Wrangling for the Holidays

If we 1) actually produce a holiday card this year and 2) mail it out, I am 93% certain it won't have all three girls in the same picture. I made an earnest attempt earlier this week to round them all up using the one tool I have at my disposal -- Cheerios -- and it failed hilariously. Rosemary was great, a real smiling trooper, and the babies were their cute little selves, which is to say going in all directions.  

Sylvie getting things started:

The three, mostly too busy eating to smile:

And cut. The O's ran out.

By the by, the littler ones are wearing knitted dresses made by Jerry's cousin Mimi, worn by Sam, kept by Maxine, handed down to us. How cool is that?

I felt a bit better today when I saw even a professional couldn't get them all to stay still and smile. Rosemary's ballet class has a photographer come in and she's magical. Come to think of it, she took the picture we used on our card last year. She sweetly offered to take a few of all three girls but Sylvia immediately flopped over and squiggled off to play with all the ballerinas, and Maggie sat stock still beside Rosie staring stoically at everyone. 

This, by the way, is in part because Sylvia still does not sit on her bottom. She crawls, stands, sits on her knees, but seems to have no interest in sitting still on her behind. I asked the doctor if this was a problem and she said simply, "No, but it's cute." I suppose she'll get there soon. Not cute though: she likes to stand up in her high chair. And not just stand up. The other day, while Maggie was getting a diaper change, Sylvia wriggled out of her high chair buckles and plunged head-first into Maggie's empty one, where she hung out face down happily eating cheerios. Count us lucky, and get that girl a five-point harness.

Maggie's waving, clapping her hands, clicking her tongue, pleased as punch when you do any of those things back at her. She also crawls (started a few weeks back) and pulls to stand, and seems to be working hard on standing on her own. 

And she sits:

A previous failed hilarious attempt to contain all three in the picture frame. Long live the Bumbo!

Babies hate being fenced in, even though there are 49,000 toys in there with them.

Rosemary has been having a big reading month. Jason, smart man, made a Candyland-style chart for her with a semi-elaborate points/sticker/rewards system, and she has since been gung ho sounding out words. It's exciting. 

Action at 8 months

A month ago (or more? I think more), when the bebes were getting themselves up on all fours and rocking back and forth, I thought they'd be crawling hands-and-knees-style soon. In a rare instance of synchronicity (these twins rarely seem to have so-called "twin moments"), they both began commando crawling in lock step. Jason said we should re-stage the storming of the beach at Normandy, a la Private Ryan, which we haven't done yet but of course if we do it will a tasteful homage to both the actual historic event and also Steven Spielberg. 

They can get anywhere they want. Magnolia is finally learning to push herself up into a sitting position, but Sylvia still has zero interest in sitting up. If you try to prop her up she squiggles down, rolls onto her belly, and roams around the room like a scuba diver, swimming across the room pausing to look with wonder at various things of interest -- the table leg, shoes, and most of all the stereo receiver, which is the most rewarding place of all. Lots of buttons to push. She's still so very teeny - a wiry little bird-boned bouncer with a sweet smile and a lot to chat about. Maggie is solid, extremely delicious, and very, very loud. Changing diapers right now, particularly Sylvie's, is how I imagine it would be to change a diaper of someone riding a gyroscope.      

Both girls love to try to push themselves up into a standing-on-all-fours position. Magnolia demonstrates here:

Yesterday they had a bagel. Toothless Sylvia gummed hers politely while Magnolia with her two teeth tore into hers so well that she got a few sizable hunks off (a pity for her since I then took it away). Maggie is working hard on her pincher grip, and given 30 or so cheerios, will get between 1 and 3 in her mouth. As you can imagine, I'm looking forward to a bit more self-feeding. 

  

And Rosemary! On Sunday she and I had a date in Manhattan, meeting friends for pizza and a play. I don't know whether I should repeat the following story, somehow it seems like it doesn't reflect well on anyone. But it made me laugh. The play was a variation on The Frog Prince, performed at a small kids' theater where they do a stellar job of getting the kids involved in the show. So in the story, the princess loses her sparkly golden ball in a well. A frog, total extortionist, pops up and offers to get it for her, but only if she agrees to let him drink from her golden cup, eat from her golden plate, et cetera, et cetera. Steep demands! She refuses in disgust and then, in this play, turns to the kid audience to offer suggestions as to what she should do. One kid suggested diving in on her own, another said to use a tool to get the ball; all good ideas, but the princess said they wouldn't work. 

 

So sweet Rosemary, cuddling a stuffed lion, sticks up her arm and politely waits to be called on, and then says--as if it's absolutely the most logical solution--"I know. Get a bow and arrow, and shoot the frog." The princess deftly replied that she didn't think they needed to take it that far.  But then most of those Grimm fairy tales are about retribution. And dance parties with the Prince:

 

On the Town!:

Ice cream at the Shake Shack, deep in conversation:

At home on her non-school day Monday: 

    

Former Miss Jumperoo jumping with current Miss Jumperoo.

Good and Tight

Oh yeah, now I remember the other Rosemary-ism I wanted to write down. When someone sneezes she yells "Good and Tight!" That's her translation of gesundheit, and frankly I prefer it to the original. Now we all say it.

Also, Rosemary has pretty good diction, enunciation, all that. But there are a few words that she still says (I hope for a long time still) in funny ways. I don't think she hears the difference. Blanklet. Instresting. Brestest - that's breakfast to the rest of us. This last was the topic of a funny conversation between Rosie and her fun friend Marley, discussing sleepovers.

Rosemary: And then we can wake up and have brestest!
Marley: Breakfast?
Rosemary: Yes, brestest.
Marley: Do you mean breakfast?
Rosemary, looking thoroughly exasperated: Yes, that's what I said. Brestest. 
Marley, mystified/exasperated, turns to me: Well then why didn't she say breakfast?
Rosemary, moving on to more important topics: Coo coo! Doo duh dooo!

Life is Good (Away from Home)

A recent quote from Rosemary: "I don't want anyone to tell my grandparents not to spoil me." This was said out of the blue, just after a lovely week of sugar cereals with Grandma Nancy and before this current week we're in, where she is in the Berkshires with Grandmama and Baba. We forgot to pack her sneakers, and I just got a call from Max asking whether it would be okay for them to buy her a pair of Dora sneakers with lights that flash when you walk. As if I would rain on that parade! I will say that it has gotten progressively harder and harder to get Rosemary to get herself dressed. For her to wear anything it must have high ratings in two critical categories: "Fancy" and "Feel Good." I know, this is true for us all to some degree, but Rosie now takes it to extremes. Dresses cannot have low backs or thin straps. (I think something tickles in the wrong place? Proto-Victorian standard?) Skirts must have ruffles, glitter, ribbons, sequins, rainbow stripes - preferably two or more of the above. Pants? Well, pants cannot be pants. They must be a dress. With a high back. And ruffles, glitter, ribbons, sequins, and/or rainbow stripes. Leggings may be acceptable in certain circumstances, but only rainbow-stripe leggings.

She has a pair of purple crocs with little pink hearts with little fake gems. One of the hearts fell off. I called Zappos and asked if I could exchange the pair. They said never mind, they'd just send out a new pair. Grand! But guess what? It turns out the new two-hearted pair is somehow not as good as the one-hearted pair. And the one heart shoe (the left shoe) of the one-hearted pair is somehow better than the left shoe of the two-hearted pair, because the heart of the one-hearted pair is missing a gem, giving it that special je ne sais quoi. All this to say, that that crucial high rating for "fancy" is wildly unpredictable, and if something gets put on with alacrity, then that is a good, good thing.

So after I said yes, please go ahead and get the shoes, Rosemary got on the phone and said, "So you said you will like my new Dora shoes that light up when I walk?" and I said, yes, I will really, really like those Dora shoes that light up when you walk.

A few other recent quotes/updates from Rosemary:
I asked whether she'd like to help me mash up a banana to give to the babies. Rosemary said, "You're going to give them banana? A human banana?"
We have a pink water balloon that has come home from the playground 2 times. I don't know what its future will bring.
Hm. Seems like there were some other things I wanted to post but now I can't recall what they were. To be continued, perhaps.

Wind Up

The babies have a nonstop hobby. They are working on crawling. Sure, they still like all those other things: eating (Maggie), catching strangers' attention (Sylvie), rocking the exersaucer (Sylvie), stretching and barrel rolling to get to a toy (Maggie), stretching and barrel rolling to the stereo equipment and then adjusting the volume (Sylvie), watching Rosie like hawks (both). But now they both spend the majority of their time trying to get up on all fours. Neither one can crawl just yet, but these videos - which I think I took on Saturday? - are already out of date. Now both girls can stay up on all fours (increasingly hands, not just elbows) for 15 seconds or so. Every day they seem to add about 5 seconds. I watch with a mixture of supportive excitement and slight dread. Mostly excitement, because I love them more than I love doing anything that necessitates leaving them alone for more than 15 seconds. (I know, I know, time for baby gates.) I just love this phase - watching them rock back and forth, back and forth, until they propel themselves forward or tip over, then trying to do it again. It's unusual that they are both working on the same thing at the same time.

They still don't sit up, or really show any interest in it yet. I realize this is probably because I forgot to help them do this. Once they started rolling, they adapted pretty well to tummy time, so they never minded hanging out on the mat on their bellies. I guess they'll get there soon enough.

Meantime, it's a quiet week here while Rosemary visits Grandmama and Baba in the Berkshires. I can hear the August cicadas outside, the Mr. Softee ice cream truck (we live by a playground so it's constant), construction (always seems to be some going on), and I suppose also the BQE freeway traffic too, if I really pay attention. I have some freelance work I took on, so I'd better wind this up now and get back to that. 

Really? Six Months?

Sylvia seems to be a chatty, chatty lady, more so than her sis (the twin one, that is, not the big one, who IS an inveterate chatty lady). We have found her up on her elbows in her crib, "talking" to Magnolia - who is usually asleep or on her way in that direction. It's all low moany vowels so far, not much in the way of consonants, usually uttered as she smiles at you in an amused sort of way. Now she's added some louder sounds, which are gleeful though they sound alarming. Meantime Maggie mainly reserves her vocalizing for sounds that *are* meant to be alarming, telling you how unbelievably hungry she is, even if she is eating as she's saying it. 

Both girls are mobile, but only a little bit. They both roll-roll-roll across the floor, fast, until they run into a piece of furniture. Maggie can easily grab a toy and noodle around with it. Sylvia likes to spin on her belly like the hand of a clock. Maggie has her two bottom teeth coming in.

Most important: Maggie regularly sleeps through the night! There, I said it, I've jinxed us, she'll wake up 3 times tonight. But really, she's done it I think almost every night for the past two weeks. This probably has something to do with her aforementioned hungry-all-the-time. Sylvia still gets up once, but that's no biggie.  

I have a delightful video of Sylvia talking and gazing fondly at Magnolia, while Magnolia looks all blasé about the whole thing, but I can't seem to upload it. Alas. You'll just have to come visit and see them in person.

Wiggles and Giggles

It looks like these babies won't be co-sleeping side by side much longer. Too wiggly.

Magnolia gets giggly. Sorry as always for the rotten camera work.

These Days

First-borns get 99 percent of the baby books, or so they say. (Totally unscientific statistic, based on verbal reports of slightly bitter grown-up younger siblings.) Everyone else who comes along thereafter gets a motley assortment of unframed, unorganized bits and pieces - if they were lucky enough to squeeze into the picture when the big brother or sister was getting their picture taken. But I bet if all those second-born siblings (and on up) checked, they'd find that their big brother or sister didn't have much added to their baby book after the younger ones arrived on the scene, either. There's just not enough time! For me, who didn't do such a hot job with Rosemary's baby book -- I bought one and never stuck a thing in it - the twins are flying through milestones too fast for me to keep track of. I make a mental note to myself to jot it down somewhere, and then one thing leads to another and I just don't.

So for the record:
Magnolia has rolled over back to front, just once so far. She got really mad.
Sylvia likes to chuckle and chat.
Magnolia is less chuckly, less chatty, but she and I had a serious giggle fest the other day. She just started cracking up for some reason and we kept it going on for a few minutes.
Sylvia likes to stand and will do so happily for quite awhile, and is especially tickled when you only hold her up by the hands, arms extended.
They are both grabbing at things. They can't quite coordinate the all-important skill of getting a bottle to their mouth, but they go cross-eyed trying.
They both think Rosemary is terrific, and she prompts smiles smiles and more smiles.
Sylvie's grown-out crew cut style has worked its way into a sort of Ed Grimley style do.
Naps and bedtimes are becoming a Regular Thing.
Both babies like their tasty thumbs.

Rosie dancing while her buddy Eli works it on the keyboard:

  

Rosemary is all about climbing things and jumping off them, which is especially nice to see since she was once way more cautious.  

R asked the other day if I would put capers on her cream cheese bagel, and when I said, "Of course!" she replied, "Yes! What parent wouldn't want to do what their daughter says?" What parent indeed?

R is all about the in-store sample. At the farmers market there's a stand that always gives away little bits of salty, garlicky sautéed greens on toothpicks. She will stand there and graze until you pull her away. But if you buy the green thing and bring it home and make it, she will reject it outright and be baffled at your bafflement. Even if you serve it as bits on toothpicks. On the sample topic - very cringe-worthy for me - we went into the wine store the other day to buy a couple of bottles, and the table where they often set up wine sampling was empty. R announced LOUDLY, "Too bad, Mom, you missed your wine sample." Ha ha ha, everyone around us, ha ha ha. But I had the last laugh because in fact it was a huge 8 wine sampling in the back requiring a much bigger table! Yes, I know, that's exactly the point.   

Brooklyn Babyquest

Oh readers, as always I am woefully behind. Weeks ago - months, actually - we had a fabulous visit from the Slawsky Family. Mimi is Jason's dad Jerry's first cousin, and she arrived from Albany with David, Susie and Mike for a road trip day visit that they took to calling the Brooklyn Babyquest. This was back in mid-April, and I've been hoarding these fantastic photographs that David took that day. (Except the last two, taken by either Jason or me.)  

Magnolia and Sylvia meet Mimi.

Sylvie cuddles with baby whisperer Susie.

I mean it, total baby whisperer.
  

Now Maggie gets a turn with Susie. Sorry, Susie, your brother never photographed the rest of your head.

Sylvia, back to her normal wide-eyed non-blinkiness. 

David is an amazing photographer and he suffers from the same malady many photographers do, 

Not-In-Picture-itis, but luckily we got a shot or two to prove he was there.