6 posts tagged “twins”
This morning Aidan and Alanna had their Olympic Stars exhibition at the gym. It was so cute. There were about 20 kids participating, and they did a little gymnastics meet to show off the skills they've learned this year. Oddly, they decided to split kids up into small groups, but not the groups they are normally in for their weekly class. Aidan didn't seem to mind, but Alanna was quite distraught at first. She is used to having only 4-6 kids in the class and no parents in the gym, and always Coach Carlos. Today there were kids from 5 different classes and 4-5 new coaches not only present, but touching her and instructing her. This was NOT good. Fortunately Coach Carlos led her small group, and Aidan was in her group as well. Aidan was very silly and happily led his "team" waving and grinning from ear to ear.
First up was the beam, and for whatever reason, they decided to let Alanna go first. She had a little routine they had all been practicing that she could usually do by herself, but she was so unhappy with the situation Coach Carlos had to hold her hand through it. She made it...despite having to do it facing the entire audience. Aidan smiled enthusiastically as he did his routine and was so distracted by hamming it up for the audience, he fell off the side...only a few inches, of course. He dismounted (i.e. jumped off the side), landed, then proceeded to put his head on the floor in a down-dog position then roll to the side, grinning all the while.
They went through an obstacle course, a "vault" and parallel bars, too, and by the end Alanna was having a great time. When it was all over they called each child to the podium to get a medal and a certificate. It was adorable. Strangely enough, Aidan refused to go up on the podium to receive his, and Alanna couldn't get up there fast enough. She was so excited to get her medal! She wore it for much of the day today. Aidan has yet to put his on, but he has played with it. That was an unexpected twist!
Warning: If you are not a Sanderson or a Murray...or have never attended a Sanderson party...you probably won't get this post.
So I mentioned in a previous blog that I was transferring our wedding video from VHS to DVD. Tonight at dinner, Alanna asked me to do "that funny dance." I had no idea what she was talking about at first, but I finally figured out that she was talking about The Rock Lobster. I obliged, briefly...and they thought it was hilarious After their bath, Aidan popped up on the bed and did The Rock Lobster, while watching himself in the mirror...which sent me running for my camera. They were too funny! I popped in our wedding video, so they could hear the music.
They are practicing for a wedding this Fall! (click the image to play the video...)
Potty training is such a monumental task, and it is so great when your kids get to the point where you can just send them to the bathroom without accompanying them. Aidan and Alanna have been trained for about a year now. Unfortunately, they haven't been able to turn the water on without help in our bathrooms, so we are always running to the bathroom to turn on the water. Last week, we all went to Lowe's to pick out faucets; the kids tested them out and helped me choose which ones to bring home. They were so excited; however, they thought the faucets would magically replace themselves and be available for immediate use. Finally, we had someone come to replace the faucets two days ago. They were THRILLED!!! I was pretty anxious myself; the prospect of them being able to turn the water on and off themselves was very appealing to me, too!
Since Alanna has been getting up shortly after bedtime to go to the bathroom, I was particularly anxious to not have to play a role in all of this. This meant that we'd be removing the child-proof doorknob cover from the inside of their bedroom door...which allows so much more freedom. They are discovering and pushing the limits of that freedom more with each passing night.
The first night, both Aidan and Alanna had to "go" within about 30 minutes after I put them to bed. I knew the novelty was exciting, and I was happy to be sitting comfortably in my recliner not helping them... at all. The next night, I had Jason put a little Killer Whale doo-hickey on the faucet that can turn it into a water fountain...so no more need for cups! Score another one for allowing me to be lazy! Talk about excitement! They love it! Last night, I heard Alanna head to the bathroom while I was on the phone with my sister. After I hung up, I peeked in on her, and she was just scrubbing away, proud as punch to be doing this all on her own...she had a huge grin on her face.
This morning they realized they could also use their new-found freedom to go to the bathroom when they woke up...since I'm not a morning person, I don't get out of bed quickly enough, and they end up using their Pull-Ups. They were so cute trying to be so quiet. Alanna instructed Aidan in a loud whisper..."Tip-Toe!" when he came into my room to throw away his Pull-Up, which ended in a crash when the lid to the diaper pail slammed down. This wasn't something I'd anticipated...just didn't think that far into it. He kept peeking at me, hoping I might be awake, as I continued to pretend to be asleep. It was so hard not to giggle!
Tonight, the novelty isn't wearing off. They both had to "go" within 20-30 minutes of my turning out the lights. They were in their bedroom giggling and talking, which I tried to ignore. I had told them I wanted it quiet tonight, and if I had to come in there would be a consequence. So, after a while I walked with heavy feet to their door to give them a heads up I was on my way. I stopped just outside and heard them scrambling onto their beds and whispering to each other that I was coming and to be quiet. I returned to my work without going on...but with a smile on my face. They crack me up. It was a little after eight when I heard the door open. I waited a minute to see if they'd come down the hall to the office where I was working, but no one came. So I walked to their room, and the door was ajar. I opened the door, and I couldn't see figures lurking anywhere. I flipped on the light, and they were both curled up on their beds in a heap, trying their best to look like they were sleeping. Stinkers....
Aidan and Alanna's first use of symbolic language were proto-words, not true words...animal sounds that they used as labels when they saw those animals. So they loved ducks and fish, but the fish sound we made (a little popping sound with your lips) was something they "said" whenever they saw fish for quite a while. Jason wouldn't let me count it as their first word. For the two of them, there were so many things coming out of their mouths that seemed like word attempts a few times, but then not again for a little bit, that I don't really know what word was their official "first," though I kept a list of their first 150 words in their journal.
Emory, who makes no bones about anything, was much clearer when it came to her first word. It was early December of 2006...she wasn't quite 10 months old. I thought I'd heard her say "no" earlier in the day, but I figured I was just hearing things. Then I was getting ready to go somewhere while Jason fed her, and he came upstairs to tell me Emory just said "no." (I hadn't mentioned anything about my experience earlier that day.) She didn't want whatever he was trying to give her, and she emphatically said "no" a couple of times as she turned her head away. I went downstairs to see if we could elicit it again, and sure enough...a vehement "no" when I offered her some baby food. I couldn't believe it, and yet it is so "Emory" to have "no" be her first word. She knows exactly what she wants (and doesn't want,) and she has never been shy about letting us know what that is.
As I recall, this was the beginning of her complete and sudden strike on baby food. Just after I'd bought a big package of baby food from BJ's, she decided she wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Around the age of 4 months, Aidan and Alanna began sleeping in their own cribs that fit end-to-end in the small room in our apartment that served as their nursery and a guest room. Because they had bumpers on the cribs, they couldn't see each other. Weeks later, as we were learning to let them fall asleep on their own, we had to allow some crying to occur, and fortunately, it wasn't too painful a process. We got used to listening to the crying on the monitor while we cleaned up the kitchen and settled down for the night. But one night, we stopped amid the cleanup...they weren't screaming. They were making noise, but it wasn't crying. So we turned up the volume on the monitor only to hear two little babies giggling in their room. We couldn't believe it, and we couldn't begin to figure out what was making them laugh.
The next night, I placed our video camera in their room, so we could see just what was going on in there! I was dying to know! So before we left the room, I turned it on. We went downstairs to finish cleaning up dinner, and the giggling resumed. I couldn't wait to see just what was so funny! After they fell asleep, I tiptoed into the room to retrieve the camcorder. I played it back to find Alanna pushing up on her arms high enough that Aidan could see her over the bumper. It was cracking him up! Their first game of peekaboo!! She kept lowering down and popping back up, and they just giggled away! We couldn't believe it; it was so cute!
I hope never to forget the moment when Alanna and Aidan first locked gazes. Without getting out my journal, I'd say it was somewhere around 4 months of age. They were lying down next to one another, and Alanna would look at Aidan and vice versa, but never at the same time. But at one moment, they finally looked at each other at the same time, and they just stared at each other. It was so sweet, and if only I could know what they were thinking in that moment! As an outsider, it seemed like there was a realization taking place, a sort of "Hey, I know you. You're lookin' at me. I'm lookin' at you. Wow!" But who knows! It was definitely a prolonged gaze, and I was totally fascinated watching this take place.
