milestones

Izzie came home today and showed us what she did in school... she wrote her name for the first time!! It was so cool -- of course that piece of paper goes in the save folder.  Unfortunately Soni is down with croup, and Max has some erupting teeth.  On a positive note -- the twins language skills are really picking up.  Now we have -- Mama, Papa, Daddy, cookie (the one that is the most clear -- figures), car, out, poop, pew, Izzie, woof, ball, agua, up, down, more, .... I am sure I am forgetting some, but I think they are doing pretty well.  Also, we are convinced they are counting in their own language because they will stack objects and say oooo, toooo, teeee, .....

Making Cleaners

I decided that we were going to replace all our cleaners with homemade ones -- Adam gave me the raised eyebrow about this -- so I took that as the green light :) While I finished up Max went for a nap and Izzie decided to read to Sonya.

First Family Finger Painting

We decided to introduce fingerprinting to Max and Sonya today since Izzie was going to be working on a stamping project for her class valentine cards.  It was a mess -- but so much fun.  Interestingly I think we may have found something Sonya enjoys.  Max and Izzie like nothing better than running at the part -- Soni, not so much -- but she really got into this project.

 Soni kinda looks like the crow here

Izzie's stamping project

Izzie has been painting for a while, and came up with this cool circle of handprints.

Superbowl 2012

We had our dear friends -- Nikhil, Aditya and Abhishek over for the Super Bowl again this year (unfortunately Kalpana was in Minnesota this weekend) and it was so much fun.  The kids loved spending time with "the Uncles".  We have great video of Max busting a move to the Madonna half time show.

This picture cracks me up! Everyone had a kid -- Adam and I were going to leave and go to dinner :)

BBQ

We took the kids to the mall to play on the jungle gym -- after we built up a huge appetite we went for BBQ.  Here are the kids trying ribs for the first time -- Max LOVED them.

Soni was cracking people up in the stroller

The boys and their ribs :)

Swim Class Update

We are so proud of Ms Izzie -- she went up to beginners swim with Coach Erin.  She was nervous to go to a class by herself, but did so well.  By the end of class she was swimming with her head underwater and yelling "I did it! I did it!" It allowed me to get out of the pool and take these photos.  Izzie isn't in these cause she was on the other side of the pool in her class -- but we got great video of her first swim across the pool!

One of the first things the kids are taught is what to do if they fall into a pool.  Here are Max and Sonya learning this important skill.  

more funny funny

I walked by the washing machine this morning and heard a bell ringing..... hmmmm. I stopped the load to find that the kids had put their Indian steel bell cups in with the clothes.  I guess we need to explain the difference between dishwasher and washing machine :)

Izzie got her first splinter this morning... 'Mama, the table hurt me!' She was so brave and didn't even cry when I pulled it out.

Duchess

Adam woke up this morning determined to take a family trip to the zoo -- the previous trips had taken place while he was at work.... so he woke up early, made Nutella crepes (yummy), and off we went.  It was so much fun.  Izzie and I rode a camel (Max and Soni were too young, but you can hear Max yelling on the video because he wanted in on the action), and we had an amazing encounter at the orangutan exhibit.  Her name is Duchess, and she is the oldest living orangutan in the US (51 yo).  Her keeper said she has had many babies and loves human children.  The photos are amazing!

 Izzie and I on the camel

 Adam and Izzie being silly :)