Bibi smiles

Iman has been smiling since day two, so Bibi has to make up some ground. In an effort to help him along, here's a few shots of just the little man with the big grin.

up up and away

We have started training the babies for their trip to Morocco. Amine has started some Moroccan dance lessons as well as flying lessons... so far so good. The dancing looks a little like kung fu, but I am sure they will learn that as well, so why not get an early start.

Chubby Checkers

Call Ed McMahon, get Star Search back on the air, I have two babies that are lord and lady of dance. Ok, so maybe I am the doting mom who can start to see how moms get sucked into pushing their kids modeling careers at age three months, but this is at the very least cute enough to share.

I just did some due diligence research and I have to give credit to the Isley Brothers and the Beatles who covered Twist and Shout as seen on Ferris Bueller, that is the version I am singing, not Chubby's... who knew?

I'm talkin' about a heat wave

We are setting temperature records in Boston and this week has had the most consecutive days above 90 since 2002. We are definitely feeling it in the Benali household. The babies and I have met Amine for lunch to enjoy his company as well as absorb some AC at the Pru.

Iman has a new sleeping style that has emerged, it's a little bit like grampa sleeps and it's a lot like a commercial I saw a few years ago where the guy's dog is in the same position in front of the AC. I can't remember what the ad is for, and Iman is a lot cuter than the dog, but I swear it's an identical pose. Maybe that's why it's called the dog days of summer, we lie around like dogs trying to get cool.

shkune hada?

This weekend I noticed that Iman and Tayeb finally see each other and relate to each other, before I think they have been pretty oblivious to that sibling of theirs. Here's some video footage of Bibi holding Iman's hand and her less than pleasant reaction to his friendly gesture.

Grammy

Grammy came to visit for a week and a half to offer some relief pitching while Amine was away on business for a few days. We had a few "firsts" this week. Our first big road trip via car to visit family in CT. The babies did great in the car, sleeping the entire trip, even through a terrible rain storm. It's funny how different it feels to drive through bad weather with babies in the car. We were about to pull over to wait out the storm when it finally began to clear. Mom and I went to the movies, which was my first night out and Amine's first time alone with them for an extended period of time. Bibi truly slept through the night, two nights in a row... 6 and a shocking 8 hours. Of course Iman was still up in the middle of the night, so Iman and I still have not slept through the night. We had our first trip to the zoo, although babies slept through the entire visit except for about half an hour in which the only wildlife they saw was me in the "wild" feeding them on a grassy knoll. This photo of Iman is her wearing her first dress and technically the photo of Tayeb isn't his first smile, he has been smiling for quite a while, but I have only caught a few on film, so this is his first published smile.

It was a great visit and we already really miss Grammy. Today was my first day alone with the babies in almost two weeks, either I forgot how hard it is or it was just a trying day in general. The babies tag teamed me for most of the day, for those of you without twins this is code for me holding at least one baby constantly throughout the day. As soon as one was calm and would allow me to put him or her down the other demanded to be held. They didn't take more than 5-10 minute catnaps so at 3:00 pm I thought I would take them upstairs for a nap at the same time... genius right? I thought this is what they mean by "are they on a schedule?", for 10 minutes I felt the joy of the simultaneous nap without either baby napping on my lap or chest. Murphy's Law, irony, or plain comedic timing kicked in when I called my mom to share in this joy. Bibi started to cry, then Iman, and then we started all over again. I tried napping with both of them, with one at a time.... finally by 6:30 we were all asleep in the bed when Amine came home. To him it probably looked like we had a great day. After his rescue we had a much nicer evening where I got to try my first shower with babies which went really well, no crying or slippery baby issues and now they are sleeping peacefully. We will see if atleast my long day will mean that they sleep well tonight. Grammy, when are you coming back to visit?