Three Years Old Today

Can it really be their birthday again, already? As Lucie and Ryan would say, "No Way!"

This year has flown by. Enjoy the fireman and ballerina taking on year three...

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Dancing Queen

Not unlike most twins, Lucie and Ryan are always together -- eating, playing, even sleeping, it's rare for the two to have time apart. In fact, until only a week ago, they had never spent more than a few hours apart. It's something I feel bad about, as we know how important it is for them to have time to just be themselves, not part of a pair.

Though it's not always easy, we try to grab any opportunity we can to create one-on-one time. Not only do they enjoy it, but Chris and I love having the chance to devote ourselves entirely to one child. After always caring for two at a time, it's amazing how carefree (and easy!) spending time with one feels for us.

A great opportunity came up for our family to go on separate adventures for a night. Two Saturdays ago, we all started off on the train together. Ryan and Chris got off on one stop, while Lucie and I continued on for another hour. More on Chris and Ryan's adventure soon, but first, here's my day and night with Lucie. Or, as I like to call it, Lucie's day in the life of a singleton.

We attended a fabulous family wedding together -- gorgeous setting, amazing food, great company, and a band that made you want to dance all night (Lucie especially felt this). Because Aunt Rach and Tate were both in the wedding party, we felt like honored guests getting to sit in the first few rows and entertain Tate during the ceremony. Aunt Rach was so worried about Tate not making it through the ceremony, but it actually turned out that he made it longer than Miss Lucie. Minutes after the bride walked down the aisle, Lucie's questions began:

"Mom, why's Aunt Rach standing up there?" "Why's Aunt Rach holding flowers?" "What's Uncle Jason doing?" "What are they looking at?" "What's this pillow that Tate is holding?"

I sometimes forget how puzzling the world can be to an almost three year old, especially after they've learned the meaning of the word "why". My requests for Lucie to use her quiet voice during the ceremony proved fruitless, so we instead took a walk, and Tate happily joined us a few minutes later.

Lucie spent the rest of the evening dancing. From her ballerina moves at the beginning of the party, to dips and flips with Gigi, Papa, and Ducky late into the night, to chasing circles around the dance floor with Tate, dancing was the theme of the evening. She was so exhausted when we got to our hotel room that night that she fell asleep before I had even taken my shoes off.

The next morning at breakfast everyone joked with Lucie about whether she was tired from all the celebrating last night. As Papa liked to say, Lucie was fine, but it was Ducky who was still recovering from the party. That duck spent a lot of time on the dance floor.

Though we missed Chris and Ryan, we had an amazing time together. It felt really special to just be with Lucie, and spend 100% of my attention on her. Whatever Lucie wanted, Lucie got that weekend, whether it was choosing our seat on the train or eating cupcakes at 10 pm. It was decadent and indulgent, and felt just right.

I can't wait to have this kind of time again. Next time, with Rye-Guy.

Taterbug

Aunt Rach and Cousin Tate's recent visit was a blast. Each time we see Tate, the three cousins have more and more fun together.

At almost two years old, Tate loves to be around other kids, and will eagerly run, jump, climb, slide, giggle, read, nap, splash, bathe and eat right along side Ryan and Lucie. He was especially interested in everything Lucie was doing, to the point where we started calling him Lucie's sidekick. Lucie loved looking after him, and could often be seen reaching out her hand to lead him to the next adventure.

My favorite image from the visit is Tate tearing around our house topless with a look of pure glee on his face. I can't remember if Ryan, Lucie, or both, were chasing him at the time, but he adored it. From morning to night, with lots of playing in between, Tate, Ryan and Lucie were inseparable.

We all agree, Mr. Tate sure is fun to have around. I was sad to see them leave and instantly missed Tate's infectious giggle and squeal around the house. Come visit us again soon, Taters!

Yegoyand

An entire world made out of Legos? Strange, but true. Given the option of going anywhere for Megan's recent birthday, L & R unanimously declared that they wanted to go to Legoland. Since I missed their first visit, I made sure I tagged along the second time.



And so we flew helicopters, pumped firetrucks, drove jeeps, and steered boats from sunup to sundown. Naps were never even an option as L & R reveled in all that Legoland had to offer.

Here Ryan demonstrates the sailing skills he inherited from Papa. Turning the steering wheel was more important than going the right direction. The best part was Ryan repeatedly yelling "I saved us from crashing!" as each near disaster was narrowly averted.

Unfortunately we didn't get a photo, but Lucie uttered the day's funniest line when she commented "Why is that lady wearing a cape?" after coming face-to-face with Lego Darth Vader. Clearly she is not a fan of the dark side.

Parlez-vous Francais?

With all this talk of flying off to Paris, it was time for Ryan and Lucie to learn to speak to the locals, or at least for me to have a little fun breaking out my rusty French.

Since they were babies, we've been trying to expose them to a bit of the language by listening to French music and reading a board book that Aunt Rach and Uncle Jason brought us from a trip to Paris. Before Ryan and Lucie started speaking, they'd listen patiently to the book (or in Ryan's case, climb on and off the couch), waiting eagerly for the mirror on the last page. But now that their own speaking skills have taken off, they are intrigued by the book. They recognize a few of the words, and then like to mimic my reading by speaking gibberish/baby talk and dissolving into giggles.

I've since tried to teach them a few French words at a time. They love to say, "WaYa!" (voila), "Bonjour!" and are working on introducing themselves in, as they call it, "Fwench". I quickly learned, though, the key is to find words to teach them related to their favorite things. We found a book in the library about things with wheels and their French translations. It was perfect! Ryan quickly picked up "camion de pompier" (fire truck), "tracteur" (tractor) and "pelleteuse" (digger).

The trouble is, now he wants more specifics. He's not satisfied with saying fire truck, he wants to know how to say hook and ladder truck, brush breaker, backhoe loader, front end loader, and excavator. Funny, that vocabulary never came up in any of my courses, nor did I probably even know these words in English until I started reading truck books to my kids. Until I do some research, we call all unknown heavy machinery a "camion" (truck).

Lucie's requests are a bit easier, but not much. She wanted to know how to say Ducky (of course), green blanket, and duckling. For lack of any better translations, I taught her the word for teddy bear to refer to all her loved ones. Calling Ducky a "canard" sounds straight off a restaurant menu, and doesn't begin to explain the love and devotion she has for that little furry-headed guy.