reanbean

4th of July Fun

This was Tiny and Buba’s third 4th of July, but really it’s the first one where we attempted to participate in any associated activities.

Their first 4th

Their second 4th

The first year, they were just shy of 4 month old, and I cannot even begin to tell you how we spent that day. The second year, we were visiting my family in Iowa. I remember that there was a big cookout, but I don’t believe we took them to any parades or festivals.

So this year, it was quite a change. We started out by heading over to a small carnival in a neighboring town on the 3rd.

an attempt to get a shot of the two with their first carnival prizes

playing the “pick a ducky” game

having fun in the bouncy house

riding their first carousel ponies

When asked about their favorite part, Buba said his favorite part was all of it, while Tiny’s favorite part was “eatin da fried dough.” If I hadn’t been so busy chowing down on some fried dough myself, I’d have gotten a picture of that too.

The next day we headed over to Grammy and Grandpa’s house. We went down to the town center to see the kids’ bike parade and then had a picnic in the park. After a nap, Buba and Tiny wanted to brave the heat and play outside for a while.

sprinkler fun

riding around the cul-de-sac

nature hike

With a 7:15pm bedtime, there were no fireworks to be seen this year, but perhaps in another few years I’ll brave the traffic and crowds and take Buba and Tiny to see the display on the esplanade.

Happy Birthday to You…

Although we’ve been celebrating since Wednesday, today is Tiny and Buba’s actual birthday. They’ve been having lots of fun playing with friends, visiting with family, and opening presents. We’ve been fortunate to have good weather (in the 50s) this weekend, and they were thrilled to try out their new bikes yesterday before going out for their birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday, Tiny! Happy Birthday, Buba! Love you!

Who Will Be My Baby?

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to arrive at the gym just a few minutes after the family swim time had ended. The women’s locker room was packed with mothers and kids of all ages. One little boy (maybe 3 or 4 years old) was having a ton of fun as his mother was trying to get him and his slightly older sister ready to go. Whenever his mother turned her back, he would disappear into an empty locker and then wait for her to find him. After she’d finally gathered all of their things, she turned to find that he had disappeared again. “Come out, baby!” his mother called.

The boy jumped out from behind a locker door and indignantly replied, “I’m not a baby! I’m a big boy!”

The mother dropped everything and scooped him up into her arms. “But if you’re a big boy, who will be my baby?” she asked. The boy didn’t have an answer, but just sat there snuggling with his mom as I (now dressed and ready to workout) headed out to the gym floor.

It was just a few days later when it occurred to me that we are in the same boat. We were at a sing along at one of the local libraries, and I actually got a little teary as I watch my two sing along and perform all the motions that go with The Wheels on the Bus. Tiny and Buba are not as old as that mother’s little boy, but they are growing up, and so so fast…

Still, I remember that day in early March 2008 when T and I brought them home from the hospital and placed them side by side in the crib that is now just for Tiny.

They slept swaddled and snuggled up right next to each other no matter how far apart we placed them in the crib. Tiny always found a way to get right next to Buba.

A few weeks later, it was warm enough to start taking walks.

And not long after, they were staying awake long enough to enjoy playing with toys.

But mostly, they just hung out a looked around.

Then, before I knew it, they were rolling over and supporting their own heads. We loved taking Buba and Tiny outside that summer to play with toys on a picnic blanket.

And we started solids just as summer became fall.

Soon they were sitting

then crawling

and then walking all by themselves

And as days went by, it became very apparent that they were no longer babies anymore.

They haven’t been for quite some time now.

On Sunday, Tiny and Buba will turn two. And while I’m do miss (a little) those days when they were so small and dependent on me for everything, I can’t help but also feel excited about all the things we’ll be able to do this spring and summer now that they’re another year older.

The Christmas Report

Thanks to our wonderful family and friends (who were extremely generous in their gift-giving), Tiny and Buba had a very merry Christmas this year. It was quite a change from last year, when they had no idea what was going on and were just as happy to play with the paper and boxes as they were to play with the toys inside. This year, Tiny was very much into unwrapping presents (I’m pretty sure she unwrapped all of mine as well). Buba did not have the patience or interest to sit and unwrap presents, but he enjoyed playing with all the new toys.

T and I were so busy keeping track of Buba and Tiny and trying to help them with their presents, that there was barely any time to pick up the camera and snap photos. So, this is all I have to offer…

Buba playing the piano/xylophone

Buba enjoying the Busy Zoo activity cube

Tiny trying on her older cousin’s hat

They received so many new toys that we had to put quite a few away for later, because there simply wasn’t room for them all. And this was after putting away many of their pre-Christmas toys. We’ll rotate through them over the next couple of months, which will make it seem like Christmas all over again. 

Many thanks to our family and friends for all the wonderful gifts. We love you! Mmmmmwaaaa!

Happy Mommy!

Just here to report that today is already much, much better than yesterday. It is my birthday, and apparently T had been teaching Buba and Tiny to say, “Happy Birthday, Mommy!” They’re not quite there yet, but keep telling me, “Happy Mommy! Happy Mommy!” at random points throughout the day.

Although it’s probably just a coincidence, they’ve been pretty well behaved, and we’ve had a nice day just doing what we do. Tiny and Buba are still too young to produce a homemade card, but their laughter, smiles, hugs, and kisses have totally made my day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful day surrounded by good company and great food. We had a great day over at Grammy and PawPaw’s house. Tiny and Buba passed on the turkey, potatoes, and pumpkin pie, but enjoyed the bacon wrap appetizers and the whipped cream part of dessert. We’ll work on the rest next year.

Today was my day to post over at How Do You Do It?, so head on over to read more about my little monkeys.

Happy Thanksgiving!

20 months old

Rachel over at Motherhood.Squared writes the most beautiful updates about her twins. This is my first attempt at following in her footsteps.

The last three months have gone by so quickly. It seems we’ve fallen into a nice groove, and our days flow by rather smoothly. Each day is much the same as the one before, but also very different, because you both are learning and growing so much every day.

At the 18 month well visit, you both measured 31 inches tall. Tiny weighed in at 18 pounds, 11 ounces, and Buba weighed 20 pounds, 14 ounces. The pediatrician’s only concern was about Buba’s head size. It seems Buba’s head circumference had not grown since the 15 month check up, and the doctor wrote up orders for us to have his head x-rayed at Children’s Hospital to be sure the head bones were still capable of growing. Of course, everything came back a-okay, but having your head x-rayed was not at all a positive experience. So, we took you out to lunch at Friendly’s to try to make up for it. You gobbled up the hot dog and orange slices we ordered for you and still had room for black raspberry ice cream at the end.

Several days later, you both came down with your first stomach bugs. Buba was the first, and Tiny followed just one day later. For a week, I tried to shower you with TLC while trying desperately to get you to drink the Pedialyte. These were not fun days, but you both handled yourselves very well, and even managed to appear in very good spirits between bouts of sickness. Although we couldn’t get out and about in our usual fashion, you enjoyed walks around the neighborhood and playing in the front yard.

On the more typical days, we try to get out for at least one field trip. Some days, we go to the library for storytime,  to the local playground, or to a friend’s house for a playdate, but often we just run errands. You know many of the day employees at Stop and Shop, Ace Hardware, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Target, the bank, and the post office. You say hi and bye and smile and play peekaboo, and you love all the attention you get while we shop.

At home, you play and laugh together (although there are plenty of moments when you don’t get along), and I love to watch you spin yourselves dizzy. You like to wear hats and stand up on your riding toys, even though it’s not allowed. And you both love to walk around the house wearing various objects – an empty book box, one of Mommy’s old slippers, your trick-or-treat bag- on one foot. You are very active, as most toddlers are, but you also enjoy sitting down with your ever growing collection of books.

This fall we enjoyed many new activities with you. We had lots of fun apple picking and eating apples as we went along. You loved the juicy honeycrips we picked, as well as the cider donuts we bought before going home. The following weekend, we picked pumpkins, and you both had a great time carrying the little ones around. But the best part seemed to be watching the tractor plow the field. You both yelled, “Tractor! Tractor!” as it went up and down the field.

Then came Halloween- your first one going out in costumes. The costumes I bought at the twin sale were quite big, but we made them work. You wore them to a party at the senior center and for trick-or-treating in the center of a neighboring town and around our neighborhood. You had so much fun collecting candy in your bags, and everyone thought you were so cute.

Tiny, you know all the routines in our day and are quick to let me know if I forget to do something or change how something is done. You watch everything we do, and want to do as much as possible on your own. In the morning, you wait by the dresser as I pick out your clothes, and quickly snatch them from me while running off to try to dress yourself. Sometimes you come very close to getting your shirt on properly. You insist on wiping your own tears and runny nose, crying “titu (tissue)!” until we get one for you. You seem to learn new words and signs every day, and love to repeat words and phrases you hear us use frequently. You are headstrong, independent, and you want to do what you want to do. But you are good at following directions, especially when we are out in public. Buba can get away with nothing under your watchful eyes. I hear your piercing screech or loud “no-no-no” if he even thinks of doing something naughty. But when he is sad, you are so very comforting, bringing him his stuffed koala and giving him kisses to make him feel better. You show great affection for Monkey, Panda, Meow (a gray cat) and Cookie (a mouse wearing red overalls), and love to sit them down so you can read to them.

Buba, you are so loving and playful. When we go out to a storytime or playgroup, you think nothing about plopping yourself down in another mom’s lap or tilting your sweet little face up to give a kiss on the cheek. At home you love to hide behind your crib or under the kitchen table and call “Mommy!” repeatedly until I come and find you. When I ask you to come to me so I can put on your jacket or put you in your high chair, you turn and run in the opposite direction and laugh and laugh as I run after you. At 15 months, you spoke fewer than three words, but now your vocabulary is so extensive that I’ve lost count. When you say something that you find funny, real (bye-bye Poofty (Poofty being our cat Pokey)) or nonsense (ma-ma-ma mu-mo), you say it over and over, giggling in between. For a long time, you were more than willing to give into Tiny’s demands for toys in your possession. But now you are more assertive, standing your ground and holding on tightly. You are even so bold as to try to take toys from Tiny! You are getting better about playing with other kids, but still love to go off into a corner to play with the wire and bead toy or sit with a stack of books. You enjoy kisses and cuddles from Quack Quack (the big yellow duck), Meow (the cat), and Koala. And you especially love playing with “baby bida (baby spider)” who sings the ABC’s while you dance.

It is so much fun to see what loving, smart, funny kids you are becoming. Your laughter and smiles warm my heart, and I am so proud to be your mother.

Love you!

Mommy