My babies

Sleeping has been rough around our house lately, so in an effort to wear the girls out I took them outside for a few hours this afternoon. First we ran some errands, went baby shower shopping for the twins we're anxiously awaiting (along with Auntie R) in October/November. Then we got hot cocoa and scones at Sweetwater Cafe and sat outside and shared the scone. Rowan and Saoirse charmed some passersby, of course, and ate blueberry scone like it was going out of style. Then we headed on over to campus and the girls got to run around for a while in the courtyard by the League and the MLB. Saoirse fell about a thousand times, and she scraped her knee again. I had to wash the blood off in the fountain, which caused Rowan to have a major tantrum when I would only let her stick her toes in the fountain rather than going swimming. While we were there, Rowan decided she wanted to push the empty stroller herself, which she's never done before. I had it sitting on the grass, so I didn't think she would be able to move it. But she used the bar that holds the basket underneath and just dug in her feet and it worked. It was hilarious watching her pushing this huge double stroller around, she's so teeny. Maybe it's time for a doll stroller?
A couple other funny things lately:
The other day I was taking a shower and drying my hair, so the girls were in the bedroom/bathroom with me. While I was drying my hair, I heard some thumping from the bedroom, so I thought I better check it out. When I went in there, both of the girls were lying next to each other on the floor, lifting their legs into the air and then kicking them down hard, flopping around and giggling at each other.
Rowan has started sharing food with Saoirse in their highchairs. For a while now they have wanted their highchairs next to each other in the kitchen, so they can reach each other's hands. They also sometimes grab the other girl's tray and pull themselves around with it. (Both chairs are on wheels) But in the last couple of days I've noticed that Rowan has started handing Saoirse food sometimes. Chicken, a couple days in a row. At first I thought it was just stuff that she didn't want, but then I noticed Saoirse pointing to her tray and whimpering, and Rowan just handed over what she appeared to be asking for. So I guess it is genuine sharing.

They really don't seem like babies anymore. Now I know what moms mean when they say...well, but they'll always be MY babies.

Braver and braver

I always show you photos/videos of Saoirse climbing. For a while, she was the only one that was reckless enough to try most of her stunts. But lately Rowan has been getting bolder. Maybe watching Saoirse was giving her ideas. I don't know. But here's a recent shot of her finding new ways of using their Little People garage.




And here's another one that I think is funny. All crouched behind the garage, apparently having a serious secret conversation with the woman in the car. "Look, I can't talk long, my mom's going to catch me. But you've got to get me out of here. My sister won't stop poking me in the face and saying "sis"...I'm like...yeah, I'm your sister, get over it."

Okay, okay...

Yes, I've been slacking again. Well, not exactly slacking, but slacking on blogging. We've been having a very busy summer, actually.

We've been in the new house for about a month now. We love it. It took a long time, and a lot of hassle. But we love the house. It's so good to be somewhere that you anticipate staying for a long time. We even bought some furniture, so it's not quite so bare now. :) I haven't really taken pictures of the new furniture, so I can't really show you that yet.

The girls have been really enjoying summer. We've been taking them to the pool pretty often. There's an Ann Arbor pool near us that has a cool kiddie part that goes all the way down to zero depth, so they can walk in. Rowan likes it. Saoirse loves it. She will wade right in up to her neck, whine for us to walk her around and around in the water. They scream and kick when we have to take them out. It's been really cool seeing them having so much fun.





They've started saying words. Saoirse has about 10 words, and Rowan has about 8. Of course, most of them are words that only we can understand. But they're real words. Both of them said "dada" first, and neither one of them will give in and say mama, although they clearly know what it means. Well, more accurately, Rowan does say mama sometimes, but I think she teases. She'll say it sometimes when I'm in the room, but she's looking at something else, and then when I say, "That's me. Mama, that's me" she giggles and stops saying it.



We've been really enjoying hanging out in Ann Arbor, and taking the girls to places we love here. We're regulars at Good Time Charlie's, the girls love Count Twists as much as I do. Good taste. We took them to Pizza House the other night, it's gotten a lot fancier since the 90's. Here's Rowan enjoying her freedom.



Here are the girls a minute later after Daddy scooped them up.



The girls have both been practicing eating with utensils. They have trouble getting the food on the fork/spoon, but if you put it on there for them, they're great. And they really enjoy eating that way, they are very pleased with themselves.


The girls got to go to their first baby shower this last weekend, for Ashley's baby girl. Yay!! Another new girl cousin. Here's Saoirse looking angelic in her white dress, minutes before she covered her front in chocolate.


We're having a great summer. It's going too fast!

So big!!

Yesterday we took the girls downtown to the Ann Arbor Art Fair. It ended up raining on us, and we got soaked. And it was ridiculously hot. It felt like the first week of Chris's and my honeymoon. We stayed in the jungle in Belize, in a bungalow with only screens and no electricity. We hiked most days in the jungle, and I stopped wearing makeup because it would melt off anyway. Yesterday felt like that. It was fun, though, interesting to see all the art. The girls loved seeing all the dogs that were walking around, they are really into dogs lately. Rowan even convinced one owner to let her pet her little puppy, with all her pointing and grunting. She says "daw" now when she points. Apparently she wants a puppy. Not that she's going to get one, she's going to have to depend on the kindness of strangers.

While we were downtown, we stopped and had lunch. Saoirse felt that we were feeding her too slowly, I guess, and when our backs were turned she grabbed a fork that was sitting near her. We had no idea she could use utensils. She can't get the food on the fork yet, but she can definitely get the fork in her mouth.

And we're connected!....

Thank you, Comcast, for pulling your head out of your collective asses and getting us hooked back up to the outside world.

So...we're in the new house. We've been in for about a week and a half now, and we love it. I've been trapped in the house a lot during the days, because there are workmen coming to finish things, fix things, or install things. But that's slowing down now. We've been working like crazy to unpack, organize, and buy things. Since we've always lived in apartments before, there's a lot of homeowner stuff we've never had. We're getting there, though. The girls were away with Grandma and Grandpa this last Friday night, so Chris and I got to spend some time furniture shopping and made some great finds. So in about 3 weeks, the house is going to be a lot less empty.

I think I'll just leave you with some pictures of what's been going on around here:

Going on a week

Sooooo, comcast sucks. So does Verizon. And At&T, Dish network and Direct TV have inferior products. None of this is really news to me since I have been dealing with these companies for years now, but I am starting to get pissed off. We live in Ann Arbor, a fairly modern progressive town that is by no means rural, yet comcast cannot seem to find our house. It is supposed to take 24 hours for them to determine serviceability for a house that is not in their system. I called them on June 27th. The request didn't go in until June 30th, and yet they still don't even know if we can get their service. I have literally called every phone number I can find for comcast on the internet. I keep getting automated service that asks for my phone number (I use a cell with a NYC area code) or an address (which is not in their system). It eventually spits me out in Chicago. They can't help me so they send me to a "local" comcast number but they don't know what to do with me either. And for the life of me I can't figure out why their customer service people can't talk to their service people. I mean, they have no way of communicating at all. They just put in a service request and sit and wait. If a job is not done or done incorrectly, they just put in another service request. I went through some of the same crap at our last address. The only way these morons can stay in business is because they have a monopoly. We should open up every market to allow more than one cable company to exist so that customer service becomes something these guys work on. By the way, never call a customer service help line. Always call their new subscriber line. Wait time is zero vs. 20 minutes for current customers. Fucking absurd.
Anyway, we still don't have internet so Gwen can't post.
The kids are doing great. Saoirse is walking all over the place. They really like their new home and clearly understand a lot of english. When we talk to them now, they listen (if they feel like it) and respond accordingly. It seems simple, but its amazing to see things finally connect.
Last weekend Gwen and the kids spent the 4th with their grandparents and uncle Blake and aunt Katie. They really loved the water, which is great, cause I do too. Unfortunately, I was on call, so I stayed home, but I can't wait until next time.
In the meantime, here are a few pictures I pulled off an old email. Goddamn they were small.

In Limbo

Hello all. I just wanted to write and let you know that while Gwen, myself and the kids are doing great and settling in to our new home, we do not have the internet yet. In fact, the cable company can't figure out how to find us at all. It has been five days and about 10 customer service rep calls and still we have no idea when they will be able to hook us up. I guess that's what happens when you build a new home. I am writting now from work (don't tell my boss). In a short while, we have to give up our condo where Gwen used to post, and when that happens it will either be writing from work or public facilities in Ann Arbor for a while. Don't fret though, as soon as possible we will be back blogging in full force (or at least Gwen will be). In the meantime, a short update. We are finally making the transition to a crib for Saoirse. She has been on the floor for about 3 months now. It isn't going so well, but in no time mom and dad should have their bedroom back. Yeah!!!