Construction makes progress.

Sorry about the lack of updates lately.  He whole family has been sick for past couple weeks.

I do have some photos and videos ill be posting over the next few days.

Here's one of Mandy anxiously awaiting the completion of the renovation project.  As a city dog, she really doesn't like dirt or grass and she really does prefer being indoors.

You better....or else! Now I know what the else is.

So this is part2 of the video with the pop on pals. Kira shows what the else is, if she doesn't get her wheels.

We did eventually get her another set of wheels so this won't be happening on a regular basis.

You better....or else?

To set this up, the kids got these Pop on Pals toys as an early Christmas gift.

It came with 2 truck bodies, but only 1 set of wheels. This allows for the child to change the vehicle by switching out the body. However, as we have often found, its very difficult to get 2-3 year olds to share anything. Especially when its a new toy.

Kira immediately started playing with the extra vehicle body, but started asking for wheels in a very specific phrasing.

I'm not sure where she gets this language from, but i'm just going to blame the pre-school.

yea...thats it.

Also, she did name the little girl doll right after this to 'Mila'.

Candy? Candy!

I'm not going to post any photos of the kids first Halloween where they trick or treated.  Mainly because I want my parents to see them in costume, for the first time, face to face.

But I will post a photo of their "haul" since it was pretty impressive for their first time out.

They got the hang of it at the first house.  Our lovely neighbors across the street gave them several treats and that seemed to click that they get candy if they just show up at he door.  After that it was Kira who refused to stop.  Aidan seemed to be satisfied after the first 20 or so houses.  Both of them were exhausted and Aidan gave me his bucket to hold after a while.  But Kira would not let go of her treasure even with it dragging along the ground.  And when asked if they had enough, Kira would always respond with an emphatic "No" although Aidan seemed not to care after he filled his bucket.  Kira seemed to realize that more houses means more candy.
I'd like to think that this stubbornness is something she gets from her mother,  but I suspect that she gets her tenacity from me.  At least in regards to candy.  I remember being particularly obsessed with candy at an early age.  Probably part of the reason why I was so hyper active as a child.  I'm sure my mom could tell some tales.

Either way.  I think my parents, sister and brother in law will enjoy their costumes when I see them for the holidays and I look forward to posting some pics of them in the near future.  In the meanwhile I have a number of photos and videos that I will post shortly.

Butterfly butterfly

Here's a video of Kira at the library that I took a couple months ago.

What's not quite apparent is that there is a blue butterfly on the fake plant that she is looking at.

This is her pretending to be the butterfly.

cutest chicken dance...

The public libraries around us have been a great source of fun. The kids love going to the library and playing with the toys. They usually pick out a few books for Inessa or I to read, after which they will play with the toys.

Here's a video of Aidan playing with a barn toy. You'll see him moving a chicken on a slide back and forth. When the chicken is to left it clucks, but when its to the right, it plays this chicken dance song, to which he'll start doing this sort of dance. Its really cute.

This should be sufficiently embarrassing to Aidan when he gets older. Can't wait to show it to the first girlfriend he brings home.

hope you enjoy.

quick video...need to get them a driver's license

so they can ride tricycles on smooth surfaces.. they have difficulty on the street.

But here is a small video of them riding around in babies r us.  I have alot more footage but, its mostly just them riding around.

And thus it continues...a little order to the outside

Progress was slow over the last couple weeks. It rained for 2 weeks. Crazy.

But now the house is sealed. The roof is on, the windows are in, and the siding is going up.

Here is a picture from last weekend.
It shows the windows just being installed.

This is one from today.  They had a couple days to start the siding

.

Pumpkin picking at the fall festival

We went to the fall festival by by our house and they got to pick and decorate a pumpkin.

Kira picks the smallest and Aidan picks the largest one he can carry.

Counting... pullups

I took this video just before they started school. It was just before bed so the lighting is poor, but it shows them doing some counting.

I wonder what they are going to think of these posts and videos when the get older. Right now, they are very interested in seeing themselves. I showed this video to them and they love pointing to themselves and each other on the computer monitor.

Second Floor, Gone Up.

Here's a couple pics i took today.

Second floor is up and we were walking around on it.  Its looks really high up when there isn't a window stopping you from falling.

Staircase needs to be added, and the garage still needs to be re-built.  But the roof goes on next week, and the windows and siding after that.  The house should be sealed by in the next couple weeks...at least we will be prepared for the winter.

week old construction

Been rather busy with the renovation.  Haven't had a chance to post anything.

I'll make up for that over the next couple days.

Here are a couple pictures of the second floor being framed.  This was taken last weekend...so this is the framing progress after a week.

There are lots more photos on our picasaweb album.  you can get to it from the Other Links menu above.

I'll post some recent photos later to show the progress.

Pre-School photos

So the kids started at the local Montessori school.  We had to provide photos to the teacher, figured I would post them here.
They are growing well, but they are skinny just like mommy and daddy (when i was a kid).  Doctor's appointment this week shows them at 26 lbs. and 24 lbs. for Aidan and Kira, respectively.
And Aidan is officially 3 feet tall.  Kira is 2 inches shorter.

Here are the portrait closeups...

Look ma! No roof!

Or alternate title would be "Raze the roof".

Quick picture I took last week.

Roof has been replaced by a large blue tarp.  Of course it rained the day after and we had water all over the floor.

Ugh.  If we ever do this again, shoot me.

I think Aidan is left-handed...

Proof!

Gutting the insides

Well there goes the fireplace...the kitchen, the living room, a bedroom and the pantry.

demolition is amazing.

A look at the kitchen, or where it used to be:

You see the fireplace?

Now you don't.

Just a small hole in the roof:

Its amazing the amount of space thats there now.

School hair cuts

They have started preschool and to prepare they got haircuts.  It's something Inessa and I dread a little because they cry and fuss a lot during.  We were fully anticipating a big brew ha, but before we knew it, Aidan was climbing into the car shaped chair.
Clearly there's a difference between 2 and 2.5 years of age.  There was absolute quiet and they listened to the hair stylist.  Color me shocked.

Thus it begins...and chaos reined

Almost 2 years after we started planning a renovation, we start with some light demolition.

Heres a picture of where our back deck used to be.  It was cleared to pour the new part of the foundation that will be added on.  Part of the roof is already gone, and the deck is no more.

One more

Can never get them both to look at the camera at the same time.

Forgot to attach this to the last post.

Kira with her "what are you doing daddy?" face.

Quarter rides are made by the devil

I don't know who makes those quarter rides at the mall (now they are more like a dollar), but they must make a mint.  Kids are always climbing all over them, and mine are no different.

We've rarely ever put money in them, as probably most parents do, but you gotta figure that some do.  It probably translates to a pretty decent income.

Here's to parks

The kids have boundless energy.  My mother probably said the same about me when I was younger.   These days, I feel tired just watching them.

On the weekends and sometimes during the week, you can find us at one of our local parks.  Our favorite is Marjorie Post which has a large sandbox.  Most of the time, we are shadowing the kids around.  I don't like it when parents just sit on a bench and don't even pay attention to what their kids are doing.  Most of the children are very well behaved, but occasionally there'll be one kid that just storms around and pushes past other kids.  Invariably I'll notice that their parent is sitting on a bench somewhere talking on the phone without a clue in the world.

I will say that the parks are amazing these days.  I remember that my mother used to take me and my sister to a park in Port Jefferson that had a large rocket ship slide, that you had to climb up inside.  I remember thinking that if you could pretty easily fall from one of the internal steps and get hurt pretty badly.  The current parks these days all have rounded corners and this semi-firm all-terrain foam on the ground.  Its sort of squishy when you walk on it, but Aidan can attest that its hurts far less when you fall on that versus concrete or dirt.

Heres a few videos I took last weekend after they slowed down a bit.
They like to use chalk in the park because of the multi-level surfaces.

As usual, if you goto the youtube page, you'll be able to see it in HD.

Aidan looks like he's grimacing, but hes trying to do a fake smile...


Drawing on everything as usual



I'm always asking the kids what they are doing.  I think they might be getting tired of it.

darn battery died after 1 video

We took the kids to the Long Island Children's Museum and had the usual good time.  The yearly pass was totally worth it.  Thanks to my mom and dad, the kids play with all the displays, and touch all they want, without us yelling every 5 seconds.

This is great, however its usually helpful to make sure the batteries are charged.

I was able to get 1 video of our last trip, before the battery went dead.

Next time i'll make sure we have plenty of power.

Here is the quick video, with my EVO, you can play in HD if you goto the youtube.

Boy, did this cause a ruckus...

Aidan did not have any problems with going on their first carnival ride by himself.  I think Inessa was a bit sad that he didn't even hesitate when she told him that mommy and daddy can't go on the ride with him.  His immediate acknowledgment of this should have hinted to us about his reaction after the ride.  I can say that he had his first official tantrum.  He was inconsolable when he wanted to "go back on".  Kira didn't as much as a fuss, but clearly enjoyed it as much.
I have never seen Aidan crying for well over 10 minutes.  We sat and watched him with some odd fascination.
He eventually got over it after we got him some juice.

Family moments

They say these are the moments you remember when you get older. I took this photo about a month ago, and i didn't remember taking it until i was perusing my photo gallery.

We did some shopping at the Atlantic City Outlet Mall, and it was fun to walk around with the kids, my sister and brother-in-law, and my parents.

Oddly enough Aidan seemed to gravitate towards my mother. That does not bode well for me in the future.

Here are a couple of my favorite pics.

Can you swim in sand

The sandbox at our local park has become one of the kids favorite places to go.  At some point they always seem to end up rolling around in the sand, basically bathing in dirt.

Kira is looking very grown up these days.  I was looking at pictures of them when they were born and noticed that their faces have changed quite a lot over the past couple years, and I expect that will be a continuing trend.

School bound?

We've been considering the possibility of a preschool for the kids.  Aunt Sunny and uncle Jake gave them backpacks as a birthday gift and they are starting to enjoy wearing them.

Where do I fit in you ask?

The kids like to wake up at about 6:30 in morning.  At which point they like to crawl into our bed.  Since we are in the trailer now, we are allowing them this opportunity.  So, you might be wondering where I would fit in this configuration, and that would be in the sliver of space to the right.  You don't see Mandy in this picture because she likes to sleep at the foot of the bed. Clearly she is smarter than I am since there's more room down there.

And sunroom makes three...

So after a few days I managed to get the add-a-room installed.  It wasn't to hard actually.  And the results are a lovely sunroom.
Here are a couple pictures of the trailer as I was putting it up and complete.

It's an apple.

This is a video test.
Kira playing with her chalk.  I like to guess what she draws and to be honest I'm never right.
If you can't hear, I ask her what she drew, and she says "apple".


Edit:
Ok, i don't like the quality of the blogger video upload.

Here is the youtube version:

Email testing with a photo

So here is a quick picture of the screen room that is in the process of putting together.

I took this with my Evo and am now trying to type on this thing.  Its harder than I expected

EVO ME!

I got an HTC Evo couple days ago (friday).  I'd post photos, but it looks just like the ones out on the web.

I'll be posting a couple photos from it, very shortly, as soon as i finish playing with some of the features.

Its freakin awesome!

look forward to some posts that are sent from my phone shortly.

yay!

Wanted: Post Title. Like New

So we got our trailer delivered.  Its in our yard now.  its a 38ft Springdale.
Instead of posting photos here, I added an album to the photo gallery.

Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pcutler/SpringdaleRVTrailer#

I said "smile"

So I wanted to thank my cousin Pam and Tommy for giving the kids foldable chairs for their birthday.  they absolutely love sitting in them and are constantly there.

Here i said smile, and Kira hears me but Aidan\watched her do it first...:

So I tell Aidan to look at the camera and smile which he does, but then Kira doesn't bother...

At which point I said forget it, getting them both to sit still and smile would take a minor miracle, so this is the best your going to get.

YAY!

Home Improvement

So we've finally closed on our construction loan.  The bank process was akin to being water boarded.  Seriously.  That was nuts.

So I'll also be updating this blog with the process of actual construction.  I'm sure photos and video will be included as we go through the build.

On a side note, the HTC Evo phone is scheduled to be released in mid June.  WOOT!  Should make posting much easier.

Television and the Dentist

Previously the kids only watched this show called Classical Baby of which there were only 2 episodes. Its "classical" music played over these animations, which they loved. However we have started to broaden their horizons, and have started letting them watch children's TV. So now I'm watching alot of kids TV to preview them.

Of course, Sesame Street was first on the list, and it hasn't changed much over the years. Although Elmo seems to be very prominent nowadays.

Sponge Bob is too old for them. So is Dora The Explorer. Same for Wow Wow Wubbzy.

I do like Yo Gabba Gabba alot and have shown them a couple episodes.
For now, thats more than enough.

They went to the dentist recently as well. I did take bunch of video, but after watching it, its rather boring. Nothing really happened. They didn't fuss, or complain or cry. They sat there while their teeth were cleaned. Not surprising really, since they love to have their teeth brushed at home.

Here they are reading a magazine in the waiting room...

And both of them getting a cleaning...

Whats in a name...

Sunny tells me that i start these posts off with 'so' alot. *pththththbt*


So, something really quick. The twins are becoming more social, and Inessa was able to get them to say their full names.

I took a quick video of them while they had their snack. You might want to turn up the volume a tad.

communication blackout...still better than AT&T

Sorry about the lack of posts for the past couple of weeks. Been rather crazy busy here. Recently got them some new sneakers. Aidan is now a size 7.5 and Kira is a size 7. Amazing how fast their feet grow. They basically get new shoes every 3 months.

Either way, this is to say thanks to my mom and dad for the very nice presents they sent.

I was debating as to whether or not to post all 4 parts, but each of them has some very interesting moments.

So here are they are getting their presents from grandma and grandpa on their birthday, while they were sick!









I'll be posting some more stuff in a couple days.

Snowbaaaaall

So here is the last of the playing in the snow videos.

I was supposed to post this last weekend...but i completely forgot.

This is a short one of aidan making a "snowball" and you can see how proud and excited he is about it.

Happy Birthday: Official Start of the Terrible Two's

I guess i should mark today with some sort of comment.  Its tough to do, since everyone is sick right now, and the kids are finishing up their teething with the canine teeth.

The terrible two's did start a little early with us.  Aidan's personality is pretty defiant to begin with, so in the past several months if i tell him not to do something, he'll go right ahead an do it.  I find that if I ignore him putting his finger up his nose, he stops doing it.  But if i tell him to take his finger out of his nose, He'll start laughing and stick his finger in deeper.  Which always makes Kira laugh, and copy the action.
Discipline has been an interesting topic for Inessa and I.  We are trying the timeout method, but to be honest it doesn't really work with Aidan that well.  It did when we first started but, hes gotten used to sitting in the corner of a room.  It does eventually sink in, however we end up having to put in him timeout repeatedly until he understands that his behavior is not appropriate.  Kira on the other hand, timeouts work remarkably well.  We rarely ever have to put her in timeout and even rarer does she have to be put in timeout more than once for a particular offense.  However she is starting to show her more demanding side when she threw her first tantrum a couple weeks ago.  She absolutely insisted on opening the gate up that leads to the dining room.  And when I told her No, she proceeded to cry and wail and grab the gate and wouldn't let go.  To be honest my reaction was not what I expected either.  It didn't really annoy me or anger me at all, that she was throwing the tantrum.  I was more fascinated than anything, in the behavior.  It didn't last long however, so maybe it gets on parents nerves more if it continues for a long period of time.

Anywhoos, I uploaded some pictures of the kids playing in the snow after the last snow fall.
You can go to the gallery by clicking on the link in the toolbar above, or here's a direct link for the album:
http://picasaweb.google.com/pcutler/Snowmaggedon#

Snowmaggedon part 3

They quickly warmed up to the idea of playing in the snow.  Aidan especially, since his first reaction to snow was a bit apprehension, he nows loves to run around the yard.

Here's an example:

And go get yourself some cheap sunglasses...

ZZ Top they ain't, but they cool nonetheless.

Blogger is rather cool

I changed the template. I'm using a custom blogger template that i think is has a cleaner interface. Some odd behavior in the administration, but i like it.

I'll be adding some additional pages and some other things now that i have better knowledge of how this works.

Edit: check to see if auto notify works.

Obligatory ABBA reference here

Kira dancing a couple weeks ago.  She's learned to spin, dance, and hop.  Next is Jazz, Tap, and Ballet, I'm sure.  Aidan is more interested in the camera than dancing, as you'll see.  Apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Beware the sleeping dragon. For when she wakes, the Earth will shake.

I'm amazed at the amount of photos i get of them when they are still. And then i realize that its the only time i can use the camera. I think that these moments are what will define my memories in the future, but they certainly aren't indicative of their normal activity level.

Here they are just before bed, sleeping on Mr. Rabbit.

Jumping Practice

This was taken about a month ago.  Here they are learning to jump in place.  They are pretty good at it now, but a month ago, they were just trying it out.

Don't ask me why they are wearing their hats with pajamas on.  Kira pointed to her head and said hat, and of course that means Aidan wants a hat as well.

Here's the video....

Rare Moment

Sorry about the absence.  Here's something quick for now.  I'll be posting another video in a day or 2.

Every once and a while, Aidan and Kira slow down and will sit for a photo.  Here i had to bribe them with a cookie first and their blankets.

When I see this photo, they look so grown up to me.  It does shock me a little to think that they will almost be 2.

e-Readers

So a friend of mine said, whats the point of e-readers (i.e. the nook, sony's eReader, etc.), he doesn't like the fact that people can download content without actually paying for a book.

I realized that some people just don't understand the capabilities, and this might be a one of those technology gadget gateway products.  Not only can you preview and buy the latest books in print, but most e-readers have access to google books.  Which allows you access to millions of books, including out-of-print editions.

Not only books, you can get access to magazines, current and archived.  Great example, would be the entire Life Magazine collection.  You want to read the Audrey Hepburn article in 1953? Sure...go ahead.

And unlike the music industry, the publishing industry is handling the technology invasion a lot better.  They aren't demanding large sums of money for already released content that they already made money on (Ala Mettalica).

There's going to be a large number of e-readers coming out this year, of all different types.  Some of the newer models are amazing.  Check out the Skiff. (and yes, it doesn't have any glass and you can bend it)

People gots ta learn.

One more milestone finished

So, last week , Kira was climbing out of her crib and she fell from the top rail (about 3 feet up) and landed on her head.  Amazingly she cried for less than a minute and was again climbing into and out of her crib.
It took us a lot longer to recover.

We decided that maybe it was time to convert to toddler beds.  Heres a quick video of them first climbing into the new beds.

Santa is very scary

At my company christmas party, Aidan met Santa for the first time.  He absolutely freaked out. Wouldn't go near him.  He reached for the present but was wailing all the while.  Here's a quick snap of him right afterwards.

Happy new year to all

Just wanted to post a happy new year message.

To everyone in our lives, thank you for your love and support.

Here's a couple pics of the kids:

Aidan did NOT like the snow at first...

My mother always said, start em young!

Milo used to get some sleep...

Here they playing with a new "toy".  Water jars...

2010 will be an interesting year.