Squirrel Time

Once again it's Squirrel Time.
An event origionated with Erika's friend Takara and celebrated at the equinox.



The kids make crafts involving nature and whatnot.
Oh, to be young an pagan again!

Babies doing stuff!

Cate and Miranda react to the WAMU crisis


Miranda indicates that it's time to bite the bear market on it's nose.


Daddy and Cate read up on how people are really bad at understanding risk.

park and moon

Now that all our Ohio visitors have gone, we have had a long run of incredibly nice weather. So we went to a park which is known for farm animals. That turkey was a little too big for comfort.

Miranda enjoys the sunshine.

Cate is guarded in her optimism.

Full moon will be on Monday, so with a clear sky, we broke out the telescope to get a closer look at our old pal moony.

What are you looking at?

Can you tell which is which?

End of summer

This Labor day weekend we (actually Jackie) bring you the activities of the Wetzel girls. First, the twins have been practicing arm and leg movements. The are also doing a few minutes of tummy time on the playmat. Here, Miranda (on the left) and Cate (on the right) grunt and drool as they build their crawling muscles.

Below, Cate demonstrates an advanced move as she combines reaching for a plastic toy and a 45 degree head lift on her tummy. In the new rule of scoring in the baby gym, her moves have a possible score of 7.5 for a 3 month old. (Yes, Mommy watched too many gymnastic competitions in the summer Olympics) You can see Miranda's elbow as she also works out.

Miranda shows off her newly strengthened neck muscles. Note, she is holding her head up by herself and not touching Mommy's face. Very handy as she looks for other stimulation than Mommy catching up on email and surfing the web.

Finally, no blog posting is complete without news from Erika. Erika has been doing potty training this past week with panty days. She is doing great using the toilet for both potty and poopy. Yeah! Here she demonstrates that anything can be worn as a hat, even panties. This continues a family potty-training tradition started by Maura and may be continued by the youngest siblings.

One more time

You know something Cate?
I'm getting a little tired of this.

Baby holds rattle, Erika holds baby etc.

Miranda is the first to shake a rattle semi-intentionally. Cate ignores this momentous occasion and instead focuses on her own hand trying to decide if it is a nipple or not. She will have to taste it to be 100% sure.

Erika is very interested in holding the babies now. The day before yesterday - no. Today - yes! What she lacks in technique, she makes up for with enthusiasm. Cate is happy that she is being held and not dropped on the carpet.


Miranda gets into the act too. Only she demands a bottle and pillow before allowing her big sister to hold. Erika happily provides the requested items, although her aim is a bit off.

Daddy with his three little babes. For those keeping score at home, Erika is holding Miranda and Jason is holding Cate. Mommy takes the picture and gets to hide behind the camera!

August 2008

Erika reaches for two hot-air balloons.

Why is she wearing bib? No one knows.

No milk?

Cate: Where is the nipple on this thing?
Miranda: Hmm, something feels ...weird.

More babe action

Well, it's been a few weeks since we have posted. As I (Jackie) was the lucky one with the twin that went to sleep first for her nap, I get to update the blog!

The twins are growing and beginning to be more interactive. They now have one awake time in the morning and one awake time in the afternoon. Favorite activities are watching big sister Erika zoom about the room, grunting, and relaxing on the playmat. (in addition to eating, sleeping, crying and pooping :-) Here Miranda looks at herself in the plastic mirror off to the side of the playmat.

Over the past few weeks, the twins have made progress in various physical movements. They can track things with their eyes, and try to control their arms. Best of all, they can smile now. Below, Cate seems to practice arm moving as she reaches for the dangling toy.

Erika is doing well too. She was the one whom Miranda smiled at first. A week ago Wednesday all four of us were at the YMCA. As we were leaving, I had to stop at the front desk. All three kids were gathered around and Erika leaned over Miranda in her car seat to talk to her. Miranda gave Erika the biggest smile. She looked so happy that her big sister was coming over to talk to her. That made Erika's day. (and gave my heart a big tug :-)

Here Erika demonstrates the zooming that the twins find fascinating. She is racing up and down the little hill in our backyard. Lately, she loves running. The two of us will race up and down the backyard. Of course, Erika wins about 75% of the time!

Finally, here I am demonstrating the dual bottle feeding technique. The twins get hungry at the same time several times a day now. Yikes!

Stevie's 4th

This past weekend we attended Stevie Hanley's 4th birthday party. Erika and Stevie have a strange relationship in that Stevie and Erika have been mingling for years now, yet they seem to only loosely interact. Perhaps they are just into different things. For example, he likes to throw, fling, shoot, or do whatever might have the scent of fun. Well, the scent of fun with a low-note of potential bodily harm. Word on the street is that he may take a break to occasionally shout "testicles!" just to mix things up. Erika, on the other hand, is not so hip to that whole projectile scene as she is rather cautious and more interested in observing others while commenting on their clothing. "Nice pants!" or "I like your shirt!" Furthermore, she is more focused on the buttocks region in her random embarrassing statements to family and strangers alike.

You'd think that the toddler world of stinky butt and testicles commentary would leave little room for romance, but it is a matter of record that Stevie has decreed that he plans to marry Erika and have twins. Erika heard rumors of this plan and already said no without hearing any deatils. Below we see Erika and Stevie's grandmother having a delightful time together at the party.

As a side conversation, Stevie's grandma asked Erika what the twins were named. Erika answered right away- "Twin A and Twin B."

Before the party, everyone (except us) attended the movie Wall-e which is about a lovable robot or whatever. We did not attend the movie since we traveled as a pack of five that day and couldn't quite figure out how to do it logistically. So, today, I thought I would take Erika to see Wall-e myself. She has never been to a movie before; just the two of us as Jackie volunteered to stay home with the twins.

We made it through the movie previews, but only got into about 5 minutes before we needed to leave. Why kids' movies have to start with protracted dystopian scenes full of startling sound effects and ominous music is a mystery to me. It was way too much for a dainty cupcake such as herself.

Remember Finding Nemo? We have that on DVD. What the heck is with that? It's all stress, conflict, and neurotic parents in the beginning and then Nemo's mom dies? Who thinks of this stuff?! That one will go in the bin for a few more years I guess.

And as much as I also want to complain about two matinee tickets plus one drink and one bag of popcorn coming to TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS, I will endeavor to let it go. At least we won't be going back until Erika can make it though opening credits without being traumatized.

Below, Jackie being slept on by the twins. They have colds right now, so sleep is a good thing.
And you can't buy antihistamines for infants anymore? I want to know whose lawsuit caused that. ...actually maybe it's best I don't know.

Full Summer Attire

Something of a paparazzi, daddy manages to get this shot of Ms. Erika on her way to the neighbor's house.
Below is the origional shot to get the full effect. Sure, it's 76F and sunny, but Erika is making a fashion statment. The statement being that she can dress herself in anything, and everything, and still look good.

Sunglasses time

Erika is a growing fan of sunglasses. She has many pairs now. Thanks to Disney and the Hello Kitty franchise, there is no conceivable end in sight. Also, her snow hat is staging a June comeback. Purple is in, but photos are not. I had to bribe here with gummi worms to get this shot.

Here's what the twins are up to. Both mouths are accessible from the chair on the left. Bottles at the ready should squawking occur.

When Erika plays quietly by herself, it's a very good thing... kind of.
Recently, when I opened our DVD cabinet I found that it had been sacked. Lincoln logs and bibs had taken over; my attempts at organization thwarted. I should just give up now before I'm completely out-numbered.

Summertime Tom-Foolery

Here our neighbors are visiting us. Erika is often quite energetic and creative when guests arrive. Here she is showing how much she knows about potty training seats. Oy Gevalt.

Miranda and Cate share a moment on the play mat. Or is it Cate and Miranda?

Now that it is *finally* summer around here, it's good to take advantage of off-season wear- like rain coats.
And now that Erika can dress herself, it's hard to keep a handle on what's coming off or going on from moment to moment.

Cupcake at the Symphony, and Napping with Twins

Since Aunt Kimi is here to help us for two weeks, Jackie and Erika had time to attend the tiny tots concert at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle just like old times.

That's a very large cupcake btw.

Aunt Kimi manages to feed and burp both twins nearly constantly and remains semi-alert as seen here.

After a hard day enduring countless re-orgs at work, daddy does not have the capability to remain conscious for long. A brief power nap is enjoyed by all.

Grandma Kathy's tour of duty completed

Aunt Kimi shows up just in time.