Decoded

Everyone always asks me if the girls have their own language.  When they were little they babbled constantly.  Now they talk constantly.  It has never seemed like it was any sort of secret language.

And then I realized that maybe the secret language is right under my nose....just one word with varying intonations!

When they were teeny-tiny , we always said their first word would be "hey" because they made this noise all the time that sounded like the word "hey".  Oddly enough, they now say "hey" all of the time.  To each other, to us, to the dogs, to their dolls, to strangers on walks.

Here is a short version of the "hey" noise from when they were 10 weeks old.

And here they are now at almost two years old saying "hey" to each other 50 thousand times before they go to sleep.

Coincidence?  Or highly advanced multiples language...

Proof

I basically have teenagers.  They wear ponytails (sortof), "read" Vanity Fair, eat at a real table, take care of their babies, talk on the phone, love bracelets, try on clothes, and are full of sass.  For example, half the time I try to sing they all start saying "NO" loudly until I stop, complete with a look of disgust.  They do the same thing if they realize I am taking a picture.

What Do Christmas Cards and Dirty Laundry Have in Common?

This is the best, and probably only, child rearing advice I will ever give.

Save yourself some money and don't buy too many fancy toys for your toddler.  We have two activities in our arsenal that save the day when restlessness sets in.

1). Christmas Cards

I hate to throw them away and the chances that I will do some cute Pinterest type craft with them are 0%.  I put them in a basket and let the girls have at them.  They love to look and point at all they see on the cards.  It's also a great way to start telling them who people are and now they have started picking family members out on their own.  

 

2) Dirty Laundry

When the going gets tough this is one of my final moves.  They play in their own dirty laundry a lot, but I save our stuff for special (read: unbearable) occasions.

You're welcome.

Serenity Now

I found a tactic that helps me keep my sanity when the girls get the best of me.   I go back and watch cute video clips to remind me they are cute and hilarious, rather than the little mad women they pose as at times.  I created a montage of recent clips in case you need a sanity check as well.

Gulf Coast Birth Control

The comment is sometimes made to us that watching us is "good birth control" for the teenagers that might be around.  Pretty sure that any teenagers around us on our most recent beach trip will not engage in activities that could lead to pregnancy for years to come.

We had a wonderful beach trip, but it certainly is wild with three toddlers (actually 4, with Frances).  Despite the fact that the girls have now been to the beach 4 times, they still HATE sand.  Clearly they did not get that from me.   In order to accommodate for the sand issue, we used a variety of tools - shoes, baby pools, blankets, etc.  There were a number of total freak-outs and meltdowns.  By the end of the week they actually were doing much better....as long as they had on shoes (notice those bright blue shoes are in ALL pics).

Group pictures now take the form of everyone just going in the same direction.

Irene "hustling" 

Brooks observing her surroundings

Anna....being Anna

Family shot?

Little ducks

Best investment ever.  The wagon.

The chairs were position one when we arrived on the beach each day.

Brooks doing her best to annoy Irene.

Pigtails

Snacktime.  The best time of the morning.

They love cousin Kat

Looks about normal.

Rare moment of Irene interacting with sand.

Irene

Brooks

Anna.  She was great as long as her hands didn't touch.

Yep.  

I love this one. 

Jack with the girls

People watching

More people watching

Little Girls, Little Girls, Everywhere I turn I Can See Them

Now I am channeling Miss Hannigan.  Not good.  The reason I can't stop singing that song is that I realized I have little girls.  Not babies.  I was checking out some pictures from our Sunday afternoon in The Grove and this realization hit me.

Lethal Combination

Thanks to Jack, I finally understand why our conversations about where to pick up dinner (which is most nights) go around and around in circles.  Apparently, I am both indecisive AND opinionated.  So true.  Poor guy.

On a completely unrelated note, why don't people tell you that the terrible two's start around 18-20 months?  It's like not knowing about that stupid pressing on your stomach thing they do after you give birth.  I'm still mad about that.   

The girls are so fun yet so challenging right now.  After going through a relatively "easy" stage from 12-16 months, the last few have introduced many new hurdles and have proved quite trying at times.  On the cute side - they are completely hilarious and really sweet.  Favorite things  are saying "I don't know" when you ask where things are, pretend talking on the phone, saying the blessing/prayers with a loud "AMEN" at the end (or in the middle), reading books, giving hugs and kisses, pretending to sleep, surprising you with a "haaayyyy", and singing and dancing.  On the challenging side - they are not great eaters (and by not great I mean that two of them only have about three items they will touch), they are starting to get in little tiffs with each other, they climb and jump on furniture, they throwing things, they hit each other, etc.  Normal two year old things....just multiplied times three.  They tend to feed off of each other and so once some bad behavior starts you know its about to get real.   We've been exploring different tactics for dealing with all of this, and are starting to find our groove.  Different things work with each one.... while one can be easily distracted into doing something different (Anna), another is totally focused on whatever she is doing and distraction does you no good (Brooks).   Just when I think I have no control and I am raising juvenile delinquents, they start singing and hugging and kissing and "amen"-ing and acting irresistibly cute.  I don't know the best concoction for dealing with behavior issues, but I do know that consistency and patience are in the mix.  I'm working on that.

Anna Ruth took some photos recently that are a great depiction of life these days.

And a few other pics.