Talking Heads

For the past couple of weeks, Natalia has been chattering a lot.  I love coming home from work and having her babble to me, telling me all about her day.  She is also good at realizing when others are talking, and she tries to join in the conversation.  One night last week I had a board meeting for an organization that I volunteer with, and I took her with me to the meeting.  After to listening to everyone talk for an hour, she decided to join in the conversation.  It was pretty fun to watch.

I can't help but relive the babbling phases of the other kids as Natalia goes through hers.  I remember that Ree did the same thing as Natalia and would chatter away when I came home from work.  Leon preferred to talk and sing to himself in "private" and so I would wake up in the middle of the night and hear him babbling away in his swing in the dark, a whopping two feet from my head.  (Thankfully his chatter was fun to listen to.)  And to this day, he is still what's known as a "crib talker."  Every night when we tuck him in he talks and talks and processes the day.

And then there was Michael.  There are times now where we are fairly certain he has talked for 24 hours straight, because he has verbal diarrhea all day, and he will continue to talk in his sleep.  He will talk to anyone about anything.  But that wasn't always the case.  Of the two boys, he was the first to talk, but he did not want to get caught talking.  If we witnessed a coo, he would freeze.  It's like you could see his little brain thinking, "I was NOT being cute.  I am still angry at being born.  I will now return to my regularly scheduled emo baby routine."

They Actually Like Each Other

The boys are potty training.  Well, more specifically, Leon is attempting to potty train himself, having given up on us ever doing anything about it.  One of the reasons we haven't tried harder, despite his fascination with it, is potty training is so dang time consuming.  Especially with twins.

One of my favorite times, and one that I will have to give up when we start potty training in earnest, is the early morning.  Right now the boys will play happily in their beds for quite awhile after they wake up.  I am not looking forward to whisking them out of their beds and to the toilet.  They are so happy in there, throwing toys back and forth and chatting.  Somehow they can like each other as long as there are bars (from their cribs) separating them.  I sincerely hope this doesn't mean they will only be able to successfully interact as adults from adjacent prison cells.

While they play, they spend a lot of time singing.  It is always fun to listen to them sing, and it is extra fun when they sing together.  This morning, in between songs, I think they started playing catch.  This is a new thing for them.  They've also been playing catch with a wet wash cloth in the bath tub, and actually doing pretty well with it.  I think it helps it sticks to the catcher's body.  Anyway, I couldn't help giggle as I listened to the end of their conversation this morning.

Leon: Nice catch!
Michael: Thank you, Leon.  Thank you, thank you!

Such great manners...sometimes!

Finding Oneself, Toddler Style

Last night after I read the boys bedtime stories, we headed for the bathroom so they could brush their teeth.  Michael managed to get lost en route from the couch to the bathroom.  Anyone who has seen our house knows how silly this is.  The place is not exactly palatial.  I looked around, and I didn't see Michael in the living room, and I noticed that the toy room and our bedroom were dark so I asked Leon if he knew where his brother was.  At that moment, Michael emerged from the boys' dark bedroom.  He announced, "Here's Mikey!  I find me!"  If only it was always so easy to find oneself.

I'd Be All Like, "Whoa"

I want my kids to learn how to speak (and write) properly, but sometimes the things they say are too funny to correct.

I can't remember we were discussing at dinner one night last week, but Ree was really amazed by it.  So amazed, in fact she said, "If I saw that, I'd be all like, 'WHOA.'"

It was REALLY hard to keep a straight face after that.  Attempting to correct it in any way was definitely not possible.

Girl Time

Thursday started with a coupon for a new kids' consignment store, the realization we only had 3 diapers in the house and Michael ain't ready to potty train, and a 30% off coupon for Kohl's that I wanted to use to get a picture frame.  It turned into a super crazy Princess Ree shopping extravaganza, and that is okay.  She needed it.  We went through her clothes a few weeks ago and realized she really didn't have much that will fit this summer, and the magical box of hand-me-downs in her closet was just about empty.  Plus it's been a good year since anyone spoiled her like that, and I've never done it.  (It's usually Jeff's job.) 

Ree, Natalia, and I left a little after ten and headed to the consignment store.  There we found her a Gymboree outfit with shorts and a Gap t-shirt, and we only paid $9 for everything after the coupon.  (I also bonded with the owner who has 4 little ones.)  We then went to Kohl's where she got a short-sleeve knit dress for school and those removable stick-on wall decals, the first item for decorating the future Girls' Room.  Our next stop was lunch at Olive Garden where we had minestrone soup and dessert.  We also had the nicest server ever.  She even packed an extra bowl of minestrone and a bag of breadsticks to go because she didn't think we ate enough.  After lunch we headed to Target where Ree got an awesome pink beaded lamp for her room (my repressed inner girlie-girl loves it!) and new sandals.  Around 2:00 we finally made it home, tired and happy.  Despite all the shopping and eating fun, the best part was the day was totally drama free.  Ree was happy the whole time and never once asked for more.