Memorable Moments

John's birthday was yesterday, and try as I might, the girls wouldn't say happy birthday on demand (and why should they)! But today, Emma actually sang "happy birthday" to him. Add that to her calling him John yesterday and you have some pretty memorable momments! I am always amazed at what they learn at daycare. They had a birthday party last week (one of the other kids turned 3) and they all sang happy birthday together. I love how much they learn and Julie, who takes care of them is amazing. She actually told me today that she would like a younger child to take care of as well as the girls next year, because she thinks it will help them learn to share, and to have a younger person to look after. Especially Madison, because she is very maternal and she loves to take care of her dolls. She is very gently with babies - she touches the top of their heads with such care and she will put their soosies (soothers) in if they need it. One of the other kids will be in school full time, so she has an opening, and she is looking for someone that will benefit my girls the most. She truly loves them (don't we all)!

What I am struggling with these days is getting them into their carseats. They have both discovered the van has a little hook that pulls out above their windows, you know the one that we would hang our dry cleaning from. So before they will go in their carseats, they say "I reach it. I reach it." This means they pull it out and push it in. Sometimes the old "ok girls, two times and then sit down" warning works. Other times, I am practically sitting on them to get them in their seats while they scream! Madison's tantrums are fierce these days, just fierce. Emma is a much better sport about it and you can usually make her laugh before the tantrum takes off. Knowing it's only a phase makes it a bit easier.

After dinner tonight John and the girls were playing in the Princess castle. I was cleaning up in the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard this booming voice saying "SIT DOWN NOW!" I figured someone was talking to John and then I heard it again. I looked up and there was Emma, standing a few feet away staring at me, pointing to the Princess castle and yelling "SIT DOWN NOW MUM!" Maddie chimed right in saying "Mummy, SIT DOWN!" They definately know what they want! I finished what I was doing and climed into the Princess castle. I tickled them as they giggled, they showed me their babies (their dolls) and Emma said "hug baby, baby cute." So I hugged the baby and Madison tickled Emma and Emma tickled Maddie. I had a whole bunch of things that I had to get done, but nothing would take me from that moment with them. They are growing up so fast and I need to hang on to these special times with them and enjoy every second.

Daddy's Girl/The Twin Phenomenon

What I constantly find amazing about having twins, is how often their personalities switch. People always ask me who the "good" one is and who the "troublemaker" is and to be honest, that answer can change by the minute. Some of you know that in Emma's first few months she was quite colicky and needed a lot of attention. Madison was very laid back and independent from an early age. I spent a lot of time soothing Emma, leaving Maddie time to bond with John. It seems like Emma just gravitated towards me and Madison to John. These days, while Emma is still very cuddly and affectionate towards me, her and John are new best buds. They are always laughing together, playing, they lay on the floor today just talking. Emma hears the garage door opening and she squeals "daddy home" and runs to the door where she is standing waiting for him as soon as he opens it. Maddie, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with him and sometimes runs the other way when he goes near her. He is taking it in stride, and he knows it is just a phase, but I know it breaks his heart. I try to reassure him that it will change on a dime again, after all, girls adore their dads (I adore mine)!

Another thing people who have twins always tell me is that they have their own language. I am just starting to witness this as well. The two of them will be playing together and when I stop to listen, they are having a full blown conversation with each other. Most of the words I can't make out (and these days, I do know what they are saying 98% of the time, so this must be the twin language they are making up). Emma will say something, then pause, and Madison responds, and then back and forth for quite some time. It is an actual conversation and I find it fascinating to listen to and watch them interact. They may hit, fight, push and scream at each other one minute, but the next they are playing happily together: best friends forever.

It's Not Easy Being Green...or red, or orange, or anything but Blue!

Well some of you may already know about the big bottle connundrum. We had to switch to BPA-free bottles for the health of our beloved girls. Emma did not like the change, Maddie was fine with the switch. We got Emma some different bottles, that are similar to her old ones that she will use until we get the Born-Free glass bottles. Anyway, the BPA-free ones that Maddie uses are all different colours. Right away she took to the blue bottle. We have 3 blue out of 9 bottles. I tried to give Mads a different colour, but she stared at me and said "no, want boo baba" (I want the blue bottle). Ok fine. So, this morning, when we gave them their bottles, Emma pushed the bottle away and said "don't want orange, want boo." To which I replied "well Emma, that isn't orange, that is green. Do you want the green one?" "No, want boo baba." Of course, because milk tastes different n the blue bottle than any other. After switching to the blue bottle, she drank all of her milk. When I dropped them off at daycare, Maddie ran in and then ran right back when she realized she forgot to give me a kiss goodbye. Emma said "bye mum, have a good weekend."! Don't I wish, but it's only Wednesday! Julie, their daycare provider says that Emma is talking like a 3-year-old! She does have a pretty extensive vocabulary at this age and boy does she like to talk (just like her mummy)!

When John came home I went upstairs to change out of my work clothes and all I could hear was a high-pitched scream of "MINE" followed by John's voice saying "Madison, give it back to your sister, no hitting," Yeesh, those two can fight. Minutes later they were hugging each other and giving each other a kiss. Madison has definately been exerting herself and wanting more independence. She has had a couple of ridiculous tantrums, the likes of which John and I have never seen from her before. Sure, she had tantrums, but not like these ones. It's really hard not to laugh because she gets so mad. We ignore her and eventually she calms down. Oddly enough, Emma just sort of stares at her. I think she is a little scared herself!

Dinner tonight was supposed to be burritos. I asked the girls if they want a special sandwich for dinner and Madison said "no want sammich, want noodle." So we had noodles. At least she is eating! After that they at an entire container of raspberries (which they called strawberries). Then they played for a bit. At 6:30 Madison grabbed her books, and Emma put a pillow down on the floor and lay down. I asked if they were ready for night-night and they didn't say no, so off to bed they went. Now I am off to make sure the blue bottles are ready for tomorrow.

Family Weekend

It's been a great weekend so far (and it's a long one thanks to Family Day)! Grandma and Grandpa are here (otherwise known as gamma and gampa). The girls took to them right away as soon as they walked through the door. Normally it takes them longer to warm up to them, despite us showing them pictures and talking up the visit. Maddie has been especially attached to my dad, which was really nice. When he went to have a shower this morning, she threw a fit on the floor because "gampa gone!" I tried to explain that he would be right back, but she wasn't hearing it. She flailed around kicking the wall and screaming.

Later that afternoon, we all had fun dancing in the kitchen. The girls love music and they love to dance. Then they played tickle with grandma, grandpa and the Happy Feet penguins. They girls sqealed and laughed as dad and Anna pretended to be tickled by the penguins.

We had Kaitlyn, Jenn and Jeff over for dinner, and all three girls were playing a jumping game on the princess bed which dad was actively participating in. He would try to leave the room and all three of them would yell "come, gampa, jump!" There was no escaping the call of three toddlers. They can be pretty convincing! By 9:30 grandma and grandpa, especially, were exhausted after a fun day with the girlies!

Ice (cream) capades!

The girls love their ice cream (they take after their dad here). John likes to give them a treat once in awhile and let them have mini ice cream cones. The deal is, they have to be sitting in their booster seats (with trays) to minimize the mess. So, tonight after dinner, the girls were set up in their chairs, happily eating ice cream cones. John and I were able to clean up after dinner and do a few chores. After a few minutes, John goes over to see what they are doing, and below is the conversation he and Emma had:

John: "Emma, are you finished your ice cream cone?"

Emma: "No."

John: "Well then where is it?"

Emma: "I throwed it there".

John: "You throwed it where"?

Emma (in a slightly exasperated dad-don't-you-know-already tone): "Down there" (pointing to the floor).

John looks down to see the ice cream cone top-side down on the hardwood floor.

John: "Why did you throw it on the floor"?

Emma : "'cause".

John: 'Cause why?

Emma (again with the exasperated tone): "cause I don't want it".

Fair enough! He then cleans her up and takes her out of her seat. On to Madison and here is that conversation:

John: "Madison, are you finished your ice cream"?

Madison stares at him and shakes her head.

John: "Then you need to eat it or it will melt. Here, the ice cream part is near the bottom of the cone".

Madison starts to smack herself in the head, which is sometimes what she does before a tantrum.

John: "Madison, you do not hit yourself." So Madison takes her ice cream cone and whacks John on the side of the head with it! That got her in time out, because as John told her "we do not hit people or ourselves with ice cream."

Fair enough!

Like Mother Like Daughters

Today was a great day with the girls. It started at 7:00 and we came downstairs for our bottles. After bottles we hung out on the couch and Emma still seemed like she hadn't quite woken up. She lay on the couch, on her tummy, with her hands tucked under her (straight down under her body). Those of you who know me, know this is how I sleep. Madison also picked up one of my habits. She sleeps with the rubber part of her cloth book right on her face. I sleep, I mean, I slept (wink wink) with my stuffed dog's ear on my face. Must be in the genes. Emma was particularly cuddly today. At one point she didn't want me to put her down for even a second, and I said "who's a silly goose, is Emma a silly goose?" and she said "no, Emma no goosey. Maddie goosey." Maddie just grinned! We headed to Toys R Us to pick up some new BPA-free bottles. One of the employees who was helping us said "bye honey" as we left the section and Emma replied "bye honey!" What a social gal. Madison had her toy phone with her, and she talks to "gampa" on it all the time. She had a bit of a fit as we were leaving the store, because I put her hood up (it was snowing) and she said "no hood, gampa, gampa." She couldn't put the phone to her ear when her hood was on, so she got her hair wet while we walked to the car, but at least she could talk to "gampa." If only she would talk to Grandpa when she is using a real phone. Instead she just stares at the phone and giggles. While we were out, John's friend called, and he asked Emma to say hi. She said "Hi gampa." The girls seem to associate the phone with my dad. We went to a different mall, where they could walk around and burn off some energy. We don't put them in strollers anymore, unless we are going to be long. We like to let them walk. Our only rule is they have to hold onto our hands. So I was holding Maddie's hand, and Emma was holding John's hand. We started to walk, and then we noticed that the girls weren't moving yet. We looked down and realized that they were holding each other's hands too. So, we walked as a family hand in hand around the mall. John and I kept looking at each other saying "that's the cutest thing we have ever seen." And it wasn't forced. Sometimes we will say "give Emma a hug, or give Maddie a kiss, you love your sister." It seems today they didn't need telling, they happily held hands almost the entire time. I say almost, because when they were rolling around on the floor of the Bay because we wouldn't let them touch the soap dispensers, they were NOT holding hands. They were too busy flinging their jackets off while flailing around in the middle of the aisle. Once they were back on track, things were great. We got in the van and Maddie said "mummy, shopping, fun." Yep, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Snow Day Part 2

As you Ontarians know, we got hit with a foot of snow last night. That's the second "bad" snow storm in less than a week. I foolishly bought into the news media and their hype, and I stayed home. They kept going on about staying home if you have to, and how nasty the drive in was etc etc. Turns out, it took a little more time, but it wasn't that bad. I should have gone in. Dealing with 29 10-year-olds is a heck of a lot easier than dealing with Emma and Madison, when they are having a "moment"! Today started at 7:00 a.m when I heard Emma yell "no, stop." Madison responded by bursting into tears. Not sure what was going on in there and I can't fathom what Emma wanted to stop. I brought them downstairs and explained that we would be staying home today. They seemed happy about that. We had bottles and I changed them with only minor incident (keep reading what happens when I try and put on Emma's shirt). John and I worked out a good system, as Emma can be a real handful when she doesn't want to be changed. It often takes two of us to get the job done. So now, we lie them on the mat and prop them up with a pillow, and they feed themselves their bottles, while we change them. It works like a charm. By the time they are finished their bottles, they have clean diapers, their clothes are on and they are ready to go. Things went smoothly until around 7:30, when they started to fight over every toy in sight (starting with their coupe car). We had hitting, hair pulling, kicking, pushing and soother throwing (this one is the funniest, especially when they yank the other person's soother out of their mouths and throw it across the room). Of course we are trying to teach them about sharing, and they know what it means, they just don't like to do it. We take turns with the toys, which usually means while one person plays, the other one is throwing a tantrum, and then they switch. I have read that kids don't really start to share until age 3-4, so we have a ways to go. Madison then had the tantrum of all tantrums when John left to shovel the snow. She either didn't want him to go, or she wanted to go with him. We still aren't sure. Things have calmed down significantly and they are now colouring in their Miss Piggy colouring book. Emma seems tired, so I just asked her if she wants an early nap. Her response? "No, don't want it." That was also her response this morning when I tried to put on her red shirt (for Chinese New Year) so she is running around in jeans and topless. I know how to pick my battles.

Bad Mummy

I know mum's are super busy, always muti-tasking and sometimes get distracted, so I am trying not to beat myself up about this too much. Read on and please share your own "bad" mummy stories if you have any! I picked the girls up from daycare. Normally I put Emma in her carseat and Julie puts Maddie in (she is such a kind lady, she always comes outside to help me bring the girls outside, even in the freezing cold weather)! Today, Madison was throwing a MAJOR tantrum at daycare pick-up because Emma ran to me first. They are going through a phase where they do not want to share me. So when Emma runs to me, I pick her up, and Maddie was having none of it. She wanted to be picked up, so the tantrum began. We finally calmed her down, after she repeatedly hit her head on the hardwood floor. So, I took Madison out to the car. They were particularly fussy today so we put on the dvd player, so they could watch "Ratatouille", their current favourite movie. So, Julie was putting Emma in her carseat and she said "I am having trouble with the bottom clip, I can only do the top." I said I would be right over. So I went over and the dvd player wasn't working (the remote batteries were dead) and I started fiddling with that and got distracted. When I got to the 404, a few exits away from ours, I glanced in the rearview mirror and I thought "why is Emma so low, and why is she able to reach the cords that dangle from the portable dvd player?"! Then it hit me, and I thought the pit of my stomach would fall out: I never fastened the bottom part of her carseat. I pulled over, got out of the car, and when I opened the door, Emma was sitting there, with her pants down to her ankles, the only thing keeping her in were the shoulder straps. I said "Emma, why are your jeans off?" She said "Don't want on." So, we put the jeans back on, fastened her in properly, and went home. Thank goodness, we got there safely!

Cranky-pants 1 and 2

Ok, so the day started off pretty well. Of course we had to go in and wake them up (why couldn't they sleep in on the weekends, and wake-up early on the weekdays, I do not know). Madison was sitting there with her books, as per usual. Emma was lying down, but her head popped up as soon as she heard the door open. John and I went in and brought them downstairs. The morning routine was pretty uneventful. When I dropped them off at daycare, they ran in and I had to call them back for my kiss goodbye. I always insist on that and they are usually pretty receptive! Madison said "lip kiss" which is what I say when they turn their heads and give me their cheek. So I got my kiss on the lips from both and them Emma said "bye mum" (I just think that is so funny, calling me mum as well as mummy) and Maddie said "see you" and they pushed the door closed behind me as I was saying "have a good day, I love you." So much for the days of clinging to me and not wanting me to leave.

After school I went to get them, and they ran to the door to greet me (my favourite part). Then Julie told me that they haven't napped because of their colds. So I knew we were in for it. It started with Emma not wanting to go into her carseat. Instead she wanted to play with the hook on the inside of the van door, you know, the one that you can hang your dry cleaning off of. I told her she could pull it out once, which she did. This was not enough for her. I told her it would have to be enough and I want her to get into her carseat. She arched her back, stuck her legs out straight and I was practically sitting on her to get her strapped in. It took me 3-4 tries, because each time I got one arm in and went to get the other, she would pull the first arm out. It ended in her crying real tears, and me sweating buckets muttering under my breath. Maddie just sat there watching with that impish grin of hers. I had just started reversing out of Julie's driveway when they screamed "snack, want snack." I gave them their container full of cheerios, and I could just picture the look of disdain on their faces. They don't want cheerios, they want their Princess snacks (fruit-flavoured chewy bits). I didn't have any left, which I explained to them. At this point, I am almost certain that, before dumping all of her cheerios in the floor of the van screaming "don't want it", Emma threw a couple at my head. What felt like an hour, but was only 25 minutes later, we were home. The evening consisted of either one or the other constantly in my arms (while the other was in John's) as they were so tired, and so clingy. When they weren't in our arms they were clamouring up our legs, reaching for us and sobbing. Finally, at 6:15 Emma said "I seepy mummy" and so we changed them, gave them their bottles, and put them to bed at 6:24. Hopefully they will feel better tomorrow!

Everybody Happy?

Well, today was a better day, they slept until 7:00 a.m. Still way earlier than they normally sleep for a weekend, but much better than 5:30! When I went in to get them, Madison was sitting up and Emma was still lying down. I wasn't sure if she was actually awake. As I peeked my head in, Madison said "Emma wake up" and she clapped her hands at her. Emma's head popped up and they started laughing. Maddie has to take all of the stuffed animals and books that are in her bed downstairs with her. So not only am I carrying two babies (totalling 45 pounds), but I am also carrying "Feet" (her Happy Feet penguin), Elmo, her doggie and her two Winnie-the-pooh books, the latter two she will not be without. She sleeps with these consistently, brings them in the car every time we go anywhere and must have them at daycare. The corner of the book is made of rubber, and she likes to sleep with the corners touching her face. It's not about the book, it's the material of those corners that she is so attached to. Emma likes having stuffed animals in her crib with her, but she is not particular as to who she brings. She decides based on her mood, although Dora is usually pretty popular as is her stuffed kitty cat, aptly named "Kitty."

At mealtimes, Emma has developed a new thing. Before she starts to eat, when we are all sitting around the table she says "I happy, Mummy." Then she goes around the table to make sure we share the sentiment. "Maddie happy?" Maddie just giggles and nods, but someone must answer on her behalf before Emma moves on. So, usually I will say "yes, Maddie is happy." "Daddy happy?" Emma asks? "Yes, Daddy is happy." "Mummy happy?" "Yes Emma, Mummy is happy." Then she does the quick recap, pointing to herself first, and then everyone else as she says "I happy, Maddie happy, Daddy happy, Mummy happy." We are all happy Emma, now can we eat?

John had the music on today and the girls danced around, singing and waving their arms. When he turned it off they got upset. They don't really have a favourite song yet, but when John and I sing the ABC's sometimes they will tell us to "stop!"

We went to their friend Lily's first birthday party today and the girls had lot's of fun. Madison was shy at first and stuck to me, but Emma just walked in, and walked right up to the "big" kids and said "hi everybody." She followed the big kids everywhere. One of the kids had a pet hamster, and she spent a lot of the time shaking the cage and saying "wake up!" Madison helped herself to carrots and then sucked off all the dip and dumped the carrots in my lap (thanks Mads). She did the same thing with chips and dip. Maddie was always asking about the birthday girl, saying "where Lily?" Emma was more interested in what the big kids were doing. We got home, they played with Uncle Matt and Aunt Sue, and then they went to bed at 6:30. They were really tired after a day of fun.

Early Wake-Up Call

So, for the second day in a row, I am awoken by the lovely sounds of crying from the next room at 5:45 a.m. I left them until 6:30, hoping they would go back to sleep. The cries were intermittent, but became increasingly intense closer to 6:20. Those of you who are parents, may already know, that it's not the getting out of bed early that is so bad (although you wouldn't call it fun either) but it's knowing what lies ahead: a long day full of crankiness, tantrums and misery. And so it begins. It is now 8:43 a.m and so far, Emma has pushed Maddie off "her" bike (it is both of their bikes). Maddie has ripped Emma's soother out of her mouth and "hidden" it in the ottoman (that one was kinda funny, but I don't think Emma thought as much). Emma yanked the Monsters Inc. movie out of the dvd player because she wanted to watch Dora, and then threw the dvd and the case at me when I explained that we started to watch Monster, so that is what we will watch (Madison also wanted to keep Monster on - what can you do when they want to watch different things - sigh, we take turns)! Emma proceeded to go over to hit Maddie, but before she could make contact, I warned her that if she hits she goes right to the time-out stair. At this point, she threw herself on the floor (taking a pillow with her for her head) and rolled around, throwing her soother at me. Maddie decided that looked like fun, so I had both girls rolling around on the floor, kicking their feet, whining, with a look on their face that showed their utter dismay. Hmmmmm, maybe breakfast is a good idea right now. So, I get their breakfast and let them sit and eat it in their Dora chairs (I just don't have the energy to get them in their boosters at this point). Emma yells "I don't want it" and throws her cheerios on the floor, milk and all. Grrrrrr. What do you think Maddie does? Yep. Monkey see monkey do. So much for that distraction. At this point I am ready to throw them back into their cribs, put on John's ipod and return to bed. But they are saved by the neighbours dogs, who start to bark, and they run to the window to see them. Emma sees all the snow on the ground and says "oh my goodness, what happened" which sounds more like "oh my goo-ess, what happee?" They are now at the window, talking to the doggies and the snow, and smiling for the first time in 3 hours and looking very sweet. I think that is why toddlers are so cute. If they weren't, they would have been thrown outside in the snow with the doggies, right?

Snow Day!

Since this is my first post, I will just pre-empt it by stating that the purpose of this it for me to recored the lives of my girls. It is pretty painful to record in a journal each night the old-fashioned way (you know, with a - gasp - pen) so I decided to get with the times. In case some of you who stumble on this think my gawd, all she does is talk about her kids, well, that is kinda the point of this blog. It IS their baby-blog!

The fam stayed home today, due to a heck of a lotta snow. Madison was up at 5:30, poor thing was congested, thanks to her dad passing on his cold. I snuck in to get her (I had to open the door a crack, crawl along the floor and scoop her out of her crib so as not to wake up Emma) and then I brought her to our bed. We got our new King-size bed last night, and boy is it massive! John didn't know Madison was in there with us (she was in there for an entire hour, just playing with my face and hair while I tried to sleep). She didn't utter a sound, other than the odd rustle of her lovey books. Maddie didn't know John was in there either! I think we are more than an arms-length apart in that thing! Love the new bed!

Emma woke up an hour later (early for her as well) and I watched the news and decided I didn't want to risk the drive in. So, we made pancakes and hunkered down to watch Monsters Inc., or Monsta as the girls like to call it. Cute movie. Then the girls played in their princess castle by themselves for ages. All I could hear was giggles and "tickle tickle!" When I peeked around the corner of their playroom to see what was going on, Emma said "Mum. Come in." When I didn't, she said "come in. NOW!" Yes boss! (I still think it's funny that she calls me "mum" when most kids her age say "mama" or "mummy" - maybe she is wise beyond her years)! So, into the princess bed I went, and we jumped around together and played with our dolls.

Their vocabulary is quite extensive at this age, and they have very strong and different personalities. Madison is laid-back and easy-going and Emma is intense and curious. Yesterday when I dropped them off at daycare, Emma looked up towards the sky and said "hey guys, airplane." Guys is a word she picked up from daycare (much to the dismay of my dad, the feminist who would correct us and say "girls" everytime we said "guys!") They also like to shout "awesome" when they are doing something fun. They are very protective of me, to the point where if there are kids on television, they stick their hands up as if to say stop and they yell "no, my mummy" at the tv. Hard to explain to almost-two-year-olds that the kids in the tv are not a threat to them! They do this to kids at the mall as well. Kids who aren't anywhere near me, or even looking in my direction, yet the girls will stake their territory. They love animals, they are amazing sleepers (at least 12 hours a night, usually 13) and they are little cuddle-bunnies. This is a great age!