Baybay & Baybee: Week 51 (7/25-7/31)

51 weeks old!

While cooking breakfast on Wednesday morning, I noticed this beautiful goldfinch on the echinacea. He stayed on the plant for a few minutes, jumping majestically from flower to flower. I loved watching him and it made for a really nice start to the week.

Exciting news: I have a new camera! It's a Canon Rebel and I bought it used from someone who no longer wanted it. A huge thanks to Guy for sending me the Craigslist ad! I have been wanting a DSLR camera for a long time and this was just enough push to get me to take the leap. So far I've enjoyed the camera. My only complaint is that it doesn't take videos (the newer models do) and I do want to get a different lens for it eventually, so that I can take close-up pictures from further away.

Below are a few of the first pictures taken with my new camera!

Maya, just up from a nap, signing "nurse".

Ella.

Jerusalem artichoke flowers.

Thursday morning, Ella and I went to the Smith Collage Arboretum to look at the plants and flowers. Brett and Maya were still napping.

Water droplets on a pretty pink flower.

In the cactus room.

I've always wanted one of these plants. When you touch the leaves, they close up.

Sleep has still been good, but Ella has been waking up a couple times in the night and crying for a few minutes. And on Wednesday night, she had such a hard time getting to sleep. I ended up walking around the block with her in the Ergo, something we haven't done in a few months. She fell asleep that way and I really enjoyed the walk and cuddle time with her. I think her teeth might have been bothering her a little. Also, we had a house guest staying over Monday and Tuesday nights (a Couchsurfer from Canada) so maybe she was a little thrown off by the company. We all still get up very early in the mornings. To give you an idea how early, the girls have been going down for their first nap around 8:30 a.m.

On Tuesday morning, we decided to take a walk up to Florence center and eat breakfast at Cup and Top cafe. They have a great little play area. These lego blocks were a favorite.

The slide was also a hit.

Asleep from the walk home.

Playing in the back yard with the water tub that Kathy brought and left for us has been a big hit lately. Lots of hours of fun for Maya and Ella, plus it's nice for whichever of us is watching them to spend some time out in the garden. It's hard to get any big projects done, but I've been able to pull a few weeds here and there.

Splash, splash, splash!

Cooling off with the rubber duckies in the tub.

Flowers reflected in the water.

Maya.

Ella.

Some of the rain lilies that Mama brought up from her garden in Florida last time she visited are blooming!

It's always good to wear your helmet, pretty much any time.

Queen of the wood chip pile!!

Time to go inside.

Happy that Dada's wearing his helmet.

I made an effort to make meals so that we could all eat together this week. It worked out well and we enjoyed all sitting together for at least one meal a day. I used the slow-cooker a couple of times, and tried to make large quantities of things so we would have leftovers.

The "hummus effect".

You can see why we always give them baths after dinner, right?

Pirate Booty is a favorite snack.

Ella curled up with Purple Doggie. They have both been taking consistently long naps of one to two hours!

Maya after a nap with Pink Doggie. They are both very attached to their doggies.

One Afternoon, Maya, Ella and I strolled over to Maines Field and hung out for a while so that Brett could have some time alone at the house. Earlier in the week, Kathy had taken the girls to this park and they had a blast playing and running around in the grass.

I think this picture looks like a magazine ad. Like something you would see in an L.L. Bean catalog or something. Or, an ad for the stroller.

The game is: Run to the picnic table, run to Mama, repeat.

There are even swings at Maines Field!

Whoosh!

Ella makes it easy to take good pictures.

Our friend Denise was here visiting Northampton (staying with Selena) for the weekend and a few extra days. On Tuesday afternoon, while Brett was working, we all had fun at the Farmer's Market. The girls especially enjoyed eating peaches and listening to the live music.

Denise and Maya have fun trying on Selena's hat.

Me and Ella. (photo by Selena)

Peaches are delicious! (Photo by Selena)

Maya wandered off to say hello to others while we were watching the music. She's usually so shy of people she doesn't know, but sometimes she surprises me!

See you later!

Baybay & Baybee: Week 50 (7/18-7/24)

50 weeks old!

As Maya and Ella get older, I am becoming better at taking time for myself during the days. I don't worry about them as much now if I'm gone for a few hours. It's very freeing to be able to run errands, or go shopping on my own without feeling so much pressure to get back home because the babies might be hungry. They eat three meals a day, plus a few snacks (and they LOVE their food) so I'm not too worried about them getting enough nutrition.

This isn't to say they don't nurse anymore. Maya still nurses many times throughout the day if she gets the chance. (She learned how to sign "nurse" this week!! It's so cute and I can't help but oblige whenever she squeezes her tiny hand into a fist). Ella will nurse for a minute or two multiple times in the day, but is far less interested than her sister. The one time that Ella nurses for an extended period is in the morning. Maya can be a bit dominating (she likes to switch back and forth while nursing and if Ella is in the way she is less than pleased), so I've been trying to find one-on-one time to nurse with Ella. That hasn't made a lot of difference, though. Ella is just not as into it. I think she's so eager to run off and play that it's hard for her to nurse for long.

On one of my adventures out in the world alone, I happened on this amazing tag sale. The sellers were parents of 9-year-old twins and other children as well, and they were getting rid of wonderful wooden toys for incredibly inexpensive prices. The above picture shows a few of my finds. I was SO excited to show everyone when I came home!

This rocking horse was another steal, sitting out with a free sign in someone's yard. The girls like it a lot.

We have two potties now! I got the larger green one at the same tag sale as all the wooden toys. It was only $4.00. It's been great to have two potties. This is one of those things that I have felt would be useful for months, but didn't realize just how much until we got it. No more waiting your turn. When you gotta go, you gotta go!

Ella took 7 steps in a row by herself this week! That is her record so far. She seems so happy when she is walking, but unlike her sister, Ella doesn't seem in a hurry to get around on two feet. She still crawls most of the time. She can stand up super fast, but when she takes steps they are so slow and careful.

We've left the girls with a babysitter a few times recently. This is not easy for me because, especially Maya, cries when we leave and is in a very clingy phase. I'm sure it will get easier to leave the girls with people the more we do it, but right now I am having such a tough time with it. Once they form a bond with their babysitter(s), it will be different I'm sure. Right now, I just worry that when we leave, Maya and Ella will think that we aren't coming home. It gets easier, right?

Michaela poses with Ella, who is sporting cool shades (yet another free-pile snag).

Maya's turn with glasses.

What are big sisters for?

Aunt Anne came for a visit on Thursday. We are excited about possibly taking a trip out to the Cape next month to spend the day with her, Uncle Harold and Aunt Heidi. We could go to the ocean for the first time with the girls!

Aunt Anne reads one of Ella's favorite books.

We also had a couple other visitors this week. My friend Caroline, who I lived with in Watertown for a summer when I was much younger, stopped by for a short visit. It was great for her to meet the babies and for me to catch up with her. The same day, Kathy and Merry (who took pictures of our wedding for us) came over and we all played outside, snacked and chatted. It was a lot of people all in one day for the twins, and they were wound up and clingy for a lot of it. I think it's really good for them to spend time around other people, though, even if they will only cautiously stare at them from the safety of Mama and Dada's arms.

Merry takes some photos of Ella on her rocking horse.

It finally rained! We were all very excited.

Early morning pony ride.

Before bed, we always read this book. (Thanks, Kate and Mark!)

"Look, let me explain this again. I KNOW you usually sit in this seat. But Dada put me here for this meal, so it's MY seat right now. And this is my food. Get it?"

How we nurse these days.

Exploring.

Hiding.

"Hmm, let's see... choices, choices..."

Ready for a quick bike ride to the river to go swimming after I spent the morning working at the Springfield house.

Helmet + shoes + swing.

So cute.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 49 (7/11-7/17)

49 weeks old!

The most exciting things in Maya and Ella's world this week? Shoes and hats. They are in love with shoes and hats. When we get up in the morning, first thing after nursing and cuddles, the girls dash out of our bedroom and find the shoes, hats and bike helmets in the hall. Requests are made for Brett to wear his bike helmet. Shoes are to be put on feet and taken off and put back on again. Sometimes the girls still want to be wearing their bike helmets and shoes when it's time for breakfast.

Maya loves her red hat.

Sleep is still going well. Most nights we don't need to go in for the girls at all! If they do wake up in the middle of the night, it's almost always only for a minute or two so we don't go in then either. Sometimes Ella still has a tough time getting to sleep at bedtime. When this happens we usually go in and change her diaper or hold/nurse her for a short time before putting her back down. It's so much calmer and more relaxing for us in the evenings now. I am still not sleeping well, unfortunately. I often wake up multiple times and have trouble getting back to sleep. I think I might need some sleep training.

We had a couple of fun outings this week. On Sunday we went to the playgroup at the hospital and Maya and Ella had fun spending time with their friends Olivia and Lexi.

Sharing snacks. Left to right: Lexi, Ella, Maya, Olivia.

The other outing was a trip to Lakeville to spend the day with Brett's family. Maya and Ella got to meet a lot of extended family members for the first time, including Brett's nephew Grayson, whom Ella enjoyed climbing on. It was a pretty short stay, because we timed both pieces of driving to their naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Still, it was worth it and we had a nice time visiting.

A ride in the toy box for everyone!

In the middle of the week, the four of us went out to lunch at an Asian buffet in town! We've only gone out to eat with the girls a couple of times. This was probably one of the best, although definitely the girls still made quite a mess. They really wanted to drink from our huge water cups, so their shirts were soaked before the meal even began. Still, it wasn't too stressful, and it was nice to do something different in our week.

Maya took little tastes of lots of things. What she didn't like mostly ended up on the floor.

Ella enjoyed the watermelon.

Every day, the girls are getting better at walking. Ella has taken multiple steps on her own and Maya has toddled the length of the living room without falling!

While we were outside working in the garden, Maya noticed this walker toy out for free at the end of our neighbors driveway. It now lives in our driveway. The girls love it.

Such fun to be able to stand up by yourself after almost a year!

Ella. A new thing for Ella recently is holding two things in one hand. She has been practicing this very deliberately all week, mostly with puzzle pieces.

Playing in the driveway.

The bubble jar is a current favorite toy. Notice the beloved red hat?

Teamwork: Maya pulls the books down and Ella reads them.

By the end of the week, almost all of my lilies were open.

Maya shows how it's done.