Twin Update 2: Picture Edition

Well, we've officially reached the terrible two's at our house. The terrible two's times TWO (although the hardest age, at least for us, is 3). These two can definitely be double trouble. I've said it before- this dynamic duo is definitely naughtier than my other two kids ever were. But when they aren't making mischief, they sure are cute and pretty darn funny.

A good friend of mine from high school is due to have twin girls in a few weeks and we have been emailing back and forth about all things twins. I love talking twin- my sister in law has 2 year old twins as well and we have lots of fun swapping stories about the naughty and cute things our twins do. In a recent phone call with my sis-in-law, we were talking about the times we've had people ask us if we'd ever want twins again. As we discussed this, I commented that although twins are super hard at time, there is something magical about them and really special. My SIL replied "I think anything that is hard is more than worth doing." I've had so many people tell me (kindly and very rudely) that they would NEVER want twins or could never handle twins. I have loved every minute of having twins. I totally agree with my SIL that although all the messes and tantrums times two are super hard on certain days, it makes it even more rewarding and more fun. The hard is what makes it even more rewarding.

Here's what my little beasts have been up to lately:

They love making up games together. This night, they decided to play a game where one would stand on the rocking horse and the other one would catch the jumper.

Here's the catch!

The catch, while falling down.

Once they'd fall down, they'd jump back up and start all over again. My previous video post shows this game on video, where Leah falls back flat and smashes Lexi. It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt. But it was pretty funny to watch.

It's also all fun and games until someone does something really, really, really naughty. About a month ago, Lexi got on my black list- or brown list, if you will. I put her down for a nap and Ben heard her talking in her room about an hour after I put her down, and he could smell a bad, bad smell- so he went into her room to investigate. He called me in immediately. She had pooped and taken off her diaper, then proceeded to decorate with her new found "brown paint".

She smeared poop all over on the inside of her crib and crib tent. Then she stuck her hand through the two holes she has made in her crib tent (talk about extra naughty) and painted her dresser as well.

To top it off, she dropped a whole poop chunk into an open drawer of clean clothes below. Are you kidding me??

Here is the mischievous little monster in the tub- she had smeared it all over her naked body and in her hair. It was beyond disgusting and it took me, and my big kids who very sweetly offered to help, at least 40 minutes to clean everything up. Cleaning up included scrubbing and disinfecting the crib, washing the crib tent, all her blankets and clothes, and the chunk of clothes that were soiled in the dresser, and airing out the room for the rest of the day. It was awful. And can you believe it- the little stinker did the same thing the next day at nap time!! When I found it, I almost cried. Ahh, the joys of motherhood.

One night at bedtime, I put both babies in the same crib just to see how they'd fit. Leah freaked out at first, since it was her crib and she did NOT want to share with Lexi. When I told her it was just for a minute, she calmed down and posed for a few pictures.

They both still fit!

It feels like prison in bed sometimes, doesn't it?

Lexi gave her a kiss before getting in to her own bed.

They girls haven't shared a bed since they were 5 months old.

January 2010- 3 months old. So little!

March 2010- 5 months old. This is the day I decided to put them in separate cribs. Once they learned how to roll over and move, they got twisted up and got in each other's way. Lexi (on bottom) is crying because Leah woke her up and was kicking her.

The Andros' are known for bald babies. My kids are born bald and stay bald- for years. Fortunately and unfortunately, that means my kids don't get hair cuts until well after their 2nd birthday. The twins are just getting a good chunk of hair and I didn't want to take any length off (we work hard for hair), but it was getting really uneven and wispy in a few places.

A friend and very sweet lady in our ward cuts hair, so I took the girls for their first haircut to her in-home salon.

Lexi, my braver, less emotional girl went first.

She did fantastic- it was kind of hard for her to hold still, but no crying and no complaining.

BEFORE- front

AFTER- front

(You can't really tell much from the front shot. She only had length taken off the back).

BEFORE- back

Lexi was growing a little tail in the back. The middle of her hair was growing down in a V-shape. It doesn't look terrible in this picture, but it was starting to look quite hideous.

AFTER- back

Tail be gone, but kept the length. Next up- a touch up on her dark roots! Just kidding.

Leah went last. As expected, she was a little apprehensive (see her reaching out to me?) But, in her new and improved way, she handled it pretty well. She whimpered for a few seconds but then did great.

She sat much more still than Lexi did.

BEFORE- front

FRONT- after

Leah had wispy wisps in the front and back and we cut off the thin, scraggly parts.

BEFORE- back

AFTER-back

Much better! Neither one was a huge transformation by any means- no one could even tell they'd had a haircut that didn't know- but they looked much more put together and a little less homeless.

Don't let this picture fool you- no, we are not currently potty training. The girls are both slightly interested and if we are changing diapers or getting in or out of the tub, I will put them on the potty at their request. They have both peed in the toilet numerous times. What is the hold up, you ask? ME! I have no desire right now to potty train two little monkeys. Being potty trained is not easier than diapers until you are past of the stage of accidents in the pants and until they can hold it longer than 30 seconds. To be honest, I am not looking forward to potty training these two at all. Not because I don't think they will be successful, but because there are two of them! Two kids means twice the accidents to clean up. It means having 2 kids in the middle of the grocery store with a full cart that need to go potty- sometimes at the same time, sometimes 10 minutes apart (probably every 10 minutes for the entire length of the trip). It means 2 very competitive little girls who will insist that they need to go potty every time her sister says she has to go- which means I'll be rushing 2 kids to two different toilets all day long until they can wait their turn (or buying a potty to sit on the floor, which I don't really want to do).

Let's just say that I am enjoying these last few months in diapers. It's so much easier changing poop in a diaper than smeared into the carpet. When will we start? No earlier than April, and no later than Kindergarten. :)

Having a built in buddy is so much fun- they almost always insist on being in the bathroom with me when I get ready every day. This day they took turns brushing each other's hair.

They still fit in their adorable hand made jackets from Aunt Meredith- I will be so sad when these are too small.

We had a few weeks where it was warm and sunny here (close to 60 degrees). It was the best 2 weeks. We spent lots of time outside. Lexi is getting really good on her balance bike.

Leah prefers the wiggle car. She can go really fast- it's fun to watch her rocket down our sloped driveway!

Lexi is our poor head bump girl- this is the second time in 2 months that she's fallen- hard- and gotten a BIG goose egg on her head.

Please don't call CPS on us. Luckily, both falls have amounted to nothing more than some big protruding bumps and some nasty bruises to follow- and a headache, I'm sure. Poor Lexi.

With thicker, longer hair I finally got to try some braids on the girls. It's a fun variation to the normal stick straight up pony tail on top of the head.

All ready for church! These two are nursery pros. A dad of one of the other nursery kids commented to me yesterday, "Your girls just give you a high five when you drop them off and then they're fine!" First of all, they have to give me a hug, kiss and then a high five before I can leave and then they truly are fine- no tears, nothing. They do wonderful, and truly love nursery. But we had to put up with 3 or 4 good months of crying to get to where we are today. And boy am I glad we are at the stage we are at now.

Some of my favorite things about the twins at this age:

When I can smell a poopy diaper and ask "Who's stinky?", they both accuse the other one of being poopy.

They are learning to tattle. They will often come up to me and say "Leah/Lexi naughty!" and grab my hand to show me the naughty thing the other one has done. One of their favorite tattling phrases is "Mitchell bothering me!" (and he does).

They love to scold and discipline each other. They'll tell each other not to do something and tell the other one what she is doing is naughty. My all time favorite scolding line was when Lexi was writing on the wall one day and Leah shouted, "NO NO Lucky Duck! (Lexi's nick name). That naughty!!"

If one of them is in timeout and the other one isn't, the "good" daughter will come up and ask me, "Is she naughty?"

Their favorite cereal is raisin bran. They will eat bowl after bowl and request it all throughout the day.

They are still obsessed with their baby dolls. Leah's baby is named Tina and Lexi's is Ali. Leah literally cannot sleep at night without it and carries hers around almost every minute of the day.

If they can hear a dog barking outside, they will yell, "No, no dogs" and tell me, "Dogs are ruffing."

They both have recently woken up from sleeping lately crying out about scary/sad things. We realized they are having bad dreams and it's so sad to see them so upset. Lexi woke up from a "bad" dream crying and told me "Mitchell took my fruit snack!" That is a bad dream to a 2 year old. Leah's recent bad dreams have been about spiders. She woke crying just last night saying, "Spider bite my head!" She finally calmed down when Ben pretended to gather up spiders from around the room and throw them away. Poor baby- I hated spiders more than anything as a child, so I can totally relate.

They are both so friendly in public. Whenever we go out, they are constantly waving and shouting "Hi!" to perfect strangers. My favorite was when they both flirted and entertained a lonely old man while we waited in line at a store.

Sadly, they are starting to get opinions about what they want to wear each day. Lexi prefers jeans to any other kind of pants. Sometimes she will sneak upstairs during the day and change out of her leggings into a pair of jeans. I have given up some control and have started letting them pick out their own pajamas at night, even if they aren't matching. That works out great- both girls get what they want- until they recently realized that the girl who picks the footless jammies gets to wear socks and the one with the footed pj's gets mad because she wants socks too!

They are still pretty good little helpers, but have recently started to say "no" when I ask them to put things away. Leah's newest trick is when I ask her to put something away, she will take the object to Lexi and in a whiny, sad little voice say, "Lexi, put it away!" And Lexi will actually do it for her most of the time.

These two girls have always had very different and distinct personalities. The newest way to describe their weaknesses is Leah is loud and Lexi is sly and sneaky. Lexi will do stuff she knows will drive Leah crazy, but she does it very quietly and without a lot of show. Leah is very, very loud. If some one takes something of hers, if she wants something and doesn't get it right away, if she is told no, etc., she'll scream and cry and whine for hours. Example: Leah was using a chair one day and turned away from the chair for 2 seconds to grab something and Lexi quietly and quickly snuck into the chair. When Leah turned back around and saw Lexi in her chair, she immediately started screaming "Mine! Mine" and began to cry and scream and carry on like she'd just been shot. Lexi laid back in the chair very limp and still as can be, acting as if she had no idea why Leah was so upset. Leah over reacts and is LOUD and Lexi is a sly little dog. Leah has always been the one to need more attention- she was the fussier baby, always needed to be held more, etc. We always felt bad that Leah seemed to get more attention as babies because Lexi was so mellow and patient to wait her turn. But as Ben used to say, "The squeaky wheel gets the oil." It hasn't changed much- the loud one usually gets in trouble first, (I do not do noise well), which isn't always fair if it's the quiet one who is causing the trouble, so we've tried to be better about punishing Alexis first for being mean, and then getting after Leah for being so darn loud.

Love, love, love these baby girls of mine.