Musseling, Year Two

Our annual musseling tradition continued this year, as it has for my Dad since he was a boy. Now old enough to be a part of the experience, Ryan and Lucie took great pride sitting around the circle watching everyone scrape and clean the mussels. Ryan served as quality control, inspecting many mussels before enthusiastically returning them to the bucket with a splash.

Ryan and Lucie aren't sturdy enough walkers to climb out on the rocks to collect mussels, but we know they'll be out there with a crow bar and bucket in no time. Hopefully they'll find eating mussels as fun as harvesting them. They have big shoes to fill - who will break their Dad's record of eating 48 mussels in one sitting?

Bring out the Infant Tylenol

Cold and flu season has hit our little ones hard this year. After ear infections, mild pneumonia and stomach flu in December and January, we thought we had our share of illnesses for the winter. Unfortunately, L & R had a few more colds in January, lingering into early February. Then this past weekend, Lucie came down with a fever and stomach flu again.

In talking to other parents, multiple illnesses can be common at this age. I've heard that babies with older siblings often get sick during their first year (all those germs coming home with big brother or sis), while first children get sick a lot as toddlers when they come into contact with more and more kids. Either way, it's no fun having sick babies.

At least being under the weather meant Lucie got to rest and watch golf with her Daddy on the couch. Though Ryan was feeling perfectly fine, he's not one to miss cuddle time (apparently neither is Igloo the Penguin).

Baseball Fever

Pitchers and catchers report today in Vero Beach, FL -- the longtime home of Dodger spring training. Ryan isn't quite ready to join the rotation, but he has been working on his form all winter and is close to mid-season shape.

Both Lucie and Ryan are starting to show an interest in kicking and throwing all sorts of objects. These days, our house is overrun with rubbery balls of all shapes and sizes. Which is great since you never know when a game of 'bonk your brother on the head' will break out.

Pucker Up

Lucie and Ryan love giving kisses - to us at bedtime, to Ducky and Bunny, and especially to each other. The funny thing is they haven't quite perfected the "kiss" part yet. Instead, they come at you with a giggle and a big open mouth...smooch!

This new trick is perfectly timed for February 14th - Happy Valentine's Day from R & L!

YoBaby, YoBaby, Yo!

Lucie and Ryan have loved yogurt since we first introduced it at around nine months old. Though recently their yogurt eating experience has gotten a lot messier. After watching us eat holding spoon and cup, R & L have decided they'd like to do the same. Now they will only eat yogurt (or anything else from a cup) when they can do the scooping, spooning and holding themselves.

Self spoon feeding is a great exercise in hand-eye coordination, but boy is clean-up even more sticky and sloppy than ever (especially now that Miss Luce refuses to wear a bib). Needless to say, bath night and baby laundry day comes more than twice a week these days. Anyone have a clean washcloth?

Healthy Living

I suppose it's a sign of the times that there are classes specializing in baby yoga. Do one-year olds really feel stress? Not our little ones, but that doesn't mean they didn't enjoy Itsy Bitsy Yoga with their twins' group last month. Hopefully, Amey will offer some pointers when she visits next week as I'm pretty sure your head isn't supposed to touch the ground during downward dog.

There's one thing everyone can agree on -- a homemade smoothie really hits the spot after group exercise.

Staff Meeting in the Sandbox

Lunch hours in my pre-babies days often included power walks and relaxing with co-workers. I still go on those power walks, though now the quick pace is motivated more by nap schedules (please, oh please don't fall asleep in the stroller!) than releasing workday stress. I also still enjoy getting together with my former co-workers at a different lunch spot - the sandbox, not the conference room.

Along with a new location comes some pint-size members to our lunchtime crew. Logan is the leader at almost 2 years, with Lucie and Ryan in between, and Shaun the newest playtime companion at age 3 months. Lucie and Ryan LOVE playing in the sand with Logan, especially when he brings all his cool cars and trucks. Shaun will be in there digging around in no time - for now he enjoys the view from his Baby Bjorn.