How To Make A Slip and Slide

We bought the boys new beds and mattresses but hadn't yet put the beds together nor taken down the toddler beds. The boys were sleeping on the new mattresses on the floor. Wednesday night when they were supposed to be sleeping, they lined up their toddler bed/crib mattresses end to end on the floor. They snuck into the bathroom and got lots and lots of water. They poured the water onto the mattresses and in their PJ's they ran and slid across the mattresses. I walked in and caught Owen mid slide. They were both soaked from head to toe as was the floor and even their new mattresses. I was so mad at them that I made them sleep in their soaking wet PJ's in their soaking wet bed. I even told them if they got sick and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia, I would just have their 3rd Bday party without them, eat their cake and open and play with their presents! They turn 3 on Dec. 16th. They did not get sick and everything eventually dried. If they are this "inventive" and "clever," words others use to describe them, at age 2 then I can't wait to see what year 3 brings us.

Christmas Stocking

Me: Jay, is Santa going to put anything in your stocking this year?
Jay: Yes
Me: Is it going to be coal?
Jay: No, socks from Walmart.

The Boys Were Two Steps Ahead

This past Sunday was a bit crazy with the boys. They seemed to be two steps ahead of us all day. We took them out to the mattress store to get mattresses for the new beds we bought them. I got tired of them taking the toddler beds apart and dragging the mattresses all over the house. At the mattress store, while I was paying for the mattresses, they jumped from bed to bed, then took all the price tags off the furniture and put them all on one dresser. Next it was on to Target to buy boots. Owen lost his jacket which luckily was found again. Jay thought it was fun to play hide-n-seek. I ended up chasing him all over the store. Not too bad so far but it gets worse. At home, we went across the street to check out a recently refurbished house now on the market. As we were leaving the boys just ran out of the house and across the street by themselves without looking. It is a good thing we don't get many cars on our street. When they reached the driveway, they scooped caulk out of the freshly caulked driveway cracks and smeared it all over my car. While I was washing Jay's hands, Owen got a hold of some stickers and stuck them all over my coffee table. I sent him to his room and found him playing in my room. Again he is sent to his room and manages to take apart a VHS cabinet and has tapes all over the floor. Owen puts them back when I tell him too but of course none are in the right cases. My mom called and while I was talking to her on the phone, Owen went into the bathroom to wash his hands. I go in to check on him and he has managed to get soap suds on the walls, toilet, mirror, door, tub, and floor. I send them both to their room and clean the bathroom. Their bedroom door is shut which means that they are probably naked at this point. I open the door to their room and there is a trail of poop across the floor (probably about 6 piles) Owen is squatting and Jay is next to him saying, "Owen, poop here next!" I just stood there waiting for the stroke I thought I might have. They will be 3 years old, 3 weeks from today. I hope I make it.

Your a Genius

Owen: Mommy, your a genius.
Me: Thank you Owen.
Owen: No Mommy!
Me: No what Owen.
Owen: Your a genius.
Me: Do you know what "genius" means?
Owen: Yes, it means you are bad.
Me: No it doesn't. It means you are very smart.
Owen: No it doesn't!
Me: Yes it does.
Owen: No Mommy!

The Books

The boys don't sleep at night. They play instead. In an effort to discourage playing at night we removed all the toys from the boys room except for some stuffed animals and their books. With the ingenuity that twin two-year-olds possess, they removed the books from the book shelves, removed the shelves, propped them up against their beds and used them as slides. This is a picture of the aftermath of destruction.

That's Disgusting

Last night was bath night. Owen asked if he could run around naked for a little bit before his bath. We heard that this was a good way to work on potty training so we agreed again in spite of the last time we let him, he pooped and peed on his Sit-n-Spin. We told them both that they need to tell us if they have to go potty. They were playing for a bit when Jay ran into the living room and announced that he had to go potty. I put him on the toilet and he peed and started to poop. I let him have his privacy and went back to sit in the living room. Then Owen comes in and says, "That's disgusting." I asked him what was disgusting. He thought for a moment and said, "Putting your finger up your nose is disgusting." I agreed with him. Then he said, "Pooping in my brother's bed is disgusting." I said, "WHAT!!!!" Owen says, "Mommy, I pooped in Jay Jay's bed." Sure enough, Owen pooped in the middle of Jay's bed.

My Little Speech Therapist

Monday morning the boys were laying in my bed watching TV while I got ready for work. "Curious George" was about to come on and Jay says, "Curus Deorge coming on." Owen then corrects his brother, "No Jay Jay, not Curus Deorge, Curious George." Jay tries to say it again and Owen corrects him again. Jay got mad. Owen got mad and yelled for me, "Mommy, Jay's saying it wrong." I told Owen that it was nice of him to try to help his brother but that now Jay wanted to be left alone.

It's been about six years since I worked as a Speech Therapist with children. Owen's speech and language is so advanced for his age. I have to keep reminding myself that Jay's speech is normal for his age and I need to stop comparing it to Owen's speech.

Brothers

Happiness is.....

Happiness is a bubble bath.

Shhhhhhhhhh!

The boys were busy lining up their cars on the couch while I was reading the paper. They were being very quiet, whispering. I asked them when they were done why the cars were all upside down. I was told, "Shhhhhhhhhhhh, mommy, they are sleeping!"

I Hit Myself

We had a barbecue this past Sunday. The boys were outside playing. My mom comes inside carrying a crying Owen with a big goose egg on his head. He was screaming too loud to ask what happened. He was also fighting against the ice for his head. Jay came in and looked really sad for Owen. My partner's mom says that he is supposed to be apologizing for hitting Owen. She asked him what happened and Jay said he hit Owen. When asked with what, he produced a broken plastic rake. Jay was told that hitting his brother was wrong. Owen was still screaming about not wanting ice. Jay asked for ice for his head because he had a "boo-boo" too. He wasn't hurt. Rather than believe that he was just attention seeking, I choose to believe that he was trying to get Owen to take the ice by acting like he wanted it. They are very competitive. Right away, Owen asked me to put the ice on his head. Finally he stopped crying and as I was holding the ice on his head, he says, "Mommy, Jay Jay didn't hit me. I hit myself." I asked him with what and he said a rock. He threw it up in the air and looked up to watch it come down on his forehead.

The Boys Have a New Ride

We bought the boys an early birthday present so they would be able to enjoy it before the weather got bad.

"I flew out the window."

That is how Owen tells people what happened yesterday. He was in the living room. I was in the kitchen. I heard a distant cry then "Mommy!" I saw the screen missing from the livingroom window and knew he fell out the window. I raced downstairs and out the door and there he was under the window sitting in a bush. I live in a split level so the fall was about 1/2 a story. I checked him out to see if he was able to move everything. He said he landed on his head so I checked his pupils to see if they were equal and reactive and they were. No lumps on his head. As a matter of fact, the boy did not have one scratch on him. I dusted him off and just kept a close eye on him and he was fine. Then his brother hit him in the head with a metal tractor. Owen has one hard head! From what I can figure out, Owen unlatched the screen from the window and it fell out and he after it. So now we are not opening any windows from the bottom and are very leary about opening them from the top since working together, the two boys can open unlocked windows. I am seriously thinking about restricting the boys viewing of Toy Story. I think he was trying to emulate his hero Buzz Lightyear.

Probably

Jay has a new word and it is "probably." He uses it every time he says something. "That's probably a dog." "Probably I want some supper." "Probably I want to go outside." It is not the only new word he has. He has officially started the "Why?" phase.

Ankle Bone

Jay: Mommy what's this? (points to his ankle bone)
Me: That's your ankle bone.
Jay: No it's not.
Me: Yes it is. See (I point to my own ankle bone) Mommy has an ankle bone and Jay has one too.
Jay: No it's not.
Me: Then what is it Jay?
Jay: A dog bone.

So I guess there is more to boys than just puppy dog tails. Apparently they have some puppy dog bones as well.

Owenism

"Mommy, we don't eat bubbles because they're ucky and we don't eat boogers because they're disgusting."

Compassion

Tonight Owen was getting bored with his breathing treatment. He has asthma and takes a daily control medication via nebulizer once a day. He told me his breathing treatment was done but it wasn't done yet so I told him so. He started to cry and Jay, who was sitting next to him, patted Owen on the back and said, "It's okay Owen. It will be alright." Jay's sense of compassion has really been developing lately. I am really proud of him. Owen has always been very compassionate. I think too much so at times. It is like he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. They can both be very sweet.

The Tailpipe

Why would a boy want to stick his arm in a tailpipe? Why would his brother want to do the same thing? Don't worry, no arms got stuck, or burnt, just covered in soot.

My Children Are Nocturnal

The last few nights, the boys have been refusing to go to bed. We start getting them ready between 7:30 and 8:00 and hope to have them in bed by 8:30pm at the latest. They get their second wind by that time and run through the house, rummage through the cabinets, and tear their room apart. Last night they even managed to get outside and locked the door behind them. This goes on until about 11:00pm. I have tried every technique I can think of to get them to bed and asleep at a reasonable hour and nothing has worked. This happens regardless of whether they have taken a nap or not. Then when morning comes around and we get them up at 7:00am, they either stare off into space or throw a tantrum when trying to get them dressed or fed.



This morning when I got Jay up I took him to the bathroom. He was dry so I knew he would have to go. He screamed the whole way and stiffened his body so I couldn't sit him on the toilet. I finally bribed him to sit on the toilet and he started to pee, while he was peeing he was also playing and managed to soak the bathroom rug and floor in urine. Then he refused to get dressed. I threatened to take him to the sitter's naked which didn't phase him. He started screaming that he wanted to wear a diaper rather than a pull-up. Owen was in a peacekeeping mood this morning and told Jay, "Jay you are a big boy. You don't wear diapers anymore." To which Jay screams, "NOOOOOOO!" Then Owen turns to me and says, "Mommy, I am a nice boy. I'll wear a pull-up for you." I ended up wrestling clothes on Jay and got them both to the sitter's. I wished her luck.

Jay looks so sweet.

Toy Story

Owen is obsessed with Toy Story. Jay likes it too but is not obsessed like Owen is. Owen currently has 4 Woody's, 2 Jessie's, and 5 Buzz Lightyear's. Jay actually owns 2 of those Buzz's, a Woody and a Jessie but I counted them as Owen's because Owen rarely lets Jay play with them anyway.

Here is Owen with his pal Buzz.

Here is Owen with his pal Woody.

This morning Owen says, "Mom, Woody put his head in your coffee."

Getting Started

I've wanted to start a blog for quite a while now. I wanted to start it when I knew I would be able to consistently post to it. That is not easy to do when raising twin two-year-olds. Their antics are incredibly funny and frustrating. We are working on potty training one of the boys, Jay. Why would he think it necessary to unroll an entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet? At least he remembered to flush!!!! Yesterday, Jay had an accident in his pants and when he was being cleaned up, his brother Owen, capitalized on the opportunity and ran away. He ran out of the back door, out of the fenced in yard, and through the neighborhood. Luckily, a neighbor spotted him and promptly returned him.

Well, I'll end this post by saying that my partner and I are doing our best to raise these boys to be responsible members of society. We are doing it with love, discipline, and respect. Some days we are just in survival mode, other days we learn, love, and laugh while raising Owen and Jay.