twins

walking together

sitting side by side on the couch

When they find out I have twins, people often say, " I always wanted twins!"

And I know one thing for sure. They always wanted them, but they have no idea what its like to actually HAVE them. Having them is a whole other story.

When they are tiny, sometimes they take turns sleeping and eating, and you literally never stop, and can never rest. If you are lucky, you can get them to coordinate naps and eating. This is the best thing ever. You can tote them around in carseats and double strollers and get tons of unwanted, but nice, attention from strangers. Especially old people at Costco. Costco members over 55 are all about twins. It must be a membership requirement. They all know twins, are a twin, or have twins. You will also need to be member of Costco in order to supply the amount of diapers you will go through.

When they sit-up and crawl, it will be doubly cute because they will start to interact with one another and smile and laugh together. Think of how cute it is when your baby makes a little friend. Only, that friend never leaves. Its like that. Super cute.

When they walk, oh it is such a happy day! You can picture them running together, playing, laughing...the possibilities are endless. And so is the trouble. For it is then that the true parenting of twins begins.

It starts with blocking the stairs, this leads to gates at the bottom and the top, and a plexiglass shield to prevent toys from being dropped through the stair railings to the piano below. All cabinets must have child locks, and when they have attempted to open them many times and worn off the tiny plastic nub that prevents the cabinet from opening, you can put rubber bands and other locks on the outside as well. (Although, this is more of a challenge than a deterrent in their eyes.)

This is where they get smarter- fast. They move furniture-- did you know a 25 pound baby can move a 20 pound coffee table across a room? Yep! They can. Once they work together to move it off the rug, it glides effortlessly across the wood floor over to the kitchen counter with only one person at the helm. Then, with assistance, both people can use said coffee table to climb onto the kitchen counter and open the coveted birthday candle cabinet. They can locate the bag of candles, open it with dextrous little hands, and sing "Happy to YOU!" together on the counter, which of course, becomes their prime object in life. As often as they can do it, they do. They also experiment with things like sitting on top of the dvd player/cable box/ entertainment center to get a better look at the TV up close. They test drive the top of the piano for a lookout. They use a 1/4 inch ledge to catapult themselves onto and off of surfaces that you didn't even know they could climb. Ah yes, they are very very smart. And fast. They can dump a giant container of bubbles behind you in the kitchen while you wash dishes just as soon as you turn around for 2 seconds. They can abscond with all of the silverware from the silverware drawer on your trip to the potty. How they move with such stealth is a great mystery, nevertheless, it is fact.

While the crying is louder, and in stereo, the wildness is wilder, and the tantrums are doubly frustrating, I love twins. My twins especially, of course. They play together- not next to each other--together. They understand each other, and they help each other. They hold hands when they walk down the street (which would melt a heart, seriously), and they know just where to bite the other person to cause the loudest shriek possible. In fact, if you were bear hugged by twins, had two babies sit on your lap to read and say "go dog, go!" at the same time, you'd probably love twins too! Its really impossible not to be overwhelmed by them, but at the same time, theres a balance of overwhelming affection and their own little friendship with you that is hard to beat.

And some days, like today, when they are getting ready to be potty trained, they will help each other flush the toilet, and hand each other toilet paper. Meetings in the ladies room start early with twins. They will congratulate each other on even the smallest accomplishments, as I found out today.

I entered their room to see why they were not asleep yet-- how could they sleep with such an exciting event going on-- Evey pooped! "Evey poopy! Evey poopy!" Maren said as I entered the room. They both danced around with glee as Evey waved her poopy fingers at me. "Poopy!" she said with a giant smile. She handed me a small green grocery basket from the play kitchen. Sure enough, Evey was poopy, and there was the proof, right there in the basket where it had been placed by tiny hands. A real treasure. A quick look around was enough to ascertain that the poop had been taken out of the diaper on the floor, and the tiny bum, or the poop itself, had visited both beds, the carpet and possibly some other small containers near where the basket was originally. So, I removed sheets, scrubbed the carpet, and did a once over on all the questionable surfaces around. I still can't get the picture of the happy couple presenting me with their basket of poop out of my head. Really, how cute to have a little friend who thinks your poop is like, the best thing ever! Must be pretty cool.

Anyway, I'm a fan of twins. So, I guess even though I never "always wanted them!" I can say, that I'm so glad I'll always have them!

Here is some twin cuteness:
They were walking holding hands at Sea World, and they break into spontaneous dancing.(oh, and running into another family- but they thought it was cute- so its okay!)