Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I had Forgotten About the Blog Post Jinx

It comes as no surprise that after I posted that puppy-dog-farting-rainbows post about how joyous and delightful life with twin toddlers is, things went a little south. We knew we were in trouble when we were playing outside in the leaves, an activity that can keep Elliot and Leah entertained for quite some time, and Elliot literally collapsed onto the ground and started whimpering. Then his nose began to run. I literally saw the first small stream of snot and knew we were screwed. And we were. Elliot does not take well to being ill (I seriously have no idea where that comes from. Surely not my dear husband and his epic head colds.). He whined for a week straight. He went on an infuriating hunger strike. He didn’t drink his milk for a few days. Leah got the cold too. She handled this cold better than her brother, but she was still super-sensitive (more so than usual). I suppose that this harkens to the beginning of cold season and I should get used to wiping little noses a hundred times a day for the next few months. And so it goes.

How about random nugs of information?
• Elliot just can’t get enough of Richard Scarry’s Cars and Trucks from A to Z (aka “Car Book!!” or “Book Car!!”. It is an obsession second only to footwear and hosiery. I have it memorized. Name a letter, I’ll tell you the car(s). Every time he sees the thing, even if he just put it down, he stops in his tracks and gets this look of shocked delight on his face and says “Book Car!” It’s incredibly cute.
• “Eeewww” and “Owww” are two favorite words (are these actually words?) at our house right now. In basically the correct context. “Eeww” is generally related to foot scent and “Oww” is often said after hitting someone (backwards though that is).
• Elliot has started to tell us when he poops. He says “poo poo”. He also says it when he farts, and occasionally just for kicks, but he consistently tells us when he poops. It’s not that helpful given the olfactory warning we also receive, but it’s very cute.
• Sleeping has been okay, but not great. We still aren’t back to 6:30 wakeups since Daylight Saving Time began a couple weeks back. This past Sunday, I was up with both kids at 5:00 a.m. This is painful because then they are so tired that they nap poorly and are total disasters by nighttime. Bedtime, though, is a lot of fun. They love their bedtime book and snuggles and so do I.
• Eating remains a constant struggle. I find myself begging them to eat things like a grilled cheese sandwich, which seems crazy. They went to bed without eating much of anything for dinner a couple nights while they were sick and it had no impact on their sleep.
• I have stopped being too ambitious about what we offer them for meals since more often then not, that meal is rejected and I end up giving them something I know they will like. We still offer new foods, but not as aggressively. It’s not worth the aggravation at this point.
• We’ve become really complacent about the usage of bottles around here. Elliot could stop anytime, but we keep giving them to him because it’s easy. Leah is very much addicted, but it’s about time to break the habit. 2011 = a bottle-free year. At least that’s the plan.
• Mealtimes also offer the opportunity for me to say things like “Get the soppressata out of your hair!”
• Leah now has enough hair for pigtails and I love it.
• This past weekend’s visit to Drumlin Farm was a lot more successful than the trip we took to Franklin Park Zoo last spring. I think this is mostly due to being older, but also to the awesomeness of Drumlin Farm. Leah and Elliot could literally have admired the chickens in the coop for hours if we let them. I don’t remember it being that cool when I was a kid.
• Leah and Elliot have started fighting. Generally it is over a toy/book/lovey/stuffed animal. Generally it is the thing that Elliot has and Leah decides she wants. The only way this can usually be resolved is by giving Leah said thing and distracting Elliot with something new. It makes me feel bad for him, but she is just indistractable.
• Animal sounds that either or both twins can imitate: dog, monkey, sheep, owl, rooster (the Spanish version “ki ki ri ki”).
• More new words: Leah – pizza, chicken, lovey, noodle (this is my favorite “noodle-oodle-oodle”); Elliot – moon, poo poo (as discussed above), “ew” (also as discussed).

That is what is new at 16 months old. We are looking forward to Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas this year with more active participation from the twins. We certainly realize how much we have to look forward to and be thankful for this year.


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