Strengths emerge...

One of the many fascinating aspects of raising toddler twins is noticing the differences emerging between the two. In many ways, the boys are so very much alike, but little by little, they are beginning to assert their differences and it's an amazing process to observe.

Being toddlers, the boys naturally thrive on attention from others. I've noticed, however, that Dex seems a bit more social, in that he prefers to be interacting with others the majority of the time. For this reason, I believe, Dex has a larger vocabulary and seems to make more of an effort to communicate verbally. Jax, on the other hand, seems so much more content playing and exploring without the assistance of Mom or Dad. In fact, he often gives me this look of slight annoyance when I try to get him to play games with me. It's like he's humoring his mom and just waiting for the opportunity to go off on his own, foraging through cupboards, etc. He certainly seems to have the comprehension of language, but doesn't seem compelled to communicated the way Dex does.

Is it unfair of me to make these comparisons between the two? Being a twin, I have lived 27 years of endless comparisons. I remember as a child revelling in the minute physical differences between my sister and me. A small beauty mark or an extra freckle would be claimed with pride, as solid proof that we were, in fact, unique individuals. As we got older, however, the comparisons weren't always as fun. "Who's the smarter one? Prettier one? Nicer one? Who's more athletic? More musical?...." These questions or comments were meant to distinguish us, one from the other, but inevitably, were also intended to rank us, so to speak, against each other. One of the more unfair realities of being an identical twin...

Now, as a parent of twins, I realize that these daily comparisons can't be helped. The challenge will come in making sure these comparisons are meant to make each child feel special and unique, rather than inferior to his brother. For example, Dex may currently be a bit more outgoing, and therefore, have a slightly larger vocabulary. Jax, however, is remarkably independant and less reliant on Mom or Dad for, say, getting out of a box, going down the stairs, or getting out of a tight spot (which happens quite frequently in his explorations). I have to giggle when I look at the photos above. Jax is on the left and Dex is on the right. What isn't pictured is Dex's previous attempt to get out of the box. He tried once and then decided to wait (a bit impatiently, as you can see!) for Mom to lift him out. Jax, on the other hand, kept trying until he figured out his own escape route. I love watching their individual strengths start to emerge...

Old Man Winter

The boys have officially discovered snow. After much internal debating, I decided I was brave enough to tackle the task of taking the boys outside to play in the white wintery wonderland waiting outside our windows. Let me tell you, this is no easy undertaking with twin toddlers... especially two little tykes as energetic as Dex and Jax! It took me a good 20-25 minutes to get them both bundled up. The boys were convinced this was a newfound torture technique. I was convinced it was completely NOT worth the hassle!! They screamed through the entire procedure. The more they screamed, the hotter they became... and, thus, the more the screamed. The hardest part was that as soon as I would get one boy bundled and move on to the second one, the first boy would begin the arduous task of undressing himself. I would just finish bundling the second little guy, when I'd turn around, and there was the first... boots off, socks off, hat off... tears dripping down his face. Aargh!!

By the time I had both boys fully dressed, I didn't dare take the time to bundle-up, myself. So, a lightly covered, stressed-out Mom and two fit-to-be-tied little boys made their way down two flights of stairs (no easy task with two kicking-and-screaming, bundled-up boys) to the world of snow outside our doorstep. When I made it outside, I plopped the munchkins into a big pile of snow, convinced they would be terrified, and thus, I would never have to repeat the terror of winterizing Dex and Jax. Much to my surprise, they LOVED it. They spent the next 20 minutes stumbling around like intoxicated little chubby snowmen.... tears replaced with squeals of delight. What a fantastic experience it was to rediscover the wonder of snow through the eyes of my little boys...

Unfortunately, the fun DID have to come to an end. The boys may have been bundled-t0-the-max, but I was not. After losing complete sensation of my fingers, toes, ears and nose... and after several failed attempts to convince the boys that plummeting down an icy slide was NOT a good idea... I decided it was time to head back inside. THIS was about as difficult as the process of getting outside to begin with!! I would pick up one little boy and carry him to our doorstep. Then, I would run back to catch the second little boys, who was running in the opposite direction as fast as his little legs could carry him. I'd scoop him up and race back to the doorstep, only to find boy #1 making his own quick get-away. Aagh!! The adventures of twin toddlers never end!! :) After a good five minutes of chasing the boys around (the neighbors had to have been SO entertained), I resorted to scooping them up under my arms...little legs kicking... arms flailing... tears streaming, once again... and made the trek back up two flights of stairs to our apartment door. I kept reminding myself that they were crying because they loved being outside SO much... that it WAS worth it... and that we WOULD do it again. Though, it might be prudent to wait until D.R. is available to help out! :)

Challenges aside, it was a great experience and I'm so thankful for the snowsuits that were handed down from a girlfriend of mine who also has twin boys. They will be well-used this winter!

We're also finding many creative ways of entertaining ourselves when it's much-too cold for toddlers. A recent creation... our own indoor oatmeal box. The boys get such a kick out of touching, tasting and scooping up dry oatmeal. It can keep them entertained for a good 15-20 minutes, which is just enough time to get just about ANYTHING done!! Dex is tasting and scooping on the left and Jax is sprinkling on the right.

Oops!!

Okay... the video posted below should be working now! Sorry, folks!

Piano Duet

Dex is Primo and Jax is Secondo. They would sit at the piano all day long, if I let them!! An ideal scenario for these two little guys would be playing at the piano with a lovely little plate of munchies off to the side. Below is a short video of one of their live performances. It's pretty cute, because they pause once or twice to thoroughly examine the camera... staring it down. The show must go on, though, as you will see!

Feed Me!

Jax, somehow managed to eat his penne primavera WITHOUT covering his entire face with sauce! Remarkable!! Dex, on the other hand, has the uncanny ability to get sauce EVERYWHERE. What talent... from both boys!

The boys have never-ending appetites. That's right, folks, NEVER-ENDING!!! I've read all these very interesting articles about how toddlers' appetites are supposed to decrease somewhere around the first birthday... about how we, as parents, shouldn't worry about this, because it's normal. Hmm.... the boys seem to get hungrier and hungrier with each passing day. Now that Dex has learned to say "More" (which sounds like "ma"), I hear, "Ma! Ma! Ma!" almost constantly throughout the day. Jax, of course, doubles his brother's cries for food with his own variations on the word... completely un-transcribable, of course.

I suppose I shouldn't worry. I'm not offering them junk food. They love everything from bananas and kiwi fruit to beans, peas, corn, cheese, asparagus, yogurt... you name it! That being said, I do find it a bit alarming that two 17-month olds could eat me into the ground, if they so choose! We have their next well-child visit in a few weeks, so I'll try not to worry about their insatiable appetites until the doc tells me to put them on toddler diets... hee hee...

...Maybe they need the never-ending food supply to fuel their never-ending energy supply... Goodness knows, I wouldn't want to put an end to the Dex and Jax Show!!

Before and After

I have so many things I would like to write about, at the moment. I am loving this new toddler phase... LOVING it. I have been spending 90% of my days smiling, giggling and laughing... the boys keep me so entertained. The climbing, the adventuring, the complete silliness that follows them wherever they go. They have the most adorable little walk... arms held out or up, they stumble along as quickly as they can, as though they've had too much to drink to walk steady... but just enough to make them act unbelievably goofy. My days are filled with sloppy kisses, lovable cuddles, tiny arms being wrapped around my neck/leg/waist... tiny fingers trying so hard to help me fix my hair, put on my glasses, put the dishes away... giggles and shrieks... new words... silly games. They're such little scientists, discovering new smells, tastes... wanting to see how EVERYTHING feels between their fingers. This morning, Dex propped a utensil tray against a cabinet, like a skate board ramp, and proceeded to walk up it, as if it were as natural a thing to do as getting up in the morning. Seriously, I wish I knew what was going on in their heads!! Anyway, I'll have to save some of these stories, as I'm still behind on Christmas thank-yous and the rascals will be waking from their nap in any minute (yes, they're only giving me one nap in which to get all of my Mommy stuff done!!).

I wanted to post the before and after photos of their first haircuts, which were now two weeks ago. We went to a place specializing in kids' haircuts... and overall, had a really positive experience. It was hard for me to say good-bye to their curls, but it was definitely time. It seemed to be a rite-of-passage for them, as they were instantly transformed from my two little babies to my two little boys.

Dex..yes, he's holding his tongue, silly boy! Jax's curls... so sweet.

Here are my two very-grown-up boys enjoying one of their favorite activities... sitting/riding around in a box! Jax is in the front, Dex is in the back.

More fun at Granddad's and Mimi's house

The boys got a kick out of watching themselves on a DVD of family photos that Granddaddy put together. It was even more fun because they got to sit in Granddaddy's lap! Dex-left, Jax-right.

Jax rides the rocking horse that my Uncle Stuart made for my sister and me when we were babies.

Music to Our Ears

One of the wonderful aspects of being at my parents' home is all of the music that gets played/performed/listened to... especially when all or most of my siblings are there! This year, my boys discovered the joy of music at family gatherings and they did their best to join in as much as possible! They've mastered the art of singing along... they've got soul, they've got volume and they've definitely got the dance moves to go with the rest of it.... :)

They also discovered that Mommy's not the only person who plays piano or guitar... and that there are WAY COOLER instruments to play with! Music has always been such a vital part of my life that I sincerely hope the boys keep their fascination for all things musical/percussive. They had a riot playing with my brother's conga drum and, as you can see in the photos below, they were exposed to their first hammered dulcimer and accordian. They couldn't get enough of their Uncle Seth serenading them while playing the accordian!

As far as the piano goes, they have recently decided that they are far-too grown-up to have to stand on a cushion to play. They now wish to sit on the bench like big boys and play away to their hearts' content. Oh, how I hope our downstairs neighbors don't mind their original compositions... they are QUITE unique!

Uncle Jonathan and Dex play a little piano duet... and Dex (not-so) delicately plays the hammered dulcimer.

Jax thoroughly examines the accordian before venturing to touch ALL of the buttons...

Everyone knows it's as tasty as toes!!

Dex made traveling over Christmas break a lot more fun by alternating between his crackers and his toes. Luckily, in the end, I think he prefers the crackers... but gets a good giggle out of tasting his toes!

Fun with cousins

What's more fun than two in a tub? Three!! The boys LOVED bath time with their cousin, Jake! Now, if we could just get them to sit for more than three seconds (yes, they only seem to want to stand in the tub)... I was hoping that they would learn from their older and wiser cousin, but they were too busy splashing!

Jax managed to climb into his two-decker high-chair all by himself. He was starting to think he was the cleverest of little boys, when he cousin Reese realized he was in just the right place for a good tickle!!

Oh, to be a little bit taller!!

This morning, when D.R. and I went to pick-up the boys from our church nursery, we found a very patient woman trying desperately to keep Dex and Jax from climbing EVERYTHING in the room! There seemed to be nothing they didn't want to climb... chairs, tables, shelves... she said she was momentarily able to bribe them to halt their climbing endeavors with animal crackers, but by the time we arrived, they were definitely losing their appeal!
Now, the question is, how do we curb this zeal for climbing which seems to be at the very core of their being? If it is their nature to climb, are all of our efforts futile? As I've previously posted, our kitchen chairs are semi-permanently kept either on top of the table, where they are (for the time being) too high to reach, or slid far under the table, where they are no fun to climb. The kitchen pot-rack is blocked off by our kitchen table (which even makes it hard for Mama to reach the pots and pans!), the piano bench is slid far under the piano... and we are getting far-too-used to intercepting a climbing boy from his high-summit destination. What more can we do? Will they forever want to scale the walls? How is it that I have friends whose children have never even dared create a todller-built staircase to the ceiling when it seems to be the primary objective of my little Dex and Jax? Seriously, the other day, I found that they had arranged their toys from small to large, to form a rickety trail to the very top of our upright piano. Imagine my horror, as I try to stop two little boys from falling five-feet down!

Anyway, it certainly adds excitement and adventure to our days! In the meantime, I'm trying to create safe climbing opportunities for them. They LOVE standing on kitchen chairs to help me cook. In the top photo, they're assisting Auntie T prepare for an afternoon of krumkake-baking... Jax with the whisk, Dex with the bowl. They also enjoy using their rocking horse as a means to reach the light-switch. In the smaller photos, Dex demonstrates this fun game.

Fun with Great Grandpa

We were able to make it home during the month of December for a dear friend's wedding. An added bonus? Getting to play with Great Grandpa the next day!!! The boys may be wigglers, but they LOVE sitting on Great Grandpa's lap! Dex is on the left, Jax is on the right.

Two Boys in a Box

Boxes continue to be a source of pleasure for the rascals. The bigger the box, the more likely it is that they'll try to squish into it together. However, no box is too small for these boys! This morning, they each tried fitting into a tiny little 6" x 10" box. They tried OVER and OVER again, until Dex finally got his foot stuck inside!! I hope they always keep me this entertained! In both photos, Jax is on the left and Dex is on the right.

My Dapper Duo

I am WEEKS behind in my posting! We are home, at last, after a week of visiting family. I have so many stories to share, photos to post... and I will do my best to play catch-up in the next few days. In the midst of all the wonderful visits and Christmas celebrations we shared, the boys also experienced one trip to the ER, two double ear infections, an asthmatic attack, accordian and hammered dulcimer lessons, baking, first-walks in the snow, first haircuts, and their parents' five-year wedding anniversary.

Somehow, the boys picked up on the fact that this time of year is a special one for us. They adore being with their extended families and love the group joy that's present at any celebration. Luckily, they also enjoy getting all dappered up for these family affairs!! These are photos of my handsome little boys with all their adorable baby curls still present!! I'll post photos of their new hairstyles shortly.

Jax is on the left, Dex on the right, in the topmost photo. In the second photo and in the last two, Dex is on the left and Jax is on the right.