Super Stuff!

Lots of super stuff this week!

1)      Upon entering a public bathroom, I reminded my A not to touch anything she didn’t have to.  She paused, and then commented, “I can scratch myself because myself is clean.”  Thank goodness it was a one-seater…I just cackled!

2)      I never get tired of hearing the girls say so emphatically, “Mommy, you make THE BEST [fill in the blank]”.  Like when we ate breakfast out on Sunday, the girls got French toast.  “Yum!  This is good French toast!”  But that was immediately followed by, “Mommy, you make THE BEST French toast!” as if they don’t want to offend me.  HA!

3)      I love to see my babies girls running and skipping.  We’ve spent plenty of time at the park, in the neighborhood, and in the yard lately.  Baby A, in particular, loves to hold my hand while we skip together.  It won’t be long before she’s skipping way ahead of me, though…she’s FAST!

4)      One morning, Baby A had been working really hard on an art project. She came to show it to me, and I told her how neat it was (and genuinely it was pretty cool!). I bent down to give her a kiss, and she whispered, "I'm proud of myself, Mommy."

5)      I had to laugh when I heard the girls’ excitement one afternoon.  B exclaimed, “Mommy!  Daddy is shaving his face!”  And A piped in, “Yay, Daddy!  Good job!”  Hee hee!

6)      On Tuesday we had a play date at M&C’s house.  The girls were SO excited to learn we were going over to play with M&C…AND for them to see Little Baby A.  My A could not get enough hugs in with M&C…too sweet!

7)      And my A&B are still SO taken with Little Baby A, now seven weeks old.  At one point she was in her bouncy seat, and my girls sat beside her and sang songs.  They are in love!

8)      On Tuesday afternoon the girls were so surprised to get three letters!!!  One was a thank-you card from a birthday party, and then they each got a note from Miss Demara and their very own picture of Little Baby A.  They were so incredibly proud!

9)      The girls absolutely crack me up, how serious they can be.  They will go to great lengths to explain the simplest of things.  I could hardly keep a straight face this morning as A was telling me about something with a very prevalent milk mustache.

10)   Overheard: "Sissy, you're not supposed to have a smile on your face when you're doing something not-nice."  Hahaha!  Do I really even want to know???

11)   We came across this super-cool cardboard stable on clearance at the craft store last week.  The girls had a great time coloring it, and they’ve played with it every day since.  I know it won’t last forever, but it’s fun while it’s still standing!

12)   The girls got an unexpected present this week from some friends who dropped by, dry erase markers and a dry erase book and board.  I thought they already had every art supply known to man…but this definitely completes their collection.  It’s been hard to tear them away from drawing over the past couple of days, and I love it!

Super Stuff!

Running behind on my summary of super stuff…again.  This is feeling like a nasty habit!  I’m going to bullet-point (as best I can, anyway), so I can finally publish this and start making notes for the new week!

So what super-fabulous things highlighted the past week at A&B Enterprises?

1)      The nice lady at the post office let the girls cancel their own letters.  They thought it was so cool!

2)      We found an awesome farm not too far from town, where we picked about five pounds of blueberries.  As a family, we ate those five pounds in a mere five days…there’s nothing like the fresh goodness…especially when you picked it yourself!

3)      On the way home from picking blueberries, Baby A said, “Mommy, look!!!”  She spotted five wild turkeys hanging out in a field.  We turned around to see them again.  She was so proud of how observant she was!

4)      The girls love to hear stories, especially about our cats.  Many of the stories take place before they were born.  The girls commit those stories to memory, though, and then they love to retell them…”I remember, one time, when I was in your tummy and you lived in North Carolina…”  Forget that we moved from North Carolina six years before they were born!

5)      I overheard B talking nonsense to A.  “What, Sissy?” A asked.  B told her she was speaking Spanish.  “Oh,” A said,” I don’t speak Spanish very well.”  Hahaha!

6)      After a beautiful (and nowadays rare) nap, I took the girls to eat ice cream cones.  I was amazed at their skill in eating a cone.  This was only the third or fourth cone they’ve ever had, but you never would have guessed.  B tore into hers, while A ate methodically.  Aside from an ice cream mustache, neither made a mess!

7)      The girls got their green couch (from Pottery Barn) for their second birthday, but I unfolded it for the very first time a couple of days ago, as they watched a little bit of Animal Planet with their daddy.  I could not get over the sweetness of seeing them snuggled together with their blankets and babies…a small vision into future family movie nights and slumber parties.

8)      Seeing Baby B, standing on her tiptoes to get an extra bite of banana muffins from her Daddy.

9)      Seeing Baby A, totally enamored with the hunk of watermelon her daddy gave her as he was cutting our first melon of the season.

10)   B explains the world: "I can think about two things at once, because my brain has two halves."

11)   Seeing Baby B jump on a swing, and before I could register what was happening, Baby A started pushing her.  I had no idea they were old enough to do this!  But it was so incredibly sweet!!!

12)   Seeing the girls playing with a set of matroshka dolls for the first time.  Hubby and I have so many sets from our trips to Russia…and it was pretty incredible to see our baby girls enjoying them so much.

13)   I always tell the girls to listen to their bodies as to how much they should eat. After eating a bowl of warm blueberry cobbler, Baby A said, "Mommy! Listen to my tummy! Can you hear it? It's saying, 'More! More!'"

14)   I heard the end of B's conversation on her toy phone: "OK, God, bye-bye. Amen." 

15)   "My nose likes breathing cool air, not warm air." That's one way to ask Mommy to crank up the air conditioning in the car, apparently.

16)   A former colleague came over for a short visit on Saturday morning, bringing her 8 ½-month old little boy.  The girls were so excited ahead of their visit.  They had quite the elaborate set-up of towers for him to knock over.

17)   At bedtime last night, I said to Baby A: "I love you." Her response?  "I do, too. I love me. And I love you. And Daddy, and Sissy, and Sasha."  How I love that she loves herself. What a gift!

18)   "Here, go get me the [pretend] computer. I need to check the weather," asked Baby A.  "What does it say?"  "It says tornadoes on Monday, volcanoes on Tuesday, and just rain showers on Wednesday."  I'm not sure where they're pretending we live...but it sounds like we need to move!

19)   Took the girls to craft time at the local craft store on Saturday, where they made Uncle Sam-inspired hats.  They wanted to wear them as we ran next door to Kohl’s.  It was so much fun seeing the reactions of everyone in the store…the girls were beaming with pride as so many people complemented their craftsmanship.

20) We enjoyed a visit from GG, Uncle Tommy, and Aunt GG on Tuesday.  The girls were SO excited to learn they were coming, and they were so tickled to snuggle with them during their visit.  I surprised everyone (except perhaps the girls) when I asked for a "silly face" photo.  I love how much the adults got into it, just like the kiddos!

See...lots of super keeping us busy!  Just gotta make better time to get it all in the books!

No Label Makers Allowed!

I enjoy reading blogs that have descriptions in the sidebar of each of the cast of characters…Little Johnny is X, Y, and Z; and Princess Elizabeth is A, B, and C. It’s fun to get a feel for each child’s characteristics as I’m reading about their adventures.

I have been considering a couple of recent pictures of Baby A and Baby B that I think could be used to make a really cute post about their personalities…

…but something about that just doesn’t sit right in my head…it actually fills me with a lot of anxiety…

I hate when people ask, “Which one is more outgoing?” Or, after seeing the girls for all of 90 seconds in the supermarket line, say, “Oh, she’s the leader of the crew, huh?” Or, “I can tell she’s the shy one.”

For one, it totally depends on the day and the situation as to how each of the girls behaves…and kinda like the weather in the south, if you don’t like it, just wait five minutes and it’ll change.

But beyond that, I feel this intense need to try to keep from labeling the girls. I can only imagine hearing that you’re the leader time and again could affect the way you think, and of course the way your sister thinks, too. Or hearing too often that your sister is more verbally gifted, or the more “physical” of the two, well I’m sure that could impact your drive.

I keep a pretty detailed journal of the girls’ comings and goings. I write down fun little adventures we had, cute things the girls did, and milestones hit.

It’s easy to record that Baby A just cut her bottom left canine tooth…there’s no interpretation in that, and no means for competition. Baby B liked the boiled okra I served for lunch, but A didn’t…no issue there, either.

These past couple of weeks, Baby B has been saying new words every single day. I know I’m not remotely keeping up with all of them, but I try to jot them down as I can. (Yesterday she said “owl” and “bees” while looking at a picture book. Oh, how my little heart melts to hear her babyspeak!)

As I recorded this in my journal, I automatically thought back to what Baby A did yesterday. I wrote down how when Daddy got home, we cleared the floor of the den and tried to get the girls to race us, crawling, across the room. Baby B didn’t get far…she rolled over in a fit of giggles as soon as she saw Mommy crawling around. Baby A was into it, though…she was a legitimate race contender, saving her giggles until she made it to the finish line. She was so cute and determined.

I would love to tell you that Baby B has the most infectious laugh…it’s just so bubbly that you can’t help but smile. But I don’t want to imply that Baby A’s laugh is not infectious, too…it’s just as precious, but different…

I KNOW I’m over-thinking all this…I KNOW it’s only natural to make comparisons, at least on some level. And I KNOW it’s unhealthy to set the girls up to think that everything is equal, and always will be…that’s not life.

I guess I’m just trying to avoid labeling the girls so as not to inadvertently steer them in a particular direction; to allow them to grow into their own, unique selves, surrounded by a loving support system, but one that’s not pushy or judgmental.

So I’m going to go ahead and post a couple of pictures of my girlies...

Baby A:

Baby B:

...and I'll confidently write a single caption:

These are the sweetest, most precious babies this mommy could ever ask for.

'Nuff said.

No Self-Esteem Issues Here!

Check out the girls checking themselves out in the mirror! Just ask them, "Where's the pretty baby?" and they grab the mirror and give it a kiss!



I think it's important to support their self esteem...I just hope I'm not creating two adorable little monsters! HA!