New shoes

Now that our kids are walking, we go to a park or play area just about every day. As some of you may have heard, Seattle gets a fair amount of rain and that means that even on sunny days the ground can be moist. Rose and August's soft-soled indoor shoes were getting soggy outside so this week they each got a pair of Merrells for outside play. Here's how Rose felt about her new shoes. They felt awkward and made her stumble at first and that made her mad. She wouldn't walk in them for a while but calmed down when she got outside.
Here's a shot of Rose's shoes. We tried to avoid pink but in the end, these were the shoes that fit. Augie was asleep when we took this pics. We'll post his feet soon.

Visit to Dr. Kara

Today August and Rose had their first dental appointment. It may seem kind of early for them to be visiting the dentist but both the American Dental Association and the dental clinic which is part of Becky's old workplace recommend an appointment by a child's first birthday. Becky did lots of dental referrals for toddlers when she worked as a nurse at High Point Medical Clinic, so it seemed right to do the same for our kids. We chose to have them seen at High Point Dental Clinic because the staff there specializes in treating children - something Becky grew to appreciate when her office was below the dental exam room and she got to hear the yowling of little dental patients which the staff copes with every day. August and Rose were troopers and only yowled every so slightly. Here we are posing with Dr. Kara (who's last name we never remember, but we don't think she cares) and Quinh the dental assistant. Rose and August are busy exchanging the duck and whale toys they got from the dentist after the appointment. Our photographer for the above photo and kid-holder for the dental appointments was our friend Kristen who works downstairs in the medical clinic. She often helps out with Rose and August and they are always happy to see her. Here she and Rose hang out in the waiting room before our name was called.

Toilet Readin'

You probably thought only adults read while taking care of nature's callings. Well, as you can see here, Auggie is an already an avid reader during toiletting time.

Books are the one thing we've found of late that will keep him occupied--and his hands from wandering into things--while he's having a poopy diaper changed.

Visit from (Daddy's) Cousin Faith

Rob's cousin faith is in town to visit her sister Pauline, and she came over Saturday for a few hours to meet the twins and shoot the breeze. Unfortunately the weather was terrible, so we didn't get to take a walk with her like we had hoped, but we had a good time talking while watching the kids play.

Faith brought the kiddos some books which they seem to really like. Here she is introducing them to one of the stories.

Because some days you get stuck in Tupperware...

...you gotta' learn to climb out. Today while I was changing Rose, August went to the kitchen cabinets, got out a plastic container, sat down in it and got stuck. By the time I got the camera he'd lost interest in his predicament and had moved on to the purple containers.

Since the kids are now walking quite a bit without holding on (slowly, tentatively and for short distances) I decided it was time to work on climbing. Afterall, you can't always have your mom or dad around to pull you out of the Tupperware! So we threw all the pillows and couch cushions on the floor and practiced climbing around on them. Rosie was a little less enthusiastic than August.


Yesterday we practiced some climbing and killed time at the REI kids' play area. Rose and August loved playing, watching the older kids run around and banging on the picture windows that overlook the store's entrance. We highly recommend this spot to moms and kids who need an indoor getaway for a couple of hours. It's right next to World Wrapps which makes great fruit smoothies and just down the hall from the restrooms which include family rooms. Here are Rose and August in the play canoe.

Some pics

Despite a busy weekend which included a birthday party, a nature walk, and two Easter events including an egg hunt, we failed to take a single picture. Guess we were just having too much fun to get out the camera. Here instead are two pictures from around the house this week.

First is Rose smearing her morning snack on the fridge.








Next is August coming for the camera. He was double-fisting the sippy cups of milk having wrestled Rose's away from her.

Brushin' those teeth

We've been brushing the babies' teeth before bed for several months now, but until last night they'd never tried to do it themselves. In the chaos of getting them ready for bed, they seized their toothbrushes when I wasn't looking and went to town brushing away. They even exchanged brushes a couple of times and went right back to work. It was an exciting development because they enjoyed brushing their own teeth much more than having one of us do it and did a better job of it.

Rose had a little trouble remembering which end of the toothbrush went in her mouth, but she got it figured out without any help.

April Fun Day

Sunday we took our first trip to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. The kids really liked seeing the animals, most of which were pretty active and they especially liked playing in the Zoomazium kids area. We ran into another set of twins, Max and Emma, whose parents had been in our Expecting Multiples class at UW. It was great to see them healthy, happy and scrambling around too.


We tried to set up a posed photo with the elephant, but Augie just took off after the camera. This weekend both August and Rose have been more adventurous about letting go of the furniture and walking for longer stretches. Augie was having none of staying in one place.


Rosie, however, stood still to inspect the elephant's trunk.


Here's Rosie at the Food Pavilion chomping on a plastic bag.