Big Kids
The babies recently decided that they are done with their high chairs/booster seats. It's not something Joe and I encouraged, nor is it the easiest thing to manage (kids running away from the table with food all over their faces and hands) but we're rolling with it. To be honest, they are ridiculously cute sitting at the table with only their chins coming over the top. It makes me giggle every time they eat.
They are rounding the corner on 19 months and I can't believe how amazing these tiny humans are. Life is getting easier in a lot of ways, and much of that is fostered by their growing independence and ability to communicate. Their ability to entertain and engage one another is also a huge help.
Reese has been having a language explosion over the last 6 or so weeks. Girlfriend literally says 4-6 new words a day. She amazes me. Yesterday she woke up about 30 minutes before her brother and I somehow managed to scoop her out of her crib without waking him up as well. She and I laid in my bed and watched videos. It was quiet and I got to cuddle her and stroke her hair while she rested her perfect little head on my big old belly. She is quiet in moments like that, not fighting for attention or monkeying around. Just still and calm and I get to really focus on all of the tender spots on her skin and the way her breath makes her chest rise and fall. And I got to thinking about how simple my life would have been if I had just had one kid at a time.
It wasn't long before Ryan woke up. He goes from ecstatic to be awake to terrified that he's alone in roughly 45 seconds. After nearly 19 months of someone greeting him at the end of each of his many snoozefests, you'd think the kid would be confident in the fact that he hasn't been abandoned...
Anyway, Reese and I burst through the door to greet him. And, like I say every morning, I exclaimed "Bubba! Good Morning!" when all of a sudden Reese shouted with me "Bubba!" She enthusiastically called to her brother no less than a half dozen times while I stood their trying to pick my jaw up off the ground. This was the first time the twins directly addressed each other by name. Well, a nickname, but why split hairs? Ryan exploded with delight. I couldn't take the cuteness.
Their recent focus on and acknowledgement of one another makes my heart smile every day. We are big huggers and kissers in this family and my kids are probably quite sick of being asked to give "huggy, kissy" a thousand times a day. But hey, I'm alone with them all.day.long. The least I can get is a little lovin'. Lately, they've started really hugging. I'm talking wrapping their arms around your neck and back and squeezing. They can now kiss with their mouths closed (as opposed to previously where they were quasi eating your face). They make their bath time duckies kiss one another about a million times a bath and they make me kiss their various stuffed animals before bed, ha! Lately, they have learned to hug and kiss one another and they think doing so is beyond funny. They will lean in and make a kissing noise (mmmmmmwah!) and then sit back and look at each other and laugh hysterically while clapping.
Twins are hard. Some days, after I get the babies down for a nap or bedtime, I flop down exhausted and look around at my life and wonder what the hell I was thinking. I mean seriously, two at once?! In the rigors of daily life it is easy to forget how far we have come and what a special gift these peanuts are. I am so thankful that I have them and so thankful that they have each other.
And to the twin parents out there that don't believe it gets easier, it really does. I promise.
