aunts

growing up, i had a few "aunts" (and "uncles") that weren't the blood-related variety, but rather very close friends of my parents. these folks were incredibly special to me as a child, and even more so now that i am an adult (is that what i am now?!). we are carrying on this tradition for our boys with four very special "aunts." auntie d came to visit from dallas this past weekend and auntie annie came over to celebrate the boys 1/2 year birthday (and her 36.5 year birthday - yes, they were all born on the same special day!).

oz with auntie annie:



abie with auntie d:



aunt brandy lives in chicago and the boys miss her and uncle e.d. very much. here they all are when the boys were a mere 3 months old:



aunt dana and uncle mark (and cuz jakey) haven't met the boys yet, but we can't wait for our trip to chicago over christmas to see them!

livin' free

we normally don't have our boys crawling around naked, but with the introduction of solids we've had some abnormally large "poosplosions" that we've had to change on the fly. today was one of those days where we had to immediately get ozzy's yucked-up clothes off. of course, before i could even get another diaper on him he was off and running. he was so ecstatic to be au natural, we let him go with it for a while. sorry oz, this one might come back to haunt you in, say, 15 years or so.

matilda

the boys are fascinated with matilda these days. they crack up at her when she catches her toy mid-air, when she gallop runs on our walks, or for no reason at all. when she comes within a few feet on them they immediately reach their arms out for her and they love to pet her face and grab her gums. we like to refer to her as the "gentle giant." she just sits or lays there and let's them pull, grab and pinch. yesterday, oskar moved himself off the mat and next to her and mati took the opportunity to snuggle up on his butt. so sweet!

so close!

the oz-man is sooo close to crawling. i really have to keep my eyes on him because i know it's going to happen any moment and i don't want to miss it! abie is content to hang out and watch his bro experiment with all this. he studies what works/what doesn't, and i know in a few weeks he'll whip out a technically perfect crawl (that's how it worked for the roll). so one's got the brains and one's got the brawn...until next month when they switch it up on us!

here's the evolution of oskar's crawl. it starts with the cobra/up dog:



then moves to a full push up position:



and finally the knees go underneath and he launches (i didn't catch the subsequent face plant!):

an affair to remember

today i was laying on the "mat" (i.e. quilt on the floor) with the boys and abie turned to face me and started giving me the sweetest smiles and coos. he then ever so gently started touching my lips with his little fingers, which of course i lavished kisses on. and then i looked over his shoulder to find ozzy on his hands and knees peering down on us, just smiling away. and part of me felt a little guilty. like i was having an affair with abel and oskar had caught us in the act. but the oz-man was so happy and gracious; he didn't mind at all. i still felt guilty though. i guess as a mom of twins, it's just something i'm going to have to get over.

laughing

today i was reading "polar bear, polar bear, what do you hear" and oskar nearly bust his gut laughing so hard. i have no idea what was so funny - animal sounds are definitely not my main talent. but for whatever reason, it was the funniest thing oskar had ever heard. abie and ozzy both crack up when i say "z-z-z-ZEBRA!" they just love how it sounds. the best, however, is when we do quick, repetitive kisses to their cheeks or behind their ears. we're talking insane belly laughs.

mmm...mmm...good!

we were going to wait until the boys officially turned 6 months next friday to start the solids adventure but, let's just say my impatience got the best of me. so today was the day and boy was it fun! we decided to start with oatmeal mixed w/ breastmilk, as we didn't want to introduce anything that might stop them up

we started with abie and he had the quintessential response to new food - "what the heck just landed in my mouth!" he kept opening wide, though, and even though most of the food was pushed right back out, he was terrific.



then came ozzy. this boy was born to eat! he was an old pro, opening wide, taking it all in and swallowing right away. he just wanted more and more and even tried to grab the bowl out of my hands. and oh, the smiles. eating was pure bliss for this lil' guy.




i was extremely excited to start feeding these guys food-food and they did not disappoint. i'm already planning for tomorrow and can't wait to do it again! just think...sweet potatoes, avocados, peaches...oh my!

rain or shine

it feels like it's been raining here in austin for the past two months straight (oh, wait...it has!). but the gods have always smiled on us when it is time for our morning walk. this walk has become, next to their bedtime routine, the most consistent daily activity for us. we start off around 6:30am after the boys are fed and changed and we walk for about an hour all around the neighborhood and on the trails. it's the coolest time of the day (which is very important because by 10am it's a blazing 90 degrees), the sun is just peeking up, we meet lots of deer and jack rabbits, and often we have nice foggy mornings that hang over the hills to the west and give austin the appearance of, say, marin county.

well, this morning it decided to pour as we were heading out, but no rain could foil our ritual thanks to our trusty BOB weather shield. granted our walk was a little shorter than usual, but it was still a delight. the pitter-patter on the stroller shield lulled abie to sleep within minutes and ozzy loved grabbing the plastic with his feet. matilda defintely got the short end of the stick, but she is always a trooper.

monkey business

one of the boys' favorite positions is to lay backwards draped across our legs with their heads dangling over. it must feel good to be upside down, after all that time spent head down in the womb. yesterday abie spent a good 15 minutes hanging out like this.

laguna glorious

the boys and i have made a pact to see as many of the cultural sites austin has to offer. being an art, architecture and history buff, i thought we'd start at laguna gloria, a wonderful 1916 italianate villa on lake austin. now operated by AMOA, laguna gloria houses small exhibits of texas art. it was the perfect foray to the world of art museums for the boys - small enough to do in less than an hour and colorful enough to hold their attention (although i think they liked the docent's aqua floral shirt the best!). i think we'll hit the botanical gardens next!

sarah

the boys (and me, more important!) have been lucky to have the help of sarah during the month of june. sarah is going into her sophomore year of college and is WONDERFUL with babies, in addition to being just an all-around sweetie. unfortunately she is now teaching at a sports camp and then goes back to school. she made my life sooo easy for a few hours each day, playing with the boys, putting them down for naps, helping with house chores, running errands, etc. we will all definitely miss her!

all in a day's work

like i said before, the boys seem to figure things out on a daily basis. it's so much fun to be witness to this and never ceases to amaze me. just a few days ago, abie tripod sat for over a minute several times and is now playing with his feet a lot. ozzy works the exersaucer like it his command station and his two bottom teeth are coming in (not so much fun - little things will set him off into screams like i've never heard!). they both are very motivated to crawl and are figuring out how to get their knees underneath them. abie will get his feet underneath him and stick his butt way up in the air, while ozzy has mastered the push up position with his whole body elevated and can balance for a few seconds on hands in knees. it will be beyond excitement when this all comes together!

8 to 5

no, these aren't work hours. this is how long j and i slept last night...straight! the boys have been sleeping from 6:30pm - 5:30am for a while now, but the lives of twin parents go on long after the boys go to bed (cooking, eating, cleaning, laundry...and of course some fun stuff like movies, etc.). and then the life of a twin mom goes on in the middle of the night with a pumping session to make sure the boobs don't explode. but last night we all must have needed some delicious sleep because there was nary a peep from the nursery and i must have forgot to set my alarm to pump. and even though my boobs were like petrified softballs in the morning, it was worth it!

meet me in st. louis

the boys took their first plane trip this weekend. we left on saturday for a wedding on sunday and returned to austin on monday - what a whirlwind! the boys did amazing. on the way out, they slept at take-off and woke up at landing. coming home was a little trickier, as our flight was delayed a few hours, which put us right at their bedtime (typically a fussy time). here's abie catching a snooze on dad at the gate:



they were troopers, though. abie managed to make the biggest poo of his life on the flight home, just as we were hitting weather and the pilot turned on the seatbelt sign. this one couldn't wait, though.

leelee and papa drove down from chicago to meet us in st. louis and they watched the boys for us while we went to the wedding. they couldn't believe how big the boys were and ozzy and abie wowed them with their rolls, updogs, standing, giggles and smiles. here's leelee and papa with ozman:



it was quite a production leaving home for 3 days. i can safely say that we overpacked - but better safe than sorry. the only thing we would have done different is had two small diaper bags - one for me and one for jordan - because the enormous one we were lugging around was a pain in the butt. all in all though, the trip was a huge success and we are very proud of our traveling troupe!

work

i was intent on going back to work after having the boys, however within minutes of giving birth, jordan and i started talking about how we could make it work for me to stay home. we own a rental property on the other side of town and have put it on the market to supplement my salary for a few years. hooray! i will dearly miss all my friends and colleagues at the texas historical commission, and hope to go back to work when the boys get a bit older and start school. at the beginning of the month, the wonderful folks at the agency threw me a delightful farewell party in the garden of the 19th century building we office out of. i think it was just an excuse to see the boys!

me and the boys with anne, amy and andy



my boss larry with ozzy (larry grabs a hold of these babies and just won't let them go - he's the grandfather of 1 year old twins, so has LOTS of experience!)

happy birthday boys!

the boys turned 5 months yesterday and in celebration we took them to get weighed (i know this won't cut the mustard for b-day celebrations in the future!). for posterity sake, ozzy weighs 13lb 7oz and abie is right behind at 13lb 4oz. i am getting so excited about the prospect of feeding them solids in just one month. we frequently talk about all the delicious things they will try - sweet potato, banana, fresh green peas, apricots, plums, pink lady applesauce - what a gastric delight!

growing up

i feel like every day the boys do something new - or something clicks inside their brains, and all of a sudden they are playing with a toy in a new way or doing something unexpected.

over the past few days, here's how our boys have been developing:

- both boys now mimic me when they see me eating. they make the cutest little mushing/munching motions with their mouth!

- ozzy has taken a keen interest in my glass of water! he watches intently and then grabs the glass and pulls it to his mouth. at first i spoon fed him some water. now i let him drink it right out of the glass and he loves it!



- we put together the exersaucer and the boys are enthralled. they love all the toys, especially pushing the buttons that make the animal noises. i didn't know if they were ready for it and they totally exceeded my expectations. i would show abie once how a toy worked and he would repeat my action immediately. so cool!



- the boys are really aware of matilda now and look for her and even pet/touch her face. they haven't started to laugh at her yet, but i hear from friends that this is soon coming...we can't wait (and neither can mati!). here's oz reaching out for matilda.



- the boys are also propping their feet up on the stroller "bar," which reminds me of being in grade school and wedging my feet up on the seat in front of me on the bus, or putting my feet up on the desk. it's hysterical!

- ozzy is seriously physical and only stays on his back long enough to flip to his tummy. he does push ups, up dogs and is intent on moving himself in all directions. he exclusively sleeps on his belly. abie is very non-chalant about rolling. it's very funny actually because when he does go for it, he'll fake a stretch and hang out munching on his hand. just in case he doesn't make it...he wasn't really trying, anyway!

- peek-a-boo is their absolute favorite game. they laugh their butts off every time. they are also super ticklish on their sides. their favorite sound is a high-pitched kissy noise. i think i am their favorite toy right now. they can amuse themselves forever grabbing my nose and lips, which is a perfect opportunity for me to kiss their hand!

adios

we did it! we officially eliminated the middle of the night feed for the boys. it was becoming ridiculous, waking them up at 2am to feed them a few ounces, all of us in a sleepy daze. so we decided to give cold turkey a try last night and low and behold...the boys slept right through it and continued to sleep until their usual 6am wake up time. now that's some glorious sleep!

father's day love

j taking the boys on a tandem bjorn walk! abel shows off his guns.


ozzy delighting in his cobra. you should see his full-on up dog!


abie and dad

nanna nan

the boys spent a glorious week with their nanna nan who visited from chicago. nanna had them in stitches most of the day with her crazy antics, funny facial expressions, kissy noises and nursery rhymes. we took the boys out to eat a few times, went on lots of walks, did some shopping, but most of all we played, played, played! we were all very sad when nanna left.