... and babies make four: Our life with twins. : On the down low

Happy Groundhog Day!

This afternoon I answered 17 questions in three minutes. 17 questions for one child (luckily the other one was asleep). My mind is exhausted by the end of the day! All those questions require answers and I do my best to answer all of them as scientifically (and anatomically accurate) as possible. I need nap time to regroup during the day – give my brain a break – and unfortunately my nap time is often filled with homework. Honestly, Landon is pretty impressive with his answers as well. The other day, he went into a detailed explanation of how the water goes down the drain, through the pipes, and out of the bathroom. He has a very “mechanical” mind and is constantly trying to figure out how things work so he can explain them to me. So basically, there is a constant “noise” in my day with one asking questions and the other answering questions I did not even ask. I love my quiet time when I can get it!

They are both pretty protective of each other. Riley expressed concern with “getting hurt” earlier and Landon said to her “don’t worry, you won’t get hurt.” Today at McDonald’s, Landon was having difficulty climbing up to the slide as he is a few inches shorter than Riley. She was encouraging him all the way and then when he asked for help, she got behind him and pushed him up to the next level. I could hear them cheering each other on the whole time. When we are out in public, they are never too far from each other, and are constantly looking out for each other. They always remind each other of my instructions, which can come off as kind of bossy and I have had to remind them on occasions that I am the mommy. We started soccer this past weekend and overall they did pretty well. They followed instruction and enjoyed themselves- and looked pretty cute doing it. We did start to have some breakdown in our attention near the end of class, but it was 11:30 and they were starting to get hungry. Next time, I will know to “carbo-load” them before class. Ha ha.

Today we got Riley’s hair cut. It has taken me a few weeks to commit and be willing to cut it off, but the constant crying when I am trying to comb it and her unwillingness to put it in a ponytail finally made it a priority. We got about 4 inches cut off and there is still plenty of hair! She continues to keep me busy and entertained. She loves to pretend she is an animal and spends a majority of her day as a puppy – which means most of her pants are worn out at the knees. If she is not busy being an animal she is playing with animals and our collection of stuffed animals continues to grow. She likes to tell me that she is going to keep things “nice and warm” when she puts them away – like putting my glasses in their case. She loves to play board games and is getting pretty good at them. She likes to build forts in the living room and has me build one just about daily. She loves to sing and dance and spin around. She still likes to dress like a princess, but she loves to get down in the mud and play with the boys. She is showing some improvement in going to the potty and we are seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. She has always had some issues with her belly and it is definitely impacting this process – we may be consulting with a doctor soon, but for now I will keep trying prune juice and methods at home. She has been willing to try new foods lately, but that may be partly due to some bribery with cookies if she finishes her food. Her favorite food is cheese, but we have put some limitations on that one so she isn’t happy. She still likes to eat applesauce, macaroni, yogurt, apples, and fruit snacks. Currently, her favorite shows to watch are (still) Curious George and basically anything with an animal. She loves to read and will often be found in her room reading instead of taking a nap. She has been able to mostly memorize some books and “read” them to me and she gets a kick out of that!

Poor Landon has inherited my seasonal allergies and we are both miserable right now. They symptoms came on fast this year – too fast. I have enjoyed the warm weather, but I do not enjoy the sneezing! He has been fairly healthy otherwise, not like this time last year when we were battling with reoccurring croup. I am so grateful that we were able to get him some effective treatment! Landon is very mechanically minded and is constantly explaining to me how things work, like water going down the drain or just simply saying, “ the sun goes down during the night and the moon comes up.” I could listen to his little voice all day long so I just let him talk. We have needed to discuss the use of an indoor voice a lot lately as he will start to speak louder and louder when he gets excited. He does have some expressions that make me laugh – when something is underneath, like if I put something under the grocery cart, he will tell me that it is “on the down low.” I have not corrected this one because it makes me laugh every single time, so sorry future teachers. ;) He is also always asking me if I am “forgetting something” when I do not answer his call/need right away. I swear, between the two of them, 10000 words are spoken in our house each day before noon. Landon loves to play with his racecars and Rescue bots. He likes to watch Mickey and the Roadstar Racers or Superwings lately, or one specific episode of Curious George that is driving me crazy. The other night he read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to me when he was stalling his bedtime. He also loves to read his books and will take one to bed with him each night. He is doing great with the potty training and is in underwear full time now, other than night time. His current favorite food remains as “cereal with a star on it that I can pick up with my fingers” (aka imitation lucky charms served dry in a blue or green bowl so he can pick out all the marshmallows and eat them first). A “jelly sandwich” (PBJ) is a close second along with his “white milk,” which he will always say both words despite the fact I have never really offered chocolate milk.

We had a couple of adventures this month. The hubby and I took them to the Shiele Museum in Gastonia and they liked seeing all the animals – especially the dinosaur. We have been spending a lot of time playing with our buddies Jack and Will, which has been nice since they ask about them just about every day anyway. We visited the aquarium and learned they are going to be opening a turtle exhibit so we were pretty excited about that. With the weather being so nice, we have been able to spend a lot of time outside and at the parks and they love that! If only I could get them to stay in the stroller long enough for me to go for a run. :/ We are still doing school activitities - I just have not had much time to do a seperate blog of those, it is on my list though. I am impressed daily with the progress they are making. Landon picks things up very quickly, but is more reluctant to stop his playing for "school." Riley runs to the activity, but quickly gives up when she feels like it is "not perfect." I just love watching them grow and develop!