John and Wendy's blog

Sledding in Boulder, 2007 & 2011

2012-02-03T08:40:00.000-08:00

Less snow in 2011, but more kids. It's the law of conservation of fun.

2007	2011

Itsy Bitsy Spider

2012-02-02T14:39:00.000-08:00

[click on "Itsy Bitsy Spider" link to see video]

Manhattan sunset

2011-12-15T10:30:00.001-08:00

Brooklyn Bridge Park Carousel

2011-11-29T12:00:00.000-08:00

They've installed a beautifully restored 1922 carousel in the park basically right underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It's in a stunning glass enclosure designed by Jean Nouvel and affords impressive views of lower Manhattan. You can read about the carousel here. JJ was a ham and so he gets all the photos here. Jorge had just woken up and wasn't excited about having his picture taken, but allowed me to take one.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T10:35:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos from our Thanksgiving gathering in NYC. Lisa and Steve hosted us (and Wendy's sister and parents) at their place in Brooklyn, and we had a fun-filled and relaxing weekend of strolling by the piers, shopping in Dumbo and Manhattan, going to the zoo, watching a little football, and eating a thoroughly delicious Thanksgiving meal. Big thanks to Lisa and Steve for all of it! (a relaxing Thanksgiving? who knew that was possible?)

Jorge on George's shoulders as Spiderman floated by.

What's coming next?

Pikachu!

Elves! (we were on 42nd St -- the "ball" that drops on New Years was visible up on top of the building behind the red elf)

Santa!

Pau Pau arranged for a special "party" for the kids as a little pre-Thanksgiving fun. Liam was serving fruit to J and JJ. Very cute.

The notorious Scooter Gang of Brooklyn Heights! They will mess you up, man!

A little downtime for Jorge and Kiera.

A little downtime for JJ, Sam and Liam.

While the ladies shopped, Steve and I took the East River Ferry from the Brooklyn Bridge to 34th st in Manhattan (just a couple blocks from Steve and Lisa's old building), and then walked to Central Park and to the zoo. We were very lucky with the weather -- highs in the 60s and sunny. This photo is on the ferry with Jorge and Liam visible (Kiera is hiding somewhere and JJ was asleep in the stroller). That's the Manhattan bridge out the window I believe.

Macy's parade, then and now.

2011-11-28T11:32:00.000-08:00

Shots from Macy's Day parades in 2004 and 2011.

Our bathroom is done (not kid related)

2011-11-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Wendy and I made a list of things we wanted to change before we moved in to our house on Woodcrest Terr. They were all reasonably simple and cosmetic things: removing a wall here, adding some light fixtures there. We closed on the house back in Nov of 2010 and we weren't going to move in until July of 2011 -- it should have been plenty of time to get all the projects done. You'd think that in my (or when considering projects in our own house, Wendy's and my collective) experience, we would know that this was a pipe dream. Small projects turn into big projects (moving a light fixture leads to rewiring significant portions of the house, and removing a small portion of drywall leads to the discovery of mold and the removal of 80% of the drywall in the basement, just as two examples). Big projects turn into bigger projects (removing the ceiling the basement bathroom to rewire the fan and light to be on two separate circuits leads to a complete demo and brand new bathroom from the ground up). And so, all the things that had to be done before we moved in were just barely finished (or in some cases, not), and several projects that were deemed "not totally necessary but would be nice" got pushed on to the back burner. After we got moved in and mostly settled, I got to finish the biggest of these projects, the master bath. Below are the before and after photos.

BEFORE: I'm standing in the master bedroom looking through the "walk-in" closet (more of a "walk-through" closet) to the bathroom. The closet was claustrophobicly small feeling, with its sliding doors on either side and the fact that the doors from the bedroom and the bath opened IN to the closet.

AFTER: I opened the closet up and got rid of both sets of sliding doors, and put a pocket door in between the closet and the bath. Then the open closet space was outfitted with organizing shelves and hanging rungs.

BEFORE: This is looking from the bath back out toward the bedroom. How many doors can you count in this photo?

AFTER: As Jorge would say, "where doors go?" (I had to get at least one reference in to the twins I guess.)

BEFORE: Ugly vanity, ugly linoleum floor, ugly heat lamp in the ceiling, ugly light fixture, ugly taupe colored toilet, and an ugly toe-kick heater that blows stinky hot air across the floor on cold days...

AFTER: Pretty vanity (Ikea) that hangs off the wall, giving the illusion of more space. Pretty glass mosaic tile floor, made from recycled glass and is "non-slip". Pretty light fixture (one of two -- the other is in the skylight well and would be difficult to photograph. You just have to come see it for yourself.) Pretty, water-conserving Kohler toilet. And you can't see it, but the toe-kick heater got replaced with an electric radiant heat mat that is under the tile, controlled by a programmable thermostat (comes on at 6 am for a couple hours, and then again in the evening).

BEFORE: This shower is just all kinds of wrong. The tile is hideous. The enclosure is not only ugly, but it's truncated square lay-out created an unusable dead space just to the left (between the closet wall and the glass wall of the shower). And that faux-brass? Don't even get me started. And you can't see it, but the plumbing was a total mess -- whoever retrofitted this shower in cut one of the floor joists IN HALF in order to get the drain pipe where they wanted it.

AFTER: The new larger shower pan that goes from wall to wall. That's my signature glass tile waterfall on the left (also seen here and here). The field tile is a 12"x24" porcelain with a subtle, wavy woodgrain-like pattern in it, and the tile layout was designed with one offset row that then becomes the backsplash for the sink. The shower head is identical to the one we had at Woods Walk. You can just make out the corner of the (giant) skylight well at the top of the photo. This room used to be a dark little cave of a room and is now the brightest room in the house.

Washington, DC

2011-11-07T08:17:00.001-08:00

Wendy had some mysterious work thing that she had to attend for a few days in D.C., so we decided to take the whole family down to stay in her extra large hotel room and see the sights while she "worked" (which she swears did not involve the CIA [Culinary Institue of America]).

"Riding on the metro-oh-oh..."

First stop, the National Zoo. As zoos go, this one was just ok. Many of the animals were nowhere to be seen. This may mean that they have well-designed habitats, but it sorta felt like the zoo was taunting us with all the signs for animals on cages that appeared empty. This tiger did his/her best to make up for the others. Awesome tiger.

Lions were cool too.

Next stop, the White House. Sam thought this was pretty cool -- in fact, he thought I was kidding when I told him we were going there. JJ and Jorge wished I'd been kidding.

Sam in front of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial. It was really impressive.

We had beautiful weather for the two days we were there. Lucky us.

Here's a series of photos of the twins with the Jefferson memorial in the background. I had to "brighten" up the shadows so you could see their faces, and that increased the noise of the photos a bit. Which one do you like best? I like this one the best.

I think this is my favorite.

This one is also my favorite.

Wait, no -- this is definitely my favorite. I mean, come on! If this photo was a kung fu fighter, it would be the kind that could take on 8 other kung fu fighting photos at once and beat them all to a pulp. Hi-yah!

On the second day we went to the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space Museum. It was super cool. Literally, on the mall.

Now that's an engine! Good times.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-07T07:45:00.001-08:00

Boo! Scared? Well wait til you get a look at our little frog and our little dragon -- then you'll be scared. Oh, and then there is Sam, who dressed as a "Hell's Reaper with Silver Demon Mask". That's sure to get you quaking in your boots. Or at least quivering. Ok, maybe just shrugging your shoulders, but still -- that's SCARY!

Frogs need to "juice up" before going out on the town. This is Jorge, bee tee dubs.

JJ is a dragon. I kept calling him a dinosaur and it made him really mad. So he was a mad dragon.

The preschool had a Halloween party for the kids, the main attraction for which was a "haunted house" made of old refrigerator boxes. I had a hand in assembling it, which was a lot of fun. I wanted to add some steep gabled roofs and a turret or two, but there wasn't time.

Jorge the frog in the haunted house/cardboard box.

See!? I told you'd be scared. Wouldn't you freak out if you ran into this in the middle of the night? I mean, that is one scary sweatpants wearing cowboy, am I right?

Post-trick-or-treating, the happy family plus scare crow/headless horseman (sans horse). The twins LOVED trick or treating and didn't want to stop. They'd still be out there now if we'd let them...

Scooters!

2011-09-23T15:07:00.000-07:00

Couldn't get the movie to load here, but follow this link to see Jorge and JJ scootin' like madmen!

First Day of School

2011-09-22T14:34:00.001-07:00

It was Jorge and JJ's first day of preschool. They are going on Tue and Thu from 9 to 12 and they absolutely love it.

Summer, 2011

2011-09-07T11:27:00.001-07:00

It's been a busy summer, what with moving (again) and all. We've been in our new house for almost two months now and I still haven't found the blender. I'm sure it's here somewhere. And I am still planning on finishing the master bathroom. i.e., although it may look to some (say, I dunno, Wendy) like I've abandoned this project, I haven't. I also plan on one day unpacking all the boxes in my office. And sorting through the last 2 months of mail for all the important things we may have received. Seriously, I will get to all that stuff soon. But more important than any of that is getting photos up on the blog. So here are some photos.

Connor came all the way from Woods Walk Ct for a visit to Ithaca. Sam and Connor had a blast at "media camp" and playing Yu Gi Oh and Magic. And they were great with the twins, who were referring to them as a single object -- "Deeconnor" -- by the end of the week. (For no reason in particular, the twins call Sam, "Dee". We don't know why and they won't tell us.)

Here are Sam and Connor enjoying a... what would you call this? It's not a ride, not a video game, not... I guess you'd call it an amusement. Anyway, it's called the "Hurricane" and it basically just blows air at you. This was good prep for Connor, who returned to NC just in time for Irene.

Sam spent a week in CO with my parents and I don't yet have photos of that. But while he was gone, we took the twins to the Trumansburg Fair, the high point of which was a demolition derby for mini-vans. I wish I'd known in advance -- I woulda entered in a heartbeat (that would be a great way to get that Odyssey out of our driveway...). The warm-up for the demo derby was an honest-to-god Monster Truck that ran over cars and made a deafening noise doing so. Babies are still talking about that one.

After Irene passed by, it was safe to meet up with Sam and the rest of the extended Lynch family (minus Peter and Wendy) in Duxbury, MA. Here's Jorge showing his super-fly board style.

This marble game was a huge hit for me and my cousins back when we went to Duxbury as children. My kids know how to work an iPad, but there are some things that never go out of style.

Another huge non-digital hit for the babies are their new scooters, sent to them by Pau Pau and Gung Gung. J and J have loved playing on Liam and Kiera's scooters and now they have two of their own. Go Jorge!

Go JJ! Or don't go -- whatever. Just look cute. Well done!

Another big hit this year was searching for creatures in the sand at low tide in Duxbury bay. Lots of crabs and other crustaceans were disturbed for the not-very-scientific purpose of "watch it move/squirt/run away."

J and J with Grandma DD

Then it was time for the state fair! Who doesn't love the state fair?!? Seriously, Wendy kept yelling that at us all day. That's Wendy and Sam way up in the sky taunting me and the babies.

This fair "ride" was more the babies speed, and Wendy loved it too. That woman loves her some fair-ly good times!

The babies were caked with ice cream, corn dog remnants, and animal fur (don't ask) when we got back from the fair, so it was time for some serious scrubbing. They are very cute. (note: this photo was cropped to make it less "not ready for prime time".)

Ren Faire and Lake Ontario

2011-08-06T18:46:00.001-07:00

Much has happened since I last posted. Too much. More than I can really summarize here. I won't try. All those things that happened that I won't tell you about have made me too tired to summarize them. So here are some photos from the last couple weeks. You can fill in the missing details with whatever made-up story makes you happy. Or don't -- it's really up to you.

First home-cooked meal in the new house. Notice the unpacked boxes in the background. Notice also the large glass of wine next to my plate...

Andy and Layna came to visit three days after we'd moved in. It was great to see them. We went to Lake Skinny-Atlas for a few days of swimming and lifeguarding, and then back to the barely moved into house in Ithaca. This photo was taken in the morning and everyone was very tired. Layna was probably the most tired as she had recently run (as in, on her feet, without mechanical conveyance) a 100 mile race in the mountains of Vermont. As you can tell from this photo, JJ was clearly unimpressed.

We went to the Renaissance Faire last weekend. The babies got a little freaked out by the spectacle of it all. I did too.

Here is the Queen. I curtsied.

The main reason to go to any fair is the rides ("Right?!?" says Wendy).

"Right!" says Sam.

After the Ren Faire it was time to swim (or "schwim!" as J and JJ call it). So we went to Fair Haven State Park on Lake Ontario. It was beautiful.

Babies love to swim. Mom is concerned about their safety, but babies love to swim.

Strangely, though, the babies found something they liked even more than swimming: rolling in the sand. We couldn't stop them. We tried. But every time we put them back in the water, they ran up on to the beach and dove into the sand as if it were flour and they were preparing to be deep fried.

What would YOU do if you found this on a beach?

Sam in Las Vegas

2011-06-30T09:36:00.001-07:00

Sam in front of the Petroglyphs at the Valley of Fire.

Vegas from Sam's vantage; the child was traumatized.

Our March trip to Orlando

2011-06-30T09:34:00.000-07:00

The kids, some random recent photos

2011-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I love this one; JJ's trying to make sure Sam doesn't steal his juice.

People like to sleep in this house! JJ's actually sick in this one.

JJ loves his doll.

This kissing series actually goes on for a while but I wasn't sure it was appropriate web content. (Speaking of which, I recently became concerned that JJ liked to play with his er, privates, so much that I thought he might actually pull a certain member off, so because like a good academic I look everything up on google, I immediately typed in "child rip pen#s off pulling too hard." You don't even want to know; I am still traumatized. [ed. note: I am mispelling on purpose so no one accidentally gets to our blog when looking for - you know.] )

The only picture of my beautiful Jorge on this post! You knew that, right?

some photos

2011-06-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos. I'm sure they will please you. So enjoy!

Babies went through a phase where they always wanted to go "night-night" on the couch. "night-night" also meant that they didn't want cameras flashing in their faces.

Jorge attack!

JJ is all about peace...

Sam's "traveling" soccer league. We traveled all over this great land of ours with this league -- from Newark Valley to... um, West Newark. Anyway, we saw the greater Newark (NY) area.

The babies love traveling!

The babies, enjoying Lisa and Steve's front yard!

2011-05-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

The TITANS!

2011-05-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Sam and Jayant, hiking in the park

2011-04-18T13:11:00.000-07:00

Sam at the Vet School - holding a "rubber boa"

Sam and Jayant standing on the shale knocked loose by the latest landslide at Taughannock Park - not dangerous at all.

More pictures: from Renata

2011-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

Jorge

Pictures of the kids!

2011-04-18T12:56:00.001-07:00

JJ likes to dress up.

Jorge, thinking deeply.

Sam, home sick with strep last week.

JJ and Jorge on their favorite new toy - the wall map Lisa and Steve got them for Christmas! We were waiting for a proper wall to hang it on, but they love to sit on it...

JJ shopping

2011-04-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

This video is from a couple months ago when we went to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. They have a kid's sized Wegman's Supermarket there with little shopping carts and tons of fake food to "buy". JJ was obsessed with filling his cart with everything on the shelves, and when this other young shopper happened by, JJ helped him out with a couple cheeses before continuing on his merry way.

Winter photo dump

2011-04-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Do we even blog anymore? Apparently not. But here are some photos from the last couple months that need sharing. Enjoy.

Sam reading a bedtime story to his brothers. I had the wrong camera and I couldn't get a good angle, but I assure you, this was really cute.

Sam on x-country skis!

Sam on downhill skis!

Who likes juice boxes? Who likes juice boxes while precariously perched on a kitchen counter? I'm just asking.

"do de dooo... oh, don't mind me. I'm just chilling. You know -- eating some lunch, trying to pull the razor blades off the fingers of this leg-less Freddy Krueger doll. Just the usual. Dum de dum dum..."

Jorge and Jeremiah turned 2 last week and their Grandma Dede sent them a pair of walking bikes. The boys love 'em! Hard to believe it's been two years...

Block stacks!

Block stacks YAY!

Snow day!

2011-03-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

We got over a foot of snow this past Sunday, and so the schools were closed... John took Sam and his friend Elias skiing, and the kids had to be dragged off the slopes kicking and screaming. Sam went down two blacks and loves, loves, loves skiing. (Sammy no poles on the right.)

Sledding!

2011-01-18T14:26:00.001-08:00

Winter is beautiful here, but I don't have time to describe it. So here are about 4,000 words worth of photos:

Update on music class

2011-01-13T10:06:00.000-08:00

The sensitive among you will be happy to know that JJ and Jorge had their second music class today, and it did not result in my hating them.

JJ and Jorge Jumping

2011-01-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Rating: PG, mild violence and intimidation.

Jeremiah squeezing milk from a stone

2011-01-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

Well, really he's just trying to get the balls to pop out of the dinosaur's mouth. I like that he's not really interested in the balls; he's just humoring his mother.

And his rocking horse

2011-01-12T19:23:00.000-08:00

Gung Gung made this amazing rocking horse for Sam six years ago, and Jorge and JJ love it. They are on and off it every three minutes. We're a little worried someone's going to get hurt; apparently there is no other way to ride than full speed.

Jorge loves BOOTS!

2011-01-12T19:22:00.000-08:00

Jorge patting JJ on the head while watching Sesame Street

2011-01-07T07:14:00.000-08:00

Like father, like son

2011-01-05T09:27:00.000-08:00

[photo removed by request]

Remember this guy? This was Sam at almost four years old. I can't remember if he was really reading yet, but he certainly knows what toilets are for!

The holidays, a note from Wendy

2011-01-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s holiday. Sam said it was the best ever. It was so great to have my family come up (they come up to visit now, not down!), although we really missed H. Renata sort of made up for Heather's absence, though (kidding - but it was nice to have Renata with us!). John put up lots of lights for me, and I found out where he was hiding the Christmas carol music. Sam and I read the bible (in Italian, from the Vatican) so he would have the story of Jesus from the horse’s (the cavallo’s) mouth. Everyone was too generous, and the kids got to open lots of gifts – thank you! We all went skiing up at our new local ski hill while mom watched Jorge and JJ; it was a treat. Lisa and Steve were stuck with us an extra day because of storms in New York and we skated, jumped in inflatable houses and decorated gingerbread cookies – all while Steve very nearly died from a stomach virus. It was a perfect holiday! I am sad to go back to work and miss out on my kids.

Sam's Special Place in His Community

2011-01-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

Sam had to write about a "special place in his community" for a second grade project. The place he chose may surprise you; it did us (especially the idea that he goes there every summer). It made Wendy so happy I think she cried (again).

Christmas 2010

2011-01-04T18:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas came and went in a flash this year. We had Wendy's parents and sister and brother-in-law (Lisa and Steve), plus their twins, Liam and Kiera, to our house for the Xmas weekend, and it was a great time. Luckily, we now own a house on the other side of town (in addition to the one we're currently renting), so Wendy's folks got to sleep over there and take a much needed break away from all the grandkids in the evenings (especially needed since they had just been taking care of our kids the weekend before while we were in St. Maarten!). It was Christmas, so everyone got lots of stuff:

JJ, Jorge and Sam got to bathe together!

We got a real tree that the man in the family cut down himself!

The tree got trimmed and presents put 'round it!

Wendy got babies! Best present ever.

Sam got video games! (Which he loves, as you can tell!)

And a sled!

Liam got a Monster Flashlight!

Kiera got a princess outfit and (inexplicably) some Brazilian coffee!

(actually, the Brazilian coffee was Lisa and Steve's, from Renata)

Steve got a bottle of vodka, to help him cope with Lisa's new job!

Lisa got some left-wing propaganda, to help her cope with her new job!

Renata got an iPod!

George got a headlamp!

(actually, this is Wendy's headlamp, but George thought it was groovy)

Jorge got sleep in his eye!

JJ got absolutely nothing!

Oh, I'm kidding -- JJ got a propeller beanie hat!

St. Maarten

2011-01-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

A week before Christmas, Wendy and I got away for our first vacation (that was just the two of us) in what felt like 14 million years (roughly), with much thanks to Phyllis and George who not only provided us with a time-share hotel in the Caribbean, but also watched our kids while we were away (and survived!). It was certainly the longest we'd ever been away from our kids (including the lonely-only Sam years) at four whole nights! It was crazy -- we slept in until, like, 8:30 every morning! And I don't think either of us changed a poopy diaper for the entire 5 days we were gone! Madness!

St. Maarten is pretty. Actually, I think this photo was taken on the Saint Martin side of the island. You can tell because the sand is all Frenchy and "bonjour!" and stuff.

We spent one day zip-lining from the top of the highest point on the island down to a nature preserve. We had a guide, so it totally wasn't dangerous.

That's me zip-lining with the guide standing on the platform behind me. If I look scared, it's just because the camera adds 10 pounds (of fear).

This was taken on a beach on an island just off the coast of St. Maarten. Though actually, maybe this was off the coast of St. Martin. It was so confusing having to go from being all "J'aime la plage," to "Ik hou van het strand!"

This was on the beach in front of our hotel.

Thanks Phyllis and George! If Wendy and I are still married in ten years, can we do this again???

An essay about the kids

2010-12-30T13:33:00.000-08:00

I wrote this in the airport at St. Maartens, on the last day of John and my vacation. It's a silly story; I'll keep my day job.

***

Sometimes, hating your kids – just a little – can help you realize how much you love them.

In 2002, my husband John and I had been married two years and we decided it was time for a child. The ‘summer of love,’ we called it, but in the end it came down to a quickie on August 17, and nine and a half months later, to the day, our son Sam was born. The event was life-changing, which is what everyone tells you, but not in a good way at first, which people rarely mention. The baby was so small it was like handling a large frog. And he cried more than seemed warranted given how he was pampered and passed around to adoring grandparents. Once, we took him to the ER because he it seemed to us that he must be trying to tell us something by crying. The triage nurse smiled and wrote ‘irritable’ on the admission form; we never knew if she meant the baby or us. It was at six months, I remember clearly, that I fell in love with my son. His frog legs had filled out and (I realized later, looking at old baby pictures) gotten quite fat. He was the sweetest, happiest, most lovely baby in the world. I knew parents always thought their own children were beautiful but I was completely objective: mine really was.

From six months on, Sam and I were a team. I adored him in a way that woke me up at night. John and I both worked outside the house; he was a carpenter and I was a professor. But when Sam and I got home, we would wrestle and have tickle fights and chase each other around the house until John threw his hands up in exasperation.

When Sam turned three, John and I almost reluctantly decided we should have a second child, if only to prevent me from smothering the first one. We laughed when we said that, but both of us were serious. So we dubbed the winter of 2006 the ‘winter of love’ never guessing that it would be two and a half years across the frozen tundra until, in March of 2009, our twin boys were born. If possible, these two were even more frog-like than Sam had been. They were born eight weeks early and spent the next twenty-one days in the NICU. As I sat in the hospital from 7:30 in the morning until evening, I worried that Sam would feel abandoned. Everyone worried that Sam would feel abandoned. Friends and relatives who came to see Jorge and Jeremiah (named after their grandparents) brought presents for Sam and said, with great cheerfulness, ‘I’ll bet you’re a good big brother, aren’t you?’

When Jorge and Jeremiah were finally released from the hospital, things got harder not easier. John and I were busy feeding, holding, traveling and working. Having twins is lovely and although unexpected it felt like a gift, but it was a lot of work. Sam pulled through, though. He never once complained; he wasn’t always good – really, he was a total pain for a while – but we all got used to things.

As all of this happened, John and I and the kids moved from the home we loved in North Carolina to a new town in mid-state New York. It was a monstrous move: packing up everything, selling two houses, buying another, leaving our friends, getting Sam settled in a new school, and finding places for all of the kids to play.

One Saturday, several months after we had arrived in New York, all five of us went to a trial music class together. The class was in the basement of a nearby church. We walked in late, having had to find boots, jackets, hats and mittens for our small, disobedient army. All the other parents and children were seated in a circle. We sat down quickly too but within seconds, Jorge and Jeremiah were off. They ran from wall to wall, laughing happily. They climbed on chairs and broke free every time we grabbed for them. Finally, inevitably, they ran full tilt into each other, and began screaming. I grabbed one of them – I don’t remember which - and John the other and we left the room. As we walked out, I began to cry too. I had somehow pinned a whole set of hopes on this class; our kids would learn to clap out adorable beats and over rounds of ‘Hello, Everybody’ we would find friends who would help make up for, if not replace, the friends we had left back in North Carolina.

John and Sam were shocked when they turned and saw me; tears were so out of place. Their shock just made it worse. I slammed my baby into John’s (other) arm. “I… hate… these…. children,” I spat. After a moment of silence, John made the universal sign for warding off evil and walked back in to the music room with both babies. Sam hesitated, and I thought he might comfort me but he said, urgently, “that’s not okay, mom!” and ran back into the music room after his dad.

As I watched him go, my mood shifted from despair to pride. It’s a funny thing to be proud of but Sam had been given the opportunity to side with his mom and get a small upper hand over the babies that now dominated his life, and instead he chose to defend them. I had this perverse feeling of loving him – and even Jorge and Jeremiah – more than ever. They weren’t three kids so much as they were brothers, and everything would be okay. Eventually I followed them back into the music room.

(Kinesthetic, the music teacher said later, of my babies’ enjoyment of the class.)

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-02T11:48:00.001-08:00

This post is titled, "Thanksgiving 2010," but it might as well be titled, "A few pathetic photos from the end of November," because even though Thanksgiving did indeed happen here, and we had a gigantic meal of turkey, stuffing, bean casserole, roasted sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the rest (all made by, ahem, yours truly), I have absolutely no photos from Thanksgiving day. My mom and dad came out to Ithaca from Colorado and we all had a lovely time, but apparently some one needed to remind me to occasionally get out the camera and snap the shutter a couple times. Below is the only decent photo (and it's really not even decent -- it's just not as horrible as the three other photos I took) I have of my dad (I have none of my mother because... well, because I didn't take any -- honestly, I don't know what I was thinking), and below that are just some other random photos of the kids. Pathetic. Remember last year, when I took all those great photos with my iPhone? Why didn't I do that this year...

That's it. This is the only "Thanksgiving" photo I have. Seriously. It's ridiculous. It's not even a good photo. Jorge looks disproportionately planet-like, Sam and JJ look distracted and bored, and my father looks like he's trying to shoot me with laser eyes. Sheesh. Maybe my mom got some better photos...

Here's JJ in the neck warmer brought by Grandma Didi.

And here's JJ in the same neck warmer and a few accessories he picked up in the General Store in Watkins Glen, NY. Something about this get-up makes me think, "EuroRail..." Not sure why.

We finally got our first snow, such as it was. It was very wet and slushy and turned to ice almost immediately, but it is still very pretty. The gray days of November are considerably improved when the ground is blanketed in white, even if it's not skiable.

Jorge is very diligent about picking up the trash that the college kids throw in our yard over the weekends. Yay Jorge!

My big, beautiful, sweet boy at the bus stop

2010-11-16T11:49:00.001-08:00

Dressed by Phyllis Wolford.

Photo backlog

2010-11-10T09:02:00.001-08:00

Wendy looked at my iPhoto library the other night and chastised me for not posting more photos. I think she said something like, "people [as in the three of you who read this] don't care about your stupid funny captions -- they just want photos!" She's almost certainly right (though I secretly harbor fantasies of using this blog to get a TV sitcom writing gig someday -- not like a good sitcom, or one that is even funny or even watched by anyone -- just any ol' un-watched, un-funny TV sitcom that used to be a twitter account or a blog...), so here are a bunch of photos with (almost) no commentary.

Jorge is in focus in the foreground, JJ is blurry and under the leaves in the background.

Unfortunately, I think this is the only photo we got of Sam's ninja halloween costume.

I think this is Jorge, but it's harder to tell when they're wearing hoods.

Sam with cousins Liam and Kiera

Sam waiting for the bus on his first day of school in Ithaca (yes, this photo is that old).

Jorge (L) and JJ (R)

Renata and the babies at Taughannock Falls State Park

Jorge

Twins are cute

2010-11-09T16:37:00.000-08:00

Twins are cute. People tell me this all the time, so it must be true. Whenever I take them to the "arts quad" on the Cornell campus, people stop and point and tell me how cute my kids are. And I'm like, "duh -- tell me something I don't know." Twins are cute, especially at this age, when they're all stumbling and oompa-loompa-like. Put them in a couple fleece body-suits and let them run around on a college campus, and it's like you've conjured puppy dogs into the exercise yard of a prison: the two just don't go together. So I keep reminding myself to enjoy these moments, when my kids elicit smiles from people otherwise occupied with the drudgeries of work and school, because it won't be long before they'll become more of a nuisance than a momentary distraction, and will inevitably be defendants in future lawsuits.

(Wendy made me put this photo here, and was also the one to teach the boys to kiss each other. As the ex-girlfriend of the Mark Zuckerberg character says in "The Social Network," "When you post something on the internet, it's not written in pencil mark, it's written in permanent ink." So it's not like this photo will haunt them for the rest of their lives or anything...)

Wendy's Birthday cont'd

2010-11-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

We went to Brooklyn last weekend, where Wendy's sister and brother-in-law (Lisa and Steve) graciously hosted the continued party for Wendy's 40th birthday (we had already done a little birthday dinner here on her actual 40th followed by the traditional 40th birthday present: Oliver Graham showing up for a visit with his 6-year-old son). Wendy had to work all day Saturday (selecting worthy social scientists for some sort of "worthy social scientist award"), but we had an amazing sushi dinner on Saturday night (deemed "best sushi ever" by several folks at the table), and Wendy and the other ladies (Wendy's friend Layna came up from NC, and Wendy's younger sister, Heather, came out from CA) went out for spa treatments and pampering on Sunday. Steve and I watched kids mostly, but we got out for a beer and some football on Sunday, which was great. I didn't take too many photos, but here a few to corroborate my story.

2 sets of hungry twins, bellying (literally) up to the bar. You don't even want to know how many yoghurt cups and cereal bars were consumed...

Aunt Heather brought Sam a Silly Straw that was true to it's name.

Sam out on the deck at Lisa and Steve's apartment. When Sam's music career picks up (any minute now), this will be the cover art for his first album, titled, "I've seen a lot of cities, and this one is o.k., I guess." (It will be an emo/lo-fi/post-grunge/pre-school kind of thing.)

Jorge and JJ, daredevils

2010-10-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

I'm reprising (that's a fancy word for needlessly doing something a second time that probably never should have even been done the first time) a photo of Jorge here to compare to a new photo of JJ. Can you tell the difference? (they're even wearing the same sweater!)

Oliver and Casper came to visit

2010-10-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Oliver and his middle son, Casper, came to visit us last weekend, and they couldn't have picked a better weekend if what they wanted to do is look at fall foliage (see the last photo for evidence). Mostly we went for walks in or near gorges and looked at leaves -- it was the one thing we could all agree was cool. We also took Oliver out to dinner every night he was here and tried to convince him that we have good restaurants too (Oliver lives in Berkeley). I don't think we were terribly successful on that one: when you order a cajun style shrimp cocktail and they deliver some defrosted shrimp served over flavorless canned mango with a little paprika sprinkled on top, you've pretty much lost your audience.

This is Watkins Glen. We'd never been there before -- it was awesome. Wendy kept saying that if only it were sunny, this would be beautiful! But I disagreed, as I often do (not to say that it's reflexive or knee jerk... though the "jerk" part of that may have some truth to it). IMHO, waterfalls that you can walk behind as they fall some 4 or 5 stories are pretty stunning even in the rain.

We forgot to bring carriers for J and J, so we took turns being the carriers. They are so heavy now! Thankfully, Oliver plays a lot of tennis these days and his Rafael Nadal-like upper body was up to the task.

This is Casper at a "you pick it, you buy it" pumpkin patch. There was also a "sound maze" here that turned out to be a corn maze with various homemade percussion instruments randomly placed throughout the maze. If I were a longtime resident of this area, I expect that I would end that last sentence with an "only in Ithaca!" interjection, but since I just moved here a couple months ago, I will simply say that we found this unusual.

After you picked your pumpkins the proprietor would wash them for you. Sam and Casper, however, didn't want any help washing, and in fact had so much fun doing it that they asked if they could go pick more pumpkins just so they could wash them. What bright futures these kids have!

Here we are at Buttermilk Falls State Park (which was also featured in this post). Besides the addition of children, wouldn't you say we look basically the same as we did when we met back in August of 1988?

Yep, pretty much the same two guys.

Oliver and I have spent a lot of time perfecting our "men's clothing magazine" pose, and we hope to pass this on to our children (at the very least, right?).

Yeah, so this is what it looks like where we live. What you got?

Apple sharing

2010-10-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

Wasn't there some Mac product called "apple share"? Or was that "apple care"? Anyway, here is a video of the boys sharing an apple. The video was taken by Renata on her phone, which she then uploaded to our computer via "bluetooth" (didn't even know you could do that). But once it got on the computer, it was rotated 90 degrees and looked weird. So I searched online for a free piece of software that could rotate it back, eventually finding one that did the trick (and hopefully didn't infect my computer with some malware or worm or virus or whatever it is the kids are making these days). Then I tried to upload it here only to find that Blogger doesn't work with *.3gp video files (and to be honest, I had never heard of 3gp until Renata gave us this video). So I went back to the internet in search of a free piece of software that would convert it to a format Blogger was happy with, eventually finding one that may or may not have infected me with something, but it certainly screwed up the audio on the video. Renata's voice and the boys' laughs now sound like they're being "auto-tuned" by an evil Casiotone keyboard. Regardless, the cuteness of this video is undeniable, so the work it took to get here was worth it, and the crazy sounds only diminish the overall endearing-ness of it by a smidgen.

Lisa and Steve's new place

2010-10-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

Wendy was in Rome last week talking to people at the UN about land-grabbing, which she is an expert on because she has two 18 month-old boys who do nothing but grab land as soon as you take them outside (and then they put that land in their mouths!). She flew in and out of JFK, so we drove down from Ithaca on Friday to meet her and then spent the weekend in NYC at Lisa and Steve's swank new Brooklyn pad. Wendy and I were jealous of all the spacious and well-designed playgrounds nearby (not to mention the restaurants and the Trader Joe's just up the street!). We had a great meal at a tiny bistro right next to Cobble Hill Park, and spent an amazing Sunday morning walking around the piers between their house and the Brooklyn Bridge. Plus, I got to see Rudresh perform with his newest group at the Jazz Standard on Saturday night. It was a pretty awesome weekend.

This is the view from Lisa and Steve's private deck. We were all, whatevs...

Here's Sam, Liam and Kierra watching Saturday morning cartoons together in the great room. I feel like Lisa and Heather may be competing for the "greatest" great room award.

Sam on one of the play structures at the park right next door to Lisa and Steve's new building. In fact, that is their building in the lower left corner of the photo. This park had huge slides, all manner of swings, and a killer sandbox. It was off the hook (as in, it's not terribly far from Red Hook).

Here's Jeremiah (L) and Jorge getting some lunch while sitting on the kitchen's impressive island. I'm totally stealing some design ideas from this kitchen for the next one I do...

And here's Jorge, Liam (in the Manning jersey) and Steve, all hanging out at a park that was created on an old pier just next to the Brooklyn Bridge. The park is truly impressive, with huge expanses of grass, walking paths through trees and plants of all kinds, playgrounds for the kids, and amazing views of Manhattan. New Yorkers really know how to make a park, know'm sayin'?

Symphonie Moderne, No. 1

2010-10-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Talent!

Lake George

2010-09-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

This post is late in coming, since it is describing an event that happened about a month ago. I am doing this on purpose. In this day and age when people expect to have their news immediately upon it happening, I am rebelling against this need for instant gratification by drawing out the time between the event and its eventual blog post. I call this, "Olde Timey Blogging." Regardless, here are some photos of a trip we took to Lake George, NY, with Wendy's family. We stayed at a little resorty kinda place, where they fed you breakfast and dinner in a big central dining hall, but we were staying in a 6 bedroom house overlooking the lake. The resort also had a private beach and a private island (with boat-taxi service to the island every hour), and you could have them take you out on the lake for waterskiing, inner-tubing, or just a tour of the lake. It was pretty fantastic, and the weather was amazing. Who knows, maybe we just started a new family tradition?

Jorge, Kiera and Jeremiah on the deck. It was next to impossible to get all the cousins to stand next to each other long enough to get a photo, so this was about the best I could do. And let's be honest -- this is not even a good photo. But 3 out of 5 cousins? Not bad.

This is the final photo of a sequence I took of Jeremiah sitting on the beach and playing with sand. It's the last one because right after I took this, I had to go dig a handful of sand out JJ's mouth, which he was happily attempting to chew and swallow.

There, now this is some more appropriate chewing and swallowing material. That's Jorge, Liam and JJ.

Here's Sam enjoying a ride on an inner tube being pulled by a dolphin. Seriously, I am on a dolphin taking this photo. A pink dolphin, in fact. Yeah, that's the ticket.

The dolphin went a little faster when Lisa gave the inner tube a try.

Sam and Liam after a long day. Sam looks so grown up in this photo that it's scary. Also, he kind of looks like he could be a young Kennedy. People staring off across large bodies of water, seemingly contemplating the vagaries of world politics, all while insouciantly comforting a younger family member, look like Kennedys -- what can I say?

Gung Gung (George) and Jeremiah

Jeremiah and Jorge in their new fleece jackets, courtesy of Pau Pau and Gung Gung. As this photo was taken about a month ago, I can tell you that they have gotten a lot of use out of these, and that their enthusiasm for them (JJ's in particular) has not diminished one bit.

JJ and Jorge, taken with my Instamatic (aka, iPhone with Camera Bag app), at sunrise on our last day. It was a great week.

Two new haircuts

2010-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

I guess it had to happen. But I still haven't forgiven John!

Jorge the Daredevil

2010-09-18T15:55:00.001-07:00

On the slide -- he walks up the stairs and throws himself down, over and over... Or so John and Renata tell me. I'm in London, watching my kids on John's iphone.

Doing Science

2010-09-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah and Jorge at the Sciencenter in downtown Ithaca... They're both sick AGAIN (as you can see by the runny noses) but all snuggled up in jackets from Pau Pau and Gung Gung and Liam and Kiera.

Adverse Possession

2010-09-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

John found a secret playground three blocks from our house today. It's almost certainly someone's private property so we're going to make a flag and take the kids there to play every day for the next four years 364 days.

Duxbury 2010

2010-09-10T09:12:00.001-07:00

We spent a week in Duxbury with my family. It rained a lot, so we had to figure out things to do other than go to the beach. We went to the kid's science museum in Boston one day, Plymouth Plantations another, did some fishing in the rain, and Kevin gave me my first lessons in 'cross racing (basically, how to hop on and off your bike at high speeds). Oh, and our friend Rebeca drove down from Boston for a visit on our last day. A good week, all things considered.

Wendy all bundled up with Jeremiah, ready for a walk. Sam wore pajamas all day long some of the rainier days...

Rainy day activities included making a remaking various scary monsters with a new Lego set Sam got.

Finally some sunshine! But not yet warm enough for water in the little plastic pool. No matter, a pool without water is a great place to play the "Hit your older brother" game.

Jeremiah and DeDe on the beach at low tide searching for treasure.

JJ is having another of his, "which of these should I put in my mouth first" dilemmas.

Wendy and Jorge went looking for horse shoe crabs but came up empty this year.

Sam was successful in finding small crabs under rocks, however.

Jorge

It actually got kinda hot on the last day, so Jorge and JJ got to splash around a bit.

Dinner in the old house. L to R: Sam, Wendy, DeDe (behind Wendy), Rebeca, Renata (our new Brazilian au pair!), and Grandpa Jerry.

Waterfalls

2010-09-09T06:09:00.001-07:00

Ithaca is gorges (though I've been seeing stickers around town that say "Ithaca is Fences"), hence, it has waterfalls. Here are some:

Wendy, Sam and JJ at the lower falls in Taughannock State Park. A couple minutes after this photo was taken, a park ranger showed up and made everyone get out of the water and back on the trail. Something about giant falling boulders that kill people. Maybe they should put a fence around it?

The falls at Taughannock State Park. It is the highest waterfall in the northeastern United States (*of states that start with the letter N and not counting a couple waterfalls in southern New Hampshire that are little too "live free or die" to be considered for the record).

Sam braving the diving board at Treman Falls State Park.

Sam and George (Gung Gung) at Buttermilk Falls State Park.

Ok, you got me, this isn't in Ithaca. But it is a waterfall that we visited recently.

Babies in the Bath

2010-09-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Although this bath didn't get them very clean! These pictures were taken in mid August, on a hot day. We let water trickle out of the rain barrel, and they were happy as pigs in, well, mud. I had to edit for decency.

Where's your nose?

2010-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

The pictures say it all. Who knew that nose picking was a heritable trait?

Learning How to Eat

2010-07-10T10:10:00.001-07:00

And making a mess of it! The boys are starting to use plates and spoons. They love to eat and they love to play with their plastic plates and spoons but it is hard to convince them to do both at the same time. Jorge has taken to finishing off his meals by putting his head down on his tray and sucking up whatever he can with his mouth. He and JJ think this is a riot and then they egg each other on.

Awesome Dude Playing Star Wars

2010-07-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

Sam picked the caption for this post. He is playing the theme song to Star Wars, for those who haven't had to sit through each movie several times in the last year. The song is really simple but he had to learn how to read music, count notes, and hold his hands properly. Who knew that Star Wars could be so educational? We're going to do his new favorite song next: Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It. Stay tuned.

Jorge and Jeremiah at 15 months

2010-07-07T12:30:00.001-07:00

Jorge and his mom.

Jeremiah and his dad.

They still look a lot alike. But Jorge looks more like me and JJ looks more like John, IMHO.

Sam and the girls

2010-07-07T12:11:00.001-07:00

Sam was busy at the beach. Here he is walking Ceci home from a very long (though nearly perfect) day at Portsmouth Island. In the first picture, she is saying to her dad (loudly), 'NO, I want to walk with SAM.' In the last picture, I think she has realized that even holding Sam's hand, it is still almost 100 degrees out and we're still half a mile from home.

And here is Sam saving Tess from the big black dog.

Sam's New Job

2010-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Sam hates to put sunscreen on himself, but he approached his task here with a zen-like fortitude. His work went on for quite a while and was remarkably complete. Ceci endured it beautifully because she loves Sam; he could have been spreading tomato soup on her face and she would have been happy.

2010-05-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hello! How are you? It's been such a long time. Anywho, here is a video of the boys (Jorge, and then Jeremiah) walking around in our house (soon to be someone else's house). It's starts with Jorge lumbering toward the camera in his drunkenly swaggering style, then pans to Jeremiah (who gives a quick "ojitos" before letting go of Wendy) and his tentative baby stomps, and finishes with Jorge making a quick Lynn Swann-like avoidance of a falling defensive tackle (JJ). We may post more things soon, or, given our track record of late, it may be a while. I am keeping you guessing intentionally -- so you'll check back regularly.

On our way out!

2010-05-01T16:31:00.001-07:00

Here we are, a seemingly well-behaved presentable family.

And this is more like the real thing...

Update

2010-04-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

I don't have pictures of us doing anything fun because the boys haven't been out of the house in a while. They've been trading off this horrible cold for the past week and a half and now they both have it (I have been trying to teach them to share, but this is not what I had in mind). I had to take Jorge to the emergency room a couple of nights ago, something I really didn't want to do because the idea of taking a sick kid into a den of germs was frightening. Luckily, the hospital was very nice; the only disturbing thing was that a number of people in the waiting room and then in triage were huddling in their chairs, covered head to toe by white hospital sheets -- Brazilians in general blame air and wind for a lot of illnesses so I think that was the point, but it looked like a haunted house. I had a very funny exchange with a nurse when she put the thermometer under Jorge's arm and told me to hold it there for FOUR minutes. This while Jorge was screaming and burning up and generally miserable. I said, disbelievingly, to the nurse 'don't you have a thermometer I can use in his ear' and she, in turn, was horrified and said, 'you really can't put this in his ear,' and I said, 'I know, I don't mean this one, I mean an ear thermometer' (this is what I thought I said, what I probably said - it was 3:30 in the morning, and I had a wild animal in my arms - was 'I'd like you to take your elbow, sharpen it to a point, and shove it in his ear.'). Anyway, after some back and forth, I think the result was that they don't have ear thermometers, and the nurse is now very worried about American children. Hopefully everyone will be better this weekend so we can go out for one last beach trip - it's our last weekend here!?

Above are a couple of pictures of one of the kids. Is it still fun to try and guess who is who?

Seriously, ready for college

2010-04-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Do they remind you of anyone?

Yay, we have internet again!

2010-04-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

We haven't had internet in our apartment for the last week, which put a real crimp in my posting. In that time, the boys have grown up and started college. That's what it feels like. Jorge is walking around very casually now - one second he's playing on the floor and then you look up (from the tower of blocks you're building, because they're not just for kids anymore) and he's walking over to the kitchen to get himself a G&T. He still claps for himself, though, which makes me think the casual attitude is at least partly for show.

The boys play together now, in addition to hitting each other, grabbing toys out of each other's hands and generally getting all up in each other's business. Their favorite game is hide and seek where we hide (one of the boys and me) and call out for the other and then we go running full speed at the other... it cracks them up. JJ can't walk but he loves to run. Jorge can walk but he'd rather not run. Jorge is a bit of a bruiser but JJ gives as good as he gets - and when he can't, he sits back on his heels and wails. JJ is a show bunny and a total flirt - he waves at everyone and will go to anyone with two arms and a head (I actually don't know if those are necessary requirements, not yet having had someone with one arm and/or no head reach out for him). JJ makes his cute ojitos for everyone and if you spend too much time with Jorge, JJ just starts ojitoing it up like crazy.

The boys may look alike but they are very different. That's all I will say because otherwise they will read this when they're 13 and hold it against me. They were both pretty sick over the last week and we had to set up the nebulizer for JJ. They're fine now.

This is what we do every morning for an hour or so, between 6:00 and 7:00 - we cruise. These pictures were taken about 200 feet from our apartment, on the main beachfront street. The street is closed to motor traffic from 5:00 am to 8:00 am every morning, and it's packed with bikers (bikers! that's unusual), walkers, runners and the occasional donkey. There's also a gym on the beach right in front of the apartment where people run around in the sand lugging tires after them or holding medicine balls over their heads. All of this goes on next to the beach bars full of people who have yet to go home and go to bed.

They're living the life!

Beach day

2010-04-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

To the beach! The rain let up, and we had no other plans, so we decided it was time to visit the much talked about Tambaba Beach. The beach is famous for being the first official "natural" (i.e. nudist) beach in Brazil but it is also well-known for having coral formations that allow for good tidal pooling, which means good swimming for babies. Which came first, the nudity or the children?

Jorge and Jeremiah loved it. They swam and crawled and made sand castles and played with seaweed...

And got very dirty.

It was a very nice day - well, morning. They wake up so early that we were at this beach - about an hour away from where we live - by 8:00 and home by 11:30. We really didn't know what to do for the rest of the day! So we ate, went for walks, played ball in the apartment, tried to keep Jorge from abusing his brother... A nice Sunday in Brazil.

Little Eyes

2010-04-10T17:32:00.001-07:00

Alicia has taught JJ to give her "ojitos" (or, directly translated, "little eyes"). In this picture, he just looks drunk and sort of sleezy but it is very cute - he scrunches up his eyes and grins. Jorge will do it too but not on command.

JJ rhymes with Pele

2010-04-10T17:16:00.001-07:00

Seriously, this kid can play ball. His passes are a little spastic, but he gets the idea - and he has been trying to perfect his header ever since I bounced the ball off his head several times the other day. By the time we get back, he will have it down.

A few words from the boys

2010-04-09T04:37:00.001-07:00

They miss you all.

Daycare

2010-04-06T16:24:00.001-07:00

I know; the framing on this top one is unfortunate.

I started Jorge and Jeremias (as he is called here) in daycare for a few hours in the morning - their first day was yesterday and they have been liking it. It's sort of embarrassing how obviously excited they are to have toys. And everyone loves them - they are totally unfazed when I drop them off, even though I do all sorts of things to try and get them to act sad that I am leaving.

Easter!

2010-04-06T16:09:00.001-07:00

We had the nicest Easter with Marilda and Edgar at their apartment on the beach just 20 minutes North of JP. Ligia (bottom picture) made an incredible dish with goat that had marinated in wine and brandy for three days. It almost made up for the fact that she is about to take her PhD qualifying exams and went on and on about Ratzel and Huntington. Who? Everyone was so sweet about Jorge and Jeremiah crawling all over, although there was some disagreement among the adults as to whether my decision not to bathe Jorge there constituted an actual human rights' abuse.

We interrupt this programming for...

2010-04-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

Some really cute pictures of 3 year-old Sam that John found on a disposable camera that had not yet been developed.

In the picture above, Sam and Rai and Pika and I are off to our first trip to the mountains (it became an annual event) for the amusement park.

This is one cute kid.

DO NOT LOOK AT THIS POST if it will upset you to see your son/grandson/nephew/future son in law take his first steps on foreign soil.

2010-04-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

And don't look at this post if you have a crick in your neck. And don't look if you are the kind of person who will feel compelled to make snide remarks about your wife's technological capabilities. For those of you who are still with me; I present Jorge Amado (if I were you, I would turn the volume down on your computer - I talk too much when I am taking videos, it's hard for me to remember everything: point camera, hold hand out for child in case he miscalculates the weight of his head, keep thoughts to self, etc.):

Thank you for your patience during our repairs

2010-03-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted pictures for two whole days because my camera ate its batteries. I have to get more and apparently that is beyond me. I had just enough energy to get to Brazil, now I'm done. Jorge and Jeremiah are doing well - they're covered in a variety of rashes but those have less to do with the trials of tropical Brazil and more to do with the pampering they receive in Chapel Hill. I am toughening them up in preparation for our move to the suicide capital of the northeast.

Enjoying a beer in front of the television

2010-03-29T17:29:00.001-07:00

Jorge and Jeremiah needed a little quiet time (read: Alicia and Wendy needed a little quiet time), so we decided to put them in front of the television. Only, they didn't understand that the crazy chattering creatures (they really were crazy, Brazilian kids' shows are all done in these funny high voices, like rabid squirrels) weren't actually there. They wouldn't stop rubbing the tv and talking back to the squirrels. So we whipped out our Phil and Ted Wriggle Wraps and tied them down. JJ loved it; Jorge drank too much beer and couldn't sit up straight. It lasted for about 3 minutes but it was very funny for those three minutes.

Sunday at the Beach

2010-03-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day on the beach for Jorge and Jeremiah (thanks to Heidi for the very cute beach outfits!). I took these pictures when we arrived and intended to take more but the kids took off in opposite directions - Jorge for the water and Jeremiah the other way. Alicia and I pretty much played heavy defense after that. The last time I came to JP with Sam, he and I spent a lot of time playing on the beach. I don't think Jorge and Jeremiah will be there all that much - they got sand everywhere (on themselves), got bit by flies, were ogled by passersby, and then got forcibly held under the outdoor shower at the apartment building. Funnily enough, Jorge really did love it. Kept crawling straight for the waves.

New high chairs

2010-03-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

I promise I will stop posting. I just wanted to show off their new high chairs. The directions are very complete: they tell you how to attach the chairs and then suggest that you offer food. Jorge and JJ couldn't decide which part they liked best. They're eating the perfect Brazilian lunch here - grilled chicken, carioca beans, rice and steamed vegetables.

It's hot in Brazil

2010-03-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

The boys had a good first night - they slept like babies should in their little tents, drank their bottles on the bed and then got dressed for the beach (well, dressed to walk up and down the boardwalk until their mother decided that the scorching hot equatorial sun at noon was probably a little much for them - in the end, they were fine; it was Alicia and I who got the traditional first-day burn). Tomorrow, rinse and repeat. Monday, the vacation's over, they gotta get to work!

Viva Brasil!

2010-03-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

Jorge and Jeremiah took four flights this Thursday (to Friday) for their first trip to Brazil. As you can tell from the drooling, they were very excited. The last picture in this series was taken at the beginning of the third flight; Alicia and I look pretty beat up but actually the flights weren't so bad. The boys never cried (ahem, there may be fellow passengers who dispute my definition of crying - JJ does that strange moaning thing that sounds like a cry if you don't know and love him) and I only considered throwing Jorge into the aisle to fend for himself a couple of times.

J and J turn 1!

2010-03-22T17:14:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to Jorge and Jeremiah!

Wendy dressed Jorge. I fear that this is how my babies will look for much of their coming time in Brazil...

The white outfits were given to the boys by their nanny, Allecia, who will be accompanying Wendy and the twins to Brazil later this week. Thankfully, there is only one leopard print headband, and JJ is not wearing it.

The outfits are one part British colonizer and one part chinese lounge suit, which makes sense since they were made in Mexico.

Our friends lent us two baby crib/tents, being tested here by J and J. The tents are great -- much lighter and easier to travel with than pack 'n plays. Thanks Andy and Layna and Graham and Ceci!!!

The tents work great, as long as the kids don't learn how to unzip them...

As part of the traditional first birthday celebration, JJ is trying to swallow a ping pong ball.

"Happy Birthday? I'm tired. Give me ice cream and put me to bed!"

Sam presents the boys with their birthday ice cream.

Sam taunts the boys with their birthday ice cream.

Sam attempts to hypnotize Jeremiah so that he might have a little of JJ's ice cream. [Jorge, in the background, senses that his brother is in trouble and is worried.]

It turns out that the babies liked their first taste of ice cream. No one was surprised.

"I'm one!" --JJ

"I'm one too!" --Jorge

"Ok, seriously, I don't know how old I am, but if you don't put me to bed soon, I promise you a meltdown worthy of a two-year-old."

I like this series

2010-03-03T17:15:00.001-08:00

I like this series of Jorge.

Sam, Jorge and Picasso

2010-03-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

You think Sam and Jorge look alike? Here they are in matching painter outfits, roughly six years apart; can you tell which is which?

Ok ok, here are some photos

2010-03-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

No, seriously. I'm not kidding. We are really busy right now and we just don't have time to post any photos of our children. What? You don't care? You just want photos -- NOW! Well, it's people like you that got us into this mess that we're all in right now. People who are all, "give us stuff, now! we don't know or care what it costs, we just want it now!" Yeah, that's right -- I'm looking at you, Mr. and Sra. "We Want it Yesterday!" Well, just so you know, my productivity has dropped significantly since starting this blog post. That's right -- I am not producing anything productive while I post this. And do you know whose fault that is? It's yours!!! How do you sleep at night...

Wendy decided that in the middle of February, the babies needed to spend some time in the sand, all beach-like. The babies were nonplussed, to be sure, but they made an effort to evince the proper "I like sand and beach" attitude, distancing themselves from their father. Their father, meanwhile, is looking forward to February photos being taken in the snow.

Jeremiah is wearing his Brasil t-shirt so that I can photograph him in it before he outgrows it. (thanks Brenda and Chris!)

I have three boys. These are my three boys in the morning. I think they are handsome. Do you?

Wendy has been sorting clothes (thank goodness!) and found this bandana, which obviously needed to be tied around Jorge's head. I'm pretty sure this bandana belonged to Simon -- Kevin and Meredith's dog. Back me up on this, Kevin and/or Meredith.

Jeremiah is a pirate.

Jorge is tall! Standing so tall! Be taller than him -- I dare you! He dares you!

Standing to stand up

2010-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

J and J are pulling themselves up to a standing position now, using anything stout enough to support their considerable gravitational pull to hoist their rear ends above the surly bonds of earth.

Happy Babies are Happy.

Basket Babies

2010-02-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

Did the laundry the other day and found babies at the bottom of the basket. So that's where they've been! (Jeremiah has trucks on his jammies, and Jorge has stripes.)

peek-a-boo

2010-01-30T12:05:00.000-08:00

Jeremiah loves playing peek a boo. In this video he took time out to spit up, but usually he is very dedicated. (John will want me to tell you that this is a Wendy post; that's why it's not funny, etc. etc.)

Jorge and his reindeer sweater

2010-01-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

Jorge is looking handsome - but very serious - in his new reindeer sweater that Pau Pau knitted!

Jan 17, 2010

2010-01-18T17:33:00.000-08:00

JJ came over to Jorge's crib for a visit yesterday morning right after they'd woken up. I was originally going to pick the one or two best photos and put them up here, but I think they are more impactful (wink wink, Dana) as a set. So, without commentary, I give you, "The Good Morning Brothers."

(For the holdouts who insist that Jorge and Jeremiah are identical, I dare you to leave such a comment after this post. You know who you are (George Wolford).)

My phone has a camera in it. This makes me special.

2010-01-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos from my iPhone from the last month or so. Enjoy.

The big news is that we are moving to Ithaca, NY, this summer. Ithaca is known for it's deep rocky gorges with waterfalls wherever you look. Seriously, it's like, waterfall here, waterfall there, another one right in front of you... it gets a little monotonous.

This is how Wendy and I will look when we move to Ithaca: Wendy all smiles and radiance, me grimacing and only half-committed to being in the picture. Ha ha. No, I'm sure I'll be all smiles and radiance too, just once we get through the next 6 months or so...

JJ makes funny faces. He's silly.

While Wendy was in Las Vegas visiting her grandfather, Sam, Jorge, JJ and I all went to a birthday party for the twins first nanny, Martha (who is the daughter of Allecia, the twins nanny for the last 5 months). She had a christmas tree that did a dance when you pressed a button. It both entranced and freaked out the boys.

At this same party, there was a giant stuffed Rudolph. Putting a baby on said Rudolph and taking a photo seemed the natural thing to do. (This is JJ, for those of you STILL having trouble telling them apart... I mean, what is it with you "they look the same to me" people? Put on your glasses!)

Didn't want to leave Jorge out of the festivities...

How to Shop with a Sleeping Baby

I turned 40. Big whoop. But Wendy got me this great cake, so it wasn't so bad.

Some more photos

2010-01-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

People are always asking, when are you going to put up more photos of the boys? So here are some more random photos from the last month or so. Yes, we are getting lax about taking more pictures -- must be the winter malaise. The winter malaise is also to blame for my not writing anything interesting or witty here. Darn that malaise!

Floor babies: [noun, pl.] infants who have not yet learned to crawl, thus stay put where ever you leave them.

[Note: Jorge has since learned to actually craw, not just squirm all commando-style. Video coming]

Rudresh came for a visit and so we took him to the science museum where he could catch a butterfly and then transfer the butterfly from his finger to Sam's. This is what we do with visitors.

Jeremiah (L) and Jorge (R) with Alecia, their nanny. Alecia has since gone back to Mexico to visit family, but she will be back with us in Feb (either here, or in Brazil... it's complicated).

I took no good photos on Christmas morning and I offer this photo as proof.

Jeremiah (who is still a floor baby) with a post-bath faux-hawk.

As part of my 40th birthday celebration, I flew up to NYC to see Rudresh perform with Jack DeJohnette's new quintet. Just think - 20 years ago, Rudresh was in my band! Look how far he's come and how far I haven't gone...

Bath time

2010-01-12T20:34:00.000-08:00

Crawling

2010-01-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

Jorge is the first to crawl. It's really more of a commando-style slither, but it gets more crawl-like every day. More photos are coming.

Photos!

2009-12-15T08:59:00.001-08:00

There is a backlog of photos that need posting. So commence to posting:

Cute photo of boys wearing hats. The distortion of the camera lens makes Jorge look like Jupiter to Jeremiah's Io, but honestly he's really less than a pound heavier. Honestly.

Sam and Connor made "soda" from a home science kit in little plastic test tubes. As evidenced by Connor's face, it was disgusting.

George chasing Kiera at the resort pool (where we had Thanksgiving).

Phyllis and Jorge enjoying a well-deserved post-Thanksgiving meal relaxation. Well, maybe Jorge didn't "deserve" it so much as vehemently request it.

A delicious meal with family -- a real treat!

Biscuit time!

How cute is this photo? Painfully cute...

The Barrett-Kurzmans came over for dinner the other night and Charlie took Jeremiah for a little spin on the dance floor. Also painfully cute...

It was cold outside, so Ella and Sam came in to set up a little "camp" in front of the fire and drink hot cocoa.

JJ and Jorge in outfits from Lisa and Steve. More cuteness...

Thanksgiving through the "i" of the iPhone

2009-11-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was spent in Williamsburg, VA, this year, thanks to Wendy's parents, who used their time-share points to put us up in two condos (one on top of the other) in a superb resort with wonderful amenities for the kids (indoor swimming pool, miniature golf course, bunny rabbits, etc.). George and Phyllis were ridiculously generous and kept both our twins and Wendy's sister's twins with them downstairs, while the parents slept upstairs. Three nights of uninterrupted sleep! Heaven! Add to that the wonderful thanksgiving meal prepared in the impossibly tiny kitchenette (with Phyllis's famous bread stuffing!), and this is a holiday we are unlikely to forget anytime soon. Oh, and there was some historic stuff nearby. Something about "settlers" building forts and slaughtering hogs after getting off a big boat that had come from far away or something. Anyway, I'm sure it was important, but I was concentrating on the sleep and the food, both of which were exemplary!

I didn't get out the real camera as often as I should have (this is becoming an unfortunate pattern), but I did download some really cool new apps for my iPhone that made the camera feature all [pa-chow!] and [kah-zing!]. I honestly don't know how people without iPhones can live with themselves, much less find a decent place to eat.

There are no "effects" on this photo, but it is a nice picture of our three boys. Plus, Sammy, without explanation, drew big round Harry Potter-esque glasses and a pencil moustache on his face, which were awesome.

Zakowey! It's the "infra-red" app! Check it! Sam looks like he could be on the record sleeve of a post-punk, new-wave album from the early '80s. Rad!

Ba-bam! It's the "zoom" app plus the "1962" filter, giving a somewhat boring photo a brooding sense of ennui and misplaced angst. Yeah, man!

Buh-nuh-nuh-nuh! The "zoom" app coupled with "poor framing"! "Poor framing" is not an app, per se, it's more of an attitude. Right on!

Wah-zoooey! The "instant polaroid" app gives this very cute photo of Steve and Kiera a Blade Runner-like sense of mystery and historical intrigue. Dig it!

Ok, there are no special features to this photo. It's just a photo of Sam holding the "linstock", a long pole used to set off the cannons kept below deck on the Susan Constant boat. This is in historic Jamestown, btw, just so you know, to be sure, as it were.

And here's Sam (and some other volunteers) firing the cannon at another ship on the other side of the harbor. Our poor ship, she took on a great deal of water and was much worse for wear after the calamitous battle, but we were victorious and managed to sink the other tourist attraction floating nearby. I believe that most of the tourists on the other ship made it to shore unscathed, but we disembarked for the "gifte shoppe" ere such ascertainments could be made.

In the historic Jamestown Fort, one may try on Historic-Style[TM] armor, so long as one is the size of a 5 to 6 year-old. Apparently, the children did all the fighting in olden times, which is as it should be.

Yakazooey! This photo is taken with the "Helga" filter, which is a "square-format toy camera with washed-out highlights and old-school vignetting." That's the facts, jack! Here is Sam on the Susan Constant brandishing a period-style "stick", which the officer on deck thankfully did not confiscate as that would have certainly bought said officer a long walk off a short plank, if you know what I mean.

Pah-blammo! It's the "colorcross" filter of some re-enactors with a slaughtered hog! The "colorcross" lends this photo a sense of physical realism, with a palpable veneer of "ick", which was what I was going for. Mission accomplished!

BAWHAM! It's "helga" again, this time framing George, Jorge and Jeremiah with a soft-edged hush. What could be sweeter? Sweet!

Vabbbabbabagah! It's the "instant polaroid" filter again, kicking the "V" signs up a notch! Slamma-jamma, Mr. Sam(ma)!

Beat It

2009-11-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

I thought about editing this video to make it shorter, but I just love the whole thing. Sammy has got some moves and his brothers are impressed. It's sure to bring a smile to your face. Money back guarantee.

Raleigh Running!

2009-11-15T15:11:00.000-08:00

We went to Raleigh today for a running race/family fun day. There was running, there were blow-up carnival-y type ride/amusement things, there was funnel cake -- it was a good time for all! Wendy ran in the 5k race, pushing Jorge and Jeremiah. There were about 10 stroller entries and Wendy came in 3rd (2nd woman) in a time of 26:02 (8:25 minute miles!), and she was first in the double-stroller category! Sam ran in the 100 m dash and came in [mshmm hrhmsmeh]th out of roughly a bunch of kids. Also, he and his friend Ella had their faces painted in matching dinosaur-monster-things. Who knew downtown Raleigh was so fun!?! (Embarrassingly, this was our first time to downtown Raleigh...)

Wendy stretching her hamstrings before the race. She was steely and self-assured.

The stroller race started 2 minutes before the rest of the runners. Here they are lined up behind the orange barriers, just itching to get out there and push their babies really really fast for about 20 to 40 minutes (the various babies varied in their enthusiasm for the coming fast-pushing). The top three stroller finishers are pictured here in a bit of foreshadowing: #603 won, the woman in teal -- to #603's right -- came in second (just 10 seconds in front of Wendy!), and then Wendy.

And they're off! [Notice how #200 and #682 have pushed their way to the front. Sheeyeah! As if!]

Wendy, Jorge and JJ coming into the finish. Be happy that just out of view in this photo was a young man who had apparently pushed himself beyond his limits and was -- how shall we say? -- giving clemency to his breakfast?

Yay! Good job! Well, good job Wendy and Jeremiah. I told Jorge he really needed to step up his game next time...

Yikes! Terrifying!

Sam and Ella just before their race.

Jorge, Jeremiah, Wendy and I waiting (and waiting!) for Sam at the finish of the 100 m dash.

Here they come! Sam is on the far left, with Ella just ahead and to the right. (It should be noted that Ella's 7 -year-old brother Kalvin came in second in the 1 mile race with finishing time of 6:18!!!)

Yay, Sam! Dinosaur-monster-dragon-things rule!

Halloween - Sam

2009-11-04T19:02:00.001-08:00

Sam, the shy Spiderman. Our neighbor, Bob Veranes is in the background, no doubt wondering how he is going to get around the Wolford/Lynch mob.

The boys, looking resigned.

Our halloween pumpkins - Sam carved the bottom one, with a house and a ghost, all by himself.

This is just before the sugar-induced craziness came on.

Halloween - Jorge and Jeremiah

2009-11-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Jorge and Jeremiah rocked the halloween parade this year in red and white. We decided only moments beforehand who would be the devil and who would be the angel, based on the all-important sleep data for the day. We have a picture of sam coming... (and wendy was a ninja warrior, in case that costume wasn't clear).