This is a good time to remember some of the things they are doing now. Man, are they busy!!! If only we could bottle up all of their energy and release it each day around 3pm, then we wouldn't need caffeine in our lives! Where to begin?
Let's start with a typical day, which starts for us around 6:30am. Dan and I get ready for the day and then we get Luke and Olivia out of bed around 7:15am. We do diaper changes and have a little playtime before Daddy leaves for work around 7:45am. We usually play for a little longer until they tell me they are ready for breakfast. They used to wake up and eat right away, but now they would rather play. It shows us their stomachs are developing away from being babies as their food sustains them for longer. We eat breakfast together and they play a little more while I clean up. Then it's time to brush teeth and get dressed for the day. Olivia will watch her favorite show, Word World, while Luke plays. He still doesn't have much attention span for TV, but sometimes he'll watch from time to time. Around mid-morning, we head out for the day. Sometimes we go to Discovery Place Kids, the library, the playground, or play dates with friends. Now that it's warmer, we also go to the pool or play at the edge of the lake. We have LOTS of picnics and it's one of my favorite things to do with them. We are usually home between noon and 1:30pm and play some more until nap time.
Ah, sleeping. They are sleeping champs now and we couldn't be happier. They have a really good schedule and are pretty predictable. They wake up around 6:30-6:45am each morning but (thankfully) play in their crib until about 7:15am. That gives Dan and I time to get ready each morning. They nap between 2:30pm and 3pm and wake up around 4:30-5pm. Luke would probably nap a little earlier but I try to have their nap time overlap as much as possible. Usually Luke falls asleep first and wakes first while Olivia takes longer to fall asleep. Luke is almost always out of bed first and he wants to get Olivia immediately. It's really sweet, except sometimes Olivia is still asleep. He is really sad when he can't play with her as soon as she wakes up, but I'm glad to have some time with just him. They are still in their cribs for now, and we are hoping to keep them there as long as possible! It's a miracle they haven't climbed out yet (Luke did only 1 time) but we will take it as long as we can. We fear that once they get into their toddler beds, they may give up napping-especially Olivia. She is SUCH a busy little girl and her toys in her room would provide the perfect distraction to avoid napping. They don't seem to mind their "quiet time", though, and we hope to continue that even once they give up napping.
Eating. Whew, that can be a challenge. When they were first starting out on solid foods, they were great eaters. They would eat pretty much anything I made, including vegetables. Now they have an opinion and it means they want nothing to do with veggies, even corn or carrots. It's so frustrating at times! We want them to eat a well balanced diet, but Luke refuses to try anything new. He also doesn't like anything green, and once turned down a popsicle for being green! He has recently started eating green grapes though so hopefully this veggie strike is a phase they pass through quickly. Olivia is more open to trying things but if there is something on her plate she doesn't like, she wants it removed! I sincerely hope they become more open to foods soon as it's tiring fixing them the same ol thing. We keep trying, though, and keep introducing them to new foods frequently.
Oh, potty training. I wish I could just skip this topic all together! We are working on potty training, but they have regressed a little. Now Luke won't sit on the potty, whereas before he was. Olivia has peed one time and won't sit again. I feel like she is ready but I don't want to pressure her too much. We talked about the doing the "weekend warrior" routine but it just didn't work for us. I know they will get there when they are ready and we try every day. I read 2 great books and they have helped, but it takes time and patience.
Dan's brother once said "don't teach your kids to walk and talk because they will never sit down or be quiet." Boy, is there some truth to that! Olivia talks ALL of the time, even while she's eating and usually while she falls asleep. Luke was slower to talk, but he is great with words and sentences now and talks quite a bit, too. It's so cool to have a conversation with them and talk about their day. I sometimes ask them what they want to do each day (when given two choices) and they let me know what they feel up to. And man, are they ever on the go. They play all over the house, but can have an amazingly long attention span when they become focused on something. I really have never seen anything like it and it's longer than any other toddler I have been around. Sometimes Luke will work at his tool bench and Olivia at her kitchen for upwards of 20-30 minutes at a time, or they will work on puzzle after puzzle and never seem to get bored. I hope they keep this kind of focus once school starts.
Luke and Olivia's language has just exploded into complete thoughts and sentences. Luke calls me "mommy or momma" and Dan "daddy." Olivia has taken to calling me "monee" (sounds like mah-knee) and Dan is "daddy" as well. Luke calls Olivia "Yee Yee" and Olivia calls Luke "Luke-ee." They talk about colors, count, sing, read books and just generally talk about what they are doing. For example, I will be folding clothes and Luke will say "that's daddy's shirt, those are mommy's socks, that's YeeYee's skirt." Olivia provides lots of commentary as well and will say the same thing over and over again until you repeat it back to her. I often wonder if she does it to see if we are listening or to see if we understand. I don't know why, but it's still super cool to me to have a conversation with them. I guess because just 6 short months ago or so it was fragmented words and thoughts and it's changed so quickly.
People say to me all of the time "it must be nice to have twins because you have a built in playmate." Well, yes and no! There are definitely times where they love to play together. "Tackling" each other is one of their favorite things to do, as well as chasing each other. Surprisingly, they seem to find most of their energy right before bath time and LOVE to play in Olivia's room before we do the bath/bed routine. Dan and I sit in the middle of the floor and they literally run circles around us. Or we play around on the ground together and "fly" on our legs. But there are also times when they want the same toy at the same time, even when there are a million other toys to choose from. They have spent their entire life sharing and we understand that this is hard at times. Sometimes adults aren't the best sharers, either! Distraction used to work great, but now they are older and are on to our tricks!
They have formed some great friendships with some of the kids in our neighborhood. Lilah and Sean are their best little buddies, and we will see Tyler more during the summertime. They also love Grant, Ethan, Sophie and other neighborhood kids, too. It's great, too, because we like all of their parents so play dates are great! They also love their younger friends, too (Milo and Sofia to name a few) and look forward to them getting a little older so they can join us on our adventures. It's so funny to watch them interact with one another and negotiate for "toy time." They have their own little language and are genuinely excited to see one another.
Do Luke and Olivia love to sing! We have kids music in the car and Olivia can hear the first few notes of a song and know what the song will be. We must listen to "the wheels on the bus" or "twinkle twinkle little star" several times in a row. Funny thing is, she doesn't like it when I sing along. She says "no, monee. I sing it by myself." Luke loves to sing as well and has been know to break into a rendition of "take me out to the ballgame." Ring around the rosie is another all time favorite as is "row row row your boat."
As much as they've grown and changed since they were born, I still have to remind myself they are only 2 1/2 years old. Their little minds and bodies are still developing and they can't comprehend things the way adults do. Sometimes I get frustrated when they don't listen and I have to take a step back and remember to see the world from the way they do. It's nice to get down on their level and see exactly what they are seeing. It helps Dan and I understand that while we are pretty much telling them what to eat, when to sleep, etc they are starting to find their autonomy and it's good for them to express their thoughts and emotions. Them being able to do that will lead to their total independence one day (oh how the thought of them no longer needing us as much as they do makes me cry!). Dan and I are striving to build their solid foundation and then trust that that we have done the best job possible. Now I let them have more choices in the clothes they wear, the shoes they wear, etc and oh, to see the excitement on their precious faces when they put their shoes on by themselves. It sometimes feels like it takes forever to get out of the door, but taking the time to let them do things by themselves is necessary.
Luke and Olivia impress and amaze me everyday. They truly are remarkable children and I am humbled to be their mommy. They are kind, smart, generous and overall pretty happy little toddlers. Dan asked me the other day "when do we stop calling them our babies and start calling them children or kids." I told him never!!!
Here are a few pics I took recently. So hard to believe they are 30 months old. We love you!!!
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