My kids are so stubburn!

We took them to get haircuts last night, and they refused. It was ridiculous.

The preschool teacher sent a note home, saying Oliver needs to work on counting to 10. I knew exactly what had happened as soon as I saw that: he had simply refused to do it. He has been able to count to ten for at least a year. So I asked him to do it for me. He refused me. A little while later, I asked him to give me 5 kisses, and to count them. He happily did it--and went all the way to ten easily.

I give up.

Here's a cute shot of Max from a few days ago:

Finally! A reason it's good to turn on the tv...

Yeah, I don't really believe that...HOWEVER...I should have turned on a movie this morning--I thought of it, but then I noticed how cute the boys were being. "Aww...they're being so creative in their play. I'll leave them to it." Famous last words!!! A few moments later, I could hear them. They were sitting on the stairs and it sounded like they were throwing crackers down to the landing. So I investigated. Yup. That's what they were doing. I asked them, more calmly then I felt, why they were doing that. They were very pleased with themselves..."feeding the birds!" That's great...THERE AREN'T ANY BIRDS IN OUR HOUSE!!

And that's the most recent installment of "Reasons my kids are the most tornado-like mess makers on the planet." And the almost-annoying part is that when part of their punishment is to clean up their own mess? They LOVE it. You would think they had won a prize..."I'll sweep it up, and you use the dustpan, okay?" Or when they wrote all over the walls last year--they happily spent most of that day washing the crayon marks off.

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Well, at least they're willing to help clean up.
I swear to GOD I have the weirdest kids ever created.

And now they're quietly watching The Jungle Book 2.
I guess letting them be couch potatoes occasionally is good for them--and ME.

happy two month birthday, boys!

I just took a moment to go spy on my kids, who are each in a separate room, both talking to themselves....how much cuter can it get?? Actually my favorite is when they were just learning to talk and they would be singing or talking to each other as they went to sleep. That was DAMN cute. We had just moved our bedroom to the upstairs and they were downstairs, so we started using a baby monitor again when they had just turned 3. I used to lay in bed with the monitor and just glow with love....listening to the two sweetest little boys on earth, telling each other what the rules are (if you get out of your bed you go to time out), or retelling the stories i had just read to them, or singing the songs i had just sung to them...of course, at first it was something like, "twinkle star, twinkle star, twinkle star" rather than the actual song...but so much more precious in its imperfection.

oh my sweetest ones...i hope i can be the best mom for them, so that they will have great success and happiness in life. they are sooo smart--smarter than me, i'm sure--and i hope they can channel that better than i have.

one more for the road...

this morning:

Dad: tell mom she's a wussy.
Oliver (to me): you're a pussy wussy. pussy wussy! pussy wussy!

uh.
sheee-it.

Upside down and backwards

My kids eat pizza upside down and backwards. They hold it by the crust, but with the tip pointed away from them...and flip to toward them to eat. little freaks.

and, at one point today, oliver's pajama top was on upside down, inside out AND backwards. i don't know how he did it, but it was not easy to convince him to let me fix it. i had to tickle torture and throw him onto the bed by his feet. and FINALLY he agreed. he can be so incredibly stubborn. it's ridiculous. he likes to dress himself and refuses to "fix" his clothes if they're on wrong. so...he goes out in public with shorts on backwards, and shirts inside out or backwards (or both), shoes on the wrong feet...i swear to god people must think i'm a moron. the best is when it's a polo shirt type of shirt and it's backwards.

they are my funny little ducks.

Twin stumper of the day...

Max: Mom, what are kitties made out of?

Me: (muttering profanities under breath) Good NIGHT, Max.

Time to start Preschool

Well, the day is almost here...and of course I'm excited for the free time. But I'm also nervous for how the boys will adjust. They have been such mama's boys for so long, that I'm afraid it'll be hard for them to let go. Me? nah...I'm all set. I'm ready for them to take flight.

I also worry that they'll have a hard time fitting in with the routine and following the rules...we don't so much have what you'd call "structure" around this joint. We go with the flow. In other words: I SUCK. At least we have a lot of fun...

One more worry...the twin thing. I saw the first hint of it tonight at the preschool orientation meeting. We took them outside when it was over and they were swinging. Max wanted to go on the see saw. Oliver didn't. I suggested that he could ride it with another child who was standing nearby. Max replied, "No, it has to be Oliver." eeeeek. This should be really good for them...slowly stretch those boundaries, expand their comfort zone.

Their expanding little minds amaze me, though. They ask such intricate questions, and seem to crave knowing all the answers. It's not a mindless string of "why?"s, but an intense need to discover the way the world works. They asked today how a motor works. Cameron explained it to them. Then they had more questions. And they seem to really grasp a lot more of it than I would have guessed they could. I try to answer their questions in a simple, straightforward manner, but they seem to prefer Cameron's answers...male minds, I guess. I'm just glad he has such a good memory for all those details. Me, i get the general idea of how stuff works and why, but to explain it to a brand new mind...not easy.

That's enough for today. Next time I'll try to write a bunch of the cutesy stuff they've been doing.

Mama out.