Playdate with Oliver and Elliott

On June 6th the twins had their second playdate. This one was hosted by Rachel and Ryan, parents of 10 1/2 month old Oliver, whose head circumference is only rivaled by James's massive noggin. We hadn't seen them since joining them for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory the day I had my first pre-term labor scare. Thankfully nothing bad happened later in the day this time after seeing them. We were also joined by Alison and Tim, parents of 3 year old Zack and 11 month old Elliott. (Oliver and Elliott were last seen in this blog when they were newborns.) Julia was the only girl there so she was popular. (It helped that she was also in a better mood than James when we arrived.) You may recognize the twins' outfits from my last post.


Alison tries to hypnotize Julia...


...Julia would now think she was a chicken, if she knew what that was


Zack holds Julia and everything seems fine...


...until Julia suddenly turns rabid!


Rachel holds Julia


Oliver makes it over the obstacle course that is Rachel's legs


Rachel and Julia appraise each other


Zack


Ryan holds Julia while she checks out his library


Alison holds Elliott


James is very fond of Rachel


Mark shows off Julia's jean diapers. (Yes, you've seen it here before.)


Anderson Cooper, er... Ryan, and Oliver

Ryan, er... Anderson Cooper without Oliver

Fourth of July Starring James & Julia

St. Patrick's Day was such a hit that Grandma bought six (!) Independence Day outfits, and I bought some flags and got busy photographing the wee ones. It was hard but I limited these photos to the very best; click here to see the rest.










Does licking count as desecrating the flag?

I claim this bellybutton for America!








Julia doesn't know where her hat ends and the blanket begins.


Julia kept hitting herself in the head so I timed this photograph to be at the moment of impact.

Video Break: Julia Tries to Escape from Her Chair

Julia liked sitting up so we thought she'd love her new Bumbo seat. Turns out we were wrong. Taken 6/5/10.

Baby Growth by Month - The First Six Months: Picture Outtakes

After the monthly photo with Patrick Pup is taken, the babies play a bit on set.

2 Months



Julia tries to tame Patrick Pup




3 Months


James' GQ pose. (For some reason this reminds me of Burt Reynolds' 1972 Cosmo centerfold pose on the bearskin rug.)

Not James

Dogs make good pillows




James is a little scared riding Patrick Pup on his own...


Much better!


4 Months

Grandpa holds the hand of his Butternut Squash


5 Months


Ride 'em Doggirl!




Julia enjoys a good chomp.




Peek-a-Boo!


Psst! Julia smells like sour milk!







6 Months

Video Break: James Practices Talking

James talks in his soft voice. Taken 5/3/10

What's in a Baby Name? Part II: The Other Names

I didn't want to overload my already long post about baby names, so here's the second part with the other names that were under consideration but not yet mentioned. They were all suggestions by me (unless noted), but not necessarily supported (in fact, usually not) by Mark.

Boy's First Name

• Simon (Mark suggested this but doesn't remember doing so)
• Lucas
• Samuel/Sam
• Andrew/Drew

Girl's First Name

• Lily (Mark's only serious suggestion)
• Daphne
• Elise or Anneliese
• Mona
• Paulina
• Carolina - the Italian pronunciation
• Eve
• Lila
• Eliza - maybe Elizabeth as full name
• Rebecca/Becca
• Kira/Keira
• Natalie
• Sonia/Sonya
• Anna - Ben and Anna could be "Banana"

Boy's Middle Name

• Jude
• Patrick - after Patrick Pup
• Wiley
• Harrison

Girl's Middle Name

• Eva - my grandmother's name
• Lily
• Cate

And then there are the suggestions we received (and the persons making the suggestions in parentheses)...

• Duke and Ruke - an homage to characters on The O.C. (Brendan and Lila)
• Keaton and Mallory - I'd already been considering Alex and Mallory; after all we did enter our wedding reception to the "Family Ties" theme (Brendan and Lila)
• John Ratzenberger Pilloff and George Wendt Pilloff (me)
• Clamato and Chelada (Lila)
• Dalton and Castle (an homage by Lila to Road House and Dirty Dancing)
• Swayze and Patrice (Jason)

Not Nick and Mallory?


"eh Cahhh-la. Did you know that some boy/girl twins are identical?"

• Mercator and Magellan (someone at the Google Maps picnic)
• Larry Appleton Pilloff and Balki Bartokomous Mikulis (Jason)
• Boner and Cockroach (Lila)
• Goofus and Gallant (Mark)
• Alexander Wheatsworth Pilloff III (Brendan)
• Benediktas as a middle name in tribute to my grandfather's first cousin, the last Mikulis in Lithuania who has an interesting life story involving killing Nazis and Soviets and sleeping in coffins where his fingers were chewed by rats (Brendan, Rachel R. and my dad)

Balki Bartokomous Mikulis? Don't be ridi-cool-us!


Goofus and Gallant in the future

Video Break: Julia Practices Screaming for Fun

Mark shot this in the early morning after she was fed. There's not much screaming in the second half-- he ran a little long hoping she would do some more, but by then she got it all out of her system. Taken 4/30/10.