November 2, 2004: Happy Birthday!

Well, some time has passed since the twins showed you any pictures, but they've been trying to find just the right poses. Collin preferred backlighting:

Meanwhile, Lilah was waiting for her chance to sit in a big-people chair in her favorite outfit (notice the nifty cowboy boots). Isn't she looking more like a little girl every day?

Over the past few months, physical skills have been progressing at breakneck speed. literally. Collin has been walking for just over a month now, and is getting pretty steady, although his first efforts were a little deliberate. Some early reports suggested that his motions were more evocative of Frankenstein's baby monster than an actual toddler. To wit:

Meanwhile, Lilah has moved past simple steps into running, dancing (she loves her little drum machine to bop around to), and climbing. Leave a box sitting out and she will soon conquer its Everest-like heights. Leave a box next to the child's gate and, well, you've got trouble.

So as promised, for the first birthday, we promised a costume party and we delivered. Until we receive permission from guests to post their pictures, we will limit our offerings to the cutest guests present (all apologies to Tinkerbell, Mr. Elephant, Eeyore, and the blue Power Ranger).

Based on the wildly popular first installment of their children's book series, Collin's costume was a fetching puppy ensemble, while Lilah donned (most of) an adorable little evocation of Little Rhino, the cute character she inspired:

And of course, there was cake . . .

Lilah was bit neater with hers.

So it's been a year now, which at once feels like forever, and at the same time is merely a split second. I, like most parents, find myself missing many parts of my old life (sleep anyone?), but wouldn't trade our beautiful children for the world, or even any amount of sleep. They've grown tall, strong, healthy, happy, and in Lilah's case, hairy. Today's doctor's appointment finds them both at about 30 inches, and just under 20 pounds. A far cry from this:

Posted by claycomb at November 2, 2004 5:10 PM

Comments

I loved seeing the pics...thank you so!!!
I am well....doing the things busy elders do and missing seeing you come to visit at Veirs DR.
Maggy Dog just wore her Halloween scarf for the holiday and the twins birthday. Love from Lois

Posted by: Lois Renfer at November 2, 2004 10:17 PM

They are beautiful. We miss seeing the little ones over here amongst us seniors. These are especially meaningful to me - I have just learned I will be a first time Grandma in June. What we have to look forward too. (Just one baby hopefully) Give them a hug and kiss for me. Donna

Posted by: Donna Breslyn at November 3, 2004 7:15 AM

A Happy Unbirthday to Lilah and Collin. Looks
like you guys had a great time last Saturday. Was
it as much fun unwrapping the presents as playing
with them afterwards? I look forward to seeing shots of your guests especially Eeyore. Keep the pictures coming. They are always most welcome.

Posted by: Gramps at November 3, 2004 9:14 PM

August 20, 2004: Playing House

There's a new freezer in the basement. And a new freezer means only one thing.

Three words: Big Cardboard House!

Posted by claycomb at August 20, 2004 5:40 PM

Comments

Holy p o o p... they're HUGE!!!

Can't wait to see more pics.

Love,
Kim

Posted by: Kim Mittong at August 21, 2004 5:28 PM

August 17, 2004: 9month check-up

In the time it would have taken for us to have another baby (Don't get any ideas, Mom-mom!), Collin and Lilah have grown a lot. Collin is now 18 pounds, 9 ounces, 28 inches tall, and Lilah is 17 pounds, 13 ounces, and 27.5 inches tall.

Both kids (they won't really be babies for long) are quite healthy, quite loud, and teething up a storm.

Also, we started day care recently, and are adjusting nicely, with the exception of a bit of a napping problem. Apparently, it's hard to sleep mid-day when there's so much fun to be had.

August 17, 2004: One Small Step for Lilah . . .

A giant leap for Lilah-kind!

Actually, three steps, unassisted from Mommy's hand to Daddy's. She's taken a couple of unassisted steps here and there over the last couple of days, but they've been sort of directionless, and always ended in a plop, but today, as Lilah was holding onto Mommy's hand, and Daddy's hand was a foot or so away, she conquered the gulf with her first successful walk. A big day indeed.

And now for some cute pictures of the kids wearing outfits that Mom-Mom and Pappy brought back from Canada.

August 12, 2004: In Memoriam

We are sad to report that Collin and Lilah have lost a grandmother. Mirene Standaert Boerner passed away on August 7, 2004 after a nine-year battle with metastatic breast cancer. What we and our children have lost is immeasurable.

Mirene S. Boerner, 1934-2004

July 12, 2004: Food, glorious food

At long last . . .

In the almost three months since I last posted, the twins have . . .
***cut some teeth
***moved to a new home
***started eating (a lot of) solid foods
***terrorized unsuspecting cats
***been christened

Collin has had a slightly more placid three months than his sister, mostly because right now he is a) less mobile, and b) less anxious about strangers and separation. Lilah, is crawling like a lobster on speed, and cruising around the furniture on two legs. But she wants to be held by or within eyesight of one of us almost constantly.

But the topic of this post is food, and so . . . a quick tour of the food history:
In late April, we introduced mixed grains and veggies. The kids weren't really sitting up yet, so they ate in their bouncy seats. We've been making most of our own baby food, so some dishes have been wild successes for their freshness, while others have just been way too strong. Take, for example, Collin eating sweet potatoes . . .

When they both started sitting up pretty reliably in May, feeding was a bit easier, and we moved in earnest to three solid meals per day with bottles in between. We also are more determined to get them on a grown up schedule of meals, too, which means feeding them solids on the road, at mom-mom's house, etc.

Since the move in early June, we've been really opening up their culinary horizons: frozen waffles, chopped-up mac-n-cheese, whole wheat cous cous with marinara, peach sorbet (as a palate cleanser, of course), pumpkin bread, the works. No meat yet, except for a little scrap or two of steak from Daddy's plate.

We are also getting them to take sips from adult cups. Collin is catching on very quickly.

Now that they are eating grown-up food, Collin and Lilah have picked up on Daddy and Mommy's interest in fine cuisine. Not content with just baby food, prune juice, and milk, they're broadening their horizons constantly . . .

Posted by claycomb at July 12, 2004 7:58 PM

Comments

THEY'RE HUGE!!! And getting cuter by the moment. Thanks for the updates!!

Kim

Posted by: Kim Mittong at July 14, 2004 11:51 AM

April 29, 2004: A New Cousin

Collin and Lilah are so excited that they'll soon get to meet their brand new cousin!

Jenna Elizabeth Lyons was born on Monday, April 26 at 11:38 am. 6lbs. 14 oz, 20 inches long. Mommy (Kelly) and Daddy (Cliff) came home to their place in Portsmouth, VA with their new charge on Wednesday.

I'm going to visit next Monday to meet my new niece and bring back some pictures to post!

what a cutie!

April 19, 2004: Easter and following

Easter was an ugly day, and Ryan was getting sick, but he was made happier by the adorable dress his daughter had on . . .

Also, the pretty flowers that served as a backdrop for the family's first Easter portrait were so cheery!

And Collin and Lilah were having so much fun . . .

they fell over with joy!

The good news is that Ryan and the babies (who picked up their first cold) got better, and so did the weather!

(I'm ready for my close-up, mommy!)

(What do you mean Elton John hasn't retired yet?)

It's going to be a fun spring!

Posted by claycomb at April 19, 2004 10:19 PM

Comments

adorable!!! happy Easter to all!

Posted by: g-father at April 20, 2004 12:02 AM

April 12, 2004: Spring Pictures

Collin taking a nap with one of his favorite toys.

Going out for a walk.

Lilah plays with her new favorite toy: gyroduck.

Now that both Lilah and Collin can roll over, tummy time is much more fun.

Bathtime is always fun. Lilah like being wrapped up in a towel, while Collin like to splash . . . A LOT.

While Collin has mastered rolling back and forth from tummy to back, Lilah is focusing more of her attention on discovering her feet. Toes, apparently make great teethers.

Collin loves to play with other people, like Paula.

The kids are getting bigger and developing more personality every day. Collin is almost 14 1/2 pounds, while Lilah is about a pound less. They both like to giggle (especially Lilah) and chatter (Collin speaks what we can only assume is Pterodactyl). Sadly, we are still waking up with them often, but we are finding that more and more, a pacifier is as effective as a full feeding.

Also, now that we've gotten some computer issues resolved, updates should happen a little more frequently.

Coming soon, Easter pictures...

Posted by claycomb at April 12, 2004 6:12 PM

Comments

Don't worry about your hair, Lilah, when you are playing with your toys. Mom-Mom will bring some styling wax when I come on Thursday. That will fix it right up!

Posted by: Mom MOm at April 12, 2004 7:48 PM

What adorable children ! You must be so proud ! enjoy every minute ! PS they look like ryan : )

Posted by: Toni at April 13, 2004 11:16 PM

What great photos! They are SO cute and have gotten so big!! :)

Posted by: Jennifer at April 15, 2004 9:16 AM

March 10, 2004: Four Month Check-up

Lilah: 11 pounds, 12 ounces, 24.75 inches (yelling a lot)

Collin: 12 pounds 5 ounces, 24.5 inches (I think he's longer actually)

They are coming in between 25th and 50th percentile on height and weight, which is great, although Collin's head is in the 75th percentile. The doctor will be watching this to see if this is a medical problem, or if he just has a big head.

They little darlings also both got 4 shots each, which made even more yelling, and then everybody went home and took a long nap.

Oh. And Lilah's teething, hence the yelling. and Colin's spitting up problem, while annoying, is not a problem. He's what they call a "happy spitter." Lucky us. Otherwise, happy and healthy all around.

March 7, 2004: A quick note

This week's milestones? Some big ones:

-->While Lilah continues her middle-of-the-night wake-up, Collin has begun to consistently sleep through the night. He did it for the first time last Saturday, and since has rarely woken up before 5:30 a.m. and is occasionally going as long as 7 a.m. Woo-hoo!

-->Lilah has been gaining ground on the physical skills, and now has pretty good grasping control. She loves a soft rattle that she has that has a teddy-bear head. It's name is growly, and it spends a lot of time covered with saliva.

-->Collin has been doing vocal play for a couple of weeks now, such that we think he's making a pitch to convert to Pteradactyl. In a new development, he seems to be teaching this ancient language of the flying dinosaurs to his little sister, who has begun indulging in loud vocal play that isn't crying. Unfortunately, she's been doing it at naptime, which means no one is napping as well.

-->Finally, we felt that it was time to move the kids into the nursery together. Collin had been sleeping betetr in the nurdery at nights, and we thought it would help Lilah, too. Although the kids are re-adjusting to sleeping in the same room (what with all the pteradactyl screeching), we believe this to be a big step forward.

Finally, the kids have their 4-month check-up on Tuesday. We're very excited to see how they're progressing!

Posted by claycomb at March 7, 2004 4:18 PM

Comments

I"m really glad to see that there is hope for a long night's sleep for the WHOLE family.

Posted by: Pappy at March 8, 2004 9:01 AM

Looks as though the twins are developing rapidly and
that the parents can take great pride in their growth. Looking for more pictures as they expand
their, and our, horizons.

Posted by: Gramps at March 13, 2004 3:18 PM

March 3, 2004: At long last . . .

Many pictures, little commentary: Just the way you like it!

First, a family picture from Christmas Eve:

Yes, yes, we're starting them early on the books. See earlier entries for favorite titles. The kids can't wait for the next book on order: "'Stand Back,' said the Elephant, 'I'm Going to Sneeze.'"

Plus, we pose them for pictures a lot. Take this Valentine's day shot:

Lilah though the occasion warranted showing a little leg:

Collin likes sweaters. They make him look, well, cozy:

Collin got some quality time with MomMom and Pappy in Delaware:

Here's daddy trying to keep everyone entertained, including himself!

More poses, this time with cute outfits from the Bosharts! (They have little dragons on them, in keeping with the nursery's fairy tale theme).

And finally, a picture that defies even the concept of cute. It might, however, be construed by some as inappropriate, hence the mysterious presentation. While it was taken during nursing, nothing salacious shows up. It's just that this is how Collin and Lilah first started to notice each other's presence:

OK. That should keep you all photo-thirsty feinds satisfied for what, an hour? More pictures and scintillating commentary sometime before they start school.

Posted by claycomb at March 3, 2004 8:11 PM

Comments

The picture of the hand-holding is the cutest picture I have ever seen in my ENTIRE life. Thank you for making the decision to add it, even though it may be a little "questionable" to some people! I think it's beautiful!

Love you all,
Kim

Posted by: Kim Mittong at March 4, 2004 1:53 AM

That last picture, the nursing one, could definitely win awards, I think. How precious!
Sheri

Posted by: Sheri Sandstrom at April 3, 2004 8:53 AM

February 23, 2004: Update (without Pictures)

Apologies for the relative silence of the twins' site. A combination of factors, including both Ryan and Ann's return to school for the Spring semester, the recent incompatibility of our digital camera to a new version of Windows, and general sleep deprivation, have kept us from posting anything.

Still, a few facts:

After six weeks of poor weight gain, our babies began taking formula to supplement their more natural (and preferred) sustenance. Although she had only gained about 12 ounces in the previous 6 weeks, in the first two weeks after the new diet, Lilah put on a whopping 22 ounces. By now, both babies are probably over 11 pounds, and moving into 3-6 month clothing, which means one thing: hand-me downs!

After the last post about the nightmare night, we've also broken down and put the kids on a schedule. Now this isn't a rigid "you-eat-when-we-say-you-eat" sort of thing, but they're both napping pretty much in sync. We still don't have them sleeping anything like through the night, but currently we're getting them up at 10 for a night-time feeding, and they're usually waking up only once before the day begins at 7. Even so, without naps for mommy and daddy (which are pretty infrequent, given our workloads), we're only getting about 2 stretches of 3 hours of sleep per night. Dark circles indeed.

While Collin's hair situation has remained generally the same, Lilah survived a nasty case of cradle cap, but lost most of her hair in the process. It looks remarkably like her brother's now, which means that it is not only thin, but also much lighter than what she was born with.

As a result of all these changes, there is a lot more smiling, a lot less crying (on everybody's part) and a lot more fun. Collin's new favorite book is Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, while lilah is currently obsessed with the Sadndra Boynton classic But not the Hippopotamus. Lilah is also fascinated by the TV, which means it's not on as much these days.

We will post some new pictures as soon as we can get them uploaded, but in the meantime, I hope this update will suffice.

Posted by claycomb at February 23, 2004 11:37 AM

Comments

click clack moo? that sounds awesome!!! i'm certain that's the best book about typing cows ever written. no wonder he loves it. this is one proud gf over here!

Posted by: fritz at February 23, 2004 11:48 AM

Isn't click clack moo moo that famous old song of the late 60's The "MOOOOOOOOO Train" or was it "Soul train"? No! I'm sure it was the "Moooooo Train"

Posted by: Pappy at February 25, 2004 2:09 AM

Just remember that Lilah's TV restrictions DO NOT include watchng our favorite daytime "Stories" together on Thursdays! AND I'm reasonably sure that once Collin gets all the characters and story lines figured out that he will be joining us as well.

Posted by: Mom-Mom at February 25, 2004 9:44 AM

February 2, 2004: A night in the life

Lest you think we've got this twins thing figured out . . .

A night in the life of infant twins

9:00 Ann goes to bed to nurse Collin/ Lilah in crib
9:45 Collin to crib
9:50 Lilah wakes up fussing
10:10 Ryan takes Lilah to living room to give supplemental bottle and rock to sleep
10:45 Ryan puts Lilah down
11:30 Ryan to bed
12:00 Collin awakes hungry/ nurses in bed
1:20 Lilah awakes hungry/ nurses in bed
2:38 Collin awakes hungry/ nurses in bed, but falls asleep
3:15 Lilah awakes hungry/ nurses in bed
3:25 Collin fusses: family moves to living room to nurse simultaneously
Collin gassy and spits up/ Lilah wakes up, alternately happy and screaming
3:30-4:30 Two diapers apiece
4:45 Ryan takes Collin back to bed
5:10 Ann brings Lilah to bed/ Lilah screams
6:00 Collin wakes up hungry/ Lilah transferred to Ryan in bed
6:30 Ryan’s alarm goes off/ Snooze until 6:50.
6:55 After a delicate transfer operation, Lilah screams again. Collin is transferred to crib where he is wide awake. G'mornin!

Posted by claycomb at February 2, 2004 11:56 AM

Comments

...And people keep saying to me, "Aw come on! Why don't you have kids yet???"

Keep up the good work. :)

Kim

Posted by: Kim Mittong at February 2, 2004 12:37 PM

Are the next two on the way yet?

Posted by: Pappy at February 2, 2004 8:43 PM

Gee...and Uncle David thinks I have problems sleeping! Maybe I should try that hungry thing with him !!!!!

Love to you all

Posted by: Aunt Betsy at February 17, 2004 9:45 AM

January 26, 2004: Skills . . . Mad Skills . . . Aptitudes

It has occured to us that since we last blogged and actual update, the children have doubled their age, from some six weeks to now over 12. In that time, Collin and Lilah have endured many tribulations and as a result developed many skills and talent with which to dazzle the world.

Both, For example, have learned to smile. These are not, mind you, cute demure little smiles the kind you might find on a mildly-happy-but too-cool-for-school babies you might see on Gerber (TM) products. These are full-on, I'm-so-happy-I-have-a-mouth-to-smile smiles. Lilah developed this talent right around six weeks, and Collin picked his up right around Christmas, and they have been using them ad nauseum to reward us for things like feeding them into a food coma, not disturbing the food coma, and cleaning up any diaper messes resulting from the
food coma.

Here are some examples: Lilah's is more typical, since we've yet to get a good Collin-grinning shot. His is more indicative of the happy feeling after filling his first diaper in five days (don't ask).

Collin is also developing some mean head-holding-up skills. Take, for example, this stellar photo of Collin's "good side." (his "bad side" looks pretty much the same):

[Collins Best Side.jpg temporarily missing]

Meanwhile, Lilah, practicing for the days some years from now when she will, with her friends, populate the malls of the nation, has learned to "hang around":

[jaunty girl.jpg currently missing]

(note: Daddy has not gained as much weight as this picture might suggest. It's just a big sweater)

Coming soon: More adventures of Puppy and Little Rhino, and some Christmas pictures!

Posted by claycomb at January 26, 2004 4:32 PM

Comments

Re: Lilah's and Collin'3s smile....They obviously have just realized who their Pappy really is.

Posted by: Pappy at January 27, 2004 10:22 AM

I hope you are keeping all of this for the children to read later.

Posted by: Betty Lou at January 28, 2004 11:42 PM

This has made a very, very, long, cold, hard
January worth while. Thanks.
Now get busy a let's take care of February!!!!
........tee hee!.........Love you all.

Aunt Betsy