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. 

Social Worker Visit

This evening we had a visit from our social worker, who we started working with since early last summer when updated our home study.  We are required to submit photos and reports to the state of Maryland and Chinese government after the one month, three months, six months, one year, two years, three years and five years.

Our social worker visits (we had four last summer) have been really nice.  Some of the early ones were extensive when she was collecting information for the home study report she had to send to China.  It was a nice opportunity for us to think about our lives and how the girls would shape our futures (and vice versa, presumably).

Even though things are going really well, there is still some tension around having someone come to the house to check in on us.  She does not seem judgmental at all, so there is no reason to be nervous, but somehow it felt important to make a good impression.

It turned out to be a good opportunity for us to show her all the girls' tricks.  They are raising their hands above their heads when their grandma calls out to them "big girls."   They clap when we do, stick their tongues out and make a kissing noise when we do.  All very charming.

I think we passed the inspection - now we have to start preparing for our three-month visit.  We can't sit back and rely on the "big girl" routine when she comes back in September.  We're going to have to raise the bar a little bit.  Maybe we shouldn't have shown all the tricks this time - it might have been better to ration them.

Clara and Lucia Wrestle

Here is a little video of Clara and Lucia in a wrestling match from when we were in Nanchang.  As with all good encounters between siblings, eventually some tears are involved:  Clara and Lucia video

Clara is on the left.

Afternoon trip to the park

Clara and Lucia have been having a good time with Grandma Dalea and, thankfully, they are on a good schedule now and seem to be solidly convinced of which is day and which is night.

This afternoon I took the girls for a stroll after their afternoon nap while Stacey and Dalea ran some errands.  The girls love their stroller and the bucket swings at the neighborhood park.

The girls get pretty relaxed in the stroller.  I love Clara's posture. 

Lucia from above

Clara from above.