Chad as a Lab Rat

Chad got invited to participate in another Duke research study. This was also through the NEST study that we've been involved with since he was just a tiny internal pumpkin. The focus of this one was exposure to chemicals in cleaning products and furniture. The letter we first got outlining the experiment said that they would even vacuum part of our house to get a feel for the kind of dust we have. Free housecleaning? Sign us up!
Three post-docs/techs came to our house to work with us. We timed it so the twins were sleeping and Andy went out for his run. Besides just turning our rugs over to the researchers and their special vacuum, we answered a lot of questions, and Chad got his height and weight recorded. We heard there was an optional blood collection and I left that totally up to Chad, since he would be the one getting pricked. I told him he could decide for himself, but to let me hold his other hand if he wanted. I was in the kitchen working with one of the researchers on the paperwork, and suddenly Chad came in showing me his new Olaf band-aid. They said he didn't even flinch for the finger prick.
After the in-house excitement, we were left with homework. The most exciting were the urine and fecal collections. We got four of those hats to put int he toilet and Chad gave them three urine samples and then one poop. The poop was the trickiest to get, with one quality sample missing the hat and being lost in the toilet. When we finally got the right sort of sample, we had this little collection vial that had a scooper on the lid, kind of like a nail polish brush. Chad helped pick just the right area to get a marble-sized lump from. It went onto the scooper, screwed into the vial, put in a Ziploc baggie and frozen. I made sure to keep it far away from the ice cream.
Shortly after we finished the pee collection, I made beet sliders for dinner. If you've ever eaten a lot of beets for dinner, you know what that can do. And then two nights later we had an asparagus tart. There hasn't been this much excitement in our bathroom since potty training.
After all the science was done, the surveys and samples got brought to Duke in a cooler and passed off to the researchers. (They came to my office to pick it up, which meant I got to sit with a cooler of poop for an hour that morning.) Our compensation was in Target gift cards, which Chad got to use to pick his reward with. It was his poop that got donated after all.
He chose a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles scooter. I'm not really a Turtle fan, but a scooter is a better choice than a loud toy with tiny pieces. And he also picked out some mini KitKats.

That is not our driveway he is playing in, but that is a story for another post.

The same day as the visit from the scientists, our Twins Club had their annual pool/pizza party so we loaded everyone up and joined the fun. 

The facility had a little baby pool and a bigger pool where Chad practiced his jumping in unassisted skills. Then we ate pizza and juice boxes and marveled at how it seems like we just joined this group yesterday, and now we have little toddler twins running around. I remember at our twins' debut event Theo and Natalie both started screaming while Andy and Chad were off playing, and there was another mom telling me not to lose my mind, because things would get easier. They aren't necessarily easier now, but I wasn't the one panicking because both started screaming for bottles in unison at the party. 

Annnnddd, just after I was lamenting our lack of family photos, one of the other club members posted a bunch of pictures onto our website and this was on there:

It's not the best quality because I stole it from the website, and she probably took it just with a cell phone, but it still has all 5 of us (and someone else's kid as well.) The collection of family pictures is growing.
This picture made me realize how bad my running shorts tan was this year. #runnergirlproblems This has since been fixed. Again, stay tuned for many more pictures of recent adventures

And here are just a few more pictures from August:

Hanging out before they saw the doctor

It was a good day for a bonnet

We bought empanadas at the Duke Farmer's market, and came home to make them ourselves

#likepierogiswithattitude

5/5 of us loved them. Just looking at this picture makes me want to make them again.

Chad asked for Theo to get spiky dinosaur hair, but neither could keep their eyes open for a picture

Natalie rocks the pigtails

We had a baby sushi picnic

Peanut butter, Rice Krispies and a banana wrapped up in a tortilla. Thank you, Pinterest

I took Natalie on her first stroller run! She kept kicking her feet up and saying, "Feet!"

Then, Andy took Theo on his first stroller run. He fell asleep

Natalie is ready for boot season

Chad made a bird's nest with his friend during outdoor time, and it is now on display in their classroom.