Photo Day

I didn't do much today but follow the girls around with my camera phone.  Or was it that they followed me around, and I so happened to have my camera phone at the ready?   The above pic was taken while Cesar was out driving Hugo to school.  I was dressing and the girls showed up pointing out my bum and my tummy and my knees and my toe nail polish saying, "What's dat?" as I dressed as fast as I possible could.  Goodness!  Sabine spied Evie on Papa's side of the bed and ran across the room from me.  Marlo followed quickly behind.  Normally, the girls are pretty gentle with Evie the Cat, but that was not the case today.  Today the girls each had a bit of the devil in them at the very same time, poor Evie.  So they scrambled up onto the bed, rushed the cat while bouncing and roaring and slapping her.  I didn't see it coming.  Evie the Cat vanished in half a second.  Look close below and you'll spy her speedy escape.

Mid morning we had snack time with milk, nectarines, strawberries and cheese sticks.  My feet were chilly so I left the girls at the kitchen counter with their half eaten snacks for the warmth of the fireplace.  Marlo was the first to follow and then Beanie showed close behind.  They climbed all over the sofa and beamed big smiles at me.  I've promised myself that when we buy new furniture for the living room... no more eating on the couch!  At least no eating on the couch if you are under 4 feet tall!

After dinner tonight I had all three kids line up against the inside of the door frame of our new closet in the dining room.  I measured their height to confirm what I already had guessed, Marlo is an entire inch taller than her sister Sabine!  Marlo weighs 30lbs, Sabine 21lbs., Marlo wears a size 7 shoe while Sabine is still a 6.  They both wear 2T clothing but the way the clothing fits their bodies is soooo different.  Amazing.  These sisters couldn't be more different.

Hugo is on his way to being a very good reader.  We are proud of him and his willingness to learn and try new things.  Hugo is happy about most things happening in his young life except for one very important thing.  Hugo hasn't lost any teeth yet and doesn't even have one loose tooth!  He doesn't like this bit of information much. 

Nap Time Nightmare

Marlo and Sabine haven't been taking their naps so easily as Hugo did.  As soon as I shut their bedroom door and walk a few steps away... They bound out of bed and begin to play!  It's awful.  Marlo hops into Sabine's bed and they talk and sing and show each other their babies.  Sound cute right?!  But they don't sleep!  Some days they sleep and then some days they don't.

As of late, if they don't sleep, the above is what I find, in various stages of destruction.  I pop in their room to settle them back down to sleep over, and over, and over, and over again.  Some afternoons I stand sentry outside their bedroom door for what feels like forever.  I hate it.  I want to be their Momma again, not their prison guard.  The level of mess made by the girls in the afternoons has worsened to such a degree that I just don't want to see what is behind their bedroom door.  It doesn't take long to make it right, but golly gee, every darn day?!  And it's not just toys.  They pull out all the spare blankets and sheets, pull all the board books off the shelves, dump the changing pad, pull out every last wipe from the box and hide them all over the room.  The other night as I tucked Sabine in for sleep, I discovered her sheet and comforter were soaking wet.  There was a lump under her comforter which I has assumed to be her blankie.  It was not.  The lump was a pile of diaper wipes.

Hugo was such a sleeping champ, I miss those predictable afternoons.  When I think on the situation at hand, I want to lock everything in the girls room away in their closet each afternoon.  But I really think the problem is how I'm handling the beginning of their nap time routine.  First of all, there isn't much to it.  With Hugo, I read two or three books to him while he sat on my lap with his blanket.  We rocked and sang a song or two and then I tucked him into his bed, backed out of the room and it was smooth sailing for hours.  I need a love seat in the girls room.  While I was nursing I had the glider in there.  As nursing came to an end I removed the glider due to the fact that I couldn't hold both girls on my lap and turn the pages of a book.  Also, the girls were beginning to use the glider as a piece of playground equipment.  Two have so many more ideas and a great deal more amount of bravery than one.  All I do at nap time for the two of them is to make sure their diapers are clean, hand each a shoosha and then I chuck them one, two buckle my shoe into each of their beds.  Who would like that routine?  Not me!  And obviously, not my girls.  To be continued I guess.

Armies of Chickens

Hugo didn't want to bathe with his sisters tonight.  This was a first.  The girls were more than happy with the extra room in the tub.  Toula watched and watched from the edge of the bath.  I'm not sure if she was curious what the girls were doing in there or if she was nervous for them or if she wanted to be in the tub at the very same time as the stinkers.  I just don't know.  The girls were funny as they poured water over each others heads and slathered bubbles upon themselves and then their partner in crime.  They each screamed with anger as I pulled them one by one from the water to dry them off with their bunny towels.  Then I bathed Toula, while the girls watched from the outside edge of the tub.

Once the girls were tucked into bed, I called Hugo into the bathroom for a trim.  His hair was cut at the sink.  I let him play with the iPad for a bit to help him keep still for me.  It worked for a wee bit of time.  Eventually I had to bribe him with stories of chicken wings popping out of his hair and tales of armies of chickens on the move about his scalp.  I suppose it sounds very silly, but it works for Hugo.  He'll still sit very quiet for me so that I may rid him of these armies of chickens and he wiggles to try to see them in the mirror as I pretend to point them out.  I've been telling him these stories for a long, long time now.  I love that he trusts me so.  Means I have to push myself to be a better mom for him with all this trust.

Another first for Hugo tonight was a shower.  He has always hated them and refused for the last few years to even try one.  Tonight was different.  Hugo jumped in the shower before the water was warm.  I warned him it wasn't ready, but he said it was wonderful.  A second later he jumped from the spray saying it really was too cold!  Mean momma me pushed him back into the cold water and we laughed and laughed as I got wet too.  Soon the water was warm and Hugo loved it.  Said he never would bathe again, only shower.  Well la-di-dah!  Imagine your parents might have some good ideas!  I shampooed his head and stayed to help rinse the soap out of his hair, Hugo piped up with, "Privacy please!"  Privacy?  This word coming from my flasher of a son was laughable.  It's like, with a new hair cut and his first lone shower my babe imagined himself all grown up.

Varmints

My daughters have a new nickname - Varmints.  I've been trying to empty out closets and organize and in the process Marlo and Sabine have been running circles around me.  This is what I discovered on the kitchen counter as I came down to prepare a snack for them today.  I guess they beat me to snack time.  Varmints!

Nap Time

I used to pride myself on my ability to have trained Hugo to be an excellent sleeper and taker of huge and consistent afternoon naps.  Pride was my downfall, or was it having twins, hmmm?  Anyway, the girls are not sleeping through the night.  One, or both of them, will wake and walk into my room and stand there and stare at me till I open my eyes.  Every once in a while I find both of them out for a stroll.  It's not hard to settle them back in their beds.  All they seem to want is their shoosha and to be tucked back in.  But it can happen two, three, four times a night!  Then when I'm ready to duct tape the pair of them to their beds, they'll magically sleep through the night.  I am tired. 

The above picture was taken during nap time.  I crawled into my own bed once they settled for some much needed shut eye.  About an hour into our naps, Hugo and Toula had a wrestling match on the living room floor below us, and with no carpet or furniture in the room, it has become a giant hall of echos.  Naturally the girls came running and crying into my room.  I was so tired that I lifted the covers and they both climbed in and two seconds later... they were both passed out again!  It was a miracle.  A miracle with a problem, I wasn't sleepy any longer and my arm was stuck under two sleepy two year olds.  Masterfully, and slowly, I made my escape.  And it worked!  But I'm still sleepy and they are still waking in the night.  Not good.

Mess, Mess, Everywhere A Mess

All I'm saying, is that it was a loooong day.  And, that's all I'm saying folks.  All that I am saying.

Blog Books

I've talked and talked about doing it, while I've dragged my feet for one reason or another instead of making it happen.  Well, I finally did it.  I turned the first year of my blog into a book, or really two books!  I take so many photos that I was having to select and delete posts to make our first year of blogging fit into a 400 page book.  So sad.  One night as I sat at the computer lamenting the task before me, Cesar walked up and suggested I spread the blogging year over two books.  Part A and Part B of our story was the solution I needed, and I am in love with how both books turned out!  Thank you Cesar!  Now onto slurping year two and three for more blog books for our shelves!

Nap time today is slow in happening.  The girls finished lunch and our normal nap routine followed.  They just didn't go to sleep.  I heard them laughing and singing away up in their room, so, up the stairs I climbed to tuck them in bed.  I have errands to finish this afternoon!  I need them to sleep!  Well,  surprise, surprise, surprise...  When I opened their bedroom door there was no Sabine in her crib.  There was no Sabine on the floor playing or in the bassinet where we keep all their stuffed animals and dolls and is a favorite cuddle spot for both girls.  No.  I found Sabine inside of Marlo's crib.  And she had delivered every last on of their Hello Kitties to Marlo's hot little hands before she climbed and dove into the crib herself.  So, picture it, both our girls sitting in Marlo's crib, giggling away to each other, with their arms loaded with Kitties.  It was really hard to not laugh or melt or dive in with them.  I was firm.  I had to be firm!  But you know what?  I'm downstairs typing this and the girls are upstairs giggling and singing again.  Where do you think they might be this time?

I Was Vacuuming...

I was trying to be a good housewife by running the vacuum throughout the house.  I moved furniture, organized the toys, matched all the boots and little shoes by the front door, I was doing my job.  It felt good and looked good and, I was thirsty.  Rounding the corner from the dining room into the kitchen I suddenly knew why an open house floor plan has become so popular with families.  My goodness, these two girls of mine make Hugo look like an angel.  Quick as hummingbirds they were.  They've been dying to destroy my baking drawer for months.  Today was my lucky day.  I swear, once I saw the two of them with that drawer open and flour splattered about, my eyes blazed red.  Miraculously I stopped short in my tracks of utter anger and listened to a giggling voice in my head which told me to run and get my camera.  I took these few shots and then yelled, "GET OOOUUUTTT!"  They high tailed it out of the kitchen in mere fractions of a second.

17 Months

Look who turned 17 months old today!  Our girls are doing so great.  Sabine "awakens" a bit more every day.  She finally will allow herself to full on belly laugh while being tickled and she will bend and tilt her head, with a big smile on her pretty face, as she makes eye contact with me.  She is awakening and it is wonderful.  Marlo is a full on smarty pants.  This morning as I was unbuckling everyone from their car seats out front of Hugo's preschool, Marlo tried again and again to push the button for her top latch.  Both girls will climb into their own seats.  She watches and then copies everything I do.  She wipes the table with a napkin, Kleenex, or a sock.  She loves trying to dress herself and she'll follow me around the kitchen and close the cupboard drawers for me.  Marlo also pulled about out about 15 hairs from the back of Sabine's head in the midst of a toddler fight.  She then wanted to kiss Sabine on the lips to make it better. 

I've found that the word "out" is more effective with the girls than the word "no".  Now Marlo walks around saying "out" with authority in her baby voice.  And for the life of me, I can't get the girls to call me Mama.  They both holler out "Ma" whenever they want to find me.  Lovely.  I keep patting my chest and saying Mama and they smile and say "Ma"!

Bathtub Watch Dogs

A sad story was told to me about a local woman whose baby drowned in the the bathtub a few weeks ago.  Supposedly, the mother left her child to answer the telephone.  I don't know more than this, nor do I care to fill my head with any more details of this tragedy.  But, I have thought of the poor mother.  And I've thought about how lucky I am to be a momma to three beautiful, bright children.  The thought of my girls in the bathtub brings a smile to my face because there is no way on God's green earth that Marlo and Sabine would even consider the slightest possibility of my leaving the bathroom while they are in the tub.  If I even make for the direction of the bathroom door, no matter how engrossed they are with bubbles and toys, they'll both jump, bolt up right and bellow at the top of their lungs while clinging to the side of the cast iron tub in dreadful fear of my leaving the room.  They don't act this way in any other room in the house.  Ever.  Only while they are in the bathtub and only if I seem to make for the doorway.  They're my bathtub watch dogs, not gonna allow their Momma to make a mistake.  I'm glad someone is watching out for me.