November

Wow, has this month gone by in a blur. I have started a very bad habit--I start a blog entry and then save it as draft to finish later, but then I end up w/ several posts to finish and I never think I have enough time to actually finish them at one sitting so then days and even weeks go by. I'm going to end that habit right here--which might means that I end up w/ more hodge podge posts like the one I'm about to write, but whatever.

---It seems that we get sick in this household one person at a time--spaced far enough apart to make it really painful. First Charlotte started throwing up on Friday, then she gets a fever Fri/Sat. She seems to be getting better and then threw up again on Monday. Dylan started the same cycle on Tuesday, which lasted up until yours truly got sick upon my arrival in Houston. I hate when they are sick because it is really hard to give one the attention she needs without neglecting the other. I know, I know, I'm whining.

--We had professional photos of the girls taken last month.... I love all the pics of the girls... I hate the family pics but I'm ok w/ that because I didn't even think we'd take any.. I didn't even wash my hair that morning, and it SHOWS.

--We just got back from a week in Houston for Thanksgiving. Andrew's mother, in an act of grandmother sainthood, flew out here to California for one night just to fly back with me and the girls the next day. She was a total trooper and more than earned the title of SuperGram. Andrew flew out a few days later to join us. The week was very fun, but exhausting, as I am learning that holidays w/ babies are (read: not a lot of time to watch football). But here are some highlights:

• The girls got to hang with their cousins Ainsley and Hayes. Ainsley is much more interested in babies who don't actually LIVE with her, so she was very, very sweet to her cousins. She kept saying things like "I want to take pictures with the chubby one" or "I want to take pictures with the purple one (Dylan had on purple socks)." Hayes is 15 days older than the girls (actual age) and about 15 pounds heavier (no, I'm not kidding). '


• The girls got a lot of time with Gram and Sam. In fact, they got so much attention that they are sort of looking at me this week like "it's JUST you? this sucks!"


• The girls met Hokey Pokey Elmo...he's about their height and spins around...a big hit w/ both of them. They also met most of andrew's high school friends...Nicky is a little bigger than Hokey Pokey Elmo and also has red hair, so he was a big hit too : )
  
• The girls met Jill and the absolutely beautiful Avery. The only real disappointment of the week was that I came down with a fever after I got there and couldn't spend Monday with Jill and Avery as planned. We didn't even get a picture of the three girls which breaks my heart. I'm hoping it becomes an excuse to see each other again very soon.

Being in Houston was great but it did make Andrew and I appreciate living where we do (more urban vs. suburban). We are so lucky to live two blocks from just about everything we need... with two babies getting in and out of the car is a big pain, and where we live I rarely have to do it. So it made us really happy that we haven't gone suburban yet (although now i'm really freaked out about preschool because i applied to more Mill Valley than SF places and now I'm worried they won't get in anywhere...isn't that RIDICULOUS that it is so hard to get your kid into freakin' preschool!?)

In other news:

--Charlotte and Dylan are REALLY starting to get fun. They are starting to make each other laugh and it is really more entertaining than I can even describe. We'll be driving and we'll hear chuckling, and we'll look back and the two of them are leaning forward to look around their car seats and laugh at each other. The other day Dylan tried to roll around and kept rolling into Charlotte...Charlie thought it was the funniest thing and just kept laughing and laughing. They love to look across each other in the exersaucers and laugh, smile, or scream. I think they are finally figuring out that they are in fact two separate people... anyway, I could go on and on about what a thrill it is to be around them these days.

--Charlotte and Dylan are becoming, as far as I can see, very good eaters. I have been trying to make more food for them and give them more 'real people' food. I don't know if I have a philosophy on food other than that I want them to be open to a lot of different things, and I've read that you need to introduce them to things before they are one or else they may end up with very bland taste. The problem is that I SUCK as a cook...really, it bums me out how much I suck. So even though there have been several disasters I have managed to cook and puree up a few things. In the past week C and D have eaten: chicken pieces, beef pieces, beets, kale (dylan not a huge fan, but charlotte liked it!), petrale (white fish), clementines, tortillas, peas with curry and cumin, and raspberries. They have also eaten a boatload of Cheerios (a must-have for the airplane) and a lot of croissant (blame Gramma Peggy who loves to see them kick and scream when she walks in the bakery). They now eat WAY more things than their father. (Now I do pat myself on the back a little for giving them these things, but I also have to admit that I give them vanilla teething biscuits more often than I should...but that is the cookie lover in me...I just can't help myself).

--I have been struggling w/ my professional/personal balance a bit. More on that later....

PS. I know, I'm so pathetic that I don't have better pictures from Thanksgiving. These pics were very nicely taken by my sister-in-law Ali. There were in fact pictures taken of all the dodson kids, but just not on my camera...I'll post as soon as I get them.