The Great Escape

The kid went peepee on the potty. I put their diapers back on and then this happened.

E: Hmm. I wonder how I can get this off.

A: I already got my pants off and I've already unsnapped one side of my diaper.

E: Here, let me help you with that.

A: Freedom!

E: It's my turn.

A: Forgot it. I'm free. I can play with my diaper, I'm not helping you.

E: Well I'll just work on the diaper under my shorts.

E: I'm almost free.

E: Take that mom!

At least they decided to try to rediaper themselves. I'd rather they learn how to use the toilet all the time.

Robot

I think maybe Arya should be a cardboard robot for Halloween this year. I left a closet open while I swept and she helped herself to our paper recycleables.

Ice Cream

The girls and I went to Cork's frisbee game tonight. I told them earlier in the day that we might go buy ice cream before the game. The rest of the day they kept saying "buy ice cream happy". They are definitely my kids.

Yeah Girls

My kids barely ever say the word "no". If you ask them a question, they almost always answer "yeah". If you ask them something they really don't want, they might tell you "yeah, no". Today, Arya was pushing Eiley in the swing and they both kept saying "yeah".

Beach Bums

The kids stayed up late again last night. We laid down with them early, but they were super charged and had no intentions of sleeping. This morning, they slept a little later than we did. I peeked in to check on them and had to laugh because I could see Eiley, but could only see Arya's arm. We took them to the beach with their cousins and the weekend finally caught up to them. They both fell asleep in our laps.

After we got home, we unpacked and cleaned up most of our stuff and then I took the kids to the pool. My hope was to tire them out so they would sleep well. They had a break down when we were getting them ready for a bath.

Arya had a tick on her this morning. I didn't think to take a picture of it because I wanted it off of her as fast as possible. The tick was tiny, smaller than any other tick I've ever seen. We got it off and I'll be watching for a rash or ring to make sure she didn't get lyme disease.

Heated Tent

We had a great day camping today. The kids didn't go to sleep until 10:00 last night, so I thought the might sleep in. I was wrong. They were up around their normal time. We managed to pitch the tent right where the sun came through the trees in the middle of the day. Because of that, the tent was blazing hot when the kids needed a nap. We got it cooled off and after a lot of playing around, they finally crashed.

Later in the day, we got things packed up to grill out with a bunch of other families. The kids played in the car while Cork and I worked. I went to check on them and found Eiley sucking down Cork's soda. I'm sure Arya had some as well. They both kept asking for "dada wawa" after we took it away.

Camping

We went camping today for our first trip of the season. We got to the campsite and the first thing the kids wanted to do was put on their backpacks. I didn't want the leashes dragging through the dirt, so I took the leash part off. They both seemed a little confused at first when they realized they weren't tethered to me and that the leash wasn't behind them.

Do Dow

Arya wanted to read her kitty book today while Eiley was eating a snack. I put Arya in a chair, gave her the book and then turned to walk back into the kitchen to watch Eiley. When I turned, Arya said to me "Do Dow Mama, Do Dow" in this really stern voice. She was ordering me to sit down. She's been telling Eiley to sit down lately, but she's never said it to anyone else.

If you look at the picture, you might notice two things. First, she's wearing her favorite pants. They are clearance Halloween pants from Target that I got for $1. They are her favorite thing to wear and she put them on over her shorts today. I got them out of her closet to bring camping with us this weekend. They are a little short, but I figured that wouldn't matter while camping. Second, she's holding the cat tail from the book and trying to put it back in place. She or Eiley ripped that tail out right after we got the book. So far they haven't destroyed anything else in the book. They seem to be perfectly happy to rip out that tail over and over again.

Sleep Where You Are

I took the kids grocery shopping today. They walked through about half of the store and were worn out by the time we finished. Both fell asleep on the way home and I wanted them to get up so they would nap later. I left them standing on the family room floor and went to grab a load of groceries out of the van. I came back to find both of them fast asleep on the floor. I left them there since they can sleep through just about anything. I put all the food away and talked to a couple people on the phone while they snoozed. They woke up just as I finished putting stuff away and that was it for the naps today.

I had to do dinner prep with them awake since they weren't going to nap again. I had them on the counter while I sliced veggies. Both decided to take a bite out of brussels sprout I had sitting on the counter. Apparently raw brussels sprouts are not that bad.

No updates today, just pics.

Billie Goats

The kids can now "climb" the counters. They use the grooves to kick their way up. Sometimes they keep their feet there to hold themselves up and other times they just use brute strength to hold themselves by their arms.

Rug Roll

We haven't put out the rug that we bought last weekend. We bought scotchgard and want to spray that on the rug before we let the kids and cats go at it. We unrolled the rug a little today to show the girls' Mema and Beba. The girls started to roll on it and quickly were falling over backwards.

The Great Outdoors

I let the kids run around outside without diapers today. I do this a lot when it's warm since I feel like their bottoms need to air out a bit. I left their dresses on because it wasn't super hot today. I told both of them to tell me when they needed to go potty. Arya ran inside while I was retrieving Eiley from the neighbors yard. I came back to find her standing in a puddle on the wood floor. I was just glad she'd hit the wood floor instead of the carpet. We're getting rid of the rug in that room, but I'd like to give it away and don't need kid urine on it. As I cleaned up the floor and her, I told them again that they needed to tell me when they had to go potty. Of course Eiley started talking about "peepee" and I didn't get to her in time, so she had pee shooting out from under her dress before I knew it. I started cleaning her up and Arya started yelling "uh oh, poo poo" and yep, she walks away dropping poop from under her dress. I think I might get a mom FAIL for this afternoon but I got a lot of laughs out of it. These two may use the potty periodically, but they and my house aren't ready for potty training yet.

Skinned Knees

Today we went to the gym, the zoo and the pool. Eiley got her first skinned knees at the pool. She ran right back into the water after she'd calmed down and started screaming again once the water hit her knees. I picked her back up and she kept saying "uh oh knee". After about 30 seconds she was ready to give it another try. She must have been ready for the sting the second time around because she didn't make a peep.

Gerber is looking for the newest baby face for their company. Parents can submit pictures of their children through facebook. Of course whoever came up with the rules never had children of his own. Parents with multiple kids falling within the same age category can only submit one picture and that picture has to have all kids visible. The rule writer has no clue how hard it is to get kids to stand still for a picture and to have them all smiling. I had to bribe A&E with gum to get them to stand for this picture. I took a bunch and this was the best I could get.

Twin Speak

My children have an interesting vocabulary. Arya will try to say anything you ask her to if she's in the mood to follow directions. Eiley will sometimes repeat the word and at other times she gives this "I'm so cute" look trying to distract us. While they do try to say just about anything, they have their own words for many things. I know I've listed some of them before, but since they are talking more, I want to document more of it.
Cracker= yah-yah
Mommy= me-me
Bunny= me-me (not sure why Eiley uses the same word for me and bunny)
Misti= mih-me
Laine= nay-ne
Chapstick= bah
Pacifier= buh-buh
Salami= mah-my
Ingogh= Ahhh-goo
Sikozu= do-do
Yogurt= rar-ror
Grandpa= Bee-ba
Grandma= Me-ma
Shoe= Do or Jew
Elevator & Elephant are a bunch of tongue flaps with the L sound

I read recently that something like 40% of twins have twin speech. The speech doesn't come from making up their own language, but from mimicking adults and each other. They feed off each others "wrong" words and know what they mean. I would say that some of their words are definitely that, but that a lot of their words are just immature pronunciation of words. I also read that it's typical for twins to have a delay in vocabulary.  I wouldn't say that A&E are delayed in their speech, but I do definitely hear other kids their age talking a little more clearly they do. I also hear kids their age who barely string two words together. So, I guess I personally would put them within the normal range for language. I don't think being twins has affected either of them as far as their language goes. Being twins has given them the insight on how to accomplish things that they definitely couldn't do if there was only one of them. They can open drawers that a single child couldn't open. They  must have some sort of telepathic communication because they will both stand up, bolt to a drawer, each grab a handle and pull it open without saying a word.

Play Dough Projectiles

The kids played with play dough yesterday while at a friends house. They sat so nicely and played so quietly. I figured we'd give it a try at home. I got our play dough out and we did not have a repeat of yesterday. I left the kids on the back porch and ran inside to get a cup of water. Before I came back, they had followed me. Play dough had been shoved down the heating vent and other globs of it had become projectiles. I was amazed at how far they could threw it.

On The Move

The Twinado is 22 months old today. It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone. I tried to get a good picture of both of them. Arya flashed me a grin right away and we were done after one shot. Eiley made it a game and we had to take lots of shots before I got a good one. The kids are always on the move.

I started letting the kids go places without a stroller and without their backpack leashes. They've been pretty good at it. This past week, they went grocery shopping with me. They have never sat quietly in the grocery cart. I was a little tired of the 2 of them climbing in and out while the cart was moving. My solution was to let them climb out and stay out. They followed me through the store really well. I gave them each something to hold onto and for now, that's enough distraction to keep their hands from grabbing everything unhealthy that's conveniently put at kid level in the grocery store.

Garbage Pits

We paid this morning for the kids staying up late last night. We took them to the zoo and they both had a big breakdown. We had to leave the zoo by 10:30. We came home and they went right to bed. I used the afternoon to put the first coats of paint on their new twin beds. Neither kid was interested in eating lunch when she got up. I think the Trader Joe's chocolate croissant they each ate with breakfast might have had something to do with that. They were up for a brownie though when Cork took them to visit their best friend down the street. Tonight, they split a half pound cheeseburger. I couldn't believe how much they each ate. It was impressive, yet a little disgusting at the same time. How does someone who barely weighs 20 lbs each that much at one meal?