Changes

We really should move more often. Each of our moves with Lucie and Ryan has left behind some undesirable habits and brought about some wonderful new ones.

When R & L were six months old, we moved from a one bedroom to a two bedroom place. At long last, we had our room back and could brush our teeth with the lights on without fear of waking up a baby. And, much to our delight, Ryan and Lucie went from waking several times at night to sleeping from 7pm to 7am. We couldn't help but wonder -- what took us so long?

With this recent move, something totally unexpected has happened. Ryan and Lucie's naps have returned. There's been no "jumping game", no stuffed animal throwing, no yelling back and forth at each other, and no pulling off their diapers, dancing around in their cribs and yelling out to me, "Mommy, we nudie-roodie!!" (The "nudie-roodie" thing is actually super cute. It's so hard to get mad at them.) We've only been in our new place for seven days, but each one of these days, they've curled up in bed at nap time, not to be heard from for another hour or two. I guess all the new surroundings to explore have wiped these guys out. I don't have any high expectations for it to last much longer, but I do hope this exhausting newness gives us at least a few more weeks of consistent napping.

Another welcome change is that it's a lot easier for them to help in the kitchen. Our counters are just the right height for both my helpers to stand on a stool and measure, pour and mix. They especially love helping to make waffles and stand guard over the waffle maker waiting eagerly for the light to switch to indicate it's done. When the light displays its green ready sign, Ryan will shout out, "It's GEEN, Mommy! GEEEEENNNN!"

So, now that they're doing all this big kid stuff, it's high time to move onto the potty training. We only have one obstacle, and it's a major one. I have 8 pairs of underwear for each of them, but no washer and dryer. Until our new appliances arrive later this week, the underwear are staying in the packages. Potty training twins with no washer or dryer sounds like one change we're not ready to make.

Moving Out and Up

We no longer live in a two bedroom apartment -- hooray! With two little ones helping us clean, pack, load, unload, and clean again, we successfully transported our little family to our new house. We now have double the indoor space of our last place, plus a yard and a garage. It feels great. Though we're surrounded by boxes to unpack, repair items to check-off, and countless home improvement projects, we already feel like we can breathe easier. Our long awaited goal of home ownership and more space for our little guys has arrived.

Lucie and Ryan are busy, busy, busy exploring our new home and neighborhood and making it their own. What's keeping them so busy? Their favorite new activities include: opening the garage door (repeatedly), ringing the doorbell (repeatedly), climbing up and down the stairs (repeatedly), turning on every light and ceiling fan in the house, running countless laps through the living room and kitchen, watering their new tomato plant (transplanted to a pot with Grandma's help) and eagerly waiting in front of the house for Daddy to pull into the garage at the end of the day. There's a lot of activity around here. No wonder we're all sleeping so well at night.

Speaking of unpacking, I haven't unpacked Ryan's fireman costume, and thankfully, he's made no mention of missing it. With summer weather upon us, I just might find a spot for it in the upper corner of my closet, at least until cooler weather this fall. I'd hate for our little firefighter to overheat while he shows me which switch turns on the ceiling fan in the living room.

Quotes of the Week

It seems like every day (or hour on some days) Lucie and Ryan say something that makes me smile, laugh, choke on my lunch, or even get misty-eyed. Their vocabulary is expanding rapidly, and so is their understanding of language. They are constantly surprising us with how much they listen, absorb, and file away to repeat back to us later.

Sometimes they take things quite literally. One night, Chris was having a tough time getting Lucie and Ryan calmed down and changed into their pj's. After repeated giggles and protests from Miss Lucie, Chris cried out in exasperation, "Come on, Lucie!" She immediately replied, "No, Daddy, we're NOT coming on!"

Often, they amaze us by how much they observe about the world around them. During a recent lunch, we were eating watermelon and talking about how much Chris and Ryan love it. Whenever we ask Ryan in the grocery store what he wants to buy, he'll yell out, "WA-TER-ME-LON!" He could eat an entire melon in one sitting. When Lucie showed only moderate interest in her watermelon slice, Chris tried to coax her with, "Watermelon is full of vitamins, Lucie!" "No, Daddy", she said, "It's full of seeds!"

Other times, they show incredible empathy and understanding. Last week I commented to Chris about how my throat felt sore. "I feel sick", I lamented. Immediately Ryan cried out from his high chair, "Daddy, get Mommy some Daddy juice!" Lucie and Ryan call juice from the pitcher in the fridge "Daddy juice" since Chris is the primary juice maker and consumer in our house. "Daddy juice" is a very special thing that cures all woes, both physical and emotional. I felt better after the first sip.

And, here's my favorite quote of the week. My good friend and college roommate, Megan, was in town with her family, including her adorable daughter, Kate, pictured here with R & L. We were fortunate to spend the day at the zoo with them. I explained to Lucie and Ryan that Megan was an old friend, and that we lived together before I lived with Daddy. "Did we live with you too, then?" Ryan asked me. Taken by surprise, I said, "You and Lucie have always lived with me, Rye-Rye." Because, in my heart, they always have.

Double Trouble

When Ryan and Lucie were babies, I used to get stopped constantly by strangers wanting to peek at my twins. There's something about a double stroller carrying two infant car seats that attracts all kinds of attention and comments -- everything from the standard "Are they twins?" to "Double trouble!" or "My, your hands are full!"

I once counted the number of times I was stopped by people on a routine neighborhood walk/groceries stop and came up with quite a number - 17! But, those were the baby days. Now, we attract more attention in public from Ryan's firefighter costume than from the double stroller.

I had a really funny interaction about twins with a stranger today that I just had to write down. It was so unique, and quite honestly, a welcome departure from, "My, your hands are full!" (Note to readers -- please never say that to a mother of twins; it simply doesn't make anyone feel better about managing two cranky toddlers in line at the grocery store...)

Today a woman at the community center we frequent asked my twins' age. "Mine are 27", she replied and immediately whipped out a well-worn envelope of photos. "Have you seen 'Top Gun'?" she asked. Of course I had -- what woman who grew up in the 80's has not seen 'Top Gun'? This envelope of photos (which looked like she had taken it with her everywhere for the past 23 years) contained photos of her boys at age four with Tom Cruise and Meg Ryan on the set of 'Top Gun'. Apparently her identical boys shared a bit part in the film, and she's been proudly sharing that ever since.

I couldn't help giggling to myself the entire way home. Good for her! Every mother should be able to pull out a photo of her kids from a tattered envelope in her purse to proudly show off. For this woman, her prized photo is of her smiling boys circa 1986 with their arms draped around well-known celebrities. If I were to choose my photo to show off today, this would be it. Yes, in these days of infrequent naps, here's my proudest moment - a sleeping fireman. I have to admit, this definitely rivals Tom Cruise.

You just never know who you'll meet when you're out and about in the world with twins.

Ryan Sings The Blues

As Lucie and Ryan get bigger, the parties seem to get better. At a recent birthday for fellow twins, the activities include a bounce house, a tent castle, beach balls galore, corndogs, and cupcakes. Something for everyone.

And to top it off, L & R took away party favors that included lunch boxes with harmonicas inside. As you can see, Ryan took to his almost immediately and appears to be a natural bluesman (albeit one with an extensive aloha wardrobe).



The astute reader may notice they no longer have to crane their necks sideways to watch videos. Now that we have officially shunned the evil Microsoft empire for all that is shiny and new, hopefully you'll see a lot more video.