... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : Bring on the holidays!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the changing of the leaves and the scent in the air. I am also one of “those people” that loves pumpkin spice everything – coffee, cookies, muffins, beer. I think some of my enthusiasm for the season is rubbing off on my children and it is making my heart smile. Every day they point out to me the leaves that have changed color and the ones that are falling down. Every time we go on a walk, they collect the leaves and excitedly tell me their color. They were so excited for me to decorate the house for Halloween and they pointed out decorations wherever we went. They pretty much rocked Halloween this year as well. Landon was a man on a mission and literally ran from door to door saying “Trick or Treat” and “Thank You” and showing me his candy before he put it in his bucket. Riley enjoyed herself as well, but in typical Riley fashion, she injured herself prior to us leaving the house and she struggled with her injury during the trick or treating – breaking down into tears on random doorsteps. She managed to rally though – anything for candy.

Speaking of rocking it, Landon is really getting the hang of this potty thing now. He was able to wear underwear all day today with only one incident of telling me about 2 seconds too late that he had to potty. He has filled an entire sheet with stickers and earned a ton of rewards. In order to keep the momentum, he has been receiving a prize every time he goes (which is actually only about twice a day – this kid is like a camel). Landon is fascinated by how things work. I caught him staring at me the other day while I was eating. He stopped me to explain that I was chewing up and down, but he had seen the “grape go back and front” too. He has talked to me about how the garage door opens and raises “on the track.” It is amazing to me the amount of information he absorbs and retains already. When we practice printing letters, I catch him reciting the verbal cues I use like “down” or “across.” We taught him that his Leapfrog Epic has a camera a few weeks ago and we have had some pretty entertaining photo sessions since. The view of the world from a three year old level is amusing! He loves to play with his cars and trains, but he will play with the baby dolls as well. His choices in food have not changed much – he still would much prefer a peanut butter and jelly over anything else. He still snacks all morning long and doesn’t eat much for dinner. He loves his milk and “monkey drinks” (Dannon yogurt drinks), snack pouches, fruit snacks, Special K cookies, and graham crackers. He still likes to sit in my lap and snuggle, especially in the mornings. He likes to watch Rescue Bots, Curious George, and Paw Patrol still. He likes to sing and dance and to have me sing songs to him – I could probably sing “5 little speckled frogs” in my sleep at this point. He still loves to play pretend and has a huge imagination. He will even open and shut the pretend door on his police car when he is in character. He has mastered the pouty lip when he is upset and wants me to kiss all his boo boos to make them feel better.

Riley keeps me on my toes – I have to make sure I am not about to sit or step on one of her many “animals” in the house. When she has a “dog” or a “cat” with her she never breaks character and will keep one hand balled in a fist like she is holding a leash. We have to convince her to let us hold on to the “animal” while she is playing so that she can use both hands to climb. She is very busy all time and likes to help me around the house – laundry help is her favorite. She plays with her dolls and dollhouse, but also trucks and cars. She loves to read books and have books read to her. Riley does not nap all the time and I have concluded that she does this so she can get some one on one mommy time. She loves to sing and dance and giggle – her laugh is infectious. She loves to eat and will return from the refrigerator with food about 5 times a day – on average I have 2 half eaten apples in my refrigerator at all times. She likes her yogurt, snack pouches, and fruit snacks. She still loves to watch Curious George and Mickey Mouse. She likes bandaids and having her leg wrapped. A boo boo buddy is the cure for everything in our house.

We were especially busy this month with the Halloween festivities – Trunk or Treat, Haunted Greenhouse (at Holy Angels), carving pumpkins, birthday parties, fall festival, and pumpkin picking. We have a pretty large stash of costumes at our house and it came in handy this year with all of the parties. They did officially wear their costumes on Halloween and were a fireman and a Dalmatian. Mommy and Daddy went away for a weekend and the kids stayed with grandma and grandpa – visiting a pumpkin patch together. We are still doing school activities and I will post about those in a separate blog (when I can manage to find the time!) We even went to the Cleveland County Fair where the kids rode the Ferris wheel with Daddy and Mommy kept her feet firmly planted on the ground. I swear I will try and do better with the blog next time, but being realistic – I probably won’t. Life is getting hectic! (PS I apologize for the pictures being all over the place - one of these days I will also learn how to format!)