moments of preciousness

beautiful boy

this week they've both started descending stairs with no assistance... scary!

looking for sea lions with auntie

toddler interpretations of words in songs? very funny.

when you decide to follow their lead, you really just have to let go...

a month in photos

Well, here I am, so many weeks since a post, and all I'm going to do is show you some photos. How lame! But really, it's been so incredibly busy, I just haven't had any time. Within a couple of weeks, I hope to have a new childcare situation for the boys a few days a week, and maybe that will give me time during the day to get so much done that at night I can go back to writing our little story.

It's amazing to me that December isn't over and yet so much has happened in these three weeks of the month! I now have two walking boys on my hands, and I couldn't be happier about it. I love to see them picking up strength and speed on their little legs. We've got more words, more signing, more tantrums, more picky eating... in short, all the things you'd expect from two vibrant, healthy toddlers. I love these guys so much, and I am so lucky to have them. So here you go - a link to my December photo set - just click the photo. Enjoy!!

don't panic!

I'm not much of a goof, but I came across this photo from back in '02 and thought you might enjoy it, since I'm too exhausted to say anything else, and trying not to let panic or desperation set in as we get deeper into November.

this and that

It's been a busier-than-average week here, since I didn't have my regular days to get stuff done with our nanny. She'll be back tomorrow, and then comes the few days of final prep before my mom flies out to help me travel back East with the boys. We'll be in MA from July 27-August 24, and can't wait to see lots and lots of our family and friends. Facebook has rekindled quite a few old friendships, and I'm excited to get together with these childhood friends while we're on the Cape.

The boys are into everything! We had to duct tape the corners of the stove drawer, and now they both crawl into it. Oy!

The weather here in Portland is quite variable - we had some days that were cool last week, so to keep things interesting, we brought the pool inside. Here they are, in the "not tub"


A rare nap during stroller time...


And I'll have to find and link the older posts that show photos of the boys at the door in various stages of development, but here's the most recent one, now that they are both standing. Notice how much taller Shoghi is than Maxwell!

random sampling

Here are a few random photos from this month that I don't think I've posted yet...

Max giving Shoghi a raspberry "kiss".

We've taken to hanging out with Ruby and Korin in the afternoons... fun abounds!
The boys will keep these bandanas on while they take off a hat the moment it hits their head.

Thanks to Joi for these blocks!
Max loves to take things out of them, and of course knock them over.

funny raspberry face Shoghi.

On Sunday, it looked like it was going to be another bad napping day. Rather than just drive around town, I suggested we high-tail it to the beach. Laurie and I packed up the boys and headed West to Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park for a really, really lovely day. The twins got their first taste (literally) of the beach, and we all had a blast. Oh, and there was a LOT of napping.

waking up from a nap in the ergo.

max sleeping in the meitai on laurie

shoghi loved the sand and didn't eat it....

max loved eating the sand.
For those who have known me a long time, please note the shirt....

stroller expressions

Inspired by some funny flickr comments on this photo, taken by the boys' auntie, and wanting to re-set my blog's good juju, I'm going to do my first giveaway!!!

Simply narrate a conversation between M and S in comments (let's keep it nice. I will delete any inappropriate comments!) before Sunday night at 9 (Pacific time), and I will send the best entry a half pound of amazing Stumptown coffee! I'll have to keep this to shipping within the US - sorry to those who are reading abroad! Judging will be subjective, and will be done by me, Laurie, and neighborly best friend Korin. Have fun!!

(you can click on the photo to see the whole thing)

day to day

Today was a good day. It started off with a good night for les enfants, and then flowed into a sweet cuddle for we three in bed, the coffee and playtime, our dear and wonderful caregiver was with the boys while Sister and I went to a Marketing for Mama Micro-Business Owners session that I held (part 2 in a series), and then this afternoon proceeded to be easy and nice. Went to post office, shopped for new pants, magazines for Treasure Mapping, and printed photos, came home and made delicious dinner... The only bad thing that happened was that my sis got a migraine and poor little Max has his first ever runny nose, which is unimaginably pathetic and earned him lots of snuggles and extra TLC at bedtime tonight.

Laurie and I have been cooking dinnerfrom scratch almost every night!
We have a core of weekly menu items, and add one new recipe a week. Last week, it was this fantastic butternut squash pizza - we made it with chevre instead of milk-based cheese.

Things are evolving nicely, I have to say. Here are some photos of our daytime antics:

Max, playing with his wooden rattle.

Shoghi is so mobile, he has taken to carrying things around in his mouth!

I just love how they can both manage to find their way over to me, now, and climb all over me. Shoghi is just like a little Sunny Beaudelaire (sp?), biting everything with those two little teeth, so you gotta watch out!

Max can now sit for quite a couple of minutes, completely unassisted!
Just look at that darling smile, would you??

Nights continue to progress. Bedtime is a multi-hour process that takes us all the way back to a 2:30 nap (which sometimes lasts until 4!), then playtime or a walk, dinner, then a full half hour of time without clothing, which the boys LOVE. Their typically challenging late afternoon demeanors are almost always transformed when every last stitch of clothing is removed, and they roll around, cooing, playing, and practicing all of their new moves until the mood shifts again, and it is time for pajamas, bedtime stories, and bottles. Then we bring them upstairs (usually Max first) and do a little crib-side routine for each of them. Actual bedtime still involves mmore unhappiness than I would like, but we're working on it.

Shoghi loves to look at us upside down - it makes him laugh every time.

Snuggling with mama - it's almost bedtime!

One of Shoghi's many amazing physical feats!
These boys can hit more yoga poses than I can!

goings on

We've been a little busy, over here. things have continued to be rather challenging with the boys, so as of yesterday, everything came to a screeching halt as I instituted a Schedule. Here's what I've committed myself to for a week, to see how it goes:

• morning wake-up
• awake for 3 hours, then nap for minimum of one hour
• awake for 3-3.5 hours, then nap for 1-2 hours
• awake until bedtime
• sleep in cribs (yes, part of my plan is for them to sleep in their new cribs)
• upon waking, transfer to bed (hopefully without bouncing back to sleep)
• one middle-of-the-night bottle (usually around 4)
• sleep so that total bedtime is between 11 and13 hours (sleep about 11 hrs)

seems simple, right?

Day 1 was yesterday, and it went really well... but then, Day 1 usually goes well.

We had morning naps of an hour, though I had to bounce Max, my 30-minute napper, back to sleep. We had an afternoon nap lasting 2 hours, though admittedly, it was in the car. And bedtime lasted from 7:30pm to 7:50am, with a bottle at 4:50am, though Shoghi was up multiple times, requiring me to bounce him back to sleep three times.

Today is Day 2, and Max wouldn't go back to sleep after his 30-minute morning nap, despite being up for three hours, and me & Laurie both trying to get him back to sleep. I'm skeptical abut my chances for success already.

I'm actually going to talk to a sleep consultant on Monday. I'm ok with investing time in sleep training, and know pur changes must be gradual since I'm not willing to let them cry it out. I just need a Plan, and some level of confidence that we can succeed.

Meanwhile, we continue to grow teeth, roll, crawl, love books, love playsilk time, enjoy the exersaucer, and love, love, love our solid foods. We've introduced pears, rice, banana, oatmeal, sweet potato, butternut squash, broccoli, beets, and mango. So far they like them all, with the following exceptions: Max doesn't like beets, and Shoghi doesn't care for broccoli.

It's 60* today, so we're headed out for a stroll on Hawthorne!

s's two little teeth

shoghi

the boys playing on the floor

a little pig pile

more milestones

So, I mentioned a few days ago that Shoghi got his first tooth? Well, it's really just barely broken the surface, so he's still in a good deal of discomfort, poor little muffin. Today, the tooth right next to it is also peeking through!

It's a huge day for little Shoghurt, because today he put a bunch of mental and physical pieces together and managed to propel, half creeping and half c r a w l i n g, himself across the living room. Yes, mama is now officially in a great deal of trouble. Six months? Couldn't they have waited just a little longer? Max is totally doing the army crawl, too, with nose to the ground and butt in the air. It's only a matter owf time before I'm using the word "crawl" in the same sentence as his name, as well. I feel both celebratory and a little freaked out! That's normal, right?

Finally here are some photos just because.... today I got my sister's photos from our trip back East and these are some of my favorites:

my dad, playing to the babies

shoghi with his great-grandfather

the boys with their sweet auntie

my mama and shoghi

max with his favorite book. i'm not kidding;
we read and recite this book at least 10 times a day.

ps: there was a story today on NPR about families who use donors to conceive seeking out their half siblings. hmmmm.... interesting.

scowl

some days, you just wish to be able to hit a reset button. i'll admit it - i'm having a tough week. so many thing have gone wrong, i've lost track. teething is here in full force, bringing with it ceaseless whining and crying. my bank account where i have all my savings has been frozen, presumably because they've had a security breach with their cards. i won't know what happened until tuesday, but it's leaving me fearful that all my money is somehow gone. sleep has been awful. i'm a grouchy, panicy mess.

good thing we firgured out that the boys both really like to roll around in the n*de. also good thing that these kids are so cute, and that they laugh once in a while. after playing like this for a half hour last night, sister and i stuck them both in the sink for a bath. the things we'll do for 10 minutes of peace, i tell you.

rolling around on the floor

so thankful for this swing from eliz!

a new napping spot is well appreciated.

exersaucer? yes, please.

max takes a spin in our new toy.

shoghi and his tricks.

and now for some photos

all from this week's shenanigans:

Shoghi adores his tongue, and will stick it out all day long. Here he is "eating" avocado.

He's become quite the little ham, and I'm not talking about his sense of humor! Look at the chunk on that babe! This is Shoghi's first sink bath.

Max, sweet boy. He was less sure about this bath, but it was infinitely better than his last bath in the bathtub, which totally freaked him out.
His favorite seems to be to sit in my mesh sling and come in the shower.

Max loves to stand and bounce, holding your fingers in his hands.

I love how both of them clasp their feet together. Here's Shoghi, in some beautiful longies from Devon, knit before they were even conceived.

Begin and end with that goofy tongue!