Playing Together

It's really amazing to watch the girls relationship change and grow as they get older.  We have our fair share of fighting, but watching the two of them play together, giggling away, is seriously one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen/heard.

I've heard a lot of my friends who have twins worry that their kids have missed out on something because they've always had to share their parents with their twin.  I truly believe that any reduction in parental attention pales in comparison to the amazing gift of having a twin.  Watching them together makes me wish that I had a twin rather than having to wait 2.5 years before my sister was born.

I love that they are both missing the same sock:)

Valentine's Day

We don't do much in the way of celebrating on Valentine's Day, but growing up, my mom always bought me and my sister a card and a gift.  She came to spend a couple of days with us, and she continued that tradition with the girls.

She barely made it in the door before the girls had opened (and put on) their presents.  She's getting them ready for Spring Break!

Shoes!

One of these days I will learn that I can't ask the girls to try on anything unless I plan to allow them to keep it on for the rest of the day.  I have a fairly large stock of clothing and shoes in sizes that are too big for the girls because I try to buy things when they are on sale and use them when they fit.  I dug out a pair of shoes that I wanted the girls to try on to see if they fit.  They're still a little big, but the girls fell in love with them. Both of the girls were running around yelling "shooooes"!  So, I let them keep them on for a while.  They've also worn them pretty much every day since then.

They then proceeded to run in circles around our stairwell, laughing like crazy the whole time. I wish I had their energy:)

Hugs!

Xi Nian Kuai Le!

Happy year of the snake!  The girls started the day by getting their red envelopes.  They're developing quite the little bank accounts:)  That's probably a good thing based on projections for how much college is going to cost in 16 years.

22 Months!

I can't believe how quickly we're approaching two.  The girls are picking up new words all the time, and it amazes me how their little brains are able to put things together.  We haven't been swimming since last summer, but every time we drive past Lake Michigan, Tannah says "wawa" (water).  It's so much fun to watch them learn.

At 22 months:

The girls love books (they pick out their own books every night), pushing toys all over the house, their toy kitchen, and their blankets and stuffed puppies.  They also like to steal their sister's blanket or puppy (pretty much the only things in our house that specifically belong to just one of them) and yell "mine!":)

They regularly say "more", "up", "down", "mama", "dada", "hi", "bye bye", "ball", "banana", "apple", "milk", "water", "car", "button", "shoe", "puppy", and probably others that I'm not thinking of right now.

They love to take their shoes and socks off in the car. 

They love yogurt, goldfish, applesauce, cheese, and pretty much all fruit.  They're pretty good little eaters.

They drink about two sippy cups of milk per day.

They really like to use utensils.

They are pretty much in size 2T clothes, but some of their 18-24 month stuff still fits. They wear size 5 diapers and are moving into size 6 shoes.

They love to climb on our dining room chairs and eat at the big table.

They love music, dancing, and nursery rhymes.  They say "uh oh" or clap when a song ends when we're in the car.

They give fantastic hugs and kisses.

They sleep from about 6:45/7 until 6:45, and they take one nap.  Tannah is still fighting that nap, but some days she still takes a good 2-3 hour snooze.  

Both girls have 16 teeth, we're just waiting on their two year molars.

They fight on a regular basis, but they also can be super sweet to each other.

They are so much fun, and they constantly make me laugh.

Singing!

The girls love to sing and dance, and I finally managed to get them singing on video.  They've learned the hand movements to "Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" at daycare.

January?

Before the snow and frigid temperatures arrived, we were enjoying unseasonably mild temperatures for our area.  We took advantage of the nice weather to get outside and play for a while.

I convinced them to wear their hats, and they wanted to wear their boots (they LOVE their boots).  The girls had a blast playing on their swing set.  Now that we're buried in snow, it's hard to believe this was just a couple of weeks ago.

Snow

After a relatively mild December and beginning of January, we finally got some snow.  It was bitterly cold for a few days, but it warmed up enough on the weekend to take the girls outside to play.

Neither of the girls were really into the sled.  Tannah let Grandpa pull her up and down the driveway, but then she was done.

Harper didn't even want to sit in the sled.

Climbing snow banks

The girls did not like getting snow on their mittens.  In fact, Tannah took hers off and learned the hard way that it's hard to walk through snow with your hands in your pockets.  And by "the hard way" I mean she face planted in the snow.

Shortly before the face planting incident.

We were at my uncle's house for a party for my cousin who is joining the Marines.  My uncle has a lot of dogs.  The girls are still afraid of dogs, but it was so fun to watch Tannah warm up to them by the end of the day.  When we got there she would cry when they came near her, but at the end of the day, I saw her run up to one dog, give it a kiss, and then run away.  It was super cute!