i THOUGHT it was awfully quiet down there...

Those 5 minutes I was upstairs yesterday morning were very productive for some little people...

I'm expanding...in the blogosphere that is

Ha ha, no - no new family members to announce. (unlike Shananalagins. Hooray Shannon and Brent! We're so happy for you! And TWINS - welcome to the club!!! See the links column for their blog) But I do have a new creative "baby" - an illustration blog. I figure that I've made my family a priority and lots of great things have happened, so now I'm going to make my drawing more of a priority too and see what happens. You can check out my first posted sketch here:

http://wei2draw.blogspot.com/

Check back often to keep me in line! (comments are much appreciated)

Row Row Row Your Sister

Another recent video for you. Video is really my favorite thing right now, even though I love to take pictures - you can't beat seeing them in action to show how darn cute they are.

Sorry - this is pretty dark.



I swear, it didn't take much to teach them that song - one "dance" together in the livingroom and they took it from there. They just love playing together. And clapping. :)

It's a sliding swinging splashing singing summer

Thought I'd post a few recent videos, which is really the only way to understand how ACTIVE our girls are at 15 months. It often feels like they're in constant motion and now that they are starting to "talk", there's a constant hum in the house as well.

Here's a (somewhat long) view of our playroom and some funny antics on the slide. Funny to themselves, most of all - I love how much they crack each other up.



We finally went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum for the first time and they had so much fun! I had to drag them away after almost 2 hours of running, stacking, pushing the lawnmower, watching other kids, and generally keeping Mom on her toes. As I pushed them in the stroller to the car, I realized that they had so much energy they just couldn't keep it bottled up as they sat...



And last but not least, here's a peek into Dani's new favorite word, "Upah." (Sorry Opa, it's not about you yet.)



And of course, to keep things in perspective, here's a video from exactly a year ago - to the day - to compare with Dani's favorite word video - here's June 5, 2006:



Oh, how deluded we are in those early days... how could we have thought that was nearly as exciting as what we have today!

Alex loves to accessorize

Alex loves to put on bracelets and turns toys into necklaces, tiaras, etc. But last week she went even more exotic and gave herself a banana bindi at breakfast.

My girls are so cosmopolitan. Just wait - fruit accessories will be all over the runway this fall...

When the cat is away...

Jack and I have a really nice reciprocal agreement on the weekends. One morning I get to sleep in while he gets up with the kiddos, and the other morning is vice versa. This past Saturday while I slept, he may have looked away for a little too long...

Alex undressed herself for the first time,


And Dani just got herself stuck in an embarassing pose.


You gotta love 'em!

Life is always a little zooey around here

To appease Kamila, this post contains a picture of me with the girls (there aren't too many of these in existence!). We took our first trip to the zoo a few weeks ago. It was a lovely day and the animals were kind enough to let us watch and even pet them occaisionally. The whole family had fun. Until Alex vomitted on the way home. Then a few members of the family spent hours cleaning the car and carseat, and Alex got an early bath. A note to all parents or future parents - the only way to get smelliness out of velcro is with a TOOTHBRUSH. So save those old ones, folks. Everyone is fine now - the girls have had a hacky cold for the last few weeks, but otherwise, there was no permanent scarring. ;)

(It just goes to show you how life has changed when we go to the zoo but I only took 1 or 2 pictures of animals... at least the ones that aren't related to me.)

We Heart Being Outside

The girls are completely addicted to being outside. They get visibly bummed when Plato gets to go out in the morning but they don't.
Alex:


Dani:



Even during that cold snap a few weeks ago, we got bundled up and headed out. They walked around really well in their big bulky coats and seemed to like their mittens (still probably a novelty. Next season is a different story...).




And I love going outside, because they sleep really really well at nap and night time!

School Days, School Days...

The girls had their first week of school (oh, who am I kidding - it's daycare) last week. They are going on Wednesdays and Thursdays, which has made it a bit hard for them to transition. Alex is especially upset when I leave, while Dani does ok after a few minutes. It's been hard to leave with them crying; it breaks my heart! But they have good teachers and cute little ones to play with them, so hopefully they'll get used to it. Next week they are going full time to see if it helps. I'm not going to know what to do with myself with all that freetime. My illustration jobs will get so much attention!

Here's Alex sitting near her friends Abby and Kyle on the first day of school



And here's Dani, looking a little suspicious



Hopefully someday they'll have as much fun at school as they do with their buddies Michael and Logan! We had a recent playdate and the kids were all wrestling with each other and fighting over toys, just like at home. :)

Our Little Cinderellas

What can I say? My kids are clean freaks...



:) They'll definitely be going to the ball tonight.

...hoppin' down the bunny trail...

Happy Easter, everyone!

The Two are One

Yeeha, the girls turned one! (Well, ok, it was weeks ago, but let's celebrate anyway!) I've been meaning to post pics! We had a nice little party with Gramma and Opa from Chicago, Ama and Akung, Aunt Jean, Uncle Aaron, Clay, and Owen. The girls are always so excited to see their cousins! Akung brought photos from when Aunt Jean and Daddy turned one:


Everyone agrees that Dani looks a lot like Aunt Jean at this age (with less hair of course!).
Ama brought over the traditional sticky rice and red colored eggs, and the girls liked the rice a lot. They also enjoyed their first cake.
Dani:



Alex:



Later in the week, they got all dressed up and I took some portraits.



Our little girls aren't babies anymore... snif.

Spotlight on: Dani!

I'm finally making time to tell you all about Dani after weeks of craziness around here, including but not limited to: playdates, mastering walking, eating new table food every day, family-wide stomach flu during a visit to Gramma and Opa in Chicago, multiple birthday parties (On March 12, Dani and Alex turned ONE YEAR OLD! Yikes! Where did the time go??!?), and Aunt Chrissa visiting from Philly (who got to enjoy the stomach flu as well. Sorry C!) In the time in which I've been thinking about this post, Dani has actually changed quite a bit, so maybe my inability to multitask has actually helped keep this blog accurate. (Or maybe I'm just a lame-o.)

Personality: Dani USED to be our reserved, somewhat serious girl, but now she has found her smile and flashes it at everyone (except the pediatrician). She is quick to learn new things and very observant of the world around her. She loves making "jokes", especially putting her bottle in her mouth then removing her hands and shaking her head, or putting fabric on her head and walking around (sometimes bumping into things when she's covered her eyes), or making one her many silly faces. Here she is making a face that we've enjoyed since she was only 5 months old.

And here she's saying "ta da!" after playing peek-a-boo. She's our pink Mother Teresa.

Dani is very observant to the people and action around her. She always seems to be figuring out how something works; we often say that she's her daddy's girl.

Favorite food: Carbs. She started her addiction off with cheerios and now is far more willing to try something new if it is brown, breaded, or toastish. Which is why we weren't surprised that she loved her birthday cake(s). (Alex had chocolate cake for her candle and Dani had carrot. But they got a small slice of each for their dessert. Both were nearly in the clean plate club.) Here she's puffing out her belly to say to Daddy, "See how silly I am - I have cake on my tummy!"


Quirks: She will ask for more and more green beans to eat, but she is really chewing them and storing them, hamster style, in her cheeks until she spits out a big wad of green bean mush. She can even drink water and not swallow the beans! Besides her current aversion to green foods, she seems more open to eating non-carb foods when all the food on her tray is the same color. She's willing to try mango when we're eating mac 'n cheese, but not with grilled cheese. She's also afraid of the vacuum cleaner (hmmm... maybe I don't bring it out often enough...)

Favorite toy: Just like Alex, she always gets a kick out of playing with her sister. She loves to share, bringing Alex the extra cell phone or putting cheerios on her tray. And ever since Aunt Jean and Uncle Aaron gave us a playhut for the girls' birthday, Alex and Dani have been wrestling, surprising, and giggling with each other in the "house" or the tunnel. Their other fort is the toybox - Dani loves to climb inside and her sister usually follows. Hugs and kisses (sometimes a little roughly delivered, but with good intentions) always abound between those two. And if she's not playing with her sister, she's at least stealing her toy away (and then the tug of war and squeals begin...).






Skills: Dani learned to walk first, and she's now running whenever something (usually someONE, especially her cousins) gets her excited.




She's an excellent bear-hugger and has started giving them out wherever she goes, especially to other kids. Her motorskills are excellent. She is able to stack plastic pegs on top of each other (Gramma claims her 2 year olds can't do that), used a spoon to eat her birthday cake (her own idea) and loves to stir a spoon inside a cup while walking around and around the house (she spent at least an hour today playing that game, and even "fed" Mommy, Aunt Chrissa, and her doll). But I think we'd all agree that her hugging skills are our favorite.

Spotlight on: Alex!

It's really easy to always think about "The Girls" because we pretty much do everything TOGETHER. But the girls have such different personalities! So I'm taking time the next 2 posts to give each girl the showcase she deserves. We'll go alphabetically, to keep me from feeling guilty about who to choose first.

Personality: Our super smiley socialite likes meeting new people and trying new foods (just like her mama) and can be, at times (usually 2am), a drama-queen. She's a roller coaster kid and LOVES to be thrown around, jump, and to 'surf' in her carseat (standing up and rocking). Here she is with her friend Logan and riding the "Daddy Coaster."




Favorite Food: Right now, it's bananas (just like her grampa!) and as you can see, she's very good at feeding herself like a monkey.



Quirks: With eyes like a detail freek (hmmm, who does she take after there...) Alex is able to pick up and eat the smallest bits of whatever she finds on the floor. And she loves to drink her bathwater.




Favorite toy: Her sister. She is constantly giving Dani "hugs" and tackling and tickling her, which Dani seems to put up with lately better than in the past. It's cute and it's hard not to run over and break it up because Dani is usually giggling until a sharp nail or pointy elbow gives her reason to cry. (Dani is actually on top in this pic, which is unusal. But it was too cute to leave out!)




Skills: Alex has been fearless in learning many physical things (rolling over, stairclimbing, jumping in the jumper) but has also excelled at using her hands and feet. She quickly picked up the sippy cup and could drink by herself. She's great at stacking the stacking cups inside one another and putting blocks into the bin. And when she holds your hand to walk, she always tries to kick a toy along as she goes. Our future soccer player! But it's not all moving and shaking around here. Both she and Dani love soft pillows and will fling their faces into them with gusto. Alex especially likes lounging on her back (Like her daddy!).




So that's our younger daughter in a nutshell. Next post: Dani!

See how they run

Despite being sick for 4 days, the girls have made amazing strides (pun somewhat intended) in their walking! And I was excited to be able to catch it on video since they were compelled to show off their new skills to Ama on Tuesday. To put it all in perspective, I've decided to post an old video that hasn't seen the light of day yet to show how far they've come in only 10 months. Here's the first day they ever had "floor time", which was April 5, 2006:



And here's this week's walking extravaganza:



Amazing what a difference 9 months can make!

We're 10 months old!

We've had some beautiful winter days this week - sun and snow bring plenty of smiles around here. And luckily, the photog at Picture People was able to extract a few smiles (albeit, not from both babies at once!) last friday when the girls turned 10 months old (despite the chill at home caused by our out-of-commission furnace... it's fixed now, thank goodness!).

We've had plenty of fun since my last post - Alex has figured out how to stand up without holding onto anything, and we've had playdates with our twin friends, the Jents, and visits with Ama and Akung. But one of my favorite things to do is go to the grocery store and let the girls ride in the cart. They love it! Especially when it's a neato keen race car cart. (insert joke here about the OTHER Danica...)

Today I made a quick card for the Milligans, who welcomed Anna Margaret into the world recently, and in doing so, I realized that I had made my first real drawing of the girls. Nothing big, but it made me feel so... normal! I'm sure there will be many more. They'll find their way into all my work, I suspect. Right now they just like to teethe on them, but soon they'll star in many books, if life goes as planned. :)

See if you can figure out which doodle is which girl.
Stay warm, all you friends out there!

Walking is the new crawling...

...and crackers are the new Cheerios! (The girls will consume them like fish food - they'll eat as many as you give them until they explode.) Our big news of the week: Dani has successfully taken her first 2-3 steps, as of Saturday January 6. But we have yet to catch it fully on video. However, this video will show you how well she stands up and how excited we are about her accomplishments:


You can also see what happens after a few days of "working hard" on a new skill by watching THIS video, taken this evening at 7:30pm (you'll need to turn up your sound):



G'nite!

Illustrator's Workshop: Night Babies

A lot of people have been asking how I created the Christmas card image, so I made a little animated gif that should clear it all up. 

You can type in this address to see my photoshop prowess as an animated gif:

http://www.alyssawei.com/docs/blogstuff/xmas_pic_01.gif

(ha ha... everything I know, I learned from Dan Z. From whom, by the way, I stole the concept of an Illustrator's Workshop. Thanks!) The mystery of the night babies has now been... REVEALED!