Eight Months!

It's hard to believe, but Alex and Ari are EIGHT MONTHS OLD today! That's 2/3 of the way to their first birthday. Wow- everyone warned us that they'd grow up quickly, but we didn't realize just how fast time would seem to go by. We have friends who are expecting twins and they are coming over in a few weeks to hang out with us and see how we "manage" infant twins...but yesterday I realized that our kids are no longer really "infants"-- they're closer to the "toddler" stage already. And, of course, here are the obligatory monthly birthday shots:

Mmmm, Mmmm Good?

An exciting day in the lives of our almost-eight month olds...today Alex and Ari tried "finger foods" for the first time. Quite an entertaining experience...for us. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, we'll let the pictures tell the story:

Mom, what did you just put in my mouth??!

I'm not sure what I think about these round things...

Maybe I'll investigate a little further

I'm thinking about it...

Hmmm...not so bad after all.

Go Flames!

Today Alex and Ari took a trip to Virginia to see their cousin compete in an ice hockey tournament. Cousin Devin and his father Jonathan were in town from New Jersey for this annual tournament and this year, unlike last year when Devin was sidelined by an injury, Devin had an exhausting weekend playing (goalie) multiple games.

By our own assessment, we believe that Devin is Alex and Ari's second cousin once removed. In other words, he's the child of Nana's first cousin. But titles deceive: Cousin Devin is much closer to our hearts than once removed. In fact, Devin's older sister Marissa was the flower girl in Mommy and Daddy's wedding (at which time Devin was only two years old) and the first trip Alex and Ari took was when they were just six weeks old was to New Jersey for Marissa's bat mitzvah and Devin's 10th birthday party. Marissa and Devin are by far the most well-mannered, mature, fun, sweet, spectacular "tweens" we know and we have often said that if Alex and Ari can turn out like Devin and Marissa, we'd be very proud.

When we arrived at the ice hockey arena, Devin made a special effort to leave the locker room and lumber upstairs in his full goalie gear (not an easy task) to say hello. Here are all of us visiting minutes before Devin's next game:

We're happy to report that Devin's team won their match 4-0 (thanks to several saves by Devin) and will advance to the championship match tomorrow. We all wish Devin and his family lived closer so that we could spend more time with them!

On the way home from the game, we decided to stop for an early dinner at Buca di Beppo. Alex and Ari enjoyed looking around at all of the pictures and colors and they impressed us by behaving beautifully despite a long day. Here are Alex, Daddy, and Ari at our dinner table:

Our favorite moment of the evening was when a woman at a nearby table allowed us to add to our list of "silly questions people ask about twins." She asked us if they were paternal twins (yes, that is actually what she asked...she repeated the question twice). Mommy answered that no, ours are actually fraternal twins. Guess it's better than the more common question, "are they identical?"

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! Ari and Alex celebrated their first Turkey Day today, and needless to say, Mommy and Daddy are thankful for many things, foremost Ari and Alex themselves.

Most of the day was spent lazing around the house in pajamas, taking advantage of the holiday and the cold, rainy weather. We were invited to our neighbors' house for a little pre-dinner festivities, including an impressive display of their piano and voice talents. The kids watched with rapt attention and enjoyed being serenaded (and held by) our wonderful neighbors and their friends. We hated to leave, but dinner at Miri and Opa's awaited, and Daddy was eager to eat his favorite food: Miri's Thanksgiving stuffing. It was a relatively small gathering this year: just Miri and Opa, Nana and Poppy Jack, family friends Marie and Roberto, and the four of us. It was a wonderful evening with family, friends, and yummy food. Ari and Alex even tried Miri's corn souffle but it seems that their palettes aren't accustomed to that type of texture yet...maybe next year. Here are pictures from this evening:

With the grandmas:

With Marie and Roberto:

Happy family:

Laughing with Nana:

Special Visitors

Ari and Alex had the honor of meeting, for the first time in person, Mommy's dear friend Jenna and her husband Colin (and their dog "baby" Lexi) during their trip to the east coast today. The last time Mommy saw Jenna was a year ago, when Alex and Ari were still inside her tummy. This time, Jenna has a baby (just one!) inside of her tummy, a little friend for Alex and Ari. Jenna is one of Mommy's best friends and was one of Mommy's bridesmaids (and vice versa) and Mommy looks forward to all of the kids becoming friends, even if it is a long-distance relationship! Because the kids went down for a nap before we could take a picture of them with Jenna and Colin, here is a picture of Mommy, Jenna, and Jenna's first "baby" Lexi:In other news, yesterday Alex and Ari went to their friend Jacob's first birthday party and had a fun time playing with all of the kids and watching Jacob eat his birthday cake. Last night all four of us went to a special JCC Maccabi Games reunion dinner honoring all of this year's athletes and coaches (including Daddy). Alex and Ari had a great time, and Alex especially liked hearing all of the applause throughout the evening- every time there was a round of applause, Alex would stop what he was doing, his eyes would grow wide, and he'd squeal with excitement. Here are Alex and Ari at the dinner (in their new booster seats), looking forward to participating in the Games in 2019:

Finally, Alex is starting to support himself on his hands and knees, with a little help from Mommy...we're sure it won't be long before he's motoring along. He looks a little surprised at his new accomplishment:

Happy Day

Today was a happy day, indeed. Never mind that the weather is beautiful again after a miserable, stormy day yesterday (which kept us in the house all day!)...today was especially happy because as of 11:45 this morning, our family now owns only ONE home, the one where we currently reside. Many of you know that our townhome was on the market for a little longer than we had expected...and having two homes (with two mortgages) is just NOT as fun as having two babies. Well, today we settled on the sale of our townhouse to a pleasant, charming woman who we are certain will enjoy the conveniences of living in a downtown area.

In one of those ironic twists of small-world fate, the buyer of our home used to work for the same law firm Mommy worked for before the kids were born, and she went to the same college as Daddy (two years ahead of him) and grew up in the same area as Mommy and Daddy. We're very happy for her-- and even happier for us.

The kids behaved like angels during the settlement, which was lucky for Mommy because she was there by herself with Daddy's power of attorney since Daddy's plane landed at the same time settlement was scheduled to begin. They charmed a roomful of attorneys- not an easy task.

Our happy day contined when Daddy got home from his week-long business trip. Then a bit of not-so-happy...Alex and Ari had to get their second flu shot (a booster for infants) but they weathered it like champs and hardly cried at all. Finally, it was off to Miri and Opa's for the final Shabbat dinner with the two great-grandmothers, as they return to Chile and Germany this weekend. It's been a wonderful month and a half spent together and we are looking forward to visiting again when Alex and Ari take their first international trip to Chile in March. Here are some pictures from this evening:

Alex and Ari with their adoring great-grandmothers:

With Gina...a very special woman who also cared for Daddy when he was Alex and Ari's age. Alex and Ari have taken to Gina like we've never seen them take to someone before. They clearly love her as much as we do:

Ari and Alex want to eat dinner, too:

Cousin Naomi in a pose her parents hope she doesn't repeat once she gets a little older:

Playdates

Alex and Ari here...Mommy thinks we're napping but instead we snuck onto the computer to let you know how our week is going so far.

Daddy left yesterday for a business trip, so Mommy has been keeping us very busy so that we don't miss him so much. Yesterday Mommy invited some new friends over to play, Owen and Sarah, who are twins just like us. Wanna hear something cool? They are almost exactly the same age as us, down to the hour. It's neat to have friends who have the same birthday as we do, and who are also twins! They brought their older sister Melissa over to play, too, and we all had a great time. Owen and Sarah are crawling already- that's pretty cool stuff. Maybe we'll give it a try one of these days...

Today we took Mommy out to meet up with our oldest friends, Alex (great name!) and Sydney. We remember when Alex and Syd were still in their Mommy's tummy at our bris/naming ceremony. We've known them all of their lives and almost all of ours. It was a nice day outside so we met up with Alex and Syd and their Mommy and au pair Camilla at a nearby shopping center that also has a lake with lots of ducks. Before Alex and Syd got there, Mommy let us watch the ducks:

Here is a picture of us with our friends and the mommies:
Tomorrow we have our weekly neighborhood play date. Mommy didn't let us go last week because we were sick, so we're excited to see all of our friends after such a long time.

Well, we're off to finish our nap. Our busy lives really wear us out. So many friends, so little time.

P.S.

Some cute pictures from our (crepe) dinner at Miri and Opa's tonight...and the first dinner that Alex and Ari sat at the table with the rest of us vs. playing on their play mat or sleeping in the Pack 'n Play.

All Better

Ari and Alex seem to have recovered from their colds and were eager to jump back into their social calendar. After joining us at music class on Friday (a federal holiday), Daddy took over baby-duty for the first half of the weekend while Mommy went to Richmond to run yet another marathon (Alex and Ari have started calling her "crazy Mommy"). This was Mommy's first night out of town away from the kids and the separation anxiety was quite severe (for Mommy, not Alex and Ari). Alex and Ari enjoyed having Daddy all to themselves, and joined their Opa, Oma, and cousins Naomi and Jonathan at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Jason's house for Shabbat dinner.

Saturday afternoon, while Mommy drove home from Richmond, Nana and Poppy Jack came over to play with Ari and Alex while Daddy coached a soccer game. Nana took Alex and Ari on a walk so that they could enjoy the unseasonably warm November weather. Mommy arrived home mid-afternoon and was very happy to be back with her family.

Here is Alex trying on Mommy's medal from the marathon: And here is a picture of the gift Mommy brought home for Alex and Ari: To celebrate another successful marathon, Daddy took us all out for a sushi dinner. As always, the kids behaved beautifully and had fun sitting in their high chairs, watching everything going on around them.

The stretch of unseasonably warm weather ended today, and the cold, rainy winter weather has returned so we spent much of the day lounging around the house, taking care of the Sunday chores. Tonight we are off for an early dinner at Miri and Opa's house, and then tomorrow Daddy leaves for a business trip to New Orleans for the week. Mommy has scheduled a busy week in hopes that it will go by quickly until Daddy returns on Friday.

One final note: Ari is starting to hold her own bottle now, making Mommy's life infinitely easier:

Under the Weather

Ari and Alex (and now Daddy!) have been a bit under the weather this week with very runny noses and coughs, so we have been staying in and taking it easy. Unfortunately, this meant rescheduling a playdate for Monday and, depending on how the kids feel tomorrow, possibly missing our weekly neighborhood playdate. Luckily, Alex and Ari have been happy and in good spirits despite their colds.

We did get out of the house for a quick shopping trip yesterday, and for a trip to the voting polls this morning (where one fellow voter asked which one of the twins is a Democrat and which is a Republican, adding to Mommy's list of stupid questions people ask about twins.) And this evening we had a special visitor: Mike, Mommy's good friend from law school who she has not seen since graduation seven years ago (yikes!) Mike entertained us with stories about Juneau, Alaska (where he now lives and works) and his four-month trip to Southeast Asia last year (see his blog at http://www.seasiaadventure.blogspot.com/) The kids listened raptly as they ate their dinner of green beans and prunes. Here is a picture of Mommy and Mike with Ari and Alex:
Mommy hopes that she doesn't have to wait another seven years to see Mike again...maybe we'll just have to take a trip to Alaska to visit him!

OzFest

Another weekend filled with visitors and houseguests: namely, Ari and Alex's canine cousin Ozzie bunked in with us while his parents (Aunt Lori & Uncle Sam) attended a wedding in North Carolina. The kids were delighted to have a puppy in the house...Ozzie, on the other hand, seemed a bit puzzled by these tiny people.

Here is Ari welcoming Ozzie to our house...
...and Alex and Ozzie getting to know each other:We also have people-houseguests this weekend, Cousins Alan and Nicole from New York City. Cousins Denise and Jason are also in town from upstate New York, and Miri and Opa had everyone over for an early dinner on Saturday afternoon. Here are all four of the youngest cousins modeling the "Treble Maker" T-shirts Miri bought them:

Finally, some shots from earlier this week taken while playing in Ari's sunlit bedroom:

Ari clapping on cue to the song "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands" (this is her favorite new "trick"...and yes, she claps at exactly the appropriate moments in the song):

Alex acting silly:

Trick or Treat

We celebrated Alex and Ari's first Halloween yesterday in our new neighborhood which, we have learned, takes this holiday very seriously. There is an annual Halloween party and parade, house decorating contest, and other Halloween-themed events in the days leading up to October 31. One street in particular gets into the spirit in a major way- houses are decorated, residents (adults and kids alike) are dressed up in elaborate costumes, and special effects make for some fun and scary experiences. One home had (among other things) a coffin in the front yard, from which a live person emerged (amidst fog) and roamed around the yard, likely inflicting psychological damage on some of the younger trick-or-treaters. Another enterprising neighbor erected a dummy on a motorized scooter and maneuvered the scooter around the neighborhood via remote control and two-way radio, which allowed the ghoul on the scooter to talk to the passing trick-or-treaters. We've never seen anything quite like it.

Our good friends Mark and Melissa brought their three kids (Alex, Vivi, and Zach) over for an early dinner and trick-or-treating. Alex and Ari joined their older pals in their double stroller until they got too tired to enjoy the festivities. As you can see from the picture below, neither was in the best mood by the time trick-or-treating began. Alex may not have been too pleased with the fact that Mommy and Daddy put him in the hot pink dragon costume, but because it was much larger than the purple dragon, it fit him better. Alex wanted us to make sure to tell everyone that tough guys can wear pink. Here he is with his sister and with friends (big) Alex and Vivi:
And here are Ari and Alex with the pumpkin Nana won for them earlier in the day at Trader Joe's:
We're already planning for next year when Ari and Alex can walk door-to-door, and plotting our strategy to win the neighborhood house decorating contest!