True Determination

Well, I guess I have to give them credit for their perseverance. Earlier this week, we joined a group of about 6 moms and their kiddos, all about the same age as our girls, for a playdate in the park. While the other babies played happily under the shade on a blanket filled with toys...

Anna and Margaret spent the majority of the time pushing their jogging stroller up a small hill. Go Team Twinski! I need to start using that energy for my own benefit - perhaps I can teach them to do the laundry?

Team Twinski hard at work in the 90+ degree heat

Margaret really putting some muscle into it

Margaret, taking a break from her mission for a photo opportunity.

Her new nickname is "Rosy"

Poor Margaret has had a rough couple of days, with 2 trips to the pediatrician's office for a recurring ear infection and a 4-day fever. We thought we were only dealing with said ear infection, and treating accordingly with antibiotics until she woke up this morning from her morning nap, covered in red and white spots. Another trip to the pediatrician (thank goodness for Sunday hours) gave us a diagnosis of roseola - from which, apparently, cousin Natalie recently recovered, and so I hear it's quite common. Though her new hue of red and white polka dots was a little alarming, the break in the fever and the return of our sweet, fun-loving Margaret is really a welcome change from her mood over the past few days. We've felt so sorry for her - she's been lethargic, exhausted, has had no appetite, and most of all, wants nothing to do with her quite energetic sister Anna - perhaps the biggest sign that something was wrong. Margaret rarely sits still - so to see her lay down in the middle of the floor with her face on the carpet for minutes at a time was both sad and worrisome.

Thankfully, the fever broke yesterday afternoon, just in time for a quick dip in the new whale-shaped baby pool in the backyard. I've never wanted to jump into a baby pool so bad as I have the past few days - it's been incredibly hot here in Nashville, with a high of 95 degrees today. What's with the hot weather so early in the summer? Anna and Margaret acted as if they'd won the lottery as soon as they saw Dad inflating this thing - and went completely bananas as we were filling it up. All intentions were to get them back into the house and in their bathing suits before letting them take a plunge - but they were so excited to try it out (i.e. attempting to throw themselves in headfirst from the sides of the pool) that we just let them go straight in, fully clothed.

Good friend Tony was in town from Louisville and the girls loved the extra attention from him. Here he entertains:

Margaret expressing her sheer joy

It was a bright day!

Anna had another opportunity to splash around today, while Margaret took a marathon 3 hour afternoon nap (I guess roseola is an energy drainer!). I thought she'd enjoy the individual attention - but she seemed to miss her sister. We loaded up the pool with various toys, and her best buddy Dad even jumped into the frigid water with her - but guess what she was, by far, the most enamored with? The garden hose, of course.

We had such a great weekend - hope you all did as well!

I wonder if anyone still reads this...

I'm amazed by the bloggers out there who successfully pay their bills based off advertising from writing their blog. Clearly they are dedicated to continually updating and maintaining their site, and capturing a large audience of readers in the process - a skill at which I'm clearly quite deplorable. I apologize for letting almost 2 months go by without updating this site with some pictures and videos of the twinskis! The days seem to disappear and weeks melt away while chasing after these little gals. Excuses, excuses, excuses, huh?

So what have we been up to lately? Well, we spent a week at Nana and Grandpa's house (my parents) and loved the time in St. Louis, catching up with family and friends. Having help and companionship all day was a dream - although chasing after 2 quite mobile 11 (!) month olds around a very beautiful, very breakable, and very non-babyproofed home was a full-time job. Thanks to Nana for never losing her patience or smile while Anna and Margaret bulldozed through their home, tipping over tables, placing their fingerprints on every glass surface, and opening every drawer and cabinet in the kitchen. There was also a peeing on the carpet incident - done by a certain 11-month old girl whose name I will not mention.

The girls are changing every day. Some new things they can now do (which never, ever can be captured on demand, of course):

• Waving goodbye (and we even caught Margaret saying "bye bye")



• Clapping hands



• Sticking their tongue out (perhaps we shouldn't have encouraged that one)



• Taking a few steps at a time



• Standing unassisted



• Putting up quite the fight for a sought after toy that of course, they both want at the same time



• Opening up cabinets and drawers

As for talking, the major two words in their repetoire are "Da-Da" (repeated over, and over, and over, 90% of the day) and "Ma-Ma" (only muttered while crying and whining). Then there is a lot of nonsensical babbling that comprises the rest of the day, and from the looks on their faces, they know exactly what they are saying, so I think that given some time, that jibberish will turn into real words. I never really believed the whole "twin talk" phenomenon - the idea that twins have their own language. But judging from just how much babbling the two girls do to each other all day, it often appears that their independence from their parents is growing - once again proving that Anna and Margaret have successfully shoved their parents out of their world. It's never more apparent to me that they hold each other as number 1 friend as when I come to retrieve them from a nap and they look at me - boring old mom - with minimal interest - but, when they see each other, their faces light up and they start giggling and babbling like it had been days since they last saw each other. It's pretty darn cute.

I have a few videos from the past few weeks - but I'm currently having a hard time posting them. So - in the mean time - here are a few photos that I took yesterday while we played on the front lawn. We are truly loving summertime.

Giddy Margaret

Goofy Anna



Can't keep her away from dirt



Making Mom very nervous by insisting on climbing up and down the concrete steps


Anna wielding the broom as her weapon


A fuzzy shot of the 2 of them sitting on the rocking chair


Anna really dug the chair

How could this possibly be comfortable?

Like Nailing Jello to a Tree

I think back to those hazy memories of the first few months of the girls' lives, and recall how tedious and monotonous those days were. The "eat, sleep, poop" routine (lather, rinse, repeat) stretched on for what felt like months, and the girls required 24 hour attention. As sweet as it was to have 2 beautiful newborn babies who would curl up on your chest and sleep for hours upon end, I don't long for those days again, and I certainly am grateful to have a break from being the 24 hour "dairy barn," as we used to joke about the demands of nursing twins. I don't think I ever would have survived those days without Joey, and the non-stop help, attention, and companionship of our family - Mom, Dad, Amy, Kathy, Joe, Karolyn, and Millie - I don't think I could ever thank you enough for carrying us through those days by being here for us in Nashville. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We are so blessed.

Things are just so different these days with Anna and Margaret. They're crawling, climbing, and getting into everything. Despite the babyproofing precautions we've taken in our home, we can't leave them alone in a room for a second - but I can honestly say I've never had so much fun. They're pretty physical babies - I've joked with Joey that we're raising 2 bullies, as they seem to always be the most active babies in the room at playdates with kiddos their same age, and seem to assume that other babies don't mind being pulled, clawed, pushed, and robbed of precious security objects like blankies and pacifiers. I try to capture a few photos every day of the funny things they get into. Currently, they have an obsession with our appliances - if they hear the dishwasher opening from another room, they come scrambling into the kitchen in the hopes that mom may just let them climb up onto the open door (kind of like having Labrador retrievers in your home, huh?). Bathtime, as my father as pointed out, also can be compared to bathing to full sized dogs - while the girls end up clean and comfy, Joey and I are drenched in bath water and exhausted. I thought I'd post a few pictures here for your amusement.
Love you all,
Joey, Kate, and the rambunctious twinskis



Margaret presses her face to the window to watch Daddy doing yard work. Oink oink!



Attempting to climb into the refridgerator

Here, sis, I'll give you a hand

Success!

Margaret got stuck with her legs in the air while attempting to wedge her head into the bumbo seat (I know, I don't get it either)

I made the mistake of leaving my box of recipes on the ground

And this is what happened



Another new favorite: unrolling the toilet paper


High fives on the window


Anna attempting to climb into the washing machine (i'm still working on trying to teach her how to do laundry)


Margaret just being, well, herself (I put her hospital hat on just to see how big her head has grown since then)

Bath time has never been so fun

The girls truly enjoy bath time. I can't exactly say the same for myself- most of my energy is spent on insisting that they sit down before they slip in the tub, and I'm quite relieved to get them out of there once we're finished. But when Dad makes it home in time to help out, bathtime truly is the best part of our day.

Here are our little "Hershey Kisses:"


And here we torture them with hooded towels:

Missing in Action

So it's been a while since we've updated this blog, huh? Our 2 very rambunctious little ladies, now 8 1/2 months old (WOW!), are keeping us busy with crawling all over the house, standing up on every vertical surface they can find, and getting into every non-babyproofed corner of our home. Current likes include tearing apart the tupperware cabinet, attempting to crawl into the dishwasher, inspecting the fridge door items when mom gets something out of the refridgerator, feeding themselves Cheerios, and the perennial favorite, stealing the remote controls. But I think their #1 obsession is each other, and it's pretty fun to watch them interact. They are always thrilled to see each other first thing in the morning, and they get into frequent giggle sessions...which often turn into wrestling matches. We caught one of those a few weeks ago - enjoy!

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