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!

Marathon Weekend/Seven Months

As expected, this weekend was a marathon of activity-- figuratively and literally. The short story is: Parents of Multiples bi-annual sale, Cousin Naomi's birthday party, Marine Corps Marathon, friend Jeremy's second birthday, kiddie Halloween party at Lilli and Gregory's house, and Daddy's boss' annual Halloween party. For those of you interested, here is the expanded version:

Bright and early Saturday morning, Mommy woke up to get to the bi-annual Parents of Multiples sale. Since she had signed up to volunteer at the sale, Mommy got to take advantage of the early bird shopping...at 7 a.m. She had one hour to shop before her shift as a volunteer started, and she took full advantage of the great merchandise and low prices to stock up on a carful of goodies including an extra high chair for Miri and Opa's house, a Pack and Play for Nana and Poppy Jack's house, two booster seats, a few toys, and a large assortment of winter clothes. The find she was most excited about, however, was a costume for Ari that matched the costume lent to us by our neighbors for Alex (more on that below). Anyway, after that Mommy spent the entire morning and part of the early afternoon volunteering at the sale, which attracted hundreds of people eager to get deals on gently used infant and toddler goods.

By the time Mommy got home, it was time to get ready for Cousin Naomi's third birthday party. Alex and Ari enjoyed getting dressed up in new outfits Mommy bought at the sale and celebrating with their older cousin. Here is Ari in her new carseat (and new jacket and outfit) on the way to the party:

Today is Ari and Alex's seven month birthday! The day began again at the crack of dawn (which came one hour earlier thanks to the end of Daylight Savings Time...thankfully that meant Mommy and Daddy had an extra hour of sleep!) when Miri arrived to take care of Alex and Ari while Mommy and Daddy ran the Marine Corps Marathon. For years, Mommy has been promising Daddy that she'd run a marathon with him (instead of ahead of him) and to help him run a marathon in his goal time of under four hours. She made good on both promises today: she and Daddy ran the entire marathon together, crossing the finish line holding hands in a time of 3:49:29, more than ten minutes faster than Daddy's goal time. It was a beautiful day to run a marathon, with temperatures reaching a high of around 60 degrees. There was a brisk wind out of the west, but it only felt bad heading into the wind and crossing the bridges in the race. Here are pictures of Mommy and Daddy before and after the race:

After the marathon, Mommy and Daddy ran (figuratively, not literally) home to pick up Alex and Ari from Miri and Opa's house (thank you Miri and Opa for being such great babysitters and allowing Mommy and Daddy to run this marathon!) Next up, a birthday party for the twins' friend Jeremy, who turned two today. An hour later, we were at twin friend Lilli and Gregory's house for a kiddie Halloween party. Because we were short on time, we had to skip the annual neighborhood Halloween parade, but we plan to attend next year when the kids can enjoy the parade.

Speaking of Halloween, even though it's a few days early, here is a sneak peek at Ari and Alex's Halloween costumes. Alex's was lent to us by our friends and neighbors, and then Mommy found a matching (hot pink) costume for Ari at the sale this weekend:
Finally, to cap off our eventful weekend we ventured out to Virginia (not far from the start of the marathon) to Daddy's boss' house for his annual Halloween party. Ari and Alex enjoyed spending time with Daddy's boss and his family...Ari especially took to Daddy's boss and even cried when we took her out of his arms when it was time to head home!

One final important milestone to note: Ari began cutting her first tooth this weekend! Luckily, she hasn't seemed any worse for the wear and remains her perpetually happy self.

It's been an exciting weekend, but we're all glad to be able to rest and recover this week. Hopefully November will be a calmer month than October!

Friends and family

This week has been spent enjoying lots of time with family and friends. Tuesday we had a play date with Alex and Ari's favorite older pals Sadie and Gabriel (also twins). The weather was cold and windy, but we all bundled up to head to the nearby tot lot: Alex and Ari enjoyed spending time with their friends and are learning a lot about what they can expect when they are a little older.

Later in the day, Yayita, Oma, Opa, and Gina came over for a visit with the kids. Opa even tried his hand at feeding Arielle...there are rumors that this was one of the first times Opa has ever fed a baby (if not the first time). Arielle thinks he did a great job:
Today we had our neighborhood play date, followed by a visit by GG and Nana. This evening GG took us all out to dinner at a local Asian restaurant. Alex and Ari were perfectly behaved angels the entire time and had a ball watching everything going on around them. We were so proud of them! Although they didn't get to enjoy sushi (one day, we promise!), they did have a dinner of squash and apple sauce (yummmmm...I think I'll stick with sushi).
The rest of the week will be spent with more friends (play dates, music class, etc.) and family, as we try to get in every last minute of time with GG before she heads home on Saturday!

Jam-packed weekend

Phew...it's been a busy (but wonderful) weekend!
Let's see...
Saturday started with brunch at our friends and neighbors' house for a delicious pancake brunch. Alex and Ari had fun playing with their friends Charlotte (4 years old) and Sam (3 months old). Charlotte had fun dressing up like Madonna and dressing Ari, as well. It's hard to tell from this picture, but Ari is adorned with an extra bib, ribbon, and beaded necklace compliments of big pal Charlotte (as you can see, she enjoyed the attention):Following brunch, we took a trip to the local children's store to buy Alex and Ari their "big kid" car seats. Since Alex is only a half of an inch away from outgrowing his infant seat, we figured it was time to make the jump to the larger, permanent seats. We have enjoyed the convenience of using the portable seats, but it's getting harder and harder to carry the kids (OK, Alex!) in the infant seat anyway.

Sunday morning Nana and Poppy Jack got up early (very early for Poppy Jack) to come over to our house at 7:30 to babysit the kids while Mommy and Daddy ran a 10K race. The cold morning proved to be good for running, as Mommy ran her best 10K since 2001 with a time of 42:39 (6:52/mile pace, good for 4th woman overall) and Daddy finished just a few minutes later at 45:06 (7:16/mile pace, finishing 20th man). Maybe Mommy and Daddy were just in a hurry to get home to Alex and Ari, although they were more than happy getting spoiled by Nana and Poppy Jack.

After Daddy coached not one but two soccer games, we all headed out to our (twin) friends Lilli and Gregory's one-year birthday party. Alex and Ari had a great time playing with their friends and getting a sneak peek at what lies ahead for them in a few months (cake!) Here are Alex and Ari playing at the birthday party:
Next it was home for a quick nap and then out again to a second one-year birthday party for another neighbor friend. "Party on," Alex and Ari were heard shouting with excitement.

Finally, we all ended the weekend at Aunt Lori and Uncle Sam's house for a special dinner with Nana, Poppy Jack, GG, and Uncle Sam's family (oh, we can't forget Ozzie!) Dinner gave us the opportunity to take a picture of four generations of our family.
First, here's a picture of four daughters, three mothers, two grandmothers, and a great grandmother :
Second, here is GG with her daughter, granddaughters, great grandchildren, and great granddog:
All in all, a great, albeit busy, weekend. It was actually just a preview of next weekend, which consists of volunteering at our Parents of Multiples sale, soccer games, three birthday parties, three Halloween parties (including our big neighborhood Halloween parade)...and oh, yeah, a marathon for Mommy and Daddy. Guess we better rest up this week!

GG Comes to Town

Alex and Ari's maternal great grandmother "GG" arrived from Florida this week, completing the trio of great grandparents. Tonight we hosted the first Shabbat dinner in our new home with a total of 14 adults and four children. Quite a crowd, but well worth the effort to have what was a historical gathering of so many generations of two families. We'll let the photos speak for themselves:
GG (with Nana) shortly after arriving, visiting with her great grandchildren for the first time since they were six weeks old:

All three great grandmothers (for a combined total of 270 years!): The three great grandmothers with their great grandchildren (note this picture was taken right before Ari and Alex's bed time, not their prettiest moment as you can tell from the look on Ari's face):

For now, I'll just add that Ari has started saying something that sounds like "mama" in the last two days, and she's also clapping. She (and to a lesser extent Alex) has a pretty nasty cold, but it hasn't seemed to slow her down or make her too sad. We're hoping she gets better quickly. It's late, so more news and pictures will have to wait until later!

Bienvenidos, Betty y Juan Carlos

The constant stream of visitors from far away continued this week with the arrival of Alex and Ari's Great Aunt and Uncle Betty and Juan Carlos. Betty (Miri's sister) and Juan Carlos arrived from Chile via New York (where they spent a week visiting Cousins Denise and Nicole) on Monday. Monday evening we joined about 30 friends and family at a welcome party at Miri and Opa's house, where Alex and Ari basked in the attention (and loving arms) of their extended family. Here are some shots of Alex and Ari with their adoring relatives:

With Betty and Juan Carlos:

With the great grandmothers:

The exciting week continued with the final baby sign language class on Tuesday...Alex and Ari's Certificates of Completion now adorn the fridge (the first, we're sure, of a lifetime of fridge postings!) and we have now learned the signs for play time, meal time, bed time, animals, and dressing. The class was more of an excuse for Mommy to hang out with other twin mommies, but we are using some of the signs we learned during class with the kids and have been told that by 8-9 months, they should be signing back to us.

Today we celebrated our friend Tess' second birthday at our weekly neighborhood play date. Here's the birthday girl with her birthday cake (and her mom). Happy Birthday Tess!

Some of this week's milestones:
Alex and Ari have added carrots and peaches to their repertoire of solid foods. So far they have yet to refuse anything that comes on a spoon.
They are now sitting on their own, which makes life much easier for Mommy and adds a whole new dimension to playtime and play dates since Alex and Ari can now sit to play with eachother and their friends.
Alex drank formula out of a sippy cup for the first time-- this kid is very advanced in any eating-related development:
Here are some other random shots from this week:

Alex in his big boy hat:Ari checks out the cat that showed up on our doorstep:

Great Grandma "GG" arrives from Florida tomorrow, and the entire extended family is coming over for Shabbat dinner on Friday. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Welcome Cousin Ozzie

Our family grew by four paws this week as Aunt Lori and Uncle Sam welcomed Ozzie into their lives. Ozzie is a coton de tulear and was born on March 28, just one day before Ari and Alex. Here is a picture of all of Nana and Poppy Jack's children and grandchildren, including the newest addition:
Alex and Ozzie checking each other out: Ari (gently) petting Ozzie:

The kids love their new cousin and can't wait to spend more time with him!

In other news this week, Alex has been showing signs of teething: drooling, runny nose, chewing on his hand, and general grumpiness. There's nothing to see yet, but something tells us we may see his first tooth in the near future. Ari and Alex are now sitting by themselves for extended periods of time-- they even sat through a 45-minute music class without much assistance from Mommy. This week, they added prunes (yum!) to their menu. They are also talking up a storm.

Ari and Alex are getting excited for visits from their Chilean aunt and uncle and their maternal great-grandmother ("GG") this week, and they're looking forward to celebrating their first Halloween in a few weeks!

Family dinner

Tonight we took Alex and Ari out for a family pizza dinner (pizza for Mommy and Daddy only, much to Alex and Ari's dismay) and Alex and Ari sat with us through the entire dinner, happy as could be in their big kid high chairs. It was fun to be out as a family with all four of us sitting at the table.

This morning Alex and Ari visited their friends Gabriel and Sadie for a play date. When they got home, Oma, Yayita, Miri, Opa, and Gina came over for a short visit, and this afternoon we all enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather with a walk around the neighborhood. It was a great end to a long weekend!

Weekend recap

It's been a fun-filled weekend despite the cold and rainy start on Saturday. Cold and rainy = perfect day for a trip to the mall, so that's exactly what we did. We met up with Mommy's friend Jenn and her son Joey, who's just three days older than Alex and Ari, and one of the few kids their age who can match Alex pound for pound and inch for inch. We had a wonderful time catching up and buying some new clothing at Old Navy. As you can see in the picture below, Ari seems quite smitten with Joey (he's a cutie-- who wouldn't be?!)
Here is Ari modeling one of her new outfits (Mommy particularly likes this one):

Today the sun came back out, so we took advantage of the beautiful day to attend a local Oktoberfest with Alex and Ari's best buds Alex and Sydney. Alex had some Bratwurst and Ari enjoyed some beer as we all listened to a Bavarian band. Just kidding, of course...but if Alex had teeth, he most definitely would have wanted some bratwurst. Here are the mommies with their sons:

Technically, it is not the end of the weekend, as tomorrow is a federal holiday (Columbus Day), so Daddy will be home. We're off to a play date with older (2-year old) twins Sadie and Gabriel. Rumor has it they've made some cupcakes in anticipation of our visit so we're looking forward to some yummy treats and fun times.

Welcome Oma, and Happy Birthday Opa!

The second of Ari and Alex's great-grandmothers arrived from Germany this week, meeting her great-grandchildren for the first time. Ari and Alex feel very lucky to have four generations of their father's family in one place. Here's Oma with her son (Daddy's father) and her great-granddaughter:
Oma's arrival just happened to coincide with Opa's birthday. And what does a birthday mean? According to Cousin Naomi (who is very smart), a birthday means there must be cake! Here's a shot of the birthday boy with his grandson: In other news this week, Ari and Alex added a new food to their repertoire: squash (Mommy just couldn't bring herself to serve green beans yet...) We're happy to report that the kids love the squash. We have a feeling they'll love anything that comes on a spoon (maybe even green beans?) Here is Ari enjoying a lunch of squash:

Ari and Alex are also having fun discovering their voices, giving high fives, and rolling around the floor. They are changing so much every day!

Happy Birthday Aunt Lori!

The string of birthday celebrations continued today with brunch for Aunt Lori's 29th birthday at La Miche in Bethesda. Here's a shot of Alex with the birthday girl (notice Alex is eyeing the mimosa):Alex and Ari had their first experiences in a restaurant high chair, and they seemed to enjoy the opportunity to sit with everyone at the table. They even had a little apple sauce and oatmeal for brunch:

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. On Saturday, Mommy, Alex, and Ari had lunch with Mommy's friend Donna her twins Rena and Celia, who are two months older than Alex and Ari. After lunch, we took a trip to Toys R Us...lucky for Mommy's wallet, Alex and Ari didn't seem to know where they were.

Tonight is the beginning of Yom Kippur, so that means no solids for Mommy and Daddy until tomorrow at sundown, but Alex and Ari will try their first veggie...either squash or green beans (Mommy is leaning towards squash). Stay tuned to see how they like it!