Summer 2011

I am determined that this summer will rock.  The other day I brainstormed things I could do with the girls when they got bored with playing with toys.  If I don't watch them, the war of the wonder twins breaks out.  It's usually caused by boredom, frustration, need for a nap, or hunger.  I wrote lots of little activities on slips of paper and tucked them into a tin (leftover from candy somebody gave me once...there was no more candy and I was a bit sad).  Some of the things in the tin:

• balloons - I used to play for a long time with a plain balloon.  Good for a rainy day.
• paper plate maracas - Coloring and music!  
• paper plate masks - No need for tons of supplies for these.  
• finger painting - Read a suggestion that you put a bit of paint on a paper plate to keep things tidier.
• shape walk - The girls know their shapes and we can look for things in those shapes.  
• cloud watching
• tp tube kazoos
• table fort
• peanut butter play dough
• play with bread dough and bake it
• stamps on paper
• potato stamps
• bucket with soapy water - they're two, anything is fun!
• obstacle course with household objects
• baby doll bathtime outside
• face painting - fun to do and fun to wash off
• visit nursing home down the street - pass out flowers or stickers to residents
• make a book
• make hand prints on cardstock - which I can turn into thank you notes later.  Must remember to give each child a different color or write names and ages on the page.
• make ice cream in coffee cans or zipper bags
• go for a walk in the rain

Today I started out by making the finger paint.  The girls are with their Nana and my gardening projects were not going super.  I used this recipe:  Bath Tub Soap

Upon many reviews of other recipes, I used tear free baby soap.  I screwed up and added water to the corn starch/soap mixture when it looked too thick.  I have a recycled pickle jar half full of this mixture in the fridge.  So, oops, but score!  If the kids like it, there's extra left.  I am hoping that it would make a neat gift.  I just want to make sure that it comes clean before I give it away.

Mine came out a bit lumpy, but the two year olds shouldn't mind.  Life is about messes and textures for them right now.  Here's a pic of the containers I have:

I can't wait to get the kids all grubby so that they can play with this in the tub.  It should be a good bath tub and finger paint base.  I read a suggestion that you let the kids paint on an old sheet hung up outside.  I might try that to see if the colors wash out.  I will post more as we try the different activities throughout the summer.

My Favorite Mommy Things

I've been looking back through photos and thinking a lot about my favorite mommy moments of the year.  Here are some of the highlights:

First ice cream cones.  They now get excited and ask for "cream cream".  Looks like they got my sweet tooth.

 Hanging out with Grandpop on a nice Saturday.  Below is the hearth at Grandpop's house.  They really liked sitting there

 A two year twin chair pic!  Thalia is on the left and Calliope is on the right.

 And one of my favorite things ... learning to blow kisses.  Hope you all had a great year, too.

Words around the house

The girls are really learning a lot lately.  They started playing games together and talking to each other more.  They know "sister" and string that with something else to mean "sister's ____".  It's really nice to see them playing together.  Thalia will bring Calli a drink saying, "Sister!  Sister, here, Sister drink."

Other new phrases:

I turn
sister turn
I did it!
I got it.
Sunglasses!
open
door
up
in
Where are you?
My carseat!

There's a lot more, but I can't remember it all now.

Sometimes twins are HARD

The girls are quickly approaching two and they definitely have more opinions.  I try to give them lots of choices, but sometimes it isn't possible.  Lately, the meltdowns have been all about me carrying them.  I cannot physically carry the two girls anymore.  I love carrying them, but at 23 pounds each or more, my ribs will not let me carry them.  Thalia can cry and throw a fit like nobody else I know.  We have implemented time outs for this.  Mostly, I've been letting her cry it out and then getting her out of her crib.  Unfortunately, she goes right back into a fit if I won't carry her out of the bedroom. On it goes.

Confusion 2011

This weekend we attended Confusion 2011.  Toby and I have been going there for at least five years, but I'd bet closer to ten.  It's my favorite con because of the family-friendly atmosphere.  We know so many people who attend every year that it feels like a giant family reunion of sorts.

The girls travel well and they did great for the most part.  They are in love with elevators and had a blast running on the hotels carpet.  The carpet has giant flowers and vines running along it.  The girls thought it was great to stand on those big flowers! 

Traveling with two toddlers is something.  Their suitcase was stuffed with toys more than anything else.  Of course, the usual medications and "just-in-case" items were packed, but I really eased up on the clothes this time.  I packed loads of snacks:  Gerber yogurt (no refrigeration needed), fruit rolls, fruit cups, apple juice, sippy cups, cookies, and crackers.  Nothing keeps a toddler happier than snacks and some Dora on the iPhone.

Instead of buying a membership, I planned to hang around the hotel.  We sat in the makeshift lobby (yay for construction) and ran the hallway by the meeting rooms.  The girls waved hello and good-bye to everybody.  They met some other toddlers and shared their toys.  Thalia has a bruise/scratch by her eye from catching a table corner.  Calli has one in almost the same place from ???? She didn't cry so the sitter didn't catch what did it.  The girls were totally into the experience.  They even held hands a bit in the hallways (talk about melting a mother's heart!).

Things were going swimmingly until Saturday night.  We headed up to the room and Thalia went in without any trouble.  Calli looked and me and said, "No. Uh-unh."  She then ran off down the hallway.  I let the hotel room close while catching Calli.  Thalia freaked out and closed that little latchy thing under hotel door knobs.  Those actually work!  The man delivering our room service called engineering and a man came with a crowbar.  He finally had to break the bar completely and install a new one.  Meanwhile, I'm holding a very snuggly Calli (Hugs, mama! Kiss!)  and talking through the door to Thalia, who is absolutely freaking out.  We get into the room and settle down with our cold food while the engineer replaces the latch.  Thalia cries for a good half hour and Calli refuses to sit down to eat.  Once the girls were in bed, I settled down with a bottle of Riesling and a bath.  Today, Calli did the exact same thing, but this time I learned to put the other toddler in the hallway before chasing the runner.

The girls were dolls today and even took a three hour nap!  A three hour nap (sing it with me to the tune of Gilligan's Island!)!  We headed out after a nice lunch and caught some sushi on the way home.  They are now sound asleep in bed.

16 months and counting

The girls are just over sixteen months old now.  They lag behind on some things and surge ahead on others.  This seems to be pretty normal for all babies.  While twins often do experience some delays associated with premature birth, the girls don't seem to have any physical issues.  I think some of the delays are simply because parents of twins just can't interact as much with two babies as compared to how parents of singletons interact with one baby.

We play with the girls a lot.  We talk to them all the time.  It's just not the same as parents with one child who can walk around with that just that baby.  You're always checking in on the other child.  You're often snuggling one and making eye contact with the other.  You have to make decisions all the time about which baby needs you more...even when they're both crying.  If you're alone with them, it's just about impossible to hold and carry two babies. 

On the other hand, the girls do some things that other babies aren't doing.  When I watch the little ones at the sitter's, most of them are playing near each other.  They're playing independently, but close together.  The girls break into games throughout the day.  Currently, they're passing toys back and forth and Calliope is putting them on the shelf or into the basket.  Earlier, they were grabbing toys and rolling until they had their heads together.  The latter is a favorite thing to do, especially with books.

Twin talk.  I'm getting a bit tired of being asked about this.  (No offense intended to the people who've been asking.  Twins are different and wonderfully so!) The scientific terms are: idioglossia and cryptophasia.  The last term being specifically for the language adopted by multiples.  The girls really don't exhibit these languages.  They babble constantly, but there are no patterns to the speech.  The very limited reading that I've done suggests that twin talk is actually an adaptation of poorly pronounced speech.  The twins adopt each others' attempts at words and then have their own "language".  I don't notice this with the girls. Mostly what I see is that they model the inflections we use for everyday speech.  Thank you is almost musical when Thalia says it.  Calli seems to do the same with "doggy". 

And now I have to go because two little girls are both trying to walk! 

Playtime for Mommy

I like to take pictures.  What's better than pictures of kids? Not much!  Here's the first attempt:

Ok, but not what I wanted.  If you crop out the baby on the left, it's alright.

These turned out better.  There's better light in the kitchen and babies in sinks can't escape.

Calli loves to play in the water...at least for bathtime.  Pools are another thing altogether!

Thalia waiting to wash off her avocado bits.  She likes to eat and explore textures.

It's so hard to get a good picture of both girls, but this one makes me smile.  Too many textures, though.

My little hammy girl!

Sweet Thalia Lyn!  I'm hoping that it will get easier as they get a bit older.  I'm pretty sure that's just wishful thinking, though.