Before Chris and I had kids, we used to visit our friends Rita and Noah and get a glimpse of what being parents was like. Milin is 2 years older than Saoirse and Rowan. One of the parts of their routine that we got to share a few times, and seemed like a ton of fun, was bathtime. Playing, splashing, lots of giggling, and then a sweet, clean-smelling, happy baby to cuddle when it's done.
When the girls were babies, I struggled with the clash between what I thought having kids would be like and the reality pretty often. Bathtime was one of those times. For months, both girls cried like crazy in the water. Drying them off was like torturing them. By the time the routine was over, I was sweaty and tired, felt like I had run 3 miles, and was just dying for them to go to sleep. Part of it was a twin thing. Two wet, tired babies is a bit more complicated than one. Part of it was just the illusion that is always there when you see parenting from the outside.
But in the last six months or so, I think we've finally gotten it down. Bathtime is a whole-family routine, and one of our favorite times of the day. Who wouldn't love this?
Waterbabies
Back to reality
Mexico was awesome. Chris and I just kept saying to each other..."Why haven't we done this before?" We rented a villa on the Caribbean with our great friends Kate and John (from NYC) and their son Cooper. Cooper's the same age as the girls, and blonde. They looked like triplets. Ever since we left, the girls have been asking for "Coo-poo" (Saoirse) and "Coop" (Rowan). They sing, "Coopoo bye-bye" in the backseat when we drive.
Rowan and Saoirse were not so sure about the sand when we first arrived, they didn't like it sticking on them. They got over it fast, and spent the rest of the week begging and clamoring to go outside. Mostly we left just screen doors closed, which the kids could open, and let them run around freely. Whichever adult was around watched them. "Uncle John's fun time" was pretty popular. Thank the lord that the daddies have so much energy. We had dinner at some fun restaurants on the beach, so the kids could run around to their heart's content while we ate. We had "ice cream time," which was 11:00 AM when the ice cream shop in town opened. We had tons of fresh fruit from the farm market in town. Kate and I had a Super-Scrabble battle after the kids went to bed. I went to yoga with Kate. If there were such a thing as kicking ass in yoga, she kicked my ass, and she's 7 months pregnant. And I got a very relaxing massage from a guy wearing a sweatband.
The flight home was...well, the less said the better. But the trip was worth it. Seeing the girls run around naked in the sunshine (with lots of sunscreen on) with their little blond heads all curly from the saltwater was so awesome. Oh, and Chris went snorkeling and saw a huge sea turtle, they live in the water where we were staying. Very cool.
Enjoy the million photos :)
This was our villa, taken from the shore out front:
This was a little French girl Saoirse made friends with. Since they mostly babble, the language barrier didn't really cause a problem. :)
And we're off!...
So we're leaving for Mexico in the morning, all four of us. And I use morning loosely, because frankly I consider it the middle of the night. The alarm is going off for Chris and I at 3 am. We'll be gone for a week, I'll post some pics of our fun in the sun when I get back. For now, here are a few odds and ends:
Here are the girls having a tea party:
Climbing in the laundry basket (Rowan chose her own outfit):
Wearing mixing bowls:
Apparently it wasn't silly enough for Saoirse:
And hanging with their new best friend, Sareena:
Snowbound
We have gotten more snow this year than I can remember since I was a kid. Maybe I just think that because we're homeowners this year, because shoveling definitely highlights the frequency of the snow. Today Chris had to do some serious shoveling, and the girls and I bundled up and went out with him. It was the first time the girls had been out for days, because the temperatures have been so low here lately that they've been warning of frostbite danger. Today it warmed up into the teens. Rowan experimented a little, seeing if the piles of snow along the path to the door would support her weight. It was mostly powder, so the answer was no. Her hands plunged into the snow, followed by her head. She took it pretty well. They ran around until I was concerned about how red their cheeks were, then we went inside and warmed up with their first cocoa. They've been obsessed lately with cocoa, because we have this book about snowmen at night, and in it the snowmen drink "ice cold cocoa made by snowman mothers." They had never had cocoa, but they apparently liked the sound of it, because for days now, they run around asking for "cocoa, cocoa!" So, sippy cups of cocoa it was.
The girls are more fun every day. They chatter nonstop, repeat everything they hear, and are turning into little girls before our eyes. They are really into being twins right now, they definitely see themselves as a unit. For instance, when I gave Rowan her cup of cocoa this afternoon, she reached and pointed for the other cup, pointing to "sha-sha". Rowan didn't start drinking hers until Saoirse had one too. When I put one in the highchairs, she points to the other chair. When they sit on their potties, they point to the other one. This evening when I came upstairs with Rowan she found their babies in baskets. She picked up both, then held one out to me, saying "sha-sha." I had to call Saoirse up to join us from downstairs, because Rowan would not chill out and play until Saoirse got that baby. They want their highchairs close enough to touch, so that they can hand each other food that they think the other one needs, or get what they want. They know what they like best and what the other one likes best. Saoirse passes Rowan toast, for example, and Rowan passes Saoirse eggs. Of course, don't get me wrong. They have also learned the word "Mine" recently, and they use it a lot. This morning Rowan wanted some of Saoirse's eggs, and was reaching for them. Saoirse moved her pile of scrambled eggs to the other side of her tray, out of Rowan's reach, covered them up with her hands, and repeated Mine!" gleefully while Rowan whined. But overall, I think they're getting along a little better lately. More negotiation, and a little better delayed gratification.
We're getting excited about our first family vacation together. We leave next Saturday for Mexico, and we'll be gone for a week. We're renting a villa with two other families. I think some time on the beach (and in the pool) sounds like just what we all need. I can't wait to see the girls in Mexico! :) The fact that they have passports at age 1 is so funny to me, I didn't get my first one until I was 16.
I'll post some pics later, my camera battery is charging.
What can I say?
I know, I'm becoming a very bad blogger. I would say that it's my New Year's Resolution to be better, but really that would doom the blog. We all know how well we keep N.Y. resolutions.
Christmas was veru busy. The girls loved it, and I realized why people have always said that Christmas is for kids. It is so much more fun to see your kids enjoy Christmas than to enjoy it yourself. For the first time in my life, I actually meant it when I said that I really didn't need anything for myself. Actually, I don't think I've ever even said it before, let alone meant it. :)
The girls got to hang out with all of their grandparents, see their great-grandparents, enjoy the chaos of extended family and play with cousins. They enjoyed opening presents this year. Saoirse would open one, then just want to play with whatever it was for a while. She'd turn down other gifts for a while. Rowan wanted to tear open every package she got, and some that belonged to other people.
Since we came home after Christmas, we've been struggling with sicknesses. Both the girls got colds, then Saoirse came down with the croup. Yes, my mom's biggest phobia, the dreaded croup. It's pretty miserable, she's on steroids and exhausted. I've never seen her look more pathetic. Her new nickname is "sickie."
I know Rowan has her eyes closed in this picture, but I had to post it to illustrate a point. This year the girls got a lot of gifts that were the same, so they wouldn't fight over them. So, two dolls, two letter toys, two puzzles, you get the idea. They love the baby dolls, but the funniest thing to me is that they often carry two of them. Like...how else do babies come but in a set of two?
Here are Chris and the girls on the couch on New Year's Day. It wasn't very festive, although he did enjoy the cuddling.
Hope everybody else had fun over the holidays. Hopefully you're all healthier than us.
12 days 'til Christmas....
First. as promised, a photo of the tree. I set it up in the library so that people can see it from the road:
Then, a funny picture from the "Saoirse is silly" collection. Here we are making meatballs for our spaghetti the other night. The girls actually both wear this piece of Tupperware around, Saoirse just happened to be wearing it this time. What I love about this pic, though, is that it captures how nonchalant it all is. Like it's a normal hat, not a really silly thing to be wearing on your head.
Chris and I took the girls out the other night to finish up some Christmas shopping. It is awesome to be able to shop for them without even trying to keep things a secret, since they don't understand what's going on anyway. While we were shopping, we stopped at My Urban Toddler, a place I've mentioned before. Usually we just shop there, I've never been brave enough to take the girls to the playspace alone. This time, Chris was along, so we tried it out. It was awesome, and now I feel guilty for not having tried it out before. It's set up like a little town, with an open space in the middle, a "road" running around it, and little stalls all around the outer ring that are different stations. There's a market, a library, a theater, a house, etc...each one filled with toys and stuff that go along with the theme. Here are the girls playing in the fire station:
Chris went to Cleveland yesterday to help his parents with some stuff, and I didn't feel like being cooped up in the house for over 24 hours with the girls, so we drove over to visit my parents last night. This afternoon we took the girls out sledding for their first time. Saoirse kind of liked it. Rowan loved it at first, until she tipped over rounding a corner and faceplanted into the snow. 
And while we were in G.R., I saw a sign last night advertising that Kate Gosselin (of Jon & Kate plus 8) was signing books at the nearby Barnes and Noble. I already owned the book, and I thought it sounded like fun. So we stayed an extra night, and Chris drove over here this afternoon to join us. I was a bit nervous about going to the booksigning, because I had a bad experience at one in NYC. I know, dorky, right? Most people have bad experience stories about bars, or one-night stands, or vodka (well, I have one of those too, actually). But I have a "bad experience" story about a book signing. But I used to like the author Jodi Picoult. She wrote a couple books I really enjoyed, and I was reading most of her stuff for a while. It's nothing that's going to win any awards, you know, but it's enjoyable. Then she came to the B&N by our place in Manhattan, and I dragged Chris there with me. We sat through a reading, for her new (and pretty weak) novel. Then we stood in line for ages. And you know how when you're standing there in line, you're kind of thinking...what am I going to say when I get to the front? Well, the guy right before me told her while he got his book signed that he lives in Hanover, NH, went to Dartmouth, his mom sees her around town. (Apparently that's where she lives). I hadn't known that before. So I get up next, like 10 seconds after he says this, and I say, "Well, I didn't go to Dartmouth, but my freshman year roommate at Michigan was from Hanover." Kind of in a "what a small world" kind of way. Hanover isn't a very big place, I thought it was an interesting coincidence. She doesn't even look at me, says, "You don't have to try to impress me." Seriously. I thought I might punch her. I said, "Uhh...I wasn't trying to impress you. I went to Michigan, and I'm proud of it. I was just making conversation." Then she handed me the book she signed, and I left. And I have never bought, or even read, another one of her books. Was I being too sensitive? Chris laughed about me being so pissed, said he'd hate to get on my bad side. And he would. ;) But seriously, what a bitchy thing to say. So...I'm wary of meeting people that I like from afar.
But Kate was nicer, I had no trauma. I told her that I have twin girls from IUI ( as she does) and that because of her my husband is terrified of my "just one more." She laughed, said, "As he should be! Maybe he can learn something." And that was it. Okay, we won't be best friends, but I still like her. Here's a cheesy picture of me talking to her to prove that I'm not making it up out of some stalkerish psychosis. :)
the Christmas spirit
Sorry for the lack of posting. Adjusting to having Chris at home, and job searching, is throwing everyone off a little. The girls had colds this last week, which seem to be getting better. We're starting to settle into a new routine. We're keeping our fingers crossed that an opthalmology job turns up soon. And we're getting ready for Christmas.
If it were just Chris and I, I'm pretty sure we would be going the Scrooge route this year. We're feeling pretty Grinchy. But...we have kids. Yet another way that having kids changes your life (and you). So I hung the Advent calendar, put up stockings, wrapped some gifts, and we ventured out in the snow to get a tree. The first tree, actually, that Chris and I have ever had. Our apartment in NYC wasn't a great place for a tree (small, a long trip up on a small elevator...plus we would have had to walk a tree home like that scene in When Harry Met Sally). Last Christmas the kids were still so small...I could barely breathe, let alone get a Christmas tree. So this year it is.
Here are Chris and the girls all bundled up for the trip:
Here the girls are taking a ride in the cart meant for the tree:
Something I learned while at the tree farm: the girls know what to do if you say "smile" for a picture. Here's Rowan, and then a before and after set of Saoirse.
I'll post pics of the tree later. It's not fancy, but it smells so good. And having the decorations up does make us all feel more in the spirit.
