Little Lamb, Little Lamb

The girls 1st Halloween costume.

Mr. Monkey plays in the parade

Andre's bagpipe band led Hyde Park's neighborhood parade this past Sunday. Neighbors, parents, kids and pets all dressed up and walked around the neighborhood. The parade ended at the local fire station where more music was played and food was served. My two favorite little kid costumes: One little boy dressed as "Joe the Plumber," and a little girl dressed as a penguin with a sign that read, "Penguins Against Palin." haha So cute.

Kristi and Rowan watching the parade --->

Rowan Paints!

This morning while giving Evey a bath I let Rowan finger paint on her highchair tray. She had so much fun and the "paint" was just a bit of vanilla yogurt with a few drops of food coloring. I kept the colors separate because I thought she may enjoy seeing them change. Mixed together it became green, but I actually began with yellow, blue, and red. I didn't have to worry about her putting it in her mouth, she was easy to clean, and Joey licked up anything that fell on the floor.

The Great Pumpkin Patch

We took the girls to pick out their first Halloween pumpkin. A local church has a huge pumpkin patch and the proceeds go to help various charities. We've been a few years in a row, but this time we got to bring our own little pumpkins. They were so cute sitting in the patch. Most of the pumpkins were bigger than they are. They were particularly fond of the hay as you can see Rowan is trying to put some in her mouth.

We ran into three other families of twins there. Having twins is so great. Its like you're instantly a part of a club. And of course, almost every family is a member of the local Mother's of Multiples club. We also saw a firefighter friend and his wife and baby.

I love this time of year. The weather is perfect, cool--but not too cold. The girls wore their little blue jeans which made them look more like little kids than little babies. They are so active now. Wanting to squirm and move and touch everything. Of course, everything they touch they also want to taste.

They are such a great age. They laugh so much at such random things. Rowan has been sticking her tongue out and pbthtt-ing (I guess that's the word for it, when you stick your tongue out and make a toot noise). Its so funny. I was sitting in the back with her on our way home and she would do that and then I would look at her and she'd laugh. I'd look over at Evey away from her and Rowan would do it again. She's been doing it all the time. She even did it while dad was feeding her sweet potatoes and little bits of orange mush went everywhere.

Evey is becoming more and more independent. She always wants to hold her own bottle and she's starting to act like she wants to hold her own spoon too. She has excellent fine motor skills. Her crib is still in our room and on the crib has a little musical aquarium that lights up. She's figured out how to turn it on and several times has managed to do so in the middle of the night.

Joeys answer to breed specific legislation

Micken after a bath

This is Micken (Evelyn) after a bath tonight. She loves to grab her toes and can even pull them up to her mouth. My sister got a hilarious picture of her with her toe in her mouth the other day.

I love how she is beginning to fill out. She's eating some solid food now and is catching up to Rowan. At their doctor's visit last Thursday, Evey weighed 14lbs 1 oz, and Rowan weighed 15lbs 9 oz. Rowan is 26 1/2 inches long and is in the 75% for her age. Evey is 25 1/4 inches long and is in the 50% for her age. Both girls had their DTAP and Rotovirus vaccines, as well as their flu shots. Rowan didn't cry at all.

Both girls are healthy and are doing well. I can't believe they are 6 months old already. They are really happy babies. They laugh all the time and are very silly. They will laugh at everything. Evey looks so serious when she's not smiling so people always comment that she must be the serious one. But really she laughs so much at such random things that she can't possibly be "the serious one." Both girls are especially fond of dogs. Rowan gets so excited to pet the dog that she can hardly stand it. She'll squeal and grab at the air while her whole body jumps.

Both girls are trying to crawl. Rowan can push herself backwards, but she can't go forward yet. Evey is very good at moving in a circle. She has a lot of fine motor skills. She can hold her own bottle very well and she can pick up small objects. The girls like to pick up their pacifiers and they also like to steal each others. I've also seen them both pull each others' hair if they get a chance. But mostly they seem to enjoy being close. They will hold hands off and on while they eat in their high chairs and they play together a lot. Its very cute.

I play a lot of games with the girls. We've been working on "contrasts." So I'll hold the baby up to the mirror really close and say, "near" then move back a bit and say "far"--in a kind of a Grover Sesame Street kind of way. They love it and laugh like crazy. I do this over and over in English and Spanish. And the same thing with up and down. The girls like watching themselves in the mirror. We're also learning about "off" and "on" with the light switches. Lately I've been going over parts of the face. With the baby clutching my finger, I'll touch my nose with their fist and say, "nose", then mouth, eyes, ears, etc. They always laugh at my ears. I don't know if they're trying to tell me something...

Everything is a game around here. And we sing lots of songs and read books. My girls, of course, must know all of the Texas songs, old cowboy songs, and summer camp songs. Andre loves to play the chanter for them. They love it too and will listen to him very calmly. The only time I've ever heard Evelyn protest is when he plays "Rowan Tree" (which is the song Rowan was named after). Here's a picture of Rowan with her dad after her bath tonight.

We're having so much fun with the girls. They are such wonderful little people.

Tim and Lisa's wedding

This past weekend was Tim and Lisa's wedding. It was really beautiful, Lisa was gorgeous, Tim was dashing, and the weather was perfect. They are a really great couple. We're so thrilled for them and I'm certain they will have a very happy life together.

The girls were pretty good too if I do say so myself. "Yes, our babies are always this perfect." Whispering to Rowan on the side, "Keep up the good work and we'll buy you a pony."

There was a huge bouquet of roses that the girls were both very interested in. Evey was subsequently compelled to grab and crumble several petals (that I then had to hide because you know, people don't like it when parents let their babies get close enough to destroy expensive flower arrangements--in my defense she was learning about roses).

Even here she wouldn't look at the camera, but kept wanting to look at the flowers.

Money Woes

Ira Glass
So the whole world is feeling the financial pinch--yes, I know pinch is not right word for it. "Crisis" is more like it. While I have, for the most part, kept this blog about the girls and our little family, I would like to post this bit from "This American Life," by Ira Glass at Chicago Public Radio. The podcast is free and its a very well done, understandable, even entertaining, explanation of what happened.

There are two podcasts--the first is from May of this year called, "The Big Pool of Money." It really explains the subprime mortgage disaster. Click Here

The second podcast is a follow up just released, called, "Another Frightening Show About the Economy." And it explains the bailout and the current problems. Click Here

Feliz Cumpleanos Tia Ivette!

So the girls were more than four handfulls all day long, but they finally settled down enough that Mrs. Mono and I were able to work on this little bit of birthday fun for my Favorite Sister!

Lots of love Ivette!

La Familia de Monos