Here Sis, Have a Spoon!

Now that we're home from our trip, Ryan and Lucie don't have quite the same mealtime audience they had come to enjoy at both grandparents' houses. Most of the time, it's just me hanging out with them in their high chairs, stealing glances at magazines or Christmas catalogs in between spoonfuls.

R & L quickly took matters into their own hands and recreated the mealtime excitement. This game of pass-the-spoon went on for about ten minutes, with giggles, smiles and enthusiastic leg-kicking punctuating each pass. Once again, the built-in entertainment potential that comes with twins makes my day.

(on a side note, I thought Baby Bjorn only made infant carriers, but they also make many other baby products including these great toddler spoons. The chubby handles are perfect for little hands and quite tasty to chew on between courses.)

Gobbling Up Fun Times

This Thanksgiving meant a wonderful long week with family for Lucie and Ryan. Now that they are so mobile (and squirmy), we weren't sure what to expect during our air travel, but they did great. A diaper bag full of snacks and books, along with a good old Southwest drink cup, did the trick keeping them occupied and happy in our laps. We'll see if we make it to age 2 (the required age to buy tickets for children) before they get their own seats.

Highlights of this trip included seeing Grandma Great (over Lucie's shoulder), adventures at the parks by both grandparents' houses, and of course, meeting Cousin Tate. He is one sweet little guy who we all loved to hold and make faces with. As you can see here, he has that post-Thanksgiving sleepy look down already. Sweet potatoes next year!

These Robeez Are Made For Walking

While Lucie has been taking unassisted steps since mid-October, we've hesitated to officially call her a "walker" until just the past few days. This hesitation comes partly from reluctance to admit she's no longer a baby, and partly from fear of what life will be like with twin walkers, most likely going in different directions.

However, there's no more hiding from it now - our girl's a walker, and pretty good at it too. It's only when she really wants to get somewhere fast that she resorts to crawling, otherwise she's perfectly happy to toddle along.

As you can see here, Ryan is not far behind. With a little help from Gigi last weekend, he had fun practicing his steps and staring down birds he met along the way. He might not look too menacing now, seagulls, but beware the soon-to-be walking/running Ryan!

Cool Toys: Crabbie Sandbox

With our two little crawlers/walkers (more on Lucie's new found abilities in a future post), we are always looking for ways to expand our condo. Since buying a 3 bedroom house on 1/2 acre isn't exactly feasible in today's housing market, we decided to transform our patio into an impromptu playground.

Of course, that meant cleaning up the patio first. While not exactly a dump, mountain bikes, a barbecue, and assorted tools make it an unfriendly place for toddlers. So the bikes went underground, the bbq to storage, and the toolbox secured. After I mopped the area, I realized we needed to soften up the floor. Combining a few quick measurements and the wonders of the Internet, I bought 32 square feet of 3/4 inch play mats from Step 2.

Next up was entertainment. Borrowing a tip from Erick (and his parents Rick and Kathleen), we bought an outdoor sandbox intending to fill it with plastic balls. Another a few clicks online and we ordered Crabbie Sandbox from Step 2 and 200 Magic Balls from PlayHut. So far everyone is very happy with the latest additions.

Democracy (and pretzels) in Action

Ryan and Lucie joined me to vote this year, though not as a lesson in civic responsibility (maybe in a few years), but more out of pure necessity (I didn't get my absentee ballot request in on time).

We arrived at the polls in the middle of the afternoon to a substantial line of waiting voters. So much for beating the before/after work crunch. As I nervously counted voting booths, the woman in front of us looked at Ryan and Lucie, shook her head disapprovingly, and said, "They're never going to make it". Things were not looking good.

Despite these ominous signs, I successfully cast my vote. Ryan and Lucie were fantastic, due mostly to a well-stocked bag of pretzels and some friendly poll workers happy to give out "I Voted" stickers in every possible language. Now R & L can proudly say "Yo Vote" and "Toi Da Bau" at the early age of 13 1/2 months. (And, I can also tell them that their inaugural voting experience coincided with the first woman being elected to speaker of the House - truly a momentous occasion.)

Bathing, Phase II

Forced to abandon our previous bathing routine this summer when Lucie and Ryan outgrew the infant bathtub, we started bathing them in a larger inflatable tub.

As easy as that sounds, there were a few problems. The first issue was the faucet as the running water really scared them. No problem I thought -- just a quick trip to the hardware store to buy a new faucet with a hand shower attachment. Seven hours, three trips, and an entire Saturday later (in our house, this phenomena is known as Megan's Law of Home Depot), I had replaced the faucet, shower head, most of the plumbing mounts, and used approximately 100m of plumbers tape. But now our little toddlers could bathe without fear of faucets (and show off their Doctor Seuss-inspired hairstyles).

The second problem was the screaming. Everyone use to enjoy bath time, but now it triggered a full-body stiffness and ear piercing screams. Fortunately, adding a sibling to the tub eased the pain. A built-in buddy system must be nature's way of helping out the parents of multiples.

More Tales from the High Chair

Since Lucie and Ryan spend quite a bit of time eating (not unlike their mom), there's always something new to report. We've recently turned the spoons over after many not-so-subtle suggestions (firmly closed mouths, shaking heads, screams of dislike) that it was time. "I want to do it myself" - isn't that the toddler mantra?

Our pediatrician said that learning to use a spoon, like potty training, is something you hope they figure out by kindergarden. Not really words of encouragement, but at least she warned us that it's going to be a long process. In the meantime, these little guys sure are having fun, and the word messy has reached a whole new meaning.