Guess what we're trying again? Yes, eating (semi)solid foods! Elena is completely on board and eats whatever we offer her. Clara isn't sure she likes eating from a spoon now, and tends to push out everything we try to put in that cute little mouth. Still, we keep offering her a few bites, and Elena is more than happy to eat whatever Clara doesn't want.

So far they are have had: rice cereal, yogurt, sweet potatoes, mangoes, bananas, and avocado. But they are still happiest with the bottles when they want some cuddles and comfort.

The girls were invited to their first easter egg dying party last weekend. We didn't get pictures of them there, but we did get some pictures of them playing earlier in the day before we left. We kept their dresses off until right before we went to the party, but they looked so cute in their shirts and tights - like little ballerinas, somehow!


This is just such a silly shot - but Clara adores looking at herself in the mirror, and so Christina was playing with her trying to catch that funny look. This was obviously minimal success, but it was too funny a picture not to share.

What could it be over on the left that causes such interest? Of course, it was one of the dogs. The girls stop whatever they are doing to just STARE whenever one of them comes along - then they both burst into smiles and giggles. Here, Amore is off camera lying on his back, and the girls couldn't get over looking at his belly.

And here's a shot of Elena just because she's cute - how much of a giraffe can she fit in her mouth? It's like she and Clara are constantly being scientists, trying to experiment with all of their surroundings.

No Theme, Just Pictures

We've been having a tough time around here overall. Both girls caught a version of the cold called RSV, which we have to keep a close eye on. There was some worry of Elena having pneumonia, but thankfully she didn't. Steve and Christina both caught a sore throat and coughs from the girls, so we haven't been up to a lot around here. But, the girls have still been adorable, so here are some shots:

Elena in pj's (when they feel sick, why torture them with real clothes?):

While Elena was taking a nap, Christina tried to teach Clara how to bang on a pot. Clara thought looking at Amore was more fun:
Although, on closer inspection the pot WAS kind of interesting:
Christina had knit some baby clothes before the girls arrived, and just re-earthed them. They are almost too small already! Here's Clara in some hand-knits:
Elena in her hand-knit kimono sweater:

And one shot of both together - aren't they just too cute for words, even when they aren't feeling well?

In Which We Sit Upright

Both girls are making strides toward sitting up on their own. Elena is a bit ahead of Clara on this front, but both of them are only hampered by their great desire to stand. They can balance sitting on their own (especially if they tripod by putting their hands down in front of them) but after a few seconds they think, "Hey, wouldn't it be even cooler to stand up?" and they arch their backs and try to figure out how to get us to hold them up again.

A twin mom friend of ours passed on their Bumbo seats to us to borrow, and that has lead to a little increased sitting in the house. Don't worry, we will never, never put the Bumbo seats up on a table or counter, only on the floor (thanks for all the warnings from everyone). It's so fun to see the girls upright and getting able to see their world from that position!

Here's Elena, surveying her territory while chomping on some teethers (her shirt says "Smart as a Fox" and we had to get it for the girls to share because they both ARE just so smart as foxes):

While Clara is not technically in the Bumbo here, but is instead in the Exersaucer, we had to include this because A) she's just as cute as can be, B) she's upright, and C) We had to show everyone the sweet look she gets on her face whenever she sees one of the dogs across the room. She's just trying to sweet-look them into coming over to visit her!

The girls had fun in their Bumbos side by side (although here they were captivated by a bird outside the window):

BUT, that was nothing compared to the fun of playing footsie when they faced each other. It's wonderful to see how these girls light up when they see eachother, and how they are starting to make each other so happy.

The cutest babies on the planet

The Nursery

We've been thinking for awhile that we should take some pictures of the nursery, since most of the pictures we put up are taken in our bedroom (which is now a second family room!) or in the living room. And truly, the girls do have a very nice room of their own, even if we've never shown it. So, here goes:

Although we didn't plan to go with a "theme," before we even found out about the girls we found this soft green color we liked at a paint store, and Christina painted the top part of the room and one solid wall in that color, leaving the rest the white it was before.

Then, our friend Melissa gave us a large copy of "Guess How Much I Love You," and we loved the colors and illustrations in that. So the girls got framed prints above their bed from the book, and the book itself hangs out over the changing pad/dresser.

Luckily, our friend Ona is a great artist, and she came over and helped Christina paint a tree on one wall of the nursery, in the style of the watercolor illustrations from the book.

The tree is a little hard to see now, but eventually we'll get rid of the futon (when the girls sleep through the night and we're not crashing in there so often between feedings!) and we'll make that a reading nook that is centered around the tree, rather than obscuring it.


One more head-on shot of the main activity area in the nursery - the changing station!

Finally, our friends gave us this beautiful print at our baby shower. We'd never seen this one, but Christina had long been a fan of the style and poetry of the Story People, and this was a perfect print for us.

In case you have trouble reading it, it says:

"For a long time there were only your footprints & laughter in our dreams & even from such small things, we knew we could not wait to love you forever."

What a perfect sentiment. We are exhausted and more uncertain of what the "right" way to parent is than ever, but as we keep saying: "We could be more sure, we could be more rested, but we could not be more happy."

What We've Been Up To

The girls are enjoying stories and songs more than ever. Their favorite songs are the "ABC" song and "Patty Cake" but they also love the Garden State soundtrack and listening to their French, Chinese, and Italian cds. So far, we haven't seen strong book preferences, but they really like looking at the pictures of most books if they are in a reading mood.

Clara and Elena have been looking ultra-cute lately. They stare at us (like the two pictures below) and then burst into giggles (it's hard to catch the second part on the camera - they laugh too much!

Up until Friday, we were still working on solid foods (both were okay with rice cereal, both loved bananas, and with avocados Clara liked them and Elena hated them!). However, after talking to the birth family and our doctor, we're starting to think that they have reflux, and that this is part of the reason they might be having a hard time sleeping. So, for now we are trying some medication and laying off the solid food to see if that makes any difference.

They've gotten awfully good with their bottles, though. They love to "help" us hold them. Most of the time, this gets a little in the way, but yesterday they started holding their own bottles for the first time!! They don't usually lie like this to eat, so they don't get this opportunity often, but we had to catch it for you in a photo.



And finally, here is Saint Elena. Doesn't she just look so benevolent here?

A Week of Firsts

This was our first week with both Steve and Christina back to work - we were able to shuffle schedules pretty well and ended up both getting work done and lots of good time with the babies. We are interviewing for someone to help us out a few hours a week, but overall it seems like things might work out pretty well, and we know how lucky we are to have a schedule that lets us do this.

But enough about our firsts - the girls had MUCH more exciting firsts this week. One was the purchase of an exersaucer, which we have been wanting for them ever since they became obsessed with standing up. They are just barely big enough for it - look at the fun they had today!

In another first that many of you have been waiting for, the girls had their first taste of (semi)solid food - rice cereal. They were showing all the classic signs of being ready for solids (getting hungry more often, having more tongue control, staring at us eat, etc.) and so we thought it was safe enough to try it. They get much more on themselves than in themselves, but it's still fun.




It may not look like they enjoyed it very much from these faces, but think of the daze that must arise when you move from milk to food!






And here is a bonus picture of each girl, just for the cuteness: