Happy First Birthday Ivers Boys!!

Can you believe these boys are a whole year old? I absolutely can not. What a year! Liam and Oliver went from loud and poopy dough balls to walking, speaking, laughing little boys. This month Liam became a dancing fool. He especially enjoys the beautiful and soothing melodies of electronic plastic toys. When these go off, he stands up on whatever surface he can and wiggles to the "music." Liam also became an expert clapper, pointer and yeller. The pointing is quite darling- his little hand is crooked like a very old man's and is generally dripping with drool as he points to everything and anything while shouting DA DA DA. Oliver has also become a successful clapper and also can make the signs for "milk" and "more." When our little Olibear dances, he moves his head back and forth like a soulful Stevie Wonder. He still enjoys all percussive instruments and has begun making a lot of "th" and "z" noises when he points. Both boys have successfully pointed out their dad, Lefty (the cat) and Poppy, but not mom. Both Oliver and Liam have also taken their first steps, but are still a long way off from walking solo (thank everything good in the universe.)
When we went to the Year One Checkup at the pediatrician's office, we learned that both boys are healthy and average. Well, except for their size. On the positive side, both boys are IN the curve for one-year-olds for their size; they are in the first percentile for height and the 14 percentile for weight (each around 20 pounds.) Their heads on the other hand are in the 70th percentile for size. Again, I'd like to stress how both Chris and I have adopted a biological deterministic stance since the findings about how enormous our children's heads are- and we encourage you to do the same.














This month we had a lot of parties. It's funny that we used to think that having children would change our social life- it has indeed made it much more social. The photos you see with the beer, pork products, polka dancing and silly hats are OKTOBERFEST! We paid money to get into a big tent so we could pay more money for drinks and food. Obviously, we had a blast. The gentlemen had so much fun drinking beer and eating pork that when we left, they bought more beer and pork and made another dinner at Tia Lu and Erik's house. It is important to teach Ollie, Liam and Dominick how to enjoy our German ancestry properly.








Another very fun grouping of parties this month were the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debate parties held at Tania and Scott's house. The election hoopla is quite frankly more entertaining than the Olympics. The watching of the debates was as fun as the debating that we all did before, during and after the televised programs. Hooray for American politics!!!



Some other parties we attended and threw this month were the various birthday parties for the prodigious number of Virgo and Libras we know. Tania, Scott, Babcia, Aunt Nancy, Megan,
Gammy Scherer, Julie Brent, Uncle Ick, Zio Jonathan, me and of course THE IVERS BOYS all had a birthday somewhere in September or October. We attended parties in Batavia, Rochester, the Tap and Mallet, and our home to celebrate.









Another exciting adventure we had this month was helping Tia Lu and Uncle Ick move into their very first and very beautiful home. Congrats! We stayed overnight at their house after their large and fun housewarming party.



Aunt Nancy came for one of her enlightening visits and we were able to head to Main Street, Geneseo to check out an Art Stroll. Of course she then kicked Chris and me out of our house to get Liam and Oliver all to herself.
Babcia and Grampy Ivers also visited to babysit the boys when I went into work for a day. What spoiled boys these are with so many relatives who love them!









The boys had their first trip to the airport when we dropped Gammy and Grandpa Scherer off to globe trot across three continents: Europe, Asia and Africa. Bon Voyage!

I've begun to spin the boys into my yoga web of late with my friends Sara, Maggie and Jean. We put the boys to bed, have a practice, then eat lunch or drink tea as the boys tear apart the Kelly or Cashman homes. Oliver and Liam are excelling at sleeping on the go, so I am able to enjoy the life of a stay-at-home mom to the fullest.

Liam and Oliver also took a trip to the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester with Tania and Dominick to check out some Russian Icons. They were all remarkably well behaved until we tried our luck a little too hard and went to a coffee shop. My boys were everywhere- pulling out electrical cords and grabbing neon signs- as soon as they hit the floor. Tania and I were outnumbered substantially by these little destructors and ended running for the door with screaming Boys tucked under our arms. I believe I was asked not ever, ever to return my patronage to this particular coffee shop. Unfortunately, I could not hear what the proprietor was saying over the noise of my children. He may also have been commenting on how cute their hats were.

Tania has started a new playgroup where we speak only Spanish. (Obviously I do not speak at all, except to agree or disagree. I say "si" and "no" very nicely.) Tania and her friend who lived in Spain are going to introduce Espanol to the boys!

We also had a fun and lovely morning picking apples at an apple farm with Katie, Johnny and Andy Scherer, and Tania and Dominick. It is so nice to have the cousins play! In the photos you can see how comfortable my children are with cages- they sprinted towards the animal gates as soon as they could and stayed there while the rest of the children played in the grass. Very curious phenomenon, eh? Perhaps it has something to do with the work their father does?






We had the boys' birthday party on a perfect 75 degree, sunny day at a park in Geneseo. It was a wonderful gathering of family and a few friends with good food and a tremendously generous outpouring of birthday loot. We had some out of town guests nice enough to make the schlep up north: Aunt Judy and Marty from downstate, Lipa, Chris Perry and KeithJones from the Binghamtons, and Joe, Katie, Johnny and Andy Scherer up from Pittsburgh. We also hosted some Buffalonians such as Aunt Nancy and Mimi and Aunt Kathy. And of course the Ivers, Brents, Reinerts, Joneses, our amazing babysitter Eileen, and the gorgeous Giorgises from Ithaca, Rochester and the Genesee Valley. Zio Jonathan stayed the whole weekend to hang with the boys and help us out. There were a ton of kids at the party who monkeyed around on the playground. The funniest moment came when the boys ate their first birthday cake. So, being the reluctant hippie that I am, I made them a cake without added sugar and with whole wheat flour. I spent literally hours on this project (I am not a baker by any means) and probably a couple dozen dollars on the ingredients. Obviously, the cake was the worst tasting thing in the history of dessert. Sand with frosting may have tasted better. But my sweet birthday boys ate it and pretended to like it. The rest of us ate the monster cupcakes shown in a photo that Tia Lu, Lipa, Rachel and I made with an excess of sugar and corn syrup products. These were actually quite good and enjoyed by all.



In other family news, we did not get the house we were hoping to purchase. Leave it to us to attempt to sell our house in the worst financial crisis since the depression. Oh well, now we just need to move back into our house with all of the stuff we took out to make it look un-cluttered. Maybe we can even baby-proof some rooms now and take the baby jail away. (Here's where you all respond with sympathy and platitudes about how it was not meant to be and the right thing will happen in due time. Thank you for your kind words in advance.)

Finally,

• Best of luck to Rachel and Tony who will have their little Lena imminently
• A shout out to Cat Brent who started back to work
• Happy fall
• Happy voting!!!!!
  

Eleven Months!

Welcome Simon Liese Marenstein, the newest baby in the club. This riotous redhead was born to Dina and Harry on August 16 and is thriving. Congrats to the new parents and we wish you sleep, sleep and sleep.






We've had yet another wonderful month with all sorts of firsts. The first first is to admit that I will not be receiving any mother of the year awards any time soon. The amount of black eyes and other nefarious bruising has risen drastically this month, and in one sad, sad case was the result of my finger hitting a very small and darting face. Poor Liam has of late taken on the nick-name "Black-eyed Bean" for obvious reasons and Oliver just yesterday fell victim to a bicycle tire pump; yet another age inappropriate toy that mommy and daddy didn't realize would be wielded as a weapon in the new baby on baby struggle for supremacy in the Ivers' house.





















Liam surprised us early this month by climbing the entire flight of stairs at Grampa and Gammy Scherer's house in an effort to get to me in a second floor room. Oliver has (unfortunately) also caught on to how much fun stair climbing is and now the boys often seek to escape from their baby cage and race up the stairs at our house. It was really cute and exciting the first few times. Not so much when one decides he's finished half way up the steps and throws himself back into the air. The boys in general have become much more agile- they are speedy and small. When Oliver is in a good mood, he practically stomps around on his hands and knees. Sometimes, he doesn't look up and this occasionally causes him to smash his sweet little head on walls, baby gates, and even the oven. When something gets in his way while he's crawling, he disdainfully throws it aside. He acts as though someone unbelievably daft put the horrible object in his way and he can't wait to see it gone.

Both Oliver and Liam are standing for moments on their own, and each can comfortably cruise around a room. We have had to purchase a "baby cage" to isolate the mischievousness of our boys, and it is the best money I've spent in a long time. (You can see this miraculous device in many of the photos shown.) Sometimes when Chris and I are together and decide it's a good time to "free range" the boys, we are quickly shocked at how two eleven month old, twenty pound, innocent looking children can terrorize a household so quickly. Last week, within moments of a free-range attempt, one had toppled and broken a floor lamp and one was knee deep in the hammock on the back porch. Sometimes they both crawl right to the screen door, stand up, and with their hands pounding on the screen above their heads, yell loudly. Presumably they wish to be rescued from this stifling environment.




We also had many adventures this month including a fun visit from Aunt Nancy, who rocks. When she comes to visit, she kicks Chris and me out of the house to hang with the babies.
We took a trip to the Conesus Lake Cottage to visit with Chris, Cat and Logan Brent and also Marta and her two little ones. So many small children! And if I may, I will take one moment to whine about how much gear one must haul for eleven month old twins: A LOT.

We also had the honor of throwing a baby shower-ish party for our friends Rachel and Tony who are expecting their Lena on Halloween. It was a blast and we even got to see Aunt Lipa who came in from out of town.

In one trip to Buffalo, the boys were able to play with their favorite cousins, Johnny and Andy Scherer. And in another trip to Buffalo, Oliver and Liam were finally able to meet my dear high school friend Leora.

In sad news, stupid library hour started again and I have taken to steeling myself to the agonizing twenty minutes that constitute this absurd club. Why do I go? I don't know. All the other well- quaffed moms sit with their well- behaved youngsters and gently sing the songs and listen to the stories while I work up a sweat dragging my loud and wrestling children into my lap. I've never even listened to a story. The last time, Liam succeeded in escaping my grasp and started poking at a 2-month old who used to be asleep in her car seat. I end up so hot and sweaty by the end I need another shower and certainly a drink.


In other exciting news:

• Chris ran the Oak Tree Conservancy 5K race- his first running race (other than the running portion of the triathlon). I twisted my ankle and had to sit this one out with Scott Giorgis who cheered on Tania running a 1/2 marathon in 8-minute miles. (She's crazy.) Congrats to both of you!
• Happy Birthday to Katie Scherer, Aunt Nancy and "spring chicken" Tania Giorgis.
• I started to teach more Yoga classes this month and am working on making a teen yoga class happen this fall.
• Chris and I celebrated our seven-year anniversary this month! Tia Lu came and watched Oliver and Liam while Chris and I had a nice dinner.
  
  

Finally, I would just like to take a moment to talk about how awesome my life is right now. No, I am not curing cancer like some people we all know (Karen Parker), but I love staying home with these boys. They are such easy and fantastic kids. As much as the first several months were the biggest challenge of my life, it has all been made up for recently. We take our time eating, we play for hours, go on walks and runs, read books and relax. The time is sweetened knowing I return to work in February; for now, I am lucky and happy.
Have a great month!