Tiny Dancers

Aunt Kaki landed herself in the middle of a RG dance party the other day.
Em and Roo are serious about the dance.

It goes like this.
They ask for "baby dance". I put in the dvd. They bring the tutus over
and stand there until I tie them into place.
Then, the pirouettes proceed.

PlayDateoRama

The girls have been rockin' the calendar lately with playdates. And loving every minute of it.

Of late, we hosted some twin friends at our house. No pictures, unfortunately. It was just too crazy to even grab a camera.
All six kids spent the majority of the time digging in the RGs' shoe drawer.
And trying every last shoe on.
Lots of What Not To Wear finalists in the making.

We also had sweet K and her mommy over for lunch.
Because we're all about the open cup/no lid these days, water was poured.
Drinking ensued. Clothing was soaked.
Here, Em, Roo and K all took a Signing Time break while their clothes tumbled in the dryer.


Can you believe K was a 1 pounder and the girls were 2 and 3 pounds at birth?
Love those bellies!

Sweet Somethings

Tonight around 9pm I heard Em, via our baby monitor, still talking.

Roo was asleep and had been for a half hour or so.

Em? Not so much.

She recited her alphabet several times. Counted to 14 or 15, I'm not sure.
It's hard to distinguish which number she's saying after she passes 13.
Counted backwards from 5 and said "blast awwwwfff!" a few times.
And then she was quiet for a bit. So, I thought she was finally going to sleep.

Then, very sweetly, I hear her call for Roo and tell her she loves her.

Em, 12 months old

HiYee!

The last 3 days have introduced something new to the wake up routine in our nursery.

Each morning I see Em and Roo on the video monitor, standing in their cribs, facing one another. And loudly calling "HI-YEE!" to their twin.
(Hi is a 2 syllable word in these parts)
They wave wildly at one another and take turns greeting their twin over and over.
It's happening after naps, too.

Sometimes, Em will include a "R'Bee, Lu (love) You!" in between the salutations. And sometimes Roo will throw in a "Sissy".
It is the cutest thing and one of those neat little twin perks that pops up every now and then.

Interesting. Very Interesting.

Roo and Em tore through our local children's museum today. They had an amazing time. So did I. Thanks to my dear friend, N. She went with us and shadowed Em while I stuck with Roo. They spent approximately 5 minutes together of the 2 hours we were there.

The feature exhibit was entitled "Play It By Ear". This particular piece was Washer Works. The idea was to slide washers to the top of the metal bars of different lengths and listen for differences in the sound as the washers jangled their way back down. A toddler's dream.


Story time started half way into our visit. Em and N hung out in the entry area for the reading. Em was all front and center and in the story teller's lap half the time. Then, Roo and I found them and the girls played with N and this giant Lite-Brite for a bit.

The aquarium was also a hit. Em kept signing "fish" and telling anyone that would look at her "sish!" and "bubble".

It was really just a whole lot of fun watching the ways the girls discover and explore. So very different from one another.

Em runs head first into it all, wide eyed and ready to attack life. She finds the big kids, shadows and mimics them. And she pings from one activity to the next and then back to the beginning to do it all over again. She remembers where her favorite things are located and returns to them over and over. The exhibits requiring physical actions were the favorites.

Roo approaches slowly. Finds the small things that fit her stature and in her hands. She watches and plans. Then, she takes off. There's a destination in mind, usually. Or at least a plan in the works. Every 20 minutes or so, she would take a break. Find a quiet place in the chaos, regroup and focus on something small and detailed. Like climbing in and out of the frog pond in the toddler pen. Or pressing the button that played the farm animal noises. Then, she heads back out into the thick of things all over again.

They seem to take it for granted that they will intersect with one another during these outings. They know they came together and will leave together. They are pleased to see each other and play together for a few moments. But, they also have no qualms about parting ways to explore in their own style.

And that is why I say thank you and thank you again to N. And all the other friends and family that have made it possible for us to go to these special places (and come back with the same number of people we left with).

Cleaning up after the party

Em and Roo had a fun morning at a combination birthday party/play group. Triplet friends, Z, T & K, are turning 4 and we had a great time celebrating with them.

Em and Roo were the first ones into the pool and soon thousands of other kids joined them.
Or, maybe it just seemed that way. There were a LOT of kids. See, this was also the weekly moms of multiples play group. So, the adult to child ratio was very skewed.
Think Jon and Kate + 800.


But, fun was had by all. We left early after Em blew out her 2nd swim diaper. I think she ate some sand yesterday and it isn't "sitting" too well.

When we arrived home, the place smelled odd. Not bad. Just odd. But, I didn't have time to investigate because I was hustling the girls into the tub. Because of the sandy blow outs. And then into clothes and then into cribs for naps.

Upon closing the nursery door I happened to look up. And saw this.

And when I walked into the kitchen, I saw this. Look at the floor and the ceiling.

Seems the raspberry mead that J had fermenting exploded while we were gone.
It hit the ceiling and then bounced.
I found big clumps of sticky, seedy raspberry-honey blobs all over the living room and kitchen floor, on my couch, covering the cabinets, counters, and everything that was sitting on/in those places. I actually think we're going to have to paint over the stains on the ceiling. For real.

I took pictures, emailed them to J, called him and told him to check his email, then hung up.
He called right back and said he'd be home in half an hour.

And this is J, cleaning up the mess. He laughed all the way through the chore. He is really proud of his first home brew blow up.


I am scared.

Happy Birthday, Baby Gracie!

The RGs have a new baby cousin!

Grace Florine joined us at 2:07 pm weighing 7.5 lbs and measuring 19 3/4 inches.

Aunt Becky is doing great and the whole family is in love with Gracie.

She has almost teal colored eyes, dark hair with a hint of red and gorgeous chubby cheeks.


Jonah kissed her right after meeting her and proudly said, "that's my baby sister".

Tonight, as we prayed with the girls, we thanked God for Gracie's safe arrival and the chance to celebrate her birthday today. Em clapped her hands and said, "YAY!"

We love you, Becky, Michael, Jonah and Gracie.