Consternation

Joey came home from Orange County with a 2-foot tall plush Superman doll. To say that he was delighted would be a gross understatement. Superman flew home securely buckled into Joey's airplane seat, was dragged through the airport by his cape, and generally entertained a lot of fellow travellers.

Buyt it wasn't until we got home that Joey really inspected his new friend.

"Mommy, Superman has red boots!"

"Mommy, Superman has blue pants!"

"Mommy, Superman has a blue shirt!"

"Mommy, Superman has a yellow belt!"

"Mommy, Superman has ... WAIT A MINUTE!!! SUPERMAN'S UNDERWEAR IS ON TOP OF HIS PANTS!!!!"

Easter, SoCal Style

Obviously, both Joey and Clara need to work on their tan and their physique for their next visit to Orange County. Luckily, their grandparents don't seem to mind, and even embrace the chub!

We flew down on Wednesday morning, and stayed through Monday morning for a southern California Easter, thoroughly enjoying the sun, the extra helpers, the toybox stocked with all of our 1970s-era Fisher Price toys, and the backyard equipped with the number-one toddler magnet - a fountain!

Clara and our little house -- I won't admit how long past toddlerhood we played with this.

She also had fun with our vintage doctor's kit!

We even squeezed in a trip to Disneyland on Thursday night -- Joey showed his appreciation for Hop by petting his head and proclaiming loudly that all of his hair went away.

We managed a trip on the carousel, a ride on Pinocchio, and a Small World tour, and then watched the fireworks display over Fantasyland before giving in to toddler exhaustion.

Best of all, we got to take part in the Easter fun at my parents' country club after Mass on Sunday. Joey and Clara wanted nothing to do with the Easter Bunny (of all things, this is what makes Clara's lower lip wobble!!!), but had a blast collecting eggs during the Easter egg hunt.

A special shout-out to Uncle Kyle, who not only acts like a dad while out in public, but even puts up with people assuming he's my husband! Joey spent a lot of time pretending he was Kyle's super hero sidekick:

Thanks for spoiling us rotten, Hop and Mop!

Faux Easter

Thanks to a raging fever, Joey and I missed out on celebrating Faux Easter with the Cecchins, the weekend before the real deal, at Sarah and Jeff's, but Clara and Tim got to enjoy homemade waffles and a toddler Easter egg hunt! Here's Clara and her bookends... Tommy and Marco. I wish I had had the chance to see this little trio in action!

Pink is the New Black

A few days ago, I asked Tim if he had an opinion about Joey wearing pink on Easter. To match Clara, of course. Namely, I had in mind either a pink polo shirt or a pink-and-white striped button-down -- both current offerings at Baby Gap. I wasn't even halfway through describing these two options when Tim gave me a look, and said, "Just don't get crazy," in much the same tone that my mom uses on holidays, when, before setting down a bowl of M&Ms on the coffee table, she gives my dad a look, and says, "Don't make yourself sick."


We all have our vices.

Jinx

Okay, that was bizarre.

Bunkmates, past and present

Shawna's sweet pictures of Annie and Tessa nose to nose on her blog inspired me to go in search of a photo of us at the same age, snuggling in the same way.



Note Shawna's hulking presence on the right, and my scrawny, emaciated self on the left. There was obviously some neonatal hoarding going on! Annie and Tessa were much more civilized in utero:



I can't believe they're already three weeks old (tomorrow)! It will be so neat to watch their twinship develop over time. I hope they remain as close as they are today, turn to their built-in best friend throughout their lives, and savor their membership in the fantastic, privileged world of twinship.

To that end, Shawna and I are officially amending our long-held, somewhat snooty belief that fraternal twins are not the real deal. (But if DNA tests confirm that Annie and Tessa are indeed identical, we reserve the right to strike that last sentence.)

Needy naked people

We cleaned out our closet and bulging dresser drawers this week, and bagged up a ton of clothes for the Salvation Army (a de-cluttering project that was Tim's idea... I ran with it!), and Joey noticed the bags on the workbench in the garage. He asked Tim what was in the bags and who they were for. Golden opportunity for a classic teaching moment? It turns out, no. I think Tim consulted zero parenting books before glibly answering, "They're clothes. Clothes for naked people."

Would a lesson about needy people really have sunk in at three years old? Who knows... but nakedness is a concept he can really sink his teeth into. We'll probably be hearing about naked people for quite some time.

Boy Genius

Warning: obnoxious parental bragging ahead!

Yesterday, we met Shawna and ALL the girls at Julius Kahn playground for a few hours in the sun, and while the highlight of the day was definitely seeing Annie and Tessa on their first park trek (they did great, and caused quite a scene!), Joey also had a big moment:

He found a piece of sidewalk chalk, and wrote his own name!!

First, he wanted to write Clara's name, and actually drew a "C" before deciding he couldn't do any more, so I suggested he write his own name... and he did, with no help or visual aids at all! Yes, the "J" was pointed in the wrong direction, the "E" had 4 "prongs" instead of 3, and the points on the "Y" weren't exactly connected... but that just made it all the more charming and adorable, at least for this mommy ;)

Luckily, I didn't have my camera, or else this post would have been doubly obnoxious!! ;)

New Favorite Photo

Our everyday lens broke on my camera a few weeks ago, and we've had to use our portrait lens for picture-taking ever since... allowing me to capture this shot of Clara over the weekend. A new favorite!

Tooth Watch 2009

I think we may be the opposite of helicopter parents, and leave the door a little too wide open for injuries sometimes. As a result, Joey may be losing baby teeth very, very prematurely, after a high-energy bouncefest in Clara's crib with Gitte on Wednesday night.

We heard screaming, ran in, and found Joey clutching his mouth... apparently on a downward bounce, he and his teeth collided with the rail of Clara's crib, leaving this momento for posterity:



Although there wasn't any blood, and the teeth (the two just to the right of his upper front teeth) aren't loose, we still had to place a sheepish call to the dentist on Thursday morning when he refused to chew on that side of his mouth (and whimpered in pain!). Apparently, we'll know within 2 weeks whether the teeth died due to the impact -- they'll start to turn grey and could fall out.

Here's hoping that the Tooth Fairy doesn't make her first visit for several more years... we'd like to keep this smile intact!!

Little Entertainer

Clara, at 18 months, has officially entered Tim's favorite phase. Her personality is starting to emerge, and her throaty, husky laughs, mischievous looks, and independent nature are keeping us entertained! But she's still eager to please, cooperative, sweet, and a champion sleeper, so we think we have the best of both worlds with our little girl!

For those keeping track of stats, here are the goods from her doctor's appointment last week:

Height: 31.5" (50th percentile - we find this number highly suspicious, though, since she still seems really petite!)

Weight: 23 pounds (25th percentile, up from 10th percentile! she's starting to visibly chunk up again!)

Head circumference: 47 cm (65th percentile)

We still debate every day what color her eyes are - they change from grey blue to green all the time - but they always get compliments! Her hair is slowly becoming more blonde than strawberry, but you'll have to trust us on that, since in photos she's always a redhead! She still takes two naps a day, goes down without a fuss and sleeps through the night almost without fail. And finally, she's our resident garbage disposal, and is giving Joey a run for his money at mealtime.

Happy Half-Birthday, Clara Jane!

Thank You

Tim and I were so thankful for all our friends and family last week, after learning that we lost our baby at our 20-week ultrasound. While we hope that no one else has to experience a loss like this, it demonstrated just how fortunate we are to have such a rich circle of support. Gorgeous floral deliveries, meals delivered to our doorstep, and outpourings of sympathy in our mailbox and inboxes were much appreciated and made us truly feel your love and prayers. Most of all, we're immensely grateful for the fact that we have two little ones to distract and comfort us right now... stay tuned for more of their adventures!

Kid-Free Cancun and Our Amazing Race Try-Out

After our trip to Puerto Vallarta last year resulted in a severe case of Montezuma's Revenge for me, we swore we wouldn't be returning to Mexico any time soon. But then Mark and Christine decided to get married in Cancun, and we decided we couldn't miss it -- especially once Mop and Hop volunteered to babysit for us for 6 heavenly kid-free days!!

We had such a great time celebrating with all the family and friends who flew to Cancun to be with Mark and Christine, and especially loved staying on the island where the wedding took place -- Isla Mujeras. I lugged along our huge camera, but took way too few pictures -- probably because I had my nose in my Kindle the whole time! :)

This was our view from the villa on the island:

Here's all the groomsmen and Tim, before the wedding started:

Mark and Christine were (I think) the first American couple to get married in the island's Catholic church, and the local kids were fascinated with the whole production. They crowded into the doorway of the church to see the bride enter, and the little girls kept sneaking up to the front of the church to peek at the row of bridesmaids. They were adorable!

The day after the wedding, everyone relaxed poolside at the villa where the bridal party stayed... it's hard to tell where the pool ends, and the ocean begins!

Despite all the fun, I had very good reasons for not wanting to stay in Mexico -- including two babies at home and a stomach that is not at all receptive to Mexican water -- but I almost didn't make it out of the country. The morning of our flight, I cleaned out my purse, and threw out the Mexican tourist card that I was given upon entering, in Mexico City. I didn't realize (and definitely wasn't told!) that I needed to hang on to it and present it in order to leave the country again. We had a two-hour layover in Mexico City, and we needed every minute of it to race around the huge airport and fulfill the requirements of an insane Mexican treasure hunt. We had to visit at least seven different officials, fill out a Mexican police report, negotiate with a Mexicana airline supervisor, and finally get an official stamp from an immigration officer, before getting to board the plane to San Francisco! According to Tim, I'm not really the best candidate for Amazing Race. I say that it's not really fair to judge someone who's five months pregnant and wearing flip-flops ;)

These Days Are Numbered

With Shawna now almost full-term with her twins (36 weeks this weekend!), I convinced Tim to snap a picture of us as we were heading out without babies last night to celebrate Lori's birthday. We've taken far too few of these belly-to-belly photos during three shared pregnancies!

(I'm 18 weeks in this photo, or about 4.5 months for those who don't speak pregnancy lingo :)

The Verdict

We'd like to thank our faithful blog followers for not only weighing in on the great facial hair debate (20-14 for the beard), but also waiting patiently for a verdict. After a scratchy, scruffy few weeks, Tim made the impromptu decision this morning to shave off the beard! We're leaving for Cancun in 2 days, and not only did he not want any extra body hair in a humid climate, he didn't want to be mistaken for any swarthy drug lords!