Her favorite block is the yellow one with a bell inside.
Using her "pincer" grasp (index finger and thumb) to explore the cube. It cracks me up with I see her tiny index fingers poking and prodding away. 
Trying to extract the bell.
Also used as a teething toy.
A picture of happiness.
The girls getting reacquainted. 
Sitting in their matching booster seats waiting for grub to be served.
Still checking each other out.
Feeding Central.
Both babies seem to have forgotten each other and are more interested in their food.
"But I already took a drink."
"Okay, one more sip."
"Mmm...bananas."
Proud papas with their girls on their laps. Jason & Mara. Uwe & Astrid.
Both babies looking straight into the camera.
Astrid was born on April 19 and Mara was born on April 22, just 3 days apart. They're both going to be celebrating their 1st birthday in 3 months. How time flies!
This pic tickles me because it's the snapshot of the reality of having 2 kids. Julie is putting things away in the diaper bag (mommies have to be super organized), Mara is bending backwards and Jason's holding onto his little acrobat, Astrid looks like she's about to cry, and Uwe is smiling. The organized chaos of having kids. One minute they can be laughing, the next crying, the next hungry. You just have to go with the flow as a parent and adapt to any situation as best as you can.
Astrid sitting in her Aquarium swing and Mara playing in Astrid's exersaucer. It was sweet to see them interacting. Mara being in daycare 1/2 days during the week is used to being around other children. She would watch Astrid and listen to her chatter, and then laugh.At times they were both very aware that their was another baby in the room, but then at other times they seemed to be in their own worlds. After feeding the girls and eating (I made a breakfast casserole dish and a hash brown dish) we went upstairs to watch football and let the girls play and interact with each other on the floor. I don't have any pics of that unfortunately but Astrid crawled over to Mara and they got real close and Mara and Astrid reached out to touch each other. Very sweet.
They both went down for naps at the same time in the afternoon and we parents had some time to relax. That is until Astrid woke up crying and woke Mara up. Oh well, it happens.
It's so nice to have girls so close in age. Julie and I can relate to all the same developmental stages and things the girls are doing. And we can relate to being a first time moms and all of the hurdles and joy it brings.
Today we went to brunch at Urth Caffe in Santa Monica. I like it there but Uwe doesn't. We've been there a number of times so why do we have a difference of opinion? 
Here's why:
1) It's a bit of a drive, but it's also in Santa Monica near the ocean.
2) There's always a long line, but it goes fast.
3) It's very cramped inside and not easy to maneuver around with a stroller, but today we saw 3 strollers there in addition to ours so lots of parents with babies go there too.
3) The bill was almost $40 without tip, but that's because Uwe ordered an entree AND a fruit salad (which was just as expensive as his entree).
4) I love being able to sit outside in the outdoor patio area that has a small fountain, but that's also where their workers (some of whom have very bad table manners) eat. Uwe has little tolerance for people with bad table manners and twice we've been seated next to people with BTM. It doesn't bother me since I've grown up in the Korean culture as well and experienced much different table manners than say Germans who make no noise while eating and have very strict rules about the proper way to eat. One of Uwe's German friends was telling us how her father made her eat while holding books under her arms so that she would always keep her arms to her sides while eating. Also, Uwe's mother was known to say, "The spoon goes to the mouth; not the mouth to the spoon." (That's not to say that Koreans don't have any rules because they have lots of them regarding the placement of food. Bowl of rice in front of you, and the soup to the right, etc.) So we solved the problem by moving to a different table with Uwe sitting at a chair with his back facing the BTM people so he wouldn't have to see them. Meanwhile I ate away and didn't mind them in the least.
5) Uwe's mushroom omelet was mostly cheese. This was the first time he ordered an entree there that he didn't like. We've been twice before and the food was always good. So I'm of the opinion to avoid the omelets next time or tell them to hold the cheese.
"So what's the verdict mom? Are we coming back or is this our last time here?"
So that you don't think I'm so easy going that I don't care where I eat, I have to share that there was one restaurant that Uwe loved when we first met, but I couldn't stand their food. We'd go there for breakfast and my eggs would always be runny and my food would be cold and bland. The restaurant is called "House of Pies" and it's a coffee shop/diner type of place that makes great pies. One day we were out with friends and this friend shared my opinion about this place and said, "Ugh...House of Pies...more like House of Poo." So I became fond of calling it "House of Poo" and we've never been back.
Here's our food. I had the spinach and mushroom quiche that comes with a salad. YUM! Uwe had a mushroom omelet that comes with a salad and bread, and also a fruit salad. The fruit was very fresh and flavorful. Not pictures are out drinks which came later. A decaf latte for Uwe and a mango hot tea for me.
"Bula."
The orchid behind Astrid's ear reminds me of Fiji. These orchids were used to decorate everywhere. (One day I will write about and post pics from our Fiji babymoon in Jan. 2005).
If you scroll back to the pic above you'll see that it was a decorative flower on Uwe's fruit plate.
Thoughtful looking.
Feeling around in her mouth with her finger. Possibly another tooth.
Side view of Astrid with the purple orchid behind her ear.
My perfect model. She wasn't bothered by the flower and didn't try to take it off.
She doesn't suck her thumb, but it does the job when trying to feel around in her mouth.
Saliva soaked fingers = a happy baby. 
Uwe's very own "Tickle Me Astrid" doll.
Astrid touching Uwe's mouth. She's doing this a lot lately. She'll want to touch our mouth and reach in with her fingers. If I stick my tongue out real quick she'll squeal with laughter.
Astrid touching Uwe's nose. Something you hear a lot around this house is, "Be gentle. Astrid be gentle." We're modeling what gentle means by softly touching Astrid's face and taking her hand and showing her how to gently touch our faces. Otherwise she would claw our eyes out and rip our lips and noses off. 
After brunch we headed over to a toy store called "The Acorn Store." The store is unique in that their toys are all natural (as in handmade, wood), and none of their toys require batteries or are made of plastic. Originally I had read about The Acorn Store in an issue of Los Angeles Magazine (I believe a "Best of LA" issue) and we drove to the store one Sunday in July, however they're closed on Sundays. So today, since we were in Santa Monica and not too far from the store, (and it was Saturday) we decided to check it out.
On the outside of the store they have wooden cutouts for a tree and a fortress as well as wooden bicycles, tricycles and scooters.
The Acorn Store doesn't seem to have a website but I've listed their address and telephone number below for anyone's who's interested. (Trailhead I know you were interested when I first mentioned the store. Since you don't live in CA maybe they have a brochure or something they could send you.)
1220 5th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-5845
A closeup shot of the front of the store. You can see Uwe inside.
This wall had age appropriate toys for little babies. Almost all of these wooden toys are made in Germany.
Uwe grew up in Germany where there were small toy shops with handmade toys that inspired your imagination as a kid. I would have loved to have experienced that as a kid, but I grew up in California and my parents only shopped for toys at Toys R Us where all of the toys are made of plastic and mass produced. 
Uwe found the exact same wooden toolbox and tool kit that he had as a kid. He said he used to play with it for hours and his favorite thing to do was take the big wooden screwdriver and screw the wooden screws in (even though he said it would have been easier to do it by hand, but more fun to use the screwdriver). Astrid is still too young to play with it, but as soon as she's a bit older we're going to buy it for her.
Here are the toys that we purchased:
These are discovery blocks. Six colored wooden cubes with built in surprises; rattle, push-button, mirror, rotating ball, colored plexiglass, and kaleidoscope.
A wooden stacking clown to develop hand-eye coordination.
A wooden shape sorting box.
Unit blocks on wheels. Includes 36 solid wood blocks in different colors and shapes. It also has a rope attached so that it can be pulled along.
This music box winds up and has two ducks that spin around to the music from "Love Story". It's called "Dizzy Ducks". It doesn't require any batteries and works using magnets. Very clever. The ducks are not attached. You can take them off and play with them separately. They also had another one with ladybugs spinning around on top of a box that had a flower painted on the top.
I liked that all of these toys are very well made. None of them have plastic, or glue. They're also painted with a non-toxic paint that is safe for children and does not come off.
When Uwe came home last night we had a chance to catch up and I told him how that afternoon when I went into Astrid's bedroom after her nap I found her propped up on her knees holding onto the railing of her crib. It made me nervous to see her head and arms above the top of the rail and I was concerned that she could fall out of her crib. I asked Uwe to look at the crib to see if there was some way to lower the mattress. (Subsequently we found that you can't lower the mattress but you can raise the side rail of the crib.)
Astrid and I went shopping today to pick up a couple things for our trip to Florida. While in the baby section a woman and her little boy were standing nearby us. Astrid could see them from her vantage point sitting in her carseat attached to the shopping cart. She immediately turned on her charm and gave lots of coy looks and big smiles. The woman oohed and ahhed and kept saying how adorable Astrid was. She said her husband would love to see her because he loves babies (and then told me she has 4 kids and nodded her head as if to say it was her husband's fault).
.JPG)