Adelaida's favorite toys

A few months ago, Adelaida and I were talking about her favorite things, and had this conversation:
me: "What is your favorite color?"
Adelaida: "My favorite color is purple."
me: "What is your favorite food?"
Adelaida: "My favorite food is yogurt and granola."
me: "What is your favorite toy?"
Adelaida: "My favorite toys are Cordelia and Estella!"

I started to correct her, to tell her that her sisters aren't toys, then thought about it a little more and realized that her sisters really are her favorite toys, because she LOVES to play with them! Here is a picture of Estella, Adelaida, and Cordelia in February. The babies were on the floor doing tummy time and Adelaida insisted on joining them. She thought it was so funny!


The best way to wake Adelaida up in the mornings is to bring one of the babies into her room. She always sits right up in bed and asks "Can I hold her?" Here is a picture of Adelaida holding Cordelia, taken in May.


Fortunately for us, Cordelia and Estella have been man-handled by Adelaida all their lives, so they really don't resist much. Here is a picture of Adelaida holding Cordelia in January -- Cordelia is so content being held!


Adelaida is so sweet when she holds her sisters. She especially likes to put her cheek on the girls' heads. In this picture, she is holding Estella in December.


Adelaida takes every opportunity she can to hold her sisters. Here, Estella was sitting down in the swimming pool. Adelaida sat behind her and carefully pulled Estella close to her so that she could hold her!

Independence Day in the Mountains

For months, we had been looking forward to a family vacation in Yellowstone the first week in July. We had it all planned out: we'd drive up to Denver, fly from Denver to Jackson Hole, rent a van and drive from Jackson Hole to Yellowstone. We'd stay in Yellowstone for six days with my parents, then drive back to Jackson Hole and fly back to Denver. In Denver, we'd spend some time with Dale's family before driving back to Albuquerque. All in all, it was to be a ten day trip.

Our plans changed a few days before we were scheduled to leave, when Dale learned that he needed to travel for work near the end of our trip and needed to be back in Albuquerque by July 5th to prepare for his work travel. We considered trying to cut the Yellowstone vacation short, or have Dale return to Albuquerque on July 5th and the kids and I would follow our original vacation plans, but in the end we decided to curtail the trip significantly: we drove up to Colorado, spent three days in a condo in the mountains with some friends, spent one day with Dale's family in Loveland, and then drove back to Albuquerque. It was a shorter trip than we had planned, but we did have fun!

We had access to a local pool in Fraser and took the kids swimming one day. Fortunately we had three adults, because each of the kids required pretty constant adult supervision! (Dale is holding Estella, Charlotte is holding Cordelia, and Adelaida is sitting on the edge of the pool.)


We spent a lot of time with Dave and Brooke and their four wonderful kids, and Adelaida loved having big kids to play with! Here, Adelaida, Alexa, Anna, and Elise eat lunch together.


Estella (left) and Cordelia (right) soon found the end table and spent three days crawling onto the lowest shelf of the end table, sitting on it, and then crawling through to the other side. Hours of entertainment, literally!


My favorite memory of the trip happened on the deck one evening after dinner. Charlotte, Dale, and I were sitting on the deck, enjoying the view, and Adelaida was in and out of the house playing pretend tea party. She would come out onto the deck, tell us that our "breakfast will be ready in just a minute," disappear into the house to prepare food for us, then come back out and give us pretend food to eat -- not toy food, but imaginary food. She was bringing us some pretty interesting food combinations, like "macaroni with strawberries" and "bacon pancakes." I remember her asking Dale what he wanted to drink and he replied that he'd like some juice. She said, "you want juice? OK. I'll bring you some pickle juice." And one very memorable time, she stuck her head out the door and asked loudly "Can I get anyone some beer?" Dale replied with an enthusiastic yes, but was disappointed that Adelaida's beer was just as imaginary as the rest of her food!

"Personal space? My sister doesn't have personal space!"

Estella started army crawling in January and Cordelia joined her in March. By April, both girls were able to army-crawl anywhere, regardless of obstacles in their path. The girls would crawl over toys, shoes, Dale's legs, and even over each other! It was obvious that they had no respect at all for another person's personal space.

The interesting butterfly toy was on the other side of Cordelia, so of course Estella had to crawl over her to get it! Fortunately, Cordelia didn't mind this time. (April 2012)


Adelaida thought this was quite funny and would often lay down on the floor in front of Estella so that Estella would crawl over her. Hearing the two of them laugh together was so precious! (April 2012)


Estella wasn't the only one to crawl over someone else. Here, Cordelia uses Estella to push herself up. (May 2012)


Cordelia was sitting in the little pink chair when Estella decided she'd like to sit in it too. Rather than waiting her turn, she just crawled right up and sat down in Cordelia's lap -- and she looks rather proud of herself! (July 2012)


This behavior hasn't stopped. Last week, I peaked into the infant room at the girls' school. I saw Estella sitting down on the carpet and Cordelia crawling toward her. Cordelia crawled right up to Estella and sat down in her lap! Amazingly, Estella didn't mind.

Happy First Birthday Estella and Cordelia!

One year ago today, we welcomed two very beautiful little girls into our lives. Happy birthday Estella and Cordelia! As I look at my little girls today, I reflect back on the past year. On the one hand, it seems to have flown by. But on the other hand, I see them today and think about how much they have changed and how quickly they are growing up. I love you, my little girls!

This is one of the first pictures of Estella (on the left) and Cordelia (on the right), when they were one day old. Estella weighed 7 lb, 3 oz and Cordelia weighed 6 lb, 13 oz when they were born. They were good-sized babies, but small enough to fit in a single bassinet together!

These are pictures we had taken of the girls when they were just a few days old. Cordelia is on the left and Estella is on the right. They were so cuddly at this age, and so peaceful when they slept!

By one month old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were just becoming active: playing with toys, batting at toys dangling above them, and beginning to hold their heads up. Estella loved to watch us and look around with her great big blue eyes. Cordelia was cuddly and would fall asleep in my arms, with her precious little head on my chest.

When Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were two months old, we were settling into a nice routine with them. I had spent most of the past two months sitting down on the couch nursing the babies -- I would nurse one while Dale held/changed/comforted the other, and just about the time the first baby stopped nursing, the second was hungry and we'd switch! It was hard nursing two infants, but by two months, they were becoming more efficient at nursing and I was able to spend more time playing with them and less time nursing.

By three months old, Cordelia (on the left) was a very happy baby. She went to bed easily and slept a lot, at least during the day. She slept a lot at night too, but continued to wake up several times a night to nurse. Estella (on the right) was sleeping through the night pretty consistently at three months, but getting her to sleep was difficult! I'm not sure if she was over-tired at night or not sleepy, but it took us an hour to get her to sleep every night. Fortunately, she goes to bed much easier now!

Both Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) learned wonderful new skills by four months, and practiced them all the time. Estella had mastered rolling over, front to back and back to front, and rolled around so much! Cordelia had rolled a few times by four months but it took a lot of effort and she didn't do it very often. She had, however, discovered her voice! She babbled, cooed, and shrieked all the time. It was wonderful to hear her practice making different sounds.

Five-month-old babies are no longer particularly fragile or delicate, and actually spend time awake and not nursing. At this age, Adelaida discovered that her sisters were fun to play with and she wanted to play with them all the time! Fortunately, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) loved to watch Adelaida play and didn't mind Adelaida touching, hugging, and playing with them. Adelaida loved to give the girls toys and to put blankets on them. She took such good care of her little sisters!

By six months old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were going to school four days a week -- when they weren't sick. With an older sister in school and attending daycare themselves, I mostly remember their sixth month as a month of runny noses. I'm so glad we are over that period of their lives!

Seven-month-old Cordelia (on the left) was loud. She had a loud cry, loud babbling, and a loud and beautiful laugh. She was very easily amused and laughed at everything. Estella (on the right) learned to army-crawl not long after she turned six months old and by seven months, she was able to crawl around on her belly pretty well.

When she was eight months old, Cordelia (on the left) decided that she liked to be in the same room as me and really, really didn't like it when I left the room! She was fascinated by Adelaida and would watch Adelaida so intently. Estella (on the right) was definitely more independent and more interested in objects than people: when left alone in a room, she would find an object that she wanted, crawl to it, and chew on it happily until she was ready to move on to her next toy.

By nine months old, Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were eating lots of solids and both loved meals. Estella would investigate her food -- pick it up, look at it, smash it between her fingers, see what it felt like in her hair, and sometimes even taste it. Food was definitely a toy for Estella rather than a source of nourishment! Cordelia was much more deliberate with her food. When something was placed on her tray, she would either pick it up and put it neatly in her mouth to eat it, or decide that it didn't belong on her tray and pick it up and drop it on the floor. We're still trying to teach Cordelia that food belongs either on her tray or in her mouth, not on the floor!

Both Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) were crawling by ten months, and they had no sense of personal space. They would crawl all over Adelaida, all over Dale or me, and all over each other. It was pretty precious to watch!

Eleven-month-old Cordelia (on the left) and Estella (on the right) loved to climb on everything. They had the most beautiful giggles and would start laughing so hard whenever Adelaida would chase them or tickle them.

Today, we celebrated Cordelia's (on the left) and Estella's (on the right) first birthday. It's hard to believe we have had a whole year with our two beautiful little girls! Both girls are cruising around furniture and getting ready to walk. They love to be chased by Adelaida and they have the most wonderful giggles. They have also become very interested in whatever toy the other twin has, so we've had some screams and some tears when one girl tries to take a toy away from the other girl -- but I'm sure we'll move past that soon!

Happy birthday Cordelia and Estella!

Our little movie star

Last December, I received an email looking for twin girls, born in July 2011, to play a regular character on a TV show (In Plain Sight) that is filmed locally. I went to the audition, knowing very well that they were probably looking for two babies who, if not identical, at least looked somewhat alike. Cordelia and Estella look so very different from one another that it would be quite a stretch to have them both play the same baby.

Cordelia (wearing pink) has thicker dark brown hair, darker complexion, brown eyes, a round face, and a larger mouth. Estella (wearing purple) has thinner blond hair, a lighter complexion, bright blue eyes, a longer face, and a small mouth. In a room full of a dozen babies, it would be hard to identify them as sisters, let alone twins.


But, I went anyway. The director spent twenty seconds looking at them, declared them adorable, and moved on. We left, and I thought that was the end of it.

Two months later, someone from the In Plain Sight casting group called me and asked if Estella was available to play a character in the show. It would be a one-episode commitment, two half-days of filming, and she would be paid for the job. I had just defended my PhD the day before, so had a little more free time, so I said yes.

The first half-day of filming was a mess. We arrived at the studio, waited around for a while, filled out some paperwork, then went to "wardrobe" where Estella tried on two outfits and had three more held up to her before the wardrobe person decided on what she should wear. We were then sent to the "nursery." There, we sat around and talked with the mother and grandmother of the twins who play the regular baby on the show, a six-year-old who was going to be in the same scene as Estella, the six-year-old's mother, and two tutors for the kids. Yes, a six-year-old and three five-month-old babies required two tutors while on set. The worst part of that is that we were there only for the afternoon (1:00 to 5:00) and the six-year-old had already had a full day of school that day so didn't have to do any lessons. I thought it would be pretty nice to be a tutor for a TV series!

Because Estella was five months old, she was allowed (by New Mexico law) to be at the studio for up to four hours a day, and on set only two hours. The paperwork and wardrobe took an hour, and we spent the next two hours in the nursery waiting. I was beginning to think that they were just going to send us home, but eventually we were called together and told that we were going to go to a house in Albuquerque to take a single still photo. They started loading us up in the van, and I suggested that I would follow the van since it would be easier to take Estella in my own car. Fifteen minutes and two calls to legal later, they decided that it would be a liability issue to have Estella ride in my car -- she needed to be transported to the set in a company vehicle. Her car seat wouldn't fit in the fifteen-passenger van they had (the car seat was too long), so they decided that Estella and I could ride in a company SUV that would follow the van. I installed her car seat in the SUV, then waited another ten minutes while they looked for a union driver, only to discover that there were no union drivers available. So we were stuck, until someone came out with an old infant car seat. It was a car seat used on the set and they wouldn't be needing it that afternoon, and it fit in the van (barely). Unfortunately, it was set up for a baby who was much larger than Estella, but we got it adjusted, installed it in the van, and we drove away.

The house we went to was an older home in Albuquerque. Estella, the six-year-old girl, and two young adults were going to be in the photo -- it was supposed to be a family photo from thirty years ago. They got everyone set up and took the picture outside the house -- on a very cold, very windy afternoon in Albuquerque. The mother in the photo held Estella, and she screamed the entire time the photo was being taken. Fortunately, we were only at the house for about fifteen minutes, then back to the studio and we were able to go home.

The second day of filming was rescheduled twice, and always at the last minute. I'd get a call around 6:00 the evening before we were scheduled to film, delaying until a future date. Eventually the filming day came (and didn't get canceled) and we drove directly to an off-studio location. Trailers were set up all over the place, and we had a nice little trailer room to ourselves. Estella played, I read a book, and soon we were called to go to the same house we had taken the picture at earlier. A van was available to take crew to the house, but of course there was no car seat. This time, they didn't even try to put Estella's car seat in the van, or to find another car seat; they just asked me to follow the van to the house.

It was much warmer this day, and Estella filmed two scenes: one outside and one inside. In the outside scene, Estella is in a pack-n-play in the front yard and her older sister is dangling some keys in front of her. The dad comes out of the house and has a conversation with the older sister while Estella just rolls around in the pack-n-play. It took about an hour to film that scene, for what ended up to be about thirty seconds on the screen (and a five-second shot of Estella). At one point, the older sister and dad were doing the scene with close-ups, and I was holding Estella out in the street. She was standing up holding on to my hands, let go, and fell face-first into the street. She started crying, I picked her up and ran her back to my car, and I heard the director yelling "cut! cut! that was perfect, but we have to do it again!" I felt awful, and within two minutes someone came up to me and asked me to take Estella back to the trailers to wait.

So we waited in the trailers for a while, then returned to the set to film the inside scene. Estella was in a cradle in the living room, with her older sister leaning over the cradle and talking to her. Her parents were fighting in the background. This scene was only filmed a few times, for about twenty minutes. Finally, they retook the picture they had taken the previous day (with Estella smiling this time), and we were done.

Two months later, Estella's episode was on the air and we watched the show for the first time, marveling at the eight hours we spent on the set (and two hours spent filming) for two scenes: one was about five seconds long, and the other was so brief that we couldn't even tell it was Estella!

Water babies!

This summer has been Cordelia and Estella's first "active" summer -- last year they were immobile, spent almost all of their time sleeping or nursing, and were really too little to do anything exciting. This year is so very different.

One of the activities Cordelia and Estella have absolutely loved is swimming. They have "water play" days once a week at school -- the teachers put the babies' swimsuits on and let them play in a small pool with water. According to the teachers, Cordelia and Estella are natural fish in the water and love to swim. We've put them in a kiddie pool a couple of times this summer and agree -- they love the water!

Their first swimming experience was at a playgroup, with three wading pools and approximately a dozen three-year-olds. I waited until the "big" kids were mostly done with the water, then put Estella and Cordelia in the water -- which immediately drew all the big kids back to the water so they could play with the babies! (Seriously, I put the babies in an empty pool and before I could take the first picture, five big kids joined them!)


Cordelia and Estella are so excited to be in the water!


So much fun!


Happy Cordelia!


I'm not sure if Estella got splashed or slipped and went underwater a little, but the water in her face didn't bother her a bit.


Gracie came over to play with Cordelia


As always, Adelaida wanted to hold her sisters. While in the pool, she tried to pull Estella onto her lap.


The older kids had a great time too. Here's a picture of Adelaida and Shreya playing "kittens" in the water. Yes, they are using their tongues to drink the water!


They all enjoyed the pool so much! I'm excited that our little girls are loving the water.