I don't have babies anymore. It's officially official. My girls turned TWO yesterday. How is that even possible! We had a pretty great day! They woke up to a whole bunch of balloons at the top of the stairs - which was very exciting for them. Then they helped me make a little banner for the backdrop in their pictures...or rather...they made a HUGE mess of craft supplies while I made the banner. We took some birthday pictures...which I thought would be a little harder than it was. Lately, I would dare say that they enjoy smiling and holding still for the camera!
After their nap we went over to the park - because of course we had to go to the park on their birthday. So we went to the park! And for the first time, I sat on the bench and watched them play for a little while -- on the little kid playground, of course.
After dinner the girls each blew out a candle on their birthday cookie and then they dug into the frosting and decided they didn't want any cookie...just frosting.
Then they got to open their presents. I thought Matthew and I would have to help them more, but they pretty much knew exactly what to do. It was a pretty good day, I think!
They are pretty excited about their new fishing poles. They have been telling me about them all day today and they are pretty excited to take them out and get them in the water!
A couple of weeks ago, we went up to Target and the girls got to pick out a new outfit. They fell in love with these skirts. They even wore them over their shorts while we walked around the store. It was pretty cute. They basically picked out their entire new outfit. I love (and don't love) that my girls are getting big enough to express their own opinions!
They both love to count. In fact, they fight about whose turn it is to count the objects on the page of the book we are reading. Alya usually counts like this: "2, 6, 9, 10." And Lyla usually sounds like this: "2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10" or something similar.
All I hear while we are walking to the park is "swing!" "high!" It's very exciting for them. And they think they are really big kids. They try to play on the big kid part of the park and it's terrifying for me. I am sure other parents think I am such a helicopter mom -- since I follow them all over the playground forcing them to allow me to help them over the parts that make me nervous.
They want to do everything by themselves. If I try to help them go down the stairs, or get dressed or put their shoes on, they all but bat my hand away as they tell me they can "DO IT!" One day, Alya wanted to wear her boots, but she wouldn't let me help her. She tried for probably five minutes, and then rather than ask me to help her, she put her flip-flops on instead. Trying to get them dressed takes a lot longer than it used to, because, of course they want to try to do it themselves first.
The girls love to go fishing. Some days it seems like that is all they ask about. They go to sleep asking if they can go fishing, and they wake up asking about fishing. They also love to be out in the garden. When Dad gets home from work, he usually heads out to the garden, and they are right by his side. They love to help pick the veggies. I had a lot of little tiny green beans this year that Alya picked, and Lyla always brings in a handful of tiny green tomatoes. I love it.
I am not sure that it has sunk in that I have two 2 year olds. They are pretty amazing little girls! I am so grateful to be their mom. I am so grateful that they are so healthy and smart! Their doctor is very impressed with their development. He says they are pretty much ahead of the game as far as meeting their milestones - which makes me pretty proud of them. These girls weren't exactly preemies, but I heard from a lot of different sources that twins usually hit milestones later than singleton babies. But since birth, these two have been exceeding everyone's expectations!
At two, Alya weighs 28 pounds (80%) and is 36 inches tall (92%). She LOVES to draw. If there is any downtime she wants to color. She draws on our whiteboard on the fridge. She draws on any piece of paper she can get her hands on. She draws in her notebooks. She loves to draw snowmen, her dolly, fishes, stars and hearts. She also thinks it's funny to call me by name if I don't immediately respond when she calls me "Mom." When Alya thinks something is funny, or crazy, she shakes her head and says "oh goodness!" She also likes to tell us to "listen...hear it? Moose! (or shark, or rooster).
At two, Lyla weighs 27 pounds (65%) and is 36 inches tall (92%). She has had such an imagination lately. She was playing in the dirt one day and every rock she found was a puppy. She likes to read stories to her friends. She knows most of her colors. Lately she has been struggling mostly with purple, but most of the time she can name every other color. She likes to tell me what her "savorite" things are. Her favorite book is "Oh The Thinks You Can Think" and her favorite friend is Kitty.
We are pretty excited to continue to celebrate their birthday with our families this weekend.
I love you Lyla and Alya! Happy Birthday little ones!
