The Babies' First Solid Food

Today was a very big day for Brett and Maggie. They ate solid food for the first time! Their first meal was baby oat cereal mixed with breastmilk. Yum!

Monumental Occasions

1) MAGGIE AND LOLA ARE BECOMING FRIENDS




2) WE HAVE ACHIEVED FOOT-IN-MOUTH


Brett just learned how to take off his sock. Immediately, the sock went in his mouth. Then he realized the toes are tasty, too!

Still Growing

Brett and Maggie aren't just growing bigger, they are also much more interactive than the last time they posed with their props.




The babies will be six months next Sunday. They will begin eating solids! I can't wait to post lots of messy high chair pictures over the next few months.

Activities for Babies

These are photos and videos from my fun playtime with the babies this evening.

Brett was busy in the exersaucer and Maggie was sort of jumping (mostly just playing with her pacifier) in the jumperoo.



Brett loves toys. This is a great picture because you can't tell that he actually has the world's worst neck rash from so much slobber, spit-up, and wet bibs.



Maggie is very cute. She is a very silly little girl who loves to shriek and giggle.



I wish I didn't give voice-overs during videos. I hate listening to myself and I say dumb things. I think I do it because my parents did it on our movies when we were little. What's the other option, silent films? BTW, I am a horrible camera operator.

Back to Work

I started back at work today. Over the last few weeks I've struggled with reconciling my excitement for returning to my job with my angst of leaving my babies at home. Does that make me a bad mom, that I want to go back to work? I've been trying to convince myself for weeks that it doesn't, and I've told Bretty and Magdalena over and over again that when they are old enough, I hope they understand my choice. For now, as construction is about to begin, I've explained to them that Mommy has to go to work so they can have a playroom in the basement.
We have the greatest nanny in the world, so I've had no worries about how the babies will fare without me. I used to worry that they wouldn't know me, but I got to see Dan's return to the workforce after being a bum around the house -- I mean, very busy dad and carpenter -- for three months, and without question the babies were still overjoyed to see him even when he was busy away at work and didn't seem them much. Besides, I'll always be the one who makes the milk, and the babies know that. I also used to fret about how unfair it would be that someone else got to spend more time with my babies than me. I think that resentful jealousy diminished once I got to know our nanny.
So really it just comes down to missing them because they are so cute and I need to smooch them a million times a day. I missed them while I was at work, but the coming home was bittersweet. It was clearly the highlight of the day -- I got to play with smiling babies for well over an hour and feed them twice and put them down to bed. But it was such a short while, and I got so sad when they went to sleep. It was exciting to fully dedicate that time to them. All I did was play and smooch and cuddle and hold and touch and laugh and pet them. No answering the phone. No checking email while they played on the activity mat. No starting dinner while they kicked in their chairs. Every day I get to look forward to that quality time, and I'm sure it will help me get through the day. That, and the pictures in my office and looking at the pictures on this blog at least once a hour. And talking about my babies to anyone who will listen.

My first day back was great. Busy, but I loved being thrown right back into things. I work in a very supportive environment, and I had no problem fitting in enough pumping time even though I was in court a lot. The worst part were my feet -- I haven't worn heels in a very long time.

Caught Pink-Handed

"Yoink," said Bretty as he plucked Maggie's paci from her mouth.

Fun with Our Friend

Brett and Maggie's friend Matteo came over to play today. Brett and Maggie let him use their activity mat, and Maggie even taught him how to hold hands.
In exchange, when Matteo gets a haircut, he's going to sweep up the clippings and let Brett and Mags make wigs.

Best Friends

After a fun game of "Let's Look Out the Window," I propped Brett and Maggie up on the couch for story time. They held hands all on their own.

Daddy took our picture yesterday while we were all still in our pajamas. We take so many photos of just the babies we forget that we need to be in pictures with them every once in a while!