Baybay & Baybee: Week 82 (2/27-3/5)

82 weeks old!

This post has A LOT of pictures--so, go get a cup of tea and stay a while! 

We were still in Florida for the first few days of this week. We swam in the lake, went to pick strawberries, visited Timmy and Malory at their house, spent time with Amber and her kids, plus many more fun things. Here are a bunch of pictures of all that!

Playing in the water and sand down by the lake continued to be a highlight of the visit. This is Maya, Atom, and Trillian.

Brett found some clay while playing in the sand.

Papa had fun snapping a bunch of pictures with my camera while we all went for a swim.

Balance!

"Hi, Papa!"

Swish, swish!

Family photo.

Words are starting to come quickly these days. The newest words learned this week are: "Uh huh", "Unh uh" and "Okay".  When they learn a new word, they tend to repeat it over and over and over. These are the three most popular ones right now. "Up" is still a favorite, along with "Mama" and "Dada".

Ella has been spinning around in circles a lot. Often this results in her getting dizzy and falling over. She thinks it's so funny! She's also been pointing to things and saying, "Dis!" or "Dat!" in a request to know what things are called. 

Maya is very interested right now in learning the rules and how things work. For example: 

Maya: points to the potty and says, "Uh huh" and signs "Poop".  

Mama: "Yes, poop does go in the potty! You're right!" 

Maya: points to the floor and says, "Unh uh", while shaking her head.

Mama: "Right, we don't poop on the floor."

That's just one example. She likes to go over these things many times a day.

 Making words on the fridge together before bed.

Grandparents with Ella.

Maya and Trillian bounce!

All four cousins in a picture (mostly).

I love how excited Maya is about this.

Down the slide!

Papa shows Ella a magic trick.

Does Pinky Dog fit in the marble jar? You never know until you try!

Atom driving his toy car.

Maya and Ella had fun in the car, too.

Timmy and Atom make everyone some orange juice!

 Brett and I went out to the grocery store one afternoon while Maya and Ella were napping. They woke up before we got back and were a little sad. Grandma and Papa fed them a snack and let them wear these fun hats while they all waited on the steps for us to come home.

 All four cousins in the bath! One of the few pictures with them all together.

Grandma and Ella eating lunch together.

Maya had a hard time going down for a nap one morning, so Mama and I took her in the car and did errands around town while she slept. 

Popcorn! They did pretty well, but it's even harder to share when there are three as opposed to two.

The vegetable gardens and Mama peeking out.

Bamboo.

Pretty flower growing near the water.

Maya, playing outside.

Ella, filling the watering can.

Two cuties eating corn.

Timmy and Malory live a few miles away at the Beautiful Bamboo nursery. Together they have created the Food Forest and sell their produce at local farmers markets and have even started a CSA! We stopped by to visit and see the gardens one morning. They have done so much with the property since I last visited!

Looking for the cat that scampered away as we were driving in.

A walk around the vegetable garden near the house.

So much kale!

The girls were excited and nervous to meet the chickens.

Ella was brave and touched one.

Just watching.

This tractor was pretty exciting.

Ella would have stayed up there a lot longer if we'd let her.

We found the cat.

Maya with her Uncle Timmy in a trailer.

We managed to get everyone together one day to go Strawberry picking! I mostly took pictures. Maya and Ella mostly ate the berries. Brett picked a few to eat later.

Dada shows Ella how to pick the red ones.

Malory and Atom picking together.

Picking.

Papa and Trillian picking/eating together.

Mmm!

Maya would pick the berries, put them in her bucket, then take them out and eat them.

A cute shot of Trillian.

Eating berries is serious business.

I love strawberries!

Papa, picking berries for Ella.

This shot is my favorite. Pretty much sums it all up.

Our plane home on March 1st went well. We didn't get seats all together like on the first flight, but Maya and Ella were fairly calm and it wasn't too stressful. They fell asleep just as we were landing and I managed to somehow carry them both off of the plane while Brett got all the bags!

Watching a movie with Dada on the airplane.

Two very much asleep (and heavy!) babies.

After our big trip was over, one of the first things I did was go to the Smith College Bulb Show. This happens every year and I always make sure to go. I went by myself and took a bunch of pictures and it was so lovely! We will go back all together later in the week.

Purple.

Pink.

Me!

So many lovely flowers.

One of my favorites.

This is what I found when I came home from the Bulb Show.

Trailer rides!

I love their expressions.

While out on a walk with Dada, a neighbor gave Maya and Ella balloons!

They were so excited about them and would constantly point to their balloon and sign, "Thank you!"

Two balloons.

Watching a video.

All bundled up and sleeping outside in the stroller after a walk.

It's hard to keep the marks on the paper sometimes.

Helping me shop for the groceries.

Cleaning time!

Ponytails!

(Maya took hers out before I could get a picture.)

"Here, let me help you with that."

And finally, here are two extra videos!

Bath time fun.


Silly!

Baybay & Baybee: Week 81 (2/20-2/26)

81 weeks old!

In preparation for our trip south (to my parents in Florida) at the end of the week, I finally bought myself the camera lens that I've been wanting! It's a Canon 50mm f/1.8 EF fixed lens, which means there is no zoom. It takes very clear and crisp pictures, even in low light. I'm still getting used to moving my body instead of zooming, but I've already had a lot of fun with it! Here are a few of the first pictures taken with my new lens.

My beautiful husband.

Me!

Maya and Pinky Dog.

Observer.

Ella.

I've been meaning to mention that Maya has recently started to use the sign for "help" not only when she wants help, but when she wants TO help. For example, when I am in the kitchen she will come over to me and sign "help", as in, "Please, Mama, can I help you cook?" I find this so endearing that I will often let her help, even if I was very much wanting to cook by myself.

 

This pad of paper from Aunt Anne has become very colorful.

I took Maya and Ella for a nice walk on Wednesday. They fell asleep for most of it and I had fun taking pictures.

Afternoon moon from our walk.

Guy stopped by on Thursday for a visit before we left for Florida. Here Ella is helping him with his zipper.

On Friday, I took the girls to play at Cup and Top while Brett did some work at home. Not only did we have a fun time playing, but Maya and Ella both wore underwear instead of diapers. They used the big toilet and had no accidents while we were out! I keep expecting that the girls will have an accident while we are out since we've been mostly forgoing diapers when we go places (I always bring a cloth diaper and change of clothes for them just in case), but so far so good!

Cutie!

Maya doesn't approve of the ponytails.

This is why Ella's hair doesn't stay up for long.

One down, one more to go.

Watching a video on Mama's computer.

Our house is a mess! Good thing we're going to Florida soon...

Our flight on Sunday was way better than we had imagined, mainly thanks to an awesome stewardess, who moved us to a whole row all to ourselves! Normally, we have to sit across the aisle from each other because of the number of oxygen masks.  It's one of those times that having twins makes things definitely and concretely different than having one baby.  But this flight was great because we had a whole set of three seats to ourselves!  Ella and Maya loved climbing up and down and we all enjoyed the space to move around without bothering others.

Watching the planes, trucks and people out the window at our gate.

There was time for some juggling before we boarded our plane.

And time, of course, for a snack.

Eating and waiting.

Our carry-on baggage.

Maya and Ella got to watch a video for some of the flight.

We were exhausted by the time we landed. Maya took a short nap on the plane, and Ella fell asleep on Dada's back while we were walking through the Orlando Airport.

Maya and Ella were very helpful with pulling our luggage through the airport.


When they weren't pulling the bags on their own, they helped push them while we pulled.

Just as we were arriving at Mama and Papa's house, Ella got sick and threw up in her car seat. We're not sure what happened that made her feel so sick. It could have been all the sugary snacks she ate on the plane, or it could have been that the car seat was facing forward instead of backwards like she's used to and she just got carsick. We were all shaken up by it, but Ella was fine after we washed her off and there was no more sickness for the rest of the visit.

For Maya and Ella, the first few days in Florida were spent mostly playing down by the lake in the sand, eating food, bouncing on the trampoline and playing with all the toys inside the house.  And, of course, visiting with their grandparents!

Ella checks out some bamboo on an early morning walk around the house.

"Driving" the truck.

Nap time for Maya.

Nap time for Ella.

The beach!

Maya was very cautious about the sand and water at first. She really didn't want to get sand on her body, and I don't think she liked the feel of it even on her feet.

Ella didn't seem to mind so much.

Maya warmed up to the sand after a while, especially when it was her turn to use the blue shovel. 

Pictures!

Me and my camera.

So happy!

Laughing.

A fun way to spend the day.

The girls learned to say the word "dig" while we were in Florida.

We got to see Amber, Atom and Trillian on Tuesday. I loved watching all the kids interact. They were much more able to play together than last visit and everyone was so cute together. I wish they could all play together more often.

Atom, all dressed up.

Trillian.

Trillian, giving her cousin a push.

Atom was so good with his cousins. He gave them hugs and was sweet and patient with them.

Going out in an afternoon rainstorm was Maya's highlight of the day.

Atom joined her and the two of them ran to and from the lake on the path many times.

Talking.

So much fun!