Stickers and Funny Faces

Every time Killian and Payton have a new experience, it amazes me how comepletely different they are. Of course I know that siblings can be, and usually are (look at Jacey and Bryleigh, or my brother and me!) different, but with twins I thought maybe they'd be a little more alike. Nope. Not at all!

For example, my mom gave them some sheets of stickers yesterday and Payton proceeded to stick each one of the stickers all over her legs and feet. She had a fit when I tried to remove them when we got in the car, so there they stayed for a few hours, then she reapplied some new stickers a when we were home at night.

Then there's Killian, who we assume thought the stickers were band-aids, and says "ow, ow, ow" and signs "hurt" and points at them on Payton's legs. He freaks out and starts crying if a sticker gets on his hand or fingers, so the only place they are safe on him is on his shirt or shorts. One at a time, of course.




Signing "hurt" or "owie"












Look at me! I'm so brave - I'm touching a sticker!



Making his "funny face"


Funny faces




"Cold" face. We ask if she's cold and she locks her jaw and shivers. It's pretty funny.



"Sleepy face" I didn't get her with her eyes closed, but she can't stop laughing when she does this.



I've updated the list of signs they are doing, and will add more as I remember them.

They are not only signing some (two) colors, but they can recognize colors them and sign them if you ask "what color is this?". It's pretty cool that at 16-months old they can do that. AND, they know the number "one". If you ask how old they are, or tell them "just take one", they will hold up one little finger. So cute!

Did you notice in the pictures that we have 2 new recliners in our living room? Daddy got himself an early Father's day present - 2 new chairs and a 60-inch flat screen DLP TV! Yes - a 5 foot TV in our living room. I can't wait until football season!!!!

Cold Turkey

Can you tell I've been busy this month? It's been over a month since I've posted and I know everyone is going crazy for more pictures and updates.

A lot of changes have been going on these last few weeks. This stuff may not seem like a big deal to some, but to us, it's very huge. First off, we ditched the swing. We folded it up one day and didn't use it again. Not even in an emergency. The swing was used every night and day for over a year to put Payton to sleep in. It's now been passed on to our new nephew who is arriving on June 18!

Then, we dropped the afternoon bottle (weaned off), then the evening bottle (cold turkey) about 2 weeks later. They actually did fine with this. I think the first night without it was confusing to them, but they don't seem to miss it at all. So, now they are down to only one bottle a day; their morning bottle. I think they really enjoy this one the most, and it may be the most difficult to drop. I plan on doing that cold turkey when they turn 17-months old.

And now the big news.....Okay, are you ready for this!? Payton is actually sleeping through the night. Yes, it's official, she's slept through for 7 nights now! And not only that, but I can actually put her down in her crib at bedtime and she falls asleep! Chris and I decided to just bite the bullet and do it cold turkey. It took 4 nights of her crying in her crib for an hour, and waking Killian up in the process, and then on the 5th night, she fell asleep without crying. Now I can put her down after the bedtime routine and she falls asleep in her own crib. Not once in over 16 months has she done this, so this is a very big milestone for her! It's been life changing for me, too.

They had their first fast food chicken nuggets and french fries this month. Not something I'm very proud of, as I was hoping to keep that away from them, I much rather they have a veggie burger or even grilled cheese sandwich. But we had a busy day one day and we were all hungry, so they lucked out and got some chicken stars. I don't think they loved them, and definitely won't miss them if they don't have them again for a while.

I figured out a way to get Payton to eat foods she doesn't like- which is anything that doesn't have carbs or cheese in the main ingredient. Ketchup! She loves to "dip". She'll dip anything and everything in ketchup and actually enjoy it. Her chicken, sandwich, veggie burger, broccoli pancake, and she dips her waffles in applesauce. The girl loves to dip! Killian does it too, but not because he enjoys the taste, it's only because Payton does it first.

The babies enjoyed a day a the pool (about an inch of water in a small pool in Grandma's backyard) recently. Killian loves to put his face in the water. He thinks it's hilarious. They'll probably be doing that a lot this summer.

Killian got his second haircut, and Payton got her first. Pictures were not taken this time. I'm surprised child services wasn't called, actually. The screams they let out were not like anything you've ever heard. I'm going to need to learn how to trim hair. There is no way I'm taking them to have their hair cut again. At least not by strangers.

The girls are finishing up 5th and 6th grade and have been very busy with year-end projects and events. They were in music this year, Bryleigh in clarinet and Jacey in percussion (drums), so they had a music concert and then a choral concert a few nights after that. They've had year-end fundraisers and carnivals at school, lots of assemblies and field trips. I'm freaking out a little that Jacey will be in Jr. High next year! Jacey's softball season is officially over, but they are continuing in the playoffs. They won the first game of the playoff knock-out tournaments and are having their second game this weekend. Hopefully she makes the All-Star team and can continue to play through the summer. If not, she's done with softball until Fall.

They will go to a day camp that will keep them busy during the day, and they'll go on a field trip every week and swimming every day. They will also be going to specialty camps; which include a Girl Scout camp, a YMCA week long sleep away camp, and a horeseback riding camp.

My very big news is that after 5 attempts at finding the "perfect" double stroller, I have found what I think to be the closest that exists. I love love love it! It's a Baby Jogger City Mini Double, in orange / gray. I can highly recommend this stroller to anyone looking for a lightweight side-by-side double. Chris is also very happy, as I will not by purchasing then selling strollers in all my "spare time".

Here are some pictures from the past 6 weeks.

Another reason we got rid of the swing:

My cuties (their stickers say "Kiss a Cutie"):

Night-Night faces:

In the pool at Grandmas:

Summertime watermelon:

Kissy Toes

Killian loves to kiss his toes. Muah! Muah!

Posh Baby

My mom and I took Killian and Payton to this really cool convention last weekend. It was called Baby Celebration, and there were over 100 vendors - mostly geared toward pregnant women and babies/toddlers, a lot of "parent invented" products, and speakers. Originally, we went to see Rachel Coleman of Signing Time. We got there right when it opened and got front and center seats to see Rachel. She told her story and sang some songs. The babies definitely did not get that she was on TV at their house, and in front of them in person.

After that, we walked around for a few hours and saw some cool stuff. We did end up meeting Rachel right before she left. The line had dwindled and we were able to say hi to her.

I bought Payton the cutest things ever! They are my new favorite product for her! BabyLegs! I've seen them before, but never wanted to spend the money on them, but it was getting a bit cold in the convention center, and they were on sale, so I got her some to throw on her legs. I absolutely LOVE them! I want all the colors! I would like to buy some very boyish BabyLegs for Killian too, but Chris would kill me if I put legwarmers on his son. LOL.

Here's what Payton looks like in her BabyLegs, she's a very posh girl, you know.





















And here's Killian being a boy. He's signing "be careful" in the first picture.

Playgrounds

Being at home by myself with the babies 2 days a week, we all go a little stir crazy once in a while. We don't have a backyard so I can't just take them outside. Our Tuesdays and Thursdays are pretty much spent in the living room, unless we go for a walk or to run errands. I'm always looking for fun and inexpensive things that I can do with them. I can't take them to the park yet by myself, because my body doesn't split into two separate halves so that I can contain and control both of them at one time. I can't wait until their old enough that they know not to run off.

There's this harness made for twins that I really want to get. I know that some people think this is somehow cruel or weird to put your kids on a leash, but I don't. I think it's a really good idea, especially if you have multiples that run in two different directions when you set them free from their stroller. However, I'm sure with this harness, they would most likely run around me, in two different directions of course, and wrap my legs together so that I would fall down, and everyone would then be crying. I can pretty much guarantee they would not be as happy as the kids on the website look. But at least they would look so cute with one pink and one blue harness.

Back to my original thought, since we can't just pop outside into a backyard and I can't take them to the park by myself, we've been visiting indoor playgrounds. I had a favorite one, but it got shut down by the fire department for not being up to code. I am very bummed about this because it was fairly inexpensive, very close to my house, clean, a gated area for kids 5 and under so they couldn't go more than 20 feet from me, and I really liked the owner. So, two weeks ago, the twins were on a good nap and eating schedule, so we tried a new indoor playground.

I'm sorry to say...I hated the new place! I hated it before I even got in there! They didn't have any way for me to get into the building with a stroller! How can you run a business for kids and babies, but not have a stroller ramp? I had to call them, and then walk all the way around the block to go in the back entrance. I won't go into all the reasons I didn't like this place, the babies liked it, and that's what we were there for. We just won't be going back. Anyway, here are some pictures from that day.














Making fire truck "vroom vroom" sounds




He's signing "horse"