March Of The (Halloween) Penguins

This was our second family Halloween with Dominik & Scarlett and this year they got to go trick or treating. In this picture we got our family portrait in front of the same house we got it in front of last year. Does everyone look the same? I’m pointing at the camera so the twins will look at it but babies are pretty much into doing their own thing.

Although you can’t see it in this picture Dominik was able to do a fair bit of waddling.  Given that he only really started walking a couple weeks ago he did great!

At our first stop Scarlett took a piece of  candy we’d put into her bucket and tried to add it into the bowl of candy being offered up by our neighbor instead of taking one from him and adding it to her bucket. After a little tutorial from Mom and Dad she understood that she was supposed to take a candy and add it to her bucket and got it right the rest of the night.

All in all they were able to visit about 10 houses about 50% under their own power and seemed to have a really good time doing it.

The Twins’ first encounter with a toothbrush.

Pumpkin Time Is Coming

This will be Dominik and Scarlett’s second Halloween and they’re already very excited. This year was their first trip to the pumpkin patch so we can show them how to make jack o’ lanterns.

Scarlett picked out her pumpkin right away.

Then after some very thorough inspection Dominik made his selection too.

15 Months

We apologize that it’s been so long since we posted. Life’s been super crazy for the twins and for us.  But we couldn’t let the day pass without acknowledging that Dominik and Scarlett turned 15 months old this Saturday.

Dominik has successfully taken 16 steps and looks like he’ll be walking full time somewhere in the near future.  Scarlett now knows where her ears, belly button, and toes are and will be happy to point them out if you ask nicely. Although, sometimes she’ll point at my nose when I ask her where her nose is.

Maryland Visit Pt.2: Valley Lee

Of course, the primary reason for our jaunt back east was so that Dominik and Scarlett could meet their great grandfather Richard W. Loheed Sr. So after our visit in Baltimore we drove down the coast to Valley Lee, Md.

Introductions were made…

and needless to say everyone was very excited to finally meet.

Dom and Scarlett also got to meet Uncle Rick and his wife Wanda.

After a long day of car travel and family meetings we checked into our inn and the kids unwound by doing what we’ve come to call “noodling,” Which is basically making their bodies slack like a noodle and rolling around on anything soft (or on us).

Maryland Trip Part 1: Twins Visit Charm City

Many words have been written previously about the difficulties of flying with kids. I’ll spare you the sob story and simply acknowledge that it sucks.  The best piece of advice I can offer is when you fold up your stroller to put it through the X-ray machine make sure to place it wheels-up, this prevents jamming the machine and holding up the line.  If you need other advice make sure to think happy thoughts for about an hour before you google “fly with baby.”

When we were planning our trip to Maryland to visit family I couldn’t resist the opportunity to finally visit Charm City Cakes (the bakery around which “Ace Of Cakes” is based). I’ve edited on Ace Of Cakes for over two years out here in L.A. and have never had the chance.

Dominik and Scarlett got to spend a few quality moments with Mary Alice before they were treated to a tastes of fondant and bites of cake.

Duff and Geof were both out when we visited but we got to meet Anna, Ben, Elena, Erica, Katherine, Katie Rose, Lauren, Mark, Mary Smith, and Sofia.

Once loosed into the bakery Scarlett immediately walked into the kitchen and grabbed spice from a lower shelf and Dominik crawled onto a rolling rack. It became clear that everything in the busy bakery from a baby’s eye view everything was accessible and perfect for putting in their mouths.

Thanks everyone for letting us stop by with the babies. It was really nice to meet you all!

First Boat Ride

Grandpas, prepare to be jealous:

Dominik and Scarlett took their first boat ride with Uncle Dwayne and they had the best time ever.

Dom did get a little grumpy because of some teething, but the minute he made it into Sue’s arms, everything became right in his world.

After the boat we had naps and snacks and play time.

Out to Lunch, II

If the hours in my day were to be graphed in a pie chart, it might look something like this:

The good news is, look at all that sleep I’m getting.  We did some sleep training and the three nights of CIO (that’s Mom vernacular for cry-it-out) was well worth the 11 hour stretches the twins are now sleeping at night and the two hour naps they take twice a day. The sucky part is that I spend most of their nap time cleaning as well as some time after they go to bed.  Maybe I’m exaggerating when I claim that almost 1/3 of my pie is devoted to cleaning, but the pureed carrots (or oatmeal or apple sauce) have to be cleaned off the walls and floors after every meal and the bits of cheese and Cheerios have to be swept up, otherwise the twins find them several hours (or days) later and have them as a snack. And if there isn’t extra food on the floor, they have no problem eating other floor items.  Last week Dom ate a dust bunny.

I also find myself cleaning parts of our apartment that I never knew we had.  I mean, does anyone other than Martha Stewart or my friend June ever clean the supply tube and stop valve of their toilet? My stop valve is rust covered in corrosion covered in a two inch layer of dust. So naturally, it’s Dom’s favorite area of the house.  He loves to grab onto the supply tube and then put his fingers in his mouth. Mmmmmmm.

What does all of this have to do with going out to lunch? It means one less meal to clean up and more time to chase dust bunnies, which is well worth the overpriced Kid’s Entrees from the Olive Garden.

Out to Lunch

One of the best parts of being a temporary stay at home mom is planning new activities for the toddlers.  Since M.J. works so close to home, we’ve been able to meet up with him for lunch a couple times.  Here are some photos from a recent picnic.

Radio Flyer

Thank the Universe for family.  Seriously.  M.J. and I haven’t had a hot meal in about six months (except for when we order take out, which is way too often considering the economy).  Lulu and Grand Ant Kap came to the rescue with homemade vegetarian chili and polenta as well as cupcakes for the twins’ birthday month delivered to our front door all the way from Santa Barbara. And they brought gifts!  This Radio Flyer has become one of the most popular toys in the house.

The polenta was also a big hit with the kids.  In fact, they ate most of it.