Hummus Party!!!!!!

This might just be one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And just know that I didn't even REALLY capture the true cuteness of the whole situation because it had already happened and then I had to go get the Flip and have them re enact the whole thing.

But...I was standing in the kitchen about to make dinner when Mason comes up to the gate. "Mama's making dinner Mason." I said. Then she started shouting something at me. "Humma Pa Tee!" "Humma Pa Tee". She probably said it about 30 times before I realized she wanted to have a "Hummus Party" for dinner. Seriously, the girl knows what she wants. Then of course Jacob came over and started demanding a hummus party as well.

Hilarious.

Wicked Cute

So yeah...been quiet for a little bit. But with the World Cup and Harvey's birthday, Grandma coming to visit, my physical therapy for my bursitis and my Starbucks job things have continued to be busy. But you don't care that the USA went out in overtime to Ghana. Or that England got embarrassed by Germany. Or that Harvey is now 41. You care about the kiddies! The babies! You know, the ones that are almost 2!!

So lots has been happening in Mason & Jacob land. They've been talking up a storm. Literally. They will repeat anything you say, so although I've been trying to be careful forever, now I need to be extra careful. Mason has been trying to talk in full sentences. No kidding. I mean, clearly I only understand 1 or 2 words in that mumbling, but she's trying nonetheless.

Notable notables that I will try and get on video:

-They both can sing the ABC's...Mason can do the whole alphabet puzzle unassisted.
-Mason sometimes says "Bless you" when you sneeze.
-Jacob calls for Mason when she's not around and he misses her, "Oh Maaaaasey."
-Mason swings from bars at the playground unassisted, as if she were in the Olympics.
-Jacob absolutely loves to brush his hair.
-Mason can put on and pull up her tutu and a few other clothing items on her own.
-They both know the number 2. And the concept of 2 objects. Like, whoever gets out of their crib first in the morning (whoever i take out first) will spring into the living room and get both sippy cups full of milks shouting "two milks. two milks." and will bring the other one their milk. It's awesome.
-They both sing with their friend's Burke & James to the Beatles, "She loves you". They all sing the "yeah yeah yeah".

And those notables are just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are about a gazillion more I'm missing.

Just know that everyone in Hoboken is alive and thriving.

XOXO

My crazies

This was Father's day. After naps. Thus the insane hair. Crazy kids.

Dada's Day

Father's Day was awesome. I think. I mean, it wasn't my day or anything, but I think all in all it was a success. Mase & Jake were super sweet this year and got their Dada an irish breakfast...mmm...cholesteral. Two large framed pictures of themselves. A bottle of Jameson's. And a massage. And he only changed one poopy diaper all day.

Here are some festive pics from the morning.


Jacob enjoys Dada's Irish Breakfast. He's clearly English.


Sopping up the sausage in brown sauce. Another sign of a true Englishman.


And now he's onto the whiskey.


Mason read's Dada's card. She's very advanced.


"Look how funny I am", Mason recounts.

My LITTLE GYM Stars

Last Thursday was Mason & Jake's last class at "The Little Gym". It was "show" day were they were supposed to show off all their skills that they've been learning since February. And they have mad skills, lemme tell you. They have both mastered the forward roll. They are really into the backwards roll. And they both can swing from the parallel bars. Mason is also able to walk on the low balance beam. Yay Mase.

They are taking the summer off from gymnastics but will resume again in September. Joy.

Post Match

So the game is over and a 1-1 draw means everyone won. But, I hear you plead with anticipation, which kid cheered for which team. Well the solution we came up with was to dress Mason in an England shirt and Jacob in a U.S. shirt for the first half and then switch them round at half time. Genius, I know. Big shout out to Dave and Jo for hosting 19 adults and 12 kids for the game this afternoon. Here are some pics - get ready for a cute alert!


First-half outfits. Jacob sporting a New England Revolution top and Mason in a little England number.


All change at half time. Mason switches her allegiance to the U.S.


Jacob, in his England shirt, can't believe that it's going to finish in a draw. And there are no more chips left either.


You have to train them young - Jacob's sent out to the cooler to get daddy a beer.


Just to show that, eventhough we may cheer for different teams, we still love each other.

Game Day

The World Cup has started and today the U.S. plays England. So here's the dilemma - who do the twins cheer for? They're half-English and half-American. Of course the easy way out would be to make one of them cheer for England and one for the U.S. but who should cheer for whom? Would this breed a sense of rivalry into our kids? Will Mason throw Jacob's tea into the harbor or will Jacob declare independence from his sister? Maybe, after they've paid for years of therapy in their 20s, it will all lead back to how their parents forced teams upon them in the toddler years. No - there has to be a better way of dealing with this and we think we have a solution. Pics to follow...

Pigtails Part Deux

And the cuteness just keeps on coming.

Yes, the both know their A,B,Cs. And if you're lucky Mason will sing it to you. Jacob will say it very shyly.

Yes, Mason wants to eat chicken nuggets for every meal. And asks for "Chick".

Yes, they both know how to say ketchup.

Yes, Jacob likes to get his hair combed out and products put in.

Yes, they both tell you when they have boo boos now.

And they can recognize letters. It's insane. I had a t-shirt on yesterday that said, "My heart belongs to a chemist." And Mason actually came up to the shirt and pointed out there was an "M" in there for Mason.

The other hilarious thing is that if I manage to get up early and take a shower before I get them out of their cribs and I walk in their bedroom with my hair still wet, Mason always shouts, "Wet hair. Wet hair." It's like the cutest thing ever.

Crazy kids.

Every single day they continue to amaze me. I wonder what they'll do today.

Pigtails in the House!

And no, they're not Jacob's. Let the "awwwww that's so cute" begin.

Dadapalooza Day Two

I survived the night. So did the kids. Although there was a moment when Jacob woke up at 2am and needed a bit of comforting - I think he had a nightmare that mom had gone away for the weekend and left him with dad. The morning started with meeting Burke and James to go to the water park. Please note that this is a park that even the mom's haven't taken the kids to yet but the brave dads (in place of brave, you could substitute stupid) took it on. Actually it was a bit of an anticlimax - Mason just wanted to go on the slides and wasn't interested in the water at all and Jacob was a little concerned by the fountains. He spent most of the time standing at least 10 yards from any water, trying to catch it in a cup. Bless. Finally he ventured to the smallest fountain but ran away everytime it started shooting water (pics below).

After lunch and nap we played the air mattress game again and then dressed up in dad's T-shirts. Finally Burke and James came round and we all ate a tasty dinner. I have to say Jacob and Mason were so well behaved for me - I think they could smell my fear. Ann came back from Atlantic City, fully refreshed and ready to take on the twins for the rest of the summer. I'm going to take the next month off 'cos it's the World Cup.


Jacob builds up the courage to approach the baby fountain


The fountain senses his presence and unleashes its fury


The wrath of the fountain is too much for poor Jacob


Mason, dressed in daddy's Dandy Wahols tour T-shirt, looks like a wizard


4 babies enjoying a civilized meal. Not a single thrown green bean in sight.

Dadapalooza Day One

So Ann's in Atlantic City sitting by the pool, drinking Martinis, whilst I'm at home with the twins. Some would call it role-reversal, some may remark 'metrosexual' but I like to look at it as giving my wife, who looks after the kids far more than me, a well-deserved break. Plus there's gold-coated brownie points at stake here and I intend on banking them and using them at a later date!

Dadapalooza started off great. The kids slept in an extra 15 minutes this morning which gave me time to freshen up with a shower and I got them out of bed at 7:45. After the 'milk ritual' (see below) that relies on Mason getting Jacob's milk and delivering it to him (this boy will have a rude awakening when HE gets married!) we played in the lounge for a bit, had a tasty breakfast, and got dressed in the kind of clothes a dad would choose - Jacob in a Darth Vader T-shirt and Mason in, well anything that didn't look too slutty.

We then headed to the park (sensible dad slathering them in sunblock lotion and taking them before it got too hot). After lunch we invented two new games, took a nap and then went to see Burke and James for more fun and dinner before coming home for a bath and straight to bed (they were very tired after such a fun-filled day).

'Wait a minute,' I hear you say. 'What about the two new games you invented?' The first involved two babies and an air-mattress. It's played by allowing babies to run and jump onto the air-mattress (boo boo factor 2). The second involved two babies, two flashlights (torches for those of us who speak English like the Queen) and a dark room. It's played by placing babies in dark room with a flashlight (TORCH!) each and observing (boo boo factor 1.5). Both were tons of fun and kept all three of us entertained for over an hour. As you can see both are low on the boo boo scale which is a scale that measures the likelihood of baby injury whilst playing. A boo boo of 1 is a minor fall or scratch whereas a boo boo factor of 10 would constitute a loss of limb or worse, such as you might get playing the 'jumping out of window' game.

The day is over. The kids are sleeping. All three of us have had lots of fun for the whole day and no one got hurt. Just to prove it there are some pics below. I can't wait for tomorrow!


Mason chasing Jacob in the park


Fun playing on an air mattress, listening to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion


More fun on a mattress


Boo boo factor increases to 2.5 for somersaults near the edge


Jacob LOVES falling onto the air mattress


Dancing to Laurie Berkner's 'I'm Gonna Catch You' with Burke and James. See how much fun the kids have when the mom's go away?

Pics, Pics and more Pics!!

Some recent pics...including the ones from Memorial Day Weekend in Boston.