Halloweens

For those of you waiting on Halloween pics, we have Kai the Pirate and Nadia the floating fairy. Very successful trick-or-treat. We did the Beacon Hill circuit, which was fabulous as usual. Kerry is up for re-election and came out to make an appearance. Theresa Heinz (his wife, for political neophytes) gave Kai a snickers and milky way, which was a bit perplexing to him, as pirates typically go for the 3 musketeers... they share swashbuckling tendencies...

the Emotions of Nadia

Nadia runs through her repertoire... all within a few minutes...

... Happy ...


... Concern ...

... Anger ...

Movies from the Cape

Now that summer is over, what better way to re-live it than to watch the twins cavorting on the beach in Provincetown...

P-Town Carnival

Wild wild, wild wild West! This year's theme for carnival on the cape... trannies are an acquired taste - Kai and Nadia were not quite sure what to make of it all, but, hey when in Rome...

Cape Cod Revelry

Two weeks on the cape. the sun. the sand. the crabs and fishies in the water at low tide... Kai and Nadia loved every second... and we got to welcome Ana Maria (Cata's older sister), who's with us 'til January!

Solstice Twins - in - a - box

... it's rare to get a good photo of the two of them together...

Birthday Bash: YAY!

Of course, a birthday party on the solstice brought much cheer to Kai and Nadia. They got to eat cake, shmooze with their friends, blow out candles, and open presents (thanks to everyone for keeping the toy avalanche down).

Naming Ceremony

Time flies. To honor the twins first ever birthday, we brought together family and friends for an official naming ceremony. Dani led the occasion in his own special way, regaling us with stories and lessons from Torah. It was a truly special day, as Kai Israel and Nadia Paulina accepted their names... Thanks to everyone who could make it.

Part of the naming ceremony included a "predetermination" ritual, where Kai and Nadia would let "fate" decide their future path in life. Like the infant dalai lama, who is discovered by the objects he chooses from those splayed out in front of him, the twins got to choose their future careers - Kai went with the calculator (science-geek) and compass (explorer); Nadia with the thimble (seamstress) and pocket-watch (track coach?)

First time Swingin' - The Movie

Nadia Laughs and The World Laughs with Her

Sometimes all it takes is a hiccup or two to set her off. I wonder why she doesn't laugh when she hiccups herself, though... the mystery of it all...

Kai Conquers the Stairs

Breaking a world record for 8month olds, Kai conquers the staircase in less than a minute. Just to show off, he does it dragging papa's slipper up with him...

Snow hike in the Fells

There's no better way to enjoy the snow than a hike in the Fells - a huge forest of conservation land just north of Boston. Of course Kai loved it, and was growling and kicking his feet out the entire hike. Nadia also seemed to enjoy it, in her own more low key style.

Let it snow.... let it snow, let it snow

Well, we got 12 inches and Catalina finally had her New England snow storm. We went up on the roof deck, made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and made snow angels.

The Year of the Rat

Emperor Kai and Empress Nadia were in fine spirits bringing in the new year. Out with the pig, in with the rat! We made Jiaozi dumplings and enjoyed the company of friends and eunuchs in our Palatial little loft. Diana's cousin Catalina came back with Diana from Bogotá, and will be staying with us until July. It takes a village.

We Eat Blueberries!

Nothing like some blue blue blueberries to smear across your face... The twins have been digging in with gusto. Just a sampling: bananas, papayas, apples, pears, avocados, rice cereal, sweet potato, melon, butternut squash, yoghurt, and of course Cheerios.

peas, not so much.

Twins Recharge in Colombia

We've passed the 1/2 year mark and everyone is doing so so much better... the 1st 3 months are a distant memory thankfully and parenting has gotten much more rewarding for sure. The twins are currently in Colombia and surrounded by open arms everywhere they go. It takes a village, and ours happens to be scattered around the globe.

Kai and Nadia did great on the flight down to Bogotá and have had no problems with the altitude (over 8000') or different water quality or anything. Kai is now scooting/crawling and Nadia is sitting up steady, and smiling almost non-stop. They're both eating mushed up bananas, papayas and grain cereal.

For some great photos, see the Flikr slideshow.

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...