Happy 2nd Birthday!

Two! Wow! We’ve come a long way since this picture was taken, but I can remember it like it was a few hours ago. I can’t even believe that 2 years have flown by. When you think of this as an 18-year adventure (and yes, I know it doesn’t end there), to know that we are over 10% of the way through it just absolutely blows my mind. My babies (who I declared “no longer babies” this time last year) are 2. I never really was in tune with what kids should be doing when, but I can’t get over how much they are talking and having opinions already – it seems so early. I got so used to clearly communicating with them without words, that now that they are (very) verbal, it’s like a whole new ball game. I was talking with a friend of mine with twins that are less than a year and we were saying how walking is so liberating (she very much looks forward to this). Most parents of singletons declare walking as a negative adventure, but for most parents of twins, it’s liberating. No more double strollers needed every single time you want to get out of the car. Think about it – with one child you can just grab them and carry them wherever you want to go, but with two it’s just not so easy. I would have to say the same thing is happening with talking. It’s making it that much easier. We are constantly encouraging them to “use your words” and we focus on their requests and try to comply as much as we can when they ask nicely rather than whining or crying about it. So far so good! I’ve always heard of the terrible 2’s, but as I’ve said before, I think it just keeps getting better. Again, I think parents of multiples have a little different perspective and you get a crash course in the beginning that makes some of these times seem so much easier...all about perspective.

I don’t want to paint this picture perfect scenario…we have our moments of complete and utter unexplained meltdowns (and I’m not just referring to the 2 year olds) and then the instantaneous recoveries like nothing ever happened. This will forever baffle me. Real crocodile tears streaming down the face that turns into laughter in a split second??? Wish I could recover that quickly! We have the times of saying “No Mommy” and really meaning it. We have kiddos that utterly refuse to eat certain things…one I can usually convince to try it “like mommy”, but the other that just smiles at me and nicely says “no” as he grips his lips and shakes his head. We have lots of bad poopy diaper incidents and runny or crusty noses. I even have one that shows me her finger and proudly proclaims “boogers” and then asks for a “tissue” – isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Even with the challenges, I say this is the best life we could have. Even in the midst of chaos and busy-ness, these 2 munchkins bring more joy to my life than I could have ever imagined. I’m already so proud of them and I can’t wait for the days to come.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Riley & Ryan…
I love you more than you can imagine!