Happy Happy Joy Joy

Nadia has been in a good mood recently. Probably something to do with her recent ability to sleep from 8pm to as late as 7am some nights. This of course puts us into a better mood as well... however, there is the issue of the weakest link, and in this case, well, i'm sure Kai will need some more sleep one of these days... Here's Nadia standing tall on Sylvia and Dominic's kitchen table. Photo credits as usual to Dominic...

Thanksgiving in Baltimore

Kai and Nadia had their first flight... to Baltimore of all places. Their grandparents Nina and Joe took them in, gave em a proper place to sleep and everything. Even appropriated some recycled wheels for their daily walk (see right). We all had a great time and the twins got to meet their cousins, aunts, uncles, and the whole extended Russian family (thats Kai with cousin Dania below) ... a new face every day. how exciting. The flight back left much to be desired though, as weather and airplane problems left us grounded in the airport for over 5 hours waiting to take off. Luckily we were stocked with diapers and of course the food comes free...

Aarrrrrrr....

It's tough being a pirate. Sail the seven seas, surrounded by roughians and rathscallians, looting merchant vessels armed to the teeth... so little time to just chill out. Cap'n Kai has seen enough. Spent Thanksgiving in Huff.

...just wait 'til next year when he's knockin on all the doors, getting his own candy.

Who run Bartertown? Master-Blaster run Bartertown.

An ode to the baby bjorn. I love this thing. Baby is entertained, my hands are free, weight gets transferred seamlessly to larger trunk muscles - what else can you say. Yesterday we drove up to the ocean front in New Hampshire. These photos were taken on Salisbury beach - one of the longest beach fronts for any state park in New England. Kai (a.k.a. master in this master-blaster analogy) is in his bear suit (thanks to Caplan and Kana). Grrrowllll.... you can see the ferocity in his eyes...

Kai Captured in Mid-Spitup

photo credits to thanh nga tran.....

the Kai and Nadia stamps are out!

get yours while you can....

Nadia Sings Pavarotti

Some really nice shots of Nadia, kudos to our friend and neighbor Dominic. Mr. Pavarotti may you rest in peace....

Kai and Nadia go through some of their repertoire

Inside the Ball Chair

Part of the "Ball Chair Series" we're doing to see how they grow. The twins are starting to hold their heads up and pay attention to moving objects of interest. Kai is modeling his very fashionable green "sneaker socks."

First Trip to the Beach

Dani flew in for a brief visit and joined us at the Solstice Twins first beach outing in Marblehead. Here he gives Kai an earful about the current state of affairs in Israel... Nadia seems a little more entranced by his fervent banter. A good time was had by all - shade provided by Dani - thanks Dani.

Bath Time for Kai

Bathtime is not happy time for Kai. No it is not. He gets wet. He gets cold. No, bathtime is not happy time.

Into the Wilds

Yes, very exciting... their first social outing was quite successful. Kai and Nadia spent some time with Danielle, Zev, and Shuntavi. They ate, pooped and slept. It was very exciting.

Mama and Papa Doing Well

We had a request to post some photos with us in them - ostensibly to prove that we are in fact still alive. Yes, the last month and a half has been a blur, but we are doing well. A friend was in town recently and shared his theory that babies have evolved through history to extract the maximum resources and energy from their parents without actually killing them. After a month and a half, well..... yeah.

Kai smiles

In addition to fits of inconsolable angst, Kai has now learned to smile. We like this latter super-power much better, and encourage it whenever we can. Here he is with Party-Richard on the roof deck.

The Sleepy Kai Movie

Nipple Confusion

This term usually applies when babies get the bottle too soon and too much before getting a hang of breastfeeding. However, Nadia has been known to "bark up the wrong tree" on occasion - like here with Diana's cousin AnaMaria, visiting from Colombia.

Punk Rock Girl

Nadia still getting the hang of American sign language customs... No, we didnt teach her this. By the way, she is inside a belly-cast of Diana done 3 days before birth. Pretty snug.

Who Needs a Frenulum Anyway

I'm pleased to report Kai's latest superpower - breastfeeding. After minor surgical augmentation (a quick snip of the lingual frenulum), his breastfeeding prowess has noticeably improved (according to Diana). We say "yay" and let the ounces pile on. By the way, in case you were wondering, snipping this thin fold of tissue as an adult is moderately popular with the body modification crowd and will allow you to look like Gene Simmons from the rock band KISS.

A Yawner of a Movie

Just for the record, their first movie was Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, which we saw on the hospital television (and which was not a yawner).

Hospital Photos

A few photos from Beverly Hospital - where the solstice twins made their grand entrance. Kai was more vocal from the start, Nadia content to eat and eat, surely, steadily, quietly, slowly catching up to her big brother's weight. We remind Kai time and again, he's better off eating than fussing - but he has his own ideas for sure.

We stayed in the hospital 5 days, recovering from the Big Move. The best part was all the help and advice we got from the nurses and lactation consultants. But after 5 days, we were definitely ready to put the night-time blood pressure checks behind us and to come home.

Name Origins

...a bit about the names...

Kai (pronounced kye) has lots of meanings in cultures throughout the world. We chose it primarily as a Hawaiian and Japanese word meaning "the ocean." Kai is also a variant of the Hebrew "Chai" which means "living" or "life," just as papa's name "Vitaly" is derived from the Latin root "vita" for "life." Kai is also of Welsh, Scandinavian and Greek origin, meaning "keeper of the keys". Finally, Kai is also a Hmong male name and in Chinese means "triumphant," while in Burmese means "strong" or "unbreakable."

Nadia is the diminutive of the Russian name Надежда (Nadezhda) which means "hope". It is also an anagram of Diana.

Israel was papa's maternal grandfather's name, while Paulina was papa's paternal grandmother's name.

The Solstice Twins have arrived

Welcome to the Solstice Twins blog (web log). As the wonder-twins acquire their supernatural (and natural) powers, they will be revealed here. For now, just welcome Kai Israel and Nadia Paulina....