New videos

Here's a post from Dad for a change. I just uploaded a couple movies so you out there can see and hear how the girls have changed in the last few months.



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Here's Lily showing off her "Bye-bye, mama" Elvis impression and nicely asking for her turn.



Video Sharing at DropShots.com

And here's a quick one with Elsa showing off her Old MacDonald singing skills.

Don't let this rapid posting make you miss the pictures Emily posted earlier today!

Habitot

Look Lily caught a fish. She says that she is ready for her first fishing trip with Grandpa A and Uncle John. This weekend, we spent a rainy Saturday afternoon at Habitot in downtown Berkeley. It is an interactive children's museum for the 4 and under crowd. The girls thought it was pretty fun.


Elsa liked going grocery shopping. She was especially amused with the asparagus. I bought her some at the grocery store to try at home. Elsa had an interesting weekend. She was totally a Daddy's girl. She wouldn't let Mark out of her sight and kept bringing him books to read her.

Meanwhile, everything Lily said ended in Mama. Bye-Bye, Mama. Hi,Mama. My turn, Mama. Its pretty funny how quickly they switch back and forth with their preferred parent. It changes every day.


By far, the coolest attraction was the play mailbox. The girls love mail, especially Elsa. Elsa calls it "may-may." Checking the mail is one of the highlights of our afternoons.


Lily and Elsa are too cool for their strollers, going incognito to the park. The girls love to go to the park so much,that they don't wait for me to put them in the stroller anymore. They do it all by themselves.

This weekend at the park, we found boyfriends for the girls. 17-month old, blond-haired, blue-eyed indentical twin boys. They were adorable and we really liked their parents. The first thing their parents asked us was whether our girls fought with each other. So, we're not the only ones with rowdy little twins. One of their boys had a bite mark on his face that looked quite familiar.

This was exciting for Mark and me to hear, because usually the twin parents that we meet look at us in shock when we mention that our little girls sometimes fight. These parents were very down to earth.

A reason to love California

This weekend it finally stopped raining long enough for us to take to the girls to the beach. We found a new little beach up at Point Richmond on the Bay.


At first the girls (E,L) were more into their orange chairs than the water and sand.


Then they were off. This is a common sight anymore, the girls with their heads close together as they scurry toward a new adventure. I wish I could record the sound of their voices when they laugh and play. The sound is beautiful.


Lily gets her toes wet in the Bay. Lily's having a much better week. She has two new teeth which explains her fussiness last week.


Elsa with two fists full of sand. Elsa greatly amused me today. While she was eating her lunch, she kept saying "ball!" I was busy and not really paying attention while she kept saying ball over and over again. I finally looked at her plate and she was pointing to the peas in her stew. The peas looked like little green balls to her. She had picked all the peas out of the stew and lined them up. She was surprised to learn the little green balls were for eating.


Elsa getting her feet wet with Daddy. Elsa was more careful around the water than Lily.


Lily dancing on the beach. I think this picture shows her personality. Lily ran right up to play with the big kids. She had a great time. Lily is a dancing machine.


Elsa strolling with her dad.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

I know she's not Irish, but don't you just want kiss Elsa's happy little face. She's my tie-dye leprechaun with two green bows in her hair.


This morning we walked over to Safeway to buy our corned beef and cabbage, Guiness for Mommy and Daddy and two green carnations for the girls.


Elsa really liked her flowers. She held on to them all morning. (then we gave them a drink of water).


Lily wasn't in the mood for a photoshoot this morning because she was watching Sesame Street. She gets really into it (that's her Sesame Street face, pretty funny). This morning Lily recognized a color for the first time. She pointed at her shirt and said "green!" It was very exciting.

They said stick!

One of the many unexpected blessings of having twins is how much Mark and I are able to share the parenting. If we had started with just one baby, I might have tried to handle a lot more by myself. As it happened, having newborn twins was really overwhelming and I needed Mark's help right from start. I always brag that I didn't even change a diaper for the first 2 weeks after the babies were born (thanks in large part, to Grandma, too!) and Mark has been up to help me for every single night feeding of the past 18 months of which there were many, but thankfully not so many anymore.

Another side benefit of having twins is that we are able to stay home with the girls. If we had a singleton, it probably would have made more economic sense to use daycare. But, since daycare for 2 kids runs over 20K in our area, we decided to drop my hours to 50% and then arrange our schedules so that someone was able to stay home. We are lucky to work for very flexible employers.

I am so grateful that Mark and I have had this time with the girls. And it is so fun to have a co-parent who gets totally excited about the little events of their lives. Mark and I both carry cell phones and update each other all the time.

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk when Mark called:
He was very excited.
"They just said stick!"
"They were collecting sticks in the yard, brought them over to me and said stick!"
"Then Elsa pointed to a squirrel on the telephone wire and said kitty, it was so cute!"

I love my family. And I'm glad the girls feel so comfortable with both of their parents.

Still haven't decided what will happen with our daycare situation when we move to New Jersey. A lot of it will depend on what kinds of jobs opportunities, daycare situations open up. It will be unlikely that Mark will be able to work a very alternative schedule as a new hire. And putting the girls in full-time daycare is not really our first choice. But, I do think they would probably benefit from interacting with other children at least on a part-time schedule. And financially, I'm going to need to find some kind of job. So, we shall see. Tough decisions.

High DQ

Reflections on 18 months of parenthood . . .

Mark: Lily sure has a high DQ.
Me: What are you talking about?
Mark: You know, drama quotient. (I think he made up this term)
Me: So what, you think this comes from my side?
Mark: I'm not going to answer that question.



Everyone at 3516 Garfield can stop laughing now. But, it's true. Lily has had a flair for the dramatic recently. When she's happy, she's really happy. When she's sad, everything is just terrible. And when she's mad, everybody better watch out. She's been throwing temper tantrums like nobody's business, full back arching, on the floor, red faced screaming marathons. When she knows what she wants, nobody can stop her. This creates trouble when she gets determined to go outside in the freezing rain, or wants the toy that her sister is using.

Phew. Having toddlers is very tiring, especially when we're on are own and outnumbered. Thankfully, these difficult stretches usually coincide with a new developmental milestone. I think Lily's new skills are going to be verbal.

A couple days ago, she tried to take Elsa's toy away and said:
"No, Mine!"
Two new words! And the first time that she's put words together.

Of course, Lily's passion is one of her best qualities, too. She's been a very enthusiastic helper. She follows me all around the house, she likes people and always has a friendly woof-woof for all the dogs in the neighborhood. She likes to be involved in all our daily tasks like cleaning, and talking on the phone. She also comes up with great ideas for play activities. She figured out the game where they take the stuffed animals for rides up and down the hall in their wagons.




Here's Miss Lillian wearing her brand new big-girl shoes for going outside. (when she wants to go outside, she follows me around the house holding her new shoes).




And Elsa also modeling her new shoes. Elsa has been having a very mellow stretch recently. Mark and I always joke that the girls take turns being the "difficult twin." Elsa's turn for being a stinker was back in January right before she learned to walk. Now that she's mobile, she's been much more mellow and self-confident. She's also been very nurturing to her stuffed animals and baby dolls. She likes to give them kisses. (both girls do this, but Elsa especially). Elsa also likes to make her stuffed animals kiss each other with a Mmmm sound which is very cute.

While Lily charges straight through, Elsa tends to be much more careful and notices the little details. She's really into flowers recently (especially yellow flowers). Elsa has developed an endearing new quirk where she refuses to step on flower petals (the backyard trees are blooming). We hold her hand around the path in the backyard.




Elsa and Lily both are into patterns and routine. Here's Elsa handing daddy her "inside" shoes. When, we come inside the girls immediately insist on putting on their slippers. They are very careful about their feet.




They also like to knock on doors before entering a room. Here's Lily and Elsa waiting for me by our front door.



And two seconds later, they're off again, trying to push their stroller through the yard.

Mommy's big adventure

My very romantic husband sent me to Mexico last week so that I could attend my cousin Meggan's wedding to Luke. This is one of the sweetest things that Mark has ever done for me. I was so nervous to leave my babies that I almost didn't go. But, Mark bought my tickets and arranged for time off work so I had nothing to worry about. He did an amazing job with the girls while I was away for four days. He even took them to their doctor's appointment all by himself.


While Mark was up to his elbows in dirty diapers and dishes, I was enjoying the beach in Mexico with my parents, grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles. Over 40 people flew down for the wedding. This is the sunset on my first night in Mexico.


I got to spend some quality time with my cousin. It is hard to believe we have grown up. It seems like yesterday that we were little girls together. Now, we're both married. I still can't believe it.


Meggan and Luke's wedding was stunning. They had a sunset wedding on the beach. They walked up an aisle of rose petals. The bridesmaids (LB, Catherine, Sara and Luke's sister Eva) looked like beautiful tropical flowers. Meggan was radiant. I'm so happy for Meggan and Luke. They make a wonderful couple. Here is the moment of their first kiss as husband and wife.


They even had a band play their wedding music.


Mom and I posing under the wedding arch. My parents really spoiled me. They took me for a manicure/pedicure and bought me some fun Mexican jewlery and clothes. It was good to be the daughter for a change.


My three favorite faces welcoming me home. Elsa and Lily are wearing Mexican shirts from Grandma and Grandpa.


Back on the job...