Tag - You're It!

Lately, the girls have been entertaining themselves by playing chase, but here it looks like they have lost track of each other:
Claire's after Caroline...Claire can hardly run when she plays chase because she starts belly laughing so hard that it makes her freeze.

Almost got you!

Safe - home base!

Now it's Caroline's turn to tag...it's like they already know the rules and change turns every time they play.

Wait a second...something's on my foot.

Here it is! Both girls are so helpful by finding miniscule hairs or crumbs on the floor, and they make it their job to point it out to me. No matter how many times I vacuum or sweep, I never can seem to get the floor clean enough to pass their inspection.

Ready for another game, Mommy?

20 Months, MDO, and Sitting Pretty

Yesterday was a big day for the girls - turning 20 months old (no more "teen" digits, sadly, and now 20 months just sounds so close to two!), and going for their first time to Mother's Day Out! Our church's program offers either one or two days a week, and for this year, I decided to send the girls just one day a week, so their day to go is Thursdays! The program lasts five hours, and they do all of their "learning" in the morning, followed by lunch and naptime. We had quite the load with us walking into church yesterday - two nap mats, two lunchbags, two backpacks, and two precious twins!!! Claire was excited to go for her first day of school!
Caroline just wanted to get in the car - no more pictures, please!

When I dropped the girls off, most all of the kids in their room were crying, but they walked on in and didn't shed a tear. When I picked them up, they got an A+ for eating all their lunch, taking a nap, and playing well. Caroline was sitting at the table coloring when I got there, and Claire was sitting on Ms. Theresa's lap. They were pros already, and seemed to love their first day of school. When we got home, I proudly displayed the girls' first fridge art!

Later that afternoon, the girls wanted to sit on their ottomans and rest after such a full day of playing and learning! Claire can't wait to go back next week!

Caroline had so much fun coloring and playing!

What's next? We're ready for it!

Best of Friends

Since birth, the girls have gotten along for the most part and have done everything together, from baths to bedtime to storytime to dinnertime to playing to field trips to brushing their teeth together. While they have peacefully coexisted, it hasn't been until very recently that they have actually initiated interaction with each other and tried to engage the other sister in play of some type.

Lately, both girls love to sort their shapes into those shape balls, and they have formed quite the team as Claire puts the pieces in and Caroline hands them to her, eliminating any need for Claire to pick up a piece off the floor. I told them that one day they'll beat the pants off their classmates in any game because they'll intuitively know what the other needs before they say it, plus they'll have all that time at home to practice. It looks like they are both tending towards being lefties (another twin trait apparently), so we're already getting them ready for some great athletic scholarships.

They typically sit beside the other when they're playing, even though they have an entire room or house to play elsewhere; they also love to do what the other is doing, especially Caroline. Claire, however, loves to touch Caroline's hair or face and just start giggling; I don't know if she sees herself, but I do wonder. The crazy thing is that both girls can pick themselves out of a family picture, which is crazy because most adults can't differentiate between them in pictures. I guess they somehow know who is whom. They have become really sweet to each other, and love to give "kisses," which really consist of them touching foreheads at this point. Thankfully, they seem pretty tolerant of each other while they poke and prod each other, choosing to laugh rather than complain.

Going in for the kiss...

Too funny, sis! Taking a break from all the silliness...Already telling secrets...

Best of friends!

A Makin' Pie Kind of Saturday

The girls have started playing dress-up a little bit more, so I've been pulling out all the hats and purses and scarves and beads for them to use, and they're loving it. Claire was a natural as she slung that purse over her arm - it's like an inborn female trait - no true shopper has to be "taught" how to hold a purse. Caroline loves wearing hats and jewelry - she struts around and tosses her head like a natural. Of course now she loves wearing her beach hat at the end of summer; she wouldn't keep this hat on for two seconds back in June, but now she won't take it off!

I finally found some baby barrettes for the girls' hair - their hair is still pretty finely textured and so the barrettes won't stay in very well. It's not looking like they inherited their mommy's thick, textured hair; for sure I thought that would be a dominant trait, but I guess not! Claire looks like such a big girl now with her new barrette!

This morning, the girls helped Mommy make a homemade French silk pie - one of Mommy's favorites, but actually really easy to make. Although there wasn't much whipped cream on these beaters, I assured the girls that this would be their first among hundreds of times to lick the beaters because Mommy and Daddy love their desserts!

The finished product: French silk pie (a chocolate lover's favorite, complete with homemade crumb crust and whipped cream on top!)

Tonight, we had some new friends and their little boy Kade over for dinner, and it's always fun to see how the girls interact with different toddlers and babies. Most of the little friends they meet are girls - I think we know of one little boy, but that's about it, so I was excited for them to meet Kade tonight! He is not quite a year older than they are, but they could still all play together and they all got along really well. Kade enjoyed sharing and bringing the girls' cups to them and helping get them settled for dinner. In turn, the girls loved playing with Kade - Caroline followed him around everywhere and kept eyeing his Woody doll. It's always interesting to watch because sometimes Caroline can sometimes take a little while to "warm up" to new friends or faces, but tonight, she just stuck to Kade and his dad and loved playing with them.

She also didn't mind the free goldfish that Kade kept sharing with her. (Take a look at Kade's red, curly hair - what a doll!)

He had both girls eating out of his hands (literally)! What a sweet little boy and so much fun for the girls to have a new "boy" friend!

(Oh, and the pie turned out really well too - Kade took a handful and walked around outside with chocolate pie oozing from between his fingers! Yum!)

Open House!

This school year, the girls are enrolled to attend one day a week at our church's Mother's Day Out program - mostly to give them some new experiences, social stimulation, and time to do some neat crafts that Mommy can't think up on her own. I'm not too sure what I'll do for the five hours every Thursday that the girls are gone - I usually stay on top of the cleaning/laundry pretty well during the week, so I may schedule lunches or dr. appts that are too hard to schedule while bringing the girls. But it will feel pretty empty and quiet here without them running around!

This morning was the "Mother's Day Out Open House," a chance for the girls to meet their teachers and for us to get a schedule for the day. Fortunately, one of their teachers, Miss Becky, was also their nursery teacher on Sunday mornings when they were about 8-14 months old, and she was thrilled to have them in her class, and I was just as thrilled that they would be in her class! The other teacher, Miss Theresa, had never met the girls, and as she was bending down to say hello to them, Claire walked straight over to her and gave her a hug, then kissed the elephant that Miss Theresa was holding in her hand. What a sweetheart, and I think Claire won Miss Theresa over already!
Caroline walked right over to the bookshelf (where else?), picked out a book, and started reading to Miss Theresa. She's ready to learn!

Their room is the same room where they attend nursery on Sunday mornings, so that will help them get used to the routine, but between all the crafts and other fun things they have planned, the day will fly by! There are eight other kids in their class, and five of the eight were also born in January of 2010, so that's pretty neat! Each week, the teacher will post pictures of their activities, so hopefully I can share some here on the blog to show what they are learning. I'm really excited that our church has such a great program and that the girls will be loved and challenged this year.