Silly Evie

Ever since Uncle David put coffee cup lids on their heads, the twins try to put almost everything on their heads! Toys, blankets, books, you name it. The other day, Evie tried to balance this cold toy on her head:




She's almost got it ...


With a little help, she did it! Next stop: charm school! Let's see her try that with a dictionary!

Look What Daddy Got on Ebay

Here are the twins, wearing a T shirt that Francis got several years ago. (Francis has been buying cute baby clothes for years!)

Books, Books, Everywhere

Gavin has learned that he can push the bookcase around - even when it's full of books! The other day he decided to take all the books out:

"Here's the last book! Green Eggs and Ham - I don't like eggs yet, and I don't know if I would want a green one, but I do like ham!"


"Hmm, what can I get into next?"

Gavin and Evie survey the scene:

Then Gavin decided to put some of the books back very methodically:

Later, the twins discovered how much noise they can make with the air-return vent:

Evie Walks & Flip-Phone Nostalgia

Big news: Late Friday afternoon, Evie took her first steps!!!! We were in the kitchen and she let go of the cabinet she was holding onto and walked toward me, twice. She took three steps the first time and four steps the second time! I can't wait to get it on video!

Later on in the weekend, I dug out an old relic:

"What's this?"

"Well, Gavin, that's Mommy's old flip phone from 1997."

"No way, Dad! You could actually make calls on this thing? It doesn't even have an address book, texting or ring tones!"

"Hmm, it keeps telling me 'no service' but I'll just keep pressing all the buttons anyway."

Evie says, "This old phone weighs almost as much as me!"

Gavin enjoyed carrying the phone around the house (trying to get a signal!):

Friday Cuteness

Evie had another RSV shot yesterday. The nurse always weighs her first, then calculates her dosage, and yesterday she weighed 16 lb, 6 oz! She is getting so big, at least to us. She is also so strong that when the nurse started to stick her with the needle, she wriggled and tightened up her thigh muscle and the needle actually bent. Wow!





Here is Gavin dancing:


Here is Gavin crawling under the coffee table, through the gap between the wicker baskets:

Twins Are The Greatest!

The twins got a set of maracas over the summer, but I had to put them away for awhile because Gavin would hit Evie over the head with them. (He doesn't know his own strength!) I took them out of hiding last week, with better success. Here is Evie holding them:



Gavin moved fast and grabbed them from her, but at least he didn't hit her:



Here is a rather long video of our babies being super-cute, if I do say so myself! The whole video is them giggling at each other after lunch last weekend. Watch all of it or part of it, but it will put a smile on your face!

Legendary Expressions

The twins have so much to say, but can't articulate it yet! I will interpret for them:

"What? Herbed Chicken again?"


"Oh, good - peach cobbler instead!"


"We're best buddies!" The twins love holding hands in their high chairs:


"Yay, my tummy is full now!"

Gavin loves to carry Francis' ginormous shoes around the house:

Big smiles:

"Oops, I must be getting bigger - if I sit up straight I'll bump my head on the high chair!"

Yoga for Everyone!

It is so interesting what the twins pick up on. Gavin has learned to do the yoga position "downward dog" from watching Evie do it (and hearing me make a big deal about it). Gavin also discovered his tummy a couple of weeks ago and will pat it if we ask him where his tummy is. He also wants to look at our tummies all the time now!

We have had to start spelling out certain words already. We spell out "cold toy" (the teething toys we keep in the freezer) because when I say it, Gavin will jump into my arms and point to the fridge excitedly. So we had better give him a cold toy!

Here's our boy in downward dog (Evie is telling him 'good job!'):


Here are the twins doing yoga together one morning:

Peek-a-Boo!

On another note, we have kept our bird feeders full this winter. (In the past we have decided to let the birds fend for themselves.) As a result we have regular visitors right outside our window. This is last Monday, after the snow:

We also have a new kind of bird that we had not seen before. We looked it up online and it called a "dark-eyed junco" aka, "snowbird," and it only visits Midwestern backyards in the winter! We think they're pretty neat!

The Journey to the Christmas Card Photo

As Christmas cards begin to arrive in mailboxes throughout the land, I thought it would be nice to share just how I managed to photograph two very mobile 13 month olds (with Evie also providing her perspective)...

First, I had this naive idea that Francis could tape wrapping paper to the wall, and we could sit the twins in front of it and take their picture. HA!!!! This is the only picture in which Gavin is actually sitting down and not standing up examining the wrapping paper, and / or Evie isn't crawling out of the frame.

"Hi, I'm Evie and I'll be your elf guide for my mom's crazy camera adventure."

"She thought that I would actually wear this silly hat! I said, NO WAY!"

"Ok, I caved in when she distracted me with my toy duck. But it was only for 30 seconds and then the hat was off again!"

"Here's my brother!"

"Is she done taking pictures yet, Gavin?"

"Was that Santa we just heard on the rooftop?"

"We love playing under the coffee table!"

"Just try and get us both looking at the same time!"

"Enough! I surrender!"

"Who wants to look at that camera when we have flashlights to play with?"


"Evie, don't you think Mom has taken enough pictures of us by now?"


"I sure hope so, Gavin! Here, you can have my shoe."

"Yay, she's finally done!"

Thanks for the commentary, kids. So after a day and a half of trying to get a candid shot, and 200 - 300 pictures (most deleted right away), I ended up with several to choose from. Now I am prepared for next year!

And, last but not least, here is the shot that Francis and I liked the most and used for our cards:

Peek-A-Boo!

The twins have discovered how much fun it is to play peek-a-boo with each other. Gavin will push the pack-n-play away from the wall so there is enough room for them to crawl all the way around it. Then they will peek around the corners and giggle at each other. It is the CUTEST thing!!!!

Unfortunately, it is hard to get a good video of them doing this. So here are some photos:

Here they are having a great time, except Gavin is in the pack-n-play:

Here is Evie playing peek-a-boo with Daddy:

Also, Evie will have another angiogram on December 22. This is to check for growth (hopefully) or narrowing (hopefully not) in the veins and arteries around her heart. The cardiac team needs to do this prior to each surgery to get an accurate picture of her heart. Based on what they see, they will decide when her surgery needs to be - probably some time in January / February.