Top 10 Bedtime Excuses

The twins have always shared a room. While being seperated at night is something that absolutely terrifies them, it makes bedtime difficult. So here are the TOP 10 reasons to get out of bed - per Nathaniel and Tyler.

1. I have to go to the bathroom.
2. I need a cup of water.
3. I like your bed better.
4. The light won't work.
5. It's not dark yet. (in the summer)
6. It's too dark. (in the winter)
7. He called me a selfish hairball!
8. He won't stop making me laugh.
9. He has a toy.
10. He spit on me!

The absent are never without fault. Nor the present without an excuse. ~ Ben Franklin

Mommy gets it in the face

We love a good water fight at our house. Yes, someone always ends up whinning about getting wet, but the rest of us continue on with the fun. For their 7th birthday I splurged and bought the twins super soakers - these neat Transformer ones that shoot four different styles and were on sale for $14.00 each.

On Sunday we were all playing in the pool and enjoying the summer sun. While Dear Hubby went inside to put little man down, and T1 went...somewhere, T2 got a water gun. I was in the pool and relaxing, but game for the fun. He jumped out of the pool and was racing around it shooting in, while I was in shooting out. We ran out of water at about the same time, so he went to get the hose and I leaned over the side and tried to explain how to fill them without using so much water pressure. After a few minutes of not getting anywhere, I had him bring me the guns and I would fill them. He brought the guns and went back to for the hose, I was leaning over picking up a gun and stood up to reach for the hose that he brought, as I stood, I got a face FULL of water!!!
My son was a foot from me soaking me with the ice cold hose water! Dear Hubby walked outside just in time to enjoy the spectacle of T2 getting the best of Mommy.

Some people are making such thorough plans for rainy days that they aren't

enjoying today's sunshine. ~ William Feather

10 Things Tuesday - July 21

This week I want to talk about health and how quickly we forget it when we have it. I have friend whose family is going through some rough health issues right now. It reminds me of how lucky we are when we are healthy and able to do the things we want to do. One would think that with a son with a heart defect, I would be grateful daily. But as the days move together, and he is doing good, I forget. So today I am grateful for

• Bradley's Heart - a miracle in and of itself.
• John's health - he has an incredible immune system and amazingly doesn't have any of the diseases that are so prominent within his family.
• Tyler's health - my strong full throttle child
• Nathaniel's health - this boy never slows down
• that the twins only missed 5 days of school last year - combined
• my own health - even with problems of the past, I am in good health overall
• that at the moment, we are not subject to the germs of daycare
• that my family is not filled with history of cancers and such
• that my children aren't hurt more often in the crazy things boys do. (no stitches so far :)
• that I am able to help those around me when they are not able to help themselves or too busy helping others.

multiplangual

multiplangual: a word I've invented to describe the language that multiples develop amongst themselves.
Before the twins could talk I read about and heard stories of languages developed by multiples that no one else could understand. One in particular was of a set of twins that did not learn English until after they were five years old. Until that point, all they spoke was their twin language, and because their mother understood it, they didn't learn anything else. I was determined that my boys would learn English before 5 - but that didn't stop them from making their own. At 2 years old they would carry on full conversations with each other and I had no clue what about. Very little of what they said made sense to me, and I continued to reinforce English words. At one point I started to understand a small amount of what they were saying. I would catch key words for things like milk and hungry. I never repeated what they said, instead I would say the actual word. This worked well and eventually they learned to speak correctly, except for one word. "Gohn"

gohn: means 1. brother 2. Nathaniel 3. Tyler
I know it sounds a little odd, but Nathaniel couldn't say his own name or Tyler's and so he called Tyler "Gohn." Tyler would not say his own name or Nathaniel's, and he called Nathaniel "Gohn." This went on for years. Everyone in our family understood when Tyler said, "Where's Gohn," he meant, "Where's Nathaniel." If Nathaniel said "Gohn potty," that did not mean that he'd gone potty, it meant "Tyler potty."

I believe the boys were four years old before they grew out of it. If you ask them about Gohn now, they think you are nuts. They have no memory of calling each other Gohn, it was just what they did. Lately we have been reminded of Gohn as Bradley learns to talk. Nathaniel is a pretty hard name to say, so it was no shock when Bradley said "Tyler" first. As he develops his language skills he continues to call both twins Tyler. He knows who Nathaniel is and who Tyler is, but he calls them both Tyler. Even stranger, he calls himself Tyler. Put him in front of a recent picture of all three of them and point to Tyler and ask "Who's that?" Bradley will answer "Tyler." Point to Bradley and ask the same question, you will get the same answer, the same goes for pointing at Nathaniel. I don't understand this concept, but they do. And I guess that's all that matters.

As my mother once said, "I don't care what they call me, so long as they call me.''

10 Things Tuesday - july 14

1. that the home internet was the providers problem not our computer - so my hubby is able to surf ultra fast without the cost of fixing the computer
2. a weekend without the kiddos to spend with my hubby, even if we don't know what we want to do yet
3. that all my boys are healthy - except for Nathaniels foot
4. super soakers - they make the best water fights
5. a nice clean sidewalk and house, now that my loving hubby pressure washed it
6. cheesecake
7. the late summer flowers starting to bloom
8. school starting in 42 days
9. a great time without fights at the waterpark
10. all the wonderful birthday wishes from my friends and family

These are the 10 things I am grateful for today

Twins Turn 7

Time flies when you are having fun. I can't believe it is seven years already. Seven seems like such a big number to me - seven and going to the second grade. I really liked age 6, not really sure about turning seven and all the things it could bring. Let's go back instead, to right before they were born.

I knew who my children were while they were still inside me. I don't know how we know so much about them, or how I could tell more about their personalities than I could with a single. It is an amazing phenomenon that I have heard happen to other moms too. I want to take you through my predictions, and compare them to my children today.

BABY A: He would be the first born, in position ready to go. He would be our eldest child, more easy going, relaxed, a little shy, just going with the flow. He would be like his father, so his father named him T1.

BABY B: He would be our against the grain child, not wanting the monitors to ever keep track of him. He would be more outgoing, my risk taker. He would be more like his mother, so I named him T2.

Fast Foward 7 Years

Baby A/ T1 - Won the eldest child by a record 17 minutes. Those must have been the longest 17 minutes in history, because he plays the oldest child part very well. T1 likes to be in charge, but when things get changed, his is true to form and goes with the flow. Not easily upset or overly emotional. The only thing I didn't forsee, a class clown. While he does well in school and has learned when to clown and when not to (while the teacher's talking), he loves to make everyone laugh. He prides himself on being the funniest and is willing to take center stage to do so.

Baby B/ T2 - Let his brother be the eldest because he wasn't moving. He loves his Mommy and doesn't like change. He is a risk taker, daredevil that I watch with one eye closed, for fear of a heart attack. He likes to do things his own way and doesn't like to be pushed around. I didn't forsee such a shy child. He strives so hard to be perfect in school and wants others to like him, but is slower to make friends.

They have grown so much, so fast. I am very proud of who they are and how far they have come. And yes, all the twin mommies before me were right, it does get easier! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS!!!

We've had bad luck with children; they've all grown up. ~Christopher Morley

10 Things Tuesday - July 5

If you haven't been following, I've started posting 10 things every Tuesday that I am thankful for, as a reminder to us all. This week - one of our busiest of the year with work and multiple birthdays, is a week to not sweat the small stuff. Instead it's time to be thankful for the small things.

• there are shoes on our feet, a roof over our heads, and food in the fridge
• the sound of laughter errupting at dinner when Bradley does something "JUST LIKE DADDY"
• swim lessons, and a pool to practice in
• getting 2 strawberries before the rabbits did
• plenty of squash, cucumber and green beans in the garden
• sunshine, with a side of rain
• the patience to potty train
• the moments of peace when no one is fighting
• a chance to go somewhere new this week
• 7 happy healthy years with our terrific twins

ready, set, potty train!

Well, I'm ready. I went to the store on my lunch break and got all the gear.

• one potty chair (that converts to a seat adapter and stool)
• multiple CARS underwear
• peanut butter m&ms (because mommy needs a reward too)

This Fourth of July weekend, while others are off to the pool, visiting family, watching parades - we will be celebrating our own Independence Day - Independence from DIAPERS!!! We did the jam packed weekend last weekend, with the friends, parade, pool, fireworks, car burnout show (a boy thing), etc. This weekend it will be all about the potty.
Little Man started showing the signs a couple of months ago, but only recently have we been able to check them all off.

• dry through the night and nap time
• interested in the potty
• aware of when he goes
• desire to get the diaper OFF (not sure if that is a real sign of readiness though)
• Caught: sitting on the big potty, shorts off, diaper on

Most importantly its summer - (I don't train in winter) and I have a long weekend to work with. The twins were trained in the fall - turning 2 in July, they weren't quite ready - but by the end of August they were starting. I however was not prepared. Oh, I had the coolest potty chair given to me. It was able to have a picture on the lid, it had a handle and made cool flushing sounds and it had a recording of Mommy saying good job. I had special thick undies that stopped stuff from running down the leg. But after that, I didn't have a clue. I didn't know a thing about how to potty train a child, much less two. (Yes, I know, there are plenty of books out there, but I am not a self help book person).
I listened to great stories - of how I was trained in 48 hours. And horror stories - of how someone else took years. I got advice from all kinds of people (none of whom included rewards of any kind) about how often, what to say, etc. So I thought I was ready. We took the twins at the same time into our small bathroom, and Daddy showed them how it worked (I thought a man explaining would make it better - lets be like Daddy and all). And they thought it was neat, but no they didn't GET it. They enjoyed playing on the potty, in the potty, around the potty, but never actually used the potty.
I had figured T2, being just like his Mommy, would get it first. But about 2 weeks into our process, T1 all the sudden, understood. Finally, something, somewhere in there clicked and he got what was supposed to happen. A few days later he was done. No diapers, no pull ups (unless on car rides, because Mommy is a chicken), no wet bed. T2 was still not getting the whole concept. Maybe I started them too early, maybe I should've read a few books first. But I had one done and one not so done. Then one day, T2 walked in on T1 and while T1 yelled "OUT", T2 noticed his brother was doing something he couldn't. Well that was the end of that. T2 is never to be outdone by someone else, figured out what he was supposed to do and he too was done.
All of this was 5 years ago. Am I ready to try again? yes. Do I have a better strategy? yes. Do I believe that this time our son is a little more ready than the twins were? yes. Do I think it will happen in 48 hours? No. Not all of us can be that special :)

"A child can go only so far in life without potty training. It is not mere coincidence that six of the last seven presidents were potty trained, not to mention nearly half of the nation's state legislators." ~Dave Barry