Maggie Jeans!

Little Maggie "found" a new pair of jeans in her closet recently. And if one thing is for certain, Maggie looks great in jeans. Here she is with her brother chasing bubbles in the back yard this weekend. Included is a bonus "pigtails" photo.

1-2-3 Slide!

More of Brett the athlete. He loves the slide at the park so much. He climbs up and slides down with no help needed from Dad.

Bretty Baseball

Brett "Big Papi" Berthiaume loves sports. Recently he's taken a shining to golf and basketball. But today, he was all about baseball. We were at a baseball-themed birthday party in San Bruno and all Brett wanted to do was hit the ball off the tee. Then he'd reset it all by himself and hit it again. This went on for at least 30 minutes. He's quite the little slugger. Also, his batting average is already way higher than Carl Crawford's.

Ice Cream! (and the Zoo)

This weekend we took the twins on their second ever trip to the SF zoo. They're fully entrenched in the "I know every animal noise" stage so seeing the lions, bears, penguins and monkeys was a big hit. Despite this, you'll never guess who their favorite "animal" at the zoo was on Sunday:

And even though they're now excellent walkers, they decided to take it easy and have Daddy pull them around in a rented wagon. Here they are with Mommy in front of the Rhino pen:

But the highlight of the day by far was the trip to Marco Polo ice cream shop in The Sunset. Brett and Mags are ice cream fiends, especially Bretty who seems to be making up for lost dairy time and asks for "ice keem" at least 2 or 3 times every day. What a fun weekend!

Just A Little Off The Front

Brett Berthiaume is known for his trademark shaggy blonde mop. But when it's time, it's time. So yesterday, just days short of his 18 month birthday, Bretty got his first professional haircut.

We didn't go overboard. Just a little off the front. In fact, when we showed up for his appointment at Snippety Crickets (yup... that's what it's called) Mommy asked the barber to just trim his bangs. But the nice Russian barber replied "it look like mullet" and so we agreed to let her blend the sides a little bit. We left the back alone.

Brett was a well behaved boy and remains a great looking man. His sister came along for moral support. We think she's still a few months away from her first cut. They both earned lolly pops for being such great kids.

Two Rump Roasts

And two bonus photos. Here Bretty and Maggie are on the couch looking out the window. I would estimate they spend 10% or more of their waking time on this couch, looking out for doggies, bicycles, trucks, garbage trucks, the bus, babies, taxis, and anything else they might find. Maggie is playing with my old cell phone. Brett has Dan's old Blackberry and calls it his "yone."

The Milk Man and Little Maggie Garbage Disposal (aka Maggie Mittens)

This is a picture of Brett eating pizza. And true Potrero Hill boy that he is, it's from Goat Hill.

Wait a second, you might be thinking, Bretty can't eat pizza! YES HE CAN!! Brett had skin and blood tests at the allergist a few weeks ago, and he has outgrown his milk allergy!! He's still allergic to eggs and peanuts, but this is a huge step, and he enjoyed his pizza. So did Maggie. She ate two pieces.


Speaking of Maggie, that little girl can EAT. And she eats just about everything. Today, for example, she ate fruit and flaxy raisin bran, part of a bagel, hummus, cheese, an entire container of Whole Foods butternut squash salad, broccoli quesadilla, green beans, avocado, beans, and dried cherries.

Brett, on the other hand, can be picky. He refused lunch and dinner, and basically ate nothing but hummus all day. He did take a little bit of my toast off my plate this morning, and here he is with his dear friend Lola, who is trying to steal it from him.



Brett has learned how to say the letter L. He's pretty young to be able to do it, but it's hilarious. His favorite words are baLL, appLe, and LoLa. He found a little tennis ball that belongs to the dog, and he started calling it "ball Lola," which is quite a mouthful for a little boy.

Grandma put a pair of mittens on Maggie yesterday. She loved them. She calls them "mimims" and wants to wear them all the time. I'll try to get a picture of her in them tomorrow.

This post goes out to Great Aunt Donna and Great Uncle Tom, who sent me something very thoughtful and very appreciated today. Thank you!

Jump, Jump, Jump

Brett and Maggie went to their friend Riyo's third birthday party on Saturday. It was at Pump It Up, an indoor play space with big jumpy castles and slides. It was also a princess-themed party, so Maggie wore a tutu. Here she is at home before we went to the party.





Brett enjoyed jumping with his friends Avery, Matteo and Mason. He had to say the words "jump, jump, jump" with every bounce.


Brett and Maggie sat with all the big kids at the table and ate pizza (hummus sandwich for Bretty) and cake!

Houdini

Brett and Maggie both go to bed at the same time every night, and they nap together during the day. They are generally good at falling right asleep, but one usually wakes up before the other. Because we don't want to disturb the sleeping kid by going in their room, the awake one has to hang out in their bedroom until the other one wakes up. Brett and Maggie are very good at entertaining themselves in their crib by doing such activities as reading books, talking to themselves, playing with pacifiers, banging pacifiers and cups against the crib, playing with their blanket or stuffed animals, and, the most entertaining to watch on the video monitor, throwing the contents of their cribs overboard. That is, it was the most entertaining to watch until yesterday.

You see, Bretty learned a new trick yesterday. He learned how to take off his shirt. We couldn't keep one on him all morning. He wore a shirt when he went down for his nap, and Daddy zipped him up in his sleep sack just like always. Brett woke up before Maggie, and, upon hearing he was awake, I looked at the video monitor. After drinking some water and sitting still for a minute, Bretty started trying to take off his shirt underneath his sleep sack. Here is a picture of him proud of what he was able to achieve.



I predict more short-sleeved and button-down shirts in Brett's future -- I don't think he can get those off yet.

Go Maggie Go

In case we've failed to make the point in this space before, Maggie loves swings.

New Hairstyles (sort of)

Brett's shaggy blonde mop was getting a little out of control and beginning to cover his eyes. So this week we took some scissors to his bangs and gave him enough clearance to see again. Meanwhile, Mommy fulfilled a life-long dream by giving Maggie her first set of pig tails (finally!)





Don't worry though. It may be business in the front but it'll always be party in the back...

Fun Day with Mommy

Today was a holiday and Mommy didn't have to go to work. Mommy and Bretty and Maggie had a great day. After breakfast, we put on our coats and went for a short walk to the park. Brett and Maggie love to go high on the swings!

After naptime, Mommy hooked the booster seats on the back of the stroller:

Then she pushed the babies down the hill to the neighborhood taco place. Brett ate a whole vegetarian taco (two tortillas, big scoop of pinto beans, guacamole), as well as some extra guacamole and some black beans. Maggie ate black beans, guacamole, and a huge piece of quesadilla. Brett and Maggie eat a lot of Mexican food, because: (1) it's Mommy's favorite; (2) they love it, especially guacamole and beans; and (3) so long as you order it without cheese and sour cream, there are no hidden allergy foods and it's safe for Bretty, unlike many other cuisines.

After tacos, the plan was to go to our neighborhood indoor play space, Recess. It's also partway back up the hill going home from the taco place, and a nice place for Mommy to rest. It's hard work pushing the double stroller up the hill! But Recess was closed for the MLK holiday, so Mommy pushed upwards one more block, then stopped at a bakery and Brett and Maggie had a brownie. Mommy managed to push them all the way home, as they shouted "brown-a, brown-a" and "more, more," and they arrived home with chocolatey faces and hands. A great day!

Sweater Weather

It's been unseasonably cold in San Francisco during the past month. We're used to mild weather all year round and the big chill has brought the first round of real colds for the twins. The house has been umm, a little snotty, but aside from some coughing they're handling it all really well.

It's also provided a great excuse to break out some of their best cold weather clothes. Here they are sporting some new sweaters. You aren't going to believe this but Maggie's has a penguin on it!

Bed Head Fred

Bretty is always at his best in the morning.

Maggie Penguin Goes to the Zoo

Yesterday the twins made their first trip to the zoo. It was very exciting as, like most toddlers, they love animals and animal noises. I really like this picture of Maggie & Mommy in front of Penguin Island.

Christmas 2010

After their ill-fated run in with Santa Claus, Brett and Maggie saw their Christmas season get a whole lot brighter with visits from some of their favorite people.

First, Grandma and Papa flew up from Phoenix to exchange a few early Christmas presents. Then, then they got a special visit from Grandma B, Uncle Dave-O, Auntie Leanne, Uncle J and Jennifer. It was a wonderful Christmas and we were very grateful for everyone who travelled to spend it with us.

We posted a few photos below. Apologies to our friends who may be trying to view the slide show below on an iPhone or iPad. Send all complaints to Steve "The Grinch" Jobs. Instead, you can follow the link here:

Christmas 2010 in SF

Merry Christmas!

Scary Christmas To All!

Last week we took Brett & Mags to see Santa Claus and let's just say they were none too thrilled with the experience. The photo below speaks for itself and it's also fun to see just how much they've grown since their very first visit with Santa in Phoenix last year.

A quick note on the Santa you see below. He's a bit of a celebrity. He was recently fired from his job at Macy's in Union Square for telling a (debatably) innapropriate joke. But like a Christmas miracle, a local bar stepped up and re-hired Santa for double his original salary. The story earned national attention and even landed Santa a guest spot on Jay Leno. For the record, we (like most San Franciscans) totally sided with Santa on this one and were happy to pay him a visit... even if the twins weren't.

The Walkers

No, I'm not referring to the zombies on AMC's recent 6-episode show. Although that was really great, and Brett bears many resemblances (staggering gait, indecipherable moans, disheveled hair, gnashing teeth).
I'm talking about Brett and Maggie, the babies who have finally decided to walk at 14 and a half months. In the last few days, Brett has started walking as a means to get from place to place (rather than just the "come to Mommy!" few steps). Maggie has never taken more than 4 or 5 steps at a time, although she's very steady on her feet. I jokingly said she would just start walking perfectly one day, and apparently I was right and that day was today. She was walking all over the house tonight.

Knee-walk the Ewok

One of the funniest things about twins is that they copy each other! (This video is from my phone and I can't figure out how to rotate it)