Jul
15
2011I get asked all the time how I tell my girls apart.
For me it’s simple… the odds are low that Aeralind would be doing that particular activity (i.e. dangerously climbing every vertical surface at a park she’s never been too) and there’s no way Bronwyn would be doing that particular activity (i.e. sitting quietly and patiently trying to figure out how to play that darn harmonica that B already threw across the room in frustration). Their personalities are different.
Ofcourse, telling you this doesn’t make you more able to tell them apart if you haven’t spent a good amount of time getting to know each one.
So I thought I’d do a series of visual tutorials.
Telling the Girls Apart: Part 1
Check the hair (if it’s down).
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| Aeralind |
For some reason, Aeralind has grown a near perfect set of bangs. I’ve never cut the front of either girls’ hair so it must just be that baby hairs are just starting to grow in front for her. But her hair parts perfectly just left of middle leaving this natural set of bangs.
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| Bronwyn |
Bronwyn, however, does not have bangs. Nor does she have a natural part at this time. And if I try to remove the hair from in front of her eyes/nose she throws a fit. Tucking it behind her ears while wet to dry will not tame the mop. And barrettes only last as long as it takes her sister to notice the barrette and yank it out (ouch!). So Bronwyn walks around looking like a shaggy dog.. .and that’s okay with her (and me too).
Jun
11
2011A couple weeks ago I won these adorable bird pillows from AnneCrafted.
I chose them because my girls are currently obsessed with birds (thanks to their birding father). And then I found out that Anne has the most adorable 8 month old twin boys!
Well, Anne, you sure know how to make twins (and their momma) happy! Here’s the evidence from my girls:
Jun
04
2011If you came to our house for afternoon snack tea and I let the girls cook, they would serve you a delightfully refreshing bowl of goldfish soup.
Why, yes, they did make this themselves! Momma just dumped their water glasses into bowls so they could eat it easier 🙂
May
04
2011I started this post over a month ago. Well, maybe that is an exaggeration; I really just put a title down as a place holder. But now that I’m finally feeling up to sitting at the computer to write this post in honor of your 18 months on this earth, you two are actually 19 months old.
So happy 19 months to my precious little girls!
The last three months have gone by in an incredible blur. I’m very unexpectedly expecting your new brother or sister. For the most part, your mommy has crashed back into bed as soon as the two of you would consent to take a nap. Some day I even woke up to the two of you squealing like banshees trying to wake your momma from a coma in the next room. Thanks for that… I think I might still be sleeping if not for your efforts :-p
You’ve become such big capable girls. You’re able to feed yourself with spoons and forks (when you choose to). You’re able to climb the ladders to any slide in any playground on the universe. You’ll gleefully go down slides (on your bottom!) that are taller than mommy and steeper than a roller coaster. You can take off your shirts if I get one arm out for you. You can make your daddy cower in the corner by roaring at him with dinos, lions, and giraffes (though I’m still trying to figure out why giraffes roar?).
Today you fell asleep in the car as mommy drove home from the gym. It was so unexpected and not even near naptime. You looked precious. You might be big girls and you might be big sisters soon, but you’re still the most precious snuggly little babies ever.
Aeralind Grace
Your primary goal in life is to be helpful. With a little direction, you shut doors and drawers. You mop floors with a rag. You put away clothing and diapers. You’ll hand me items out of a clothes basket to hang on the line. But your absolute favorite way to be helpful is to point out birds. Your daddy is a birdwatcher; he collects bird sightings like some people collect stamps or porcelain dolls. You patiently point at a bird and say “Burd” until daddy notices and tells you what it is. So cute!
You have developed a love of stuffed animals/dolls and books. You will walk around the house carrying anything stuffed. Dolls, kitties, Chick-fil-a cows, and mommy’s ancient teddy Cranky are not safe. If you can’t find a suitable stuffed object, you grab the nearest shirt with a tag and carry that around for awhile. Your other love is books. You will sit there and let me read books to you for hours. You even know what it means when mommy says “Go get a different book,” because she’s so tired of reading certain books. Sometimes you beckon Bronwyn to sit with you and will read entire stories to her in baby gibberish.
You melt my heart when…
- You attempt to blow dandelions.
- You twirl and dance whimsically to music.
- When you say “mwah!” while giving me a kiss.
- You walk around the house sucking your thumb and carrying a stuffed creature or a tshirt by it’s tag.
- You hand me diapers to hang.
- You get so excited to point out birds and ducks for daddy.
- You get all squealy.
Bronwyn Hope
Your primary goal in life is to figure out things. You wrestle with a marker until you discover how to take the lid off. You climb a bar stool just to see if you can stand on top and reach that forbidden food. You climb up the computer’s CPU just to get on top of the desk and try to figure out how to operate the computer.. You re-program clocks. You try to take your shoes off. Sometimes your curiosity gets you in trouble… other times it’s just so adorable to see your joy when you figure something out!
You have developed a love of communicating in the past 3 months. You can clearly sign “eat,” “more,” “please,” and “all done.” You love pointing at things and saying “please” accompanied by a verbal “blah”. It’s hard to resist you when you’re being so charming and polite. But I love how your mastery of those three simple words has made you 100% less frustrated. You hardly ever throw temper tantrums and freely answer when I ask you “What do you need, Bronwyn?” I’m glad you caught on to these signs!
You melt my heart when…
- You sign “Please!”
- You crawl up on the couch just to sit shoulder to shoulder with me.
- You smile with your nose all wrinkled up.
- You smile and wave right before you intentionally disobey. How am I supposed to deal with that?!
- You figure something out and have to show it to me.
- You want me to feed you because you’ve gotten too frustrated with your cutlery.
- I find you on the desk trying to figure out the computer.
- You eat your sandwhiches: always taking the first bite from the middle like a vampire.
I love you two so dearly.
P.S. I managed to get this up a whole week prior to your 20 month birthday! Aren’t you two proud 🙂
Apr
12
2011- Sort and Put Away Laundry
My girls love putting anything in a box, basket, drawer, or any container. Nothing gets folded for their room any more. I just sort for the three drawers and let them put things up. I would fold it, but they love this task so much that they pull out their laundry just to put it back. You should see how proud they are! It’s free entertainment that helps you finish your chores 🙂 - Go on a Hike
We took them on their first hike when they were about 17 months old. They were recovering from a cold and we totally expected that they’d just ride in our backpacks for the majority of the time. Not only did they insist on walking, but the instinctively followed the trail too! We loved watching what they stopped to pick up (pine cones, rocks, sticks larger than they were). Both girls squealed and sang the whole time.
Now I will say that picking the trail is extremely important part of this activity. Obviously, you don’t want anything too steep or with water features much wider/deeper than a creek. But for our girls having a trail that isn’t filled with people (and their dogs) was very important as well. Try not to pick the most popular trail in the area or you’ll end up carrying them as they follow strangers or cower in front of every dog. - Go to Pet Smart or any local pet store.
It’s like a free zoo. Seriously. Utterly hysterical. - Do Yard Work
They love to “mow” with daddy, attempting to plant seeds with me (can be frustrating…), and love moving yard debris to a wheelbarrow. And knowing my girls, spreading mulch would be the ultimate joy of all yard work! - Give them some Boxes
Disposable diaper boxes are the perfect size for my girls… but really anything you have will do. We’ve made forts out of car seat boxes. We’ve put toys in toddler shoe boxes for instant noise making fun. We’ve hidden our music playing cell phones inside multiple boxes nested together and made them find the music. We’ve filled diaper boxes with clothing or bags and watched them both climb in to play. They’ve pushed boxes around like toys. They’ve turned boxes over their heads and walked around squealing. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boxes are the perfect toys. - Let them Run Wild in the Toy Aisles
You need one person per child, but the wonder and joy in their eyes is breath-taking. They’re too young to understand that the toys could come home with them and think they’re at a playground. They’ll shake one thing, and press buttons. Then dig out bouncy balls. Mine even just run shrieking up and down an aisle because they can. Just a wise word of warning: don’t do this during a stores busy hours and don’t attempt it if your twinados can destroy the store in 20 seconds or climb shelves. Otherwise, it’s actually pretty fun 🙂 - Let them Paint
Make some finger paint; the odds are good that you have all these ingredients in the house. Strip the babies down to diapers and bring old newspapers into the yard. Let them be crazy. One of mine was all about painting on the paper. The other just loved running off with the paints and hiding them.
Or grab a bucket filled with water and old grown-up paint brushes. Let the babies ‘paint’ the neighbors fence, or the house, or their daddy. The girls did this painting activity for over an hour while Derek and I recovered from a stomach bug on Sunday. They loved it!
