We Love Apples

At the Aquarium

Only 39 Shopping Days!

It's hard to believe Christmas is so swiftly approaching! This post is for those of you who are ahead of the game when it comes to holiday shopping and who might want some inspiration for twins gifts. (And the rest of you, the ones who wait until the last minute to buy gifts, you can come back to this post in a month.)

Of course, please don't take this post as a demand or even request that you buy gifts for the girls. That is totally optional. This is intended solely to help out anyone who already wanted to get them gifts and wasn't quite sure what to buy.

Overall rule of thumb: We tend to buy toys that are a bit above their age range (which will be 18 months at Christmas) -- then they'll still have fun with the new toys, and they'll have time to grow into them. That's been working out pretty well for us. Big hits these days are stacking toys, puzzles, kid-friendly musical instruments, pretend-play sets (barns, dollhouses, the like), crayons and coloring books, and stuffed animals. (Sophia is obsessed with puppies and penguins. Evelyn prefers baby dolls.)

The girls love books and can always use more. New bedtime books would be great, as well as picture books and first words books.

Clothes: They're wearing size 12-18 months now, so go with that if you're getting them winter clothes. (Go larger if you want to pick up clothes for them to wear next summer.) Matching clothes? Non-matching clothes? We don't care.

For some specific ideas, you can visit the twins' Amazon.com wish list. (It's under Sophia's name, but it's really for both of them.)

Some other great sites we love for buying the girls lots of stuff they don't need:

oompa.com
gymboree.com
potterybarnkids.com
robeez.com

Let the shopping begin!

September and October Pictures Posted

Check the photo site (http://airanw.com/babies/babies.php) for updated pictures of the girls (lots of pictures!). New videos will be posted soon.

Happy Halloween!

Cutie Pies

Sophia and Evelyn had a great time playing with Dad yesterday while Mom was off at a choir performance.

All's Well That Ends Well Update

Evelyn's surgery today went quite well. It was very quick, and Evie seems to be recovering nicely. And, as you can see, she loves the get-well balloons Grandma Joan and Grandpa Rich sent her. (Sophia loves them, too.)

All's Well That Ends Well

For those who don't already know, Evelyn is scheduled for some minor surgery tomorrow morning. She's having a skin tag removed from her nether regions. The procedure is quite safe and non-invasive, but they will have to knock her out to do it. (I wish they could just use a local anasthetic, but I guess we can't say, "Now hold still, honey!" and expect her to cooperate.) I'll try to keep you all posted on how it goes. We're hoping she'll be back to normal in time for Halloween!

In other news, Sophia's favorite word these days is "puppy." Evelyn's is "baby." Give us a call sometime -- the girls love to talk on the phone, and if you're lucky, Sophia might even say "hello!" to you. Po is Sophie's favorite Teletubby. Both girls are about a heartbeat away from standing independently, which means walking is just around the corner. (Heaven forbid!)

Please Hold Your Applause

Sophia and Evelyn enjoyed their first concert yesterday: We attended Uncle David's concert with the Chicago Brass Choir. The girls enjoyed themselves, for the most part, although we're not so sure the people sitting near us were as enchanted with the girls' antics as we were. For example, once Evelyn got the hang of clapping, she wanted to clap through the entire concert. What's wrong with that? And can you blame Sophia for wanting to crawl around on the floor? Two hours is a long time for little girls to sit still, no matter how much fun clapping is. The concert was lovely, and I don't think the girls were too terribly disruptive, but it will be a while before we try to take them to another concert. (Five, six years?)

Through Evelyn's Lens

Evelyn is quite the budding photographer. Here are a few priceless shots she captured with my camera phone while we were enjoying Uncle David's concert last night. I think we need to set up a gallery show -- Evelyn is clearly a photography prodigy.

Shriners Hospital Check-Up

Evelyn and Sophia went to the Shriners Hospital today for the hospital's twice-a-year osteogenesis imperfecta clinic. The girls were thoroughly examined by the head OI specialist, a resident, and a physical therapist, and were declared to be just fine, thank you very much. No x-rays or other tests were deemed necessary at this time.

After the girls' appointment, we attended a lecture given by Sean Stephenson, a motivational speaker with severe OI. Sean is a great speaker who has some compelling insight into how our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs can have an affect on our ability to be happy and healthy.

The girls will return to the Shriners Hospital for their next check-up in April.

In other health news, Sophia and Evelyn's pediatrician told us last week that he thinks the girls have asthma. It seems to be a type of asthma that manifests only when a cold or other respiratory ailment is present, so we hope we won't have to worry too much about this new diagnosis. However, we'll be keeping a close eye on the girls to watch for any asthma symptoms.

September Video Preview: Twinkle, Twinkle

Go here to see Sophia sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" while Evelyn dances: http://airanw.com/babies/September2006/movies/twinkle.html

Seriously, we need to get these kids an agent.

(Technical note -- Airan says: "Let it load for a minute into cache, then refresh the window in order to see the video with no stuttering.")

Blackberry Eating in Late September

The girls both love blackberries, which is reasonable. Here's what I don't understand: Evelyn can eat them with relatively little carnage, but Sophia seems to view blackberries as paintbrushes, her face the canvas.


Blackberry Eating
by Galway Kinnell

I love to go out in late September
among fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries
to eat blackberries for breakfast,
the stalks very prickly, a penalty
they earn for knowing the black art
of blackberry-making; and as I stand among them
lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries
fall almost unbidden to my tongue,
as words sometimes do, certain peculiar words
like strengths or squinched,
many-lettered, one-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language
of blackberry-eating in late September.

And the winners are...

Uncle David and Jules tied for first place in the 2006 Name That Baby Challenge! They each had five correct answers. No one managed to get all six pictures right.

The answers:

Picture One:
Evelyn left, Sophia right

Picture Two: Sophia

Picture Three: Sophia left, Evelyn right

Picture Four: Sophia

Picture Five: Evelyn

Picture Six: Sophia left, Evelyn right.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

Name That Baby

Okay, smartie pants. You're so sure you can tell Sophie and Evie apart, are you? Here's your chance to prove it. Post your answers in the comments section. And yes, friends, this test will be graded.

Picture One:
Isn't it heartwarming how sisters always get along? So tell us, who's on the left and who's on the right?

Picture Two: That's a cutie pie if ever I saw one. But who is she?

Picture Three: Mommy's sweethearts, all dressed up for fall. But tell us, which is which?

Picture Four: Somebody sure loves her spoon. But who?

Picture Five: Both girls love to throw a bouncy ball. Can you tell us who this future pitcher is?

Picture Six: Out for a stroll on a windy day. But who are these lovely ladies?

Post your guesses in the comments sections, and we'll ridicule you, er, let you know your level of accuracy.

Bye bye bottle!

Well, today's dinner marks the first meal at which we had no bottle to finish up with. Instead we tried fancy new sippy cups with straws. Quite a milestone for little girls who used to drink their meals through a tube up the nose.

I guess they could try sticking the new straws up their noses to drink...and I somehow don't doubt that one of them will try in the near future...

Visiting Family

Sophie and Evie had a whirlwind weekend, visiting with Grandma Jan, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Shelia, Great-grandma Barbara and Great-grandpa Paul, Great-uncle Steve and Great-aunt Kim, Great-uncle Jon and Great-aunt Sarah, and cousins Lizzie, Allison, Laura, Katie, and Hilary. Thanks to everyone for spending time with us! It was great to see everyone, and the girls had a fantastic time.

Great-grandpa Paul, Grandma Jan with Sophia and Evelyn (and the penguin), and Great-grandma Barbara
(Notice that Sophia is identifying her eye)

Allison with Evelyn, Laura, Lizzie with Sophia, and Hilary in front

Nathan, Allison with Evelyn, Laura, Lizzie with Sophia, Airan, and Hilary in front

Shelia and Nathan with Pepper

The Eyes Have It

Sophia has a new word: eye. She unveiled it this morning while jabbing me in, yes, my eye. She prefers to say "eye" while jabbing me in the eye, but she's also willing to say it while jabbing herself in the eye. I can't wait for her daddy to get home from work so she'll have someone else to jab in the eye for a change.

I know I shouldn't need to say it, but of course this proves that Sophia is a genius.

15-month Update

Sophia and Evelyn had their 15-month check-up this morning. The stats:

Sophia:
Weight: 20 lbs., 8 oz.
Height: 29" (or 2'5")
25% percentile

Evelyn:
Weight: 20 lbs., 8 oz.
Height: 29.5" (or 2'5.5")
25% percentile

It's eerie how similar these girls are, and yet they're so different!

Spoons Day 2!

Slightly more success...well, emphasis on slight. Much fun to behold though should you not care about getting yogurt all over yourself, the floor, the dog, and whatever else should be around.