If at first, you don't succeed

One of my favorite things about Caitlin right now is the constant stream of notes that she is writing.   They are usually to her friends at school, but every once in a while I get one--sometimes I get a really good one.

 And, she is nothing if not persistent, so she is finding creative ways to push back when she doesn't hear what she wants.  Recently, John and I noticed that the girls were both eating some dinner and then stopping short and a bit later asking for bananas, yogurt, cheese after dinner.  We were down with it for a few nights until we started thinking that dinner is at 6pm and they go to bed by 7pm ish, so really, an after-dinner snack isn't really a thing, just yet.  So, the rule is, eat your dinner until you're full, then you are done.  Caitlin isn't taking this rule lying down.  So, tonight, she picked at her dinner, then left the table despite a reminder that if she left, she was done for the night--"i know," she told me.  She promptly went upstairs for about 10 minutes, came down and presented me with this.  She said nothing and didn't look at me,  she just handed it to me.

Dear Mom,  I felled full wen I left the tabole but noow I fell hungruree.

Top Header "I LOVE YOU!" with two yellow hearts labelled "hunguree"

 John and I both tried to keep our chuckles to ourselves.  I don't think I ever actually answered this (it wasn't really a question though), but I really appreciate her effort.

The Best Part About Having Twins

Having twins is friggin hard. Seriously.  I knew it was going to be hard--was petrified about the idea when I found out at 7 weeks of pregnancy, and I was right.  But it is also quite awesome, and I knew it would be that too--but I didn't realize how awesome.  But, you never really know how awesome kids are till you actually have them. Nora and Ryan are such individuals and watching them become themselves has been such a cool thing.  That's really the case with any baby, isn't it? But with twins it is cool to see how they are still uniquely themselves despite having been in the same exact setting as another individual and are still so different from that individual.  Just the contrast is impressive--these two are like night and day.  Ryan is a complete extrovert--needs other people like he needs oxygen.  Nora is seriously introverted--she happily tolerates other people, but really is happiest doing her own thing by herself.  Ryan is a people-pleaser and loves to be applauded--he potty trained pretty easily because he loves positive feedback.  Nora is concerned with what she decides to concern herself with and that is all--she will not be potty trained--she will do it when she feels like it (though she is perfectly capable).  Ryan follows directions most of the time.  Nora pretends not to pay attention to the world around her.  Ryan is the pickiest eater ever.  Nora will eat anything--anything...and lots of it.  Last week she ate 5 pieces (adult sized) of feta and yellow pepper ring pizza, 3 servings of roasted brussel sprouts and a banana for dinner, one night.  Together, though, they still manage to have a blast.

The best part about having twins, to me, has been watching them become little BFFs.  They absolutely LOVE each other.  Despite their strong individuality, they still need each other.  They ask for each other immediately after nap. They talk and laugh and play together all day.  They imagine that they are Dora and Diego and go on all kinds of crazy pretend adventures.  They encourage each other (for better or worse).  They laugh.  They stay up for 3 hours after I put them to bed singing and laughing together.  They understand each other even when we can't. Don't get me wrong, they also drive each other crazy and kick/hit/bite each other, just like any other set of siblings.  But, all they've known is to be with the other.  I'm so thankful they have each other and pray they continue to bless one another with so much love and support as they grow.

Easter Weekend

Caitlin and Soren watching a movie

 Cousins Soren and Ethan Came over Easter weekend for a visit.  All week preceding this, my kids were talking about it and couldn't wait.  They weren't disappointed and had a blast together.

Friday was dinner and movie night, The Sound of Music.
Saturday was Easter Egg hunt at church, Egg decorating, the out to dinner.
Sunday was church and Easter baskets--then a quick celebration of Uncle Scott's 29th Birthday before saying good-byes. Whew! But very fun.

Ryan was not disappointed by our candy-free Easter Egg hunt

Caitlin wanted to ride a pony (probably b/c her toddler siblings did) but you could not tell by the look on her face--she did this the whole time. I doubt she will be doing many more pony rides.

Down the bounce house slide with daddy

Nora spied her Easter Basket!

Candy-free Easter baskets (on Ryan's behalf)

Happy Birthday, Scott!

3ish year stats

Ryan:
2 years ---> 3 years
25 pounds 8 ounces (10th %ile) ---> 30 pounds, 4 ounces (40th %ile)
33 inches tall (10th %ile) ---> 38.5 inches tall (50th %ile)


Nora:
2 years ---> 3 years
27 pounds 6 ounces (50th %ile) ---> 33 pounds 6 ounces (75th %ile)
35 inches tall (75th %ile) ---> 40 inches (95th %ile)

Conclusion: Both kids are growing like weeds.

Vacay Day 5--Happy Birthday Nora and Ryan!

YAY! Finally my last post about D-world. This was Feb 20th, Nora and Ryan's third birthday. It's almost like it's their first birthday--the first one I'm celebrating anyway. The previous two birthdays were hard for me. It just felt like a bad anniversary--the anniversary of one of the worst days of my life. What a horrible thing to say, right? It's their birthdays! But it was a very tough anniversary for me--all the more to feel badly about, I guess. It's the truth, whatever. I'm getting some healing about this is the point. I finally wanted to make a big hairy deal out of their birthdays this year. I may have also felt the need to make up for moping around the previous two birthdays.

SOOoo, our last day of vacation, we met up with Nana and Grandpa and then we got going. We started the day in line to see Jasmine and Aladdin. We waited a long time in line. Once we got to the front, Aladdin asked Ryan for his pb sandwich, so he could give it to Abu and Ryan happily complied. Ryan is not particularly attached to his food, you see.



Ryan got a little extra attention from Jasmine. How could she resist?
We headed over to Tomorrowland and Caitlin was lucky to get paired up with Grandpa, who was going to make sure the bad guys didn't get them.


After the Buzz Lightyear ride, we went to this amazing 3D movie, called "Mickey's PhilharMagic." So cool. Ryan got scared in the middle, when lion came toward him roaring. He started crying, so I was yelling to Grandpa to pull off his glasses since I was a few seats over. Ryan quickly recovered and put his glasses back on and calmly watched the rest of the show. Nora, on the other hand, had become a bit desensitized over the course of the short trip and enjoyed both the Buzz Lightyear ride and the 3D movie with tons of smiles and chatter. No worries from her which was very different from the Winnie the Pooh ride the first day at MK.

After the movie, the kids got to pick out one thing at the gift shop, this was mostly b/c I needed to give them something to do in between this event and the lunch we planned--we had an hour to burn.


The kids played on the porch of Crystal Palace for about 45 minutes before our reservation. It was really the only shade we could find. It was also the first time they got to just play in the course of the trip. So, I made reservations here because the Pooh Crew hangs out here and I was hoping Nora and Ryan would have a sweet lunch celebration for their birthdays. We were sure sad about daddy not being well enough to join us. The kids LOVED seeing their friends....


Lots of rubbernecking was happening. Not a lot of eating was happening.



Nora and Ryan got little cakes and cards from the Pooh crew as well. So much fun.

After this lunch, we were wiped out. Goodbye, D-world. It was real. Kids were awesome. We had a great time and made some great memories. Success! I love that we have a fun time to look back on like this. I'm so thankful that the kids are healthy enough that this was even a possibility. There were many days, especially in 2009, where I never would have thought this would be possible--especially this soon, when Nora and Ryan are just barely 3. They are just being so healthy and normal. Thank you, Wonderful God, for surprising us. We were never bold enough to ask for this.

Vacay Day 4

I took Caitlin to the Main Street Barber Shop near the MK main entrance, first thing on Day 4. She had been wanting a haircut and I'd read that the prices were reasonable and there was pixie dust involved. Sold.



Next we got in line to meet Ariel and I have a bunch of poorly lit pictures of that.
Next, onto the Magic Carpet Ride.

Ryan and I rode together, so no pictures of us. After, we went to a really cool simulated "Jungle Cruise" on a river boat. The guide was very "punny" so, of course, John thought that was the best part of the entire trip.
Then, Caitlin had her heart set on the Splash Mountain ride, which surprised me, but she said it and she was going to do it. All throughout the day, we asked her "are you still going to do it?" YEP. So, John went to get Fastpasses for them for Splash Mountain and I went and got in line to see the Fairies. It was Terence and Tink. They have this place all set up so that the flowers and leaves are gigantic and it looks like the fairies are small in proportion. Despite this, as soon as we left, Caitlin said "I thought they were going to be really small." Huh? I thought she knew they were all regular folks dressed up. Maybe not. I let it go.Swiss Family Robinson's treehouse was next. It was pretty cool. A nice opportunity for Nora and Ryan to get out of the stroller and move around and up and up and up.
After Lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern, Caitlin and John headed over to redeem their fastpasses and ride Splash Mountain. I tried to sit with Ryan and Nora and watch Caitlin and John come down the ride, but the littles were cranky and antsy. I decided to go get Caitlin's zebra mouse ear hat embroidered with her name. I surprised myself by getting hats for Nora and Ryan too. You do kind of get sucked in at D-world.





I took about 20 pictures of them in their mouse ear hats and this is the best I could get. By the way, Caitlin did do Splash Mountain without hesitation, and loved it.

After some rest time, we headed out to Downtown Disney where we were to meet Nana and Grandpa for dinner at Wolfgang Puck. We had also planned on stopping at the Lego store, but ended up not having time for that. The kids didn't mind though, since there were so many other things to see. Like this super cool dragon made out of Legos in the river!


Kids picked flowers (sorry Disney!) while we waited (way too long) for our table.


Lots of fun and great food at dinner. Nora ate my entire dinner, nearly.


This was the last time we saw John. He got awfully sick overnight and the next morning. Fortunately, he got to rest and the kids had a nice birthday and last day at Disney (next post) with Nana and Grandpa.