Halloween 2010

 Sarah posing as "The Situation"

 Caleb, too.

 My little honey bunny.

 My little funky monkey.

Pumpkin Picking

Caleb about to run off.

Sarah running off.

They stayed put in the car.

Caleb decided it was his turn.

No worries, Sarah got him back. Check out that grip!

Matt picked Caleb up and put him here. I was against it since I like to follow rules. But Matt wouldn't take him down until I snapped the picture. So enjoy!

ABCs and Crib Tents

I know I've been slacking, especially with the photos. But I've decided I'll write blog entries anyway, even if I have no pictures to share.

Today we went to the Turtleback Zoo for C&S's friend's birthday party. They had a great time running around and seeing all the animals that until now only existed in their "bookies". I think Matt enjoyed it the most, though!

Other breaking news, Sarah can recite the entire alphabet. I'm not really sure how that happened, but we were in the car yesterday and I had a video playing for them in the back where the letters must have been flashing across the screen (I've never seen the video since I'm usually in the front). You'd think she was reciting the winning lottery numbers, that's how excited I was! So proud. Caleb chimed in with a letter or two. Mind you, I think he's the smart, silent type. He likes to surprise us with his new vocabulary while giving us the look like - what, you think Sarah's the only one with brains? Caleb's favorite word is cars. By far. Everything is cars, and it's spoken with this cute lisp that just melts me.

Oh, and Caleb escaped his crib the other day. Crib tent was promptly put up. They zig, we zag. I guess that's the way it goes.

It's Been a While

I know, I know, it's been a long while. But I have a good excuse....see, I'm pregnant, and the first trimester just sucked all the life force out of me. After work all I could do was put the kids to bed and get in bed myself. I slept whenever possible on the weekends. I'm now entering the 2nd trimester and starting to feel human again. I can even stay up until 10pm!

The twins have been growing leaps and bounds these past few months. Sarah's a little chatter box and Caleb runs, jumps and climbs as much as Sarah talks. Caleb is Mr. Personality, a flirt with the ladies and a great dancer (apple doesn't fall far). Sarah is shy with new people, very much a people watcher (border-line stares - again, apple/tree). They are both very happy little people. Every time I think I've got them pegged beyond that, they up and change on me. Caleb was afraid of pools on Memorial Day but now he's a regular little fish. And Sarah who was in and out of the pool at first now clings on to me a bit more.

We had an action-packed week and weekend - with a trip out to visit Amy and David in the Hamptons and a lunch and park excursion in NYC with Mimi and Pop. This was our first overnight trip with the kids—ever. They did great! Even if they did wake up super early every day. The word vacation doesn't quite mean the same thing anymore. Here are some pics from the Hamptons:

Houdini

Ah, the stuff you miss when you are a working mom. I came home last night and Barbara the nanny filled me in on quite a tale!

Once upon a time, in the land of naughty twins, there was a boy named Caleb, who did not want to stay in his high chair. Everybody in the land knew of his disdain for being restrained, for he was a boy with great lungs and the gusto to use them. One day, while being fed lunch (strapped in to his chair with the tray attached), his nanny Barbara heard the doorbell ring and she went to answer it. Seizing this golden opportunity, Caleb worked his little arms out of the straps and pushed himself out of his seat and climbed onto the tray of his sister's highchair. Standing tall, he thought, "Ah the view!!".

Fortunately, the story stops here, with Barbara returning to the dining room and grabbing Mister C from his precarious perch. She of course had to see how he accomplished this feat so put him back in his chair and watched in amazement as he wiggled his way out.

I can joke about it now because nothing happened, boy are we lucky! There have been many times that I have put them in their high chairs to go make them their meal or throw a load of laundry in. I mean, they are strapped in, right. Well, make no mistake that we have tightened those straps and will not be leaving our favorite escapologist alone in his chair ever again!

Mad about Madras

Some cute shots of the little monsters in madras shorts. I'm sorry, I love putting them in matching outfits. I know I have to stop....eventually.

Goofing off

Sarah loves playing on Opa's chair.

I went into our storage area in the attic to take out Sarah and Caleb's summer clothes (they're new 18 month summer clothes are too big so we're going back to their 9 month last summer outfits for now). I took out the Bumbo and didn't put it back.

Caleb the Destroyer vs Sarah Sunshine

Matt just shared this video with me. Good thing Sarah is a total trooper.

I think I can

But really I can't. Or shouldn't. It's really not advisable.

Let me be crystal clear: Do Not Take Your 15-Month-Old Twins to the pediatrician ALONE.

I mean, I know there are probably hundreds of thousands of mothers who do this every day. But I'm not cut out for it. I try to be brave and capable but it was laughable how crazy this doctor's visit was. I was wishing myself into the author royalties meeting that I was missing. Here's the story...

I forgot that we had Caleb and Sarah's check up today. Matt left for work around 9 and the nanny had a doctor's appointment of her own. Their appointment was at 10:30.  At the same time, we had a couple trees that were hanging by a thread from the slew of storms last month taken down. Big trees.

So let's set the stage with the wood chipper and about a dozen men taking down limps and climbing trees and LOTS of noise so essentially no nap at the regular morning time. Off we go to the doctor's appointment full of hope and promise and stupidity.

We get to the doctor's office and well, so far so good. I carry C&S into the office (the doors we're luckily ajar) and we just got a backpack-style diaper bag. We go into the waiting room, which is equipped with toys. Then quickly ushered into an exam room. This is the part I hate as an adult waiting in a doc's office because you're cut off from the tv or magazine. In this case, toys.

The nurse comes in and I start stripping down Sarah. I put her on the scale and all hell breaks loose. She's freaked, won't stay on the scale, crying hysterically, clinging to me for dear life. She's usually so easy. OK, no weight check in. Repeat with Caleb. They really are twins. Except now I have clingy crying Sarah on my hip at the same time that I have to deal with Caleb. I'll spare you the details but, again, no weight check. Let's call it 21 or 22 lbs - close enough. Skinny minnies.

Fine, so the nurse leaves (runs for dear life) and I AM ALONE with two naked babies (diapers on) and a seriously non-babyproofed room. You know the game Twister? That's me. Hand on the door (besides the fact that it doesn't latch closed, it would have been no problem for the dynamic duo), leg on the cabinet where C has found there are diapers and pull ups and other goodies stored. I'm out of limbs by the time Caleb goes for the plug that powers the ear thingy machine. I sacrifice my keys ( not a germaphobe and practicality weighs more than hygiene) and hand off the one toy I have and really start praying.  Like, I swear, I'll stop XYZ if you make them stop.

Finally, the doc comes in and it goes as smoothly as possible. Yea, Caleb is gnawing on a tongue depressor as Sarah is getting checked out, but that's fine. They're quiet. Oh, and climbing. I wised up and put the chair against the door so whatever twin wasn't on the table wasn't escaping. But it somehow left the chair in the prime climbing positoin. We survive the check up, and the shots (!) , and I get them dressed and out into the car (carrying them together). But it wiped me out.

I got home and all the trree peeps were taking a siesta. Nanny is not back yet and I don't think I've had any food all day. So I write my colleages at work to tell them not to expect any intelligent correspondence from me today. I am wiped, get the kids off to a nap and then take one myself.

I'm going to pretend that the crazy neighbor lady didn't come by and ruin my 30 minutes of peace.....but that's another story for another time. And it's Matt's problem now ;-)

Dancing Fools

The lighting is really bad in the living room - but you get the idea!

Whoa Backlog

Lots to report on. Let's see...Sarah is officially walking now. Caleb and Sarah are dancing machines. And climbers. And love to copy one another. And beat up the cat. What else? Lots of new teeth. Caleb just got a new haircut and we're experimenting with Sarah's hair style. Tonight we went to Meemaw and Grandpa's for our "Eastover" celebration. More to follow.

Video - almost 14 months

Here we are at almost 14 months. Usually, Caleb is the ham of the pair, but Sarah cracks me up in this video clip. Warning, it's long and unedited. Ignore my commentary, if you can even understand with my mumbling.

Video - 13 months, rough housing

Caleb is rough with Sarah but she doesn't seem to mind. He's a wild boy,  he's taken to pulling off his pants, thus the naked bottom half. The only thing that can stop him is this baby doll toy. He's scared shitless. It's  really funny, except that he really gets scared.  Back story : Silvia brought over the doll as a gift, Sarah was scared immediately. When Caleb got up from  his nap,  we showed him the toy to see his reaction. The doll started crawling forward, Caleb starting stepping backward. Then, Caleb felt bold and reached out to touch the doll. Thing is, it has a motion sensor so it started moving. OMG the  look on his face, and the SCREAM. It was  hilarious and sad at the same time. We now use it as a deterrent.  Baby doll stays in the front hall—where we don't want  C to crawl up on the front bench. I know, it's mean, but it works.

Babies in a Basket

Oh, the shenanigans...apparently  Sarah was drinking her bottle, minding her own business, and Caleb decided to take a nose dive into the basket.

First Haircut

The long-awaited day! For a long time now, I have wondered how long Caleb's hair would be by the time we cut it - since we were waiting until he was a year old. And from the very beginning, this boy had hair! To answer that questions, it was pretty long. Like, upper middle-of-the-back long. Ponytail long, pigtail long (both which I have played around with), probably could have braided it. Sarah also has great hair but she lost her newborn hair and then grew it back like most babies. So she didn't really need a cut, but we needed to fix the awful job I did on her bangs, and trim the super-long (newborn) pieces.

 

They were really good, not a tear shed (well, Caleb got freaked out by the hair dryer but I can relate to that!). We celebrated at Godfather Pizza, where the Bodner children got pizza from after hair cuts. 

Trouble with a capital T

I am beyond exhausted today. I was a saint (again - he he) and watched the kids all day - so Matt could watch lots of football (he wants it known that he helped feed the babies). They had me running around ALL DAY. Our house is totally locked down with gates and other safety gear so normally I can let them roam free and not have to chase after them.  Until they got good at climbing. God help me. Don't get me wrong, it was funny and cute at first (thus the photos). But now I just run around screaming "no climbing" and "danger" and removing babies from places they should not be (screaming, throwing their bodies around). Here are some highlights:

The first series is in the 3rd floor playroom. I turned around for ONE second and both C&S have climbed onto their toy chest.

 

So not only did the climb up and stand up on the toy chest and play with light switches and door knobs, but Caleb also climbed from the toy chest to the radiator. Good times. Rather than hone my discipline skills, I carried them out the playroom and back to their room where there aren't any things to climb (since I removed the rocking chair). Or so I thought.

I actually knew they do these things in their room, but at least when the climb or fall they're a lot closer to the ground and it's carpeted.

 

The changing table is fun to play in, for those in the market for a changing table, look for good construction. This bottom is about to collapse under their weight.

 

Oh, and besides the changing table in and of itself, they go after the phone wires, which you can kind of see behind the table. Which is better than the plugs, which was what they (ahem, Caleb) were going after before I switched the changing table and their dresser (which is also locked down with drawer latches. But I digress.

Following dinner, which Matt lovingly made, we let them loose downstairs. And guess what Caleb did? Climbed into (in no particular order): his stroller, his chair (ok, that's allowed), and finally the bench in the front hall. Here we are.

 

 

Am now celebrating my sainthood with a glass of wine, a roaring fire, and the Golden Globes. Amen.

Red and Brown, Brown and Red

I really butchered Sarah's bangs. Sigh.

Anyway, we went for a patchwork look with Caleb and Sarah's outfit today. They both have terrible runny noses (and me too, but I have the advantage of knowing how to use tissues) but were in great spirits.

Having fun chasing each other under the crib...