Lives full of constant chatter

I often get asked if it is “hard” to have twins and I never know how to answer this one.  Yes, it is “hard” and there are times that are much more difficult than others, but I think that can be said about parenting in general.  I don’t think I have it any “easier” or “harder” than the next person.  I will admit that it is more than likely “different” to have two children the exact same age (well Landon is 50 minutes older if you want to get technical).  I don’t have a comparison for this answer though as I have only ever had twins, so I don’t know what it is like to have one baby at a time.  Typically when I talk to someone about having twins, especially if they are about to have twins, I am as honest as possible.  The first 9ish months were VERY challenging.  It was about then that I really felt like I had a handle on their little personalities, routines, and needs.  It was then then the Hubby and I felt we had it all figured out… or so we thought. I don’t think it ever truly becomes any easier, just different.  Once they became mobile we had to take a whole new approach to the parenting.  We are currently in another challenging part of the parenting process- two year olds. :) On a daily basis, I can be found breaking up fights over toys, consoling tears, saying no to fruit snacks 300 times, and ignoring temper tantrums.  In addition to the large personalities we are also dealing with the pain of the two year molars – jumble all of this together and our house is stressful and loud.  As negative as this point can feel at times, it truly is a lot of fun to watch them grow.  

Landon likes to push his limits on a daily basis and I have nearly mastered the art of ignoring his tantrums.  Just last night, he laid himself down on the kitchen floor yelling because he wanted a specific food.  He was told if he just came to the table he could have said food, but that wasn’t what he wanted to hear.  I ignored the tantrum going as far as to step over him several times while making dinner and he finally came to the table and he received his “reward.” Guess it just had to be in his own time.  He amazes me on a daily basis.  He loves to chat and will talk to me about all the toys he is playing with or the animal sounds he knows.  He likes to point out the colors and the letters around him.  He loves anything with wheels and playing with his cars and trucks and trains.  He continues to love fire trucks and all thing fire truck related.  His imagination is soaring and he will lay down on the floor on his belly and “build” with blocks and talk to his toys.  He loves to wear hats and he wants you to wear hats as well.  He plays pretty well with Riley, but they do have their moments – especially if they want the same toy.  At the doctor a few weeks ago, the doctor said that he doesn’t typically since “this level of cooperative play” in two year olds, so I guess I am doing something right.  Landon has a very mischievous grin that I see often as he climbs all over me and around the house.  We are all still waiting on those 2 year molars, although he is not as loud as his sister when he is in pain.  He is a picky eater at times and then others he wants to eat anything and everything in the house.  His favorite foods are fruit snacks, cereal bars, pizza, chips, and goldfish crackers.  He loves to watch Fireman Sam and “Halloween George” (watched that one every day lately).  

Building a fire truck at Lowes

 

 Riley is a character.  She is a wealth of facial expressions and body language.  She makes me laugh about 100 times a day.  She NEVER walks anywhere- she has this pitter patter run that she does to get from point A to point B.  She loves to read books and play with her Doc McStuffins toys. She too has a developing imagination as she does some dress up and will feed her babies and have tea parties.  She is my snuggler still and likes to lay on my chest in the mornings and cover us up with a blanket.  She can often be found counting things or singing to herself.  She loves to sing different songs – especially if there are hand motions with the songs.  She dances and jumps all around the room when we go to the library for story time.  She can also be a picky eater depending on the day, but you can always get her to eat applesauce, yogurt, or cheese.  She does have her tantrums as well and they are often around meal times.  When she decides she is hungry, she is hungry now and very unwilling to wait.  She has thrown herself to the ground a few times, but she tends to take more of the “snow angel” approach and tosses herself backwards.  With her though, she will then get up and follow you around getting louder as she goes.  Riley is a tad bit harder to ignore because I can’t get away.  

Learning about the color orange with food!

Doesn't everyone play the drums on toilet paper rolls?!

Landon's drum.

Continuing to keep them busy has been the key to success around here.  They have been doing great with the home school and love the different activities.  This month we are working on the color orange and circles – not hard to find with all of the pumpkins around.  We have been doing some painting and coloring and are making some slow progress with the scissors.  We made some lion masks when we were talking about Daniel and the Lion’s Den and they enjoyed being able to “roar” at me through the mask.  We visited the aquarium at the mall and “found” nemo a few times.  They were so excited to run up to all of the tanks and say “hi” to all the fish.  We built some firetrucks at Lowe’s and they are getting (slightly) better with the hammer.  We took a weekend trip to Atlanta and made some puppets and watched a play.  They had some pretty cute reactions to the characters in the play – I wish I could have taken some pictures.  Speaking of pictures…. Here is your month in review.  

Thomas arrived!