Meeting the Twins!

My college roommate, Sonika, had twins back in January (on Martin Luther King Day, the same day (but not same date) as when I had Hannah!).  We finally got to meet Arjan and Nayla when we were in Pittsburgh for Easter when they were about 3 months old.  Hannah was so excited to meet the babies - we'd picked some things for them at Babies R Us a month or so ago and Hannah was so excited to give Sonika her package.  When Sonika and Mike strolled in, the first thing Hannah did was say "Sonika, can I hold your babies?"  Fortunately, Sonika is pretty laid back for, well, Sonika, and for being a first time mom, so she said yes and Hannah gleefully grabbed the babies!  Arjan, just like his dad, was Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected and didn't have a care in the world as long as he had his paci.  Nayla, just like her mom, was super alert, looking around, and trying to not miss a thing (and probably a little suspicious of Hannah holding her)!  It's so much fun to get a glimpse of their personalities already.

I love that we got to see Sonika at Easter this year.  You see, for most of college, Sonika celebrated Easter at my Grandma Catney's house.  Sonika's family doesn't celebrate Easter (they're Sikh), so when everyone left campus, rather than just go home or stay on a fairly empty campus, Sonika would come with me to Easter at Grandma's.  Her first year with us was a bit overwhelming, when you throw my crazy family together and Grandma has an egg hunt with college and high-school aged kids.  The trick to participation was that Grandma put money in them!  She'd hide close to 100 eggs with a dollar (usually change wrapped in saran wrap) and some candy inside.  Talk about incentive.  Not to brag, but I was pretty good at finding the eggs!  AND, Grandma was really good at hiding them. She was tricky and creative (between the trash bag liner and the can, inside plants, etc.) - you really had to work to find them.  In years where we were inside because it rained, just pulling up the couch cushions wasn't enough, you had to put your hands down inside them!  Sonika was given her bag and told "go" and all of us grandkids zoomed out the door to find eggs - poor Sonika had this look of sheer shock/horror on her face.  Grandma had to help her find her one egg ; )  But, it's something that Sonika has never forgotten!  Sonika also ended up being our unofficial family photographer, and some of the best pictures of all of us taken at Grandma's house (when Grandpap was still alive) were taken by Sonika.  When she moved away for medical school (and then residency), Grandma would often ask how she was doing and if she needed a place to come for Easter.

Lauren also has a love for babies, but considering how she tosses her baby dolls on the floor, she wasn't allowed to hold either of them by herself.  I just loved holding the babies.....makes me realize how fast my kids are growing up.  Although I don't have any pictures, Jon spent plenty of time holding Arjan too....but insisted that he enjoyed holding the kids only because he could give them back and not because he wants another.

Sonika & Lauren

In planning our visit, Sonika learned a little something about what the next stage with her kiddos will be like.  You see, even if they fidgeted, her kids could be contained in a stroller while we ate dinner.  My girls, not so much (when we saw them at New Year's, Lauren broke a plate by tossing it on the floor at Red Robin).  This time, we met for a relatively early dinner at a restaurant in the mall and then as soon as everyone was done eating, headed over to the play place so my girls could run around.  I told Sonika that although you might think that you won't go to those places before you have kids since they are super germy, one day when you've been cooped up in the house, you'll find yourself there and think "hmmm...it's not that bad".....and eventually you'll go to the mall not to shop, but just to go to the play place and blow off steam.  Of course, this play place did have the weird girl that kept coming over and trying to touch the babies (with no parent stopping her)....she's just off camera in this shot...but it was nice to have a little visit with the Gill-Dukes family!

 

Sonika & me with our brood