Sandy here:
The girls still love peekaboo (I have visions of them being in high school and me saying "Where's Tava?" although then I don't think it will be as funny--there might be grounding involved), and they have a new twist on the classic. Watch carefully and you will also see some crazy dancing (aka jumping). You will also notice a large shoe in the video--that's mine. The girls love to cart our shoes around, sometimes making us wear them, sometimes wearing them as their own handshoes and sometimes trying to wear and walk with them on their feet.
These sorts of games/interactions happen at our house on a regular basis, but usually by the time I try to capture it, the girls have moved on to hair pulling, toy stealing, or their new favorite: "almost" biting.
I especially like Tava's crazy laughter--you sure wouldn't want to meet her in the jungle alone at night!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
They Walk!
Sandy here:
So, Analee took her first steps mid-April and her sister followed a few days later. Once Analee discovered that walking would allow her nearly unprecedented hoarding capability she was all for it. She quickly decided that crawling was so "last week." Tava on the other hand, took her first steps and decided it was too much work--crawling was much faster and there was no possibility of falling. Don't get me wrong--she loved to walk--just with help. "Fingers" we would call it. She would sit on the floor, stretch her arms up and scream "Uhhhhhh" until we would walk with her. Finally a couple weeks ago she realized she didn't need us after all. As is the case with the 2nd child doing something, it took me a little while to get video of it.
This video is a good slice into the girls' world.
1. They love Miliya--especially Tava. And Miliya does very well with them.
2. You can never just do something with one girl--the other one always likes to get involved.
3. The best toy is WHATEVER MY SISTER HAS.
No honest, 5 seconds after this video was done, they were okay. (I admit though, I did feel a bit like Kate of Jon & Kate plus 8 near the end...)
So, Analee took her first steps mid-April and her sister followed a few days later. Once Analee discovered that walking would allow her nearly unprecedented hoarding capability she was all for it. She quickly decided that crawling was so "last week." Tava on the other hand, took her first steps and decided it was too much work--crawling was much faster and there was no possibility of falling. Don't get me wrong--she loved to walk--just with help. "Fingers" we would call it. She would sit on the floor, stretch her arms up and scream "Uhhhhhh" until we would walk with her. Finally a couple weeks ago she realized she didn't need us after all. As is the case with the 2nd child doing something, it took me a little while to get video of it.
This video is a good slice into the girls' world.
1. They love Miliya--especially Tava. And Miliya does very well with them.
2. You can never just do something with one girl--the other one always likes to get involved.
3. The best toy is WHATEVER MY SISTER HAS.
No honest, 5 seconds after this video was done, they were okay. (I admit though, I did feel a bit like Kate of Jon & Kate plus 8 near the end...)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Impossibility
Sandy here:
I'm posting this video not only because I think it's cute (the girls both love this yellow chair), but because it shows three important things:
1. The impossibility of filming anything--once the camera is introduced it all changes. (Tava had been sitting in her chair taking apart the plastic ball and putting it together, with some good grunts and facial expressions).
2. The girls outgrew their Duke wear, so Daddy came to the rescue with National Champion t-shirts.
3. Even though our front room is totally overrun with baby toys, we do have them listen to cool adult music.
It's just a matter of time before they demand their own ipod.
I'm posting this video not only because I think it's cute (the girls both love this yellow chair), but because it shows three important things:
1. The impossibility of filming anything--once the camera is introduced it all changes. (Tava had been sitting in her chair taking apart the plastic ball and putting it together, with some good grunts and facial expressions).
2. The girls outgrew their Duke wear, so Daddy came to the rescue with National Champion t-shirts.
3. Even though our front room is totally overrun with baby toys, we do have them listen to cool adult music.
It's just a matter of time before they demand their own ipod.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Another Fun Game (with Daddy this time)
Sandy here:
As you can see from this video, Tava loves to control her environment. I love her "hug" near the end. You can also see that we've given up all pretense that the front room is actually an adult room.
Who knew we had such a powerful daughter?
As you can see from this video, Tava loves to control her environment. I love her "hug" near the end. You can also see that we've given up all pretense that the front room is actually an adult room.
Who knew we had such a powerful daughter?
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Happy Mother's Day!
Sandy here:
Last year for Father's Day we met another family in town and had brunch. The girls were angels--stayed in their carseats for about an hour (napped a bit) and then sat calmly on our laps when we took them out.
Fast forward eleven months. The girls are at a fun age, but also a challenging one--they are old enough to be very mobile and have very well defined wills, but young enough to not take direction. (I'm sure we'll be able to rely on them taking direction by oh, say, college.) So when these same friends we had Father's Day brunch with last year suggested that we go out to brunch, my first thought was "Great! That would be fun!" and my next thought was "That means we have approximately 30 minutes to sit down, order, eat and converse before the girls decide they're done, squirm out of their highchairs (who designs the highchairs in restaurants?) and throw a tantrum (yes, we're in that fun phase as well)." So instead we had people over to our house. Doug was in charge of everything and I pretty much just had to show up. The day was gorgeous--our first real "summery" feeling kind of day. We even had our friends Jonny and Corey from Denver make an impromptu appearance.
Partway through brunch we realized that it was getting hot and still very sunny--we needed a hat intervention. What's the natural hat to wear on Mother's Day? Sombreros of course.
Even Daddy got in on the hat action:
The girls love their new playground:
During brunch there started to be much talk of our little fiberglass trailer. To make a very long story short, Doug and I purchased a trailer several years ago. It was in horrible shape (think green inside and not from the paint) so we gutted it and started over. Our intentions were good, and we made great progress although it took a long time to get anything done. However, as soon as we found out we were having twins, we realized that the trailer was going to be too small for our family. And so it sat, incomplete and unused, on our driveway. Once it got parked there after the move, it never made it out of the driveway. Until today.
Jonny and Corey are now the proud owners of the little guy:
And I'm reminded of the old saying (modified a bit)--you know the two happiest days in a trailer owner's life? The day he buys it and the day he sells it.
I had a fabulous Mother's Day--best wishes to all the mothers out there!
Last year for Father's Day we met another family in town and had brunch. The girls were angels--stayed in their carseats for about an hour (napped a bit) and then sat calmly on our laps when we took them out.
Fast forward eleven months. The girls are at a fun age, but also a challenging one--they are old enough to be very mobile and have very well defined wills, but young enough to not take direction. (I'm sure we'll be able to rely on them taking direction by oh, say, college.) So when these same friends we had Father's Day brunch with last year suggested that we go out to brunch, my first thought was "Great! That would be fun!" and my next thought was "That means we have approximately 30 minutes to sit down, order, eat and converse before the girls decide they're done, squirm out of their highchairs (who designs the highchairs in restaurants?) and throw a tantrum (yes, we're in that fun phase as well)." So instead we had people over to our house. Doug was in charge of everything and I pretty much just had to show up. The day was gorgeous--our first real "summery" feeling kind of day. We even had our friends Jonny and Corey from Denver make an impromptu appearance.
Partway through brunch we realized that it was getting hot and still very sunny--we needed a hat intervention. What's the natural hat to wear on Mother's Day? Sombreros of course.
Even Daddy got in on the hat action:
The girls love their new playground:
During brunch there started to be much talk of our little fiberglass trailer. To make a very long story short, Doug and I purchased a trailer several years ago. It was in horrible shape (think green inside and not from the paint) so we gutted it and started over. Our intentions were good, and we made great progress although it took a long time to get anything done. However, as soon as we found out we were having twins, we realized that the trailer was going to be too small for our family. And so it sat, incomplete and unused, on our driveway. Once it got parked there after the move, it never made it out of the driveway. Until today.
Jonny and Corey are now the proud owners of the little guy:
And I'm reminded of the old saying (modified a bit)--you know the two happiest days in a trailer owner's life? The day he buys it and the day he sells it.
I had a fabulous Mother's Day--best wishes to all the mothers out there!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
New Favorite Game
Sandy here:
Just a quick video--this is the girls' new favorite game.
The funny thing is that they don't switch places. It's always Analee outside, Tava inside. They love this game so much that if Tava starts to do the "pop up" thing and Analee is across the room (even if she's doing something fun) she will stop what she's doing and go over to play with Tava. Also, Tava is always the one to end the game. By the way, the sound you hear in the background is our dryer--gotta love small houses!
Just a quick video--this is the girls' new favorite game.
The funny thing is that they don't switch places. It's always Analee outside, Tava inside. They love this game so much that if Tava starts to do the "pop up" thing and Analee is across the room (even if she's doing something fun) she will stop what she's doing and go over to play with Tava. Also, Tava is always the one to end the game. By the way, the sound you hear in the background is our dryer--gotta love small houses!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Bad Bunny
Sandy here:
We put the girls to bed about half an hour ago. They are really starting to "talk" to each other and there was about 20 minutes of chatting, then Tava fell asleep (she usually falls asleep first and wakes up second), so now Analee has been talking to herself, as well as trying to move the crib and use the wall as a drum. She's not upset, just being really funny. Anyway. . .
Today we went to the mall to get the girls' picture taken with the Easter Bunny. They did well at Christmastime with Santa. Apparently big guy with white beard okay, big white bunny not....
Tava had a complete meltdown, and Analee was fine until we tried to get a photo of her alone:
Then we tested out our new backpacks--it has been a long winter--Doug and I couldn't wait to do something springlike. The girls had a great time--they got to see several dogs (they call them "da" and wave at them). I had Tava and Doug had Analee:
Analee--lulled to sleep by Daddy's gait:
Tava--awake and excited about seeing all the "das":
Recently I acquired a special "twin" set of camp chairs. I finally brought them in and the girls love them. They can kill lots of time getting into the chair, getting out of the chair, getting into the chair, getting out of the chair....
(note the cupholders--they will be perfect this summer for kickin' back in the yard and enjoying a cold one)
Analee can also whittle away hours now that she has discovered books. This is one of her favorite positions:
She goes and gets a book, comes over, climbs into my lap, helps me read it by turning the pages, goes to get another book...We can do this for a long time. In fact, on Friday I kept track of the books I read in this manner (we only had a few available in the front room where this was happening--most of the books are kept in their room):
Maisy Drives -- 10 times
Global Babies -- 8 times
But Not the Hippopotamus-- 7 times
Counting Kisses-- 3 times
Tava isn't as into the books, although sometimes she will listen while I read them to her sister, and she does like the touch n feel ones. What she is into these days is ANYTHING Analee has (with the exception of books). Thank goodness she has a sister around to point out how cool all the toys are. If I could get inside their heads, this is what I think Tava would be thinking:
What should I play with? We don't really have anything fun or cool, or, hey--why is Analee playing with the beep-beep? That's MY beep-beep! Get off of that!
This is usually followed by a lunge at her sister, fangs bared, in an attempt to get what Tava perceives as rightfully hers.
I spend a lot of time regulating these days.
And finally, a nod to Doug's team who is alive to fight another day:
We put the girls to bed about half an hour ago. They are really starting to "talk" to each other and there was about 20 minutes of chatting, then Tava fell asleep (she usually falls asleep first and wakes up second), so now Analee has been talking to herself, as well as trying to move the crib and use the wall as a drum. She's not upset, just being really funny. Anyway. . .
Today we went to the mall to get the girls' picture taken with the Easter Bunny. They did well at Christmastime with Santa. Apparently big guy with white beard okay, big white bunny not....
Tava had a complete meltdown, and Analee was fine until we tried to get a photo of her alone:
Then we tested out our new backpacks--it has been a long winter--Doug and I couldn't wait to do something springlike. The girls had a great time--they got to see several dogs (they call them "da" and wave at them). I had Tava and Doug had Analee:
Analee--lulled to sleep by Daddy's gait:
Tava--awake and excited about seeing all the "das":
Recently I acquired a special "twin" set of camp chairs. I finally brought them in and the girls love them. They can kill lots of time getting into the chair, getting out of the chair, getting into the chair, getting out of the chair....
(note the cupholders--they will be perfect this summer for kickin' back in the yard and enjoying a cold one)
Analee can also whittle away hours now that she has discovered books. This is one of her favorite positions:
She goes and gets a book, comes over, climbs into my lap, helps me read it by turning the pages, goes to get another book...We can do this for a long time. In fact, on Friday I kept track of the books I read in this manner (we only had a few available in the front room where this was happening--most of the books are kept in their room):
Maisy Drives -- 10 times
Global Babies -- 8 times
But Not the Hippopotamus-- 7 times
Counting Kisses-- 3 times
Tava isn't as into the books, although sometimes she will listen while I read them to her sister, and she does like the touch n feel ones. What she is into these days is ANYTHING Analee has (with the exception of books). Thank goodness she has a sister around to point out how cool all the toys are. If I could get inside their heads, this is what I think Tava would be thinking:
What should I play with? We don't really have anything fun or cool, or, hey--why is Analee playing with the beep-beep? That's MY beep-beep! Get off of that!
This is usually followed by a lunge at her sister, fangs bared, in an attempt to get what Tava perceives as rightfully hers.
I spend a lot of time regulating these days.
And finally, a nod to Doug's team who is alive to fight another day:
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Just a Regular Day
Sandy here:
This past weekend we were hanging out on Saturday morning. We decided to shoot some video--the following three videos are in order and are just a small taste of "hangin' with the twinkies". They were shot within about 15 minutes of each other. Tava was recovering from a cold, so she's not in prime movie form.
Analee thought Miliya dancing was one of the funniest things she had seen:
Even though Analee is the focus of this next one, you get a good sense of some of the chaos in our house:
Tava working with single minded determination. If you pay careful attention to the end, you can just see Doug's foot stopping Analee from running into Tava with the beep-beep:
Phew! I'm tired just watching those!
This past weekend we were hanging out on Saturday morning. We decided to shoot some video--the following three videos are in order and are just a small taste of "hangin' with the twinkies". They were shot within about 15 minutes of each other. Tava was recovering from a cold, so she's not in prime movie form.
Analee thought Miliya dancing was one of the funniest things she had seen:
Even though Analee is the focus of this next one, you get a good sense of some of the chaos in our house:
Tava working with single minded determination. If you pay careful attention to the end, you can just see Doug's foot stopping Analee from running into Tava with the beep-beep:
Phew! I'm tired just watching those!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Future Careers, Scary Version
Sandy here:
Lately the girls have exhibited a new ability. One they love and are quite good at, although to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure this is the career I want our girls to aspire to:
Lately the girls have exhibited a new ability. One they love and are quite good at, although to be perfectly honest, I'm not sure this is the career I want our girls to aspire to:
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Bear
Sandy here:
I know I have to post Christmas and Birthday pictures, but in the meantime, here's a video of the girls with one of their favorite toys. They have had this toy since they were only a few months old.
I can't wait to reciprocate to the bear giver...
I know I have to post Christmas and Birthday pictures, but in the meantime, here's a video of the girls with one of their favorite toys. They have had this toy since they were only a few months old.
I can't wait to reciprocate to the bear giver...
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Skiing
Doug:
Did you notice all of my posts involve things that I already like to do that I involve the girls in? That's how I view parenthood, I'm raising a support crew. But for now, I have to push or pull them everywhere.
Saturday's experiment was cross-country skiing. We have a very nice golf course here in Durango that grooms a cross country course/track once the snow flies. It's a good way to stave off cabin fever during the long winter here; in a good year we can get 3 months of skiing in and I can do a good workout at lunch. So when we were looking at buying a jogging stroller/bike trailer, I wanted to get one that could also serve as a cross country ski sled. This way we can ski at the golf course with the girls and even take them on some mellow backcountry or hut trips. So this fall we bought the ski attachment for the Chariot and turned me into a draft animal.
Here are the photos. The girls seemed to have a great time. It was about 25 degrees and cloudy, but no sign they got cold. I don't know how they could have gotten cold wearing everything they were wearing. Tava actually fell asleep and was sleeping so deeply it scared Sandy; she had to check her to make sure she was really breathing.
"Let's do another lap!!!"
Momma didn't have to pull
Parenthood in Durango.
It's a one-Doug open sleigh.
Sandy took some video that we'll try and get up later.
Did you notice all of my posts involve things that I already like to do that I involve the girls in? That's how I view parenthood, I'm raising a support crew. But for now, I have to push or pull them everywhere.
Saturday's experiment was cross-country skiing. We have a very nice golf course here in Durango that grooms a cross country course/track once the snow flies. It's a good way to stave off cabin fever during the long winter here; in a good year we can get 3 months of skiing in and I can do a good workout at lunch. So when we were looking at buying a jogging stroller/bike trailer, I wanted to get one that could also serve as a cross country ski sled. This way we can ski at the golf course with the girls and even take them on some mellow backcountry or hut trips. So this fall we bought the ski attachment for the Chariot and turned me into a draft animal.
Here are the photos. The girls seemed to have a great time. It was about 25 degrees and cloudy, but no sign they got cold. I don't know how they could have gotten cold wearing everything they were wearing. Tava actually fell asleep and was sleeping so deeply it scared Sandy; she had to check her to make sure she was really breathing.
"Let's do another lap!!!"
Momma didn't have to pull
Parenthood in Durango.
It's a one-Doug open sleigh.
Sandy took some video that we'll try and get up later.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Winter girls
Hi, Doug here:
Okay, long time readers will remember this picture from last winter when the girls were like 3 weeks old:
However, now that they're a bit older, we can really enjoy the winter and begin the process of training them for the 2034 and 2038 Winter Olympic Games. They have to get used to being bundled up, of course, so we took them out for a jog in the Chariot last weekend in their fleecy hats and Patagucci jackets. The temp was about 25 degrees and overcast, but they seemed to handle it well:
And then on Tuesday we got about 30 feet of snow in Durango (okay, it was 18 inches) and Sandy and the girls got to enjoy a snow day from work. Sandy bundled them up in their "climbing Mount Everest" outfits (complete with goggles for that harsh glare off the snow) and took them out to hang out in the snow. They were kind of like the kid from A Christmas Story that couldn't put his arms down, but they had a good time sitting and checking it all out:
The plan now is to take them cross country skiing in the jogging stroller this weekend. The ski track has been laid at the golf course and we're jonesing to get out on the snow. Look for a follow-up next week.
Okay, long time readers will remember this picture from last winter when the girls were like 3 weeks old:
However, now that they're a bit older, we can really enjoy the winter and begin the process of training them for the 2034 and 2038 Winter Olympic Games. They have to get used to being bundled up, of course, so we took them out for a jog in the Chariot last weekend in their fleecy hats and Patagucci jackets. The temp was about 25 degrees and overcast, but they seemed to handle it well:
And then on Tuesday we got about 30 feet of snow in Durango (okay, it was 18 inches) and Sandy and the girls got to enjoy a snow day from work. Sandy bundled them up in their "climbing Mount Everest" outfits (complete with goggles for that harsh glare off the snow) and took them out to hang out in the snow. They were kind of like the kid from A Christmas Story that couldn't put his arms down, but they had a good time sitting and checking it all out:
The plan now is to take them cross country skiing in the jogging stroller this weekend. The ski track has been laid at the golf course and we're jonesing to get out on the snow. Look for a follow-up next week.
Look at them go!
Sandy here:
This morning was so fun with the girls, I had to capture some of it on video. They get so proud of themselves when they accomplish something:
I see even more chasing in my near future.
This morning was so fun with the girls, I had to capture some of it on video. They get so proud of themselves when they accomplish something:
I see even more chasing in my near future.
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