They call her Jungle

Erika now prefers to be called "Jungle" these days.

Any mention of "cupcake" is harshly reproached.

As for this photo, I will let the readers suggest a caption.

November naptime.

Four out of five Wetzels are asleep right now. Daddy does not know what to do with himself, so he decides to rake leaves. It is the rainy, drizzly time of year now. The moss is really loving it.
I put extra grass seed on some bare spots in the lawn a couple weeks ago, but I think the birds ate it all! I haven't been in the yard for a couple weeks and I see that there are lots of mushrooms, an insane amount of moss, and one rat carcass. That last one was a bit of a surprise, and I came *this* close to putting it on the blog, but I guess fortunately for you I didn't! So anyway here's some moss from our back yard, it's kinda pretty, in a hobbit sort of way.

2008 Ohio visit

Grandma Kathy and Miranda

Great Grandma Huges and Cate.

Family photo!

Grandpa Keith and Miranda take a moment to bond.

2008 Ohio visit

Great Grandma Hughes and Cate.


Great Uncle Chuck examines Miranda's foot, apparently.


Great aunt Ilene becomes a chew toy.


Aunt Kimi and Mirand having fun.

History being made etc.

No, I'm not going to write anything snarky.
The dems won fair and square. Erika observes.

Halloween 2008

Oct 18th

Reading is quite a bit harder to do these days, but daddy manages. Cate seems to enjoy reading even at this early age.


Catey the happy baby this morning!


Grandma Glady and Aunty Jayne came to visit us this Saturday.
Catey and Miranda enjoy being held, and Erika plays the part of a rogue fairy.
Sherry Bobbleberry (first class).

October fun

Here we have a couple baby seats which are ridiculously expensive. At least we got one at a swap meet type event! But they are a great way to plant the babies. Of course you are not supposed to put the baby chairs on a table, or counter, or anywhere else which would actually be useful. Once again, we break all the rules.


Still, it is difficult to keep clothes on #1. Miranda looks on.


Erika and I enjoyed some pumkin carving on the front porch tonight when we were visited by five very large racoons. I was able to get a photo of one here at least. Apparently, our neighbor feeds them regularly out of some misplaced need to nurture vermin. They are not at all scared of humans, and were coming right up to us. Strangely enough, Erika was not at all affraid of them either! She's affraid of everything - except a team of wild racoons? She did not want to pet them or anything, so that is good, but she was completely ambivalent toward them. I had to shoo them off, since, like persistant dinner guests, they were just getting comfortable and moving in for more conversation.

A trip to the Aquarium (for good behavior)

For exceptionally good behavior, Erika earned a trip to the Seattle Aquarium.


We spent a lot of time watching the jelly fish lazily make their way around the tank shaped like a tauroid. Also we did a significant amount of artwork. Below, Erika takes a dim view of being photographed.



For the outdoor parts, there were smocks.What could be cuter than a ladybug smock.

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.