Day Spa Workers

May 4, 2011
Before Noah could grow out of the outfit, and with Josie finally able to somewhat fit into it, I decided to dress them in the matching outfits they received from Godmother Colette. These outfits belonged to twins Annabelle and Juliette and were originally a gift from Minou and the Corrados. I think they look like my own little pair of day spa employees.

Bounce

May 3, 2011

(no comment necessary)

Puppies

May 2, 2011

Josie and Noah reminded me of our puppy Sierra. She used to hang out at the door after someone left. The littles kept looking at the door and then back at me as though asking if Dad was coming back?

Ten Months

May 1, 2011

Ben and I can't believe that Josie and Noah area already 10 months old. I don't know how we're going to continue to get these monthly pictures as they want nothing to do with staying in one place. Since it took me about a month to update the blog, I can't remember specific dates for certain things, so I am going to list a few things here that have happened in the past few weeks.

• Noah now has 8 teeth and Josie has 5
• They both clap their hands on cue: "bravo"
• They both twist their hands to the song "ainsi font font font"
• Noah waves although he sometimes gets it confused with "ainsi font font font"

And I'm sure there are other things, but I'm still exhausted from all of the pink eye cleaning and laundry...I'll add the rest in other posts as I think of them.

No Photo

April 30, 2011
I was at work with my other "kids" for Orientation Leader Pre-Service and Bennett spent a quiet day with the littles.

Learning from her Brother (and some stats)

April 29, 2011
I often enter Josie and Noah's room in the morning or after a nap to find that Noah has lost his pacifier and has therefore taken Josie's. Here she's giving him a dose of his own medicine. Only she's taken it one step further: she's held on to her own and is just holding his hostage.

We headed to the doctor just to make sure that everyone was on the mend and took the opportunity to weigh the little monsters. Noah weighs in at 21.1 and Josie is 15.9. The doctor encouraged me to add some butter and olive oil to Josie's food. She's not worried "because Josie's a very healthy girl. But let's try to get some more calories in her."

Twin Fate

April 28, 2011
I watched Josie and Noah playing together and became resigned to our fate. These 2 share everything...I should just anticipate outbreaks whenever one of them gets something. (I could even hear the pity in the Kaiser nurses' voices when I kept calling because of a new case of pink eye. As soon as I said "10 month old twins" I'd hear, "Ohhhh."

Quarantine

April 27, 2011
With the kitchen and dining room completely sanitized, and the carpet drying, we were on quarantine. The entry way became our new feeding station. Looks as though Jo likes the change of scenery.

It Strikes Again...but Josie's not Scared

April 26, 2011
This time, I was the one to wake up with a pink, swollen, goopie eye. (I managed to touch 4 infected eyes, 4 times a day, for 5 days and didn't get it. I even had the raw, over washed hands to show for it. But this time, Noah's germie hand got me directly in the eye while we were playing and I knew it was over!) So, Bennett took the cleaning to a whole new level and steam cleaned the carpets, couch and their rocker. Here Josie is watching him and the vacuum, while Noah races away each time the machine approaches.

It's Back!

April 25, 2011
One day after we'd finished giving the littles their eye drops and it looks like it's back. Here we go again. Here, Josie and Noah enjoy a snack in their new adirondack chairs from Grandma and Grandpa.

First Easter and Time to Say Goodbye

I think Noah is thinking "I'm not wearing that thing!"

April 24, 2011
Josie and Noah received their first Easter baskets this morning and then had to say goodbye to les Canadiennes. We hope they come back to visit soon (mes san le pink eye!).

Easter came early

1st trip in our new, big-kid, convertible car seats

April 23, 2011
We enjoyed an early Easter celebration at "Gruncle" Mel's and "Grauntie" Janettes. Josie and Noah experienced their first Easter egg hunt and had so much fun with everyone that by the end of the day, they fell asleep in our arms.

Work Day

April 22, 2011
Bennett had the day off and I spent the day at work. I'll have to get better about asking him to take more photos when I'm not around. (On another note, one year ago Ben and I headed to SF as I was experiencing too many contractions. The babies wanted out...fortunately we got great care, and I was put on bed rest for the next 8 weeks...and 10.5 weeks later (full term!) Josie and Noah joined us.)

Cabin Fever

April 21, 2011
Everyone piled in the cars and headed to Scandia: Family Fun Center where we enjoyed the beautiful day by splashing around on the bumper boats, swinging a bat in batting cages and finishing it all off with some games in the arcade.

Risky

April 20, 2011
Not even a pink eye outbreak could keep the Kirsches and Nonna away. Josie and Noah met their cousins Zach, Zoe and Zane and had a great time decorating Easter eggs with them. Also brave souls, Grandma and Grandpa dropped in during the evening on their way to Monterey to visit Auntie Abby.

It's Spreading

April 19, 2011
This time Josie woke up with 2 swollen, pink and goopie eyes. Another trip to Kaiser for some eye drops, more cleaning and then off to work. No photo for today.

...of the Outbreak

April 18, 2011
Although we sanitized the counters, doorknobs, and anything else we could think of, Noah woke up with a pink, swollen and goopie eye. So, three days into her trip, Chloe jumped right in and took over the care of the littles while I went a little crazy with the cleaning. All surfaces, toys, linens, etc. Chloe was a natural and made caring for twins look easy!

The Beginning...

April 17, 2011
After the parade, Paula's eye started bothering her. The next morning she woke up with a swollen eye and when the pink, swelling and goo spread to the other eye, we all knew we were in trouble. So, a trip to urgent care resulted in some prescription meds and strict orders to go nowhere near the babies for a week...there goes her trip.

Butter and Eggs

April 16, 2011
Chloe, Paula and Auntie Karina joined us as we participated in a Petaluma tradition. We took a nice stroll, had a picnic, saw glimpses of the Butter and Egg Day parade and enjoyed running in to many of our friends in downtown P-Town.

Les Canadiennes!

Too excited about picking up Chloe and Paula from the airport (and too busy cleaning the house, buying groceries and cooking) that I didn't get a photo.

Mmmm, cinnamon...

April 14, 2011
Noah likes his food. And with this new apple cinnamon oatmeal, I couldn't shovel the food in fast enough. He didn't want to wait his turn as Josie got every other bite.

Funny Sounds

April 13, 2011

One of Josie's new favorite sounds to make.

Jo Fro

April 12, 2011
Josie and Noah still don't have much hair, but it is starting to grow (Thank God; I can't wait to put pigtails in Josie's hair). Anyway, it looks as though Jo may take after her Mama after all. If you look closely you can see the first signs of a Jo Fro on the top of her head. (And since the 12th, there is now a definite "Alfalfa curl" as Ben likes to call it.)

A Spoon full of Sugar

April 11, 2011
Although I do laundry all of the time, it finds a way to pile up. Good thing taking breaks to play with my dynamic duo can make any chore easier to swallow.

Like Dad

April 10, 2011

We had a great day with visitors, but I was too distracted catching up with them to take a "photo of the day." In the morning, Auntie Karina returned from her 3 week trip to Atlanta. She was cheating on us with her sister Sabrina and her new nephew Booker. We can't wait to meet little Booker and we're so happy Karina is home! Later, our friends Jeff and Stacy brought over lunch and then hung out with the littles for a bit. Here's a photo of Noah playing with Ben's hat after our afternoon bike ride.

Standing in her Crib

April 9, 2011
Josie has started to stand in her crib, so it's time to lower her mattress too. Will they both really make it in their mini-cribs until they are 2?

Climbing

April 8, 2011

Time to take child-proofing to a new level as Noah discovers his ability to climb. (Since the 8th, he's continued to climb on whatever he can, which for now is only our baby-gate and Josie.)

Exploring

April 7, 2011

Josie is gaining confidence in her motor skills and enjoys exploring her toys in new ways. She's gotten herself into some tight places and with persistence, has gotten herself out of them too.