Mothers of Twins, We Salute You

Or, "Sadie's First Sleepover"...

Actually, everything went very smoothly. Isaac spent the night on Friday so his parents could go out of town for a wedding. We all had a lot of fun together and the kids were totally easy-going and great.


(Notice that I made the two dinners exactly the same...I wanted to pre-empt any upset!)



Bedtime was funny. We put them to bed and could hear them talking for a while. Then, we couldn't hear Isaac anymore and could just hear Sadie whispering. Next, it got totally quiet and we assumed they had both fallen asleep. Then, I heard Sadie yell over the monitor, "Mommy! I need a change! I made a big poop!", which of course woke Isaac up. But after Sadie got changed, they both fell asleep. They were down for the night by 7:45. Not bad at all!

They woke up early but cheerful, had fun eating breakfast together and then we all went to the playground. Isaac was a great houseguest and we'd happily watch him again.


Verdict: Having two toddlers is harder than having one, but as long as you have two adults at all times, it's not bad at all. Sometimes the toddlers play nicely with each other and keep each other busy, which is very nice. However, when it's just one adult with two toddlers is something else altogether...that's a lot harder than one!

Just like Daddy, Sadie loves science

We went to New York for Yom Kippur, but we also squeezed in a trip to the Museum of Natural History. Sadie loved it. She was a little scared at the Planetarium Show "Cosmic Collisions" (too dark and too loud for her!) but she loved the exhibits.

How much would she weigh on a neutron star?


Examining the baby dinosaur inside an egg:

Here we go!

in motion
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We're off to see Grandma and Grandpa and Jenny in NYC. This is the start of three busy weekends. Next weekend, Isaac will come for a sleepover and Grandma and Grandpa will come to watch Dartmouth Football. Then, the weekend after that, we will be travelling with Nana and Bob Bob to visit Auntie Lolly and James in Illinois!

Language

Episode 1: Irregular Verbs
Last night in the bath...
Sadie: I dived Mommy! Look, I dived! (She flops down on her belly in the water)
Ann: Great. You dove. Good job.
Sadie: I DIVED.
Ann: You say "dove".
Sadie: When I a teeny baby, I say "dove", but now I say dived.

Episode 2: A lightbulb goes on!
This morning...
Sadie: I'm bringing this [baby doll] for showintell.
Dan: Great, so you'll show it and then what will you tell?
Sadie: Showintell! My baby.
Dan: Right, you'll show it and then you'll tell something about it.
Sadie: (pause) Show and Tell. Show and tell! I show and I tell! I tell, it's my baby wearing same clothes as me.

First Field Trip

big eyes
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Yesterday, Sadie went on her first field trip. She and her classmates all went to Poverty Lane Orchard where they picked apples and looked at tractors and enjoyed the fall weather. Sadie had a great time and came home with some apples to share with us.

Her class will be taking two more field trips this fall, to pick pumpkins at another farm in October and then to a turkey farm in November. All of these trips sound like a logistical nightmare to me (8 toddlers! 8 car seats! A van!) but her teachers seem to love doing special activities with them and the kids enjoy the excursions.

(This picture is from Isaac's party, not from the field trip)

Welcome to Riley!

Our good friends' daughter Riley Elizabeth was born early this morning in Amsterdam.

Congratulations Doug and Kristin! We're so happy for you.

Friends with Sunglasses

Our Friday evening Rosh Hashanah dinner concluded with chocolate honey cake and ice cream, which soon led to Isaac and Sadie getting pretty silly. The first activity was jumping around with a box on Isaac's head and a bucket on Sadie's head. This fun time was followed by putting both kids putting on their sunglasses and just getting goofy.

Happy New Year!

It's Rosh Hashanah today! Happy New Year!



We're going to do our Rosh Hashanah dinner tomorrow night with Laura, Andy and Isaac just like last year, but also inviting Liz, Tom and their twins. I'm looking forward to the yummy brisket, noodle kugel, tsimmes and apple cake...as well as the chaos of four little ones!

Dorothy?

Anabel and Sophie gave Sadie this costume that they had grown out of. It even includes a pair of ruby slippers. Sadie loved wearing it this weekend.

Sadie has no idea about the Wizard of Oz since she has not heard that story or, of course, seen the movie, but when I told her that Dorothy was a girl who has a little black dog and carries a basket, that was fun enough for her and she immediately got her little stuffed dog, Zori, and a basket.

Cooling Off

It was in the 90s on Saturday...one last gasp of summer, I guess! We decided to head out to the Long Trail Brewery for a late lunch/early dinner out on their deck. Sadie and Daddy had fun cooling their feet in the river while we waited for our food to come.

Ready for the Farmer's Market

Sadie got a purse, tucked her drink under her arm and put on a baseball cap "just like Daddy" and then she was ready to go to the Farmer's Market.

Party Time

We had two birthday parties to attend on Labor Day. First we went to Samuel's 1st birthday party. We were too busy watching Sadie to get the camera out, but she obviously had a great (and exhausting) time, as you can see.

She was fast asleep within a couple of miles of Beth and Jake's house.

The next party was Isaac's 2nd birthday.

Sadie loved playing on all the playground equipment with many of her school friends and eating her chocolate cupcake. We tried get a picture of Sadie and Isaac together and both looking at the camera, but it's a challenge with two kids having so much fun. This was the best we could do.

We had a great time partying with friends but we were all wiped out by the end of the day. Happy birthday, Samuel and Isaac!

Cousins!

We visited Anabel, Sophie, Auntie Karen and Uncle Barry on Saturday and had a great time with them. Nana and Auntie Kara were there too. Sadie loved swimming with the girls in their pool and playing with their swingset and toys. Anabel and Sophie were so nice to her. We had a really fun day.

What's New?

cute
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

What's new here?

This week, Sadie officially moved to the Toddler 2 Class at daycare with her teachers Sonya and Martha. She's been spending a lot of time with these teachers, but now she is a real member of their class. A lot of her friends moved up to the preschool rooms, but she still has good friends in her current class. In September, her class will study shapes and colors and take a field trip to the apple orchard.

My students come back to classes next week, so I will be back to my busy life after a slower paced summer. Dan is continuing his busy grad school life the same as ever. In August, he was the overall winner of a local homebrewing contest and is planning to enter another contest soon.

Our good friends Reggie and Rebecca welcomed a beautiful baby girl named Mira. Auntie Lolly and James moved to Illinois...we are getting excited to visit them over Columbus Day weekend. Bob Bob went to Kansas to play in the US Senior Amateur Golf Tournament. Kate and Liz had milestone birthdays.

On Labor Day, we'll celebrate Sam's first birthday and Isaac's second birthday. Should be fun!

She Loves to Cook

Sadie loves to help in the kitchen! Some of her favorite kitchen activities include grinding coffee beans for Mommy and Daddy's coffee, spreading butter on toast and using the salad spinner but her number one favorite thing to cook is English muffin pizza...she loves to make these and eat them.

If I get the ingredients out, Sadie can almost make these by herself. She spoons the sauce onto the muffin halves, spreads it around and tops them with a good handful of shredded cheese. We melt the cheese in the microwave, heating it for just a few seconds so the pizza doesn't get too hot.



She made herself some tonight and also helped me with making the carrots. " I want some carrots. Mama, did you know big girls like to eat carrots?" she told me.

Sadie asked me to photograph her meal. As I snapped the picture, she said, "Say cheese, dinner!"

Last Time This Season?

We went to the Montshire this past Friday with Isaac and Laura and saw some other friends there as well. As usual, Sadie had a great time playing in the water park. I believe the water exhibits close after Labor Day so it was probably her last time there this summer, although we'll still be at the indoor exhibits all the time.

Sadie loves Storyland!

She's running out of the Shoe belonging to the Old Lady Who Lives in a Shoe to show us the sticker that the Old Lady gave her. Yes, there is a real live old lady who sits in that shoe all day long and gives stickers to children.

"Storyland...Where Fantasy Lives!"

We stopped at Storyland on the way back from our week in Maine. Sadie loved it! It's perfect for a small child and the park is really clean, family friendly and very nice.

Sadie loved the rides and also liked posing with these things:

Sadie and Daddy as Heidi and Peter.


Mommy and Sadie as "Sambo" and the tiger. I was very surprised to see Sambo at Storyland, as I didn't think this story was widely known among kids these days. It has fallen out of favor for sure. Note that Storyland refers to this character as Sambo, rather than "Little Black Sambo" from the original story. I guess that makes it more PC?

How?

Lots of curiousity about how Sadie got out to the float and how far was the swim...

Here's a picture of the float from the beach, so you can see how far out it is. Not that far.

An adult can walk about halfway and then needs to swim. Sadie, of course, has to swim the whole way.

So, does she swim? Well, in her life jacket, she kicks and paddles and covers some ground. But to get the float, Dan essentially pulls her the whole way.


"Hi Mommy! We made it!"

Funny Expression

Sadie, captured with a thoughtful yet funny expression on her face on one of the cool mornings during our week in Maine...