Move-A-Thon

The twins' school had a fundraiser on Friday where the kids ran or walked around a track for 20 minutes, getting sponsors to give them money per lap or for a fixed rate.  As someone who gave birth 7 weeks ago, the thought of running for 20 consecutive minutes seems like a pipe dream, but surely these kindergarteners couldn't either.  Right?

Wrong.  One twin ran 13 laps in 20 minutes.  The other went 16 laps.  This means that she clocked in two 10-minute miles.  I'm not sure I could have done that in my non-post-partum days, but I know she's a better runner than me now regardless.  If having 5-year olds be better endurance athletes than you is not motivation to get into better shape, I don't know what is.

Of course, they all had fun (which is supposedly what this thing is all about and not the egos of the adults who were watching.)  And, they looked very cute doing it.

Not Ready to Smile for the Camera

All of the baby development books say that they will start to smile -- and not just because of what's going on in the intestines -- around 6 weeks.  Whether we've been swayed by this or not, both KLC and I swear that we have seen evidence of real smiles from Iver.  In fact, KLC says he's beaming when she changes his diaper (this has not necessarily been the case for me.)

In any case, I haven't been able to capture any proof of the smiling because he seems to know whenever I whip out my iPhone to snap a picture. It's also hard to work the camera with one hand while holding the baby in the other. Still, he's cute even when he's looking all serious so I thought I'd post a couple of his non-smiling photos.

Chess Enthusiasts

This fall has been about new adventures for all of us in the family.  While Iver has been busy gaining weight -- up to 10 lbs 4 oz at yesterday's 4-week check up! -- the twins have been getting immersed in kindergarten.

One of the reasons why we moved to our current neighborhood is that all of the public schools (K-12) around us have great reputations.  In addition to good test scores, teachers, etc., their elementary school has lots of extra programs for the kids to participate in if they want.

We didn't want to overwhelm the twins with too many things after school, but we did sign them up for one: a chess club. It sounded a little early for me, but apparently lots of kids in this elementary school get started in their chess club in kindergarten.  I picked up the twins yesterday and found they were playing their first "real" chess game already.  I'm fairly certain that within a few more weeks, their chess abilities will surpass mine (which isn't hard to do).

Also this week, we celebrated KLC's birthday.  The twins "helped" by placing the candles on the cake ...

Visit from the Grandparents

Last week, Iver got to meet his Massachusetts grandparents for the first time.  It was great to have them out here.  And what did Iver want from his grandparents most of all?  To be held, which he was for about 98% of the time they were in the house.  Nothing seems to make the little guy happier.