Christmas Time

Our beautiful children by the Christmas tree last weekend. Despite being run down with coughs and colds, they are always excited to see the tree lit up. And they particularly like playing with the ornaments. This is the first year that they understand the nature of the season. They are fond of saying "Happy Christmas."

We are getting ready for our trip to Arizona to see the grandparents and the rest of the family. Hopefully the kids will tolerate the long plane flight and body cavity searches at the airports! We wonder if they serve juice boxes on JetBlue domestic flights. We'll find out in a few days.

Happy Christmas to all who read this,

Donna, Bob, Samantha and Robert

Thanksgiving Update

Yesterday was the official day of the year to give thanks for family, loved ones, close friends and co-workers. We spent the day quietly at home. There was no one to visit this year. Sadly, Deana, Gino, Matthew and Emily have departed the East Coast for Arizona, so there was no family to spend the day with. We'll get to see most of the family at Christmas time when we make the trip out to Arizona.

We set up the home portrait studio today to assess the feasibility of doing our own Christmas card pictures. It's still tough to get the kids to sit still. Here are a few photos. They were meant to be test shots but they are wonderful as they are.


Samantha, wondering if that's her binky or her doll's



A nice portrait of Robert



Robert and Donna



I was taking Donna's picture and she called Sammy over for a kiss.



Robert had been fussing during his picture. Then he walked over, grabbed the guitar and sat back down. Magic!


Samantha with a screwdriver. We love the look in here eyes.

We hope everyone who reads this had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Donna, Bob, Samantha, Robert

Third in the Trilogy

Haircuts Oct2010 from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

Vacation

We managed to make some time to get away for a vacation. It's amazing what the passing of time will do to make an experience so much more pleasurable. Our first attempt to vacation with the twins, when they were just a few months old, was horrible. This time we went into it with a different mindset and, of course, the kids are older. We bought a cheap DVD player so the kids could watch movies during the ride to Lancaster, PA our destination for a three day outing to Dutch Wonderland and the Strasburg Railroad. The DVDs were a big aid in keeping the kids occupied.

They immediately took to the hotel room; lots of new things to explore and try to take apart! They slept together in the twin bed without a fuss, something they haven't done since they were tiny babies. And, thankfully, they adapted to eating restaurant food without much of a fuss. It's amazing how a human can eat mac 'n cheese everyday.

Some pics:


Donna and Robert coming down the giant slide



Donna with Sammy on the slide



Robert milking the cow at Dutch Wonderland



Enjoying a ride in the safari trucks



And a few from our visit to the Strasburg Railroad









There are a few more pictures here

They'll be returning to daycare in a few days to meet new classmates. Next trip probably in December.

Flickr

We've started posting still images on Flickr, a free photo sharing website operated by Yahoo. If you have a Yahoo email account or ID, you can log in and join the community which allows you to comment on photos. If you don't have a Yahoo email, that's okay too; you can still view the photos.

Here's the link to the kids' photos.

The little display below is called a "badge." It shows random photos from our Flickr page. Enjoy.

www.flickr.com

Summer 2010

It's already August. Where did the summer go?

The kids are growing fast. They can go to and fro daycare on foot, without having to ride in the stroller. They walk together and hold our hands and even get into their car seats on their own (at least 50% of the time!). Samantha is quite the linguist; she loves to read and sing. She's even beginning to argue logically. If you ask her why she did something, she'll begin her response with "because."

Robert is coming along too. A little less vocal, since Sammy does all the talking. Poor boy can't get a word in edge-wise. Here are some pictures from August.



Robert getting into the swing at the local park.




"Gimme that stick" One always wants what the other one has




Donna thought it was time they carry their own stuff into daycare. Bob was skeptical, but it turns out they both love their new rolling backpacks




Robert had to have a Thomas backpack.






Fun with an electronic flash




Enjoy the rest of the summer.

Look It's Me!

We maintain this website and populate it with pictures and movies for two reasons. The first is to keep friends and family up-to-date with what is going on with the kids. The second is that we want to leave some electronic history of the kids, a history they can some day look back on and remember their childhood.

One unexpected consequence of our mission has been that the kids enjoy "looking back" on their childhood right now! They love watching themselves in movies, so much so that it has become something of an evening ritual to watch a movie or two before bed. They particularly like Sam Can Walk, a short clip of Sammy taking her first steps. Anything with falling down and laughter entertains them. When things get a little rough ( as in someone one is frustrated or acting out), we whip out a movie on an Ipod or Iphone.

Pictured above, Robert is watching one of our movies last night at the local diner while we finish eating. He asked for the Iphone, selected the movie and played it all by himself. He even propped it up against that cup so his sister could see it. We cherish the fact that they can enjoy the movies with us.

The only thing more entertaining than watching them watch themselves, is the look on strangers' faces when they realize the kids are watching movies of themselves.

Trip to the Petting Zoo

White Post Farms from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

We took Robert and Samantha to the local petting zoo, White Post Farms, yesterday. It's a charming place, with a wide assortment of animals in pens waiting to be fed and petted. What strikes you immediately upon entering, besides the price for a family of four, is just how noisy animals can be. Particularly goats and deer. Deer! We never knew deer made noise to begin with. At first Bob thought it was a recording, but it's actually the critters making the noise. Maybe there's caffeine in the milk bottles.

As you'll see in the film, the racket was a little overwhelming for one member of the posse. Thankfully, she cheered up when we made our way to the train. We were pleasantly surprised by how well both kids did with the pony ride. You can see Sam pretending to gallop on the pony, a sight that caused other parents to laugh. A very respectable first pony ride for two-year-olds.

All in all, it's a nice place. Worth visiting if you're near the Nassau-Suffolk border.

Daycare Birthday Party

Daycare Birthday Party from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

Double feature today! Here is footage from Samantha and Robert's birthday party at their daycare center.

Hello Store

Hello Store from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

It has been a long time since we shared an update on the kids. We've all been very busy and haven't had much time to edit footage to make the films. Here's a short film about our visit to the supermarket this afternoon. The kids absolutely love shopping with us and we think you can see it on their faces.

Haircuts

Samanthas First Haircut from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

The kids' hair finally reached the point where we just had to get it cut. Donna has been trimming a little here and there, but nothing beats a professional haircut in a miniature vehicle.

This was Sammy's first salon haircut and she reacted much the same way that Robert did at his: she was upset with the ordeal. Robert, on the other hand, settled in at the baby grand piano to belt out a few tunes. He had a much more pleasant experience for his second haircut.

They look so much better now without the hair hanging in their faces.

Spring is Here

Spring from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

We took our first trip of the spring season to a couple of parks this past weekend. The kids really enjoy the swings and slides. Samantha particularly enjoys lunch!

Enjoy the film.

Lunch at the Park

Lunch at the Park from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

We had lunch at the park last Sunday. The plan was to film Robert and Samantha playing in the park, but it was too much work to film them and play with them by myself.

Before you even wonder, no we don't feed them McDonalds on a regular basis. We needed some chicken nuggets ASAP on the road and the golden arches was nearby. They also had lots of veggies and made a mess so we cut that out of the film!

Enjoy.

The Snowman Project

The Snowman Project from Robert Kerner on Vimeo.

We got pounded by snow Thursday and Friday. The yard is filled with the stuff and it is just the right consistency to make a snowman. We don't have snow suits for both kids-somehow that slipped past us- so rather than have one upset kid waiting inside, Donna went outside and built the snowman as the kids watched from the window.

They were very excited by Donna's craftsmanship, so we're off to find another snow suit so they can help build the next one.

February Update

It has been awhile since our last update. Here is the latest:

The kids are 21 months and are pretty independent, when they want to be. The are both becoming very verbal, both with individual words and short sentences. This morning, they both looked out the window and proclaimed, "Oh no, snow!" How right they are. It's miserable here in NY as we suffer the wrath of a Noreaster. What's fair is fair, however, since we got no snow from the big storm over the weekend.

The picture is from last night and shows Sammy doing what she does best: eating. She has developed a reputation as a food thief at day care, swiping other kids' snacks. The day care ladies like to put her hair up into tails and, although she looks cute in them, it's a devil removing the rubber bands from her hair at the end of the day.

Robert is still a peanut compared to her, probably because he rarely stops moving. Hopefully the wind will subside and they'll get to go out and experience the snow drifts.

That's all for now.