Eating for Three, Drinking for None

On the line

2012-02-06T17:55:00.003-08:00

Dressing a Princess King entails a lot of line drying.

Unpacking It All

2012-02-06T17:55:00.001-08:00

As happens, I've gotten behind on this blog. The girls are growing so fast lately. There's so much to catch up on. But before I go back and revisit Christmas and their third birthday, I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting regularly so I don't get any behinder.

In the spirit of staying on top of things, here's an action shot of Elee, straight off of a six hour car ride, immediately putting away the pull-ups I'd just bought into the house. Without so much as a suggestion from me, even.

Redefining Relaxed

2011-12-07T11:37:00.001-08:00

This is how Lila plays with her hair while watching a movie.

What's your motivation?

2011-11-24T08:07:00.001-08:00

"I am drawing Daddy fat to scare you away!"

2011-11-19T16:51:00.001-08:00

So this is the dollhouse that we got for the girls with the Target gift cards that they got for their third birthday:

It is gorgeous and amazing. Totally unlike the typical pink on pink nightmare of ornate furnishings and improbable personal elevators that is the Barbie Dream House:

Alex commented that the spiral staircases in our dollhouse would not be up to code in a real home, but I still maintain they are markedly more realistic than the pink pull-string conveyance.

And, while plastic may be fantastic, I am pleased with the look of this chipboard condo.

The thing that has always annoyed me most about dollhouses --the printed backgrounds-- finds redemption here in its multiple references to iconic mid-century design. Witness, from top floor down:

The Jacobsen Egg chair

The Saarinen Tulip chair

The Aarnio Bubble chair

Admittedly, not all of the design nods are timeless. The glass bowl of lemons is such an overdone contemporary detail that it precipitated the breakup in the 2006 Jennifer Anniston rom com The Breakup. But I'll still take the geometric vessel of citrus over a dozen roses any day.

The wall hangings are all mod tropes, too.

The digital, semi-abstract portrait of a woman on one wall is, well, it is not cute. And I do not mean that in the conventional use of the phase "not cute," but rather as a compliment to the designers for having the courage to put something that less smiley and more complex in a little girls toy venue. It is true to life and art that depicts it. The expression is not unlike Elee's, upon being woken from a spontaneous late afternoon nap.

There is a photorealistic image on the flat screen that I take for a movie screen shot and have slight feelings of insecurity over not being able to identify. It bears a passing resemblance to the evocative end page image in the classic board book We're Going on a Bear Hunt, is all I can say. Dusk, on a beach with a large solitary rock.

In the service of all things hipster, there is also a framed picture of a Vespa on one wall.

It should be noted that the occupant is a Mac user. Not only the desktop, but also the utility closet (!) boasts white-framed screens and what looks very much like an iPod docking station.

It also has a few cleaning supplies, naturally stored in open galvanized steel bins like those sold at IKEA.

Impressively, Elee noticed this small detail during their first play session with the new structure. (Yes, yes, I let them play with it.) She had her dollie take some chemicals and clean the toilet. Very responsible.

Unlike Lila's dollie, who mistook the table lamp for an outsized bottle of cleaning supplies and stood at the kitchen table, bottoms up-ing it.

"Chemicals, chemicals," she sang between glugs.

Lest I get too sad that it is all pretend.

Lila Leaving

2011-11-19T15:43:00.001-08:00

"Me's got tired of you, Mommy," she said, pushing away from a half full bowl of pasta.

"I think you meant to say, 'May I be excused from the table?'" I suggested as she started up the stairs.

"Unh uh," said she, "I didn't."

Really, I wouldn't mind this dismissiveness if it weren't paired with bouts of shrieking neediness.

I had just finished saying as much to Alex when Elee returned and apologized, unbidden, for her own abrupt exit some minutes ago.

She is sitting next to me now, shoveling up Lila's abandoned pasta by the handful while tapping her Disney Princesses light up Western boot on my knee.

Classy

2011-11-18T07:09:00.000-08:00

Clearing the table for breakfast, I came across a mailing from Imagination Stage.

"Elee, would you like to take drama classes?" I queried, hopeful that my imaginative non-joiner might find her flow there.

"Yes!" she chirped back, between chomps of Panda Puffs.

"I don't want to take drama classes," broke in Lila, who feels compelled to answer every question not directed to her.

Just as I was about to suggest that, no, I think she should pursue gymnastics (tightrope walking, parkour. . . ) she expounded,

"I want to take happy classes."

If only.

I'll have to check Activity Rocket to see if there are any happy classes for my tantrum-throwing dramarama little momma.

Existential Flux

2011-11-08T17:34:00.001-08:00

So Princess Apocalypse was staring into her crayon box just now.
"I'm sad of the life," she sighed.
"Elee, why are you sad of the life?"
"I'm sad of the life because it's my fault."

Now I'm not sure whether this construct owes to Elee contesting Haile Selassie for the title of Earth's Rightful Ruler or to her misconstrued use of an admission of fault in place of a proprietary claim.
(See Early Childhood Linguistics, Use of "Mine".)

At any rate, by the time I was able to relate this despair to Alex, Elee was ready to contradict me.

"I'm happy of the life," she chirped, and she pretended to make up her face with a red crayon.

Don't forget to fall back

2011-11-08T16:49:00.001-08:00

If there is anything Elee likes more than layering clothes, it might be laying down in piles of leaves.

This is for your own protection

2011-11-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

Elee and Lila started pre-K ballet recently. I am posting a picture of them in simple black leotards, because if you saw them in the frilly pink ones you might just die from the cuteness. Or, at the very least, have to go look at some kitten sites to come down from it.

Language is a Magical Creature

2011-10-29T07:17:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it owes to the poor acoustics in the Impala, but we have had some brilliant misunderstandings lately, Elee and I.

The first came a couple of days ago when we were stopped at a major intersection and saw a firetruck hang a U-turn.

"Wow, that was magnificent!" I exclaimed in awe of the tight turning radius in such a large vehicle. "Did you see the U-turn, girls?"

"Mom! Don't call it that!" Elee declaimed from the backseat, audibly upset.

"But that's what it's called," I said making hand gestures and going through left, right and U-turns. This is a very long light.

Elee was not having it, she was in a downward spiral of little kid despair over her grown up messing with her command of the world order.

"It's NOT a U-turn!" I heard her sniffle, "It's an ambulance!"

"Ohhhhh," I was relieved to have found the source of her seemingly inexplicable distress, "No, sweetie, I'm not saying the vehicle is a U-Turn, it's an emergency vehicle, yes, it's a fire truck; but the way it moved, what it's doing, is called a U-turn."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Okay, so I was wrong . . .

"It's NOT a UNICORN! It's an ambulance."

The irrepressible laughter that erupts on my part in such situations can only further her frustration, I know. It is really hard psychic work being a little kid, being talked about and laughed over all of the time. I remember. I do.

There was a birthday dinner for my mom at a goofy dinner theater/arcade spot called Rivertown. It had a short run in the space where the movie theater is next to Wheaton Plaza. There was a magician. I got called up to help with a rope trick. He made a joke about it being good that I was not a Rabbi. The adults all laughed. I was not meant to understand and I knew it. I resented being used a a prop.

I don't know how to better negotiate this dynamic now that I am the one in the privileged position. But I am keenly aware of it when I see her eyes register objectification.

Then, to keep things from getting too heavy, there are the times when a child's (mis-)understanding is simply superior to what was scripted.

Yesterday, when we were driving to the third of half-dozen little Halloween parties, Elee demanded that Lila sing The Dingo Song.

"Dingo?" I wondered; this must be something they encountered on Nick Jr.

"Dingo, Dingo, How I wooonder what you areee," Lila obliged.

And I smiled.

Polka dots

2011-10-24T04:47:00.001-07:00

While Elee is definitely a style star in her own right, she is also a stubborn little kid who hates changing out of what she was wearing the day before and more often than not makes getting dressed in the morning into a total battle.

One recent Sunday, I had shown Elee three or four dresses. All were rejected. Lsing patience with the both of us, Lila sighed and said, "Momma. You just have to find the polka dots."

This was accompanied by hand gestures of boredom.

"You're right, Lila," I commended, a lightbulb doubtlessly going off over my doofus head.

I held out THE polka dotted dress and Elee practically jumped into it.

This is her, in THE dress, later that day. We went to California Tortilla for lunch after the girls' first swimming lesson. Since the kids menu came with drinks and dessert, I just ordered a full sized chicken quesadilla for the girls to share.

As these things go, Lila picked away at a few scant pieces of tortilla while Elee lofted a slice of quesadilla the size of her face.

"I love my pile!" she exclaimed.

That's why the princess is apocalypse

2011-10-22T19:52:00.001-07:00

It was bed time, but we had just watched a movie and the girls were clearly not ready to settle down. So, Alex and I decided to give them a half an hour to play in their playroom while we sat downstairs like old lumps, doing stuff on computers.

While they were not quite ready to go upstairs, the girls were anticipating the inevitable in their role playing.

Lila said,"Elee, you have to wake up quietly."

"Fuck quiet!" Elee responded.

Well.

If there is blame to be laid, my size tens are right here.
If credit, I'll take mine neat.

So far, the only word I have talked to Elee about not using is "hate."

I am neither a language apologist, nor a euphemiser.

At the same time, you won't catch me wearing jeans to a ball, if you know what I mean. And the F- bomb is like jeans: brilliantly versatile and ruggedly American.

That's my take. It's not conventional, I know. But, much to my surprise, this may be the first time I've heard Elee use that word.
Without being smug, it seems a policy of not reacting to the occasional language experiment has kept the girls from parroting words for their power.

Instead, it would seem, Elee saved this one to use and knows how to do it.

In fact, when Princess Apocalypse takes over the world, I can see her using it for the title of her bestselling biography. Something like,"Fuck Quiet: How I Wore Four Dresses At Once And Made People Pay Attention To Me."

Singing to the fishie

2011-10-22T10:39:00.001-07:00

" You don't neeeed to have lots of frieeends."
-Elee's song for the solitary fish in the tank of the pho restaurant.

(Especially not if they yoink your food, like my dad is doing.)

We have ways . . .

2011-10-15T10:05:00.001-07:00

Looks can be deceiving, they say. Lila's big blue eyes and that corona of sunlight belie her potential future in extraordinary renditions and interrogations. There's a dollie who could tell you about how, after her leg was ripped off at the hip, Lila giggled as she picked her back door lock with the pointy end off a hair clip. That is, if anyone could find her.

"I told you those things:

2011-10-10T08:40:00.001-07:00

Little girls like rain. It comes out of your body like blood. Then it turns to fire. It goes, "RARR!""

- Princess Apocalypse

Word of the day

2011-09-23T16:08:00.001-07:00

Ever attuned to positive feedback, Elee has been using the word "polite " all day to characterize her actions.

Not content with self-praise, the Princess King just reminded her oddly low born sister that "this is not a playground."

No, Your Grace Highness, it is the dining room table.

Where, just moments before Lila was reprimanded for hanging off the back of her chair, I had upbraided her for wiping her face on the back of Elee's new shirt.

Ever polite Elee turned and offered the front of her new shirt, "Here, Lila, wipe your face on my princess."

I guess poor Cinderella is no Princess King.

Yo momma's so . . .

2011-09-21T17:05:00.001-07:00

Speeding up 85 North, I spotted a blue rest stop sign.
"Who's stinky?" I yelled back to the girls.
"Not me!" shouted Lila.
"Not me!" echoed Elee.
"Nobody's stinky?" I double-checked, incredulous.
"Your pits are stinky!" shouted Lila, erupting into self-satisfied giggles.

Putting the Ohm back in Mom

2011-09-21T16:42:00.001-07:00

Driving half an hour each way half way around the Beltway with a half awake baby ballerina in tow is no fun, my friend. Earlier this evening was one of those times I was ready to quit being a Mom. Not that I would skip out on the girls; but the social expectations, the "enrichment" activities . . .

But I don't.

I pin my hair back, wear a dress, square my shoulders, smile and chat with the other moms.

And for keeping the faith, I am randomly rewarded in unpredictable ways.

Like this: Elee asking for and being delighted to eat plain kidney beans from the can for dinner.

OHM mmmmmm

Super Model / Muppet

2011-09-21T16:28:00.001-07:00

That's Lila. When I'm trying to take a picture of Elee.

President of the Preschool Debate Team

2011-09-19T17:45:00.001-07:00

While changing Lila, I called her out for putting her foot in her mouth.
" I'm not putting my foot in my mouth, Mommy," she argued, "I'm licking it."
Sigh "And how do you lick your foot, Lila?"
"I stick my tongue out of my mouth," she explained.
"Yes, darling, but at some point you have to put your tongue back in your mouth," I countered, "and you'll take all those germs and semantics with it."

Rare Order

2011-09-19T08:15:00.001-07:00

"Mommy, take a picture of me!"

Call me Ms. Butt(er)insky

2011-09-17T04:49:00.001-07:00

While Grandma Linda was boiling eggs and making toast, Elee took the cover off the butter dish and started slashing ruts in the stick.
"Elee, wait, Grandma's making toast," I exhorted her."
"Mom, look what I'm doing," she boasted, impervious.
"Yes," I said, "I see. And I'm asking you to stop."
"Oh. My. God." Were the words she had for me as she replaced the cover on the butter dish.

Sprinkles and rainbows.

2011-09-15T16:36:00.001-07:00

After a rough afternoon with the beasties, there is nothing more relaxing than setting them up with cartoons and ice cream.

How they've grown!

2011-09-15T14:03:00.001-07:00

The beasties room trashing skills have moved up the scale from drunken metal band to "we don't have time for a warrant."

Salad Days

2011-09-13T15:19:00.001-07:00

Have you heard of wasabi arugula? It's a spicier variety of the peppery salad green, and what Elee is shoving into her mouth. This girl's palate is as refined as her table manners are crude. But I know well which attribute is easier to impart and, so, sigh only softly when she eats rabbit food like a lion on a zebra carcass.

Light reading for Princess Apocalypse

2011-09-12T12:23:00.001-07:00

Alex and I have always joked that Elee hides a copy of The Art of War under her pillow. Well, this is what she picked out at the library bookstore today. Let's hope those proverbial eyes in the back of mom's head are sharp. First thing this morning I was greeted with a " Where the hell is my lipstick?!" (The object in question being a tube of clear lip balm purloined from me.) And now this.

The Order of Things

2011-09-11T16:51:00.001-07:00

Elee and Lila are nearly three and, as such, have come to understand the world and how it works.

Understanding, however, should not be confused with acceptance. These two have devised some slick subversions.

For example, the whole princess thing which seems to grasp nearly every little girl holds some sway even with tough stuff Elee. But she has bigger aspirations than the tulle can contain. She is to be addressed Princess King.

And Lila, the baby, hates to go to bed, hates to be left alone. So a couple of nights ago she switched from the historically unsuccessfully " I'm not sleepy" tack to the innovative argument that, "The moon does not want to wake up; the sun wants to wake up. The moon wants to go to sleep; the sun does not want to sleep."

And, just now, in their playroom, Elee admonished me to "pick up the phone and talk to the future. Probably, you are living on the moon."

I guess we snuck up on the moon while it was sleeping.

What's on?

2011-09-11T16:46:00.001-07:00

At the dinner table.
Lila: Can we watch Penguins?
Me: You need to eat your pasta.
Lila, singing: Then we watch Penguins!
Elee, pouting: I want to watch Ponies.
Me: I want to watch little girls eat their pasta.
Elee: I want to watch Mommy not ever stop talking.

Apprentice chef

2011-08-08T15:35:00.001-07:00

Everyone starts as a busser or a salad girl.

I let Lila work the mortar and pestle.

Ms. America

2011-08-08T15:33:00.001-07:00

Taken at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden just after she said, "I'm not sleepy."

Lilacat

2011-08-08T15:29:00.001-07:00

KNOWS where it's at.

Rare catch

2011-08-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

Although it was obviously too small for me, I had to snag this tiki print Paul Frank bikini from the thrift store. I was thinking I could pass it on to my thrift master friend, Allison. As you can see, Elee had her own designs. With some creative tying, I managed to make the two- piece fit a 2T. For my efforts I was rewarded with a rare head- on, smiling snap shot of my favorite voleur des vetements.

Breakfast

2011-08-08T15:18:00.001-07:00

This is what Elee made me for lunch.

I may have to wait until dinner to eat again.

Little Alex in a dress, summer edition

2011-08-08T15:17:00.001-07:00

Lila is learning the art of the lounge from a true master.

When every day's your birthday

2011-08-08T15:10:00.001-07:00

We want to give our children the best that we can -- without spoiling them rotten. It's difficult to keep perspective in the Washington suburbs, too. While I've been lean on the $25 a session enrichment classes, it seems foolish to resist the constant calendar of free events put on by savvy commercial real estate trusts. ( No, I don't believe that the Shoppingtowns or Rockville Town Square are actual towns.) There's always some sort of swag; mostly plastic, sometimes food, and always, always balloons. Storytime, check. And, if we're lucky, live music.

Is this party- every- week habit spoiling them or simply socializing them to community standards? Is there a difference?

That movie star look, alternate view

2011-08-08T14:54:00.001-07:00

But here we have, who? Maybe Natalie Wood?

MUCH better.

That movie star look

2011-08-08T14:52:00.001-07:00

Nor so great when it's Jack Nicholson in The Shining.

Ready to roll

2011-08-08T14:50:00.001-07:00

Just when I thought my get- out- the -door list was exhaustive, I realize I was forgetting the stroller handle cap dinosaurs.

Cuddle or kill?

2011-08-08T14:44:00.001-07:00

Hard to tell what comes next.

The lavender lifestyle

2011-08-08T14:41:00.001-07:00

Apparently it includes some outsized bunnies. The girls enjoyed visiting the Rabbitat at White Oak Lavender Farm. They also took away the injunction to smell their hands after fondling flora.

Try, try again

2011-08-08T14:36:00.001-07:00

That's what we tell or children and that's what I'm telling myself with this second blogger app. The first one gave me great hopes for blogging on the spot, but was seriously broken.

Ladies remember. . .

2011-06-14T02:28:00.001-07:00

When selecting swimwear, fit matters and form flatters.
Elee knows.

Morning Mission

2011-06-02T05:37:00.001-07:00

"I'll be right back. Just a minute," Elee said as she bolted through their just opened bedroom door.

"Wait, Elee. I need to change you. Where are you going?" I demanded.

"I am going to get things that are dangerous!" she exclaimed.

This explanation, the urgency and yet nonchalance with which it was delivered, had me on the floor laughing. Elee's response to my reaction was to stand over me, swatting at me with her kisa blanket and exhorting me to " Stop being silly!"

After all, there were dangerous things to be found.

An original composition

2011-05-31T13:35:00.001-07:00

Sometimes the girls will say or do something really clever that I later realized they learned from Yo Gabba Gabba or the like. That is not the case, I dare say, with the song Elee was just singing: poops are not good for us to eat.

The mini moms

2011-05-31T02:19:00.001-07:00

Elee and Lila have taken to carrying kisa and lizard tucked on into their shirt fronts or the straps of their backpacks - which they call "high schools," as in, "Where is my high school?" Or, "I don't know where your water bottle is. Did you look in your high school?"

The Mombie Cell

2011-05-31T02:17:00.001-07:00

While I have always felt a bit sorry for those kids at the playground whose moms cannot seem to peel themselves away from their Blackberries long enough to 'look at me, look at me, look at me, Mooom!', now I will face a test of my own high direct involvement standards, for I have just downloaded blogger's mobile app. "Not now, baby, Mommy's blogging about you."

Shooting the Spunky Monkey

2011-04-11T18:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the thing about Elee: she does not like having her picture taken. I suspect this is about creative control. She is managing a brand here. And she wants to be the one behind the camera, calling the shots.

While I get that, it is somewhat frustrating because she also has the capacity to be a total ham.

Here are my favorite recent shots of Elee, capturing between them this duality.

Dead serious creative director:

Here Elee has at least a half dozen pairs of tights draped over her left arm. In her right is a pair of undies. Direct quote from the time this photo was taken, "No, no, this is no good. These need to go."
My little Anna Wintour.

Ham and cheese sandwich:

Here Elee is at the Hard Times Cafe, hiding under her dad's jacket. While she looks like a normal, silly toddler here do note: she is wearing a tankini top over an embroidered peasant blouse.

The laugh track

2011-04-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

It is presently bedtime. Judging by the way the girls were sprinting across the room the moment they sprang from their chairs at the dining room table, their circadian rhythms find fault with this assertion. So, Alex and I are presently engaging in our favorite activity, namely sitting on the couch, engaged in no activity other than listening to the girls play. Below are some out takes from their chatter.

Elee: Hello Gecko, you are my best friend.
No, Lizard! You don't eat a Lego!
He's going to get yogurt for me. Buy some yogurt, Gecko. Buy some yogurt for me.

[Gecko is a $1 rubber gecko toy which I bought the girls at the National Geographic after visiting an exhibt of live geckos, which Elee found inexplicably terrifying. Gecko has lost two feet to Elee's teeth.]

Carry me, Lila, carry me. Pick me UP.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA [Elee crying]
[Lila laughing]

Girly Magnetism

2011-02-19T20:08:00.000-08:00

One of the greatest compliments I get about the girls is that my friends report having put pictures of them on their fridges.

This is at once so mundane and so monumental that it never fails to cheer me.

Above is the view in Chicago,as shared by my good friend, Seth.

Reportedly, Elee and Lila also occupy door space in Montreal, Frankfurt and, of course, Washington, DC.

A Perfect Day in February

2011-02-19T15:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Cecily for documenting it.

The forecast was for the mid-70's Friday and we had spent the whole week cooped up in the casa, so I decided it was morally imperative that we head out for the Zoo.

The girls picked out dresses and jeans and I followed their lead.

Last fall, two lionesses at the National Zoo had seven cubs between them and I was eager to catch this batch of zoo babies so I checked the zoo's site for optimal viewing times and planned our trip accordingly. (Meaning, of course, I hoped to hell we could get out of the house before noon.)

As it happened, we got out at Cleveland Park just time to stroll down the hill and through the throngs (all parking lots were full, but thankfully there did not seem to be many field trips that day.)

And there they were: a lion, two lionesses and several cubs.

I left the picture taking to the guys with lenses bigger than my children (of whom there were at least three, spaced out around the habitat.) But it was glorious.

I loved being able to point out to the girls that the cubs were wrestling with each other just like they do. And the girls were so totally nonplussed.

So it goes.

I just threw a gallon Ziplock full of Goldfish at them to stave off the hungry naptime crazies and started off down Conn Ave to meet my girlfriend Cecily.

I had all sorts of hopes for Elee and Lila passing out on Auntie Cecily's couch, but those went the way of the lions.

So after a little stroller sleep, we rolled up to the spacious outdoor seating at the Dupont Italian Kitchen and got a little nosh.

And guess what? Throwing bread crumbs to sparrows and pigeons is so much more fun than seeing lion cubs.

Swoon at Register 2

2011-02-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Some stomach bug got to Elee the other day and Lila has been in a bit of a fit over all of the extra attention her sickly sister is getting. Sure, she runs off to fetch blankets and cuddly friends for her, but you know . . .

So when Elee fell asleep on the couch midday today, I had one of the aunties come over and sit with her while I took Lila out on a Special Adventure With Mommy!

This is known to normal people as "grocery shopping."

On the way to the store, I was contemplating something extra-special, like a side trip to the diner to share a fudge sundae; but decided we really did not have the time and, besides,could always pick up something special at the store.

Then Lila does this:

Yup, she reached behind her into the cart, grabbed a package of broccolini (really, with the Styrofoam trays, Trader Joes?) and tore into it.

She enthusiastically ate the florets and then flipped them to offer me bites of stalk. I practically teared up.

And, just as I was thinking I could just ask the clerk to double-ring the other pack, so as to avoid a tantrum over relinquishing the prize, Lila placed hers on the counter without prompting.

All this and she agreed to share her stickers with Elee.

As Different As PB&J

2011-01-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, fraternal twins are siblings who just happened to share a cab, so to speak.

You know that, I know that.

Now, having a brother, I never did have to contend with how sisters of any stripe are compared to each other. I think that my brother and I are pretty alike in a lot of ways. But, then, the ways that we are different --especially those stylistic elements-- would probably be underlined if he were a she.

I am saying this because Elee and Lila are still of an age where people --myself included-- talk about them as is they were not in the room. And strangers are constantly pulling out the quel suprise over their individuality.

Sometimes, though, it seems like the girls might be intentionally underlining the point. Like, "give us something, anything, to find opposite approaches to."

Witness the PB&J study below:

Can you tell me who ate only one quarter of her sandwich, but left no traces of that quarter and who ate the whole of her sandwich --save the crusts?

For the girls who have everything:

2011-01-13T18:17:00.000-08:00

How about a way to carry it?

The girls got a Target gift card from one of their Baba Anna's many generous friends for their birthday and I spent some time deliberating on how best to use it.

They have an inarguable excess of clothes and toys; but buying pull-ups with it would just not be cool.

Then I remembered these sweet little carry-ons I had been eyeing.

Their first suitcases! Swoon.

As you can see, the girls were well pleased with the choice.

And, yes, Lila is always Paris. Elee, New York.

Elegance, at-a-glance

2011-01-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

Chocolate and sequins*, as modeled by Elee in the Pre-holiday 2010 collection:

*Not only do they work in day wear, they also spell out a crushing victory in Scrabble, when played on a triple word score, using all seven tiles for a fifty-point bonus and possibly even landing the "Q" on a double letter score while you're at it.

Not that Elee knows anything about that ... yet.

I is for Iconoclast

2011-01-13T16:39:00.000-08:00

Before I really dig into the holiday photos, let's step back and view this one as a stand-alone:

That is Elee.

From the orange Jane Fonda headband to the fucshia and lavendar leopard print vest, to the peace symbol thermal and, yes, the coral pants . . . it is all her. And, somehow, I daresay, she makes it work.

Olive Me

2011-01-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ah yes, the food on the fingers trick that keeps the kiddos coming back.

For my brother and I it was the daisy-shaped sandwich cookies that our next-door neighbor gave us. For Elee and Lila, it is canned pitted olives.

Say what you will about playing with one's food, it got Lila into another vegetable, which, like all of their favorite foods, is actually a fruit.

See also: avocados, tomatoes, and better than store-bought cookies.

Slogging Stroller

2011-01-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

So what if the girls had been snotting egg custard for three days? Their dad was working from home and need some peace. I was deprived of my morning WiiFit-ing and needed my exercise. And, they, being two-year olds who had been awake for four hours, really needed to get out of the house.

So, despite the pings from the tiny part of my being that is prudence, I dressed the girls in thermal underwear, snowman- and snowflake-themed long sleeved t's, hooded wool sweaters and jeans.

Alex graciously wrestled them into coats, mittens and snow boots while I assembled the jogging stroller.

And we were off!

Well, ohw-fuh-fuh may have been more like it. For I was not breaking any land speed records, pushing the jogging stroller through the snow. It was really more of a slogging stroller yesterday.

But, this was one of my better insane ideas.

The girls had a lot of fun having the playground to themselves. They ran up and down the stairs and cleared surfaces of snow.

Best of all, Elee actually smiled for the camera and was prevented by her mittens from sucking her fingers.

Obstacles to Getting Out the Door: Exhibit A

2011-01-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Bird's nest of tangles.

This morning, Lila's hair extends from her swirl about 3" up and back, in a formation reminiscent of a bustle.

No Caption Necessary

2011-01-04T17:15:00.000-08:00

Exhausting, all options

2010-11-27T12:04:00.000-08:00

Nap time has become a trial of late. Mothers with older toddlers will say, wistfully that their daughters had just quit napping by the girls' age Thanks for the wisdom, women; but I am not giving up without a fight.

Methods vary and work for a few days at a time. One, both or neither of the girls will sleep in the car, when read to repeatedly from the same book, in the jogging stroller, in the bike trailer . . .

But today, magically, they passed out just as I was preparing to go into battle.

If you look closely, you can see Lila cradling her sippy cup of milk and --closer yet-- sporting a head lamp around her neck. (The latter was a Home Depot surprise from her father, who wanted us all to be ready for the next inevitable power outage. The girls look like the cleanest, cutest little miners in them.)

Buzzed on Halloweeneeneen

2010-10-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

Target is trumpeting "Halloweekend"in it's overhead store signs. Friends and moms' clubs are having parties the weekend before Halloween weekend.

And, as I write this, it is a TUESday. The nineteenth.

It seems that Christmas, jolly to begin on November 1st, has re-gifted its Pagan cousin the whole 'Twelve Days" schtick.

All I can say is, meh.

More chances to dress my children up and have strangers give them stuff? Twist my arm.

So when I saw that Rockville Town Square was having a Trick or Treat event for its last Mommy & Me of the year, I put it on the calendar. Right after my appointment to consign winter clothes at The Growing Years.

As it worked out, I found size 2T butterfly and bee costumes on the rack while the proprietor was going over my consignments. Not really spooky enough for the Halloween traditionalist in me; but I guess the evil spirits to be unleashed on the Earth twelve nights from now might give insects a pass, too.

Anyhow, we looked like we had made a greater effort than we would have showing up in the glow-in-the-dark mummy T-shirt and witch leggings that I dressed the girls in this morning. The themed T-shirts are cute, but lazy for costumes.

(Not to mention that glow-in-the-dark's yellowy white looks more like a laundry fail at noon.Fortunately, with twelve days of Halloween, there is a chance for all of them, along with the bat tights and spooky kitty socks to see the light of day and glow of night.)

In typical fashion, we showed up fifteen minutes before the event ended; but that was in time to score some cute little Halloween kitty plushes, put stickers on a paper pumpkin and tumble down the foam wedge that The Little Gym had set up.

And the girls were more than happy to have the expanse of damp mulch "tools" and climbing rocks to themselves. Just look at the picture. They are giddy little insects.

Now, excuse me while I go sew some flower petals on my green hoodie.

Super Hard Core Art Adventure Monday!

2010-10-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

The look of satisfaction on Elee's face in the picture above is from her first experience in image replication.

Or, in tot lingo, "Yay! Fowlers!" (sic)

See, I was slicing apples for their dessert, and recalled the whole lateral cut look-it's-a-star trick which thrilled me to no end when I was five and my dad showed it me.

Well, I got my own little surprise in that this particular apple's seeds formed more of a floral shape. I showed the girls, who were impressed enough, and I began playing around with the bisected core while they shoved chunks of apple in their mouths.

I should really use this as a stamp, I thought.

Then I was off, running down to the basement with a girlsbegoodI'llberightback.

As I cleared the table, I shouted to them about the Big Art Adventure we were about to embark on.

I got them sufficiently enthused and brought each a piece of easel paper (Thanks, Grandma Linda) and a small plastic ramekin into which I squeezed a little washable finger paint.

I demonstrated the stamping technique for each of them. And they were off!

Elee was especially gratified, I think, because lately she has been struggling with frustration over he inability to create representational images in crayon.

She can do a decent heart; but wants only rectangles. And, lately, kitties. Kitties, I tell you. At two.

I will not tell her she is asking too much of herself; just to keep trying.

Lila's favorite thing of late is having an adult trace her hand for her. Again and again.

So the stamping gave her more control over her established interest in repetitive imagery.

And just look at how well she is holding the ramekin while applying the stamp.

The critical overview of toddler art techniques and progress vis a vis varied media may be a bit much for some of you. I am sincere; but I get how it might read a bit upsy-arsey. Fair enough.

So, I'll bring this all back down to a daily grind sign off. Probably 80-plus percent of the brilliant ideas I have for activities to do with the girls are total flops. There are tears and frustration on their part and disillusionment on mine.

But today, a spontaneous idea worked out brilliantly.

It gave the girls genuine satisfaction in their work. It killed the time between lunch and nap. And it produced a tangible good.

One which, if you are very, very lucky, will be wrapped around your Christmas present.

Two Year's Resolution

2010-10-18T10:47:00.000-07:00

Elee and Lila just (like, nine days ago) turned TWO! And, yes, we had a party. And, yes, I have pictures (although I cannot take credit for any of them.) And, yes, it might take a while for me to upload them all here and blog about it. Seeing as it is mid-October and I am stuck in May . . . BUT I am not going to let the back log hold me back. Not any longer. My Two Year's resolution, then, is to post regularly. There is so much happening; so much to share.

Mo Day Hooray

2010-06-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

Oh, my goodness, where to start with the visit to North Carolina for Mother's Day weekend?

(I do believe the Cracker Barrel lunch merits its own slide show.)

Lesse, howsabout this:

Lila decided that Baba Linda's house was no place to be sitting in a high chair.

Oh, no, high chairs were strictly reserved for bib-wearing, Cheerio-eating babies, like Elee.

Although Elee also found the high chair useful for her own advanced moves, like, say, climbing on the table and tearing into the bag of barbecue buns like a bear loose in a campground.

Speaking of camping, this was the first visit wherein the girls did not sleep in their little tents. My mom went out and bought a click-clack-style sofa for them to bed down on in their very own room.

Familiar comforts like Kitty, Lizard and cold milk met with intriguing novelties like the bright throw pillows their Baba picked out and the loose nail that all but Lila missed.

I opened the door that first morning to find her a hair away from jamming it in an open outlet. I went to Walmart for safety plugs, while my Uncle Jerry helpfully pointed out that she would not have completed the circuit. Still . . .

We all decided the girls would be better off with the simple country thrill of running around topless, playing with gravel . . .

. . . and hiding from big dogs.

(Which, let it be said, Elee somehow manages to do with such signature style.)

Pirates and Petals

2010-06-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

Of all the where-on-Earth findings that my mom has presented us for the girls, this pirate ship inflatable kiddie pool has got to take the prize.

It has a slide, yes, and working cannons -- two that shoot balls, two that shoot water-- and comes with a flag, swords and hats (not shown here.)

But even the presence of this vinyl majesty in the back yard was not enough to cajole the girls into the water. See them tentatively approaching the less imposing wading pool that our neighbors gave us last summer?

Well, at least they enjoyed modeling the flower bikinis their Baba Anna got. And there is plenty more summer where this relatively meek May Day came from.

The Cross-Atlantic Cousin Connection

2010-06-24T12:19:00.000-07:00

Right before my birthday, the unexpected loss of the man my girls knew as G-Pop brought my might-as-well-be-sister, her boyfriend and their daughter flying in from Sweden.

Two pretty irrefutable truths: funerals bring folks together and babies make them smile.

While none of us wished this turn of events and the stress of Rebecca, Reggie and Aleida trying to get a flight out from under the epic Icelandic volcanic ash cloud, we were all really excited for Elee, Lila and Aleida to finally meet.

The girls played really well together and soon my daughters were saying "tack" for "thank you."

Here is a snapshot of Aleida and Lila on the swings.

My Two Year Old Eats Octopus

2010-05-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Surely you've heard of that book by now, right? Well, I do not know that the girls have had octopus yet; but they do eat a remarkable number of food that children their age are not expected to. And I think that expectation is part of the problem. Octopus author Nancy Tringali Piho and I agree on that, I believe.

I also expect the girls to behave in restaurants. This is an expectation based on experience dining out with them their whole lives, all 19 months and 3 weeks. Trust me, I do count myself fortunate in this. I do also work at home to enforce patience in waiting for food.

Anyhow, while it is grand that the girls can fare well in a national chain restaurant in the middle of the afternoon without crayons or chicken fingers, dinner in a place with white tablecloths and a wine cellar is another story.

Still, I decided to brave the waters so that I could celebrate my 35th birthday with my babies in tow.

This all may sound a bit precious, but trust that I chose the restaurant for the occasion. May all such bold parents in the DC region join me in thanking my former boss Chef Geoff for making his restaurants amenable to the high chair crowd - and so doing without compromising on culinary content.

Thanks to my patience with Photobucket (which has jammed up the last couple of times I tried to use it,) there is a nifty slideshow below of the evening.

As you can see, the girls were absolute stars that night.

(And how cute are the little ballerina dresses that their Baba bought them in Buenos Aires?)

In fact, Lila seemed to feel as if she had arrived.

Once seated in her high chair, she glanced at the wine room behind her, sat up straight as a rod, folded her hands on the tablecloth in front of her, lifted her chin slightly and surveyed the audience.

Note that we did not dare to order dessert, or anything. The girls were starting to show signs of turning as the plates were cleared. But they saved the meltdown for home.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the octopus stand-in was a lambs lettuce, beet and goats cheese salad. With LOTS of bread. They are, afterall, babies.

OutsideoutsideOUTSIIIDE!!!

2010-05-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

That is Elee's cry now, from breakfast through bedtime.

We are fortunate to have an excellent playground in the neighborhood. All the more so for the fact that there is a park trail leading safely there.

That said, there have been a few times when a walk to the park did not seem that it would be a walk in the park.

Perhaps I have tired of people asking why Elee has that ring on her leg. (It's just her style.)

Or of pretending to other mothers that oh, yes, dear me, Lila's antics are about to give me a heart attack. (She hasn't jumped yet.)

Whatever the schedule crunch and/or laziness on my part was that contributed to the sentiment, I can only say again how grateful I am to have Alex's family around the corner from us.

Especially until we manage to get our own back yard fenced in. Here, below, is a picture of the girls taken on an unseasonably hot day in April. They are so happy to see Olga's cat, Sammy.

And Sammy is so happy to have that pane of glass between him and their affections.

When it rains, she snores.

2010-05-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Once spring really got underway, I started having these stupid mom fantasies about the girls going out and stomping in rain puddles. Obviously, what the girls needed were rain boots.

Apparently, though, in the parallel universe that is Retail, rain boots are sold in January and bikinis are sold in April.

Yeah, yeah, Target has them. That is what I ended up doing.

Hello, Hello Kitty, aren't you so pink and omnipresent?

But not before I did the rounds at the mall stores that are meant to cater to the kiddos. Cartoons, thanks. But, um, there is no way to navigate a stroller through the racks. Hmm, back on track.

I bought the pink Hello Kitty rain boots at Target. The reason I hesitated is that the smallest available size was still a size big for the girls.

"Put on thick socks," recommended the practical Polish woman who sold them to me. And who was I to argue? No one, not especially with someone who was mourning for her country's leader. (There, that should date this.)

Anyhow, boots. Got em. And you know what? The girls love to wear them . . . inside.

To bed, even. See?

This is Elee, passed out after the neighbor's second birthday party. (I figured that, since the neighbor in question is a boy, the girls could get away with wearing their party dresses. This is not the way I would dress them for a girl's birthday party. No way. Not unless it was their own.)

But she slept soundly in those puddle stompers. Here she and Lila are just waking up:

There is something about the blurry eyes and bee-stung lips, Lila's pose, and the juxtaposition of the boots and tulle in this one that makes me think of a 1990's Guess ad. Like these two are baby Linda and Claudia. But that could just be the crazy mom mind in overdrive again.

By the way, they did recently stomp through some puddles. They were wearing the beach wader shoes their baba got them. So, um, close enough.

Peak Peek

2010-05-11T18:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it is Mid-May as I write this. The weather is all over the place 50's, 80's, thunderstorms, wind and plenty of pollen. But, archive-wise, I have just arrived at late March. A kinder, gentler time when one needed a jacket and the trees had just begun to bloom.

Of course, here, in the Washington Area, that means a full-out festival. And it is one which, I daresay, locals also love. So my mom friend Mary and I headed down with the rest of the world to the Tidal Basin to take in the Cherry Blossoms.

The white poms over the Potomac were not the only things blooming that day, though. Look below at Elee's nascent sense of style, as manifest in her jaunty horseshoe and blooms tights-as-scarf:

That's Sofia sleeping in the background.
And see, also, how our shy Lila opened up to stump stomping with big girl Elena:

The aunties ain't half bad either.

2010-05-11T18:49:00.001-07:00

Late March my mom and her little sister, Glenda, came up here to visit. Grandma got plenty of love from the girls that weekend, but G got the winning shots:

All because my mom is so awesome . . .

2010-05-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

We have this twin jog stroller. My mom found it for twenty bucks at the thrift store. Seriously, I still have the price grease markered on to the kick plate.

And we have a FONZ family membership.(Really, I should thank my brother and my niece momma for getting Mom into the whole charitable giving for gifts idea. They always support Heifer International . But, I also do still like stuff; so FONZ seemed a good middle ground.) So I can pop the wheels off the jog stroller, stow it in the trunk and head down Connecticut Ave., knowing a free parking spot awaits.

That, and ADVENTURE!

That is how I prime the girls literally every time we leave the house. Once the car seats are buckled and I have turned the keys, put on my glasses (as required by law, which is the only time I wear them,) and adjusted the mirrors, I turn around and ask, "Girls: are you ready? Elee, are you ready? Lila, are you ready? for_an_ADVENTURE!?!?!"

Yes, I am a dork. But they are young enough not to know any better than to expect greatness at every turn.

And, look, we saw pandas that day:

This one was outside. Another was inside. And there were elephants, lots of elephants. It was the best day at the zoo in a lifetime of days at the zoo.

But I'll bet that we'll have better days yet.

Who am I to disagree?

2010-05-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

So, the whole cuddling up like puppies thing was just wishful thinking. My babies are no longer babies; they flop and snore like big girls.

That said, the transition to a real bed has been pretty smooth. It has been two months now and we only occasionally have to step in to keep one or the other of the girls from harassing her sister for daring to fall asleep first.

The true test came when we went to visit Cecily and I put the girls down for a nap on her day bed. They passed (out) with flying colors:

Here Lila is on the left, flopped on her back with her hands on her head. In, as it happens, what I was going to identify as the classic Elee sleeping pose, as seen in on the right in the first shot. Those two are always switching it out.

Two Princesses and a Queen

2010-03-13T19:07:00.000-08:00

There is a punchline in there somewhere, but while I am busy trying to come up with the joke why don't you gaze a spell at these sweet sleepers:

What you see above are the last photos taken of Elee and Lila in their cribs.

Earlier this week, we noticed that Lila's plie had her foot over the crib rail and Elee (the relative shortie) had found a foothold on the gate of her crib rail.

Not wanting to hear the THUNK which would surely soon follow, we disassembled the cribs post haste and began the dreaded transition to toddler beds.

Or, in our case, the queen-sized bed which their baba left behind when she moved out.

Alex had the genius idea to help the girls adjust by setting up their travel tents on top of the bed. The girls are such aces that they immediately took to this arrangement.

The plan was to gradually start leaving the tents unzipped and then, eventually, to remove the tents themselves, leaving only the sleep pads from the tents on the bed. This struck me as sound habituation practice, which I took to be gleaned from Alex's experience with pets.

You may rightly suspect that seventeen months is at the low end of the age range for such a transition. Alex and I planned to take time with each stage of the the move and anticipated a couple of weeks of newborn-quality sleep deprivation as the girls reveled in their new-found freedom/ froke out over their loss of crib security.

However, the girls seemed to get the idea completely. The only thing they happened to object to was the time frame.

By the third night they began unzipping the tents and roaming around on their own. So tonight we removed the tents entirely and went to putting them, quite literally, to bed. Again, we did not ourselves expect to sleep.

Elee immediately adapted to the bed. My sweet baby ennui, lying on her back, sucking her two fingers, bored with us.

Lila wailed and wanted to be held and then, when we left, rampaged around the room.

For, oh, ten minutes.

Seriously, the crying stopped within the first ten minutes after we shut the door. And well within the hour all incidental play sounds abated.

I can only imagine where and how she eventually passed out.

Until it is proven otherwise, I am going to assume that Elee and Lila have found their way into a puppy litter snuggle, like they did when they were newborns, sharing a single crib.

Yo Baby!

2010-02-18T18:19:00.001-08:00

The girls have been doing pretty well feeding themselves with spoons for a month or so now.

Elee was hesitant at first. She would want me to load the spoon for her.

But lately they have both been going it solo.

To make things easier on them, I usually empty their all-too-crinkly yogurt cups into wider-mouthed tea cups.

The other day, though, I plain forgot. And they more than managed. Look!

Of course, as you can see, there is still a fair amount of dribbling; but that is to be expected. And, thankfully, the grandmas and aunties have conspired to keep the girls' closet overflowing with changes of clothes.

'sno Joke

2010-02-07T19:28:00.000-08:00

This gorgeous child who, in her phur-lined hood, looks like a born snow princess HATES THE STUFF.

Lila, our diva, does not "do" snow.

No, no, and no.

As with so much, this is a point of divergence for our girls.

For, while Elee may well be ambivalent about snow, she is always excited to be allowed outdoors to explore. The girl just takes off.

So it was today that Lila went down for her nap while Alex cleared the cars and I followed Elee around the front yard, up and down the side walk and kept her away from the surely fascinating fallen power line.

This afforded me an opportunity to get this 'arty' shot of Elee:

But I made sure Alex got the obligatory happy family snap shot. (Composition means little to grannies and aunties when they cannot see baby blues and pinchable cheeks.)

(What I failed to notice was that Elee and I were positioned so that our neighbors' tree was growing out of our trunks. Greg and Carol, rest assured, the sloppy chop job was only done in my photo editor.)

Once again, the girls' natural inclinations proved surprisingly convenient. Especially since only Elee's feet still fit into their super-sweet size 3 snow boots.

Sitting Pretty in Chair City

2010-02-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, my cousin Amy was just getting over a bout of strep when we got to Thomasville; so she kept herself and Max quarantined at home in Fort Mill, SC, while the girls and we visited.

One of these days our three are going to get to really wreck things up together. Perhaps I can even cajole mi prima up to DC this Spring . . .

. . . but that is yet to be and I am here to tell what did in fact happen. Which is, my girls stole all of Max's sugar that weekend!

Just look at his grandma (my momma's twin, Brenda) and grandpa reading to Elee!

Of course, the girls do also like to save a few new tricks for when they have an appreciative audience. Check out Lila's Run DMC 'tude:

"You sayin' somethin' 'bout my black socks with my Dora pj's? Are you? You best be sayin' my black socks are fresh and my Dora pj's are sweet. Tha's right. Proper."

Or that's what I imagine her look to convey.

Honestly, I suspect the pose began with her aping my why-do-I-let-my-man-control-the-thermostat? pose. And it (d)evolved from their when she saw what a reaction she got for it.

That chin. Trouble.

So, yes, the girls showed off and got enough new clothes from their Grandma to fill two IKEA shopping bags to beyond capacity and were treated to a studio photo session by their Aunt Brenda and played with toys so cool I had never before seen the like which their eagle-eyed Aunt Glenda found at one or another of her regular thrift hits. It was a great weekend.

I also got a new Scrabble Diamond Anniversary Edition board and Alex, being without an Internet connection, even indulged me in a game or two.

The rest of the time, he leaned on his DS -- and Elee (or Lila) on him-- for comfort.

When the time came to go, the girls took roost in their deconstructed highchairs.

Really, I am not sure if they were staging a sit-in in hopes of getting fed more cornbread or if they were just making sure we packed them, too.

January 23rd is The New December 25th

2010-02-07T18:42:00.000-08:00

There is really no other way to say this: I ditched on Christmas. There are plenty of reasons (terrible road conditions, fatigue, the recent hospital discharge of a nearby relative) why I did not trek down 95 as planned to have the extended Saintsing clan coo over my babies playing with their cousin Max under the Christmas tree. Regardless, I felt equally relieved and, well, like the Grinch.

But my momma was actually glad I demonstrated some common sense for once and there was plenty of cheer --to say nothing of gear-- to greet us when we did make it down in late January.

You know the craziest thing about my experience driving six hours with two teething babies/toddlers (bobblers?) in the backseat?

They did not cry.

I swear to you. As Alex said, we must have done something right in a past life.

A Cat's Claw is a Sharp Learning Curve

2010-02-07T18:28:00.000-08:00

It took a while for Lila to learn what we meant when we said, "GENtle kitty," and I daresay Tequila may have had to GENtly assert himself a couple of times before she really got it. These days, though, it does seem that they have found their way.

I, on the other hand, am still struggling to keep my face from being torn to shreds. And not by the cats, mind you. The picture below was taken moments before Lila clawed a long gash across the tip of my nose:

It seems I am even giving myself a look of trepidation.

Irresistible

2010-01-18T19:14:00.000-08:00

So, you know how watches can be water proof and watches can be merely water resistant? Well, water resistance is perfectly respectable and will do for pretty much all but serious divers, right?

So when it comes to baby "proofing" . . .

Enh.

Listen, we are working on it. Really. The dressers in the girls' room now have latches on the drawers. And, well, that is about as far as we've gotten.

There are furniture straps and super-expensive Lexan outlet covers just waiting to be installed.

But when we think of making the nursery into a "big girl" room, where Elee and Lila can safely roam unsupervised, this is what we see:

Yup, a frickin' melee. That does not even look like a still shot. There is such a sense of motion and impending destruction. Phew.

What all this leads into is a complex puzzle in which we must weigh the potential for crib escape attempt casualties against the multitude of unknown free-range bedroom injuries. Factor in current estimates for increased height adjusted for parental chore entropy and carry the one.

Too bad we are not cool enough to have iphones. Surely there is an app for this.

See a pattern developing?

2010-01-14T19:28:00.001-08:00

Full disclosure: Elee is often billed as the brains of the operation. But check it out: Lila is a flipping genius.

I looked over one night when the four of us were in the play area to see what she had just completed with two sets of Rock-a-Stack rings:

Really, I am beside myself over this. It may not seem a big deal to the casual observer; but I am certain a survey of early cognitive theory will bear me out here.

Who's blue in the face now?

2010-01-14T19:14:00.000-08:00

Elee and Lila are great little girls. They have lovely dispositions. They are really cute, and sweet. They play well together for hours on end and then sleep quietly the whole night through. We are SO, so lucky.

But.

But, there is this thing about them putting their feet up on the table.

Not cool.

Lila started it. Then Elee picked it up. They were both at it for a while. Then there was a long respite. Recently, though, Elee has started up again. It seems she is gearing up for toddlerhood, looking for new avenues to use her "NO!"

The other day, she was giving me a really hard time of it. I kept asking, and telling her to put her foot down. She got her plate taken away and got pushed away from the table more than once.

When we were done eating, I took Lila upstairs to play first. When I came back down, this is how I found Elee:

It seems that someone went a bit too far and put both of her feet up and got stuck.

HA.

HA.

HA.

Now that I am done gloating, check out the socks. Elee's defiant/desperate pose models them well. They are covered in lemurs. My friend, Merry, loves these funny little beasties and got gifts adorned with them for my funny little beasties at the Duke Lemur Center in Raleigh, NC. Cute, huh?

As the months fly by . . .

2010-01-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

. . . the girls grow so!

I heard before that after one year the changes are not so dramatic. Not so for these two. I swear, every time I go to load a photo, I think, 'Who are these little babies?"

The shot below is from late November; not even two months ago. I wanted to brag again on their baba's keen knitting skills; but got sidetracked by how small those bonneted faces seem.

I'll have to check in the morning whether these sweaters still fit!

And I vowed tonight would be the last night Elee wears 12 months pajamas (Lila, who is an inch taller and 2 pounds heavier, has been in 18 months for a while now.) Those diaper wedgies are not cute.

Who's That?

2010-01-14T18:40:00.000-08:00

When the girls were really little one of Alex's friends tried to goad us over whether they would say "momma" or "daddy" first. Honestly, neither of us cared much. I would be hard pressed to say.

I mean, yeah, they said "mama" for a while; but I don't think it was a personal identifier so much as a whine for quite some time.

But one day, many, many months ago, Alex was leaning over Lila's crib, coaching her to sharpen her babble into "Lila." That was when I really knew that I had chosen the right father for my children. No aggrandizing ego, all aiding self-actualization.

So, it is with much joy that I report (again, yes, I know; MUCH joy, as I said) that Elee's favorite word is "Eluh". (She actually said "Lila" for a couple of days before she said her own name. (Lila, on the other hand, is focused on facial vamping and feats of physical coordination.))

Below is a shot of Elee in the bloomers and headband that went with her Christmas dress (see "In Crinoline We Begin Again.) She ran up to the mirror and screamed "Ee-LUH!" with naked delight.

Check It Out

2010-01-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

What can I say? No, really; I am not sure what to say about this one. Probably Lila is indignant that Elee has the turtle; but it also looks like she is checking out Elee's ass. Maybe saying to herself, "Hunh, who knew? I wonder if mine has a number on the back, too?" The thing is . . . look at Lila's pose. She is such a poser. We really need to get that girl a talent agent. She has such poise and range and outright humor. Honestly, I have no idea where it all came from.

Daily Dispatch From the Annals of Awesome

2010-01-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Lunch: Lila stacks her cheese cubes carefully and architecturally, as blocks.

Elee, once strapped in her high chair, pushes away the baby doll and baseball she was carrying and says, "No, no, no," knowing that "we" are not allowed to have toys at the table. "No" is her second favorite word, currently, just behind her own name, pronounced "E-luh" and used to proclaim dominance over the world.

Dinner: Elee keeps gesturing towards something. "What's that?" "Over there" "E-LUH!"
"The stairs?" Alex asks, "The internet router?" (the blinking lights are often a point of interest.)
"No," I say, "I think she wants my wine."
"Wine!" Elee affirms.
Sighing, "Here, you can have a little drop in your water,"
"Thank you!" Elee says, grabbing the glass.

Oh, and, upon waking from their afternoon nap, Lila was standing over the lit Twilight Turtle in her crib, dancing. Her own personal disco and all.

Anyone who has, is planning on having, knows someone who has, or likes to revisit the wonder of the age when she was a little one should run out and buy at least one of these stuffed animals/lamps/constellation maps. Now! They super rock.

Editor's Note

2010-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Like Frank, my regrets are too few too mention.

But my errors do glare.

Elee made off with my purse not on Christmas night, as stated in the previous posting, but on New Year's Eve. And in the blurry photo of the girls in the green t shirts, it must be MY arm reaching in to help Lila with the Mega Blocks. I was looking at it again and wondered why Alex was wearing pink socks. No recent laundry accidents. Hmm. And then I looked at the hand. No sausage fingers. No hair on the arm. Hmm. Pff.

Also, since I am confessing my fallibility here, I totally mislabeled one of the hospital pictures of the girls. Elee is on the scale, getting weighed; but I saw 7_1 and thought it must be Lila, since that was her birth weight. Well, when I looked back many months later I noticed a leading digit on the scale: 6. Elee's birth weight was 6LBs7oz. Or 6LBS7.1ozs, it would appear.

Bah.

Anyhow, while I do miss a few tricks, I adore my little beasties. They turned 15 months yesterday and have a check up tomorrow to mark the milestone. I look forward to hearing what Dr. Abdow has to say about Elee's vocabulary of two dozen words and counting. And I will have to restrain myself from showing him a cell phone video of Lila walking down the stairs, holding a hand rail. I am sure he will also be impressed to hear that the girls are starting to eat with forks. These are really big deals, you know.

And on the fork tip -- it is a messy process, to be sure. So look for plenty of pictures of food-covered babies in days to come. I have a rack full now, but am too dang tired to find the Micro SD/USB card reader dohicky that I use for to get photos from my phone to the computer and which Alex also uses for some undisclosed pirate-y purposes. If only that dohicky were as eager to climb the stairs as the girls are . . .

Is it true that toddlers must get wander lust, too?

2010-01-09T21:53:00.000-08:00

Elee sure seems to. Christmas night she grabbed my handbag and ran for the door.

I mean, there was no money in it; but, still, I might hold off on getting her passport for a little while.

Baba's Girls Love Her Knits and Purls

2010-01-09T21:32:00.000-08:00

When I was expecting, a friendly server at out local Silver Diner told me that I would love having October babies. By the time they are big enough to want to get out and explore, it will be Spring, she said. And that is true. All of the little, squirmy months were spent bundled up indoors. But, there is no real sense of all this "Baby's First" mess about Halloween or Christmas when baby is so tiny and unaware.

Trust, 12 and 14 month olds have no better sense of what their father unaffectionately refers to as the Gregorian Calendar; but they do like wearing tails and getting stuffed dogs that sing about how to say "Merry Christmas" in Hawaii.

So when the holidays rolled around this (last) year, I was happy to drag out some of what escaped the girls' notice in oh-eight. Especially the candy cane-striped dresses their baba knitted for them. They still fit!

Albeit differently. You can see the proud baba with her girls below and images of Elee and Lila wearing the same dresses (the year before) last year by going back to the "Holly Daze" post from January 2009.

Dutiful Mother, Neglectful Daughter

2010-01-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

So I totally rocked it out and made the girl's Halloween costumes from scratch. (Well, Elee's ears and tail were made from scratch and then tacked onto existing garments.) But, as you can see from clicking on "2009" at right and scrolling into a three month gap, I totally failed to post pictures here. I did send picture messages and emails to the grandmas; but really, it that enough? No. So here I am to repent and to share the genius of my creations, clad in the genius of my creations. What? Humility is a part of repentance. Oh, maybe I'll get it right next time.*

*Yeah, that's what I said about the neckline on Lila's top, too. We shall see. I have more baby sewing in the works. Some super girly stuff this time to balance out the boy clothes I occasionally like to dress them in (see: Julius t's and baggy jeans below.)

It's All a Blur

2010-01-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

Look! I got these really cute Paul Frank for Target t's for the girls just before Christmas. I love the subtle reference to the holiday made by Julius' two missing front teeth and the touch of red on the green background.

I also love that Elee is biting a ring in a way that accentuates her bullishness and that you can see Alex helping Lila get the hang of the Mega Blocks.

What I love not: the frickin' green dye from the body of the t's bled onto the white faux layered sleeves. There is some silly quote about ifs, buts, candy, nuts and the goodness of Christmas. I cannot turn buts to nuts (ahem), but I do keep a pair of scissors in every room for a reason.

Snip, snip, it's January and the girls have some cute short sleeve t's that do not scream Christmas. (They may, however, offer an aside about how their mom is a cheap psuedo hipster.)

Oh, and Lila? Totally rocking those Mega Blocks. Elee, too.

The Innate Traits

2010-01-09T20:52:00.000-08:00

As I scrolled through a file of baby photos, hoping to catch up and regain momentum with this chronicling my my sweet Cie's, I was arrested by this recent image of Elee, taken at the Black Market Bistro.

While the natural light helped to make this a great snap shot, the expression is not exactly rare. That "Oh, now really?" look, accentuated by Elee's perfectly arched eyebrows and her cheeks drawn in around her two sucking fingers, is all Elee. I may have to make a whole photo album just of this look. See another example, captured in August, below:

With Crinoline We Begin Again

2009-12-25T17:52:00.000-08:00

There are basically two ways to feel about babies in velveteen dresses with crinoline underskirts and bow-embellished bodices:

"I'm a doof," as voiced helpfully by their father OR, "Aww, SO cute!" from any aunties, grannies or those who could pass for such.

You may not be a 365 t and jeans computer nerd or own decorative figurines, but you probably still fall firmly in one camp or the other.

And so it is with this divisive dress choice that I break my latest hiatus.

Enjoy cooing or chuckling over the girls in their finery. And to push your reaction a notch further in which ever direction, imagine the coordinating stretchy velveteen headbands with bows that came with the outfits (but which the girls quickly ditched.)

What happens when you send Dad to buy diapers . . .

2009-09-22T08:23:00.001-07:00

. . . the girls get a new pony!

Apparently, Alex got snared in the bullseye of Target.

He said that they displaced the baby aisles to make room for Halloween wares; forcing him to walk past the toys in his quest for diapers.

No one, it seems, is immune.

Lila was go eager to get in the saddle that I could not get a sharp shot of her face.

Also, check out the pj's. Their baba answered my call for 12 months jammies with some really cute mod floral and birdie printed footies. And they fit! The girls are just getting so big. I am adjusting to the mouthfeel of the word 'toddlers.'

Owning the Scene

2009-09-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

That's what the girls were doing at brunch Sunday. Cecily, Suzette, Courtney and I enjoyed watching Elee and Lila flirt with the group gathered at the next table at Trios.

What else is a girl to do on a gorgeous Sunday in Dupont other than work it?

Fortunately, no bangles nor bloody marys were snatched by the beasties.

When the food ran out, we strolled up 18th Street to meld with the mix of people out for Adams Morgan day. Despite the crowds and several stages of live music sets, Lila managed to nap.

Elee wasn't having it. Even though I reclined the stroller seat all the way back, she managed to pull herself up by the snack tray and eagle eye everything.

Here she is, standing on Cecily's lap, checking out the band:

The Scrapbookers Must LOVE This

2009-09-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

So, I wanted to show you what I meant about the flash photos being overexposed. Rather, I wanted to see how much I could do to salvage the cute pics I got of the girls with Tequila. GIMP helped a bit with the white balance in the picture of Elee below.

Then I was going to e-mail myself the one I took a minute later of Lila, when I saw that my phone actually has some internal editing software. Hmmm . . .

And "frames" that can make any photo look like it was taken in a Japanese photo booth.

And "stamps," too!!!

voila! superfromagesque!!!

Note: While I am typing this, I can hear the soundtrack to "Drag Me To Hell" in the background. It suggests the effect such effects might have on innocent souls, perhaps even those of my DD's (which would be InterWeb shorthand for my dear/darling daughters; not the other girls which they temporarily blessed/cursed me with.)

Is this making any sense? No? Right, then, time for me to turn in before my eyes look like the ones I stamped Tequila with, above.

When the cat's away . . .

2009-09-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

. . . the mice play nice.

Seriously, when I am actively watching the girls they squawk and balk every time one touches the other. It is Baby MMA everyday.

For a while, Lila was the toy-stealing bitch. Then Elee got fed up and started her own toy snatching and body slamming. It can actually get pretty brutal.

Neither of them really owns her center of gravity, so a two-handed grasp of the onesie shoulder seams and _SLAM_ down goes a sister.

But when they think I am not looking, they roll all over each other like puppies -- nipping, swatting and giggling.

I actually managed to catch them in the midst of a friendly fight the other day.

(Please ignore my finger tip in the frame in the first few seconds, I was over eager to catch them and the camera lens placement is my one design kvetch about the enV3. But look out for the point, about ten seconds in, when Lila spots the camera.)

The new camera affords me twice the time for short clips that the old cell did (30 versus 15 seconds.) It also has removable memory and the option to switch the record mode to a long-format hour long session. So, watch out.

New Camera, New Foods

2009-09-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

So, I am getting the hang of the enV3's camera. The natural light shots I have taken are gorgeous; the flash shots are almost universally overexposed and flooded with blue values. Practice.

Also, it has a "smile setting," which is meant to snap when the camera detects a smile. How this is meant to work, I know not. It does not seem to be calibrated for baby smiles, though. Like the expression Lila has below, what is that?

Holy frijoles, bean face, it looks like you got on the wrong side of a squid!

And here the ever-serious Elee stares down the Snap Pea Crisps she's double-fisting:

And, just for the record, the two pictures above were taken at the same meal. A meal which started with Elee snacking on the Snap Pea Crisps while Lila continued to nap and progressed to the girls eating a pound of black beans, half a pound of sliced bell peppers and three or four ounces of cheddar cheese. Sound like a lot of food? Well, that was between the two of them.

As I was saying,

2009-09-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

The mess below is the result of trying to streamline my screen time. Saying something silly seven times fast does not the fancy manifest. Those question mark-pocked paragraphs are what got lost in translation from my enV3 to Blogger when I was smiling over the "Success!" SMS I got back. BAH. Bah, I say.

And I still have not taken a stellar shot of the girls with the new cell phone camera. Mi amigo, el Manual, and I perchance should spend some more time getting familiar.

When I was still in the throes of the illusory "Success!" I was thinking about the idea of being a 21st century mom and what that means. Nothing, I decided. Technology and the ways we implement it in our everyday lives is changing too rapidly to refer to modalities in hundred year formats.

Or is it?

Before I launch into musings on the last century's continuity of dedicated cameras that recorded on frames of glass or gelatin versus this century's digital imaging; before I cite passages from Shop Craft as Soul Craft on the poverty of a culture that depends on implements the workings of which its average member cannot comprehend, let alone adjust . . .

Before any of that I am going to avail myself of some old tech and make some mind sharpening coffee. I'll set my time machine to "drip," perhaps. After all, the Eighties are supposed to be hot this fall.