Two Steps Forward

Madelaine is on the verge of walking:

And Aidan is not sure how he feels about it:

P.S. - How the heck did I end up with such blonde children? Isn't blonde a recessive gene????

Big Kids Now!

Maddie & Aidan have been to the grocery store many times (they are a big hit at the deli), but this was their first time sitting like big kids in the grocery cart (Dada was there to push one of the carriages). We tried this a month or so ago at Target with Grandma & Peepa and Aidan couldn't hold himself upright very well - he would get excited, turn his head to look at something and fall over. Oh what a difference a month makes!

Our next exciting adventure...a trip to BJs because they have a double cart where both can sit up front in the very same cart. Of course that could end up being a bit of a brawl.

Fifty-Fifty

Kurt took this past Friday off from work and we headed down to cape cod for our first overnight trip with the twins. This is what I'll call our fifty-fifty vacation (what else would you expect with two babies right??). I'll call it this because I'd say about 50% of the vacation was really fun and 50% was a little bit hellish.

We were up bright and early Friday, fed the babes and they napped during the drive down. Our first stop was at Friendly's for some breakfast for Mama & Dada. This was only Maddie & Aidan's second time in restaurant high chairs (oh do I miss those convenient infant carriers they outgrew) and it went exceptionally well - cheerios are an excellent pacifier when in public.

After breakfast, we stopped to visit my high school friend Nicole and her kids as they were on the cape at her parents house for vacation. Maddie got a little enthusiastic at the kiddie pool in the backyard and we had to do an outfit change, but otherwise it was a nice visit.

Then we figured we'd try for an early check-in at the hotel and get these little ones into the pool for some rip-roarin' fun. Of course the hotel was fully booked and we were out of luck. It was M&A's lunch time, so we decided a picnic lunch on the hotel grounds was our best option.

Moments before major breakdown at daddy's expense:

In an attemp to use our time wisely, I decided I'd get into my bathing suit in the hotel's changing room while Kurt fed the babies their lunch. The experience was apparently a bit frustrating as the first thing I saw when I came back was Kurt repeatedly hitting his palm against his forehead. I guess as soon as I turned the corner, Maddie & Aidan begain screaming, spitting food and grabbing each other. Ah the joys of twindom!

Once that fiasco was over, we figured a nice dip in the pool was WELL deserved. We survived the neverending battle of clothing changes with two exceptionally squirmy and (frankly) quite pissed babies. Off to the indoor pool we went with our inflatable boats (the inflation of which is a whole other sordid story). And guess what...the babies LOVED the pool. I have never seen Aidan so excited about anything in his 10 months. They kicked and splashed and watched all of the big kids. They were in there for almost 2 hours and would have stayed longer if not for the 3pm check-in.

So we dry the babies off and cart them down to our room - which of course is literally the room farthest from the pool. Maddie & Aidan have never been in a hotel room before, so we let them wander and cause trouble (oh that's right, most hotels don't baby proof, do they...UGH).

They look innocent, don't they?

After showers, another clothing struggle, and a hotel room floor dinner picnic - we hit the road to go to the beach and put M&A's toes in the sand for the very first time. We located a lovely, uncrowded beach and spread out our new, fancy, water resistant family blanket. We took the babies to the water's edge and Maddie really seemed to love getting her feet wet and didn't mind the sand a bit. Aidan on the other hand refused to put his feet down and would pull up his legs and scream each time we tried. I think perhaps he was a bit overtired from lack of nap. Hopefully this is the case, because Kurt will be HORRIFIED if one of his children doesn't like the beach.

Wind whipping through his hair...yes, sand...NOT SO MUCH!

Bedtime was closing in on us, so we packed up and made the drive back to the hotel. Kurt asked me "do you smell that" and we just assumed there would be a nice little package waiting for us when we got back. I opened Maddie's door to carry her into the hotel and she was covered in puke. She must have vomitted during the drive and that was the lovely smell Kurt referred to (which was not so easy to remove let me tell you). That was the point where I hit my limit and declared this "the biggest mistake we ever made" and we are "horrible parents" (I get a bit irrational when frustrated and overtired).

After some soothing words from Kurt (for me, not Maddie), we cleaned up our little girl, gave them bottles and put them to bed. THANK GOD they went down fairly easily and slept the entire night through in their pack 'n plays. WHEW! The only downside was, despite being a "suite", the two "rooms" were basically one and we had to keep the lights and tv off so as not to wake the sleeping babies - and the door to the outside was in their "room". We were trapped and hadn't had our dinner yet! Such is the life of parents I guess.

The next morning we got up, did our normal rituals and decided to take the babies to Chatham. They'll nap in the stroller we thought. Of course we chose the most humid and hot day EVER to do this. After a sweaty and frustrating bottle feeding experience at the park, we decided to throw in the towel and head home in time for lunch. Why it never occurred to us that a Saturday late morning would be a time of heavy traffic, I really can't say. An hour and 10 minute drive turned into an almost 3 hour one and Maddie & Aidan were not pleased to say the least (notice I have no photos from day 2 of our trip).

Finally we made it home, cranked up the a/c and tried to get back into our normal routine. And boy were we glad to be home. Although I must say, despite my negative attitude (which Kurt says I really need to work on), our overnight was a success. It is going to be alot of work anytime you travel with two 10 months olds and we did have some really great and memorable family moments. That being said, no more overnights for us until next summer - at the earliest!!!

A Beautiful Day in the Park

We found ourselves with a very rare treat this weekend - absolutey no plans or obligations. So Sunday morning we packed up the kids (post nap of course) and headed to bird park in Walpole. This is a park I fondly remember from my childhood. Of course now they have added all kinds of play areas for young tots that weren't there in the olden days!

This park has what seems like miles of rolling green grass and we picked a lovely spot under a tree and just lounged for a couple of hours. The weather was beyond perfect - high 70s with a fabulous strong breeze. And the babies were in a great mood - they really seem to enjoy the outdoors!!! Words can't describe what an enjoyable morning we had. It is days like this that make me realize how very lucky I am to have been blessed with these amazing children and loving, supportive husband. Here's to hoping for many, many more family adventures like this one:

Ouch - Elmo did it!

Our sweet, sweet baby boy had his first injury. He was playing at his elmo music table and took a tumble forward hitting his forehead on the bottom of our glider chair. Ouch!

Looks like he wasn't too bothered by it though:

The offending table:

Splish Splash!!!

This past week, Grandma came over and we took the babies out in the yard to try out their super comfy, padded bottom baby pool with sun canopy (Mommy spares no expense when it comes to water sports). Aidan was reluctant at first, but once he got the idea he could splash the water at the rest of us...he came around! He even decided it was a good idea to roll about on the floor of the pool. Maddie loved it from the get go and had no fear. Of course the biggest hit was the special pool toys mommy got. Chewing on them that is (not the squirting feature so much).

4th of July

We had a fabulous first 4th of July with the two babies!! After a slightly rocky start (we should have packed the car the night before) and some proclomations from me that "this day was going to be stressful" - we hit the road. We were on our way to the Hingham parade. Our twin friends Bren & Emory joined us along with their Mom & Dad and the parade seemed to be a hit. Post -parade we headed back to Mimi & Buppy's house and had a yummy BBQ with all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Even Grandma & Grandpa joined us for the festivities (Kurt & I are very blessed to have families that get along so well). I must say I was proven wrong yet again and the babies were exceptionally well behaved despite minimal napping. We can't wait until next year when they'll hopefully have more interest in the parade itself. This year they were in slight awe of the large crowd and spent most of their time people watching.

We were having so much fun, I didn't take alot of photos though!


Maddie spent the entire parade in Uncle Karl's arms...good thing he is so tall:

Doesn't Aidan look handsome in his "Magnum PI" hawaiian shirt??

Later in the afternoon Aidan decided he preferred playing UNDER the exersaucer, rather than IN it!!

Cute Babes, New Tricks

Maddie and Aidan are acquiring new skills daily it seems. Aidan has mastered the transition from crawling to sitting and vice versa. He is so excited that he can maneuver around so easily. Now if only Maddie would stop using him as a stepstool. Maddie has started waving bye-bye and hi. She holds her hand backwards, which makes it all the more adorable! She also cruises along the couch and can walk as long as she is holding onto something. Now if only she would stop biting mama's toes.

We are trying to transition to table foods these days. There is often alot of gagging which results in the involuntary emptying of one or the other's stomach. But yet we persist (mostly due to dada's insistence as mama is a bit of a wimp when it comes to choking). So far the babes have had cheerios, american cheese, pieces of chicken & beef, apple & peach bits, waffles, nutri-grain bars and the list goes on. Tonight we try pasta & peas...(hmmmm...green puke??).

Maddie has now figured out how to open doors & drawers:

Aidan has mastered "pulling up" and he couldn't be prouder:

Peepa's Birthday!

Due to the croup and some really bad colds, we haven't posted in a bit. But we are all on the mend and ready to catch up! The other weekend Aunt Janet came and stayed with us. She brought Maddie & Aidan some gorgeous piggie banks and a puppet doggie that barks Old MacDonald. The first of the babies' birthday gifts...I can't believe soon they will be a year old.

That same weekend we celebrated Peepa's 62nd (GULP) birthday. Below is a photo of Peepa and all of his grandchildren: