Some updated photos of Clara and Lucy

It has been a long time since I have posted.  Things have been really busy and there are almost always lots of competing things to do.  So, here are a few photos that might be interesting.

The girls got their first fashion accessories in the form of stylish headbands, courtesy of their Grandma.

They are also appropriate dinner attire.

The girls are actually pretty good about leaving them on - you can see Clara was checking it out.

I bought Sheepish way back when we were living in Princeton with the hope that one day a little one would cuddle up to him just like the girls are doing in these pictures.  Lucy lounging on him above and Clara taking a little rest on him below.

The girls squirm a lot when we change them.  This can be a test for Stacey since she is home with them all day, so she has started turning on the camera on her iphone while she changes them and the girls view their own image on the screen.  The result is an occasional self portrait as you can see here, with Lucy's artistic work above and Clara's below.

The girls ready for the morning walk.

Even more ready for the walk.

They knew some big fun was in the works, but had no idea how wonderful Costco could be.

Clara is having the time of her life while Lucy is taking it all in.  They actually love going to any store to ride in the cart and watch what everyone is doing.

My cousin Mary hosts a wonderful family gathering at her house outside Albany, NY nearly every summer.  This was the first chance for Clara and Lucia to meet their first cousins, not to mention the rest of my mother's side of the family.  They had a great time.  It is a rare occasion to have all the cousins together.  Front row:  Benedict and Flora.  Middle:  Kyra holding Lucy, Eryn and Nolan.  Back: Evan holding Simon, Liam holding Clara and May.  We spent time in Vermont following this and each set of cousins was able to visit.  Their cousins made the girls laugh harder than we have ever seen them do before.

Cousin Peter was also visiting in Vermont, so they got to spend some time together.  Hopefully they will find more to do together as they get older.

Stacey and I celebrated our 12th anniversary on September 1.  We decided to take the girls out for a family dinner at a really nice restaurant here in Silver Spring, at the fashionable hour of 5:30.  The girls loved it.  There was nobody sitting by us when we got there, but when people arrived both of the girls gawked at them and eavesdropped on their conversations - although not very subtly.

The restaurant was very accommodating to us and snapped this picture before we  had dinner.  For now Clara and Lucy are good eating out since they are so fascinated with what is going on around them.  It was really nice to pull ourselves together and all be out for dinner.

More pictures.

Not much of an update now, but I thought I would post a few more pictures.

Clara was enjoying this moment.  I think Lucy was too, but just not cooperative.  Stacey was doing  a crazy dance to ensure smiles.

Clara.

Clara on the horse.

Clara looking through Busy Town!

Both of the girls love crawling across the kitchen to open the  stove drawer.  That will be secured soon!

Welcoming committee.

Clara in the perfect basket.

Clara looking like a neighborhood thug and Lucy trying to restrain her.

Here they are standing up playing with Busy Town.  We had to be quick for this photo.

Nothing is more entertaining to Clara than her own reflection.  Luckily, our front door  has a shiny kickplate!

The girls have yet to learn about the dangers of leaning too far forward in a rocking chair.

Lucy loving the rocking chair.

Clara and Lucia turn 1!

On Friday (July 26), Clara and Lucia turned 1.  It was fun to have Grammie and Grampa Diehl here to celebrate with us.  They came on Tuesday night and were able to stay until Sunday.  Seems like they had a good time with the girls.  Here are some of the recent photos of birthday activities.

Lucia and the joy of ribbon.

Clara in motion with a new butterfly toy.

The girls are opening a present from Grammie and Grampa - they loved tearing into the paper and chewing on the bath/pool butterflies. 

We gave the girls some more books - they were just as excited as you would imagine.  Actually, the wrapping paper made the whole experience worth it for them. 

Click, Clack, Moo:  Cows that Type.  This is one of our favorites.  We have yet to see if they approve.

Here is their cute birthday cake, with Ben and Jerry's of course, possibly a nod to their Vermont heritage or just the fact that their parents love ice cream.

My mother made the cake and I think Stacey provided the decoration.

A behind-the-scenes moment.  Thanks so careful planning, girls were completely surprised.

These hats were first worn by Stacey and me at our baby shower.  Stacey made sure to put them in a safe place to save for birthdays.

They stayed on their heads for a fairly short time.

Grammie with two squirmy kids.

Grammie and Grampa with the girls before they had to head home.

Unrelated to the birthday, the girls discovered, and enjoyed, a stack of magazines that Stacey had in the living room.

I love that Lucia is reading the edition of the Washingtonian that features "Great Dates."  Something completely irrelevant for anyone in this household for a while.

Few new photos

With some prodding from Stacey, I am posting a few updates to the blog.  Of course there are lots of things I am hoping to post, but somehow things seem busier to me these days.

In the mornings, or when the girls wake up from naps we will sometimes put them in the same crib.  They seem to like that.  It also might buy us a little time to get things ready for the next activity!

Clara is pushing down on the mesh bumper we got for their cribs.  We found that they both frequently slept with their arms and legs hanging out between the bars.  This was supposed to keep them in their cribs and it also is breathable, so it is safer than old bumpers.  Anyway, now they find it enjoyable to sprawl out with their arms and legs resting on top of the bumper, while still poking through the slats in the crib.  It really looks pretty comfortable, although not what it was designed for.

 

Lots of times they are all business.  This is in their play room.  We now have an octagonal fence to contain them.  It seems like it will work well for a while.  I am sure they will be pulling themselves up to standing position using the fence very soon.

We are working on the concept of sharing, but it is hard when there are limited resources, such as only one shoe box.  They both have pretty good grips on it!

Mobility!

This afternoon, when I came home from work, I found that Clara and Lucia had made a major  forward advancement (pun intended).  For the past week or so they have been trying different techniques to move themselves around the floor.  Clara is especially adept at turning herself in place (Grandma Dalea has nicknamed her Spinner) and both of them have been rolling and pushing themselves backwards until they get stuck under furniture.

I was so surprised to see Lucia's breakthrough when I was sitting on the living room floor and she propelled herself into the kitchen with a pretty good crawl and started pushing the high chairs around.  Granted, our house if pretty small and the kitchen table is only 10 feet from the rug where we were sitting, but this is a big development since we have been able to count on setting them down and having them be in the same place for a while.  Clara was doing it too, getting her knees under her to start to move forward.

Luckily, two days ago we put in a playyard (basically an indoor fence) in our  play room so they can be contained there.  I also made a trip out to our shed to put in a gate in their doorway to make sure they don't escape while we are changing diapers.

It is fun to see them making advances every day, both in their motor skills and their interactions with us.  Also alarming.

A slightly awkward moment for Lucia.

Lucia with a better command of the situation.

Clara giving it a try.  She ended up stuck under the chair in the background.

Here she is halfway under. 

Maggie looking very pleased about the crawling development.  This is just the start.

Following five years in our shed, the baby gate is making its debut.