Whirlin' Waters n Da Beach

What else to do when it's scorching hot in Summerville/Charleston, SC? Go to Whirlin' Waters with Aunt Manda!

Often, Grace is the risktaker before Chance, like this time when she headed over to the water gun before Chance would try it. He then follows and demands his turn.

And, of course, we made a BEACH TRIP with Aunt Manda too!

She's a beach baby. Strikin' a pose.

The four of us made a groovy track in the sand for the twins to drive cars/trucks. It ended with a tunnel -- one that didn't fall! (See it in this pic -- it's below Chance?)

Aunt Manda took 'em in the water, holding them and jumping over the waves with them too.
We all trekked to Newberry (aka Mayberry) for Daddy's 20th high school reunion. We stopped by Grandaddy Baumgartner's church, Redeemer Lutheran, where he pastored for several years, and played on the playground (well, the gate was unlocked, y'all). Chance apparently likes the sensation of the tire swing movement when he closes his eyes and shakes his head (see VIDEO). Aunt Manda babysat while Mommy and Daddy went to the Sat. nite shindig. It's always a mystery what takes place during these times. :)

Hair and Teeth at Salon Haute Manda

We counted down the days till Aunt Manda finally arrived in July (23-31). Ahhh, the joy of settling in to the comfort of craziness for several days of vacay with her! I mean, Chance happily allowed her to give him a new Bam Bam 'do.

And Grace took to her dental training like . . . well, Pebbles. She ain't gentle but she's sincere. Aunt Manda (actual, certified, real dental assistant) coached Grace in "brushing" by letting her neice brush her teeth.

Grace inspected her aunt's mouth carefully for "bugs," jabbed brush into back (causing gagging reflex or flinching from pain), pinched cheeks (we don't know why), insisted on multiple more inspections during each cleaning, etc.

A more patient, fun, crazy aunt never walked the earth. More posts with Aunt Manda to come . . .

Catchin' Up on Summer

Whoa, we're way behind on our summer blogging!

In June (20th), we went to the Lowman Home to see Grandmother and Grandaddy Baumgartner who had nearly finished packing up their cottage, with help from the family, so that they could move into an apartment.

Grace doled out kisses. First to Grandmother.

Then a couple more to Grandaddy.

An added bonus: Uncle Paul and Aunt Debbie were also visiting. Favored playmate Aunt Debbie got on the floor with the twins. (Thank you for Grace's first Raggedy Ann doll and Chance's flashlight in the shape of a tow truck; the twins slept with those toys for at least 2 weeks afterward and still play with 'em.)

Baumgartner men have a genetic predisposition for madras shorts.

On the way back to Summerville, we stopped in Lexington for the Gugel twins' 1-yr birthday party. Pic (L to R): Daddy, Grace, Chance, Mommy, Cousin Dylann, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Scott, and Cousin Carson.

The Baum twins absconded their cousins' toys at the party. Carson shared sweetly. And the cupcakes were YUMMY!

Ahh, Summer. Our activities frequently include water and eventually end up with naked babies in our backyard. A few blades of grass and a bit of dirt sometimes get stuck in not-so-comfy places. :)

Mommy tried to coax the twins into putting their heads in the sprinkler to cool off. They refused at first, but after seeing Mommy do it, they now don't hesitate a bit.

Bakin' muffins, breakin' bones, bondin' with baby frog

Our delish muffins

Mommy's search for healthy recipes our whole family will enjoy is bearing fruit--er, muffins. SheKnows.com has a recipe for these Oatmeal-Carrot Muffins, and Chance--our pickiest eater--ADORES them, eating 2, 3, or 4 at a time. I've made 3 batches in only 3 weeks, and he ate most of them.

They contain VEGGIES like fresh carrots and 1 jar of carrot baby food (I used 1 jar of baby sweet potatos, actually) along with whole wheat flour, and oats! They're moist and sweet! (See recipe at bottom.) We all like them, except Daddy who hasn't tried (i.e., won't try) them.

But Daddy really loves another healthy recipe, Turkey Sloppy Joes from http://www.weelicious.com/. They really are good and don't contain any ketchup or other icky sweetners or preservatives.

BREAKIN' BONES
When Daddy comes home from work, we eat dinner, then the kids go crazy with a last burst of energy. Last nite, Daddy got creative. He asked Chance if he broke his arm when he fell down. Chance wasn't crying, but because Daddy was grinning and they were in the midst of a game, Chance said, YES! It led to the creation of these "casts" -- Mommy took pics and wrote "I heart you" on his arm cast (I'm SUCH a Mom!). Apparently, Nestle was injured too, and the twins comforted him. What a patient pup he is (pun intended).

OUR BABY GIRL FINDS A BABY FROG
We've had lots of summer showers, and the ground has been damp, hence LOTS OF FROGS! We found one in our cup outside--a little bitty baby one. And Grace was so pleased that she carried it around the backyard with a grin on her face.
Mommy has always liked reptiles (maybe growing up in Tallahassee fostered that--lots of 'em 'round there, including alligators), so I've been trying to persuade Grace to hold the baby frog . . . this is as close as she'd get to it. (Isn't that frog CUUTE?) But at least she didn't scream or act scared or run away, like she did about a year ago (remember, Aunt Manda? We have some of that on video!). So proud of her now--that's my girl!

Here's a pic of Mommy, at about age 6 or 7, holding a snake we'd found in the yard. Uncle Matt is holding some kind of lizard, and little Aunt Manda is holding her stuffed clown--Manda was about the same age as Grace is now, so maybe they are/were too young for reptiles. :)

Recipe for Oatmeal-Carrot Muffins

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

* jar carrot baby food

*1/2 cup shredded carrots

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir by hand until combined. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 16-18 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins. (Allow toddlers to "frost" muffins with fat-free cream cheese, if desired.)

Happy 4th of July!

We're grateful for our American freedom. And we thank those who served--and are serving--in the U.S. armed forces.


Free watermelon at the downtown Summerville celebration tonite.

And free Tootsie Rolls for the twins, given to them during the parade. Their very FIRST taste of Tootsies, btw. In pics: Chance, drooling Tootsie Roll down chin (he's a bit messy when he eats) and Grace opening her mouth to reveal piece of Tootsie.


Chance asked to jump in one of the jump castles, but too many big kids made him jumpy. He didn't jump. He watched for about 5 minutes, then got out. Yes, it's a goat. Named Fudge. She was friendly . . . but the twins weren't convinced. (Did we mention that Chance is a bit messy when he eats? With watermelon, he shoves his entire face into a slice, leaving a large wet spot on his t-shirt as seen in this photo.)

Grace kisses her Daddy after the parade. We didn't stay for fireworks (at 9 pm) . . . maybe next year!

"I'm big, Mommy. I'm not little." - Chance

It's official. Chance has grown up. Last night, while putting him to bed, I must've called him "My little boy." He corrected me: "I'm big, Mommy. I'm not little." Sigh . . . where did my little baby boy go already?

At 2 yrs, 2 mos, he's definitely hit toddlerhood. We tried to go blueberry picking last week with our Mommy and Me group, and it was WAY TOO HOT at 10 am. Chance lagged behind, and when I said it was hot, he said, "Too hot, Mommy." He picked for a couple of minutes--click! an actual pic!--then dumped out the few he had in his bucket. Again, he picked for a minute or two, then dumped out his bucket--and promptly threw it. It landed near Mommy. He didn't yell, he didn't cry, in fact, he didn't really say much, but he definitely protested. Aunt Manda thinks he'll be the type of kid who holds his breath when he doesn't get his way . . . and might even pass out from it. Ha! :)

Mommy has been a little desperate to find healthy foods that the WHOLE family will eat. Lo and behold, today Chance ate one of these "healthy popsicles" I made with bananas, pineapple, and baby spinach leaves (and a little water with sugar and a touch of gelatin)! Yep, it's green, folks. He takes after his Daddy and doesn't like much, even making himself gag if he doesn't want to eat it.

His new favorite toy is this large dump truck from Target. We even took it to the beach at the beginning of June. There's Grace, sitting on a fallen palm tree, eating her lunch with Luna (our neighbor Mindy went with us and brought her dog). And there's Chance, driving his dump truck over the cool "bump" made by the tree, making driving sounds, putting sand in the back of it.

Couple o' VIDEOS of my ALL-BOY child. First one: he's flipping over a large plastic ball, landing on his back--on purpose. And he did it over and over again, thanks to Daddy's encouragement. Mommy didn't like it at first, but I realized that I'd better just join in with the fun . . . it's only gonna get worse, right?


Second one: When Daddy was out of town last week, he and Grace didn't want to go to sleep one night, so they ran around and laughed at each other, and--of course, Chance tackled Grace several times, as seen in this video.

Grace Spurt

Pic: Evelyn joined us for a playdate last Friday. Mommy had as much or more fun than the twins, I think. Thanks for coming, Laura and Evelyn!

Grace has had another "developmental spurt," as Mommy likes to call it. She's more self-entertaining, more verbal, more humorous than ever, which was quite wonderful during Chance's recent recovery from surgery (adnoids removed and ear tubes inserted on 6-11). As Chance clung to Mommy for a few days afterward (low-grade fever for about 2 days), Grace made up new games to play, helped Mommy, and generally had a blast with life.

At their 2-year check-ups on 4-15, the twins still measured in the bottom percentiles for their sizes, but they're still growing on the charts. Dr. Leonardi also commented that Grace's verbal abilities were those of a 3 1/2 yr old. Yes, we're proud parents, but do y'all know what it's like to have this itty-bitty 2-yr old talk in paragraphs to you? When we're in public, and she holds a lengthy conversation with a stranger, I watch that stranger's expression change from one of shock to surprise to delight. On the back porch, Grace recently said to her daddy, "I want to go inside. To see why Ruthie's barking. To see if she's okay. I'll come right back." She also bosses us around, "Mommy, come here right now. I don't want this paci. I want the blue one."

I remember that Grace sang the ABC song as early as last Nov.--at age 1 1/2--because at one of our Mom's club events (Barnes & Noble storytime on 11-5), one of the moms heard her and told another mom about it in a surprised voice. I didn't realize it was such an amazing feat, I guess.

Below are a couple more examples of Gracie's verbosity. The first video, in the highchair, was taken in January (21 mos old) at Grammy Sharon's house. At the end of the video, you can hear her sing the ABCs. (Please disregard my embarassing memory loss while singing "Twinkle Twinkle.")

This video was taken last Saturday at a birthday party (6-20). Grace sat on the floor and sang her ABCs while presents were being opened. She sang it a few times, prompting Daddy to call her "Rain Man."
When Chance was recovering from surgery, Daddy took Grace to run errands. They returned with an Ariel doll. Apparently, Gracie was intrigued by Ariel's "top," telling everyone in the store "She's got boobies" and then coming home to inform Mommy too. BTW, Daddy fixed her hair that morning--an 80s 'do, doncha think? She'll be wearing a Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt soon.And, not surpringly perhaps, Grace regularly picks up a telephone (play ones around the house, and sometimes Mommy's cell) and pretends to call someone. She holds a conversation that usually mimicks what she's heard Mommy say (and sometimes we actually call the person she requests). Most frequently, she "calls" Aunt Manda, as in this video. But the FUNNIEST part of the video is Chance declaring, "I squish him! I squish a bug!" Grace couldn't talk over that, and MOmmy had to stop the video so she could laugh.

Right before her 2nd birthday, Gracie also began calling me "Jenny" instead of Mommy. She'd heard her daddy call me that, so she began to do it too. Is it just me, or isn't that supposed to happen during adolescence?! But Grace also saw her parents' wedding picture, and when I asked her who the lady was, she said, "A princess." Awwwwwwww!!!!!!

You know, I just realized that I haven't posted the major change experienced by this Mommy of Twins. Right around the twins' 2nd birthdays, I caught myself thinking, We've got it made. For the first time since their birth, Mommy could grab a few minutes to do something other than intently oversee/interact with the twins. And as I watched them create their own games--by themselves or with each other--I began to see the beauty of having twins. I also love that we have BUILT-IN PLAYMATES at our house. I wouldn't wish that first year with twins on anyone, but now I think, We have arrived! Or perhaps I should say, We survived!

The Marcheses Visit

Memorial Day weekend 'n' the Marcheses. The Baums didn't make it out to Kiawah to see them 'cause of a nasty crud (swine flu?), but we had dinner with 'em down at Noisy Oyster on their last nite. Then delish pralines from Market Street Sweets afterward--thanks, Uncle Paul (see the tall, dark, and handsome fella carrying the bag in the pic below?)!
Shan stayed with us a couple of days after Kiawah, and we used our membership to the SC Aquarium. Grace pointed out the highlights. Shannon was extremely impressed.

A gift from Aunt Shan: two adorable sea turtles (Mommy's fav sea creature)!

Grace: "Pinch! Pinch! He pinched my toe!"

Mommy and Shan saw a Spoleto concert at the Cistern (CofC): Punch Brothers. Unique, talented music by folks of high caliber (Nickel Creek, etc.). It hopefully redeemed her from her prior faux pas of giving Shan and Paul the wrong location for the Spoleto play they saw a few nites before. (Did I mention we might have had the swine flu? A common symptom: brain sludge.)

Mommy recently videoed the twins sitting at the table "writing" with Momma. Chance sings a song that Mommy often sings, but I didn't realize that he knew it this well (or perhaps that I sang it that often!). It's my own version of the Barney song, y'all. And then Grace sings a part of one of her favorite songs, "Little Bunny Foo Foo" (is that how it's spelled?). Aren't they SOOOO TODDLER now? Mommy is already telling them not to grow up so she can hold them forever. :-)