Hi Christine,  I hope you’ve had a fun summer.  We have been busy!

The girls are walkers- or I should say runners- now.  They are all over the place and into everything. I’m happy the therapy worked but I got to tell you it was a lot easier to keep track of them when they were crawling. The summer has been challenging.  As you know toddlers need to be watched all the time and it’s difficult when there are two of them and only one of me.  They love to be chased and will often make a game of it. The challenge comes when they take off in different directions.  I need to make sure they’re safe and this game has limited some of our summer activities. They are very clever and when we’re out somewhere they look for the place I don’t want them to go and then keep making a beeline there, giggling and shrieking in delight.  For example, Tas is in football and I bring the girls to practice with me.  There is a big field for them to play in.  They accidentally headed toward the practice field one time and I had to run and get them before they were caught up with the players.  Now they face the field, turn back to look at me with a smirky grin on their face and take off towards the action.  As soon as I catch one the other gets the same smile and takes off.  They’re faster than you would think and I’m usually exhausted 10 minutes into it.  All the other parents think it’s hilarious and I must admit I kind of love that mischievous smirk, I just wish that I wasn’t the one chasing them.

Somethings we just can’t do.  The pool is off limits as I can’t do both at the same time.  I did buy a small blow up pool that I put on our deck and they love that.  They also have a water table,  but would still prefer the toilet to play in if I let them. I’m hoping that next year I can get them to the pool because they love water and even think taking a bath is a treat.  Right around 6 or 6:30 at night they start banging on the bathroom door because they want to get in the tub.  We have gone to the beach several times and this summer and they love it.  They roam the sand and chase after seagulls.  The ocean scares them enough that they don’t venture to the water without having an adult hold them so as long as it’s not crowded they have a lot of freedom. Usually we drive to the beach but we’ve also gone out in the boat a few times.  Something about cruising in the boat is very relaxing and they usually fall asleep within five minutes of leaving our dock and wake up when we get to the beach.

Our house is on the water so we have a gate on the deck so they can play there.  We also have a nice front yard and we got a swing set for them to play in.  They love to swing.  They also love the slide.  It’s a little big and fast for them so we have to keep a hand on them or they’ll catch air on the way down.  Taya is a bit more adventurous and gets irritated when we keep her controlled.  Emi waits to make sure we have her as she’s the more cautious of the two.  We also have a great park in town and have play dates there often.  We have a botanical garden nearby with a splaspad and many play areas that they love.  We also will go for bike rides on the weekend at the state park.

As I said the therapy for walking was a success and that is over.  However, we now have a therapist come to the house once a week for speech.  Part of the reason they have a delay is because they have developed their own language that they talk to each other in.  It kind of sounds like drunken Japanese.  Just because they aren’t speaking doesn’t mean they don’t understand language because they are very bright.  Their therapist also agrees that it’s not related to their intellect at all.  They absolutely love books!  We probably read 15-20 a day.  They often go to their room and pull out books to look at by themselves.  One of Taya’s first words was “read”.  Not gonna lie, it made me super proud.  They also go to a therapy playgroup once a week that they really enjoy.  Now that my son has started full day school, we’ve signed up for a toddler gym and I know they are gonna love it.  Our first class is next week.   Emi has figured out how to do somersaults and Taya is close.  It’s going to be right up their alley.  I’ll let you know how it goes in my next blog.

I’m sure you can tell that they love to play together and they get along well for the most part.  They have started fighting with each other too.  Apparently with twins it’s considered a sign of growth because they realize that they’re individuals.  They can be brutal to each other.  Emi is more quick tempered and will smack Taya.  Taya is usually easy going but is a hair puller when she’s mad.  When we go to the grocery store I  have to keep them in the stroller and pull a cart behind me because if they are in the same cart it’s a cage match. They will also fight if they see that Tim or I are paying attention to one over the other.  I feel guilty that they always have to share our attention so we try to give them separate time but it’s not always easy.  It’s something we’re trying to get better at.

I hope that things are going well with you.  I’ll update again in January but feel free to comment here if you have questions or comments. I’ll respond as soon as possible.

All my best

Lori