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By Janet, on July 15th, 2011
We took the girls in for their two year well baby visit a few weeks ago. At 21 pounds each, the girls have made their way up to the 6th percentile in weight (up from below the 5th percentile). While they may be small, they are decidedly happy and healthy little girls. And although I would not have wished for babies as small as ours were and are, it has greatly prolonged my ability to carry both of them at the same time. I still CAN carry both girls at the same time, but I’m doing it less and less.
Here are some of my favorite photos from June.
 Throwing rocks in the water is a new favorite activity.  "Snow" is one of their newest words. And they got to use it a lot on vacation this year.  Ah, the joys of reading the phone book  My turn!  Look what I found!  Vroom! Vroom!  They've discovered the joys of the "big girl" swings.  Doesn't she have a great smile?  They love story time. So do I.  They're becoming quite adept at climbing.
By Dan, on June 17th, 2011
I’ve owned some stock in a certain video game company for several years now. It does have some potential to really take off, I think, but for the last few years it hasn’t been doing much and so I’ve just been holding onto it. Then just recently, out of the blue, I got a phone call from someone claiming to be from my online investment firm, telling me that if I didn’t fill out a form or buy or sell something soon, the law would require them to report my account as “abandoned” and then the great state of California would basically seize all my funds from that account.
I was dumbfounded. How could that be legal? In fact, I just assumed that it couldn’t possibly be for real and that I was simply being made the target of some sort of scam. Well, it is legal, and it is a scam. I’ll explain…
Despite my initial gut feeling distrust of the guy on the phone, I decided to play along for a few minutes rather than just hang up. I discovered that I had indeed been sent an email about this (to an account I rarely check), and that email contained a link that I was supposed to click. When I examined the URL, it just looked like a bunch of gobbledy-gook, and it was not recognizably part of my online investment firm. My suspicion edged closer to certainty, and I did not click the link.
Later that day I got around to actually calling the company to report the suspicious call and email. But to my surprise, the person I spoke with confirmed everything the guy on the phone had told me. Apparently this is quite normal in the world of online stock trading! If an account has had no activity for just two or three years, the state arbitrarily assumes that the money has been abandoned and they grab it. Yes, there are ways to reclaim it again, but as you can imagine they sure as hell don’t make that easy, and there are almost certainly fees to pay. Two or three years?! I can understand that there are probably good and reasonable circumstances for this kind of thing, but I would have thought that the time frame would be more like forty years, or after the owner has died! I’m sorry, but two or three years is nowhere near long enough for money to be considered abandoned and “up for grabs”. Greedy government bastards. You have to hold it for at least one year to avoid getting screwed by the capital gains tax!
Oh, and the best part is that this practice is known as escheatment. It’s like they’re not even trying to disguise that this is nothing more than a shameless rip-off by the government! Err, I mean another shameless ripoff. Two or three years? Grrrrr…
By Janet, on June 12th, 2011
Our little girls are constantly on the go. They’re examining, exploring, and expanding their horizons. They’re learning new things every day — and they’re loving it. Here’s a variety of pictures of them in motion.
 Helping out in the yard.  What if we put this in there?  She's ready to learn team games like bocce ball.  Can I drive to the park next time?  Over she goes.  Her climbing is good enough to make Mommy nervous.  Running is one their new favorite activities!  Let's go for a ride!  Can you twist your tongue like this?  Balancing is easy when I'm holding Mommy's hand.  Now what?  Look at her go.  We like playing outside.  Throwing stones in the creek.  Playing house.  Just wait until she's a teenager.  And sometimes there are some boo-boos...
By Janet, on May 29th, 2011
Our two little girls are two years old. What can I say but WOW? Dan and I have been looking at a lot baby pictures the past few days and reminiscing about our little newborns. They were so small…
 Newborn Elizabeth's tiny hand with Mommy's pinky  Cute newborn Carolyn  Our first family photo, taken when the girls were three weeks old and only 5lbs. They’ve done a lot of growing over the past two years. And their vocabulary has expanded significantly in the past few weeks. In fact, I think they’re learning new words almost daily right now. We’ve made a list of over 40 words that they say. Although they’re still working on their pronunciation so I often still rely on the visual clues to understand what they’re saying. Their comprehension of vocabulary is significantly larger, including phrases like “Put this on the table,” or “Your socks are in the bedroom.”
They enjoy being outside — blowing bubbles, going for walks, playing at the park, exploring the back yard. And inside or out, they like climbing. Anything they encounter is an obstacle to be summited — furniture, patio chairs, playground equipment, or me if I’m sitting on the floor. In fact, their ability to climb greatly exceeds their understanding of the consequence of falling. Hopefully they will learn that lesson without dramatic injury. I’m sometimes torn between being proud of their accomplishments and being worried about them.
Watch this video of them climbing and judge for yourselves!
 Click on the image to load the movie in a new window.  Is this how it works?  Bubbles are fun. And good practice for birthday candles!  Bubbles!  That's good blowing!  So, whadda ya want to do next?  What's that? There are lots of indoor activities to keep them busy too. They like looking at books, coloring, and we’ve recently given them their first Play Doh to squish and roll and shape.
We recently gathered at Nana & Papa’s house to celebrate the successful completion of the girls’ first two years. There were candles to blow, cake (decorated by Mommy) and ice cream to eat, and presents to open. The girls liked blowing out the candles. Although I think they couldn’t quite understand why we wouldn’t let them hold the cake by themselves. They also had great fun tearing the wrapping paper off the presents. They are clearly much more accomplished at that than they were at Christmas.
 Birthday cake!  I can do it Mommy.  Will you hurry up with the singing so I can blow out the candles? And so two years have passed since our little girls were born. They are growing up and it won’t be long before one of them looks at me and says, “I’m a BIG girl, Mommy.” For now, I continue to try to remember and treasure every moment, every milestone. They are remarkable girls who love to laugh. We are richly blessed!
By Janet, on May 8th, 2011
Today was my second mother’s day since the girls were born. I love being a mom! And I feel so blessed by my daughters. They are very sweet little girls who bring much joy to my life. As I watch them grow and learn and develop, they’re becoming more and more adept at imitating and it’s becoming more and more apparent how important it is for me to be the best role model I can be for them.
 Bedtime story I begin to realize how fortunate I am that I had a pretty good role model about how to be a mom. I think my Mom would agree that she wasn’t perfect. Maybe there are even things she wishes she had done differently (I know I’ve already had those thoughts myself). But there was never any question that she loved me and wanted what was best for me. She was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood. Looking back, I realize not only how I was blessed by that, but also how it was able to bless my friends. Some of my friends had less than stable homes, and often we would play at my house. My parents welcomed my friends and I remember countless hours playing in the backyard (we had a great climbing tree), sleepovers (how did anyone sleep with a house full of teenage girls?), and birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese. They listened to impromptu concerts when we were in first year band and were our faithful audience for skits and tumbling routines.
 Me with my mom (~1972) So as my girls grow, I hope I can demonstrate love, patience, consistency, and encouragement so that they will learn independence, confidence, perseverance, and that they are loved.
Thanks, Mom. Happy Mother’s Day!
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