Super Twins at Two and a Half

This post has taken a while to come to fruition, mostly because I'm lazy, but also because it's so hard to pinpoint these little personalities in a few short paragraphs, especially since they're changing daily.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago.  They like each other...a little bit.

Being a twin is a lot of fun.  I can attest to that.  However, raising two-year-old twins comes with certain, ahem, challenges.  (Sorry, Mop and Pop!) The mild "terrible twos" we experienced with Megan and Bridget in no way prepared us for this amped-up, doubled version!    They feed off of each other, bicker over the most ridiculous little objects, mimic the not-so-great behavior of their older sisters, act like crazy cribbed animals at nap time and bedtime, and require twice the attention (as they should), all while still perfecting their potty skills, which is enough to keep us on our toes. 

The good outweighs the bad stuff, though.  The connection they have with each other is amazing to witness.  I think it's tempered a bit since they have Megan, Bridget and Mary in the mix, but they do have a special bond.  I see it more clearly while the older girls are at school.  They are a mellow pair, these two, when they're on their own.  And their little conversations are so cute!  Since they're the only vocal kids in the car for much of the day, I often listen to little conversations like this:

Annie: "Mommy, are we almost to Bridget's school?"
Me: "Yep. Almost. We have to wait for the light to turn green."
Annie: "OK, green means we can go.  Red means we stop. Tessa, did you hear that? We're almost there, okay, Tessa?"
Tessa: "Okay, Annie!"

And. lately, their vocabulary seems to be building exponentially, with the daily use of words like "actually" and "instead."  "Last night" and "remember that one time" are popular, too.   Just today, I was inundated with "Mommy, I know Bridget is going on a playdate after school, but what is she doing after that?" from Annie.  I think she might be more nosy than I am!  More disturbing. though, is Annie's recent attempts at acting like a little teenager. She now says "Thanks, Mom" and "I told 'ya!" all while strutting around in her favorite pair of shorts with her hands planted deep in the pockets.  I'm hoping "Mommy" makes a comeback.  While they don't have their own little language, they do understand each other, even when we can't.  It's pretty useful to ask Tessa to explain what Annie was trying to say, and vice versa.  Of course, they also have their own funny words.  If they are ever collectively referring to themselves, it's always "we guys."  For example, who took down the big basket of shoes and scattered them all over the room??  "We guys did it." 

They are also enamored with everything school. I feel a little guilty for even considering keeping them home an extra year, which would give them just one year of preschool (gasp!).  I want to keep them home longer for a few reasons, but mostly because I really feel they get so much socialization at home that they don't need to be there next year.  Plus, selfishly, I've realized how fast these years go, and I have no desire to send them any sooner than I need to.  But, they drink up every detail of the girls' school days. As soon as Bridget hops back in the car at noon, the twins are asking 20 questions about her morning.  They know her friends' names, and they give knowing nods when she tells them what she played with. "Oh, okay, Bridget. You played with Ainsley, with the dollhouse?"  They're filing that info away somewhere. As for their own "schooling," they love love love to color and "draw" and we're looking at a strong possibility of Tessa being a lefty!  We'll see how that pans out, but I'm so curious, because that may mean that they are mirror image twins - kind of cool!

Annie, with her right hand, has quite suddenly started to draw people!  I love it!!  I'm pretty confident Megan and Bridget didn't draw anything that actually resembled something until 3, maybe 3.5 years old.  Apparently, that's me on the left.  She's very meticulous when she adds the eyes, a nose and mouth. In typical Annie fashion, she acts like she's been doing this forever.  She is two.

I feel like I've given more examples of Annie's personality than I have for Tessa.  In a word, Tessa continues to be the cuddlebug.  And very sensitive.  "I got my feelings hurt," or "That's not fair" are common utterances from this one.  Every morning carting the girls in to drop off Megan, Tessa wants to be carried.  It's not always possible, since she has a little bit of competition.  So, she's also prone to making a very compelling frown, much like I did when I was little.  I wish I could always scoop her up and cuddle her, but alas, she is one of five kids.  I'm hoping she won't be too damaged by that fact!  Lest I paint her a sad, sad child, though, I have to add that she is also very silly -- definitely our silliest.  She breaks out in songs and giggles many times a day, and especially loves when we notice and tell her what a good song that was!  She has one deep dimple in her right cheek that makes an appearance a LOT, so I think she'll turn out all right.

In the coming months, we're planning to transition the twins to twin beds and make room for Mary in their room.  We'll see how that goes, and hope that little trio will be peaceful roommates for a little while.  I'm slightly worried about the mayhem that may ensue without the benefit of crib rails, but we'll worry about that later!  At that point, I may really have to stop calling them the "babies."  Even with a newborn in the mix here, I still can't break that habit.  Even at two and a half, they're still my babies!

We Have a Thumbsucker!

We just needed to have five babies before we had one that wants to suck her thumb!


Although, she also loves her parents' pinkies. Try to give her a pacifier, though, and she'll act like she's gagging.

For the record, our soothers have been:

Megan: her "pappy" aka pacifier. She needed it until she was 3.5 years old - gasp!

Bridget: She used her "pappy" until she was 26 months old.

Tessa and Annie: nothing. No pappy, no thumb. They were so deprived.

We'll see if Mary's fondness for her thumb lasts. I have a soft spot for thumbsuckers, and since she's likely already got an orthodontist's dream smile, I'm not worried about her doing any further damage.



- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Trick-or-Treat 2011

Our Alice in Wonderland ensemble hit the streets of Westlake Halloween night, and we had a lot of fun!  Matt made a pretty impulsive decision to make some alterations to his cowboy hat and transorm into the Mad Hatter.  The girls loved it.  Of course, right before we left, while I was busy doing some girly hair (this process is not to be underestimated. Anyone with boys -- well, I guess you have your own challenges, but I'm sure you don't have this one!), he suggested that I find something "stripey" to wear and maybe we could make a cat headband for me. I guess I'm the Halloween party pooper because we did not have a Cheshire Cat in our crew!

We did have some cute trick-or-treaters, though!  We brought our wagon along for the twins, who hit one house for every three that Megan sprinted to.  Bridget wasn't far behind, and they took turns with the doorbells.  Megan, especially, had so much fun, and her enthusiam was contagious!  For the first time in recent history, I was really into Halloween, and wanted to stay out longer than we did.  It was just so much fun to watch Megan confidently run from house to house, all by herself, and help her sisters when they were hesitant.  It was especially fun, and a little less stressful, to be trick-or-treating in our own neighborhood, which was surprisingly busy and full of kids.

Thanks to these cuties, we're stocked up on chocolate for a while, and they've (almost) forgotten about it!  Now, we're dreaming up costumes for next year.  A basketball team (since everyone says that we have one now)?  I'm open to suggestions :)

While the Twins Were Away...

Well, Tessa and Annie are safely home from their trip, and are house is full again. That's probably the reason I'm so late posting these pictures. Life gets in the way of blogging :).

This trip was major deja vu for my parents, who had two little towhead twins once upon a time. Tessa and Annie bear a striking resemblance to Sara and me at the same age, so I can't really fault my parents for the number of times they called the twins by their mom and aunt's names (I hear from the girls that Tessa=Shawna and Annie=Sara).

This trip down memory lane included lots of coloring,

And Mop and Pop agreed that Tessa will probably be a lefty, which I'm unprepared for. I'm so curious to see if that's how it plays out once she's writing.

Of course, a trip to Mop and Pop's house is not complete without a jaunt to Disneyland!!

The girls apparently loved the teacups,

 and the carousel. I just love that they are reaching for each other in this photo.

Because Mop and Pop live so close to Disneyland, and because they have season passes, we never feel a ton of pressure to stay all day or hit every ride. It's always a very relaxed, pleasant adventure that lasts as long as the little ones can handle it. On this day, Tessa and Annie were back when it was still light outside, and they played on the little bridge in the front yard.

 What follows is just creepy and weird. But, hey, being an identical twin and having identical twins is creepy and weird, so, I guess this is just par for the course. (And "creepy" happens to be a nickname that my dad always called me and Sara, so of course, Tessa and Annie are also now little "creepies," too.)

Apparently, when Sara and I were tiny, we used to throw very interesting "tantrums" that didn't involve any screaming or hysterics. (Oh, how I wish this was a genetic trait. Obviously not.) Instead, when we were unhappy or wanted to express just how angry we were, we would both crouch, head down, in opposite corners of the couch, and just stay there. What rebellion!!

So, Mop and Pop got a big kick out of recreating this scene more than thirty years later by teaching Tessa and Annie the "Mommy and Aunt Sara Game."

Repeatedly. Notice the change of costume.

Tessa and Annie (or is it Shawna and Sara??) talk constantly about their next trip down south. Usually, it's "tomorrow," so it's safe to say they had a good time!
- posted from my handy-dandy iPhone, with Blogpress

Soccer Girls

Soccer season has come...and gone again in this house.  Megan's kindergarten class formed two soccer teams, and she happened to be on the team with all of her little girlfriends.  It made such a difference to have other girls on her team (she was the only girl on her team in the spring), especially her friends.  They giggle on the field and horse around on the sidelines. It's neat to get a glimpse of the friendships she's creating.  Although, the YMCA coaches are not as fond of the girly banter that goes on during both practices and games.  "Come to the party, ladies!" has been directed at this group of girls more than once!  She doesn't quite grasp the idea that she needs to kick the ball when it gets near her, but she's having fun!  A Mia Hamm she is not, but that's okay. Megan did get to ride her bike to her games this season, though, since they happen to take place in our neighborhood.  That may have been the highlight for her, and that's okay :)

Meanwhile, Bridget hopped onto a team comprised mostly of kids from her preschool class last year.  Soccer skills aside (which there are none to speak of), how cute does she look in shin guards?

Our Saturdays have been pretty full for the last two months as we've juggled the two soccer schedules, foregone naps on some days (gasp!) and occasionally split up to make both games.  Since we only have two kids in these kind of activities now, and it's already crazy, I'm really scared of what our future activities calendar will look like.  Yikes! 

On the sidelines, I was usually in charge of Mary, while Matt was either holding someone,

or a few girls, depending on how many of them needed Daddy!

Uncle Kyle was the lucky guy who accompanied me to the last game of the season.  He's pretty handy with strollers, wagons, picnic blankets and little girls.  He even has a way with Mary.



See? Bridget made contact with the ball --  at least once.

And while snacks were the highlight of each game,

these girls managed (somehow) to entertain themselves while a sister was playing.

Now that soccer has come to an end, we're taking a breather and enjoying our Saturdays for a bit before the next round of activities.  We have sign-ups for Megan to play basketball in the winter -- that should be interesting.  And Bridget has been begging for a few weeks, "Can you please sign me up for gymnastics?" 

Stay tuned.

Mary is 3 Months Old!

I had to get my 3 month ABC block picture, but it didn't turn out the greatest.  Here are a few more shots of Mary that turned out a little cuter, if I do say so myself.

We get plenty of smiles, but the expression below is still pretty common, too.  I think she's almost always wondering exactly how she ended up in this family.  I don't blame her most days.

Despite that often-furrowed brow, though, Mary continues to bring us so much joy!  At three months, she is becoming very aware of her surroundings --  namely, four little girls who are constantly providing her entertainment.  And she doesn't let out so much as a whimper before I have all of the girls calling, "Mommy, Mary needs milk!" They are so cute with her, and her presence is enough to diffuse even the most vicious fights or temper tantrums.  As complicated as our days are, and as busy as we are meeting everyone's needs, she is just the perfect antidote, especially after dealing with a certain five-year-old's temper, a four-year-old's misbehavior, and two-year-old's being...well, two.  I may not get as much done during my downtime any more, but I can definitely get lots of baby smiles and cuddles, and try to remember that the older girls really were that cute and lovable at one point! She is also a beautiful reminder of life!  I know it sounds sappy, but to think that we could have been "done" at four kids just makes my heart physically hurt.  I just look at her and remember how blessed we are to have another healthy baby to love -- and hope that she can just stay this tiny and cute forever.  I think that's realistic.  I mean, it can work for her even if these four keep growing despite our efforts.

Picking Pumpkins

After our first trip of the season to a gigantic pumpkin patch that we left without any actual pumpkins, we knew we needed to get them somewhere else, so, after school one day the week before Halloween, we made a quick trip to the oh-so-authentic patch on 19th Avenue in San Francisco. 



This was a whirlwind trip. We were on a mission to get five pumpkins, and get back home in time for lunch and naps, but we still had to document this adventure with pictures, especially since Megan was wearing her super-cute school uniform.

First, we loaded up the wagon with girls, which Megan pulled exactly two feet to the nearest cluster of pumpkins.  Did I mention how small this patch is?

Each girl picked a pumpkin (and then we ditched the green one when Mommy found out how expensive it was),

and Mary even hand-picked a baby one.  She looks thrilled with her selection.

Then we plunked them on our front porch.

Sadly, these pumpkins are still in the same spot, and they were never carved.  Some things really do go by the wayside when you have five kids.  Unfortunately, the pumpkins were neglected this year.  Maybe next year we'll see some crazy jack-o-lanterns on that porch!

Parading

Our Alice in Wonderland ensemble cast had plenty of opportunities to strut their stuff before the actual trick-or-treating. We had a busy schedule on Halloween with two different school parades, but we had a bonus parade the previous week at Bridget's school.  A bonus parade calls for a bonus costume, right?  Especially if your "real" costume is still en route :)  Bridget was more than happy to be Belle for her first parade.

The morning of Halloween was the real deal!  We all got up bright and early to don costumes (and when I say "we," I definitely do not mean to imply that I was costumed!), which added to the normal morning chaos.  But, it was worth it to see Megan so happy, and eager to show off her little sisters.  She sat with her class in the school yard when the parade started,



and then posed with her crew, after they all marched in the parade with her.  We're looking forward to many more St. Stephen parades!
 



After each girl was dropped off, the twins, Mary and I made a rest stop back at our house, where Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee put on a little show on our front porch.





 

and then humored me for one more picture inside. 

We dressed Mary in her flower costume, and before we knew it, it was time to head back to Bridget's school for her parade, where she very regally showed off her Queen of Hearts costume.

And, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum surprised me when they took the hands of Teacher Maria and agreed to march, too. 

Our little flower was unfazed by the noise, and slept through the whole thing.  I'm sure she was dreaming about who she can dress as next year, and hoping her mom doesn't come up with an embarrassing theme again. 

I'm not making any promises!