and games, and would rather not have me interfering in their fun (especially when they want to stand right in front of the teacher instead of on their momma's lap, like they are supposed to). At the end, all the kids got stamps on their hands, but Annie kept getting back in line until she had stamps all the way up her arm.

After that, we went to a new park, where the Annie and Ivan immediately sped off in different directions. When faced with such a situation, the best I can do is pick which one is in the most potential danger and run to retrieve him or her. This time, I picked Annie, but as soon as I had her safe I turned to see Ivan fall off a step. He was upset, but fine. These twins are going to be tougher than most first-born children, I'm afraid.

Tomorrow we head to my mom's for some relaxation by the lake. I am looking forward to it.

Worrying

Our friends are going through a difficult pregnancy, similar to what we went through when I was pregnant with Annie and Ivan. Their emails bring back a flood of memories of those stressful days, before we knew our babies but long after we had started loving them. Back then I used to think that there would be a certain point when I would stop worrying--at a particular gestation, at first, and then after they were born, at a certain weight, or developmental milestone, or after they were recovered from some ailment or adjusted to a new tweak in their schedule. But I'm starting to realize that the magical point that I see in the future--when I stop worrying, when I will be secure in knowing that the babies are fine--that point will never come. That is the awesome and terrifying thing about becoming a parent, and something I could not have ever fully understood had it not happened to me. These babies of ours, they are everything.

Cookin'

The last couple years have been a little overwhelming for Steve and I, with one stressful pregnancy, two career changes, one cross-country move, and two babies/toddlers. Recently, though, we've felt more settled and have been trying to remember what we like to do in our spare time. I remembered that I used to like to cook, so tonight I made a veggie lasagna.



Reviews were mixed.



Steve is going to make a meat loaf this week, maybe our discriminating toddler will like that better.

BUB-bbblleeesss

Ivan has what seems to be an unhealthy obsession with bubbles. If he sees a bottle of bubbles, he cries and yells, desperately, "BUB-bles! BUB-bles! BUB-BLLLLLLEEEEEESSS!" until you give them to him. And every so often throughout the day, he'll wander through the house murmmering "bubbles? bubbles?" and pointing to the places where, at some point in the past, a bottle of bubbles has sat.

Almost the last straw

You know that cliche about the husband who went out to get milk for the babies and never returned? If something like that happened in this family, it would be Steve got lost on the way to Ikea, spent hours and too much money buying furniture, tied it all to the top of the car with twine, drove home on the freeway at 25 miles an hour, dragged the boxes inside and emptied them onto the floor, discovered that the we had accidently purchased the Kupersmit hardware to go with the Svenglonger furniture, got back into the car to return to Ikea, and never returned.

Luckily, though, Steve DID return and now we have a office full of new, professional-looking furniture. My files are in file cabinents! My paperclips are in drawers! My books are on shelves! It's like I am a real lawyer, except one who showers infrequently and takes calls in play-doh covered pajamas.

Summertime, the livin' is easy

On Saturday we went to my birthday party at Nana & Papa's. Annie and Ivan skipped a nap and were still fun happy kids the entire day!

Here are the two monkeys in a chair.



Baby races! (Annie is totally kicking Sydney's butt.)



Papa and Pauli by the pool.



Baby Paige, have you met her? (She is the one in pink.)



Annie-girl, ready to swim. Can you see the big scab on her nose? She was standing still on the back porch and then fell straight on her face. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.



Steve, Ivan, Syndey, bathing.



Us.



Sydney and Anneliese.



Us again, during cake.



It was a nice birthday.

Maybe just a fluke

Annie recently started pointing to her diaper and giving me an intent, slightly stressed-out look when she needs a change. I figured that was a sign that she would soon be interested in using the toilet, so I got one of those kid potties and put her on it a few times yesterday and today. Then tonight, when she was sitting on it, SHE WENT PEE! It was so exciting. When she was done, we flushed it down the toilet and waved bye-bye. That was totally her favorite part.

Talky talky II

How to make a daddy happy:



How to make a mommy happy:

Talky talky

The babies (can I even call them that anymore?) are starting to talk. Ivan can say "daddy" and "mommy" and "noonoon" (Newton), and "bubbles," among other things. Annie can say "mama" and "dada" and "up" and "uh-oh." I've been trying to catch some of this on video, with moderate success. Here is a sample:





Steve and I recorded this one just for Grandma Ruth, because we are worried that she will disown us if we keep slacking on the grandbaby vids. It shows Annie and Ivan "smiling" on cue, which is their weird new trick.



I have some photos from the trip yet to post, but that will have to wait for another day.

An outing for the introverts

We're almost on vacation! Next week we fly to DC for Krista and Richard's wedding. It's been pretty crazy trying to get ready for the trip, both on the work and domestic fronts. I've been trying to finish up my part of an article that will be submitted soon for possible publication (keep your fingers crossed!). And, of course, Annie and Ivan need some semi-presentable clothing for the trip, preferably something not covered in spaghetti stains or so outgrown as to bare serious toddler midriff. I've also been sneaking together a pile of entertaining gizmos for the plane ride. Let's hope they help; I'm not expecting to have an awesome 5 hours in the air, especially since Steve and I will have to sit in totally different rows, each with our own baby (dang you, Alaska Air safety policies!).

But the trip will be wonderful, both because we will be celebrating the marriage of two of our favorite people, and because we will be able to reconnect with all of our dear old friends in DC. We haven't been able to build a community here in California like the one we had back on the East Coast, perhaps because we've spent the last year consumed by caring for two demanding babies, or perhaps because we just haven't yet encountered anyone that we really connect with. Or maybe we're just two introverts who, when given a choice, will stay at home and be introverted. In any event, a good dose of old friends and family will be a jolt of what we need.

At the aquarium

We took the kids to the aquarium when Ruth and Earl were out. It's only been about 3 months since the last time we were there, but those months made a huge difference in how much fun they had, and how much fun we had watching them.

This and that

Ivan suddenly loves "reading"--he'll bring me a book and holler until I take it from him and sit down. Then he smiles and claps and flops into my lap, pointing and waiting for me to tell him the names of all of the pictures. Ivan seems endlessly entertained by this activity, though Annie can only flit by for a quick look at the pages before running off and getting into some new predicament.

Annie, for her part, has learned how to do a "fish face", which she can add to her repertoire of funny faces. She is also developing an obsession with accessories. Today she came clomping into the room in a pair of my heels that she managed to get on her feet all by herself. And last night, on our way out to dinner, she grabbed the purse that her nanny gave her and slung it over her shoulder. She also pulls the rubber bands out of my hair so she can wear them on her arms.

Annie and Ivan in their new hang-out, the coffee table shelf:



Silly kids.

Visitors

Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Earl are visiting this week from Calcutta, India. Annie and Ivan have been seriously digging the constant attention.

We went to the spectrum to visit the book store (disaster!) and have some delish veg food (success!). We also stopped at Annie and Ivan's favorite fountain.



Gramma helped Annie try on Aunt Sara's shoes.



Ivan and Syndey played in the ball pit.



Cousin Sydney, Cousin Paul, Nanny enjoyed a little down time.



And the Nerd family continued in its nerdy ways.

Ruby's Ribs

Dad brought us some of Ruby's awesome home-cooked ribs. Annie loooooved them!

Mini zoo

I took Annie and Ivan to the "mini-zoo" today. We went into the bunny/guinea pig pen and Ivan's head nearly exploded with excitement.





Here is a video of Annie petting the goats. We are working on being gentle with animals, because she likes to pull Newton's tail, and earlier she was trying to step on the poor guinea pigs.



We had a really terrific day. I am so happy that the babies are getting to the age where I can take them places and show them new things. It makes parenting a whole lot more fun.

Annie telling jokes

Sometimes Annie seriously CRACKS. ME. UP.

Playing in the ball pit

Birthday boy

Last week Steve and I got into an argument in which I asserted that his birthday was May 22, and he claimed it was May 23. I made him show me his driver's license. I then lost that argument. I am the best spouse ever.

Happy 31st Birthday, Steve!

Cousins

Four cousins, and in July there will be five!

Flower fields

We all got together for burgers to celebrate Grandi's birthday earlier this month. After lunch we took a tractor ride around the Carlsbad flower fields.

Here are Steve and a very sleepy Annie on the tractor trailer.




Here I am, asking Ivan "Where's Grampy?" Ivan is getting very good at understanding English.

Has it been a while?

I've noticed, since I've had children, that the days have grown long but the months have flown by. Now it's nearly June and weeks since my last blog post. What happened? I'm not sure, exactly, but I think it all started when the flu hit just before Mother's day.

Steve and I had purposefully un-scheduled that entire weekend so we could relax as a family, with nothing to do but go to the park, take naps, feed ourselves and maybe swim in the neighborhood pool. On Friday afternoon, though, the babies started getting very fussy, and by 9 p.m., Annie had vomited her way through 3 pairs of PJs and a couple of fresh sheets. The night got worse from there. At some point Steve broke a cardinal rule of parenting and turned to the internet for a diagnosis. Suddenly it was all very clear to us: Annie must have a life-threatening bowel obstruction! I quickly packed her up and sped off to urgent care. Luckily, though, just then the night nurse returned my earlier phone call and managed to convinced me that Annie probably only had a virus, not a life-threatening condition, and we could probably handle the situation ourselves, though I was welcomed to bring her in if I wanted. I told her that this was our first baby (which she is, by two minutes) and that we didn't know what we were doing. She was very nice and gave me lots of good advice. I turned the car around and headed home, relieved.

Ivan, Steve and I soon had the same bug. I missed work to tend to sick babies and a never-ending cycle of soiled laundry. And Grandi saved our skins by spending her day off making us food and taking care of babies while Steve worked and I napped. We were a mess, but by the end of the week it was clear that we had survived the worst. Then it was all a matter of catching up. As you can tell from the silence on my blog, that took quite a bit more time.

Party time

We went to a family party last weekend, and once again, my brother Max caught lots of key baby moments on film while I just distractedly carried my camera around.

Here is Annie saying "dog."



And here is Ivan falling into the flower bed.

Tantrums

Annie has been throwing spectacular tantrums lately. She kicks, she screams, she hurls herself on the floor; she pauses to check if we're watching then redoubles her efforts. It's impressive, and it's seriously wearing me down. I try to short-circuit these melt-downs by keeping her entertained and picking my battles carefully, but sometimes I simply don't see them coming until she's in full-blown freakout mode.

I think this is coming from her frustration at wanting things so badly. She doesn't simply forget about whatever dangerous/breakable thing we take away, nor is she easily dissuaded from running outside whenever the front door is left open. Sometimes, though, it's our fault, because we realize later that we've led her to believe that something is going to happen, and then it doesn't.

For example, the other day Steve was trying to get her to go inside, so he asked her to take her shoes to mommy. She loves her shoes, and quickly followed his orders and brought them to me inside the house. I acted very happy, but she suddenly got mad and ran off. A few moments later, she was back with one of my shoes, but was very frustrated. Next thing I knew, we were in the middle of a full-blown tantrum. Later, we figured out that she associates her shoes with going outside, and when I didn't put them on her feet and take her out, she was understandably upset, but couldn't tell us why, which only made her more upset.

Annie and Ivan are obviously making pretty complicated mental connections that we totally underestimate. Not only that, but they feel very passionate about whatever it is that they want--but they can't express any of that to us, the bumbling, confused grown ups who control their lives completely.

That must be tough for a baby. But one day soon, Annie and Ivan will be able to simply tell us what they need. In the meantime, Steve and I are trying to figure out their needs before the meltdowns occur, while also trying to discourage tantrums as a method of communicating with us. It's tricky, but we're doing our best.

103.7

Not to be outdone, today Annie ran a temperature of 103.7 degrees. The phone nurse said that the second family member is usually hit harder than the first, because he or she gets a bigger dose of bugs.

The only good thing about this sickness is that I've been getting some baby snuggling time. It's been a long time since Annie and Ivan wanted to sit still long enough for me to get a dose of that.

103.4

Yesterday Ivan ran a sudden fever of 103.4 degrees. Of course, that was smack in the middle of the pediatrician's two hour lunch break. I have no perspective when it comes to sick babies, so I asked the exchange to page one of the doctors so she could tell me what to do.

We took Ivan in to the office that afternoon, but all the nurse practitioner could do was rule out certain illnesses: it's not an ear infection, it's not strep. (I'll just add that Ivan's sensitive gag reflex and the strep swab DID NOT mix well.) So we took him home with instructions to bring him back if he didn't improve.

By this morning, Ivan's fever was down closer to 101, and he seemed to be feeling much better. I'm hoping he's over this sickness--especially because I expect Annie to come down with it any minute.

Beach

I've been terrible about remembering the camera lately. Luckily Max and Erin have been taking pictures of my kids and posting them on flickr, where I can steal them for my blog.

Here's Annie holding a wad of seaweed at the beach yesterday. Steve picked this hat out for her and she's obsessed with it. She will find it and bring it to me so I can put it on her head. Then she grins and runs off, happy as can be.



Here is Ivan splashing in the bucket. He has sand all over his face, can you tell? He did a nose-dive onto the beach, but it didn't seem to interrupt his fun.

Nice weekend

This has been perhaps the best weekend we've had since moving to California. Friday night we had tacos with Nanny, Max and Sydney, and went to the mall to get Ivan new shoes. Then Saturday turned out to be one of those perfect, early summer days, where the air is warm and the hills are still green from the winter. While my mom babysat, Steve and I spent the morning hiking through Laguna Canyon. We eventually reached the top of a bluff, and could for miles up and down the coast, and out to sea past Catalina Island. The view was stunning, and it felt great to be out in the sun and fresh air, but I think the best part of the hike was having a few hours to talk to each other without interruption.

Later that day, we took the babies along on some errands, and even that was fun. Annie and Ivan are big enough now that we can hold their hands and let them walk around the store a little. Annie was grinning at everyone, and people were stopping to smile and wave and fawn over her. Ivan's new favorite game is "chase," so we had to hold his hand tight or he'd go running away, screaming and laughing. It's hilarious to play that at home, of course, but I didn't really think about how it would translate to a busy Costco on a Saturday afternoon. Luckily he only got away from us once, and I managed to scoop him up before he had gained much ground.

This morning we met Sydney, Max, and Erin at the beach. Ivan liked playing in the sand, but was a bit leery of the water. Annie, of course, shrieked and smiled whenever a wave came near, and then she would try to step on it. After the beach, we all had a nap, including me, which felt decadent and wonderful. Then we went to the outdoor shopping mall to watch the fountains and get a quick dinner. Ivan and Annie made a mess, but much less of a mess than usual, which was encouraging.

Later that night, Grampy and Grandi came by on their way home from the airport, and the babies were soooo excited to see them. They were running around and hugging them and bouncing on their laps. When Grampy and Grandi left, we tried to get Ivan to say "BYE!" but he was too shy. Of course, five minutes later, he was walking up and down the hallway, waving at the closed front door and repeating, "BYE! BYE! BYE!"

And that was our weekend--no big events, no major developments, just some nice time outside and lots of unscheduled silliness. Neither of us had to work, and the babies were happy and easy going. And, of course, it's such a joy to watch Annie and Ivan experience the world. For them, every little thing is new and thrilling, and when I'm with them I get to see things that way, too.

That baby!

Annie, Ivan and I were playing in the sand at the park today when two little girls asked to share our sand toys. They were very cute, chatty kids, and were telling me all sorts of interesting things, like that their sister was in 4th grade, but they were in 2nd grade and kindergarten, and that one of them had gone to have blood drawn instead of going to school today, and that the younger one was going to start taking the bus to school, but only the sixth graders rode in the back of the bus because if kindergartners sat there, the big kids would pour milk on their heads. I was engrossed in this conversation until one of the little girls asked, "Why is the baby--why is that little baby boy holding a pencil?" Umm, because he found it in the sand while his mommy wasn't paying attention. Ack!

Parlez-vous anglais?

Ivan and Annie suddenly understand English! I can say, "Where is the ball? Go get the ball," and one of them will toddle off and GET THE BALL. Today I asked them to get the baby, and Annie walked over to the doll stroller, picked up Ivan's doll, and brought him back. Then, when prompted, both of them hugged the baby, kissed the baby, and "fed" the baby.

Before I was a parent, this sort of thing would totally fail to impress me, but having spent a LOT of time with Annie and Ivan when they were just little lumps, I find it a total miracle that they are becoming such interesting, defined people.

The downside of this development is that I now realize that Annie probably does understand when I shake my head and tell her "no", but is just choosing to smile, shake her head in response, and continue what she was doing--which is usually pulling Ivan's hair or stealing his toys.

It's true that each stage of parenting is both more fun and more challenging than the last.

Bye!

Yesterday when we were leaving the Easter festivities, I was encouraging Ivan to "say bye" by waving at people, which he just learned to do. Everyone was waiving and saying "bye! bye!" to him in response. I just about fell over when he suddenly said "BYE!" back. And then he said it again, and again! Max and Erin were like, wow, when did he start talking? And I responded, "Right now!"

What a smartie.

Being not-fired

I've spent the last month on the verge of getting fired. It wasn't me (so they say), it was simply the consequence of being the last-hired, part-time worker at a nonprofit during a severe economic downturn. But it still made me feel a bit inadequate and, of course, pretty stressed out. Happily, however, I am now officially not-fired and have even landed in a better job than I had before. It's still part time, but they want to bump me up to 35 hours a week later in the summer, and then I'll get all the benefits of a full-time worker, including desperately-needed health insurance. I'll be able to work from home most of the time, and my schedule will be flexible, so I'm hopeful that Steve and I will be able to stagger our work hours and have the the babies with us the majority of the time.

Nearly losing my job made me realize how important my career is to me, and how much I would miss it if I were to give it up. As a parent, I believe it is important to do what I need to do to feel happy and fulfilled, so that I can teach Annie and Ivan to become happy and fulfilled people themselves. It's difficult to balance two careers while trying to be dedicated and fully engaged parents, but Steve and I have made sacrifices in our career choices in order to make that happen. If our current plan doesn't work out, we can try something else. Maybe Steve will take a turn at being the stay-at-home parent . . . he says he's willing to do that, though I suspect it's because he thinks he'd then have more time to pursue his obsession with online chess.

Yummy rocks

Here is a photo taken from Steve's vantage point at the park. Notice that while he is reclining comfortably on the ground, Ivan is eating rocks. Sometimes we are such awesome parents.

Feeding the baby

Ivan loves his baby and is so nice about feeding him milk.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from Annie and Ivan!



When Annie first met the Easter Bunny, he was carrying two big plastic carrots. Annie immediately snatched it from his hand (foot?) and ran off shrieking. Ivan, meanwhile, was pulling apart the surrounding decor, and wound up with the bumble bee that he's holding in the picture.