Sisterly Love

This morning we were getting ready to go to a kids Christmas party through John's work. I was in the bathroom and the girls were playing on our bed. John was horsing around with them and he was playing the "I'm going to get you" game with them. He pretended he was about to get Maddie and before he even touched her, Emma yelled "dad, don't toucha my Maddie" and Madison yelled back "don't touch my Emma" and then they gave each other a big hug! Super cute!

We got to the party and it was so much fun. Rogers puts on a kids party each year, and the cost is a donation for the daily food bank. We brought 4 cans of beans etc and the kids loved just putting the cans in the big box. Then there was a clown on stilts and a bunch of kids standing around him. When the girls walked up he was juggling and he "dropped" one of the balls and asked Emma to put it back in his hat. She did it and everyone clapped and she was just beaming! He seemed to pick up on the fact that they were sisters so right away he gave Maddie a turn. She was a bit shy but then she picked the ball up and threw it! lol Everyone laughed as it was cute and she hid behind my leg but then she picked it up again and put it in the hat and they all clapped for her. Rogers really goes all out for this thing. There are rides (a carousel, dumbo airplanes, roller coasters, bumper cars, jumping castles, slides etc), craft areas, face painting, pictures with Santa and with live reindeer, parachute activities, a live show etc etc. It was a lot of fun and we stayed for over 2 hours but then we had two very tired, overstimulated girls. They slept for two hours this afternoon. Oh, and each child gets an age appropriate present and the girls got a Backyardigans viewmaster, and they spent the afternoon pulling out and putting back in the different slides. It was a very successful outing!

Cheeky Monkeys!

We put the girls to bed at 7, like we always do. The past two nights they have been awake for at least an hour after this, giggling and squealing with each other. Last night I went in at 8:20 and told them it was time for night-night and they are to go to sleep. They were quiet shortly after that but were bears this morning from lack of sleep. Tonight, John and I were happily watching t.v and folding laundry. I thought I heard something so I asked him to mute the t.v. Sure enough, I heard them. We walked up the stairs and we could hear screams, but good, happy screams and giggles. I opened the door and Maddie was sitting bolt upright in her crib with her blankets over her head like a ghost. Emma was standing in her crib as close to Maddie's crib as she could get with her arm stretched out trying to reach her. When I opened the door they jumped into sleeping position and closed their eyes. Nice try girls. I told them calmly but firmly that it was time for bed. Maybe they are ready for a later bed time, but I'm not so sure I'm ready to give it to them! lol

Tonight when we were watching a Christmas special Emma blurted out "I hate Christmas!" I said "what? how can you hate it? That means no tree, no presents, no decorations or Christmas music. Do you still hate it?" and she said "yes but I love presents." Of course you do! The things they come up with. The other day she said "mama, you stupid." I said "what did you say?" and she said "I said you stupid." I said "Emma, do you know what that means?" "No." "Emma, where did you hear that word?" She was quiet and very thoughtful for a moment and then she said "um, grandpa." I said "really? from grandpa?" and she said "no, from Rhettsy." That's more like it! Rhett is the 4-year-old that goes to the same daycare as the girls. I told Emma not to say that word anymore as it is not nice. She said "ok mama." We'll see how long that lasts!

Maddie still wants nothing to do with Santa. I asked her if she thought she was ready to sit on his lap for a picture and she said "no, Emma sit, not Maddie." Way to throw your sister under the bus! I asked her if she was still scared of Santa and she said "yes, he scawy!" Maybe next year!

The haircut

I think it's a right of passage for girls to cut their own hair, or to cut their friends' hair. I cut my best friend Jasmine's hair in grade 7, and I think she returned the favour shortly after. I did not, however, expect it to happen so soon in my own daughter's lives! I picked the girls up from daycare the other day. It was an ordinary day until I stepped inside the house and Megan, Zoe's mum (Zoe is the almost-5-year-old who Julie also takes care of when she is not in kindergarten class) said to me "oh, I was hoping to make my escape before you got here." She said it with a smile and I sort of chuckled and asked why, to which she responded "um, well, it seems my daughter decided to give your daughter a haircut." At this point Emma came running around the corner and all I could see was wet hair up in a cute ponytail. "Oh" I said, "she wet it and everything." To which Megan responded "um, that's not water, that's vaseline." Yes, that's right. Zoe cut Emma's bangs and then proceeded to put "goop" in her hair. Her hair was covered in Vaseline. Nice! Her bangs were totally mangled and her hair looked ridiculous, and of course, I thought it was hilarious! John and I took pictures that we will pull out later to fully embarass her, of course! lol Megan was quite worried that I would be upset, but I assured her I wasn't! It's one of those stories that are worth telling and remembering! But I did tell Emma that next time Zoe offers to cut her hair she is to say "no thank you!"

I had to stay at work last night as it was parent-teacher interviews so John picked the girls up from daycare. I really miss them when I don't see them for a long time, so I called them from the school around supper time. John said "girls, there's someone special on the phone for you." Emma got on first and said "hello?" and I said "Hi Emma!" and she let out the cutest squeal of delight and said "are you mummy?" "Yes, I'm mummy. Are you Emma?" "yes, I Emma, I Emma!" Then Maddie got on and she has such a soft voice and I could barely hear her. So I said "Hi Maddie, can you talk louder for me?" and then she yelled "Hi mummy, hi mummy, it's mummy! Daddy, it's mummy on phone" etc etc. So sweet and it's so nice to get such a reaction from them. They were in bed when I got home and it was all I could do to convince myself I shouldn't wake them up to give them big kisses! When I got them this morning they were very excited to see me and I covered them with kisses! After dropping them at daycare when I was about to leave they said "you come here and take us home?" "Yes, I'll pick you up tonight!" I can't wait!

Getting in the holiday spirit

On the weekend we took the girls to the mall to sit with Santa. Maddie didn't want anything to do with him and has since told us many times that she is scared of Santa. Emma was thrilled and excited to go and sit on Santa's knee. When Santa said "and what does Emma want for Christmas?" Emma said "I dunno, what should I get?" and Santa looked at me and said "um, does Emma like Dora? Princesses? Barbies?" to which Emma responded "yes, all of dem." It was so cute. The next day I took Maddie and Emma back to the mall before it opens as I like to give them a chance to run around when it's cold outside, and they open their indoor play gym, which is great. We walked around and the girls noticed that Santa's chair and decorations were still there but no Santa. So I explained that Santa was sleeping at the North Pole. Just before leaving the mall we went to look one last time, and there was another little girl there with her mum. Emma overheard the girl ask where Santa was and Emma replied "he seeping at the North Hole." Yep, the North Hole! So funny, the other mum and I were laughing.

Although Madison is scared of Santa, she loves all of the Christmas decorations she sees. Auntie Julie put hers up and today and when we got to her house she went to every single one to check them out. She loves Frosty and the mini Christmas trees. I am going to get some decorations for our house this week and we will be putting the decorations and the tree up this weekend. I think the girls will really enjoy doing that. Last year they knew that Santa says "ho ho ho" and they sort of got that he brings presents, but this year they really get it. It will make for a great holiday season!

My Princesses

Those of you who know the girls will already know that they are obsessed with Princesses. They have all the princess paraphanelia and then some. They go to daycare in full Princess regalia etc. So they are bound to want to read books about Princesses. We have a few, and Emma loves one in particular as it has a wand that accompanies it and it makes music when you wave the wand over certain pictures. So last night we were reading the book together (Maddie was only somewhat interested at the beginning) and we got to the page where Princess Jasmine is in the cave of wonders looking for the genie. Emma said "I find genie for her. Mama, can I go in der wif her?" So cute! I explained "no Emsy, the book is a pretend story that we read, we can't jump into books we can enjoy reading them and we can think about them but we can't go into the books. Do you understand?" To which she responded "no"! I don't blame her, that's a pretty complicated concept. Although I think she understood it, she just didn't like my answer.

Once a month or so I treat the girls to a small toy at the Superstore when we are finished grocery shopping. I guide their choices so they don't choose inappropriate or super expensive things. When it came time to choose, Emma chose a Princess purse that came with a fake lipstick, brush, comb etc and Maddie chose a ballerina barbie doll. They coveted these toys and Maddie repeated all day "oh, sank u mummy, sank u, I love it, I love it a lot!" I was nervous that they had different toys as I assumed they would fight over things but they didn't. Each played with their own toy quite peacefully. Emma asked a few times for her own barbie doll but when I explained that she chose the Princess stuff she was fine with that. They both wanted to bring their new things to bed but John and I said no and there was a bit of a fuss but not much. We told them they can put it in a safe place of their choice and they can have them first thing in the morning. So they put them on the pillow we use when we change them in the morning. The next day when they saw them they were just as excited. They definately made the right choice in toy!

Halloween was a huge success

The girls had a great first trick-or-treating experience. We practised before, and when it was time for the real thing, they went and knocked on their first door. They shouted trick or treat well before the home owner was anywhere near the door, and when he did open the door, they marched right into the house. It was our next door neighbour and he thought it was pretty funny. So we had another tutorial after that and explained that they should wait until they see someone before yelling trick or treat and that they should wait on the doorstep. They did pretty well for the rest of the night. They caused quite a spectacle at some houses, with the "oh my goodness would you look at these two, I have never seen anything cuter." Much to John's and my delight! One lady even went in to get her mom to take a look at the twins. The neighbourhood really went all out. One house had a smoke machine, most houses had these enormous balloon-type blow-ups of ghosts, spiders and pumpkins. Another house even had a witch and a ghost on a pulley system. Most of the time the girls were fine going up by themselves (well, together) while John, Daniel and I waited at the end of the driveway, but a few times they needed extra support. Emma was quiet afraid of one kid's costume as it had a face mask and she couldn't see that it was just a child (probably around 7-8 judging by height) under it. But neither twin woke up with nightmares that night so all was good. They got a ton of candy. So much that I gave half to Sue and I brought the other half into work for the vultures I mean teachers to enjoy. I didn't want it in the house as I don't want to give into the girls' demands for a treat. I kept a few in the cupboard for their once in awhile treats. The next morning they asked "where candy?" and I explained that Halloween was over so the candy was gone. They accepted this answer (they won't for much longer) and that was that.

Yesterday when I went to pick the girls up from daycare Maddie was still asleep on the couch. I told Emma to go and wake her up gently. I didn't coach her at all, and she was so sweet. She went over to her and took her hand, touched her forehead and very softly whispered "Maddie, time to wake up." When Maddie woke up Emma gave her a big kiss. This is exactly how I wake the girls up (the odd time I have to) so it was cute to see Emma mimic me. Maddie was not so receptive and doesn't like being woken up (who does) so she yelled "leave me alone" and hurt Emma's feelings. Oh well! Julie says that they are quite sweet to each other at daycare but then they can turn on a dime and one is chasing/pushing/screaming at the other seconds later. Ah, the joy of sibling rivalry!

Happy Halloween!

Wow, so it's been ages since I posted despite being able to post at work, where my computer is not posessed! I have lot's to write about but the best thing is Emma is potty-trained! Woo hoo! Emma is fully (daytime only, we still put her in a diaper at night but it's always dry in the morning) trained and Maddie is almost there but she doesn't do "pine cones" (number 2) in the potty yet. Emma can actually do the whole thing herself. She gets to the bathroom, takes everything off (pants, undies), hoists herself on, wipes, washes her hands etc. I just stand there watching. It's amazing really!

So today is Halloween and the girls are princesses, of course. They wore their costumes yesterday for their daycare party. At dinner, I told Madison she needs to take her costume off or put a bib on as she can be a bit messy and I wanted to keep the costumes somewhat clean for Halloween night. She put the bib on and Emma ran towards the front door. I didn't think anything of it at the time. About a minute or two later I went to call Emma for dinner. No answer. I walked the hallway towards the front door, thinking maybe she had gone to the potty. No Emma. I head upstairs, and I am starting to panic. No Emma. I scream down to John that she isn't upstairs and John joins the search. I am looking upstairs more thoroughly, while yelling her name, and John calls up that he has found her. She was in the closet in the laundry room just sobbing. When she sees me she dives into my arms. I ask her why she ran away and why is she so upset? Her response: "I don't want to off-a my dwess." Sigh. "Emma, you don't have to take off your princess dress. You can just put on a bib, ok?" "Ok." That was that. I thought for sure we would be in for it when it came time to get into jammies, but both girls (now exhausted from all the daytime party activity) complied and were sound asleep as their heads hit the pillow.

I can't wait to take them trick-or-treating tonight. It will be tons of fun and they are really looking forward to it. I will update how things went soon!

Flower girls in the making

Today we had the rehearsal dinner for our friend's wedding on Saturday. John is best man and the girls are flower girls. It was between 6-7 so very close to their bedtime. When we got there they were given bubbles, because the plan is to have them blow bubbles as they walk down the aisle. At first they couldn't quite do it. Emma would blow way too hard and Madison kept putting the wand on her lips (then spitting out the yucky taste of the bubbles). They finally got the hang of it and everytime they blew a bubble they would squeal "I did it, I did it mama. Hi five!" So when it came time for the first of three run throughs, they were both really upset that I wasn't standing with them. I am to sit in the front row, so they can sit with me once they walk down the aisle. Maddie kept running towards me and we couldn't contain her at the back of the church. So after a brief delay and a bribe of a lollipop once they walk down the aisle, they started to walk. Each time they blew the bubble they yelled "I did it! I did it!" Second run-through Maddie had a huge tantrum because I wouldn't let her bring her lolipop down the aisle with her. I explained she could have it when she walked slowly down the aisle, but she didn't like that so she had a tantrum and then eventually walked down the aisle. The third run through Maddie crawled down the aisle, and Emma walked behind her. Sigh. I have zero expectations for Saturday as I don't want to stress over it. My friends are very laid back and said if they crawl or run down the aisle we don't care, we just want them to be a part of it. So sweet.Emma seems to be potty-trained during the day. She no longer wants to wear a diaper so I will be getting her pull-ups for night time. It's still taking some getting used to to see her going on the potty. it's really cute. Everytime she goes she says "you proud of me mama?" because I kept saying that I was so proud of her when she first started using it. So sweet. Maddie goes on more than she used to, but so far nothing happens. She's getting closer though! She is an eating machine these days. It's so cute when she says "I hungry mama, I need snack!" It must be a growth spurt!

Poor Emma

It seems little Emma has her second ear infection. She was not herself from the moment she got up yesterday. She was up early, very clingy, didn't want to go to daycare, took 2 naps, no appetite and kept saying "I want my mummy." Julie called me around 3 and told me that Emma kept saying her ear hurts and that "it feels like there is wada in dere" so I left school right away and took her to a walk-in clinic up in Aurora. While we were in the waiting room Emma went up to the receptionist's desk and said "lady you needa check my ear, it huwts." The receptionist melted of course, and I can't be sure, but we got called in next. The doctor was amazing. She was so good with children. When she was checking her ear she said "is Dora in there?" etc etc and both girls thought this was hilarious. She let Emma listen to her heartbeat (Maddie didn't want to when she was offered) and it was a very pleasant visit all things considered. We got the same response as last year, too much wax to see anything. Since Ems didn't have a fever or anything else she just said to give her meds for the pain and if she gets a fever or is still complaining in 48 hours, we are to go back. This morning she had no fever but she did say her ear still hurts. Hopefully it will clear on its own poor thing. I hardly slept last night as I was so worried she would wake up in pain, but she slept right through (whereas I only slept for 3.5 hours)! Sigh, the trials and tribulations of being a mum!

Halloween Fun

So we are gearing up for Halloween and we have started to talk about it with the girls. We went to the mall about a week ago to have them pick out their own costumes. Old Navy had a ton of cute furry things, like penguins, bears, turtles, butterflies etc. So John and I talked those up and I said "which one do you want?" Emma turned to me and said "no mama, I wanna wear pwidi dwess pretty dress just in case you didn't catch that)." It just so happened that right next to the cute costumes there were princess outfits and Emma said "want dis one" and Maddie followed suit. It's hard to tell if Maddie is as into the princess stuff or if she is just following Emma. Maddie does love her purses, but she doesn't take her princess shoes with her for a nap, and seems to talk about them a little less than her sister. I started talking to the girls about what happens at Halloween. They already know the pumpkins are part of the night, so we started explaining about trick or treating. I said "girls, you will wear your princess dress and you go and knock on people's door and say trick or treat and they give you candy." Maddie said "yay candy, I like candy" and Emma said "yum, dat my favouwit." Then I said "and what do you do after people put candy in your bag?" expecting her to say "I say thank you" but Emma replied "I put it in my mouwf and eat it up." Ok Emma, and then you say thank-you! Everyday they talk about Halloween, so it will be a fun night. They know it happens in a lot of sleeps, and they seem happy enough to talk about it while they wait for the big night.

More cuteness from the twins

I am going to try and do most of my postings from work, since my computer works there. Hopefully ours will be sorted out soon enough. When we leave for work in the morning, John helps me put the girls in the car and then he gives them kisses and then he gives me one. If he ever forgets to give me one Emma gets very upset. She says "dad, what about mama?" and he runs over to give me my kiss. As we reverse out of the driveway, we all say "bye daddy" and then I say "bye daddy, bye John" so now Emma says "bye daddy John." I laugh so hard, so now she does it every morning, but now she says "bye John!" So funny.

Madison is talking up a storm lately. It's truly amazing. I think I've said before that she isn't as clear as Emma at times, but after a while we know what she is trying to say. I bought 3 pumpkins for Halloween, 1 big one and two little ones. Maddie is obsessed with them. I explained the whole Halloween thing and that you say "trick or treat" etc. So all day at home and at daycare she says "I go trick or treat with baby punkin." It's all we can do to tear her away from her pumpkin when we are leaving for daycare, or when it's time for them to go to bed. She carries it around with her everywhere!

They are both still completely obsessed with Princesses. Emma still has us call her Ariel and she designates who the rest of us are. So she will say "I Ariel, Maddie seeping beauty, mama Cinde-lella." I will ask what princess daddy is and she says "Jasmine" or "Belle." I bought them shoes for the upcoming wedding that they will be in (they are the flower girls) and I made the mistake of showing them to the girls. They wore them all night and Maddie had a tantrum at bedtime when I wouldn't let her wear them to bed. I had to hide them (along with their flower girl dresses) or else they would want to wear them all day every day! Julie is getting them ready for the big day. She does their hair everyday and puts flowers in them so they are used to them. She also has them carry baskets and scatter petals. She is so good that way! She is doing their hair on the day and they will look so cute. I will be sure to take lot's of pictures.

Emma is doing amazing on the potty. It looks like she will be fully trained by Christmas. She tells Julie she needs to pee even when she has her diaper on, she holds it (if they are at the park let's say) until she gets to a potty, and she gets very upset when she pees or poos in her diaper. Maddie was going strong at first but has now decided it's not for her at this time. No one is going to push her, she will be ready when she's ready.

We are getting ready to go to Ottawa for Thanksgiving. The girls can't wait because my parents have kitty cats (who run from the girls and hide the entire weekend), a pond, and a park within a few metres from their backyard. Not to mention the doting grandparents!

I should get to work now, but I will be posting regularly!

It's been ages since I have posted and that is due to our crazy computer. It crashes mid-post and that's when I can actually log on. So hopefully this one works. I should give a bit of background for this next story. I had an early dentis app. on Saturday, so I was gone before the girls woke up. John went in to get them, whereas it's usually both of us, or it's just me. So this morning, I got a funny wake-up call. This was the conversation (and they were yelling at, not talking to each other):Maddie: daddy comingEmma: no, mummy. Mummy is coming.Maddie: NO, I said daddy, mummy bwuff teef, daddy coming in now.Emma: NO, daddy seeping, mama coming. MamaMaddie: NOEmma: YESMaddie: NOetc etc I think you get the point. These two argue over everything these days. When I went in to get them Emma said "she angwy wif me." Sigh, too much! We went to the Markham Fair today and although it was very cold, we had a great time. The girls walked around and looked at all the animals. Maddie introduced herself to all the animals. They got to see Dora and Diego and they begged to ride the elephant, but the line-up was too long and it had started to rain.The girls have grown so much and are truly little girls now. They love to watch themselves as babies on video. They start talking in baby talk and they crawl around the floor saying "look mummy, I'm a baby again." Emma has been amazing with the potty training. She goes on the potty all day long during the week, even when she is wearing a diaper. Julie thinks she will be totally trained by Christmas, so we shall see. Maddie was all gung ho at first but now she has decided she wants nothing to do with it. So we will wait until she is ready, it will happen on her own time. Maddie is doing great with her vocabulary. She talks up a storm now. She is not as clear as Emma, but she is saying almost the same things. Today in the bath Emma said "don't touch my coffee cup. It vewy hot and you will burn yousewf." That was quite the sentence! She was also watching tv and she saw big waves crashing on the beach and she said "wada, don't do dat, dat vewy dangewous." Too cute! Maddie will repeat parts of what Emma says. As much as they fight, they play together wonderfully at times. They always need to know where the other one is. If Maddie falls Emma runs over to pick her up and says "I help you Maddie." When they are in a sharing mood and one of them asks to play with a toy the other one has, they will say "yes, of course you can have it." AWWWW! I love this phase (seems like I say that regardless of how old they are) and I can't wait to see what comes next!

Labour Day Weekend

We went to Ottawa for the long weekend to visit my parents. It was a great trip and the girls had a blast. We went to a farm, played in the park and the girls especially loved "fishing" in my parents fish pond. Their rods were plants that my dad kindly cut from his garden. They did not nap on the way to Ottawa. I am always amazed at that! What kid doesn't fall asleep to the lull of a car? Oh, my kids! They were going strong though, until about 6:30, so we gave them their bottles and put them to bed. The girls sleep in cribs (my parents bought them for the girls for when we visit) and they are in the same room, which is what they are used to at home. They are usually parallel to each other, so facing each other if you will, but this time they were along the same wall. They are along the same wall at home too, but they can see each other. At my parents place there was a bookshelf between the two cribs, so they couldn't see each other. When we brought them down for the night, Emma rolled ontoher tummy an was snuggling in for the night. Maddie started to cry, but she always does for a few minutes when in a new place. So we left her and figured she would only cry for a minute or two, which is what she has done in the past. We got upstairs and turned the monitor on only to hear Maddie screaming hysterically "Emma, Emma, wake-up, wake-up Emma" and then she went into ear-piercing shrieks. John and I ran downstairs and she was sobbing hysterically. Instinctively I said "Maddie, do you want to be beside Emma so you can see her?" and she nodded. So we moved her crib and between big breaths to calm herself down she said "I feel beddah mummy." SOOOOOOOOO SWEEEEEET! She just wanted to be beside her sister. After that she rolled over and went to sleep and the second night, not a peep.

Speaking of sleep and naps, since last Thursday, they have gone 5 days without a nap! Yikes! 2 out of the 5 days John and I kept them up on purpose. If they are going strong, we keep them up, since if we were to put them for a nap it would be too late in the day, therefore they would be up too late at night. They played catch-up though and slept 14 hours straight through the night, and took a 3 hour nap another day, so it hasn't been too bad. They are ready for bed super early on their no-nap days too, between 6:15-6:45. The only tough part is the last couple of hours before bedtime. They tend to get super cranky and tough to manage.

We celebrated my 34th b-day (which is today) in Ottawa and my parents made me a wonderful dinner. The girls were great. They sat with us throughout the entire dinner and were very well-behaved. It was nice to have them there to help me celebrate.

Cheeky Monkeys

Naptime has been mostly smooth this summer, thank goodness. They do go the odd day without one, and we suffer for it later in the early evening hours when they have their meltdowns. So we obviously encourage naps, or at least quiet time when they are in their cribs. Today we were at a friends house in the morning for a playdate. Emma was loving it because the little girl had a treasure chest full of Princess outfits. Dresses, shoes, crowns and all of the accessories. She stayed in full Princess gear the entire visit and when it was time for us to go, she did not want to take it off. Major Meltdown! She wailed "want my princess dress" from Bayview and Eglinton to the 404. Not a pretty sight (or sound). She finally calmed down and we got home, had lunch, and it was upstairs for their naps. They were both visibly tired: yawning, rubbing their eyes, lying on the floor, whinning etc. so I thought for sure they would be asleep within a short period of time. I went and showered and when I came out could hear them talking. No problem, it had only been a few minutes. Well, they talked for an hour! Here is a sample of the conversations I could hear over the baby monitor:

Emma : I Ariel, you Sleeping Beauty

Maddie :No, I Ariel, you Urula (Ursula, the sea-witch from The Little Mermaid)

Emma (getting louder): I no Ursula, she mean, I Ariel, you Sleeping Beauty

Maddie: No! I Ariel

Emma: (close to tears): No I Ariel! You Sleeping Beauty or Jasmine!

You get the idea, and then I would hear "wop" which I know means something is being thrown out of the crib and either onto the floor, or into the opposite crib. So, I went upstairs and flung open the door. They were both standing upright, and Maddie had everything out of her crib and on the floor, including her dress! Yep, she stripped down to her diaper. Again. Emma had the sense to dive onto her stomach as soon as I came in, close her eyes and pretend to be asleep. Cheeky monkey. I told them to stop playing games, it was naptime. I piled all of Maddie's crib paraphenelia back into her crib from the floor. Her stuffed animals and soother were in Emma's crib, so they were obviously doing some sort of swap! Shortly after I did that they were quiet. It's now been 45 minutes and not a peep so I guess they finally fell asleep!

"She did it!"

John and I were busy with the hustle and bustle of things when we get home today. The girls were playing quietly (that should have been our first clue) in the living room. Maddie ran by me with a crayon in her hand. I thought to myself "that's strange, I don't remember putting crayons and paper out yesterday" and I wandered over to see what was going on. I said "Maddie, there is no paper, what are you colouring on?" to which she responded "the wall." I said "the wall?" as I ran over to investigate. Sure enough, there were scribbles on the wall below the window. I stared at Emma and Madison, who both had a crayon in their hands and said "who did this?" In unison they responded "she did!" Hysterical! Way to sell each other out! John and I were laughing uncontrollably. I said "who did it?" and Emma said "Maddie did it" and Maddie said "it Emma, it Emma." So John tried to use psychology on them and he said "wow, this one is nice, who did that?" to which tey both replied "I did it! dat me" It was hilarious and this write-up really doesn't do justice to how funny it actually was. We took it quite well, surprisingly. We weren't upset by it. I said "that's what kids do" and John said "the walls are white, we'll be painting anyway." But we reminded them that crayons are for paper only although I'm sure that's not nearly as much fun!

Cute Stories

The girls and I were getting ready to pick John up from work yesterday. I told them to get their shoes on. They can both put their crocs on themselves, and Emma can put her velcro Nike sandals on by herself. I asked them to wait for me by the door. I was getting some things together and I went out to the laundry room and Emma was waiting by the door to the garage. I said "where's Maddie?" and she said "I dunno. Maddie, where are you?" So I called out Madison's name and I heard her say "yes? I ovah here mama." She was halfway up the stairs. I said "Maddie, where are you going?" and she said "I go get daddy." So cute! She thought John was upstairs sleeping, because normally when I tell them we are going to get daddy, it's on the weekends when we go to wake him up. I said "Mads, we are going to get daddy at his work, in the car." She started laughing and laughing. It was so cute that she realized what she had done was so funny.

Emma was trying on her Happy Birthday princess tiara that she likes to wear these days. I told her that Mummy's birthday was coming up soon, in September. She said "mama's happy birthday?" I said "yep" and she said "we gonna have a princess party?" and I said "sure" and she said "you gonna eat happy birthday cake?" "of course" and she said "and I eat happy birthday cake too?" "yep" and she said "yahoo, I love mama happy birthday!"

We went to the indoor play gym the other day. The girls had a blast on the slide. Emma figured out how to climb up the slide. When she got to the top for the first time she waved her hands in the air and said "mum, I did it myself!" So Maddie tried it but she couldn't get past the middle. Emma went around and tried to push her bum up. It was so cute watching Emma try to push Maddie up the slide. Maddie just giggled and said "it swippewy" (it's slippery in case anyone missed that)! They dressed up in Princess costumes and Emma asked me to dance with her. A lady there said it was very precious to watch. She asked Emma what her name was and Emma said "I pwincess." The woman then asked if Princess had a name and Emma said "yes, pink."! So she was Princess Pink! We ate lunch there and they left without incident even though they were having a great time.

1-2-3 Magic seems to be working well. Today the girls had open cups with straws in them at dinner. They were drinking their water and they started to put their hands the cup. I said "don't put your hand in your cups, just drink with your straw." Emma continued putting her hand in and I said "Emma, that's one, if Mummy gets to three I will take your cup away". She pulled her hand out and a few minutes later I noticed she went to put her hand in again but then she quickly pulled it out. So far so good!

1-2-3 Magic is, well, Magic!

I have to say I am incredibly impressed with the 1-2-3 Magic technique for dealing with shall we call it annoying behaviour (whining, tantruming, arguing etc). The first day I started, Madison got 4 counts (each count going up to 3, giving the child 2 counts to stop the behaviour and on 3 the consequence is given). The first two "counts" she got to 3 so she got time-outs. The last two she stopped when I counted to 2 (so no need for a consequence). So, it is working! The funny thing was, when she started to whine, say "no" and was about to tantrum when I wouldn't let her drink my coffee, Emma said "Maddie, that's 1!" Poor Maddie now has her mummy and her sister counting her! I cannot complain about either of my girls, because in spite of Maddie and Emma's "feistiness" at times, they are both well-behaved kids. Emma hasn't been counted at all since we started, although I imagine her time will come!

Emma has been a bit off the last couple of days. I have asked her if she feels ok or if she feels sick. She says "I ok." Then a couple of days ago she said "mama, I want ice cream, that make me feel better." Ha ha. Nice try kid! We went to Whittamore's Farm on Saturday with our friends and their twin boys. The kids had a great time, they rode the wagon, played in a tree fort with a slide, jumped in a bouncing castle, built sand catles, rode tractors and chose fresh fruit and sweet corn. The following day, our friends Yenny and Steve came over with their 3-month-old baby Aiden. Aiden was sleeping in his infant carrier and when he woke up, my girls went and got every "boy" type toy that we own, and put it in his carrier. So poor Aiden, who is sitting quietly in his carseat, is burried in cars, trucks and trains! I asked why the girls were giving him the trains and trucks and Emma replied "cause he likes dem." Maddie kept patting him on the head and giving him his soother, even when he didn't want it.

Speaking of soothers, I brought up the subject of the girls giving theirs up the other day. Emma was looking for her soother and I said "one day soon, we are going to say bye-bye to soosie." She got very concerned and started frantically looking for it. I told them they were big girls, and big girls don't need soosie's. I then named all of the big kids they know and said that they don't use soothers (Tynen, Zoe, Lily, Kyle, Lee etc). Emma said "but I like soosie, I like it in my mouf." I didn't intend on taking them away at this point, I was just testing the waters to see what reaction I got. The goal is to get them off their bottles first which I think we will be stopping cold turkey in Sept. Yikes! My babies are growing up! They are at a funny stage, where there are so many things they want to do or that they can do but couldn't before, so they call themselves big girls. But when they want to be pampered and catered to, or they want us to do something for them, they will say "but mama, I'm your baby!" Works like a charm! I am a sucker for my babies!

Yesterday we went to a friend's house for a bbq and there were a ton of people there. Emma walked in and went right up to strangers and shook their hands! The grandma, who is the head of the family, said she was very impressed with how well behaved the girls were. Maddie was shy, but very polite. They both said "yes please" and "thank-you" throughout the night. When we were in the backyard I was spinning them around, taking turns with each daugther. After a few minutes I was tired, so I gave them a "last one" warning. They both said "again" and I said "no, mummy said last one, I am tired" and that was it. Not one of them fussed or whined about it. They just sat down on the picnic blanket with me and Maddie offered to feed me! I must have looked as tired as I felt! lol

Why can't kids come with instruction manuals?

Let me start by saying I haven't posted in awhile due to computer problems! Rogers is currently working on a trouble ticket as our internet connection is wonky to say the least. Many times I would post and then lose everything I had written. In order to save myself the frustration I just took a break. It seems to be ok today so far, we shall see...

Today's topic is discipline! Last night in the span of a half hour, both girls received time-outs. Emma hit me as she didn't like the fact that I told her no, she couldn't have a cookie 15 minutes before dinner. So off to time-out she went. After her 2.5 minutes on the time-out step, I asked her to appologize as she had hurt my feelings and I didn't like being hit as hitting is wrong. She refused so I told her she has to stay on the time-out step until she says sorry. I don't know how many minutes went by but she finally said - correction, she muttered "sowwy" through gritted teeth. My instincts told me something wasn't right, I thought to myself "why am I forcing her to say a sorry that she doesn't mean?" I pushed the thought away and a few minutes later John sent Maddie to time-out for throwing toys on the floor after he asked her not to. He kept her in time-out until she picked them up, which she didn't. So I went to my trusted parenting boards and asked what we should have done, as the forced, empty apology seemed, well, stupid in my opinion. I felt that I was teaching her it's ok to say something you don't mean as long as it gets you what you want, in this case, out of time-out. My dilemma is that I want to raise kind, compassionate and empathetic kids, but I don't want to force them to apologize if they don't mean it, the same as I don't want to force them to hug and kiss someone they don't want to, regardless of how cute it is. So, a few women on the "boards" (the parenting boards) who I really respect (I have been on these boards regularly for 2+ years) recommended a book called 1-2-3 Magic. I picked it up today and have already read most of it. It's brilliant and makes so much sense. The first thing that made me laugh, is they say to take the talking, reasoning and the emotion out of things when disciplining. I can't tell you how many lectures I have given my two-year-olds. The book calls this treating kids like little adults. As in after telling Emma that hitting hurt me feelings, and it's wrong to hit etc etc she would turn to me and say "gosh mom, I never thought about it that way thanks, it will never happen again." Not going to happen! And, when parents get emotional or angry, it just fuels the behaviour. Kids want to feel powerful since they are powerless in so many aspects of their lives, and getting a reaction from us does just that. Anyway, the discipline technique described in the book is very reasonable and involves a warning system, much like one I use in my classroom. I will read the rest of the book tonight and start applying it tomorrow.

Maddie is giving us the hardest time lately. She is stubborn, defiant and throws regular tantrums. Emma is a little less challenging at this stage and oddly enough, you can reason with her to a certain point. The book says if the reasoning works I can continue, but when it stops working, there is no point in reasoning as it just turns into arguements especially as they get older. I'll keep you posted, especially those of you who are new parents, because kids don't come with manuals!!!

Wonderful Weekend Away

We are back from an amazing trip to Niagara Falls with our friends Elaine and Steve and their twin boys, Kyle and Lee (who just turned 3). We got to Niagara Saturday at noon and headed straight to the indoor water park. The kids had a blast! They went from the water slides to the splash pad to the wave pool. Our girls wanted to spend most of the time in the wave pool. The problem was, they thought they could swim and kept wanting to walk on their own. It got to the point that Madison was being so stubborn about it that I let her walk out on her own (I followed right behind, her, but walking on her own meant not holding my hand), thinking that once she swallowed water she would be deterred by that and hold my hand again. Even after getting her head dunked under water by the waves and deeper water this girl didn't want to hold my hand! So we had a few tantrums from her, but she soon learned she had to hold my hand or else we would leave the water park. She didn't understand that she had to be with us because it isn't safe for her to be in the deep water by herself. Anyway, other than that it was a great time. The kids didn't nap that day but they were all fine. Emma and Maddie slept in a bed for the first time and it went over well. Emma went right in and didn't bat an eye. Maddie cried for about 5 minutes but she was so tired that she went to sleep. We slept in another bed but in the same room and the girls were so cute in the morning when they woke up. I heard them talking to each other and I popped my head up and waved at them and Maddie said "mummy, you in here! Mummy, you seep with us!" And she laughed and laughed. She thought it was very funny!

Day 2 we got up, had breakfast and went to Marineland. The girls were so excited about all the things to do. We saw two shows; killer whales and dolphins. They went on rides, they fed fish and we had a picnic lunch. Madison loved the shows the best. She giggled each time the animals would flip or do a trick. She would scream (a good one) first and then laugh and say "dolhpin upside down. Dolphin funny!" The people sitting around us couldn't help but look at her and a few people commented on how they found her just as entertaining as the show. One older lady said "your daughter is delighful." Emma enjoyed the show but she was much more serious. You could see by her face that she was really concentrating on what they were doing. She didn't take her eyes away for a second. They loved the rides even though I was worried that they would get on them and then start crying! We were able to go on with them, but they were in their separate seats. They went on boats that went around and up and down, they went on rocket ships that went up in the air and spun around, and we went on a ferris wheel. Emma was really funny because everytime I took her on a ride she would be calling out to everyone and telling them what she was doing and where she was. When we were on the ferris wheel (Maddie rode with Elaine and Kyle) John was staying with the strollers, and each time we would pass him Emma would squeal "Dad, I over here, I on ferris wheel!" It was a great day with very few meltdowns considering all the activity.

We got back yesterday after visiting the Falls in the morning and Emma can't stop talking about the dolphins and whales. I asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner and she said "I want go back to see dolphins and whales." It was a great trip and we will definately be going back there!

Providing Comfort

There is not much worse than being woken in the middle night by your child who is letting out a blood-curdling wail of "mummy, mummy!" This was Emma last night at 1;00 a.m. I lept out of bed to run to her room. It was tricky because I didn't want to risk waking Maddie, in case Maddie thought it was a big party. Their room is very dark, to ensure they don't wake up with the sunlight at the crack of dawn. So I opened their door very quietly, got down on all foors and crawled across to Emma's crib. I grabbed her out of it, fumbled around for her blanket and soother (never found the soother) and made a mad dash for the door! I brought her the loveseat in our upstairs nook and soothed her. She was sound asleep within minutes and I relished in our cuddle times. I rocked her a bit and transfered her back into her crib, where she slept soundly until 8 a.m. the next morning. I loved the fact that I was able to comfort her and I hope that as my baby girls get older, my smell, the sound of my voice or my arms wrapped around them in a hug will always provide them some comfort.

Madison's Final NICU appointment

Today was Maddie's fourth and final appointment through the NICU. I took her while John stayed home with Emma and we had a great morning. She did everything she was expected to do and more. It is quite intimidating for her with a team of 5 doctor's evaluating her and expecting her to perform. She threw the ball, kicked the ball, jumped, stacked blocks, put pegs in their slots, opened a twist cap, drew a horizontal and vertical line, identified objects etc. etc. The only time she balked was when they tried to measure her height. She didn't want to stand against the growth chart by the wall, even with me there next to her. It was quite strange and she threw a bit of a tantrum, but nothing crazy and it ended quickly. She got a certificate for "graduating" from the NICU follow-up appointments. Her speech is leaps and bounds ahead of where she needs to be, and I got some good tips to continue to help her with plurals and 3-syllable words. So this was all great news, but the best part of it was on the way home. She kept saying" see Emma now?" and I said "yes, we are going home to see Emma now." We got home and she ran in and Emma and John were not there. Madison then ran to every room in the house calling "Emma, where Emma?" looking quite worried. I went to the car to get my phone to find out where they were (they were at the park) and I heard John and Emma through the garage door. I came in through the mud room just in time to hear John's keys jiggle in the lock. Maddie heard them too and she ran to the door squealing "Emma, Emma, Emma!" When Emma came in the house she squealed "Maddie, Maddie" and they must have hugged and kissed each other over ten times throughout the next few minutes. It was the cutest thing ever. I asked Emma if she missed Maddie and she said "yes, lot's." Separating them is really good for them, and it's recommended that John and I spend one-on-one time with each kid. So this weekend I will spend time with Emma and John will be with Maddie. It's nice to be with them on an individual basis and Maddie talks a lot more! Now the girls are napping and we are heading to the splash pad when they wake up. It is very hot out so it's a great way to cool off!

Woken with a start

I woke up this morning at 9 and almost had a heart attack because I was sure the girls had been kidnapped, or I had slept so deeply that I hadn't heard them wake up and they were wailing in their cribs. How else would you explain them sleeping 14 hours? Unheard of. I lept out of bed and pressed my ear to their door. I heard nothing. I was about to go in (sure I would find empty cribs and have to call 911) when I heard Miss Emma's cute little voice say "Maddie, I wake up." I then heard rustling and Maddie said "where your Princess?" Phew. They were awake and ok and already wondering where their latest favourite toy (these tiny Princess dolls) went. Sure enough when I went in Emma was clutching her Ariel doll and Madison was saying "oh no, cinde-lella on floor!"

We had a nice chat to grandma and grandpa over Skype today. Maddie kept repeating that she has a "basket" (Snow White's basket). I love how she repeats new things over and over. I also love how she talks in the third person. She will say "Madison fall down" or "where Madison doll?" Whereas Emma will say "where mine" or "I fall down." It will be interesting to see when Maddie makes the transition. She is speaking a lot more and a lot more clearly. She now calls herself Madison instead of Addison.

The girls are now napping and when they wake up we will play in the yard with sprinklers and water toys. They love their new Dora watering cans and want to "help" water my flower pots every second of the day! I say "help" because I don't think any water actually gets into the pots when they do it, but my front porch gets a good soak!

First Day Without the Girls

So I dropped the girls off at their summer daycare today. John was with me and it went very smoothly. I am sending them there 2 days a week. Val, their caregiver, is a natural. She has 5 kids there total, and her son, Griffen is quite smitten with the girls. She e-mailed me an update on how the day was going (including pictures) and said that Griffen as been sharing his most coveted toys with them. Val has two cats, so the girls are elated about that. After dropping them off I went to the mall, did some errands, went for a run, showered, cleaned up a bit, had lunch all before 1:00 pm. It was funny because when I was upstairs, I was creeping around and when loud trucks would go by I would frown but then I remembered that the girls weren't in their rooms napping! I didn't need to rush around as I had all day to get things done! Now I hope when the girls read this they won't take it the wrong way, but this has been the longest time I have had to myself since the day before they were born and it has been quite nice. An hour after I dropped them off I started to miss them though and all day I have been wondering how they are and what they are doing, but it was nice to go to the mall without having to strap two kids into their carseats, then take two kids out, then put them in their strollers etc etc. So I am appreciating the little things. Those who know me know that I have a ton of energy (perhaps even adult ADD since I am constantly doing a gazillion different things - I can't even sit still to watch an hour-long show. Ask John, I drive him nuts)! Anyway, I have a ton of energy and now I am sitting on the couch wondering what to do with myself on the days they are in daycare! Don't worry, I will figure it out and I might even nap once before the summer is over. But I do miss running around and playing with my little ones. I am off to pick them up. Can't wait to see them!

Fun day at the water park

I must have been feeling brave today because I took the girls to the splash park by myself. Yes, by myself. For those of you who don't know what a splash park is, it is a regular park with climbing equipment, slides, swings etc and then in another section of the park are water spouts that spray out in the summer for kids (and parents) to cool off in. John and I took the girls yesterday and had a blast, and since I was home with them today, I figured it'd be fun to do again. Let me just say it was a LOT of work! I drove to the park and then I took Emma out of her carseat and changed her into her Little Swimmers diapers (more on those in a minute) and into her swimsuit. I then slathered sunscreen on her as she proceeded to play with every button and gadget in the front seat of the car (more on that later). I stuck her by my foot (she has to hold onto my leg so I know she is there) and did the same with Maddie. Changed her out of her clothes, into her diapers, into her swimsuit, sunscreen etc. We walked over and neither one wanted anything to do with the water part of it. Ok fine, so of course Emma wanted to swing and Maddie wanted to climb and slide. I pushed Emma (not as high as John does it, she told me daddy does it higher - argh) and then I would run over in between pushes to check on Maddie. Maddie was about to go down the slide when she said "uh oh mummy, pee pee." Sure enough I saw the pee trickle down her leg and down the slide. I'm thinking "what the heck is the point of these diapers?" when I found out later from John, that the Little Swimmers are made to catch poo only, not pee. Makes sense since if they caught liquid, the diapers would balloon when the kids got in the water. Lesson learned. I run over to Emma for her push and she says "why I wet?" Yep, the twins were peeing at the same time, so Emma had pee running down her leg and on the swing. I said "let's go in the splash park girls" and off we went to "wash" off the pee pee. Madison spent most of the time beside a 4-month-old cocker spaniel, petting it and giggling and Emma was quite brave running through the water. She would even stand over the hole and then it would spray right up at her at different intervals and she would run squealing and laughing towards me. After the water part they went back to the climbing part and Emma made friends with a couple of 7-year-olds. They had set up a fake ice cream shop and said that no one else was allowed except the babies (meaning Emma and Madison) because they don't understand anything they are saying. I chuckled to myself but left it to watch and see what would happen. So the older girls would say "what do you want, chocolate chip, vanilla or maple ice cream" and the look on her face was priceless when Emma said "I want chocolate chip!" It was actually really fun to watch the girls play pretend with these older kids. They were really into it and they knew it was pretend. When it was time to leave Maddie decided she didn't want to and she ran to the climber, climbed right to the top and smartly positioned herself in a spot where she knew I couldn't get to her. Now at this point Emma is crashing, so I am carrying her, a backpack full of stuff, wet towels, juice and two sets of sandals (not sure how I managed to carry all of this) and I said to Maddie "we are leaving now, if you don't come we will not go to the park again." She gave me the death stare that she has been giving me lately and then she started to gather spit in her mouth, another thing she does when starting a tantrum. Finally she blinks her eyes over and over really quickly, almost like she is hoping if she does this I will be gone when she opens her eyes. I ended up having to grab her off and over my shoulder, but by the time we got to the car she was over it. I turned the car on to the blast of the radio (I told you Emma was playing in the front) and the wipers going. Sigh. We finally made it home and they napped for over 2 hours!

When they got up from their nap we played some games and Emma decided that she would be a kitty cat. She crawled around on all fours meowing, and asking Maddie and I to pet her. She even wanted a bowl to drink her kitty cat "milk" out of. Hilarious. Maddie just laughed at her and then she decided she would be a dog. So I had a meowing Emma and a barking Maddie, as if my house wasn't loud enough! Good times!

I guess kids are resilient...

We had a great day at the zoo today. Maddie and Emma loved all the animals and ran around for over 2 hours. They saw an elephant go "pee pee" and it looked like a shower! Maddie laughed at that and at the "monkeys" (as she called them) and their funny "coloured bum bums!" We got home and I was carrying Emma into the house through the garage. She wanted to push the garage door opener, and she started sticking her foot out at it. I told her she can push it with her hand, as she always does. She dove right out of my arms and fell onto the step head first. John was holding Maddie but he managed to sort of break her fall, as did I as I tried to stick my foot out so she would hit that and not the wooden step. Anyway, she was obviously hurt but not bleeding. I was shaking and thinking about calling 911, but when we got inside she was ok, if a little shaken. She said "I hurt, I fell down stairs." I said "please don't jump out of mummy's arms like that again, ok?" and she said "ok mama, don't like hurt." When I brought her up later for bed, she was clutching onto me for dear life. She was fine after the fall, but we were both shaken up. Madison was very loving, and came over to see if Emma was ok.

Yesterday we went to get groceries. John took Maddie in a cart and I took Emma. There was an older gentleman in one of the aisles and Emma said "I Emma, what's your name?" and he came over to her and shook her hand and said "Hi Emma, I'm Grampy." She said "no, you not my gampa" and started to laugh. He said "That's right, I'm not your grandpa but I am someone's grandpa" and she said (a little louder) "you not my gampa!" It was very funny and cute.

Our Trip to Wonderland!

Today we went to Wonderland with Frank and Sandy. The girls had a blast! They kept calling the roller coaster's choo-choo trains and they wanted to go on the trains. When the roller coaster went down the hill and everyone wa screaming the girls would say "wow!" and get very excited! It was all we could do to get them to the kiddie place as they kept wanting to go on every ride we walked past (none of which they could go on). We finally got to the kid zone and they went on the swans, the train and the carousel. They loved them and they were very good waiting in line. We didn't bring the stroller (it was in the van though just in case) as they like to walk everywhere these days. But Emma wanted me to hold her for a lot of the day because I think she was overwhelmed by the crowds. She is funny that way - sometimes she is great with big crowds and other times she sticks very close to me. On the way home they were both completely zonked but they had a great day.

Sibling Rivalry, field trips and popcorn!

This morning as I was bringing the girls downstairs after they woke up, Emma put her hand against Maddie's face and said "no, don't like Maddie. My mummy." I said "you love Maddie, she is your twin sister, you just don't want to share mummy." She sort of grumbled but I know she understood. Julie took the girls on a "field trip" today. They took the bus and the subway. Julie said the girls were the best behaved kids she has ever had on one of these trips. They loved the bus and subway and they talked to everyone. One man said "hi there" and Emma said "Hi, I Emma." He asked "are you going to school?" and she said "no, I on school BUS." Cute. The bus driver honked for them and stuck his head out the window to wave bye as they got off. They clutched their transfers and Madison did not want to get off the bus. Julie said it was a great trip.

Las night we had corn on the cob at dinner. We gave them half a cob each. I started to cut the corn off the cob for them and Emma said "no mama, want big corn." She did really well biting it off the cob. Madison needed hers cut, her mouth is a bit smaller, and she kept calling it popcorn! She said "yummy popcorn, more popcorn mama?" Too funny!

We are supposed to go to Wonderland tomorrow for a special Hewlett-Packard sponsored event (cheaper tickets) but it's supposed to rain (thunder and lightning) so we may have to do something indoors. I am looking forward to being finished school (one more week and then I do my happy dance) so I can spend a great summer with my two favourite little girls!

Maddie peed in the potty! Yay Yay Yay!

Hello everyone, it has been very busy at our house. I have been working on report cards, my course and well, just being a mum. Monday Julie told me that Madison peed in the potty! Julie potty trains the girls. She just recently started and at first Emma seemed more receptive. Madison doesn't like wearing underwear, she prefers her diaper, so we all assumed she wouldn't be the first to go in the toilet. On Monday she said "Julie, I go pee pee." Julie said "do you need to go or did you already go?" Maddie said "I need go." So she put her on the potty and nothing happened. She said Maddie just sat and grinned at her. Then all of a sudden Maddie said "Auntie Joolie, it coming, it coming!" She was apparently very excited about the fact that her pee pee was coming out, and she did it! Yay Maddie! I asked her today if she was excited to go to Auntie Julie's tomorrow (we were home today) so she can use the potty and she grinned at me and said "yes!" I said "do you like using the potty like a big girl?" and she said "yes, Maddie big girl, go potty!" So cute! My girlies are growing up!

We went to the petting zoo on the weekend for Father's Day, and without being prompted Emma said "I go feed the llama carrots?" She was pointing to the donkey, but there are llamas at this zoo and I was amazed she remembered. I pointed out the actual llama, who had a baby llama beside her. I explained that the mummy was sitting with her baby llama and Emma said "so cute, like my mummy with me, baby Emma." Yes, that's exactly it!

Mummy, don't quit your day job!

Emma has become a talking machine. Yesterday we were playing with the neighbours dog and Emma and Madison were able to pet him. We then went in for dinner (John was inside getting it ready) and John asked them what they had done outside. Emma said "I touch doggie, he tickled my hand like baby duckies. No bite." Wow. We were duly impressed! This morning we passed a motorcycle and she said "look everybody, bicycle, just like daddy's!" Today, after bottles, I was putting toothpaste on their toothbrushes. I like to sing the Raffi toothbrush song, you know, the one that goes "when you wake up in the morning it's a quarter to one and you want to have a little fun, you brush your teeth, ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch etc." I was singing away and Emma said "Mummy, stop singing about teef, ok?" Fine, I won't quite my day job to become the next Canadian Idol!

Madison is a lot more chatty as well. Today at daycare she said "I like chicken but no rice." She is also really showing her independence! On the way home from daycare they get a snack to tide them over until dinner. I gave her two crackers which she loves. After she said "more cracker pease." I said "no, no more snacks, we are having dinner soon." She spent the next 20 minutes (the entire car ride home) yelling "more cracker NOW!" I ignored her and eventually she stopped, but boy was it annoying!

What a mouthful!

Those who have been around Emma may have first-hand experience in how chatty she can be. She is quite a talker, and at 2 her doctor said she has the vocabulary of an almost 3-year-old. As I was looking through my baby book last week, I read that at 14-months, my vocabulary list was pretty extensive as well, so she gets her gabbiness from moi! So John and I have been pretty impressed when lately she has said "mummy, what are you doing?" when I am out of her line of vision. Imagine our total surprise when today she said "I want sit down on couch now please." Holly Hannah! John looked at me and said "did you hear that?" I closed my mouth that was hanging on the floor and said "yeah, did we hear right?" She asked again, so yes, we heard right. That is by far the longest sentence she has ever said. And not only does she say long sentences, but she speaks so clearly too. Maddie is catching up with her vocabulary. She cuts off the first letter of every word. If you ask her what her name is she says "Addison." When she is calling Matt, Sue's boyfriend, she says "At." She can pronounce "m's" as she says Mummy clearly, but sometimes she decides to leave off that first letter. Her speech is a lot more choppy than Emma's, but she is starting to get more of a flow.

Today was their last day at the daycare in my school. Julie is back so they will be going there on Monday. After school I took the girls upstairs to my friend Barb's classroom. She teaches grade 2 and she has baby chicks in her room that hatched just yesterday. The girls ran over to the chicks and said "duckies! Dey cute!" They pet them and then Maddie wanted to hold one. She loves animals and she is so gentle, so she held her two hands out together and Barb put the chick in her hand. She giggled and said "tickles." Emma wanted to hold one as well and she said the same thing. They were so gentle and so interested in the little chicks it was very cute. We got some pictures of them so I will try and post them once I figure out how to do that! Barb also has caterpillars in a terrarium in her room and the girls waved and said hi to the caterpillar. When John got home they told him that they held the baby duckies on own! lol If the weather is nice we will take them to the petting zoo this weekend. They love it there!

First day of "real school!"

Our beloved "Auntie" Julie, who takes care of the girls is in BC watching her youngest son graduate from University. We were lucky enough to get the girls enrolled in the daycare that is in my school for the week. I had to fill out a ton of paperwork, and one of the forms asked me to write how I thought the girls would adjust to daycare. I wrote that Emma would be fine, and that Maddie might take a little longer to adjust to the new setting. Well, just like at every doctor's appointment when I would make a prediction as to how they would fare, they proved me wrong. Emma cried (albeit very briefly) when I left and Madison traipsed right in. They both ended up having a great day. They napped in big girls cots, they drank from big girl cups, did arts and crafts, played outside etc. I could barely wait until the bell rang before I ran downstairs to see them (I deliberately didn't peek in during the day as I didn't want them to see me and want to come with me). When I walked in all the kids were sitting in a circle. Emma and Maddie's backs were to me and they just looked like such big girls sitting there with their hands in their laps listening to the story. I felt such a surge of emotion well up that I had to take a minute or two before going in or I would have for sure broken into tears, but happy ones. I will not soon forget that image in my head of my two daughters participating in circle time at school. On the way home Maddie said "mama, go play place" (play place is what I used to "sell" the daycare to the girls before dropping them off for the first time). I said "you want to go back to the play place?" and Maddie said "yes." I said "tomorrow" and she said "no, now." So she had a slight tantrum in the car, but for a good reason! lol I am glad that they are enjoying it. Now watch, they won't want to go back to their beloved Auntie Julie's! In spite of the success today, they are so well cared for at Julie's that we are not at this time considering keeping them at the center. It's good to know that they adapted well, and hopefully they will do the same when we send them to their summer daycare part time.

Over the weekend we went to Ottawa to visit Dad and Anna and we had a great time. The girls didn't nap on the way up but they were remarkably in good spirits Friday night. Emma didn't want to sleep in the crib, she cried for her own crib, but it didn't last long. Emma got really attached to grandpa this weekend. She followed him around and only wanted him to push her in the swing. When I went to get her out of her crib Sunday morning the first thing she said was "where my grandpa?" She asked about grandpa today (we are back at home)! It's nice to see. At times it seemed they knew the difference between grandpa and grandma, but it could be a fluke. Madison gave grandma her special books, which is a huge compliment as she takes those things everywhere. It's nice that the girls remember them and enjoy going.

It is now starting to rain, with thunder and lightning and I am all in a panic that it will wake the girls up! Let's hope they sleep right through it!

Mama I Need Hug

It seems Miss Emma has discovered the difference between "want" and "need." Until a week ago she would say "I want dis one" when referring to wearing her pyjama top to daycare. Now, it's "I need dis one." It appears that it has nothing to do with a preference for a specific shirt, but she is exercising her right not to "have" to change into a new shirt each morning! So I started to dress her in the top I want her to wear the next day, when we get our jammies on at night. So she wears the top to bed and again to daycare! Saves on laundry at least! Well, every morning at daycare drop off I get a hug and a kiss from Emma and Madison. Today as I pulled out of Julie's driveway, Julie came running out with Emma in her arms. I got out of the car in time to hear Emma say "Mama I need hug!" She was quite distraught and Julie said that I had in fact forgotten to get my Emma hug, (I did get a kiss though)! I caught Maddie before they went to play with Julie's new play kitchen, so as I was saying my goodbyes to Emma, I overlooked the hug (well, she ran off before I could get it)! So, in Julie's driveway Emma and I shared our goodbye hug. Sigh, bliss!

Madison's vocabulary has really taken off in the last week. I think she has grown a lot too. She looks like a little girl now. She loves to spot airplaines and has a great ear for them when they fly over the house. She also talks to the birds and the big trucks when we drive to school each day. They are growing up so fast!

Mother's Day 2008

We enjoyed great family outings for Mother's Day. We went to Lionel's Petting Zoo, which the girls love and Ontario Place. Ontario Place has this great toddler area where the girls climbed foam pieces and went through tunnels to slide down the slides. They also had a gravity thingy where you put a ball on top of an opening, and then you would try to catch it. Maddie wasn't really interested in it (she preferred organizing the crayons into different sections) but Emma actually caught the ball a few times! We went with Kaitlyn, Jenn and Jeff, and the girls had a great time.

The Petting Zoo was equally fun. The girls were both so brave, feeding celery stalks to all the animals (donkeys, goats, llamas, deer, bunnies etc). A small crowd gathered around to watch the girls feed them as they would squeal and giggle with delight every time. Emma even made sure all the animals got their fair share. She would say "how bout dat one?" and we would go over to feed "dat one." So cute. Maddie was a bit apprehensive at times, and we noticed that she puts her hands to her cheeks, the same way she holds her books at night when she is nervous. It must be her way to soothe herself. So sweet!

I got beautiful homemade cards from the girls for Mother's Day. They had cut out outlines of their little hands and glued them on. The cards were decorated by them, with pompoms glued on, sparkles and their special marker decorations. I also got two puzzle-piece frames with a black and white picture of each of my sweethearts. They both greeted me in the morning by saying "Happy Mother's Day" and they said "Happy Birthday" a few times too(even though my birthday is in September - they associate gift-giving with birthdays). I found this poem and I thought it was appropriate for the cards that they made:

Sometimes I might upset you
Just because I am so small
By leaving finger prints of mine
On a table, chair or wall.
But everyday I grow a bit
and I'll be big one day
When all my tiny fingerprints
Have long been cleaned away
So keep these prints of my two hands
To help you to recall
Just how big my fingers were
that time when I was small.

I hope I always remember this time when they are small. They are such wonderful girls!

They know our "real" names!

Julie taught the girls our real names! When you ask them what Daddy's real name is they both say his first and last name. When you ask what is mummy's last name they just say my last name. Apparently Maddie can say my first name too, but she hasn't said it in front of me. So cute! It sounds so adorable in their little voices. They are learning so much and speaking so well. After school yesterday Maddie said "mummy, saw 5 airplanes. Gone now." Wow!

Emma got her first time-out at daycare yesterday. She threw the buckets at Maddie when it was time to go inside (protesting that she didn't want to go inside, she wanted to play outside). Julie warned her not to do it, and she did it again. She sat on the time-out step the entire time and then went and said sorry to Maddie. Same as at home, so hopefully the consistency will pay off.

Emma is also on this new kick where she wants to wear her pyjama tops to school. She won't let us change her top. Her jammies have frogs on them and she is obsessed with frogs these days. When we were walking in the mall the other day she said "mummy, can I ribbit?" Which means "can I do leapfrog across the mall floor while saying ribbit?" Go for it Emma! So, I have 2 sets of pyjama tops, luckily, so I don't have to wash these shirts every day. I sort of cringed the other day because the top totally didn't match her pants, and I tried to coax her into wearing the matching top, but she said "no, want wear dis one." I have learned to pick my battles with these kids, so off she went in her pj top, wearing a completely mis-matched outfit! Sigh!

Aunt Yenny's Baby Shower

Yenny and Steve are having a baby in 5 weeks and today was their baby shower. The girls wore the adorable outfits that they got from their grandparents on their birthday. The bottoms are jean skirts with built in rainbow leggings. Emma loves them and every time she wears them she flips up her skirt to show the leggings and says "look at me! The shower was great and the girls were wonderful. Maddie helped with all the cleaning up (the guests told me how impressed they were. They thought I had trained her well, little do they know that she just likes to do it)! They helped Yenny and Steve open all the presents. One of them was a book that we already have. They say down to read it together and Emma started with "one time" meaning once upon a time. There was an infant there, and of course Maddie paid special attention to the baby. Making sure she was tucked in the blanket and safe in her infant carrier. When the baby cried she said "uh-oh baby crying." Maddie is so maternal and loves babies, but I asked her if mummy should have another baby. She didn't hesitate and immediately said "no." I said "you don't want a brother or a sister?" and she said "no, Emma sister." Awwww, she already has her sister Emma and that's all she needs! Neither of the girls like it when other kids come near me. This one 10-month old girl was pulling up on me and they both went over and said "no, my mummy!" Too funny!

Absolutely Adorable

Ok, a quick post tonight, but I have to put write this down so I don't forget it! We were driving the other day (all 4 of us) and a very loud car drove by. Emma said "oh my goodness. You guys, everybody ok?" It was the funniest thing! It reminded me of the other day when we were playing on the driveway and a car drove by. Emma said "mama, lookout be careful." Madison replied with "yes, mummy, careful pease!" I have such caring girls!

Emma has a boyfriend!

Ok, so some of you know that when Emma was 6-months old we took her to emergency in Ottawa after she rolled off a bed. She was fine, and while we were waiting, she met Lance, the 17-month-old boy who gave her kisses all night (Maddie was at gradma and grandpa's house, or else she would have gotten the kisses too)! I think it's funny that his name was Lance - very knight-in-shinning-armour if you go for that sort of thing! Well, at 2, Lance is long gone, and her new boyfriend is Rhett, or, if you are Emma, Whetsy Whetsy as she calls him. Julie cut the bushes in her backyard and she left the bushes on the ground before clearing them. Rhett, who is 3 (an older guy lol) said "Emma, want to walk in the woods?" The woods being the bushes in the backyard. Emma said "yes, we walk in the woods." They held hands and walked through the "woods" together. If you ask Emma if Rhett is her boyfriend she said "yes, Whetsy boyfend." AWWWWW! They get along very well because they are pretty much at the same level vocabulary wise so they communicate well. Maddie sometimes tags along, apparently Emma will say "Maddie come too" but she usually likes to keep Rhett to herself while Maddie hangs out with Zoe or Julie.

I should also mention that all weekend both girls were asking to go to Julie's! Maddie would say "go Julie's now?" No Mads, you are stuck with Mummy until Monday! They love it there and they learn so much. They can both say where they live, Emma can say my cell phone number. Their vocabulary gets better everyday and they are such happy kids!

How do you spell stubborn? M-a-d-i-s-o-n

So, little Maddie may be small in size but she makes up for it in will! This little peanut is as stubborn as a mule (or as stuborn as her mother used to be)! I have already written about her only drinking from a blue bottle. She refuses to drink from anything else. If you bring her a different coloured bottle, she will purse her lips together, throw the bottle on the ground and throw a mini tantrum. She has now decided that she doesn't want the soother with the brown nipple, she will only take the clear one. She only wants specific coloured socks and she will only wear certain t-shirts. She will only eat purple lollipops unless Emma has a red one. If Emma has a red one, Madison will throw her purple lollipop on the ground and demand a red one too. Sigh she is lucky she's cute.

We had a great weekend - the weather was nice. We went to the park and Emma sat in the swing and said "look at me everybody!" She climbed up the big kid stairs through the big kid tunnel and down the big kid spiral slide all by herself (with John at the bottom of the slide just in case). Madison wanted to do it too, but she couldn't get up the tunnel herself, so I had to go with her (and it is not as easy as it looks). Then she somehow turned on her way down the spiral slide and ended up going head first. John was at the bottom thank goodness, but she was a bit scared, so she stuck to the little kids slide. It's tough getting them to leave the park and getting them inside the house after playing outside. They love to be outside, especially Emma. When a loud car drives by Emma yells "lookout Mama, be careful!" Their vocabulary continues to amaze me. Madison actually says a lot more than we give her credit for, she just doesn't say it as clearly as Emma, so you have to listen for it. Emma strings multiple sentences together and sometimes I am struck by what a little lady she is. I am not nostalgic for my baby girl (they will always be my babies) as I adore this age. While they do have tantrums, they are not that bad. But we are holding our breath for the terrible twos that just might come when they turn three!

Maddie's Hearing Test

Madison had her hearing test yeterday and she passed with flying colours! Her hearing is perfect. They tested her because she was a preemie and because of John's hearing. She was amazing at the appointment. John took Emma for a drive while I hung out with Mads in the waiting room. She went right over to one of the toys and started playing. Every once in awhile she would look up at me with this really sweet smile. It's like she was trying to hide the smile, it was shy and special. When they called us into the appointment the doctor said "Hi Madison, my name is Mary and I will be checking your ears today." Maddie said "hi Mary, here ears."! They stuck something in both ears and she didn't even flinch. Then they took us in a room where different sounds went off and she had to turn towards them. When she turned towards the sound, a light would shine on a puppet. My job was to not speak but to make sure her head turned back to the middle after she looked at the lights/puppet. She finished the test in 20 minutes, and usually it takes an hour because the toddlers are not cooperative. The doctor said she has never seen someone so well-behaved! Yay Maddie!

We went outside to wait for John as it was a beautiful day. We counted birds and airplanes and ran up and down the driveway. When we got into the van Emma said "oh my goodness, Maddie, you ok?" We said that yes, Maddie is ok. And Emma said "Maddie doctor, you ok?" She must have asked Maddie the entire way home if she is ok! So cute. She is always concerned about her sister!

Today we went to Peyton's birthday party. Emma didn't nap, so ten minutes before getting to Cindy's house, she falls asleep! She didn't even wake up when we got to the party. So I took Maddie in while Emma slept in the car and John waited with her. He woke her up shortly after and she came into the party. She was really well-behaved surprisingly. I think there were a lot of toys and kids to distract her. She had a meltdown as we were leaving to go home because she didn't want to leave. They are now sound asleep after a great couple of days!

Mad-chu

In case you are wondering, Mad-chu is what Emma said to me this morning, which translates to "mad at you!" I always tell the girls to use their words instead of whining, crying, screaming or yelling. I give them examples by saying "if you are mad at mummy, say, mummy I am angry, or mummy I am mad at you..." Well, I guess my teaching is paying off so to speak because this morning, at daycare drop Emma told me she was mad at me. When I drop them at Julie's, they walk to the house from the van, but with the warm weather, it's more of a saunter, a lollygag, a stop-and-examine-every-rock walk to the house. This morning, Emma would not go inside. I had to go to work, so I said "Emma, you either walk to the house now, or Mummy is going to go over and pick you up. You choose." She said "I no go house." So I said "ok, I am coming to pick you up." She started to run away from me (picture me chasing her in my work clothes, high heels and all). I finally caught up to her, and of course, Madison, who was in the doorway of the house, comes over to rescue her sister. So now I have Emma going limp in my arms, so I throw her over my shoulder, and Maddie trying to pull her out of my arms. I finally get them into the house. Emma runs right over to see Rhett, who is 3 and she calls him Rhetsy. Every morning they give me lot's of kisses and hugs when I leave. Maddie gave me a kiss and hug but Emma wouldn't come over. I finally said "ok, I am going now, but I am sad as I didn't get my hug and kiss from Emma." So, she comes over, but turns her head when I go to kiss her. I say "no kiss for me?" She says "no." I say why? She says "madchu." Huh? I ask her to say it again and she says "madchu." I finally decipher that she is mad at me. I say "Emma, are you mad at mummy?" to which she responds "yes." I then say "ok, can you be mad at me but still give me a kiss bye-bye?" She nods, gives me a kiss and a hug.

Julie took the girls to the park yesterday and there were some older kids there. Julie told me how good Emma is at standing up for her and her sister. She would say "Emma turn, Maddie turn." And when the other kids would bud, she would say "no, Maddie turn now." Maddie is a little more passive. She may have to fight harder due to her size, but I have no doubt she will do it, as she does it when she really wants something.

Madison has her hearing test on Friday. Nothing to be concerned about, it's all part of the follow-up appointments as she was a preemie. John is taking the day off too and we are going to enjoy the afternoon after she is finished. Wish us luck that everything turns out fine!

Grumpy Girls!

Today was a day of grumpy girls! Not sure what the deal was, as they slept over 12 hours last night and had a 2 hour nap this afternoon. I think it was sort of a boring day. We usually do errands on the weekends and we had planned to take them outside, but it was quite cold today and their snowpants are at Julie's house. So we played in the playroom, upstairs and watched a movie, but they seemed tired and cranky. We had a lot of time outs today. Emma and Madison would fight over toys, and end up pushing or hitting one another. At one point I pulled Emma away from Madison and she said "Mummy, no pushing" to which I sheepishly replied "actually, I pulled you, I didn't push!" During their bath, Emma hit Madison on the head. I didn't put her in time out, which I normally do, so I just said in a firm voice "Emma, no hitting, we do not hit." She was mad at me and she took a cup of water and threw it at me! I pulled her out of the bath, threw a towel around her and put her against the wall for time out. She sat there with shampoo still in her hair, soaking wet and staring at me like she was shocked that I actually pulled her out of the bath for a time out. She seemed sad too, and when her time out was over she said "sowwy mummy, no do it" meaning she won't do it again.

One cute thing I need to mention is Emma now calls Maddie "Mads" which is the nickname John and I have for her. At first I didn't realize what she was saying. I thought she was telling me she was mad, but I realized she was calling for her sister, "Mads!"

First Time Apart!

So today the girls experienced their first time apart ever. I had plans to go shopping with my friend Tina after school. The plan was to bring the girls along, so Tina could see them and so we could head home straight from the mall. When I got to Julie's, Emma was ready but Maddie was sound asleep. Julie went to wake her (I could see her sleeping away on the couch) and she opened her eyes, looked at us and then went right back to sleep. Julie suggested I leave Mads to sleep, so Emma and I went shopping. As we were leaving Julie's, Emma realized Maddie wasn't coming and she said "Maddie, wake up, hafta come." I explained that we were going shopping and we would get Maddie later, after she wakes from her nap. As we drove to the mall, Emma asked over and over (and over and over) "where Maddie?" "Maddie coming?" "Maddie, where r u?" When we got to the mall she was distracted, but she still asked. When she couldn't see Tina, she would aske "where Tina?" After our shopping trip we went to pick up Maddie. She was fine and Julie said she asked twice "where Emma?" and that was it. It was sort of nice to spend time with Emma by herself. I am going to do the same with Maddie.

We met with a potential daycare provider for the summer. I want to put the girls in daycare for 2 days a week throughout July and August, to give myself a break. A friend of mine said Tuesdays and Thursdays will become my islands of relaxation! We found a wonderful lady who has an amazing set-up in her house. We haven't made a decision yet, but we are definately leaning towards her. When we went to visit her, the girls didn't want to leave! She has every toy imaginable and she has two cats! On the way home from the visit, the girls kept asking to see the cats again. They called the cats Odie and Lola, after my parents and sister's cats. One of her cats is actually named Lola coincidentally and the other one is Oscar. So the drive home was "more Oscar, more Loler." Too cute!

Poor Maddie

Little Maddie May is sick. Monday night she was crying at around 10 p.m. It wasn't a whimper, it was a full blown, heartbreaking kind of cry. John and I went in, and Emma was woken up so she started crying (she does this when she is woken suddenly, it takes her a few minutes to realize where she is I think). So John soothed Emma, who went back to sleep pretty quickly. I picked Madison up and she felt hot, but I figured it was because she was crying. I changed her into some cooler pyjamas, rubbed her back and told her to go back to sleep. She did, thankfully. The next morning she seemed fine, but at lunch Julie called the school to let me know she had a fever and that she was giving her some tylenol. She said that Madison had been acting normally, and Emma is the cranky one (due to her sleep being interrupted - that little girl loves her sleep)! Maddie is on the mend, but has been a bit crankier today. She threw a bunch of tantrums when I took away her rocks (the rocks she gets from Julie's garden and then bangs on our floor)! She loves her rocks and when I took them away she screamed "my wock, want my wock, gimme wock." I explained that I took them away because she is banging them on the floor and we don't want the floor to break. She tried to bite my leg in anger, so she went to time out. Of course, when Maddie is sitting in time out, Emma goes over too! She screamed when it was bath time. She didn't want in so I put her in her jammies. She didn't want her jammies, she wanted to go in the bath. Oh Mads, make up your mind! Finally she did a quick splash in the bath and calmed down a bit during her bottle. She seemed ready to go to bed and went up without fuss.

Both girls love to be outside and they love to walk everywhere "on own." They walk from the van to Julie's house, and Emma often takes the roundabout route to the front door as she stops to examine every pine cone, rock and piece of earth. I have to coax her into the house before I end up late for work! It's lovely to watch though and it makes one think of all the things we sort of take for granted and don't appreciate as much anymore! Through the eyes of a child, right? So true!

Want Pop Now!

It's been awhile since I have posted! Sorry to those who look forward to this everyday and have been asking me to post! LOL! I am taking a course and that in combination with taking care of the girls and my job is keeping me very busy. The girls continue to be amazing as always. They are so funny these days. It seems every day they are saying something new. Today Emma said "3 points Calderone" for the basketball player. She learns all about basketball and hockey at daycare, much to John's delight. Maddie and Emma both say "how bout dis?" when they are asking what's this? So they point to different objects they want to know the name's of and say "how bout dis?, how bout dis?" John and I constantly ask Emma where things are because we love to hear her say "wight dere, wight dere." So funny!

Today Miss Maddie fell asleep on the drive home. So cute and peaceful. But then she wasn't in the best mood for the rest of the night. She can be very quiet, compared to Miss Chatterbox Emma. I find with Maddie, everything she does is on her terms. She talks when she wants to, she eats when she wants to and she only cuddles when she wants to, not when you ask. Whereas Emma will readily give a kiss and a hug if you ask for one. Emma is definately more cuddly than Maddie at this age, so we have to hold on to Maddie when she does indeed feel like it.

I have a funny daycare story about both girls. Julie said to me that Emma was really upset the other day and kept saying 'me sausage, me sausage." Julie couldn't understand why she was so sad and so she figured Emma really wanted a sausage, so she went to the freezer, took out a package of frozen sausages and said "is this what you want?" Emma cried "no, me sausage." We almost peed ourselves laughing when I told her that she wants to be wrapped in her blanket like a sausage, which is what we call it! Julie said "no wonder she was dragging the blanket with her while she said it." So now Julie knows to wrap Emma in her blanket "like a sausage!"

Maddie had a similar story. She kept asking for pop. "Want pop pease Auntie Jooly." So Julie gave her a water bottle, which we call pop (some day they will be wise to our tricks, but until then, we call it pop and juice, but really it's water). She threw the bottle on the ground and said "want pop now!" I later explained that pop is what they call lollipops! These girls need to come with their own translators!

Madison is eating like a champ these days. She practically ate an entire roast chicken leg by herself the other night. She kept asking for more and I even checked under her chair to make sure she wasn't dropping it. Nope, she was eating it! She loves chicken with dip (sauce)!

Tomorrow we are checking out a few daycare places in hopes of finding a suitable place for them to go to in the summer. Wish us luck!

Emma: 2, Madison: 1

I am talking about injuries here. So far, in their short little lives, they have had may bumps, scrapes and bruises. As far as potentially more serious injuries, Emma has had two: the time she rolled off the bed when we stayed at the Chateau Frontenac and the other day when she drove her Barbie bike down 3 stairs. Those of you who haven't heard the Quebec story, the girls were 6-months and John and I had treated ourselves to a stay at the Chateau, and breakfast by room service. We had placed a baby on each of the two beds. I remember glancing over at them before eating, to make sure they were ok, and they were. As we marvelled over tiny bottles of ketchup and orange juice in champagne glasses, we heard a thud and then a piercing scream. Before I could even wedge myself between the bed and the breakfast cart, John had lept over the cart, over a stroller and grabbed Emma, who's tiny body was wedged between the bed and the nightstand. She was just in her diaper, and she was so little! After about 15 seconds she stopped screaming and calmed right down. Not even a bump or a bruise. Mummy and Daddy were definately worse for wear!

The bike incident happened just last week. She likes to tool around on her Barbie bike between the family room and the front door. I was changing Madison when I heard this huge crash followed by the familliar cry of a child who is pretty hurt and/or scared. I ran over, leaving Maddie half-diapered, to find Emma under her bike at the bottom of the stairs leading to the bathroom (about 3 stairs). I was trying to figure out which hospital to take her to, but when I picked her up she calmed down relatively quickly. She stayed in my arms for about a half hour, just cuddling (pure bliss) and then she was back on her bike, the little trooper. She did have a bloody nose, but nothing major. Phew.

It's funny too because in general. Maddie tends to be the clutz of the two of them, but she hasn't had anything really bad, other than the time she flew out of the Princess castle and landed on her head. I have that one on video. She was pretty shaken up as well, and she had a bump on her head, poor thing.

Today we are going to Tynen's 4th Birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. The girls have been up since 6:30 (gross - yesterday they slept in until 8:30) so I am anticipating some crankiness. Hopefully they will be distracted by the kids and all the games!

Too Good To Be True

My friend Kelly came over today to pick up the co-sleeper that we used when the girls were little (she is due in May). We were talking about how guilty I feel for looking for a place to send the girls over the summer (part time, maybe 2-3 days a week). I feel guilty since I am home so I could take care of them, and I could save us some money at the same time. I said to Kelly "this long weekend has been great, the girls have been really good, I don't feel as drained as I did over March break." Well, I should have kept my big mouth shut for those of you who believe in jinxing yourself. It is 12:30 and I have been sitting here listen to the girls scream (and NOT in a good way) since 12:15. They are exhausted, having been up since 7:15 and we have been playing pretty physically (marching up and down the hallway, jumping in the Princess castle, dancing, going to the upstairs playroom and then back down etc etc). I know when they are tired, it isn't like when they were younger and sometimes I couldn't tell. I even asked them if they want to go for their nap. Emma nodded and Maddie grabbed her books and said "I alk" (meaning I want to walk upstairs). Their normal nap routine is to talk with each other and scream a bit (but the good, happy scream) and then they settle down and sleep. I have the monitor on but I turn down the volume until later. I could hear them through the walls, and at first it was the good scream, but then I could hear someone crying. I turned on the monitor and I could hear Madison saying "mummy, fall down" so I went upstairs to investigate. She hadn't fallen down, she was sitting up, and so was Emma. I gave Maddie her soother and I said "lie down, it is time for your nap." Emma threw her soother out of the crib and said "no, mummy want uppie." I stood firm as I know what the days are like when they don't nap, and they are much too young to be dropping their nap. I lay them both back down, adjusted their stufed animal placements, wrapped Emma like a sausage (she loves this and in the morning she says "sausage, want be like sausage") and I walked out. Well, all he!! broke loose. I think Emma might have lost her voice and potentially thrown up, which she does when she gets this worked up. They screamed and cried until I almost broke down and went in. I called John for support and he said to leave them in there until at least 1. As I type, all is quiet, so I think they are finally asleep. Let's hope! Sleep issues drive me nuts. No, nap issues drive me nuts. I have said it before, it's not the break (although as usual, I enjoy that part too) it's dealing with them all day when they haven't had a good nap. My girls obviously need a lot of sleep (just like John) and when they miss their nap, they are fine for awhile and then they crash and I have two kids who want to be carried everywhere all the time. They get totally whiny and cry, roll around on the floor etc etc. It's impossible for me to go to the washroom, make dinner, do anything when they are in this state. So I really need them to take that nap. It is always a crapshoot as to what decision to make. Do I bring them downstairs if they aren't sleeping? Do I let them cry for a few minutes? For how long? I think today John gave me the right advice. I almost went in to get them but I just turned on the monitor and all is quiet. Phew. Methinks sending then to daycare part time in the summer is going to be a good thing!