Independence vs boundries

My daughter is very independent. “Do it self” is a phrase we hear a lot at our house. And it is getting to be so extreme that A doesn’t ask us for anything – she just goes and gets it/does it herself. Need a drink of water? Just go get the pitcher off the counter and pour yourself a glass. Want a cup of chocolate pudding out the fridge? Just go get something. Need some pretzels? Just go get the bag off the counter and help yourself. This would all be well and good except that, well, she’s only two years old. And sometimes the attempts to get things for herself don’t always work out. The full pitcher of water – all over the floor. Which is just as well because the glasses she tried to pour water in were dirty (like crusty milk in the bottom dirty). And I’m kind of at a loss as to the correct response to this. At one level, I want to encourage her independence and her “go get it” attitude. On the other hand, I don’t want her to get hurt because she tried to cut something herself. Or get chocolate pudding all over the place, for another. How do I encourage independence while simultaneously setting boundaries. And with out making her spend even more time in the naughty corner? Why does parenting have to be so hard? Does anyone know?

Silly Girls

This past weekend we took the girls to see Mike. Mike is a tiger and the new LSU mascot. And wouldn't you know it, K was afraid of Mike and didn't really want to get any where near him. A loved Mike, but she was afraid of the bronze tiger statue in front of Mike's cage. Go figure.

Which one is older?

People have a lot of misconceptions about twins. I'm sure that all of my readers with twins can attest to this since they have probably heard their share of weird comments from random people at the grocery store. But I just had to share two of the strangest comments I've gotten, which, incidently, are from people at daycare. When I picked up A and K one day a few months ago, one lady commented about their very blue eyes, then the rest of the conversation went something like this: DCL: I'm surprised their eyes are the same color. Usually one twin has darker eyes and one has lighter eyes. Me: Well, they are identical twins. DCL: Yes that's what I'm talking about. They look the same. Me: (inside my head) Um, ok. Then today when I dropped them off I had this conversation: DCL2: DCL3 and I had a debate about which twin is older. DCL3 said that obviously A is older because she looks older. I said that K is older because the smaller twin has to come out first. Me: Well, A is older by about a minute. Me: (inside my head) Um, ok. What kind of logic is that? I drove away wondering if I should find a daycare center where the teachers know more basic biology.

Lets go canoeing!

We’ve spent a good bit of time this summer “getting ready for the boat.” No, not another code phrase for “moving to a different city.” We are actually getting the girls ready to ride in a boat, or more precisely, a canoe. The mister and I really got into the paddle sports when we moved to LA; we even bought a nice canoe that was stolen about 2 months after we bought it (but that’s a story for another day). It is awesome to be alone with just the water and the boat – awesome! However, it has been about 3 years since we’ve gotten to go out and paddle because of the girls. My OB told initially told me it would be safe for a pregnant woman to go canoeing as long as she didn’t drown. But this was before we knew were having twins. Before BG2 lodged herself so tightly against my lungs that it was difficult for me to breath (we actually saw her stick her leg under my rib cage during one sonogram). Before it was too uncomfortable to do anything but “lie around like a lazy dog.” Before we had a baby on supplemental oxygen. Before.... But I digress. Now that BG1 and BG2 are 2 years old, they are almost old enough to join us on our aquatic adventures, our canoe therapy. But before we can take them in out in a canoe, we have to get them used to being in water. To do this, we’ve been doing a lot of swimming in the pool at our apartment complex. We started out slowly – 5 to 10 minutes at a time, 2-3 times a week and gradually increased out stays at the pool to 30-45 minutes. At first they were scared and clung to our necks with everything they had – arms, legs, finger nails, and in one case, teeth. But now they are our little turtle and duck (which just happen to be the animals on their swimming suits). They happily swim around the pool in their little blue floaties and even excitedly jump into the water from the side. Now as soon as we can convince them to stay seated in a moving vehicle, the will really be ready for the boat.

Happy Birthday Babies!

Happy birthday you, happy birthday you.... Today at 4:17 and 4:18 pm my twin daughters officially became 2 years old. It's the second anniversary of the day my OB called and said something like "we'd like you to come to the hospital so we can run a few tests. We'll most likely deliver your babies tomorrow." When I got to the hospital the "we'll likely deliver them tomorrow became "we're going to deliver them today." And into the OR I went to have a C-section after 33 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy. As they wheeled me into the delivery room, nurses kept asking if I was ready to be a mother. I didn't quite know how to answer the question because what I wanted to know was "are my daughters ready to be born." The answer turned out to be yes and no. After all there were still 6 weeks to go before my due date. On the other hand, the single placenta the twins shared was tapped out and it was causing problems for all 3 of us. So ready or not, out they came weighing 3 lbs 14 oz and 2 lbs 15 oz. We've come a long way from this:

and this: On one hand, I can't believe that two years have gone by already, but in other ways it feels like it has been at least a century since they were born. Happy birthday small ones. I love you more every day.

Help, we've been invited to a birthday party!

My twins have been invited to their first birthday party. It's for a little boy they go to daycare with. And since they spend at least 30 hours a week with him, I guess we could call him a friend. "Now what's so bad about a birthday party," you might ask. Well firstly, what should my kids wear? Do I need to put them in dresses or other "party clothes?" I kind of hope not because the party is at a park with a really nice playground, and dresses are, IMO not the thing for playing in the park. I hope I'm right cause I've opted for play clothes. I guess, if I'm wrong.... I did at least bring them clean shirts to put on after daycare. Secondly, what should we take for a present? Should I have the girls take 1 joint present? Or 2 separate ones? I just don't know. And the mom's at Twinstuff weren't much help; most of them said "sometimes we do one and sometimes the other." Gee, thanks. And how much I should spend. One twin mom said that she takes one gift for her 2 girls but spends more money - sometimes as much as $40. Holy Cow. I'm sorry but we just can't go there. And what if my selection is just plain bad? I could be labled the "bad present giver" by all the other parents at daycare. And no one wants that. So you can see there a lot of pressure when it comes to going to a birthday party. I just hope the girls have a good time.