A day full of Firsts!

The first year of the girls life was full of firsts....and some of the most exciting were the milestones ones like rolling over, crawling, first words, first foods, walking and so many more.  Today was another "first" milestone for me....Sophia played in the sandbox and liked it!  The bonus phrase of the day was..."we go swimmin' today mommy at Aunt Anne's?"  It kinda makes me want to break out in song...and I captured some of this joy.

Sophia smiling while looking at the pool!

  
I cannot help but remember last summer when the girls were not fans of just about anything related to swimming, sand or fun in the sun.  This is a post form last summer..what-beach-did-i-do?.do I need to say more?

We also had another first....ice cream cones!  They both held their cones, licking like pros.  I was most impressed with the fact that they did not drip and we were even in public!

So far....things are looking up!
Cheers
R-xo

Toddlers or Tornadoes?

I have a hard time telling them apart...toddlers or tornadoes....twinadoes!  Twirling, swirling bursts of energy that seem to spin in their own worlds, and who are oblivious to the destruction they leave...especially when mommy talks.  I know at birth they both passed their hearing tests, but why is there not another test once they reach say...oh about 22 months or so??

We are trying to teach them that the road, rivers, streams or any body of water is "danger do not to go near them unless there is a mommy or daddy to help you."  They seem to get this concept.  When we are driving near rivers, they tell us "that is danger mommy" but getting them to listen when they are playing in the driveway is another story.

Yesterday I took the girls outside to play..in the rain..cause daddy lets them jump in puddles. (so they told me)  Okay, kids like to get mucky and wet...all in the name of fun.  Emmy decided that she wanted to jump in the puddle that was closes to the road.  She told me the road was danger, yet proceeded to walk one step out on the road and jump in the puddle.  Then she made eye contact with me and stepped out even further.  I asked her to get of the road, it is danger...no movement.  Now I have to discipline.  Well you would have thought I banned her for life from jumping in puddles by the reaction I got when I told her to sit in the garage on time away for not listening to mommy.  AND in our world, when there is one...there is two.  When I turned back to see where Sophia was...she was doing the exact same thing, in the exact same spot.  Now I had 2 crying toddlers, who had kicked their rain boots off, getting more and more upset because their toes were cold.

My sister says..it gets better, give is about 7 months or so.  She has seen a change in MG on this front.

I may go insane in 7 months, or send the girls to toddler boot camp....is there such a thing?  (no I actually will not as I will miss them)  I wonder what the neighbour's thought watching this display of mommy vs the toddlers?
Cheers
R - xo

"Mommy, my tummy hurts"

Today I have seen it all...well all that the girls have put in their mouths.  I have been puked on all day...no joke.  I have changed my clothes 4 times, showered twice, have done 5 loads of gooey laundry and have changed the cribs 7 times. Last night at about 4am.  I heard Emily call out for me and thinking it was a sucky issue, I took my time getting to her....4am is not a pleasant time to be up, especially when you only got to bed after 1am.

On the way to her bed I heard the glubbing.....OH NO was all I could think of, I knew exactly what was about to happen.  Before I got to her bed she had done the deed, rolled around and gunked her hair all up in it.  For the next few hours, she would continue to puke, call out for me and I would change her entire bed...then I got smart and started to put a towel down, so as to only change the towel.....By 7am I had her in the tub.

Sophia was not long behind her...there I was, with both girls sick and my husband at work.  This seems to be the Metzgers Law (modeled after Murphy's law)  when Darcy is working something happens, either the girls are sick or fevered, I am sick or a combo of the two.  This year has not been pleasant and I am so hopin for spring flowers soon.

This constant stream of puking in random places continued for 4 days.  My house has not been so clean.  The walls, floors, sliding glass door, windows in our bedroom, cribs and at least a dozen times on me.  Darcy had a few incidents too including one in his truck.

Today it all seemed to have come to an end.  Here's to hopin' Darcy or I do not follow suit!  Next week, a whole new handfull.....MM is on vacation...Yikes!
Cheers
R-xo

Girls First Hair Cut

I have been dreading this day....I know that the girls need their hair cut...hec Darcy has threatened to do it himself, so you know that it must be bad....his words were "you can come along and be a part of it..or you can miss their first hair cuts...you choose"  I do not like ultimatums, especially from my husband, but I knew their hair needed to be cut.  So today was the day.  I talked a bit about getting your hair cut with the girls, but it don't think it sunk in until we got there.

Sophia's eyes were glued to the guy getting his hair cut while we waited.  I told her she was getting her hair cut and it was going to be fun.  She said "no mommy, no want to"  I knew there were going to be no smiles.  Here are her before and after pics:  She looked so cute with the cape on.

Sophia Before

Sophia After

Emily arrived with Darcy a few minutes into Sophia's cut.  She could care less about the hair cutting she wanted to get down and "run and run and run"  I thought , okay this might go fairly well, so far there was no crying and more cooperation than I expected.  Boy was I wrong....I should have held my thoughts until Emily's haircut was over.  She could not keep still, very fidgety and she kept pushing Sarah's hand away from around her face when she tried to cut her bangs.  she tried to jump off the chair and at one point I had to restrain her so Sarah could finish.  Here are Emily's pics:

Emily Before

Emily After

The experience overall was a good one.  I was very glad that Aunt Julie popped by.  She had her hands full watching one fiery toddler while the other was getting their haircut.  Oh, in case  you were wondering, Darcy was there...he decided to go for coffee and by the time he got back we were ready to go.

I must say that their hair looks wonderful....a lot better than when Aunt Anne and Gramma tag-teamed my babies and cut their bangs while Darcy and I were packing up our house to move....I was not impressed......here is a pic of that artistry!

We ended the day with a great meal made by Mark and Julie.....Italian....it was such a welcomed treat and delicious meal and the wine was fantastic!  Thanks, Thanks, Thanks!

Next on the list....ears pierced...Darcy is also threatening to do that...but I know he will not do that without me.!
Cheers
R-xo

A Mommy Morning Moment

Sometimes my husband shakes his head over some of the things that happen between me and the girls while he is at work....his comment always is "that never happens to me."......Now this is how our Friday morning went….the girls spent 5 minutes or more watching the garbage truck out their window, do its business while they were standing on the rocking chair in their room….Then when they were dressed they insisted on reading books…when I got cross and told them to "get down stairs, mommy was not foolin’ around anymore", they took off, with books in hand down the stairs. Okay…so Emily got her coat and shoes on first…and Sophia decided to run off so I would chase her . While she was running away I was getting the bags at the front door. I finally corralled Sophia to get her coat and shoes on.  In the meantime, Emily had gotten into my purse and shook my wallet, contents and all...all over the floor. While I am getting that straighten up, Emily took off with my purse….I asked her to come back and she didn’t so I went hunting for them…Sophia had ran off too. Then I heard Emily say “oh no, a mess… mommy” I thought oh great…here she got a hold of a glass of water and dumped it in my purse! I caught the tail end of her pouring it in….She had gotten up on the kitchen chair, got the glass of water down and poured it in my purse. I got cross and told her that was bad behavior and she was on time away….all this before 7:20am!

When we were driving away Sophia has a fit cause she did not have her monkey book…she saw that Emily had Mickey’s Nap (I did not know that she grabbed it)…So I went back (thinking of my dear husband doing this...cause he does) and got the monkey book for her. Then we were blocked in the driveway by the recycling truck…who took its sweet time, dumping the sorting bin into the back of the truck…so we waited….The girls liked it...they were waving to the guy. I was not so jovial! I am sure I looked at the guy like Mrs. Hennigan in sunglasses!

The whole ride to Michelle’s I told them that the books stay in the car. When we got to Michelle’s, Emily was okay with that rule, but not Sophia. She hit me with the book…left a bit of a scratch on my face, then threw it into the front driver’s seat. I tell ya…patience was thin at this point. Then Emily had a fit that I was leaving…she was crying and reaching for me. I held her a bit but trying to pry her off was like Velcro. I e-mailed MM to see if she settled and this is what she had to say.

• She settled in quick. She ate and went to play and has been fine. They both were excited to go for a walk today. When we got back Emily says to me "nice walk". I think we're all excited for some nice weather!!

 SO……that was the morning….The evening shaped up to be a little more mommy style...Christine and her daughter Allie popped by to soothe my soul with some great wine while Allie watched the girls in the bath.....it was a nice finish to a hectic start to the day.

Cheers!
R-xo

It was a Mardi party!

We are so thankful to have such a great home daycare. MM runs her ship like toddler boot camp..well maybe not quite like that, but some days I am amazed at what she can accomplish and not lose control.  Like painting projects, getting them all dressed and outside for some fun or baking and havin all the kiddies take a turn at stirring the batter.  Each week there is a theme or focus of learning and this week is Mardi Gras.  So in true MM style.....there was a Mardi party.  I love getting pics at work from her.  The girls always look like they are having a ton of fun and that makes me feel better for working full-time.  Enjoy the party!

Sophia

Emily

MG

The Big Girls are 5

The big girls are 5 – hard to believe that 5 years ago they were such little peanuts and the first twinadoes to hit this family.  The birthday party started at the local swimplex.  Lots of family and friends dawned their bathing suits, no tan lines visible, and splashed around.  Our girls are too little for the big pool so we cozied up with MG and gramma in the warm pool.  MG seemed to have a meltdown as she was not able to go with the big girls and cousins down the big twirl slide.  I don’t blame her…Emmy and Sophia are not her style when it comes to swimming.

This year the swimming went a lot better.  Last year the big girls had a swim birthday party too, but that was the first time Emmy and Sophia had ever gone swimming.  I can remember it like it was yesterday….lots of crying and disorganization, especially in the dressing room.  It was not an enjoyable experience.  That experience was not lost on them and for the rest of the summer every time they got close to water they would cry and turn away.  My sister did an experiment with Sophia…She turned her towards her backyard pool and she would start to whimper, then she would turn her away and she would stop.  Look at the pool…don’t look at the pool...it was funny, but not to Sophia… and that is what sparked the swimming lessons this past fall.

The day ended as per the usual…lots of food, lots of drinks, lots of people, lots of cake and lots of presents.

 

On another  bright note!  Emmy and Sophia did go to sleep in the big girl’s beds, no playpens, no problem.  This must have gotten my husband excited because this week he got the toddler beds assembled, cleaned up and brought them upstairs.  When I saw that…I started to have a panic attack!  I am not ready to deal with this yet  I am not ready to have them run out of their room in the morning or the middle of the night, what if I sleep right through and do not hear them running around?

He must of saw the look of panic on my face and told me to relax, he would take the beds back to the garage. (this was not the reaction he expected...sorry honey!)  I almost could not believe that my heart started to race when I saw those beds…except that it did.  Wow….I guess I need to get mentally prepared and that was my warning!

For some reason I have 2 years in my mind..2 years old to start potty training and introduce the toddler beds.  Maybe I need to rethink this….as at daycare they are going on the potty up to 2 times a day and Emmy will take her pants off and want to go potty.  She know the feeling so maybe I should go with it!

Happy Birthday L&M!

Cheers R - xo