Multiples Mania!

It was another very good week here with a lot of our friends, especially our twin friends!

At the beginning of the week, Kira had her second My Gym class and showed a marked improvement in her walking, as she was willing to walk pretty far distances and much more frequently than she had been in the past. She is clearly making progress and we're sure she will be running around very soon. It's interesting- both Kira and Ari started walking after beginning My Gym...we're not sure if it is because they started around the same age (16 months) or if it's because gym class has given them the confidence to start walking, but whatever it is, Ari and Kira seem to get a lot of benefit from My Gym. Not to mention the teachers always want to call Kira by Ari's name because they think she looks just like Ari did at that age, only with brown hair. One of the teachers has even taken to calling Kira "mini Ari."

On Tuesday we had our neighborhood playgroup at friend Sydney's house. Ari, Alex and Kira had fun playing with their friends and snacking around the big table:

Wednesday Kira had her own playgroup at friend Micah's house and showed off her new strut to her friends. In the afternoon Mommy had booked the private play room at one of our local libraries so we had a playdate with our "summer friends"- twin friends Rina and Celia, along with their little sister (and Kira's pal) Eliana and Izzy and Sammy and the token singleton, "the other Ari." Yes, it was Alex and seven girls! It was great to all be together again and it made us look forward to the upcoming summer days when we hope we'll all be able to repeat the fun we had last summer. After playing in the fun room at the library and reading some books (Alex again managed to find the "truck books" all on his own, including Digger Man, Dig! and Trashy Town), we all headed over to Moby Dick's for an early dinner. On the way over, all of the kids insisted on holding each others' hands- it was very cute! The mommies (and the workers at the restaurant) were all very impressed with how well-behaved the kids were.

Thursday morning Miri came over to play with Ari and Kira while Mommy took Alex to the ENT to figure out why he might be snoring so much at night and sounding congested quite a bit. It turns out that Alex has a very enlarged adenoid that is blocking approximately 95% of his airway and it looks like Alex will need surgery at some point in the near future. The good news was that Alex's hearing checked out perfect and everything else looked great too. He was a champ, even enduring having the "spaghetti camera" put down his nose so the doctor could see his adenoid!!

When we got home we headed to "twins plus one" friends Gregory, Lilli's and Jessi's house for a playdate and lunch. Ari, Alex and Kira were in heaven playing with all of their fun toys, including an awesome ride-on Thomas the Train that goes around a circle on a track. The kids devoured a lunch of grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and strawberries before heading home for a nap for Kira (no nap for Ari and Alex, who seem to be napping only a fraction of the time these days).

Yesterday morning Mommy and Kira ran around doing errands to get ready for our Parents of Multiples club's HUGE consignment sale this weekend. Once Daddy got home in the afternoon, Mommy headed off to set up for the sale while Daddy took the kids to Miri and Opa's for dinner.

Mommy headed back to the sale at 6:00 this morning, leaving Daddy on his own with the kids. Daddy decided to try out his new camera at a local park so he took the kids and met up with all of the grandparents, Aunt Debbie, Uncle Jason and Cousins Naomi and Jonathan. He took some beautiful pictures that Mommy will try to upload here at some point. After the park, Mommy was just wrapping up at the sale so Daddy came by and followed Daddy, Nana and the kids home after a long but successful day. We had over 140 sellers and 800 shoppers today, our biggest (and highest-grossing) sale yet! It was an EXHAUSTING 24 hours for Mommy but well worth it and so much fun to work together with all of her multiple mommy (and daddy!) friends. Here are before and after shots of the room where the sale is set up over the course of Friday afternoon/evening:

No rest for the weary, though...this week promises to be very busy as we get ready for Ari and Alex's big "oh-three" birthday!!!