Lee Park

Mom, Mary & Sophie

Around a month ago, our friend Andy was in town for a conference, and the girls and I went to meet him in downtown C'ville. Andy is a great photographer, so I asked him to take some pictures of the girls during his visit. These were taken downtown at Lee Park. You can see the rest of the set and download from Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/ehcalum/2569805063/in/set-72157605552858074/.

He did a great job capturing the girls' expressions. Especially Sophie. It's hard to get a picture of her when she does not look serious, because once she sees the camera she is just focusing on figuring it out.

I do regret I did not dress a little nicer - I didn't really think about the fact that I'd have to be in some of the photos since the girls could not sit unsupported! Oh well, maybe my dream will come true and I'll get nominated for What Not to Wear. I'm trying to dress a little better now but admit I've recently been spotted in the same outfit at Kroger. But then usually all eyes are on Mary and Sophie. It's not rare that someone will start talking to them without even acknowledging I am there. That happened yesterday and Sophie promptly let the two ladies know that she doesn't like being approached by strangers - good girl! Mary was just flirting as usual.

This is our first week back home after our vacation in Tennessee. I will post some pictures and write about that later.

Hello Again

I realize it's been a while since our last post. So here are some more recent pictures of the girls. Nothing much to report, it's just been business as usual. Mary has a tooth - I think that's new since the last post.

Peter's mom Ilona came to visit the first weekend in May. She was only here for a day but we made the most of it. She played with the girls and got to see some of the sights in Charlottesville. We had lunch that day at Michie Tavern, it's a historical landmark near Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's house). They have a big lunch buffet and servers are all dressed in 18th century dresses. It's often crowded with tourists but not that day, and they were able to accommodate us and our big stroller as soon as we arrived. Sometimes it's nice that you get extra attention when you've got two infants in tow. Usually it's just people wanting to make comments or ask questions (are they twins, are they both girls) but the girls like the attention.

Nagyi and Mary

Nagyi and Sophie

And I had a nice first Mother's Day. It was special, but then every day's a little special with the girls. We did go out to lunch and it was the first time it had just been me, Dad and the girls going out together.

Mary and Sophie with the Exploration Station

Sophie

As you can see, Sophie likes to lick things. Especially the Exploration Station. And my arms, particularly during bath time. She likes to kick a lot too, crib rails, crib toy, floor, her sister... Mary doesn't like being on the receiving end of the kicks though - we try to prevent that as much as possible. Now I've given Sophie the nickname Licky Kicky. I can't come up with one for Mary though, she likes to eat and jump a lot, but Hungry Jumpy doesn't have the same ring.

Podees and the Hatchery

"What is a Podee??" you might ask. They are some special bottles with tubing attached to a nipple that works like a straw. There are a couple of bottles that have been passed around through CMOM (C'ville mothers of multiples) and after seeing a set of older baby twin boys using them, I was ready to give them a try.

Mary and Sophie using their Podees

Mary seemed to catch on right away. The bottle worked for Sophie too, but she was really caught up at first with figuring out what the thing was and how it worked. I've been using them the past couple of days trying to get the girls used to them. I'm hoping they will come in handy while we are traveling.

The girls only have a bottle 4 times a day, so we've avoided having to feed them on the run for the most part. But I think this will give us a little more freedom and will make it easier if someone else has to watch them like a babysitter or at the church nursery. So far we've only had a sitter after they are in bed so we can go out to dinner, and this Sunday they'll go to the church nursery for the first time.

Mary using her Podee

We've been trying some solids lately. Started off with the cereal and neither girl wanted anything to do with it. So we've moved past that. But the doctor said to keep trying the cereal. A few of my friends suggested mixing it with applesauce, so maybe we'll try that. So far they've had applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, pears and banana. Now I've tried to feed them all that - Mary will eat anything but not Sophie. She will chew on the spoon though, and I'm pretty sure I've managed to get applesauce, sweet potatoes and peas into her. Most other stuff just ends up on her face and bib.

Sophie "eating" peas

The girls are still not crawling yet! (But close.) I'm only frustrated because I know I started crawling at 5 months. But maybe it's a good thing - haven't exactly got around to babyproofing everything. The next milestone is we'll have teeth soon. Mary has one on the bottom - you can feel it but can't see it yet. She was really fussy tonight, and I thought maybe that's why, but she was just tired.

Sophie and Mary having some "tummy time"

OK, if you've read to this point, maybe you're wondering about the hatchery. The hatchery is our back porch. About this time last year, birds started leasing condo space. I'm not kidding - I've actually seen birds come and check it out (kind of like an open house). The dogs serve as their security guards. We had 2 bird families last year. This time we have 3 nests, and I think each one has a family, or a family in the works. Peter said our first baby birds flew the coop today.

Baby birds in the hatchery - just moved out today!

Sunshine Girls

Mary and Sophie chillin in the crib

It was a nice day today. The girls and I took advantage of the weather. They went to the office with me for a little while this afternoon so I could turn in some invoices that were in the stack on my desk, since I never seem to get to those during the course of a work day. They were very patient while I took care of some work and did not cause too much of a disturbance in the office (besides folks being distracted by all the cuteness).

But the past few days in Charlottesville have been quite gloomy and rainy, which is why the girls are sporting some yellow and flowery outfits from Grandma. They have been our little rays of sunshine while we've been cooped up in the house all this time. Tomorrow, Dad's day to babysit, will be nice too, so I'm sure they'll take advantage of the sunshine.

Easter Picnic

Sophie and Dad

Mary

Let's go on a picnic!

Here are pictures from our picnic in the park that I mentioned on our recent post, "Easter in Georgia." These pictures were taken the Saturday before Easter during our visit with Peter's mom Ilona (that's Nagyi to the girls). It was a beautiful day so we just packed up the lunch Ilona had prepared and had a little picnic in a park nearby. We all had a great time as you can see in the pictures!

Don't we have some cute little bunnies?

Dining Outdoors

Horanyi Family: Dad and Sophie, Mom and Mary

Dad and Sophie, Nagyi and Mary

Mary and Mom

Nagyi and Sophie

Sophie and Dad

Nagyi and Mary

Nagyi and the girls all had a birthday recently. Sophie and Mary share their 1/2 birthday with Nagyi's birthday, which is April 7th. It's hard to believe the girls are already 6 months old, but the time has passed. (Didn't pass this fast when I was expecting for some reason.) They've each become more active in the past few weeks and are now rolling and turning around in their cribs in all directions. Hopefully they will also be crawling any day now - they are getting close. We go to the doctor tomorrow for their 6 month checkup. Can't wait to show the doctor much they have grown!

More on Easter in Georgia

Wow, that was a wordy post last time - what more can I say about our trip to Georgia? Well, yesterday morning when I got up with the girls I was thinking about all I wrote and realized I left out our trip to Aunt Tricia's house! I am sorry for not mentioning that - it was on Thursday, our first day there, so I was probably tired. :) Sophie was still getting used to the new environment and had a little spell there but was fine. Mary was fine the whole time and enjoyed being the center of attention while I was outside calming down Sophie.

The girls visited with Great Aunt Tricia, Uncle Bill and Amy for a while. Then Mandy and Kadie came by (Aunt Tricia's granddaughter who will be 2 this summer). Kadie was very nice to the babies and gave them both hugs. I think Mandy was a little nervous having her around little babies, but it was so sweet!

Don't have any pictures but will post some next time!

Easter in Georgia

Sophie and Mary soakin in the Georgia sunshine

This was our second road trip to Georgia as a family (Simon and Bailey included, of course) and all went well. It was a little easier this time driving at night since the girls' bedtime is 7:00. We left home around 9:00 last Wednesday (April 19th) night and arrived at my parents' house a little after 6:00 Thursday morning. Sophie and Mary got a pretty good night's sleep on the drive over and woke up in a cheerful mood after we arrived. For a little while - then Sophie realized we'd traveled to another place and it was all too much for her to take. That happened a couple of times during our visit but other than that the girls were both quite sociable. They were definitely more fun than during our last visit when they were between 2-3 months old - that was a hard time... Folks always say you'll miss the times when they were so little, but I think we are all glad we are past those days! Not that it isn't nice to look back and see how much they've grown, but we're just enjoying that it's not all about eating and sleeping anymore.

It was a productive visit - we got to see a lot of people and were able to visit my top eating places. :) Thursday was not that eventful, we just enjoyed hanging out with my family and tried to catch up on a little sleep while Grandma and Grandpa tried to catch up with the girls. Then that night Peter and I went out with Russ to El Tejado, my favorite Mexican restaurant - who knew you had to travel all the way to Forsyth, Georgia to get the best mexican food. Well in a sit down restaurant that is - there's always Taco Stand (we'll get there later). Going out is a more exciting event after you have kids although it's pretty much the same. I'd say the getting out of the house part makes you a little giddy at first, then you can relax and act like you're normal people that get to do this all the time.

Friday we spent the afternoon in Athens. It was not a long visit as we just squeezed it in between morning nap at 9:00 and afternoon meal at 3:00 but it was impressive that we pulled it off on schedule and got to see so many friends. We left during nap time and went to visit our friend Stephanie. After the girls had lunch we went by the old building (Life Sciences Bldg) and saw some friends we worked with a couple of years ago. We went to Dr. Wang's lab and he was at a conference over at the Georgia Center but stopped by for his lunch break. Anyone that knows Dr. Wang knows that he does not shy away from a photo opportunity! He took some pictures and saved them on a CD for us, so I told him I was going to post them on the blog. Unfortunately, he remembered he left his camera in the car after he arrived - by the time he was back from the car Sophie was asleep and was not going to wake up for anybody.

Dad, Mary, Mom and Sleeping Beauty (Sophie)

Our friends from the old lab! L to R: Tucker Swindell, Dr. John Rose, Dr. Albert Fu,
Quentin Florence, me and Sophie, Peter and Mary, Kathy Medina, Jackie Taylor

Mom and Sophie, Dr. B.C. Wang and Mary, Dad

After we went by the building we stopped by Taco Stand for a to-go order (see, I told you that one was coming) to chow down on once we got back to the house. Actually, we saw someone at Taco Stand too - my old coworker from Olis, Jody Bradberry. He's a manager at Rick's First Generation Camaro and sells parts for old Camaros (duh) and other stuff too I guess. Peter could probably talk shop with him for a while. But alas, Mary was tired and fussy at the time and we were running behind schedule! Jody has a daughter that is in high school now. I remember being at her 5-year old birthday party. It's been a while...

Peter called our good friend James Griffith hoping to catch him at the building but he was already gone. Not surprising, he usually arrives early and leaves early. But he wanted to see us so he met us at a parking lot outside of Athens on our way back home! Just want to let him know again it was so great to see you, and we really appreciate you going out of your way and waiting to see us! We had a brief but nice visit. Mary had gone to sleep but Sophie was awake again, so she got out with us for a little while. James took a picture of the three of us on his fancy, newfangled iPhone (that he bought used from someone that must have been fancy and newfangled himself). It was a nice picture, but on the way home Peter said he didn't feel right about it since Mary wasn't in the picture. I hope we get to see it anyway, and we can take one with us and Mary to even it out!

That afternoon we went by to see the milk barn. Russ and Daddy are remodeling it and it will be a house for Russ to live in after he graduates this summer. It's come a long way and looks great. Russ had already left, but Daddy turned around and met us not long after we got there. He gave us the tour and told us about all the challenges. Then we went for a ride out to the creek out past the pond. It was the first time Peter had ever been back there. I'm sure Grandpa will be taking Sophie and Mary out there one day.

Peter went to visit his mom that evening but I went out with Russ and his girlfriend Mandy to Ingleside Village Pizza in Macon (see, I told you I hit all the eating spots). We also went to see that new movie with Owen Wilson called Drillbit Taylor. It was cute I guess but I was not overly impressed. I actually dozed off for a minute but got myself sugared up for the second half. It was nice of Russ and Mandy to let me tag along on their night out together since they have not been dating long. Mandy was really nice. I like her! Hopefully we'll get to know her better. :)

Saturday we visited Peter's mom, Ilona, or Nagyi to the girls (that's her Hungarian grandma name). Nagyi lives in Atlanta now and there is a park near her apartment. So we packed a little Easter lunch and had a picnic in the park. It was a beautiful day. The girls love being outside and we had a great time. Nagyi took a lot of pictures of us and the girls wearing the bunny suits she bought for them. I can't wait to see the pictures. When I get the pictures, I'll post them and write more about our visit.

Grandma Carol had to snap off a few pictures before we left on Saturday since the girls were just so darn cute. Note the date on the pictures. We know to ignore that now, but 10-20 years down the road I just know it's gonna cause a world of confusion.

Grandpa and Mary Bunny

Sophie Bunny

We all went to church on Easter Sunday. Mom, Dad and the girls arrived fashionably late. We were not trying to be fashionable of course, but we had to adjust our schedule to go to church. Let's just say everything did not adjust as planned. Mary had some tummy issues. But we took care of that and no one seemed to mind us walking in late. After we got home, we got some pictures before everyone got out of their Sunday clothes.

Grandma, Uncle Russ, Grandpa, Mary and Sophie

Dad with Mary, Mom with Sophie

After a nice Easter lunch, we had some visitors. Mema and Papa came by on their way to Atlanta to go work on a movie. They are always working so hard. Then Great Aunt Janis and Great Aunt Marilyn came by and visited for a while.

Aunt Marilyn has twin boys, Jason and Justin, that are about 8 years older than us. It was nice to hear her relate some stories about when they were babies. We still get all the same comments!

"Looks like you've got your hands full!"
"Are they twins?"
"What's the age difference?" (I personally think this one's a little weird)
"I'm glad it's you and not me!" Aunt Marilyn's answer to this one was, "I am too."

I thought that was a good answer to the last question and plan to use it. Actually Peter got to use it before I did since he had to take the girls with him to stop by the lab earlier this week.

It was hard to leave Georgia but it was good to finally get back home. We got back Monday morning after Easter around 5:30. The girls woke up after getting out of the car but went right back to sleep in their cribs. They were glad to be back home too. We had a little time to relax during our visit, but we all came back more tired than when we left. I think I've finally caught up on sleep now. I don't know about Peter, but he usually sleeps less than I do!

That's all I have to report on our trip. Other than that all is well. We are patiently waiting for the girls to reach another milestone - crawling, eating... We were so excited about feeding them, but they are just wondering why we keep trying to put this foreign substance in their mouths! We'll keep trying every day or so. Until then, at least the girls are healthy and we are all having fun. More to come.