Welcome, Aunt Leslie!

The girls are now home after an exceptionally adventurous week in North Carolina (their 12th state, only 38 to go!). Their tolerance for the six-hour car ride was rewarded by meeting Uncle Nevin and their now-Aunt Leslie, whose beach wedding brought us all to the Outer Banks. Maggie and Bea were much doted upon by the bride and groom and the many other family and friends assembled for the occasion. Leslie woke up early each morning to play with the girls, even including her wedding day (shown here). Congratulations to the happy couple!

Summer's end

These girls are growing up fast (Maggie is now over 16 pounds, Bea is nearly 15) and outfits that seemed unimaginably huge are now snug on little Bea let alone giant Maggie. Here Bea shows off her first overalls and a summery outfit even as the twins were closing out their first summer spending Labor Day weekend with their grandmothers. They are big fans of sitting up whether on the floor (propped or otherwise) or chowing down in their bumbo and high chairs. The girls have worked their way through the orange vegetables and the green vegetables, and are now on to fruits with their breakfast oatmeal. Veggies are still the accompaniment of choice for dinnertime rice cereal.

On Peacham Pond

The girls are now home from Vermont, having made the most of their week-plus on Peacham Pond. Hanging out on the dock, they heard loons for the first time (as opposed to simply living with them). Uncle Charles mesmerized both girls -- but especially Maggie -- with his many flutes played both alone and in concert with Grandma Joan on keyboard and Dave on a rented cello. Charles also honed his skills as a baby comic (Borscht Belt jokes interspersed with funny noises that elicited fits of giggles). Aunt Mary took the fabulous picture of Bea in the sink.

Spackled in Vermont

Rice cereal and squash adorn the girls' faces as they enjoy their vacation on Peacham Pond in Vermont. They were slightly more presentable when they met their cousins Virginia and Abbi. The pleasures of the pond include corn-shucking with Grandma Joan.

Six months young

Hooray and hoorah, Maggie and Bea are cumulatively a year old! Why, it seems like only yesterday... Now Bea lounges around with her legs up on her dad, and Maggie shows off the chair-sitting skills of a six-month old. They celebrated with the introduction of multi-grain mush, having mastered the fine art of sampling rice cereal and then the much more popular oatmeal last week.

The life aquatic

The girls received their first post-partum taste of that oceanic feeling this past weekend, compliments of Grandma Joan and her retirement community's swimming pool. Eschewing the controversies over high-tech skintight plastic swimsuits that dogged the world championships (and took 30 minutes to put on), Maggie and Bea went with a flouncy skirted one-piece and swimming diapers. They were neck and neck coming down the lane, touching out at the same time, albeit both with a fairly considerable assist from mother and grandmother.

Foot in mouth disease

We have been worried for some time that daily strolls around the Capitol might have some negative consequences, and now it appears that Maggie has caught this affliction that is chronic in so many politicians. But her symptoms are literal -- she takes great pleasure in putting her feet in her mouth. No mis-statements or faux pas for this young girl. While Bea is just starting to discover her feet, she also enjoys sitting up in her chair (on loan from Emma in Philadelphia). Here she demonstrates admirable head control in a fetching pose!