Forced Family Fun

The official family Christmas card picture.

Mark holding Lily. Emily holding Elsa.
Thanks to our friend Jeff D for taking our picture. And special thanks to Lily, Elsa and Mark who were very patient. It wasn't easy to get everyone looking at the camera. The magic quacking duck from the Clarke/Silver family finally did the trick.




Here are a few pictures that didn't make the cut.

Help! Squirmy babies everywhere! Elsa.will.not.bend. (her new toddler move).

And then, the cat walked in...Elsa.still.not.bending.

Lily channeling Dr Evil from Austin Powers...Elsa found the cat.

I don't think this picture needs a caption.

Sitting on the ledge

all ready to go outside.





Lily (L) and Elsa (R)

Lily and Elsa are doing new and exciting things every day. Lily's really been working on her walking. She can go 4-5 steps before she tumbles. Elsa's been concentrating on her words. Animals and animal noises are still her favorite. But, she's added night-night to her vocabulary.

They also like to point to body parts on themselves, us and each other. They know eyes, nose, mouth, feet, shoes, head and hair. (In case you want to know the difference between hair and head, they pat their head. They make a brushing motion for hair). They also can point to their diapers and tell me when they need a change.

They have also started singing. Mark and I can recognize the melody. They like to sing the Wheels on the Bus and Old MacDonald. They can do the hand motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider and If You're Happy and You Know It.

The girls are getting very cuddly. They like to jump into our laps and snuggle. They've also started giving hugs. They even like to pat each other on the back.

Another fun thing they do is bring us books to read. Their attention span for reading is quite good. Sometimes, we sit and read book after book.

I can't believe how quickly they are growing up. They will be 15 months old this week.

Virgo babies

When, we took the girls out for breakfast this weekend our server mentioned that the girls "just had to be virgo's . . . just look how they observe everything I do." I thought this was a pretty funny assessment. When you live in Northern California, these comments are not THAT unusual. I've also been told the girls have really "intense energy . . . you can really feel their connection."

You can read more about the virgo sign here. I have a soft-spot for this sign as both my dad and best friend are also virgos. One thing I've noticed from living with virgos almost my entire life is they are very orgainized and pay attention to details.


Ahem, look at Elsa's handywork in the tub. When the girls take a bath, I put in a bunch of plastic cups and duckies. Elsa and Lily always sort the ducks from the cups and line them up along the edge of the tub. They make a line of ducks and a line of cups. Classic Virgo!


They are also really into stacking blocks. They like to make towers and knock them down. (Lily L, Elsa R).


Look, no hands! Elsa is standing all by herself. They can both stand for long stretches at a time.


Lily can stand, too. Lily has also been taking steps. Her record is three before falling down.


The girls also think it is fun to sit at their little table and chair set. They can even get up on the chairs with no help. They aren't very smooth at getting down yet. So, we might save the chairs for when they are a little bit bigger. (Lily L, Elsa R)


Lily caught in a Mike Tyson move. The girls are getting better at sharing. But, they still get into fights.


Here is Lily playing one of her favorite games. She thinks its really funny to close the door. Sometimes, she and Elsa try to shut us out of the room.


They also love books, especially books about animals. They are really good at picking out the animals in books like the ladybug, gorilla, kitty etc. They can also make animal noises, especially Elsa. Elsa says "quack, meow, and baa." Lily says "moooooooooo." They are getting very vocal. They've also started greeting us this week. Elsa says "hi" and Lily says "hello." So cute!


Finally a preview of Lily in her coat. She's getting ready for her big trip. Its been very cold for California. We've had frost on our car and lawn. Brrrr.