Mealtime Fun

September 21, 20111

Noah's been practicing using his fork and I'd say he's getting the hang of it. Josie takes the opportunity to crack herself (and her Mama) up. Mealtimes are never a dull moment around here and if I ever forget to turn on the music, they'll both point to the iPod. Today was an Abba day, but Simon and Garfunkel and Arabic music seem to be their favorites.

No Photo

September 20, 2011
Another missed day...

More Cousin Time

September 19, 2011
The afternoon was well spent with some more time with Cousin Booker (and I got more time with my cousins too). (Sabrina is with Booker on the left, I have Jo in the middle and Auntie Karina has Noah on the right)

SCMoMs BBQ

September 18, 2011
We celebrated multiples family-hood with many others at the Sonoma County Mothers of Multiples annual BBQ and Josie and Noah experienced their first jumps in a bounce house. Noah couldn't get enough, while Josie pretty much stayed put and observed the others.

Baby Booker

September 17, 2011
Baby Booker and his parents came to Cali for his baptism. Miraculously we made it on time...I thought the invitation said 1pm but it said 11am. So after the initial panic we rushed to get ready and arrived just in time for the cousins to meet one another before the baptism. During the after party, Booker and Noah compared bellies. We all can't wait to spend some time with the entire Mann family this winter.

Uncle John

September 16, 2011
After 13 years, I finally got to meet Ben's uncle John. He arrived the previous afternoon and the littles loved all of his energy and had a great time playing with him. Ben and I really enjoyed hearing about his adventures and as you can see, Josie and Noah were sad to say goodbye. Hopefully it won't take another 13 years to see him again :)

Later that morning, I let the littles into the previously "forbidden" dining room/kitchen. (I finally moved the plant that they kept getting into.) Josie accidentally turned on the TV and when the picture appeared and she heard the people talking she exclaimed with surprise "HI!!" (Obviously, they don't watch much TV)

Starting Early (and some stats)

September 15, 2011
Perhaps I shouldn't be taking so many trips to a college campus with the littles. The toys they're provided with might encourage them to start early. At least Noah looks like he's not so sure. Thanks Sean and Jena for entertaining the littles and to the rest of you who we ran into, it's always nice to see old friends. Believe it or not, I miss SSU.

That afternoon we headed to the Dr. for a follow up regarding fund in Noah's ears. We got the all clear, so no tubes necessary (yippee!). The kiddos weighed in and there's still a 6lb difference: Josie is 17.15lbs (still first percentile in weight) and Noah is 23.14lbs (around the 50th percentile).

Open Gym

September 14, 2011
We met our train friends in Santa Rosa for some open gym time. Josie and Noah loved it and it was a joy to watch them explore and run around. They had so much fun that I think they were asleep in their carseats before I could strap them in. Josie particularly liked the hula hoops; perhaps she'll take after her Nonna.

I think she wants a pool...

September 13, 2011
Summer is here in September so we're catching up on all of the outdoor fun. I need to get Josie a climbing play structure because she and her brother try to be little monkeys.

1st French Word

September 12, 2011
Noah and Josie's first french word is "nez." Here, Noah is showing me where his is located. He recently accidentally put his finger up his nose in response to "ou et le nez" and I startled him, I laughed so hard. So now, he says "ne nez" and sticks his finger up his nostril and laughs.

Molo Night

September 11, 2011
My little Egyptians gobbled down their molo. Thank goodness I can count on this balanced meal to get veggies, protein and whole grains into them! But, only on bath nights.

Family Photo Shoot

September 10, 2011
We all headed to SSU to take some family photos and capture the littles at age 1 year. Of course we had to head to Traminer, where it all began (and of course there was stuff all over the 3rd floor balcony). Thank you Cassie Voit Photography.

Hanging out with Sydney

September 9, 2011
Our friends Lisa and Sydney came over to hang out with the littles so that I could take a "Feeding Your Toddler" class that the pediatrician recommended. Josie and Noah had so much fun playing with Syndey that they took a super-long nap in the afternoon. I'll have to get them to come over and tire out the littles more often!

More random moments

September 8, 2011

Here's another (long) glimpse into the random moments that fill our day. Again, Ben and I find it funny and we're posting it for the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, but we'd expect this to be boring for many - so feel free to skip.

A little play-by-play:

-Noah, just being Noah (and dancing)

-Josie eating out of Noah's new MunchieMug (she is actually eating handfuls at a time like Noah typically does)

-More of Noah's randomness

-Josie playing independently as usual

-Noah taking Josie's stuff

-Josie chewing Noah out

-Josie making a quick getaway with the MunchieMug before Noah can get it again

-Noah up to the usual (he climbs on everything)
(actually all of the above is pretty typical)

OUCH!

September 7, 2011
Ben got a deal on a new (to us) TV so we needed a different "entertainment cabinet." He found another deal on something that would do temporarily (it would at least allow the living room to be child safe again...or so we thought). The people from whom we bought the piece had already put child locks on all of the cabinet doors and drawers except one. So we thought we'd leave it as is and put some toys in that cabinet. Then Josie smashed her finger in it. This picture was taken at the end of the day, but when it happened her little finger was actually smashed, misshapen and bloody (that's actually a chunk missing from her index finger). The worst part was having to clean it. She looked at me like "you've got to be kidding me lady; you're making this worse!" She calmed down much more quickly than I did.

Why walk around?

September 6, 2011
We headed to meet our friends Shannon, and twins Isaac and Kendall at Target for a morning outing and since we were so close to my former "home" we stopped at SSU to run around and say hello to Heather. At first, the littles stayed close to the stroller despite having a large open space to run around, but that didn't last long.

6 months and 18 months

September 5, 2011
Each night, when we get the littles ready for bed, we put Josie in size 6 months PJs and Noah in size 18 months PJs. No wonder every time we're out in public people make some sort of comment like "wow, you must have had them really close together." My response is "yup, only one minute apart."

Fun visit with Grandma

September 4, 2011
Josie and Noah had a fun day with Bennett, Abby and Grandma in downtown Petaluma...I had my own plans for some "me time" but ended up stranded at home because we had a mix up with our car keys. If only I hadn't had my morning coffee, I'd have gotten back into bed.

Finally, spaghetti

September 3, 2011
After spending the afternoon playing in the water in the backyard with grandma and Auntie Abby, we decided to give the littles their first meal of spaghetti. I don't' really know what it's taken me so long to have them try it, but they liked it.

Park Playdate

September 2, 2011
Spent the morning at the park with our friends Kerstin and twins Lauren and Katelyn. I'm dreading the day when they no longer fit into one swing.

Proud of herself

September 1, 2011
I watched as Josie dumped and flipped the bin and then struggled to climb on top. I was impressed by her persistence and she was quite proud of herself when she achieved her goal.

Morton's Hot Springs

August 31, 2011
I was too chicken to meet up with our friends at Morton's Hot Springs solo with the littles, so we were lucky that Jena agreed to join us. It was a beautiful day and the water was nice and warm, but just as she does in the bathtub, Josie shivered all morning. After doing some wading, we munched on a picnic and then the littles napped on the way home while Jena and I caught up on life.

Fun in the Sun

August 30, 2011
Got to love Target clearance.  Hours of fun.

No Pic

August 29, 2011
Don't even remember what we were doing that day...

We love Nonno

August 28, 2011
Before Nonno left for Berkeley we had to get one more big squeeze from him.

Auntie Karina's Housewarming

August 27, 2011
Nono came to town and we all enjoyed a party at Auntie Karina's new home. We're looking forward to spending lots of time in that pool and at the playground.

Thanks Nonna

August 26, 2011
The weather finally warmed up so we could use our water table, and we had a wonderful afternoon in the backyard.

Sleep

August 25, 2011
We've come a long way from the sleep boycotts we used to experience. I just wish I hadn't become an insomniac in the meantime.

Charming

August 24, 2011
After breaking my back swinging Josie and Noah in the blanket, I had to take a breather. My little charming son didn't want me to stop, so climbed on the blanket, started to wrap himself in it and kept smiling at me. I think if he could talk he'd be saying "Come on mom, look how cute I am. You know you love it when I laugh, so you should keep swinging me!"

We're in trouble

August 23, 2011

The doors are now childproofed

No Photo

August 22, 2011
Of course, the day after we arrived home all we did was unpack and laundry, laundry, laundry!

All smiles

August 21, 2011
I'd like to write that Josie and Noah are upset because they are leaving Tauntie's house, however this is what happens when you laugh and play during your morning nap rather than sleep... and realizing that she never got a group shot of the cousins, your mother forces the issue. At least it'll be a funny one to look at when they grow up :)

Megpie's Wedding

August 20, 2011
The family got all dolled up and roped Uncle Mike into following us to the wedding to take some photos. We're lucky to have such a talented guy in the family!

Noah continued his Bam Bam streak by eating some gravel before the ceremony and Ben and I made sure to grab some seats in the back in case we had to make a quick getaway, but Josie and Noah were great. I headed home (to Taunties) and put them to bed and then Ben and I enjoyed our night at the reception.

Megan was a beautiful bride and we were honored to celebrate her day with her and Anthony.