Comparing & Coloring

I have twins, and they are identical too. This invites a lot of people to try to compare them to each other. It happened much more when they were babies.

“Have they both started to crawl yet?”

“Who is the better sleeper?”

“Do you have the same discipline problems with both?”

I get it. Twins are interesting and people are curious, but it makes me crazy. I feel like there can be so much pressure on them to do things in the same way at the same time. Since their little egg split these two are different people. They may save the same DNA but have different personalities and interests. It didn’t matter that Alyssa started crawling a month after Kylie, she ended up walking first. And so what if Kylie isn’t as good at catching a ball as Alyssa? She is better at drawing. And in a couple of years if one wants to do karate and one wants to take piano lessons then that just sounds perfect to me.

And just because I am a proud little mama, here is a picture Kylie colored yesterday. I think she did a pretty good job for still being two years old! She is getting better at coloring in the lines (all on her own, we don’t tell her she needs to!) and worked especially hard on Big Bird’s beak and feet.

Who Is Who?

Here is a little cheat sheet for everyone to help keep track of who is who around here. I should also mention that the girls talk about themselves in the third person. I think it might be because they are twins and it is their way of identifying who they are talking about, but it also could be because that darn Elmo does it too. Who knows?!

Russell: Daddy

Me (Anina): Mommy

Alyssa: Lissie, Lissa or Sissy (sister)

Kylie: Ky-ya, Ky-dy or Sissy (sister)

Wyatt: Baby Wyatt or just Wyatt

Tank: Tanky. Also poor Tank has gotten the nickname “Poopy Cat” for reasons unknown

Leila: Monster (we gave her this nickname years ago and it has stuck for the girls. Leila is also pronounced Ye-Ya.

Rusty: Doggie or sometimes Rusty

Russell’s parents: Grandma and Grandpa. Commonly becomes one word “GrandmaGrandpa”

My dad and step-mom: Opa and Jo-Jo (also sometimes Grandma Jo)

My mom and step-dad: Grammy and Grampy. Mostly Gammy and Gampy actually.

AND since they are identical twins and people always want to know how we tell them apart, I thought I would see if anyone was brave enough to guess who is pictured here:

And this one?

Their Marks

Before the girls were even born they made their mark on my heart. I will love them for as long as I live.

Unfortunately during the pregnancy they also made their mark on my belly. These stretch marks and stretched out skin (I call it my “twin skin”) aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

And yesterday, they finished a project over two years in the making by putting their marks on my belly… cast!

We made this just 3 days before the girls were born at the biggest I (hopefully!) will ever be. I always envisioned having their hand prints on it, each in their respective positions, and yesterday we did it.

Aloha

Grammy and Grampy just got back from a trip to Hawaii and sent the kids a goody box. Here the girls are modeling some new shirts and flower hair clips. Could they be any cuter?

Kylie (left) Alyssa (right)

And here is one with leis as crowns, just as Grammy predicted.

Kylie (left) Alyssa (right)

They are so cute dressed like this I think we need to make a trip to Hawaii ourselves, but for now this is the best we can do. Aloha!

Snuggle Bugs

I know, I know.

I have taken a serious break from my blog recently. Although I think most of you can forgive me and understand. I do kind of have my hands full and am adjusting to a new schedule and routine. BUT, I do have lots to share with you. Unfortunately, all the drafts I have in mind have only been written in my head, and there isn’t an easy way to post them from there

You can, however, start getting excited for Wyatt’s one month stats and his monthly photo shoot pictures, Adventures in Potty Training, a Kylie Artwork post, and more. For today I just want to share a couple pictures of the girls. Kylie has started climbing out of her bed to snuggle with her sister at night. Usually when they get out of their beds we put them back before we go to bed, but these nights we have left them where they are. It is just too cute to break up.

Alyssa left, Kylie right

Kylie left, Alyssa right

And yes, Kylie was wearing pajamas when she went to bed. You can actually see them behind her…

Kylie left, Alyssa right

Kind of reminds me of their old NICU picture. Some things never change.

Kylie left, Alyssa right

Born together, best friends forever.

What Are The Odds?

My due date for this pregnancy is March 8. Since I had a c-section with the twins, I will have to have a scheduled c-section this time around also. (It is not really a big deal at all since my experience the first time around was very easy) For a scheduled cesarean my doctor had told me they like to do them about a week before your due date so you have less of a chance of going into labor. If you were to pull out your calendar you would see that would be one of the last days of February or the first day or March. And just to add a little twist, this coming year is no ordinary year… it is a leap year. Which means there is a very real possibility Sprout could be born on leap day. That we could choose to have Sprout born on leap day.

I have not decided exactly how I feel about the whole idea yet. In some ways I think it would be very fun and special and give him/her something extra unique about them-self (especially competing with sisters that are identical twins) But I am not sure how it feels not having your actual birth date thing every year.

In case you are wondering here are some statistics:

Odds of having identical twins: 3 out of 1,000 or 0.003%

Odds of having a leap day baby: 1 out of 1,506 or 0.00067%

So, I am curious… What are your thoughts on a leap day baby, and would you choose to do it if you could?

Maybe The Sweetest Thing You’ll Ever See

Even sweeter because they did it themselves.

Right around a year old they decided they had had enough of sleeping together and wanted their own beds. Just shy of 18 months Alyssa decided maybe snuggling up with her sister wasn’t so bad after all.

Bad Hair Days

We all have them.

The trick is not to let them make you crazy.

Happy weekend everyone!

Maybe I Am A Supermom

A new study shows mothers of twins may live longer than mothers of singletons. Crazy, right? It said that moms of “natural” twins (side note: I hate that term, as if using any type of fertility treatment makes your kids unnatural) like our girls are may be physically stronger than non-twin moms to begin with. The mere fact that they conceive and carry twins is a sort of marker of a healthier, more evolved reproductive system. The twin moms in the study lived longer, had longer reproductive life spans, needed less time to recover between pregnancies, and had more children overall than those who did not carry twins. One researcher even called these women “remarkable, physically exceptional people.”

Booyah.

Very interesting stuff! Click here to read the full article.

*Please do not read too much into this post, I am certainly not claiming to be some amazing physical specimen. I just thought it was interesting and I was trying to be funny.

Maybe Twins ARE Different!

Back when I was pregnant I signed up for a weekly email update from BabyCenter.com. For those of you who don’t know, they send out an email letting you know how the baby is developing that week, and how big they might be, etc. After the baby is born the emails continue letting you know what they might be doing developmentally. I only sometimes look at the emails. Most of the time I just delete it before I even open it. I mean, really. I don’t have a whole lot of free time. But this morning I did look, and found what it said to be very funny. Here is just a brief excerpt.

…babies this age parallel play, staying happily engrossed in their own activities alongside one another, but without really interacting. This is normal — focusing on their own abilities and needs is how babies develop. Over time, though, you’ll notice your baby stealing glances at fellow babies and perhaps crawling over to try to use the same toy…

Ya right! I had read when I was pregnant that twins began to notice and interact with their twin before a singleton baby would begin to socialize with other babies, but I did not think this difference would be this drastic. My girls have interacted for a very long time. They hold hands while they are in their high chairs eating , they steal toys from each other, they play together. Alyssa thoroughly enjoys putting things in Kylie’s mouth (blocks, spoons, plastic alphabet letters, etc). They both get such a kick out of it. They ride their cars into each other, they laugh at each other when we play peek-a-boo with blankets over their faces, or behind the big cardboard box. They even use teamwork to get (or get into!) things that they want. They smile when they see each other for the first time in the morning or after a nap.

It is so amazing how different the world of twins can be from the world of singletons.