The Claycomb Kids

Ian Himself

2011-03-21T18:55:00.001-07:00

Ian Himself
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So, many (far too many) years ago, we did a Claycomb Twins dictionary. I believe it went out as our Christmas card. It featured such linguistic treasures as "pyuh-twuck holmie" (Fire truck helmet), "ogen" (orange), and "flah-lah" (flower). It may NOT have included Lilah's imperative for "Sit," as in, "Sit, Mommy!" into which she inserted a well-placed "sh" sound. (We'll let readers figure it out.)

Well, before time passes and the moment is gone, here is the same dictionary moment, for Ian. Enjoy.

Bappieball- (n) Basketball. Or soccer ball or volley ball, but not, interestingly enough, any smaller ball. He reserves the term for the larger (and more fascinating) of the species. This fascination was no doubt solidified today, when we went to the WVU Rec Center and a man who was actually playing basketball gave Ian the ball to hold. And Gramps, we are sorry to report that even footballs are called, that's right, bappieballs.

Bi-boy- (n) Big boy. As in, any boy doing something notably cool. Collin. One of Collin’s friends. Ian himself when he is doing something he should not be doing, like standing on his train (see Flickr photo.) Always invoked with either admiration or pride, depending.

Hottie-dog- (n) Hot dog. Not even his favorite food, but so much more fun to say with the added “ee” sound.

Hottler (n) Helicopter. Invariably pronounced with the variant stuttering “H” sound (H-h-h-hottler) to indicate extreme excitement and amazement. That such things exist! That they move and make those sounds! That there are videos of them that we can watch. Over and over and over and over again!

Itty- (n) Ian. Took us a while, but we (or more accurately, his babysitter) deduced that this is what he calls himself. Now previously mysterious phrases like “Itty turn!” and “Itty do!” make so much more sense.

Lacey- (n) The name of Ian’s pet dog. Perhaps you are puzzled here, if you know us well. We do not have a dog. Nor does Ian have a stuffed dog of which he is particularly fond. He does, however, have a sister. When she is pretending to be a dog, she calls herself Lacey. And so does Ian. She enters the room on all fours, barking. He turns. “Lacey!” he calls. Does anyone else think this is weird?

‘Mazing- (adj.) Amazing. Used to describe himself when prompted. Discovered in the Kung Fu Panda 2 trailer (view through link, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdaMGcOyfjM), with which Ian is obsessed. He thinks the panda is looking right at him and telling him he looks amazing. Well, who wouldn’t like to hear that?

Ready-Go! (V) Imperative verb indicating the start of a race, or a running-away from Mommy, or any time the kid is let outside to walk/run anywhere. Accompanied by a dip of the shoulders to indicate the runner in the blocks, then a lurching up of the shoulders and swing of one arm (for momentum, we presume) as he sets off, wispy blonde hair floating behind him. Fairly cute.

Lilah and Collin with their birthday cards

2010-11-01T11:40:00.001-07:00

Fall 2010 032
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, it's official. They are seven.

So this post will be short. I am reporting something second-hand, for one thing. It has to do, tangentially, with those vampire fangs Collin is sporting here (look closely). Those fangs were part of a whole haul of Halloween-themed (ahem) junk that they brought home from school, including rubber rats, skeleton erasers, spider rings, etc.

So the twins are out on the porch playing quietly (uh-oh.) Daddy asks what, exactly, they are doing.

"Oh, you know, we're playing. It's like bow and arrow except with rats."

Daddy, wisely, didn't inquire further.

Ian reading

2010-11-01T11:38:00.001-07:00

Ian reading
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

We were worried that Ian wouldn't be a reader, because up until about 6 weeks ago, he wasn't that into books. He liked to chew on them, but that was about it.

Silly us. Now he wakes up and we can hear him in his crib: "Book! Book!" He goes and gets books and hands them to you and then walks off and gets more books and hands them to someone else. He sits down and looks up at you expectantly. He gets them out of the bathroom and/or brings them into the bathroom. He climbs the stairs to get them and then tries to carry them downstairs with him. He pulls them out of his siblings' backpacks . . .

And as you can see, he likes to read them. Thank heavens.

Lady L and Sir Collin the Snaggletooth

2010-11-01T11:14:00.001-07:00

Picture 513
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So I promised (in the post just before this one) to tell some tales of Lilah at the Renaissance Festival. And now it's been two months since we were there and it's hard to remember . . .

Well, but not that hard. Because Lilah clearly was made for the SCA. For those of you who don't know, that's the acronym for the Society for Creative Anachronism, which is those people who work at Ren Fests or (more likely even) go to Ren Fests in full costume and with elaborate accents and backstories and who spend hundreds of dollars on real chain mail and bustiers and wear fairy wings at their weddings.

These are her people.

"Hallo! Are you a princess?" called the greeters to Lilah as we entered the Fair.

"No!" (exasperated.) "I'm a fairy lady-in-waiting."

The children had each earned money to spend at the Fest. Collin bought a wooden sword and has been very happy. He has only almost killed me once with it.

Lilah bought: a rose dipped in hot melted wax then rolled in glitter, a necklace with a cat pendant on it, a tiny teddy bear with bells sewn onto his feet and a peacock feather. She WANTED to buy a stuffed, flower-bedecked unicorn big enough to sit on, but the woman who ran the shop told her it wasn't for sale.

Just wait. In ten years, when YOU go to a Renaissance Festival, perhaps you'll be greeted by a girl wearing a dress made out of peacock feathers and glitter, sitting on a white horse with a "horn" on its head. You'll know who it is. Just do whatever she tells you to do.

Lilah, a train, and a silly smile

2010-09-13T09:17:00.001-07:00

Lilah, a train, and a silly smile
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So I have some great stories about Lilah and the Renaissance Festival, but I want to save those for the pictures of the festival, which we hope to upload soon. In the interim, I offer up the following rather random story.

We've been noticing that, while Collin has had crushes on girls (older girls, younger girls, Paris Hilton (sigh)) for several years, Lilah seems oblivious to the romantic potential of anyone. So I was surprised when she came downstairs clutching a book to her chest and blushing and giggling.

"Mommy," she said. "The prince in this book is SO CUTE!"

She has a large collection of beautifully-illustrated fairy tales, many of which have princes who are drawn to be, indeed, quite classically good looking. Who could she have settled on?

Click here to see.

Collin, minus tooth

2010-09-13T08:57:00.001-07:00

Collin, minus tooth
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

(Note to the reader: the scene below is not related to the picture in any way, which is to say that Collin's relative toothlessness is not a result of his behavior. And in case you are interested, he has since lost the OTHER front top tooth and so now is really ready for his rendition of "All I Want for Christmas.")

Scene: Collin and Lilah are watching a movie. Mommy enters, holding spoon with chocolate chip cookie dough on it. Offers each child a taste, sits down between them and licks the rest of the spoon herself. They watch in relative silence. The movie ends. Collin leans over and punches Mommy in the mouth, smacking the spoon into her teeth and cheek.

Mommy: Oww!

Collin: The movie’s over!

Mommy: Collin, why did you punch me in the mouth?

Collin: I’m sorry. I was aiming for the spoon.

Ian, in a fairly good mood

2010-09-09T07:53:00.001-07:00

Picture 365
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Okay, that's a joke. Because Ian is almost always in a VERY good mood, as you can see. And as testament to his general geniality, I offer up, his first five words:

Kitty--This was his very first word, used to describe his beloved cat Molly, all pictures of cats, all other real cats, stuffed cats, cats in books
. . . and me. "Ian," we say, "where's Mommy?" And he grins, points to me, and says, "Kitty!" (It could be worse. Collin has taken to calling me by the affectionate moniker "Chubby Legs.")

Dada--Second word, used to refer to, well, Daddy. Whom he LOVES. Whole face lights up, whole body leans yearningly towards the Daddy in question, small slimy hand grabs for nose or beard or baseball hat bill . . . yay, Daddy!

Rooarrrr--Metonymic word for dinosaur, in that the sound means the thing. He cannot see a dinosaur without making this sound, and trust me, there are a lot of dinosaurs in our house.

Tickle--We tickle Ian at breakfast, he tickles his pears. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe not the pears.

Baa--Meaning ball, and also bat, which is used to (enthusiastically) hit the ball.

So, as I said above, his vocabulary seems indicative of his personality, which is loud, happy, and enthusiastic about other loud (dinosaurs, Daddy) and happy-making (kitties, balls, tickling, Daddy) things. Stay-tuned for the next words, one of which sounds like it is going to be the immortal "Collilah." Who knows, maybe the twins will even answer to it. :)

Brothers

2010-05-26T07:11:00.001-07:00

Picture 230
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Collin (pictured here looking lovingly at his little brother): Mommy, I have to tell you a secret. Duck down. (pulls until I do, then whispers.) Most all the girls in my class have crushes on me. Except maybe three, or two. I don't know. But mostly all the girls do.

Me: Wow. How do you know?

Collin: (shrugging) I just do.

Me: Well, do you like any of them.

Collin: (a bit loftily) No. I'm still in love with my girlfriend. (Macy Hekl, if you're reading this, you can rest easy.)

So should I be proud of my son for being a one-woman man at 6, or should I smack him upside the head for being a little punk? At least we needn't worry about HIS self-esteem.

Stunts

2010-05-26T07:08:00.001-07:00

Picture 263
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Here is what comes next: Ian falls forward on his face on the chair (deliberately) and allows gravity to pull him into a slow fall OFF the chair head-first, knowing that Daddy will not only catch him but propel him into a mid-air flip and set him gently on his feet, during which time he will both drool incessantly and giggle maniacally. When the flip is done he will attempt to climb BACK onto the chair to . . . you guessed it, do it all again.

The only thing that could possibly interrupt this game is the arrival of Molly the cat, partly because this is her favorite chair and partly because every time Ian sees her he feels the need to shriek like a very happy banshee and literally tackle her with his whole body, pulling out great hanks of fur and grinning.

Molly, who is heavily into masochism, apparently, permits this.

And just think, some day soon he's going to be walking. God help us all.

Ribbon Dance

2010-05-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

Picture 257
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

There are better pictures of Lilah up on Flickr right now, including several that suggest, erroneously, that she is an energetic and enthusiastic soccer player. (She's actually more like Garbo on the field, very languishing.) But this picture is true Lilah, because of the narrative that accompanies it.

See, she's a girl here, and a famous ribbon dancer gave these ribbons to her mother (whom she calls "Mother," in a very British accent during this game) and then her mother put them in a bag and gave the ribbons to her as a birthday present and she opened it and it was EXACTLY WHAT SHE'D ALWAYS WANTED--RIBBONS! and so she began to dance and even though she'd never done a ribbon dance before she was just lovely and did a wonderful ribbon dance and her mother--"Mommy! Stop feeding Ian and pay attention!"--was just amazed.

Beware cuteness

2010-02-02T08:10:00.001-08:00

Picture 014
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This is Ian. Go to Flickr to see MANY more cute pictures of him. He is wildly ticklish, always hungry, recently recovered from a scary case of RSV (respiratory virus), and a man on the move. He loves to crawl and eat anything in sight, especially student papers, sibling lego, and cat fur (yum!)

And now (as of yesterday, February 1) he has a tooth!!!

Wonder Woman--don't trust her

2010-02-02T08:06:00.001-08:00

Picture 029
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

There are more recent pictures of Lilah as "Bad Kitty" up on flickr, but here we see her power revealed. This story to illustrate:

We often find ourselves long on kids and short on time/attention/energy on the weekends. So last Saturday I took the twins to the library while baby slept and Daddy showered. We got many Magic Treehouse books (Ninjas at Night!) and as we walked home the only way I could resuscitate flagging energy levels (we need a snack! Snack!!!) was to read aloud the back covers of all the books so we could pick which one to read first. As we crossed the pedestrian bridge to our house, an older couple walking in the other direction stopped and stared. The woman burst out laughing.

"Boy, are you lucky kids!" she said, "to have your mom walking and reading to you! She must love you!"

I smiled. Lilah looked from the woman to me, back to the woman, then back to me.

"Mommy!" she said, as if talking to a not-very-bright toddler. "Ummm, Mommy? Read!"

Future Captain Blood

2010-02-02T08:01:00.001-08:00

Picture 026
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

You remember, that's Errol Flynn's OTHER iconic role, as the swashbuckling, romantic hero who made women swoon. So while there are better pictures of Collin on our Flickr pages, this one is perfect for the story I am about to tell. As some readers may know, Collin is romantically inclined towards the daughter of one of my closest friends, a 5-year-old charmer with big brown eyes and curls. He has been calling her his girlfriend for over a year now and keeps asking when he can go visit her (sadly, she lives on the West Coast).

So when I swept up the Christmas cards we received this year to discard/store them, I offered Collin this family's card to put in his room along with a picture he keeps of his best friend. He was thrilled and immediately began to examine it closely. A moment of silence followed. Then:

Collin: Mommy, is that C----? (younger sister of the girlfriend)

Me: Yes, buddy. She's four now.

Collin: Wow. She looks like she's growing up.

Me: !!!!!!!!

Later, I found the picture under his pillow. Who was he dreaming of? We'll never know (because frankly, I don't want to!)

Daddy's Big News

2009-11-12T08:29:00.001-08:00

IMG_3305
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So this photo is not perfectly current, and it does not match the news, which is that Ryan's book, a collection of critical essays that he and a colleague from GW edited, and contributed to and generally ushered through the (grueling) publication process, is officially available. Rush to pick up your copy today!

However, the picture is posted because of this story:

Ryan (showing twins the book): Hey, guys, do you see this book?

Lilah: Is it for us?

Ryan: No, this is a very special book. See the two names right there? Those are the people who made this book possible. One of them is my friend Randi and the other name--see that other name?

Collin: (ignoring Ryan's pointing finger and instead responding to the enthusiasim in Ryan's voice) Ben Roethlisberger!

Ryan (deflated): Well, no. It's Daddy.

Collin: Oh.

Ian and his Fairy Godmother

2009-11-02T17:42:00.001-08:00

IMG_3312
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This is not the most flattering picture of Ian ever taken (go to flckr, really. There are more.) But this is Ian and Erin, his godmother extraordinaire. If Fairy Godmothers were real (not that they aren't), Erin is one, no question, and Ian is never going to have to wait until he's sobbing in the back garden for her to appear. (And I bet she never misplaces her wand, either.)

Ian was baptised Ian Beckett Claycomb on Sunday, October 18 at St. Thomas a Becket Episcopal Church. The congregation, mostly WVU faculty, groaned appreciatively when they were told that his middle name does not reference the saint who gives his name to the church, but rather a certain dyspeptic Irishman with a penchant for writing in French. Ian didn't cry at all, during the ceremony, and fell asleep shortly after he was "official."

Meanwhile, Collin and Lilah took Communion for the first time that same day, an event made memorable by Lilah's attempt to take her Communion wafer back to her seat with her to munch on like a cracker. ("But I'm not DONE," she hissed when Ryan tried to get her to hurry up.)

And for the entire (Blessed) event, we were most grateful, now and ever, to have Erin there, to share it with us, to hold the baby, and to pour the wine later that night after the children were asleep.

Now We are Six

2009-11-02T17:32:00.001-08:00

IMG_3348
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Wow. I know that this entry should be a reflective piece on how old the twins are and how amazing that is. That we are all still alive and sane (relatively) for one thing. But all I can think of when I see this is how bad Lilah's hair is (bear with us; she's growing it out).

Nonetheless, here are a few current highlights:

both are reading, Collin EVERYTHING in sight, out loud, and at the top of his lungs

they played soccer this fall and Lilah was (so says Daddy) the fastest kid on the field. Collin was chagrined by this, so Ryan took him aside and explained (truthfully) that Lilah's speed is paired with a complete lack of control over her body, meaning that she falls down VERY easily. Collin was pleased to hear this, so pleased, that as soon as he saw Lilah next, he marched up to her and said, "Lilah, Daddy says that a feather could knock you down when you run, so it's okay that you're faster than me because I'm stronger."

Dental hygiene

2009-11-02T17:25:00.001-08:00

IMG_3282
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

No, Collin isn't losing all his teeth already (I know what you were thinking, you West Virginia-stereotypers!). He has, for the record, recently lost his first tooth and is on his way to losing his second. But this lovely image is the result of him eating a cucumber moments before we snapped the picture and thinking it would be funny to shove the rind up under his top lip like a "grille." Hilarious, Collin. Thanks for ruining an otherwise stellar shot. Well, except for Ian's mismatched socks.

What this does capture is the three (!!) children all together, a occurrence that seems likely to be ever more common as Ian gets older. Why? Not just because we are at our wits end and have no choice but to throw them all together (though that is true). No, it's because Ian already LOVES his big siblings.

Evidence: The other day he was sitting in his bouncy seat and C & L were on either side, talking (as usual) a mile a minute, to me, to each other, to the air, but completely ignoring Ian. He flipped his poor little head from one side to the other for about 3 minutes, his mouth open in amazement. And then, when he realized that they really were just that fascinating and that they were not paying any attention to him, he burst into tears.

Just wait until he can talk.

The Red Ninja

2009-11-02T12:42:00.001-08:00

The Red Ninja
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So this is Lilah, the Red Ninja. If she wears this outfit with black pants, she calls herself the Red Ninja's bulldog. The Red Ninja is evil; his bulldog is good. Lilah herself is somewhere in the middle, and also, now, 6 years old. Amazing. Check out other flickr pictures of the birthday festivities and Halloween celebrations to see more of what's been going on, though nothing will quite capture the temper tantrum extravaganzas that have capped off the holidays for us. There was an article in the New Yorker recently about how children in picture books seem to be getting away with more outrageous behavior than in days of yore (e.g. Frances the Badger was threatened with spankings just for not going to bed, while Olivia the Pig paints the wall of her room Jackson Pollock-style and just gets a time-out.)

Well, Lilah puts this "new moderation" in discipline to the test. Sample lines, uttered full-voice on the front steps of our house:

"No! YOU compromise! If you don't do it, I'll never come inside! No! Not EVER! I don't CARE! I'm NEVER calming down!"

As she told me Friday morning, dressed in her birthday finery (mauve sweater, lavender sweats, purple flowered sundress over top it all), "Mommy, I know I'm six now, but I really usually still act like I'm only five."

Rock-star-princess-diva

2009-08-09T10:43:00.001-07:00

IMG_3205
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Lilah: Mommy, let's play rock star princess.

Me: What's that?

Lilah: Well, it's just like the regular princess game only I'm also a rock star. You be all the princes and I'm going to pick one of the princes at the ball to get to marry me. You can use your own voice this time.

An explanation: The Princess Game is legendary and dreaded in our house. I invented it (curse me!) and now wish it would go away. It involves someone (either Lilah or a grown-up) selecting an imaginary mate at a "ball" from a line of imaginary prospects: Prince Cassiova, Prince Luluwu, Prince Williwick . . . each prospective mate is acted out and fails to live up to royal standards: messy clothes, bad manners, weak singing or dancing skills, inability to perform arithmetic (I insist on this one). Finally an acceptable prince appears (or, if we're playing in reverse, Lilah is called up). Cue the swelling music: a happy ending ensues!

This time, for rock star princess, Lilah hastens to assure me that I don't have to try to sing in a masculine voice. For some reason, this is the part of the game that really bugs me, especially when she tries to make me play it when we have company.

Lilah: Mommy, you can sing in your regular voice.

Me: Okay. Good.

Lilah: Just try to PRETEND you can sing as sweetly as me.

Collin "milking" Ian

2009-08-09T10:34:00.001-07:00

IMG_3146
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Brief story, but worth saving for posterity, I think.

Me: Collin, why don't you say good morning to Ian? Say something nice to him before you run off to be crazy.

Collin: (in simpering baby voice) Ian, you're the youngest person in this house!

Ian: (whimper, quivery lip)

Collin: (same voice) No, no, don't cry! That means you'll be the last to die!

Happiest baby in the house

2009-08-07T18:27:00.001-07:00

IMG_3213
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

I feel like this one speaks for itself. Wish we had more moments like this one, though I know they're coming! Ian is wonderful, smells good, has a nice soft fuzzy head, and loves his mommy and daddy and sister very much. His big brother is honestly a little scary because he moves very quickly and is very loud and has already beaned Ian on the head with a basketball. (Collin's response: "Whoops." Resume play.)

But this picture is hopefully our future with this little guy, who looks like he's cheering for something, doesn't he? Maybe (hopefully) it's me and Ryan, who are now outnumbered by our own children and thus trying to re-learn parenting as a zone-defensive skill.

Wish us ALL luck!

Holding hands

2009-07-06T06:31:00.001-07:00

Holding hands
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

After three weeks or so, life with five in our house is settling in. Ian is growing well, having exceeded his birth weight by a half pound at his 2-week check-up. He's finally got his days and nights in proper order, and is starting to sleep for three- to four-hour stretches at night, a sign that someday he might sleep for five or even six hours at a clip.

The rest of us are doing pretty well, too. Collin is spouting into pure boyhood, and really wants to do nothing more with his summer days than to run, climb, kick, throw, swim, thwack, and any other highly physical activity you can imagine.

Lilah is taking her role of big sister very seriously, and in between dress-up and the craft of the minute, has found joy in giving her baby brother baths. She also had a great visit with Mom-Mom and Pappy, which was followed by a visit from Evie Rhody (accompanied graciously by her parents and sister!)

As for the grown-ups, all is generally well. Ann is recovering in due course, and sleep deprivation seems the worst (and most predictable) lingering effect. We've been happy to entertain visitors to the new baby and his family, with a few dinners with friends, plus the great weekend with the Rhodys...Uncle Paul and Auntie Nette come next, with Erin close behind, and Auntie Paula and Uncle Scott rounding out a busy July.

Meanwhile, I am simply trying to get my time in with the baby boy, rocking him to sleep, taking him on the occasional walk, burping him on my shoulder, hodling his hand. It's hard not to be consumed with these tiny things, and good just the same. At the same time, I'm trying to keep the twins engaged and active with trips to the park, the Claycomb family campout, the ice-cream store, and the park again...But with June over, I'm also returning to writing, trying to make more headway on the book project I'm working on, and beginning the planning for fall, which is--frighteningly--just around the bend...

Ian at Rest

2009-06-21T18:47:00.001-07:00

IMG_2953
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So, Ian...how do we begin to describe you?

We spent a lot of time chronicling the twins' first days, and since, honestly, moving from 2 kids to 3 has changed our lives so much less dramatically than starting out with twins did, it's less easy to observe those changes.

This is all the more true since Ian is a mellow sort, eating, sleeping, and chattering more or less predictably and smoothly since he came home a week ago.

As a father of singleton this time around, I'm doing a lot less infant care than I did with the twins, though I am doing about as much twin-care. Today, father's day, I got to nap with Ian, but I also took the twins to the park for soccer, catch and races. Ian, as a result, spends a lot of time like this: in Ann's arms, awake or asleep.

He doesn't like to sleep on non-human surfaces at all, and it's been a challenge to get him to sleep for more than about 45 minutes in a crib or bassinet...but he's slept for an hour and a half in the sling with me, and done similar stretches napping, snoozing, and outright passing-out with Ann.

But he's a beautiful boy, and I say that not only because he seems to resemble my baby pictures a lot, but because he's just plain beautiful. So far he's got my blue eyes, but I'm still holding out for them to change to his mommy's beautiful hazel.

But so far, perfect: healthy, strong, affectionate. And even if he weren't, I'd love him anyway.

Attic project complete!

2009-06-21T18:34:00.001-07:00

Lilah's room (From bed)
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

At long last, the attic is complete, and the kids have moved into their new rooms, which they love. There are several pictures up on Flickr, so you can see the results if you so desire, but the end result is this: after downsizing from 4200 square feet to about 1600, we're back up to about 2100, which seems just right for the family.

The kids love the new space, with separate areas for each for sleeping and playing. Lilah's got her new bed with a bookshelf headboard and drawer storage, while Collin has moved up to a full sized bed nestled in the eaves (though we couldn't manage to fit a full sized boxspring up the stairs, so it's a low bed....

Playing features include space for Collin's air hockey table, and a new "hammock" in lavender/blue/ink striped fabric in the corner to hold extra stuffed animals. The kids are actually asking to go play in their rooms this weekend, so the renovation seemd to be complete. We now have a few things to move into the guest room from the garage, and a little rearranging in our room now that the path to the attic stairs needn't be quite so open, but within a week or so, we should be really and truly settled in after late April's move.

A photographer captures the image

2009-06-21T18:27:00.001-07:00

A photographer captures the image
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

We have what one visitor affectionately called a postage-stamp yard: about 20x25, it's a big room, but a tiny backyard. Still the kids have found things to do back there. A quick jump over to the Flickr page will reveal a game of Monkey in the Middle, and a snback break under the hanging grapevines. Plus, Lilah and I (and Collin some too), have begun a few small gardening projects, along the back of the house and the side of the freestanding garage: tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli...basil, dill, rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme...butterfly bushes, delphinium, morning glories...

It seems, actually, that I've finally found a yard small enough that I'm not wasting my energy simply maintaining, and instead am working to cultivate it. It's tiny, but it fits...

Ian Beckett Claycomb: June 11, 2009

2009-06-11T20:38:00.001-07:00

In the Delivery Room
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

More to post later, but for now, you can follow this link to our photo page.

That stats: Ian Beckett Claycomb, 6/11/2009, 9:56 a.m. 8lbs even, 19 3/4 inches long. Nursing well, filling diapers, looking around a lot. Everyone healthy and happy.

Daddy's kids

2009-06-11T20:35:00.001-07:00

Daddy's kids
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

The kids were super excited to meet Ian. Collin did a great job of holding his baby brother, while Lilah literally climbed my body to get her first glimpse of him. Her response? "Awww! so cuuuute!" Exactly ehr response to all of her favorite tiny adorable playthings.

The New House: A Walking Tour

2009-05-13T18:53:00.001-07:00

So this is our new house: Significantly smaller than the old one, which was a gaudy 4K+ square feet: more than we needed, and ultimately more than we could afford to maintain. This house is only a little more than 2K sq ft, and will be a little cramped, even after we thinned out our belongings, but it's an adorable historical home, exactly where we want to be living.

The new house is in a neighborhood much closer to campus (it takes less time to walk in now than it did to drive in before), and inhabited by scads of other faculty...our new neighbors hosted an end-of-the-year party this weekend, and we were invited, already besting the number of parties we were invited to in the old neighborhood.

So come on in, take a look around:

The front door opens onto a closed porch, with an eating area to the left and a play area to the right (as always, click pics to embiggen):

As you walk through the next door (itself a more modern front storm door: more secure than the original door required to remain intact by the historical society), you'll look to the right and see the room we're calling the library. I'm working in here now at the writing desk and hutch you see dead ahead.
This is my view back toward the front door from the desk:
And back to the front door, to the left, is the family room. as you walk toward the doorway in the back, you'll see the poster with the full text of Hamlet posted just above the stereo. Ann and I have actually consulted that poster more than once since we've had it.

If you turn around from that doorway, and look back toward the front door, this is the view of the family room...For the record, the literary fiction and memoir is alphabetized in here, with poetry, genre fiction, and writing reference back there in the library...

Cut through that door, and you'll see the dining room and kitchen...the dining room is directly behind the family room, and the kitchen is directly behind the library (but not accessible from there).

From the space at the border of these rooms, you can get good looks at both: The dining room, complete with tone-on-tone stripey wall (flat and metallic paints alternating)

And if you turn around, you'll see the kitchen, with terra-cotta colored walls, new countertops and appliances, and our stuff already comfortably ensconced around the premises. Straight ahead, on the counter, you can barely see four canisters, a Mother's Day gift for Ann, labeled (left to right) "Cuckoo for Cocoa," "Just a Spoonful of Sugar," "Flour Power," and "Better Living through Coffee"...The kids helped me come up with those.
Not pictured, because of tight spaces, a mudroom with coat hooks and shoe cubbies leading to the tiny but functional back yard, a 5x9 laundry room, which instead of laundry has Ann's elliptical, a wall-mounted spice rack, and a linen cabinet, and off of that, behind the kitchen, a half-bath.

Let's go upstairs, shall we? You will not see here the kids' bathroom at the top of the stairs, with Sun/Moon/Stars art and shower curtain, and a lovely sky-blue paint job.

To the left, above the library, you will see the master bedroom...cozy! Messy!
And around the corner through the bedroom is the master bath, which is pretty big, but hard to get a good photo of. There's a tiled shower to the right and two sinks, not one, to the left, and the loo is just below the left corner of the picture...in case you wondered...

at the other end of the hall, to the left of the stairs, you will see a decent-sized bedroom, currently, temporarily, housing both kids and Ann's desk.

And a small yellow bedroom, sunny and happy. Mostly full of half-unpacked stuff that will find a home eventually...
These last two rooms will not look like this in a month or so: the green bedroom will be an office and guestroom, and the yellow bedroom will be our nursery for Baby boy (public announcement of name coming soon). The room that will eventually be transformed into the twins' bedrooms, though, currently looks like this:

A lovely, open, unfinished attic.

So, thanks for stopping by...come again sometime!

Snow Day Desperation--we invent board games

2009-02-02T03:54:00.001-08:00

Picture 081
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

I know, I know, it’s been quite a while. Please chalk up our blog silence to the fact that we’ve been virtual prisoners of our own children since, oh, December 19th, when their Christmas Break officially began. Since then, they have had approximately 5 actual school days, the result of ear infections, fevers, and snow, snow, snow . . . as Lilah told me the other day: “Mommy, I’ve had a little too much Mommy and Daddy time lately.”

So what have we been doing? Well, as these few gems will hopefully illustrate, trying hard not to strangle said children for their precocity (or something like that. Perhaps a less-charitable word might be in order.) Collin, for his part, is so obsessed with the movie Kung Fu Panda (thanks Auntie Paula and Uncle Scott. No, really. Thanks.) that he has lost privileges to watch said film until mid-February. This is what happens when you:

a. cannot stop talking about the film, even while chewing, using the toilet, supposedly listening to a church sermon, and/or being told/read an entirely different story or watching an entirely different film
b. Kung fu kick your mother in the grocery store. Repeatedly.
c. Kung fu punch your sister’s head. Daily. Then fail to understand why she is crying.

As for Lilah? Well, in my own defense (I want an award for the not strangling), I offer up this story:

It was (yet another) snow day and Lilah requested a very specific lunch: one piece of bread, lightly toasted, topped with (in this order) one piece of American cheese, two pieces of lettuce, and several slices of tomato. She selected the tomatoes herself. I made the sandwich and put it in front of her. She ate the tomatoes, lifted up the lettuce, then said, “This is better than I thought it would be.”
“Oh? That’s great, honey. I’m glad you like it.”
Heavy sigh. “Mommy, can’t you tell when I’m being sarcastic?”

So you will all understand if we don't get a Christmas card out this year . . .

2008-12-09T09:24:00.001-08:00

Baby C
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Five years ago, Collin was Baby A; Lilah was Baby B. So Ryan says this one must be Baby C. Hey, we're nothing if not alphabet-savvy here.

Hope everyone who reads this is doing well!

Contemplative

2008-10-18T18:31:00.001-07:00

Contemplative
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Well, it’s happened—already. Our family is split on party lines. Collin is voting for “Arack Obama,” but Lilah is voting for John McCain (though she usually refers to him as Jean Valjean, the character in Les Miserables, so she may actually be a populist and not know it.) And she’s actually a bit sad that she can’t vote for the lady any more.

“Mommy—why is she not running for the President anymore? What’s her name, that lady—Henry? Henry Clinton. I wanted to vote for her.”

Posing

2008-10-18T18:28:00.001-07:00

Posing
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

I really think that Ryan had anticipated most of the challenges that he, in particular, would face when he became a parent: the lack of sleep, the discipline issues, the sudden presence in his house of some very loud people who think things like fine cheese and truffle oil are “stinky . . . ewwww.”

What he hadn’t counted on was Lilah not inheriting the matching gene. If you know Ryan, you know that he’s got it (straight from his mom, of course). Subtle shades of brown in a blue-patterened tie means you wear a brown jacket and blue shirt and your students are a little taken aback by your snazzy wardrobe.

Lilah, on the other hand, seems to have inherited a matching gene directly from her grandmother Mirene, who was a huge fan of cabbage roses and matching her shoes to her bag to her lipstick. Add to this tendency a literal-minded understanding of pattern (“But Daddy, this shirt has flowers and the pants have flowers so they match!”) and a LARGE dose of sheer bloody-minded stubbornness on both parts and you have some interesting mornings.

“No, Lilah. You cannot wear that polka dot shirt with the flowered skirt and striped tights. People will laugh at you.”

“But why? They are all new things that I got. I want to wear them together.”

When Ryan is in charge, he wins. Let it be noted, however, that sometimes Lilah changes clothes in the middle of the day when he’s not around (witness this lovely ensemble.)

As for Super-Boy over here beside her, there's just no explanation. I mean, he's Super-Boy! Surely you can see his awesome powers of judo and skinny-legged kicking.

Pappy explains it all

2008-10-18T18:27:00.001-07:00

Pappy explains it all
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Well, it already feels like it was at least a year ago, but in fact it was only three months ago that we packed up the van (and I do mean PACKED the van) and headed to Canada for our sort of semi-annual vacation with Ryan’s extended family at picturesque, though oddly named, Crotch Lake. As the many flickr photos will attest, it was a really wonderful experience for the kids. The weather was cool and rainy off and on, but they shrugged of the horsefly bites and pretty much splashed through everything. We swam in the lake (and even bathed in it a few times, courtesy of bio-degradable soap). We went on boat rides, took nature walks, visited with cousins ranging in age from note yet 2 to no longer willing to disclose their age.

The sad part of this trip was that Ryan’s grandmother had a stroke just before we left, then died while the whole family was up in Canada, so everyone was a little subdued and Ryan’s dad didn’t make it up at all until the middle of the week. I have high hopes that the hug Lilah gave him—and the accompanying shriek of “PAAAAAPPPY!!!!!!”—did something to raise his spirits. In any case, once he was there we didn’t give him much down-time. And we were ALL made approximately 50 million times happier by the presence of our adopted family member, Erin, who came, cooked tacos, pretty much carried Lilah everywhere, and kicked Ryan’s ass in Yahtzee most nights. (Or so she says. Ryan may have a different story. I was usually immersed in a trashy novel of the sort that I rarely allow myself during the rest of the year.)

Pretty, Happy

2008-10-18T18:26:00.001-07:00

Pretty, Happy
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

In the last few months I’ve begun to include conversations with the kids in these blog posts, but this one is just a straight transcript of Lilah talking to me one morning a few months ago. Enjoy (or be confused. Very confused.)

Help, help! I’m trapped, this is actually your fish tank, but it doesn’t have any fish in it . . . actually, this is a clam but it’s my pet clam, actually, so he’s hugging me. Huuuuug. Here he is, want to feel him, isn’t he so soft? He’s soft because he has super powers, he’s a superhero pet clam, his name is . . . Marky. Watch how fast he can run . . . zzzhoop . . . I’m actually Supergirl, Lady. Lady? Lady, I’m actually Supergirl. Will you watch my clam—what’s his name again?—oh, Marky, will you watch him every day at nine o’clock and then I’ll be back in one minute . . . zzzhoop . . . at 10 o’clock and pick him up. Here he is, Lady. Okay, bye. Did you know, I’ve been kind of sick, so I’m very tired, because I’ve been sick . . . ding dong, somebody’s at the door of your house lady, it’s Superman on his way to fix my house, I actually live in a tree house because I like to feel the wind on my back, especially I live there when its raining. I can build you a tree house, here, zzzhoop, there, see, Lady? Lady, come look, see the tree house I built for you. Now I can live with you! But Superman is on his was to fix my house. He’s not a superhero anymore. He drives a truck and builds houses. He got bored being a superhero. Would you like to come in my submarine and see Mermaid City?

Knock Knock

2008-09-12T16:58:00.001-07:00

Our friend Morgan just posted some knock knock jokes created by her 5-year-old brother, which prompted me to recall this recent exchange, reproduced here for your amusement.

Child: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Child: Aren't you glad I didn't say banana?
Me: Ummm....I think that part's supposed to come later.
Child: Oh yeah. Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Child: Banana.
Me: Banana who?
Child: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Child: Banana.
Me: Banana who?
Child: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Child: Banana.
Me: Really? Banana still?
Child: Yeah.
Me: OK. Banana who?
Child: Aren't you glad I didn't say banana?
Me: Ummm. You did say banana.
Child: Daddy! c'mon!

Baseball bat? Sword? Giant stick? Who cares!

2008-06-18T08:42:00.001-07:00

IMG_2307
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

The big news of this post is not visible in these pictures: Collin got a haircut. As you can see, it was getting quite long. After our friends the Bosharts came to visit, Collin decided to grow his hair long like Jack (a big kid!) But he gets so sweaty and hot in the summer than Ryan persuaded him to get a buzz cut. Now we all love rubbing his head for luck.

We are working on several things with Collin this summer. One is his inability to use anything approaching an “indoor voice.” My theory is that he is so used to shouting at big boys on the playground until they listen to him (“HEY ROSS! HEY! ROSS! LOOK AT ME!! I’M OPTIMUS PRIME! KARATE KICK!! ROSS! LUCAS!! WATCH ME!) that he thinks that’s how he needs to talk all the time. Even when he whispers it’s a ridiculously loud stage whisper.

He did, however, make me day a few weeks ago when he said the following to his beloved babysitter: My mom is 26—no, I think maybe, I think 36. But don’t worry, Carrie. She doesn’t have any wrinkles and I don’t think she’s even a little bit close to dying yet.

What a relief!

The other ordeal Collin faces soon is the mailing off of all his “passas” (pacifiers) to Lolita, the Pacifier Fairy (kindly voiced by Auntie Nette). When he does this he will get an amazing prize in return, but he’s not sure anything could be worth it. So wish us—and him—luck.

Princess Lilah

2008-06-18T08:40:00.001-07:00

IMG_2290
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Ah, Princess Lilah. She is the most beautiful of the Princesses who come to the Prince and he always chooses her to marry. Then they “have a weddin’,” take a nap, and the Prince (who is usually frantically trying to make dinner while also choosing his bride) must open presents from Princess Lilah, who turns out to be a kitty. Meow, meow.

Mercurial. That’s our daughter. She finds us all hilarious, as evidenced by her assertions that, “Mommy, you crack me out!” Then I do something cruel like throw away the filthy shoelace she found on the playground and is now sucking on (ewwww) and she turns into demon child . . .

Lilah (enraged): I’m not going to be your friend anymore! I’m not going to be your daughter anymore, either! Don’t talk to me! Leave me alone! (brief pause) Mommy, I want to hear the kitty song: Meow meow meow meow meow meow meow . . .

Lilah also talked to the pacifier fairy on the phone and pronounced, approvingly, that Lolita has a “strong but sweet voice, kind of like my singing voice.” Lilah is big on both singing and dancing, which she does in a style she calls “serious” dancing. It involves a very scrunched-up, angry face and a lot of punching and it is hard to keep a serious face while watching this dancing, especially when, as happened this morning, the dancer accidentally punches herself in the face.

And to think we almost named her Lilah Grace.

No, we couldn't find any more shades of pink to put in this picture

2008-02-21T06:48:00.001-08:00

IMG_2210
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Seriously. This post will be about more than this picture (see, for example, the picture on Flickr of Collin and little Ava as well). But the incredibly clashing colors in here seemed to need a mention (or an apology!)

Last weekend, our very dear friends Katy and Dean Boshart brought their three kids (Jack, 10, Sam, 7, and Ava--6 months and gorgeous) to visit. It was the first time any of us had met Ava and Ryan and I plotted several plans to steal her, abandoning them only when we saw how tired Katy and Dean were and remembered that we didn't like being that tired.

Collin's response to the weekend: JACK AND SAM!!!!! SAM!!! BIg boys are cool, I'm a big boy, soon I'm going to be 10 years old and then I can jump off the sofa and throw the basketball and play cool games like Jack and Sam . . .

Lilah's response: Goo goo ga ga.

And also: "I need a diaper. And a high chair." In short, some serious attempts at regression to infancy. We don't know if it was the attention Ava got, how cute Ava was (not that Lilah's not cute, but still), or the extremely soft and bright pink fuzzy blanket that Ava brought with her, but Lilah had some sense that this litle girl was onto a good thing.

In other Lilah news, many of you have no doubt heard about her ascension to the throne as--self-titled, I assure you--The Mean Queen. This is an onerous and wearisome responsibility, as it involves generally being mean to and with small stuffed animals, bossing around Baby Troll (Collin) and Mommy Troll (guess who) and avoiding the surpassing authority of Daddy, who refuses to cooperate and remains, well, Daddy. An amusing recent conversation in this vein:

Mean Queen: Mommy. You and Collie need to do what I say because you my customers.
Mommy: No, honey, customers are people who buy things from you. We're your subjects.
Mean Queen: Subjects?
Mommy: That's right. That's what you call us.
Ryan (to me, upon walking in and overhearing the above): What is wrong with you? Are you crazy? Stop encouraging her.

Well, I don't want her to get made fun of at the World Convention of Evil But Cute Rulers for using the wrong word, do I?

Ohh, Casanova . . .

2008-02-21T04:11:00.001-08:00

IMG_2199
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

You look at this delightful picture of Collin in tights and your first thought might not be: "Well, I be this guy is good with the ladies."

But then you would be underestimating the subtleties of Collin's mind, as well as, frankly, the extent of his success wih the ladies. As evidence, I submit a conversation from the car just last week:

Collin: (coy) Mommy, I have two new girlfriends.
Me: Really, buddy? Who?
Collin: Naomi and Katya.
Me: (blankly) Oh. Wait--who was your old girlfriend?
Collin: (infinite ennui) Oh. Rachel.

And how does he get these girlfriends of his? Collin has figured out a tactic that his other male friends at school have not: tell the girls that you like princesses.

Next he is going to learn to love shoe shopping.

Bat Family Photo

2007-11-02T10:34:00.001-07:00

IMG_2116
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, Collin is getting muscle-y, isn't he? :)

This is Halloween morning, before they headed off to school and the marathon of trick-or-treating (the teachers walk them to all the surrounding office buildings). Lilah reported being so tired by the end that she tried to lie down in the middle of the street but her teacher wouldn't let her. Meanie.

Lilah, by the way, is not Bat-girl. She is Bat-gayle. This is her pronunciation and she is sticking to it, no matter how often we correct her. So perhaps she is a version of the superhero sidekick who hails from Appalachia specifically? Tune in to future adventures to find out . . .

As for Batman here, he is constantly busy fending off the Joker, the Riddler, and other villains, though he did take a minute on Halloween night to consume a new and exotic super-hero food. It was round and fluted on the edges, just like a Bat-a-rang (Batman's signature weapon) but tasted of chocolate and peanut butter and was gone in one gulp. Vigilantes need to keep up their strength, after all.

Now We Are Four

2007-11-02T10:28:00.001-07:00

IMG_2089
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Here they are in their gorgeous birthday outfits from Mom-Mom and Pappy. The celebration of Collin and Lilah's fourth birthday lasted nearly a week (!!) beginning with their exchange of their gifts to each other (a Superman action figure and a Cinderella coloring book), then the arrival of a whole box full of hot wheels from Uncle Paul in California. Collin went to a Superhero themed party at the local library and had pancakes at a restaurant, while Lilah hosted several friends (and Mom-Mom) for a tea party at our house (check our new pictures on flickr to see pictures of that memorable event.) Then they went to church and put coins in the little collection box, one for each year . . . and every meal for four days running they each ate a petit four courtesy of Uncle Scott and Auntie Paula.

Spoiled? Who? The best news from a parent's standpoint is that when the twins opened their gifts from Gramps (my dad) and discovered that he had given them each a $10 bill, they immediately tried to use it to pay the bill at the restaurant where we were eating.

Don't worry, I didn't let them.

Exhibit A: the chin

2007-09-07T18:34:00.001-07:00

IMG_1950
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This is a picture from our generally lovely day at the Pittsburgh zoo, so the fact that Lilah is not smiling here should not lead you to think that she wasn't having fun. What I would like you to take note of is the pointy, firm, and mobile chin, because we've been seeing a lot of it here lately.

We've entered a new realm here at the Claycomb household, one that we are saddened to have to label the Temper Tantrum Zone. And this girl is currently the reigning queen. A few prime moments:

--I lift her out of the car when she wanted to get out on her own. She hauls off and hits the car. Repeatedly.

--She kicks Ryan in the face (accidentally), but then refuses to apologize. Instead, she goes so ballistic that she has to be corralled in her room with all her toys removed for nearly 30 minutes.

--During a time-out with me in the room, she rushes me and beats me about the head and neck with both tiny hands, then literally growls at me, says, "I'm going to DO something," and begins to whip me with her beloved purple blanket.

We love her. Really we do. We tell her every day.

Anyone interested in babysitting??

Twins

2007-09-07T18:28:00.001-07:00

IMG_1939
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This one's for Uncle Paul and Auntie Nette, because I think they were convinced that we would never let both kids wear the adorable Hawaiian duds the newlyweds sent them ON THE SAME DAY.

But let me tell you, for a trip to the zoo on one of the busiest days of the year, this look was genius. They were cool, comfy, sporty, and highly, highly visible. And according to many passers-by, adorable.

Well, yes. Check out the rest of our zoo pics at Flickr to see the wonderful animals we saw.

Batman!!

2007-09-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

IMG_1904
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Your friendly neighborhood vigilante shows off his moves. And be prepared for many more pictures of Collin in superhero duds as the fall progresses. We've already purchased a three-costume set for Halloween, featuring a Batman costume that will hopefully fit (unlike the "Batman-does-Prufrock" effect we have here), a Robin costume, and a Flash costume.

Here's the deal. We resist branding in our house. We do not have Dora sheets, Blue's Clues placemats, or Sponge Bob anything. We have NO Disney princess-sorority-of-mindless-insipid-sweetness merchandise and never, never shall.

But then Collin asked about Batman.

As some of you know and many of you no doubt do not, I love Batman. And I'm not referring to the joke-y live-action series from the 60's. I mean the Frank Miller, Tim Burton, now Christian Bale-embodied, tortured, brooding, hero on a doomed mission to save a rotten city from itself. (See? I could write text for the back of the next graphic novel. Just you wait.) So when Collin inquired about Batman, I obliged with stories, pictures, t-shirts, more pictures, highly-inappropriate viewing of a few Batman cartoons (too scary and confusing, though I loved them), more stories, action figures, a hat, flip-flops, bath toys, and the inevitable costume.

It's a branded paradise in our house now. Sigh. The only consolation I have is moments like this wonderful picture, and the even better ones when Collin attempts to pass on superhero lore to others. Batman, as he will tell you, lives in Gottam (sic). Superman (whom he also loves now) comes from Crouton.

Who knew?

First Dance

2007-08-22T08:19:00.001-07:00

First Dance
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, I know. This is not a picture of Collin OR Lilah. It is a teaser, I suppose. If you go from here to the Flickr site you will see many fine, fine pictures of both Collin and Lilah at the event where this was taken . . . Unca PaulanNet's wedding. For adults, those names are Paul and Nanette, and they were married Saturday July 16, 2007 in a beautiful outdoor ceremony at the Stanford Faculty Club. Again, there are many pictures on our site, of the happy couple, of various members of our families, and of course, of Lilah performing flower girl duties and Collin balancing two rings VERY CAREFULLY on a white satin pillow.

This event marked not only the start of Paul and Nanette's life together but many milestones for the Claycomb twins: first plane ride, first time in California, first wedding, first public dance performance--they took to the floor for "YMCA" and "Copacabana" just the two of them and were, well, not shy.

We also saw a long-time and close friend of mine, Mary Hekl, and her family, which includes husband Jason and Macy (3) and Kaitlin (almost 2 at the time) and had a blast with them. Collin was a little dismayed to discover that Macy had toys involving balls and yet didn't seem to know where the balls were. (How could you not know these things??? asks the 3-year-old boy. Macy looked singularly unconcerned.)

Overall, it was a wonderful trip. So wonderful that we left stuff behind at UncaPaulanNet's, so that next time we're there (which may be sooner than they're ready for us) we'll already have staked out space and Lilah won't need to ask (disapprovingly), "Unca Paul, where are all your toys?"

What's the reverse of "matriarch"?

2007-08-07T12:21:00.001-07:00

IMG_1799
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Because it should be clear who's in charge in this picture. The youngest female in our family runs the show. Just ask Gramps, pictured here having lunch with her (and her mom) after a morning at the zoo when she was escorted in her stroller past many fine exhibits. In true Lilah fashion, she liked the hippo and the meerkats best. Leave the elephants and the giraffes to other, more trend-following kids.

She enojyed ordering Gramps around and was equally delighted to see his face painted on the wall of the Greek restaurant where we ate. (It was actually Aristotle, as you can see from another Flickr photo, but hey, that's simply a tribute to Gramps' wisdom and erudition.)

The joy of living with Lilah is that you never have to worry about slacking off or falling out of line: she keeps you in it. As evidence, a recent conversation with our friend Dave:

Lilah: Where are your toys?

Dave: Uh, we don't have any now. But [with a new baby arriving soon] we will soon.

Lilah: Next time I come you will have toys.

Dave: Yes, uh, yes, we will.

Lilah: I need you to remember this, okay? Remember.

Now if only she TOOK orders as well as she gave them . . .

Collin the Intrepid

2007-08-07T12:13:00.001-07:00

IMG_1742
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Well, folks, there are quite a few newer pictures up on our photo pages right now, all of which I of course urge you to run right over to and admire. But I'm choosing this one as the focal point of my newest blog about Collin because it captures both his Batman-Joker t-shirt (now, sadly, so filthy that I threw it out) and his determination to be a BIG boy.

He is a big boy, of course. And Ryan and I wish to affirm this as often as possible. He can climb trees (as you can see), he can dress himself, fill his own cups with juice, brush his own teeth start to finish, including putting paste on the brush and rinsing afterwards . . . he can even hang upside-down on the monkey bars at school.

The problem with all this BIG-ness is the sheer lunatic stubbornness that accompanies it. The child wants to climb ladders by himself, put on clothes that are still zipped or are inside out, fetch things off the top of the refrigerator--"I will get the stool!"--and carry heavy glass jars of things across the kitchen floor. When he is discouraged or thwarted in these designs he becomes QUITE angry.

So it is a good thing indeed that, after he is safe in bed at night, Batman often calls him on the phone to help thwart the Joker's latest diabolical plot. Batman understands that Collin is both intrepid and invincible.

It is also a good thing that, after Collin is safe in bed at night, mom and dad have access to wine.

A Ringbearer Prepares

2007-05-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

A Ringbearer Prepares
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, there he is: Collin, in his "Dancing Suit," which he will wear for Unca Paul and Unca (Auntie) Nette's wedding this July. I was worried when the suit arrived in the mail that he would hate it, because it is so stiff and heavy and not at all what he's used to wearing. But Ryan took him back to his room (some sort of "first suit" ritual between father and son, I presume) and a few minutes later a very small, blond person emerged, beaming from ear to ear and reminding me of Robert Duvall as Consigliere in The Godfather movies.

Boy, is he excited.

Of course, this picture (and the next one that I hope to post of Collin) offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on the gender role messages he's getting now that he's going to school. He doesn't want to wear a flower in his button-hole at the wedding because "boys don't wear flowers" and he no longer wants to do ballet (even though he LOVES the moves of balletic dancing) because "boys can only do rock and roll dancing."

We've pulled out some books with pictures of Nureyev and Nijinsky in them, and discussed how much Daddy likes flowers, but he's not buying it. Of course, perhaps I share some blame in all this too. I've been SO resistant to letting them get attached to name brands (No SpongeBob in my house!!) and gender stereotypes, but as anyone who knows me well knows, I am obsessed with Batman (the dark, brooding Batman of Frank Miller strips and *Arkham Asylum*, not Adam West battling Cesar Romero.) So when Collin started asking about Batman and what his powers were (I also love that Batman has no superpowers, just works out and uses his wits and gadgets), who the villians were, etc., I responded VERY positively.

Needless to say, the boy now owns a Batman hat, 2 identical Batman shirts, Batman flip-flops, a Batman backpack . . . and it's all, every bit of it, my fault.

Sigh. At least in this suit he's more Bruce Wayne than anything else.

Little Ol' Lilah

2007-05-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Little Ol' Lilah
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This is currently one of my favorite photos of Lilah, because it reveals a new element of our little girl. She has recently discovered a new way to claim adult attention (besides bossing people around, talking in an almost inaudibly high-pitched "baby animal" voice, screaming at the top of her lungs . . . ). This new thing is that she can be funny. She was sitting at breakfast with us and suddenly got down from her seat, picked up this paper towel roll, and declared: "I'm little old Lilah," and began to hobble away. When we both cracked up, she looked not oly delighted, but amazed, and so of course happily repeated her performance for the camera.

Other new developments with Lilah, some good, others about which I am downright ambivalent:

After a visit with Mom-Mom and Pappy, she returned home and I was suddenly "Mom," not "Mommy." I do not blame the grandparents for this . . . but wow, I wish I'd gotten the memo! I feel like I'm suddenly parenting a teenager, which means I'm suddenly 45 . . .

Today in the car Lilah announced that, although Ryan and I were already married, we had not yet fallen "into" love with each other. "But sweetie," I said, "when will we?"

"Oh, I don't know. Not yet."

Hmmm . . . is Electra (and her associated complex) rearing her pretty little head?

Collin dancing, Rock n Roll Style

2007-05-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

IMG_1655
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

First of all, no, he is not wearing pants (Jim Morrison didn't, why should Collin?)

Second, a story: Ryan and Collin dance vigorously to some music (the B-52's) on a Saturday morning. Tables are pushed aside, a rug is cut, hands are thrown in the air like no one cares. Winded, Ryan suggests that they switch gears and color instead, and he steers Collin to the table.

Climbing into his seat, Collin pauses, looks at Ryan. "Daddy," he says, "my heart feels like it still wants to dance."

So they do.

There they go . . . 3, going on 18

2007-05-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

000_0995
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

First of all, the license plate refers to the CAR. Sheesh.

Lilah spent the weekend with her beloved cousin Jenna earlier this month, and this shot was taken then. There is another, very cute one of them in the car head-on, grinning like mad-women, but I like this one, while at the same time finding it terrifying. Are there wine coolers in the trunk of that thing? Itsy-bitsy bikinis? Cell phones with boys' phone numbers on them? Where are they headed anyway, and who gave that girl a license?

Sir Collin, Off-Duty Fireman and Triceratops

2007-02-15T20:31:00.000-08:00

IMG_1167
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, well, this isn't exactly the most photogenic the boy has ever been, but this is a telling picture of life with Collin these days. He is often a dinosaur (he came out of his bedroom a few nights ago LONG after bed-time with the rather flimsy excuse of having not been able to fasten his triceratops hat under his chin), which entails much VERY LOUD roaring and the making of claws. An amused mother at our swimming lessons heard him, flinched (he is really very, very loud), and said, "My, he's excited!"

No, really. He's like this all the time.

When he is not a dinosaur, he is a fireman, a football player, a baseball player, and a knight.

In the previous entry, I promised more on the endless questions that are part of creative play and/or storytelling these days. Most of these are from Collin, who is physically incapable of not vocalizing for more than 2 minutes at time while he is awake. A sampling, taken from perhaps the first two minutes of a story:

What Sir Ancelot [sic] doing?
Why he doing that?
What a lance?
Swords are sharp, you can't use that, only on bad things.
Is that monster mean?
Why he a knight?
Why he have that helmet?
What jousting mean?
But that bad, that dangerous, you might hurt someone.
I could be a knight----ROARRRRRRR!!
Why he have that feather on his hat?
Why he look mad?
Are those other knights mean?
Fighting is bad, you shouldn't fight. That's hitting.
I like Sir Ancelot.

What do you MEAN pink and red don't match?

2007-02-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

IMG_1169
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Hello everyone! It's now mid-February and I have officially abandoned my ambitious plans to have blog posts about all of the following things: Christmas, my car accident and broken arm woes, time spent with Unca Paul and Net, the wonders of a snowy day, time with Erin . . .

The sad truth is that if I don't just update you NOW on things, I never will. So here is some news about Lilah. As you can see, she is as unappealing a child as ever (!) She is also refining her skills in the arena of domination and seems quite intent on becoming a doctor (which, yes, involves asking fully-grown adults who have foolishly agreed to be her patients to lie down on their backs and put their feet in the air so she can pantomime a rectal temperature.) If she does not pursue this career herself, she intends to become a "patient instructor," those long-suffering souls who allow medical students to perform various exams on them for training purposes. In Lilah's case, you may be sure that no body part will be left unexamined, whether it is her eyes (check for lurking tiny horses), her ears, or her feet, which sometimes need medicine to "feel them better."

We've also entered the realm of more imaginative play and storytelling, to my mingled delight and chagrin (I get to tell all my Robin Hood and Sir Lancelot stories now, but also have to explain A LOT. More on that in a subsequent post.) In any case, listening to "The Siamese Cat Song" from Disney's *Lady and the Tramp* prompted questions about the cats, so I told the whole story of the film. Lilah is now fascinated with the "Mean Science Cats" and demands frequent tales of their nefarious doings.

Which reminds me: I need to go teach her the word nefarious now.

Posted by claycomb at February 15, 2007 8:42 PM

Grrr . . . I a LION!

2006-11-12T20:28:00.000-08:00

Grrr . . . I a LION!
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, here she is, the Queen of the World in her "King of the Jungle" attire. Don't be fooled by the illusion of humility implied by the lion costume. She just likes to put on the trappings of lesser beings sometimes.

The Halloween-Birthday extravaganza was a bit much for Lilah, who burst into tears at one point and sobbed, "I don't want to open any more presents!" Poor kid. Never fear, though. She recovered to enjoy her presents quite thoroughly, and is already anticipating getting more for Christmas.

Lilah's current favorite things, for those interested:

Nakey-time, the precious 5-10 minutes in the morning when she strips off all her clothes and gets to either run around naked or wrap herself in her beloved purple blanket before Mommy or Daddy insists that she gets dressed.

Her purple boots with chiffon-ribbon laces. Enough said.

Show-and-tell at school, during which time she insists on bringing a different "soft, tiny, baby" stuffed animal each week, no matter how much Ryan and I encourage other items. The best part is that the animals names change minute to minute, so pay attention or you'll accidentally refer to Bloop-Bloop as Hunga-Munga. "Honestly, Mommy," her tone of voice will clearly suggest, "try to keep up."

Posted by claycomb at November 12, 2006 1:19 PM

The cutest triceratops in the west

2006-11-12T20:27:00.000-08:00

The cutest triceratops in the west
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So . . . readers of this rather occasional, haphazard record of Collin and Lilah's adventures in life know that I like to blog about them separately. Here's the report on Collin, who is, as I assure him daily, "still three" as of October 30. Collin had a VERY exciting birthday weekend, since Mom-Mom and Pappy arrived on Friday night, our friend Nathalie came over to decorate cupcakes on Saturday afternoon ("BIG HUGE CHOCOLATE ONES!!!), and then he went trick-or-treating for the very first time. And this is all BEFORE the big party on Sunday.

So, here are some recent highlights from life with Collin:

Upon seeing Johnny, the sweet, long-suffering six-year-old who is Collin's greatest idol, coming down the stairs into our basement, Collin rushed over to me with a look of ecstatic panic on his face, rather like those girls clutching at bits of John and Paul's clothes through the fence. "Mommy!!! Johnny HERE!!!"

On trick-or-treat night, Collin wanted to give out candy (after he'd finished collecting and sampling his own). So he rushed to the door when the bell rang, only to fall back in terror at the sight of two WVU college students, both at least 6' tall and wearing truly grisly werewolf masks. Poor little guy. After that he let his daddy give out the candy.

The other day, coming home from a rather stressful grocery store trip, I forgot to lock Collin into his carseat (!!!) Fortunately, it was a short trip home on no major roads, and he did not get out of his seat at all. In fact, I wouldn't have known of my fault if he hadn't suddenly announced it from the back seat: "Mommy! You forgot-- strap me in!"
I thanked him for telling me and assured him that at this point (three blocks from home) we were better off just letting it be than anything else.

He was quiet for a minute, then he said, "Mommy, when I see my daddy, I'm going to tell him, I'm going to say, 'Daddy, Mommy forgot -- strap me in!!"

And yes, as soon as he saw Ryan, FOUR HOURS LATER, that is the first thing he told him. Sigh.

Posted by claycomb at November 12, 2006 1:09 PM

Collin & Gramps Fishing

2006-09-25T20:26:00.000-07:00

Collin & Gramps Fishing
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

This past weekend, Her Majesty was taking a tour of her realm (read: Lilah was visiting Mom-Mom and Pappy) so the vassals took a much-needed vacation and headed to D. C. to see family and friends. We had planned to hit the zoo with Gramps (my dad) on Sunday, but threats of rain led us to switch to the Museum of Natural History instead.

I confess, I was a little worried that Collin, who hadn't seen Gramps since we moved to West Virginia over a year ago, might pull his shy routine, at least for a little while. Boy was I wrong! Within a few minutes of meeting up with one another, Collin and Gramps were heading into the mammal exhibit hand-in-hand, while Collin roared his best lion roar and Gramps looked, frankly, a little alarmed. (Hey, we're alarmed a lot of the time. Such a small boy. Such a LOUD voice.)

We saw the big elephant in the lobby. We went to the potty. We saw a lion and some zebra, kangaroos, a walrus, giraffes, a tiger, and the bush babies. We went to the potty. We went across to the dinosaur room, where Collin nearly cleared the building with his triumphant cry: "CERATOPS!!!!!!" (Translation: Look, there is a skeleton of a triceratops. I am fond of it.)

We left the building (no rain, thankfully) and headed for the famous Smithsonian merry-go-round (check out that photo on flickr), but first, we went to the potty. The closest building was the Smithsonian "castle" building, in which Collin was distressed to find no resident king. He insisted on asking the ladies at the information desk, and they agreed with his theory that the king was out for a unicorn ride and would be back soon.

We rode the merry-go-round, then went for lunch at the American Indian Museum, where this immortal photo was snapped. Just two guys fishing, folks, concentrated, silent, communing with nature and one another, you know the story . . .

Anyway, soon after, we had to part ways, but not before Collin insisted on a Fam-i-ly Hug with Gramps. All in all, a very fun day, from our perspective. We just hope Gramps has recovered from all the excitement!

Posted by claycomb at September 25, 2006 3:07 PM

Comments

I see that sweater vests have made a return to the Claycomb males! Surprisingly, all the pictures are adorable.
Posted by: Leslie at September 25, 2006 3:54 PM

I heartily enjoyed the day with Collin and his parents and look forward to spending some similar quality time with Lilah. Collin takes after his Gramps in never passing up a public restroom. Who knows when you'll get another chance.
Posted by: Gramps at September 25, 2006 4:43 PM

Giggles

2006-08-04T20:25:00.000-07:00

Giggles
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So the last entry was about Collin, who, when he grows up, "will be a man!" When Lilah grows up, however, she will be "a bunny."

What color bunny?

"A purple bunny." (Of course. So silly of me to ask.)

So, Lilah loved her recent vacation too, from swimming to boating to swimming some more to waking up in the morning to force her poor Pappy to read her a book without his glasses on. But what she really loved was having more customers for her restaurant.

Let me explain.

I recently taught the children (by modelling) the imaginative play game of "restaurant," where one person pretends to wait on the other person or people and bring them either plastic food on paper plates or even just imaginary food on imaginary plates. Lilah took to this game like a tyrant to a new and stricter regime, and in Canada, she had even more victims. Here is how the game proceeds:

"Hey!" Lilah declares at 8:00 a.m. as the rest of the cabin slumps blearily at the dining room table, "You want to play Restaurant-Restaurant?"

No answer needed. The game is on.

"Welcome to P-O-N-G-O Restaurant! What you going to eat?"

Suffice to say that her service-person demeanor lacks a bit of the humility and warmth that usually ensures a good tip, and also, yes, she did come up with the name of the restaurant herself.

Next comes the actual ordering and delivery of the food, during which she demonstrates her potential for world dominance once again, namely by occasionally telling people that the food they have ordered was unavailable EVEN THOUGH IT IS ALL IMAGINARY FOOD. She then sometimes simply throws the invisible food that she thinks the person ought to be eating ("You have peas!") in their general direction, and moves on to the next customer.

So, if you are not hungry, not in need of coddling or consideration from your waiter, and feel like sitting on the floor with a paper plate in your hand pretending to eat chocolate ice cream and lima beans for breakfast, make sure you try out P-O-N-G-O restaurant soon.

Posted by claycomb at August 4, 2006 11:18 AM

Comments

I love reading this blog when the jungle gets boring and the internet cafe has for some reason uninstalled its air conditioning.
Lilah's goals of becoming a purple bunny have reminded me of something. We have this home video from when we lived in northern California where mom asks me "What do you want to be when you grow up?" To which I answered, "a football player...AND the tooth fairy." What can I say? I was ambitious...

Posted by: Morgan at August 7, 2006 12:56 PM

Barbaric Yawp

2006-08-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Barbaric Yawp
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Yes, this is a picture of Collin, age 2 and 3/4, swimming in a Canadian lake at sunset. And yes, the expression on his face is one of pure joy, not--as you might reasonably think--shock at how cold the water is.

There is obviously a lot to tell those interested (i.e. those of you who read this blog either unprompted or when I send out reminders that you ought to read it) about our week in Canada with Ryan's parents and our good friend Erin. But since it's been a little while since I added a post, and since vacation stories are often so predictable (we swam, we ate, we applied bug spray, we swam some more), I'd like to do something different.

When Ryan first started this blog, he devoted a post to each child. Here's one to Collin . . .

"Mommy, hey--hey, Mommy, do you know what? When I was a little kid--(dramatic pause for effect)--I growed up to be a big kid!"

This he announces every day. He loves basketball, basketball shirts, basketball hoops, and basketball players (not that he knows any, but a random issue of Sports Illustrated in a doctor's office proved this). He also claims to love to swim, although he doesn't actually like to get his face wet or have his feet leave the ground. He would actually much rather stand ankle-deep in water (as he is in this picture) and throw rocks in the water ("I make BIG splashes!")

Highlights of Collin's Canadian vacation included the frequent consumption of chocolate ice cream, cart rides in Mom-Mom's golf cart, boat rides on Pappy's boat (including touching an actual, real-live fish), throwing rocks in the water, and, on one memorable night, refusing to go to bed and instead becoming the designated Yatzee dice roller in the game that Erin, Ryan, and I were playing. He was sitting in my lap while doing this so I didn't get the complete sense of how much he enjoyed rolling the dice, but Erin said the look on his face was close to maniacal. Look out, Vegas.

The final highlight of the trip was Collin's discovery, since we were mid-potty training when we left for Canada, that little boys can pee on the grass. And on trees. And in the lake. And on rocks. And on unsuspecting bugs . . . ah, nature.

Posted by claycomb at August 4, 2006 11:06 AM

Comments

Yes....this is what little boys do....
Ah....youth...what did they say about it...and the young...:-)
Posted by: Andy B at August 4, 2006 2:32 PM

Thanks, Unca 'Nette!!

2006-06-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks, Unca 'Nette!!
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Okay, so I just HAD to call your attention to this wonderful picture (and the others recently added to flickr) of Collin Claycomb in one of his many "dancing dresses." This is actually the top of a tunic/pants set that Paul and Nanette sent him from their trip to Vietnam last winter, but he has no interest at all in the pants (they restrict movement, which impedes his choreography.)

The interest in dancing is a recent development, but one that Collin takes quite seriously. He prefers jazz music or old standards to pop or rock, and, as he explained the other day, "I like to dance because I a boy."

Posted by claycomb at June 24, 2006 1:09 PM

Comments

Question of the Day: Will Collin and Lilah
inherit the mantles of Fred and Adele? Surely
the lad has dancing feet. To what tune was he
doing his thing? And do the cats sit idly by?
Posted by: Gramps & Lee Ann at June 25, 2006 5:51 PM

Has Collin been secretly watching Baryshnikov again?
Maybe he also likes the fact that the blue in the tunic brings out the blue in his eyes ;)
Posted by: Leslie at June 26, 2006 8:25 AM

I LOVE it! And somehow...I knew Collin would love it too. No worries...we'll find more and send them straightaway...be expecting some shoes to go with, someday soon!
Posted by: Unca 'Nette at June 27, 2006 7:03 PM

Dear "Unca 'Nette" Keep those "dancin' duds"coming.
And Please, Somebody introduce that kid to Elvis -The world will never be the same!!!!
Posted by: Mom-Mom at July 9, 2006 10:23 AM

Mom-Mom & Lilah

2006-06-15T20:21:00.000-07:00

Mom-Mom & Lilah
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Okay, so we've clearly got a glut of blog entries right now, but what can I say? I've just spent a week in my children's company non-stop, so I find that I have more things to say about them. And of course, it was a landmark vacation on many fronts: longest trip we've EVER taken in a car (and may it stay that way, please God), first trip to the ocean, . . . and the reunion of four people who are each other's biggest fans.

This trip to visit Don and Donna (Mom-Mom and Pappy) was the first time I've really gotten a chance to observe the (I'm borrowing a friend's word here) "transcendent" bond between grandparents and grandchildren. Not to get too personal (!!!), but I never knew any of my grandparents well at all, and so I guess I just didn't quite "get it."

Well. I get it now. The moment when the kids first saw Don, while they were still strapped in their car seats, they both literally tried to break the straps to get to him, while he was grinning ear to ear and enveloping them in the huge hugs only he can give. Then at the house, Lilah heard Donna's voice in the dark and wriggled straight out of my arms shouting: "I need to see her!"

What I wish we'd gotten some pictures of was the church service we attended on Sunday, during which Don played his trumpet and French horn and Donna sang with the praise team on the altar. Lilah and Collin stood quietly (well, sort of quietly) in the aisle and danced to the music, one in lavender velvet and the other in his polo shirt and khakis, and the look in their eyes as they watched their grandparents was pure worship, appropriate enough for the place, though perhaps not directed at the intended party.

I thought briefly, with a little sense of loss, of some other people who were missing out on this experience: of getting this over-the-top unconditional love when really, you haven't done a single thing to really DESERVE it. But I also thought about what makes the bond between Mom-Mom and Pappy and Collin and Lilah even more special. Don and Donna appreciate every moment of their relationship with their grandkids, and they are giving crazy, over-the-top unconditional love that Lilah and Collin don't really DESERVE right back. Everybody should have a relationship that works that way in their lives, and I'm really glad our kids do.

Posted by claycomb at June 15, 2006 9:17 PM

Comments

Wow...that is an indredibly sweet post. I'm so glad the kids have that and will hope for just a sliver of that, should I ever be lucky enough to have some of my own.
Posted by: Nanette at June 16, 2006 12:36 PM

Waaaaaateeeer!!!

2006-06-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

Waaaaaateeeer!!!
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

So. This is not the clearest picture of the batch we took at Don and Donna's house. For more, and many better ones, go to our flickr page.

I'm blogging this one because it perfectly captures Lilah and Collin's first experience at the beach. It was an absolutely beautiful day, about 75 or 80, clear and sunny, and crowded enough to feel like summer without being overwhelming. We set up camp with an umbrella, a blanket, coolers, sand toys, towels, sun screen . . . and Pappy took the kids down to the water.

They were both very excited at first, but after the second time that a wavelet dumped him on his butt, Collin had had enough. He stuck close to Mommy for a couple hours after that and refused to go back in the water. The only things that really got him excited about future trips to the beach were watching the teenage guys playing football and sampling his very first Thrasher's french fries. And yes, he likes them with vinegar. That's my boy.

Lilah, on the other hand, . . . well, let's say that she took to the water, if by "taking to the water" I mean that she stood in the surf for something like three hours over the course of the day, blue with cold, shivering so hard that she couldn't stand up straight, and shrieking at the top of her lungs with pure, unadulterated joy every single time another wave rushed up to meet her. If we'd been indoors every single person within ear shot would have gone deaf. As it was, I wish I'd gotten it on video.

Here's what we've got, though: Collin, pointing to some football players up on the beach and Lilah running full-tilt back to the water. As Donna observed, if we'd let her, she would have kept on going all the way to Europe. Maybe next time.

Posted by claycomb at June 15, 2006 9:01 PM

Purple Baby Takes a Break

2006-06-15T20:19:00.000-07:00

Purple Baby Takes a Break
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

The drive from West Virginia to Milford Delaware should take about 5.5 to 6 hours with no stops. I budgeted 7 to 8 hours to drive the kids there by myself (Ryan was at a dear friend's wedding).

I was wrong. It took 12 hours.

That's right. Twelve. We left the house at 9:45 a.m. The first delay was that I packed everything under the sun, including three different kinds of sunscreen, but forgot my wallet. So 30 minutes out we turned around. Us leaving: take two, at 10:45 a.m. An hour or so later, we changed diapers on the side of the highway. We made it to our lunch spot at 1:30 (an hour and a half behind schedule) and had a lovely meal.

Then we hit the beltway at 4 p.m. And rush hour. At 4:30 Lilah threw up. At 4:45 we got back on the road. At 4:55 Lilah threw up again.

In certain Victorian novels, readers are spared some scenes by the author's drawing of a metaphorical curtain over it. So shall I spare you the details of the hours from 5 to 7, which included much clean-up, even more crying, some running around, MANY bathroom trips and/or diaper changes, and a very bad open-mike night at the New Deal Cafe. There was also the immortal moment when Lilah turned to me and said, "Mommy, I not get sick again, I promise."

"No, no, sweetie," I said, "I know you won't. But it wasn't your fault you got sick."

She thought about that. "I think it your fault, Mommy."

We pulled into the Claycombs' house at 9:45 p.m., not a one of us having napped a wink all day. (Well, it's good that I didn't, but you get the idea.) As the children flung themselves joyfully into Mom-Mom and Pappy's arms, I sat in the driver's seat of the car and thought--for a moment, just a moment--"Hey! I could just peel out right now and no one could catch me!"

But I stayed. And eventually I, like Purple Baby (Lilah's dearest friend, pictured here), got to sit on a lawn chair in the sun and watch my children happily eat sand. So it was all worth it.

Posted by claycomb at June 15, 2006 8:52 PM

Comments

Ann, I just nominated you for mother of the year.
Posted by: Leslie at June 17, 2006 1:53 PM

The Intrepid Explorer

2006-05-29T20:17:00.000-07:00

The Intrepid Explorer
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Big holiday weekends with the kids have, until recently, mostly meant an extra day at home with the kids doing the usual weekend routine. It has just been too much effort to get out the door to do anything special, and most people who would've done something with us, had kids of a similar age, so it was a big pain for them to get out and do anything, either.

We were very happy, therefore, when our friends Cari and Eric invited us on a picnic to Cooper's Rock State Park, about 25 minutes from our place. But we had some reservations...

"Is this a hiking trip?"
"No, you can park right next to the picnic area."
"Are the bathrooms?"
"Yup, right there."
"Portajohns, or an actual building?"
"With sinks and everything."
"We're in."

The kids had a good time, and the actual overlook (a short walk from the picnic tables) is stunning--I've done my share of hiking in Shenandoah, so I sort of suspected to be underwhelmed by the view, but it was gorgeous. For some reason, I didn't actually get any shots of it, though. Probably because I was busy keeping one toddler or other from falling to his or her doom.

The kids had a good time, though...With a water fountain, a tree stump and a small boulder nearby, they were content. It's nice that the twins are now old enough that we are able to finally do things that normal people do on holiday weekends, like picnic in gorgeous state parks, for example.

Posted by claycomb at May 29, 2006 2:18 PM

Comments

Looks like the Munchkins know how to enjoy a picnic. Bet their appetites for picnic fare matched their love of adventure. Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. Apparently summer has arrived ahead of schedule.
Posted by: Gramps at June 1, 2006 12:33 PM

May 21, 2006: CoCoPaBaBa

2006-05-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

For several nights before Ann left for Ireland, Collin had had a bit of trouble settling down for bed, and so more than once, one of us had to go into his room at 8:30 or 9:00 to soothe him down. On a couple of occassions, Collin had whispered something incomprehensible to me through his pacifier. Unable to figure it out, I usually said something like, "OK, buddy, go to sleep." While Ann was gone, it so happened that one evening Collin was having a bit of a hyper bedtime, and so I ended up staying with him a bit longer. And there it was again, the same syllables whispered through his pacifier--cocopababa, cocoba pa na.

"What are you saying pal?" I asked, and popped the pacifier out of his mouth.

He rolled over onto his tummy, and pulled up his shirt and said it again...

I knew that he wanted me to rub his back, and it dawned on me that he wanted me to sing something for him (which his daycare providers do when he's having trouble napping).

"Buddy, do you want me to rub your back and sing 'Copacabana'?"

"Yes."

He was asleep in five minutes.

Posted by claycomb at May 21, 2006 10:34 AM

Comments

The lad has great taste in music! Maybe tonight you can try Mandy?

Posted by: Mary Hekl at May 24, 2006 1:52 PM

Or, if its an afternoon nap The Pina Coloda Song...:-)

Posted by: Andy B at May 24, 2006 4:53 PM

Collin: 3; Panera: 0

2006-05-03T18:04:00.000-07:00

Swing...up...high!
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

Ryan gave his final exam today, so he was out of the house at 7:30 a.m. Anticipating trouble getting both kids going by myself on a rainy morning, I took them to our local Panera for breakfast. Lilah ate the blackberries I'd brought her from home, drank some milk, and delicately nibbled at a pumpkin muffin top.

Collin ate his blackberries from home, drank all of his milk and the rest of Lilah's, and ate TWO chocolate chip muffin tops. TWO. Then when I wouldn't get him a third, he got down on the floor under the table and tried to pick up the (many) crumbs he had dropped. He was particularly sad to see that some chocolate chips would be headed for the trash.

He got me back, however, for depriving him of his crumbs of breakfast when we went into the restroom so Lilah could "pee potty"--a necessary activity every 30 minutes or so, just to be safe. Collin wandered around drinking his milk, and then spilled some on the floor. Busy as I was with helping Lilah wash her hands, I wasn't quite fast enough to stop him from flinging himself prone on the bathroom floor and--brace yourselves--licking up the milk.

"I like a puppy!" he says. Indeed. Let's hope his immune system is up for it. And let's hope Panera lets us come back. At least they make money off of us!
Posted by claycomb at May 3, 2006 9:07 AM
Comments
Hi there, I thought I'd better post a comment so you would know definitively that we are indeed keeping up with the twins renewed site.
I have to say...as a healthcare professional, the thought of Collin licking milk off the bathroom floor gives me serious pause. I'm sorry, that must have been traumatic for all of you.
I'm sure Panera will have you back - Collin is mopping their floors!
Posted by: Nanette at May 3, 2006 7:29 PM

Spring Photo Shoot

2006-04-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Just friends
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

What warranted the lovely new shots you can now find on Flickr? Well, The kids both got haircuts (Collin's first by a professional, and Lilah's first that wasn't just a trim), both were in good moods after nice naps, the flowers around the yard are in full bloom, and it was a gorgeous day. Sound like a great day for photos to me! We'll likely post a couple more over the next few days.

The Big-Boy Bed!!

2006-04-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

The Big-Boy Bed!!
Originally uploaded by Ryan Claycomb

As I warned you, more posts were sure to follow once I figured this out. So here we have a self-explanatory picture of Collin's latest landmark in his journey away from babyhood and into the land of, as he puts it, "my all-by-self."

Lilah's latest milestone, dare we call it that, is less visible, and frankly, less fun. She is the proud possessor of many new pairs of big-girl underpants, which she wore to the park today. She soon perfected the just-got-off-a-horse wide-legged stride of someone who has peed all the way down her legs and into her shoes (three pairs of underwear and pants in one hour, I kid you not) and the look of puzzlement has yet to leave her face when this happens. Here's hoping.

If you check out the latest pictures on Flickr, however, you will see that Lilah is quite zen about a lot of things, as she loves to practice "Echo," otherwise known as "Yoga." Collin has less patience for the poses, and insists on turning them all into launching positions for sommersaults.

September 3, 2005: Where to find twins pictures

2005-09-03T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Claycomb Twins' site has been dormant for a bit, but to see new pictures of us and what we're seeing in sunny Morgantown, WV, visit Daddy's account on www.Flickr.com. You can get there through the link on the side of this page.

Also, here's a picture of us at the plaground to whet your appetite . . .

November 2, 2004: Happy Birthday!

2004-11-02T17:53:00.000-08:00

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

2004-08-20T17:52:00.000-07:00

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

2004-08-17T17:51:00.000-07:00

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 . . .

2004-08-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

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

2004-08-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

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

2004-07-12T17:26:00.000-07:00

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

2004-04-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

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

2004-04-19T20:22:00.000-07:00

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

2004-04-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

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

2004-03-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

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

2004-03-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

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 . . .

2004-03-04T18:36:00.000-08:00

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)

2004-02-23T18:34:00.000-08:00

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

2004-02-02T19:10:00.000-08:00

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

2004-01-26T18:15:00.000-08:00

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

December 21, 2003:The adventures of Puppy and Little Rhino

2003-12-21T17:55:00.000-08:00

Story by Mommy, Illustrations by Daddy

Puppy was sad. The sky was as blue as a sky-blue crayon, the sun was shining, and all of Puppy’s friends were playing a game of tag together.

But still, Puppy was sad.

You see, while everyone else seemed perfectly happy to play tag or catch or hide and seek every day (except on rainy days when they all went inside and watched television), Puppy was not. He wanted to do something different.

He wanted adventures, and he wanted a friend to go adventuring with him, because as you probably already know, an adventure that you go on by yourself is no fun at all.

In fact, it can actually be quite scary.

What if you meet a dragon?

Or a giant?

Or a lion?

Or an enormous spindleblarp, the kind with eight eyes and spiny purple tentacles?

If you go adventuring alone and you meet one of these creatures, you would be smart to do one thing every time.

Run away.

But if you go adventuring with a friend—a true friend who will never let you down—then you feel much braver.

You might feel brave enough, together, to pet the lion, or shake the giant’s hand.

You might even distract the spindleblarp by doing a silly dance while your friend snuck up behind it and tickled it’s tentacles.

Then, because spindleblarps hate having their tentacles tickled, you would probably be smart to run away.

But at least you and your friend would be running away together.

Puppy had many friends, but none of them wanted to go on adventures with him.

“Would you go on an adventure with me, Squirrel?” Puppy asked.

“I’d rather play catch,” said Squirrel.

“Hey, Quacky,” Puppy said, “have you ever been on an adventure?”

“I’m not supposed to get my clothes dirty,” said Quacky.

“I don’t like adventures,” said Molly the cat. “I like to sit in boxes.”

“I can tell,” said Puppy. “But why does the box you are sitting in now say GRAPEFRUIT on the side? You’re not a grapefruit.. You’re a cat.”

“Go away, Puppy,” said Molly.

So Puppy went away, feeling sadder than ever.

But as he was walking home through the woods he heard something that made him forget about being sad. Instead he felt scared.

What he heard was a sound like this:

GALUMPH!

GALUMPH!

GALUMPH!

And it was coming from behind him.

Puppy knew that a sound like that was only made by a really big animal.

Like a dragon.

Or a spindleblarp.

Or maybe even an animal he’d never heard of before.

Without even meaning to be, he was on an adventure!

Puppy walked faster down the forest path, and the sound got louder behind him.

GALUMPH! GALUMPH!

Puppy started to run.

He ran faster and faster and faster down the path until suddenly—WHAM.

He tripped over a tree root and fell down. And the sound behind him was so loud that it was almost on top of him, right there on the forest floor!

Puppy squeezed his eyes tightly shut and hoped that whatever it was wouldn’t hurt him when it stepped on his head.

And then he felt someone pulling at his hand.

“Come on, Puppy!” said a voice. “Get off the path before the spindleblarp gets here! Hurry!”

Puppy opened his eyes and saw who was holding his hand and tugging, hard. It was Little Rhino. Puppy got up and together they tumbled off the path and into some bushes. Then they crouched down and waited.

A few minutes later, the ground around them started to shake as if a giant was walking past, but it wasn’t a giant.

Like Little Rhino had said, it was a spindleblarp, and it came tearing down the path waving its tentacles and snarling,

GALUMPH!

Puppy and Little Rhino pressed up close to each other in the bushes and waited for the spindleblarp to pass. Then they crawled back onto the path and brushed leaves off themselves.

“Thanks!” Puppy said. “I almost got run over!”

Little Rhino blushed. “You’re welcome,” she said. “You were very brave, though. I wanted to run away.”

“Me too,” Puppy said. “It’s hard to have an adventure like that when you’re by yourself.”

Little Rhino’s eyes got very wide.

“Was that an adventure?” She asked. “I’ve always wanted one.”

“Really?” Puppy asked. “Me too.”

Puppy and Little Rhino smiled at each other.

“Maybe,” Little Rhino said, “we could go on some more adventures—together?”

“Like finding a dragon’s lair!” Puppy said, “Or a giant’s cave.”

Little Rhino was nodding her head, but then she stopped and her smile faded.

“There’s just one thing,” she whispered.

Puppy felt his heart sink. “Don’t you want to be my friend?” He asked.

“No!” Little Rhino cried. “I do! That’s not it. It’s just that, well, I might get scared sometimes and want to run away.”

“Oh!” Puppy said. “that’s okay.” He squeezed her hand. “We’ll run away together. That’s what friends are for.”

Puppy and Little Rhino walked home together and promised to meet at the entrance to the forest path the very next day.

An adventure was waiting.

NEXT:
Puppy and Little Rhino and the Thing that Was Not an Aspirin.

Posted by claycomb at December 21, 2003 10:34 PM

Comments

please, hurry! more puppy and little rhino! i laughed, i cried... i learned an important lesson that truly arrived at the perfect time (after all, many pre-holiday anxieties are often spilled all over one's special adventure partner, and said special adventure partners hardly ever like being spilled on.) thank you thank you thank you! and i do hope molly returns in the next adventure, appearing in a stylish box, of course.

--ff

Posted by: fritz at December 22, 2003 11:56 AM

You two always amaze me! Thanks for the joy.
Love,
Aunt Betsy

Posted by: Aunt Betsy at December 22, 2003 12:11 PM

Great story ! Are you published yet??

Posted by: Betty Lou at January 28, 2004 11:31 PM

December 14, 2003: Physical update

2003-12-14T17:53:00.000-08:00

By the way, we never gave the update on the babies' 1-month doctor's visit on the 2nd. Obviously, this was a couple of weeks ago, so a lot of it is out of date, but as of last count, Collin had caught up some in weight, and was only four ounces and one inch behind his sister. We estimate that they are now both between 8 and 9 pounds, and are probably 23 inches or so. We'll go back for their next check up after the new year, and will post the results then. Otherwise, the doctor said they looked great!

Posted by claycomb at December 14, 2003 10:25 PM

Comments

Those babies are too cute! I'm in awe that you've been able to keep this web page updated so well. I can't even keep my baby books current!
Love,
Dris

Posted by: Dris at March 10, 2004 8:27 PM

Baby books? What baby books?

Posted by: Ryan at March 18, 2004 9:50 AM

December 14, 2003: The rarity of sleeping

2003-12-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

We wish this were the normal state of affairs:

This past week has been week six in our darlings' development, and we suspect that a sudden disruption in what was becoming a reliable schedule means one thing: Growth spurt.

The immediate effect of this has not been too-small diapers, or a progression into the next set of baby clothing (not yet, at least), but a screwy eating and sleeping schedule. And while Ann is affected by the former, we are all affected by the latter.

It all began last week when we had the kids out two or three days in a row. by the second day they were both getting a little overtired, but Collin especially was feeling it.

Several things conspired to make a long week. 1) Collin was over-tired, which meant that not only was he fussy when he was awake, he was having trouble sleeping well because he was so upset. 2) Collin has trouble falling alseep when he is not beeing held, which meant a lot of holding of the fussy baby by the soon-to-be-fussy parents 3) Lilah lives here too, and since she was also a bit overtired, but not so much, Collin kept waking her up with his crying. 3) This made Lilah very fussy.

Thursday evening was VERY Long. We started the bedtime routine early--about 5:30. They both finally got to sleep at about 8:00 slept for 20 minutes, and woke up hungry again.

Fortunately, Friday offered Collin some catch-up sleep, and we seem to be back on track a bit more by tonight (Sunday). But if we look sleepy in the next few days, you'll know why.

December 9, 2003: On Collin

2003-12-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

(Part 2 of a 2 part series)
Allow me to introduce you to our boy, Collin:

Like his sister, Collin's name is significant. But unlike his sister, his name has significance in the family. His first name honors his paternal grandmother, whose maiden name is Collins. Wanting to distribute the honor equally, we decided to look for a name on the Boerner/Standaert side that worked well, and we found Francis, which is Collin's Uncle Paul's middle name, and his Gramps' confirmation name, too. It also call to mind Grandma Mirene's brother Frank. Coincidentally, Francis also has signifcance on the Claycomb side as well, since Pappy's middle name is Francis, and MomMom's mother and sister both got the name Frances (Frances Collins, in fact). So while Lilah's name honors the things her parents have in common, Collin's name honors the generations before them that helped bring them about.

But Collin occasionally gets turned into "Collie" which may contribute to his nickname "Puppy" or "Pup." The nickname may also dervive from the preponderance of cute clothes with small dogs on them--check your baby announcement for an example.

He, like his sister, is a genetic miracle, since he has features from so many places , it's hard to say he looks like any one person. He has his Grandma Mirene's nose, and his mommy's chin, his Daddy's wrinkly forehead and his MomMom's eye shape, and his Pappy's eye color (so far at least). His voice isn't as loud as his sister's, but he can be more persistent when he is fussy. He is VERY affectionate, and loves to be held, to the exclusion of takinig naps alone sometimes. Good thing he has a sister to nap with!

Since Collin was born a little small, we have been working on his comportment so he will appear more confident and more charismatic. Since his nursery has a fairy tale theme, we're trying to teach him how to be Prince Charming:

Both Collin and Lilah like to go out, but Collin seems especially attuned to it: he sleeps better after an outing, and he loves to be held by lots of people. Those who visited us in the hospital after his birth will remember how well he slept even as he was passed from person to person. This has remained true when people come over, and also when we go out. A recent trip to Costco found the pup in our arms greeting all the well wishers who walked by.

Collin also seems to like the outdoors. In fact this past weekend, he saw his first snow, and went out onto the balcony with daddy to look.

He is a sweet child, and there is no better feeling than when he falls asleep on my shoulder. I was initally afraid of having a boy, of raising him to feel too entitled to the blessings he's been given. But when he wakes up from a nap and stretches out that little hand, I want to fill it with the world.

Posted by claycomb at December 9, 2003 12:46 AM

Comments
Oh are these pictures fabulous!~! I am currently going through a bout of CollinandLilah withdrawal! (This may also explain their fussyness!) I can't wait to get them in my arms once again.
Much love,
Mom-Mom
Posted by: Mom-Mom at December 15, 2003 11:58 AM

I can't wait to get them into my arms....period!
This is not fare...Mom-Mom cheats.
Love,
Aunt Betsy
Posted by: Aunt Betsy at December 22, 2003 12:16 PM

November 24, 2003: Oh Lilah

2003-11-24T17:33:00.000-08:00

(Part one of a two part series on Collin and Lilah)

As most readers know, our daughter, despite having very small fingers, has many adults wrapped tightly around them. Here is her biography.

Lilah Paige Claycomb has a story behind her name. Were she one of two girls, her name would have been Lilah Grace or Paige Emily. She got the best of both of those names: Lilah is from a song that her parents love:

"Oh Lilah, to sleep like a baby--
To open the window and feel the fair wind
Oh Lilah to sleep like a baby again."

We heard that song together at a Don Henley concert (It is not one of his hits, but it was one of Ann's favorite songs). After the concert I said, "We could name a baby 'Lilah.'" It stuck.

Paige, while it is not musical, does honor the first source of our daughter's parents' love and respect for one another. We once considered the name Schuyler Paige ("Schuyler" being Dutch for "Scholar")--thus tagging our child with our professions as scholars of the page. We thought that might be going too far, but wishing our daughter to be a reader was something we felt comfortable with. "Paige" therefore honors our love of knowledge, of books, of reading, and the mutual love for those things that brought Ann and I together.

We were going to call her "Paige:" publicized it and everything, months before the birth. Suddenly though, we had a baby girl who looked more like a Lilah than a Paige. Who knew?

Here's what we know about Lilah: She has her mother's skin tone, which means even though she has lots of pink, she looks best in purple, and also dark green. She is chagrined abouth the dearth of dark green baby clothes. She looks rather poor in red.

Her eyes are blue for now. She has an "angel kiss" over her right eyelid, but this should be fading soon. In some photos, whe looks remarkably like baby pictures of her Mom-Mom Claycomb. Perhaps a side-by-side comparison soon will illustrate.

She is bigger than her brother and has stronger lungs, which makes her seem angry when sometimes she is just exercising. She has a strong sucking reflex, which means that sometimes, the only thing that calms her down is her Daddy's pinky finger.

She has a remarkable habit of generating powerful grunts for no apparent reason. Over the baby monitor, it is difficult to distinguish them from adult grunts. I sometimes expect to go back to the bedroom to find the furniture rearranged. She is sometimes known as our little rhino for this feature. She is also our our angel, angel baby, stinky angel baby, or angel biscuit, depending on the mood and diaper status.

Her eyesight is developing remarkably, and she tracks faces well--especially those wearing glasses, which makes all of her grandparents happy. She also likes to stare in wonder at bright shiny objects like the origami mobile crafted for her by Gramps.

When she sleeps, she makes my chest feel too full; her loveliness is overwhelming. When she cries, her voice is loud, strong and clear. May it always be so. We are so glad to have her with us.

November 14, 2003: Week 2

2003-11-14T17:21:00.000-08:00

Collin and Lilah (yes, Lilah seems to be sticking, although "Paige" still pops up occasionally) turned 2 weeks old yesterday, and with it has come even more remarkable health. They have both exceeded their birth weight which is the two week target, and both are looking more adorable all the time. And as one who adores them, I should know.

Their last week has been a busy one, particularly Saturday.

The day started off with Collin and Lilah saying a "See you soon" to Collin's Godfather, Brian. Brian embarked on a return trip to Seattle, the city he will now (again) call home. We will miss him, but the kids both say they are looking forward to checking out what the West Coast is all about.

We also had another out-of-town visitor all week: Ann's friend Katy from Wellesley.

Katy has already been through the first weeks of parenthood with her two little ones Jack, 6, and Sam, 3. Jack sent along a note to our little ones, as well. I shall quote it in its entirety:

"Welcom Page and Collin I hope you have a grate time groing up. From Jack."

On the back is a picture of celebratory fireworks. Did I mention that Jack just started Kindergarten? Boy genius, surely.

That evening, we had a Wellesley reunion of another sort since Grandma Mirene (Wellesley '55) came over for a photo with class of '93 and class of 2025 grads.

Our friend Greg came over, too, but his picture was blurry.

In the meantime we've been experimenting with clothing. Since Ann wears blue all the time, and I happen to look smashing in my pink oxford (humility is another of my strong suits), and since there's a lot of laundry to do, we've had them in matching colors, (like in the duck suits below), or both in blue. Collin happens to look fantastic swaddled up in a nice lavendar blanket we have, but looks pretty much like a seasick elf in pastel green.

We have further helped out cats, Molly and Ziggy get to know the new residents. While Ziggy has retained his attitude of haughty disdain, Molly has moved from sheer terror, to curiosity followed by sheer terror, to occasional acceptance of quiet babies. Cryin babies still make her dash around like mad, prompting a purchase of new lampshades to replace the one she broke yesterday.

There will be more pictures forthcoming of other visitors, including a "drop-by" from Mom-Mom and Pappy, but they haven't yet been downloaded from the camera.

And finally, a rumination on disposable body parts. Lilah's umbilical cord came off this weekend, and Collin's is just about to drop. Back when my cousin Carla and her husband Ben (for whose children Ann and I serve as guideparents) had a toddler and an infant, Carla remarked to me that the most important and difficult job of a parent is to prepare our children for the day when they won't need us. Our little'uns are only two weeks old, and here is that first reminder. Yes, they need us for food, clothes, warmth and lots of love, but two weeks ago, they needed us (Ann, more appropriately) for Oxygen. Now they can breathe all on their own, and they're reminding us already: "Mom and Dad, I'm not so little anymore. I can breathe by myself thank you very much."

No Collin and Lilah, you aren't so little anymore, but I'll be darned if I'll still want to help you breathe long after you've learned. And besides, who cleaned off those stumps with alcohol swabs. Doesn't that count for anything? A phone call would be so hard??? Sorry. I digress.

Posted by claycomb at November 14, 2003 8:05 PM

Comments

Ann you look terrific! These pictures are so wonderful. Ryan, I can tell you are not the least bit emotional......cough cough!
Please keep it all coming at least until Uncle
David and I can get there. tee hee.
This is the best/the twins are the greatest/and you two are not so shabby either!
Love to All!

Posted by: Aunt Betsy at December 3, 2003 9:52 AM

November 5, 2003: The First Seven Days

2003-11-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

We here are more concerned about the babies than about the presidency, so instead of giving the "first Hundred days" update, we'll give you the first week update.

On names: While Collin is going to be called, well, Collin, we are still waffling on Lilah Paige's shorter nomenclature. See, while we both love the name Paige, and it represents the love of books that first brought Ann and I together, Lilah just seems to be fitting better. So yes, we ytold everyone that she'd be called "Paige,' but now we're not so sure. We're trying out both names and the little one will make her decision soon. For the purposes of this post, though, I shall call her Lilah.

On Pediatricians: We've found a practice in Greenbelt that we're quite happy with. When the kids met Dr. Glaser on Monday, he was a little, though not very, concerned that their weights had dropped 13 ounces each since birth. While a little weight loss is fine, more than a pound would be bad, and 13 ounces is getting close. He said we'd keep an eye on it. He also wanted to keep an eye on Lilah's bilirubin levels, since she's a little jaundiced. The return visit on Tuesday was Lilah and Daddy's first trip out just the two of them.

Today's visit yeilded much better results. Not only is Lilah's jaundice going away, each twin has gained seven ounces of their weight back since Monday. Dr. Berkowitz gave them a big thumbs up. They go back for their crucial two-week check-up next Thursday.

On schedules: Well, babies don't really do schedules, so our earlier effort to have them nursing simultaneously on a three-hour schedule has been thwarted by a growth spurt and by small tummies. Ann's sleep has been sporadic the last few days, and mine has only been a bit better (while she has to nurse them through the night, I have to actually get out of bed to change most every diaper or crib sheet or onesy that needs changing.)

On visitors: We've seen many of you over the last few days, and your concern has been not only heartwarming, but also helpful, since Erin Sadlack's baked ziti got us through more than one meal, for example. There will be a lot of visitors to our place this weekend and next, but if you'd like to stop on by, especially if you have weekdays free, just give us a ring.

On cute babies: Ok. You've wading through the text for the pitures, so I will herewith indulge.

So: our first family portrait, taken in the OR:

On the way to the nursery:

Their first night with Mommy:

Lilah relaxing:

Three generations of Claycomb Men

and finally, a portrait taken by Ann:

More pictures on the way, but for now, someone needs a diaper change.

Posted by claycomb at November 6, 2003 12:02 PM
Comments

These are all so wonderful! Uncle David and I
are very happy and so very proud. Keep the notes and pictures coming! We love all of you!!!

Posted by: Aunt Betsy at November 10, 2003 12:08 PM

Thanks for the updates! But what's the deal with the odd photo of the twins and a beheaded Ann? Hope to see you soon :)

Posted by: natalie at November 12, 2003 12:03 PM

November 5, 2003: The Grandparents

2003-11-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, Collin and Lilah Paige got to meet their grandparents. Here are a few pictures of those first moments.

Grandma Mirene:

Mom-Mom and Pappy Claycomb:

and Gramps:

November 5, 2003: The Godparents

2003-11-05T15:49:00.000-08:00

Collin Francis and Lilah Paige are very fortunate to have four fantastic godparents: his will be Paula Pagano and Brian Eskridge, and hers will be her Uncle Paul and her Aunt Kelly (since he gets the family name, she gets the family godparents).

Here is a picture of Lilah Paige with a rose from her Fairy Godmother, Aunt Kelly:

And here is one of Collin with a rose from his Fairy Godmother, Paula:

November 5, 2003: Birth Announcement

2003-11-05T15:40:00.000-08:00

I am thrilled to announce that the famous Claycomb twins are here for an indefinite performance at Chez Claycomb, after a nine-month tour of the womb circuit.

Collin Francis Claycomb was born at 10:57am on 10/30, 2003. He was 18 3/4 inches, 5 pounds 12 ounces. He has his mommy's nose and very cute little chin, and apparently he wrinkles his forehead up, just like his Daddy did when he was first born, according to sources who wished only to be known as "Mom-Mom" and "Pappy."

Lilah Paige Claycomb followed a minute after at 10:58, but fearing she'd be stuck with the "little sister" moniker for the rest of her life, came out with a whopping 13 ounces on her brother, weighing in at 6 pounds 9 ounces, 19 1/2 inches. After careful consideration, she has decided that her name shall be, for the time being, "Paige." She will consider "Lilah" down the line, but she believes "Paige" better matches her adorable dark hair.

Ann is doing great, and coming home tomorrow. Nurses say her recovery is going remarkably well. She is pleased about the success of her "birth weight loss plan" (TM), although she does admit to some side effects, including the eighteen year, $100K cost of such a diet.

I am, of course, and emotional ball of nerves, but that's to be expected.

And without further adieu . . . the photos:

Comments

Fantastic!!!!!!!! Keep the pics coming. Can't wait to give them a hug.

Posted by: Betty Lou at November 6, 2003 9:32 AM

It's like looking in a window! Thanks for all of the online pictures. The babies are beautiful!!!

Lots of love,
Kim and Curtis

Posted by: Kim and Curtis at November 6, 2003 12:41 PM

Congratulations!! Glad they're healthy and doing well. Can't wait to meet them. Love and hugs.
Stu 'sTc' Goldman

Posted by: Stu Goldman at November 6, 2003 11:11 PM

cute pics. i was wondering if they are related to me somehow? please email me back if /'s or whatever.
jennifer

Posted by: Jennifer Claycomb at April 9, 2004 5:56 PM

found your web site a had to take a peek.
congragts on your twins...and love the last name!

todd claycomb
springfield,il.

Posted by: todd claycomb at November 18, 2004 2:16 PM