Our Kids

Well I was going to write this post last night but I was crying before I even got to the computer so I decided to wait.  I watch a show and on it a couple just had twins, a boy and a girl.  They had them 10 weeks early just like Lela and Piper and one of the twins did not make it.  It just reminded me how lucky we are to have such beautiful, healthy, strong babies.  Because you are so strong and growing so fast, I forget what a difficult start you both had.  When I think about it I am grateful for your strong wills and I promise to remember that the next time your will goes up against mine:)  I know it is those strong wills that kept you fighting for your lives so you could be with your dad and I as long as you are meant to be.  We both love you from the tops of your heads down to the tips of your toes.  Thanks for fighting, thanks for being our girls and thanks for making me a mom.

Having twins has always been exciting but lately it is becoming more and more interesting.  If you have two kids you know what I mean or will soon.  Having twins allows me to watch two individuals at the same age learning at different speeds with different areas of interest.  It is so cool.  A good example is with the ABC’s.  Piper knows all the upper case letters by sight and can arrange them alphabetically, Lela cannot or does not seem to be able to.  On the other hand Lela will sing her ABC’s from morning to night and Piper will not, and does not seem to be able to.  The same goes for numbers, Lela counts all day long and Piper won’t but she knows all the numbers by sight up to 13 or so and can pick them out of her environment.  I think what it is really telling us is which learns left brain and which learns right brain.  Very, very cool.  So now I know that when I want to teach Lela something like her name or her address etc., it would be best to put it to a song and with Piper it is better to show her a picture of her house and tell her her address over and over.

Lately when I leave for work, all my favorite girls come out front to wave to daddy.  It’s rather cute when Piper points at my car and says “daddy’s… car” and then points at the Honda that Mystique usually drives and says “Pipers… car.”  Adorable.

Last Sunday, though, I wanted to run out quickly and get some coffee.  So the girls all came out to wave, but this time I was taking the Honda.  That did not sit well with Piper!  As I started pulling out, she started yelling and pointing, saying “Piper’s car! Piper’s car!” and then she’d point out my car and say “Daddy’s car!  Daddy’s car!”  Oops… apparently I didn’t ask for Piper’s permission to take her car!

So off I went in Piper’s car to get coffee… by the time I got back everyone was ok, but according to Mystique Piper was not happy with me for a while.

Other than that, all is well here.  The girls are still getting up at 6am pretty consistently.  We did have one morning where Piper got up at 6:30am and Lela slept in until 7:30am or so, but that actually seemed to make the girls a little more cranky for that morning, so who knows.  The girls have also been practicing their names and they can each say their first and middle name when you ask them who they are.  They also know “Jason” and “Mystique”, so that’s pretty cute.  Just gotta get those last names down and they’ll be all set.  I think I heard Mystique teaching Piper how old she was, but I think that’s cheating because Piper’s default answer to a number question is always “2″ anyways

So one of these things the girls LOVE and the other they kind of like.

Our neighbor, Noa, who is 7 has a bunch of polly pocket dolls. The girls love to play with them even though they are for 4+ according to the package. We bought them each a doll this weekend and they will sit and dress those dolls for longer than any other activity. They are small and they have combs and shoes and the works, hence the 4+. The girls have never been too interested in eating things like toys, only rocks and the occasional piece of chalk. Still we don’t let them play alone with them but they are so cute when they play with them.

As for the peanut butter the girls are starting to eat peanut butter. Sometimes on toast and sometimes on a sammie. It is worth mentioning just because I am such a nut about what they eat and some folks will be happy that they are eating peanut butter (finally). “Experts” say not until 3 but the girls have not had any allergies to date so we added it in and did not have any problems. I tried with almond butter first but sometimes you just can’t replace the taste of good ol’ peanut butter (or white flour tortillas). Anyhoo, they still prefer soy butter on their toast but we get the occasional peanut butter request.

See, it’s not all tofu and broccoli:)  Although the girls are having red flannel hash for lunch and they love that too (potatoes, beets and cabbage!).

Well it turns out that both the girls are also getting their back molars on top of the allergies and the summer cold.  It is funny because at our parenting class last week we got a visit from a pediatric dental assistant.  She brought a big dog and showed us how to brush his pearly whites, talked to us about caring for our kids teeth, how many teeth they should have by when, what to do on our first visits etc.  It was quite timely since the girls have 16 teeth each and both are getting at least two more this week.  That will get them up to the total number of 20 baby teeth.  They both are good teethers but it does explain the fever and the runny noses we have been experiencing.  Lela is a bit more clingy than normal but we have a lot going on with family in town and such so she was bound to be more clingy, it’s her style;)

Well in all the excitement of last week I forgot to mention that we were quasi attacked by pit bulls on our walk.  It was sooo scary.  Earlier in the week this guy I have seen around the hood was walking his dogs.  I was showing the girls the dogs from the safety of our front porch and asked him their names, Abby and Brittany.  Anyhoo, later in the week we were out for our morning exercise with Otto (our golden) and all of a sudden this pit bull was right up on us, before I could get my whereabouts another one was there.  They were all up in Otto’s grizzle and he was getting freaked but since he is a golden he just got scared and started to sit, that got them all riled up and they started to growl and their hair started to stand on end.  It was all happening so fast, I was just about to start running toward their house so I could yell at the owner to get them when a kind exterminator stopped up the road.  He yelled out did I need any help and I said I did, he whistled and those dogs ran to him, I shouted where they lived and got the hello out of dodge.  I was a bit upset for the rest of the morning and Otto had the runs right in the middle of the road (that was fun to clean up).  Needless to say we have modified our route and try not to go alone if at all possible.  Scary, even for a dog lover like me.