Active girls

Maggie has a little better control over her head and neck so we tried her in the Bumbo chair recently. She sat by herself for a full minute or two before she slumped over in her seat. We'll try her again, and Stella the first time, in another week or two.

Maggie and Stella were both pretty crabby all last week (fun fun) but they've been better this week. For part of each day they've been checking each other out in the co-sleeper.

Hi-yah! It seems that Stella is the ninja of the family...

The girls LOVE their taggie blankets that Mrs. Orsillo made for them. They laid in their crib mesmerized by them earlier this week. Thank you!!

Zoo trip

The five of us trekked down to the National Zoo again on Sunday. It was still crazy hot but Will got to see all of his favorites and the girls continued their tradition of being fed on a bench in the zoo - near the colobus monkeys this time.

Will and Patrick got to see their buddies in the Reptile House. Will likes watching this veiled chameleon because he's always right by the glass and Will can watch his eyes rotating all over the place. For whatever reason, Will decided this time that he didn't like the big snakes. He kept turning Patrick's face away from them and saying "Will no like this guy."

To keep things interesting (beyond taking the family of five in 100 degree heat), the only parking lot with space was at the bottom of this ramp with at least a dozen stairs. Maggie, Stella and the double-stroller seemed to handle it better than Will did...

Feet and heat

Developmentally right on cue, the girls are digging their feet. For the past week or so they have been holding on to their feet, playing with things within reach, and rolling over in their co-sleeper.

Here's Stella...

And Maggie...

It's been 99 degrees (115 heat index) for the past two days so it's been miserable. We finally let Will out around 8 PM to take a dip in his pool - it was still 90 degrees.

Patrick challenged the heat today to mock an NFL lock-out press conference (the NFL Player's Association headquarters is next to Patrick's office). Chris Mortensen from ESPN has been broadcasting from the same spot and the heads of the rival NFL factions have both been giving statements in front of this tree for two weeks. Pay attention the next time you're watching SportsCenter...