A Litttle Bit of Everything!

Early one morning when I arrived, both girls were still in their Baby Einstein pj's. It isn't too often that they are dressed the same, but I thought they looked particularly cute. Claire is expanding her chest so that we can see what pajamas she has on.

The news of the week is that Claire and Chloe's family dog, Lucy, had puppies. Here they are, and I have to admit they are quite cute. But, oh the work and chaos that is ahead with twins AND puppies!

On Wednesday of this past week, we met visiting friends from LA at the local McDonald's play area. It was raining out and this gave the girls some exercise and some new experiences since they had not been there before. Here Claire is exiting the tunnel slide. For the first hour or so Chloe walked up the steps and then would walk back down rather than slide. Everyone had lots of fun!

Claire on the move!

Chloe on the move!
Below is their new friend Colt. His two older brothers stayed up in the rocket ship most of the time, so we didn't get their picture.

Not sure if Chloe really came down the slide at this time or was just crawling back down.


A closeup of Chloe....not always easy to get.

Here is a small snippet of some of the techniques used to get Papa's attention. He has made the decision to not drink diet coke in front of the girls anymore. Chloe is trying to fix that situation by making Papa some coke in her little kitchen. Claire is talking to Papa about the dinosaurs and other animals. The previous day Claire had declared to me that some dinosaurs "eat meat" and some dinosaurs "eat plants". She also is being just a bit possessive with the animals. :)
Chloe doesn't seem to mind however. We have found that Chloe picks her battles.

Reading a book about elephants with Papa.

Claire is using her medical expertise to make sure Papa's heart is still beating. The first time Claire checked my ears with her little instrument, she told me I had a gecko in my ear. Yikes!!!

Chloe is checking Papa's blood pressure. After they pump up the little toy, they always say, "It is 10 o'clock". Not sure what that is about except that the little dial looks somewhat like a clock.

Lastly, Papa gets a shot. We get lots of shots these days and they always say, "It only hurts for a second" and that is what she tells Papa before telling him to "Just be happy again".

Here is Claire singing to her baby named Pocca. I have no idea if I have the name spelled correctly, but they tell me that is her name, however unusual.

The last little movie is of Chloe "sort of" singing with Grandma. She knows all the words of our songs but sings selectively. If you listen carefully you can hear Claire singing along across the room. Chloe often chooses the songs she wants us to sing and will correct us if we sing something wrong.

On to the month of March....doesn't seem possible.

P.S. It seems the videos are working well again....

Three Days of Fun at the Park!

This past week brought some great weather as the weatherman had promised. We made very good use of the time and took to the parks on three different days. The first day we went to the big park and Grandma forgot her camera. Uncle Jon had come along and the girls had lots of fun with he and Papa. The next opportunity came on Thursday and we walked to the little park and Aunt Suzie joined us. Claire and Chloe loved that!
Chloe and Claire enjoyed walking the curb around the play area as much as they did climbing and sliding. They probably played one-half of the time just walking and running along the cement.

Chloe pauses for a picture.

This may be a familiar shot, Claire has often peeked through the window for a picture at this same spot.

Claire, the gatherer, with her sticks. Actually she left the sticks eventually and collected rocks which the girls moved from the cement to the grass and back at least 25 times. The rocks ended up in their living room when we came home. Claire held them in her lap all the way as we walked home with the stroller. She managed the rocks as well as her snack while rolling along.

Telling secrets? Off and running again.



Grandma and Chloe, taking time for a hug.

On Friday it was off to the big park. Chloe mastered this big hill in no time.

And then the tunnels, both girls actually ran through the tunnels. That was the first time they had ventured in when I had been with them. I know Mommy and Daddy take them to this park as well, so they may have tried it before.

Today, Sunday, was the first time Claire and Chloe had attended their new class since they turned two. They had a great time. Claire was quite independent but Chloe was just a bit reluctant to stay. Grandma offered to hang out with her while Mommy and Daddy went to church. It was a great time. At one point when I was thinking she might do just fine without me and I was moving towards the door, she came and got me and said, "Grandma, don't hide" and took me back into the center of the room. I decided I would finish the time with them if it made her feel secure. They have never been in a structured setting such as this before (playtime, story time, and coloring) and I think they did quite well. They moved around a bit during story time, but they will figure out the rules very soon, I'm sure.

Here is Claire with a toy piggy bank.

Chloe checking out the kitchen.

Chloe on the move.....

Claire coloring. She waited until most of the others were finished.

Claire rocking the doll in the cradle and then putting her in the stroller during outdoor playtime.

Chloe at play.

Claire had made a move to join in with some 4 and 5 year olds from another class when she saw them playing ball during the second playtime outdoors. She moved towards the ball twice but the big boys beat her to it. It was funny to watch. She wasn't any too happy to have class end when it was time to go home.

Quotes of the week:

Claire, after Papa didn't arrive until later Thursday afternoon. "Papa, I know you missed me this morning."

Chloe, when we arrived to drop something off on Saturday. "Grandma, It's so nice to see you!"


Their vocabularies are pretty advanced for two year olds. They also have begun to tell us stories about what happens when we aren't there. I checked the accuracy on two of the tales and they were right on the details. Pretty amazing to me!

Trying Some New Things!

Yeah, yeah, yeah! We were able to get outside a little this week. Here are Claire and Chloe, quite bundled up, ready to take a walk. When Chloe saw the camera she pulled her puppy-dog hat down over her face. Later, the girls had some "kitchen time" dressed in their aprons with their picture on them.

One of our most fun activities this week was when we made some Valentine cards for Mommy and Daddy. We had a great time. Who knew how fun scotch tape and stickers could be? The last picture is of Chloe putting tape on her nose.

Another activity that day was playing with play dough. I believe it was the first time the girls had experienced play dough.

Here are a couple of movie clips of play dough moments. Hopefully you can view them. Once again this past week I find that the videos work about one-third of the time. Pretty frustrating! In the first clip, Chloe and Papa are making tiny little eggs to put in her tiny basket. Near the end, she is talking to the "little baby egg" and saying it is in the basket "nice and cozy". Other special things made with play dough were snakes and snowmen.

More memories ahead next week! We are expecting good weather for part of the week!

After the Birthdays.....

The first week of being a two year old started out with a 2 year checkup for Chloe and Claire. This was the first time at a new pediatrician's office since their previous doctor had closed her private office to work in a clinic. Here we see Chloe exploring the playhouse at the new office.




I think the idea is to sit at this little table and play with the Lego's but these girls decided to do it standing up!

Grandma isn't usually around at bath time but on this day Mommy decided to give them a bath after the doctor's visit....sounded like a great idea to me....getting the doctor's office cooties off of them! Notice the band aids, both girls had some shots.

Below, Papa and Claire practice doctor visits. Papa is listening to Claire's heart. During the past couple of months, Chloe had undergone some extra and unpleasant medical tests and the twins enthusiasm for going to the doctor had vanished. A little play medical kit actually may have helped with some of the fears. They took it along on the visit and we used some of the toy devices while we were there.

A new little step stool has given the girls some new adventures at washing their hands at the sink rather than having them washed by an adult. Chloe LOVES to wash her hands!

I love how the imagination continues to develop in the girls. In the video below they decided that the coffee table was actually a piano. They would "play" the piano and wanted Papa and Grandma to sing along. I realize that the videos on the blog may not be working much of the time. I have found that they work fine on some visits but you will get a message that the video is not available at other times. The technical support for Blogspot is limited and although some of the help messages indicate the problem has been fixed, I have found that it has not been fixed. The two videos below are of the girls telling us "Everybody sing along" and then Claire, primarily, will say, "Everybody stop!" This went on for some time and Papa and I were quite entertained. Obviously it doesn't take much to entertain us!

Both girls love their books. Here they are looking at some "old" books and at some "new" books. The one Chloe has is one of our favorites called The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The last picture Claire is looking a a new book called the Barnyard Boogie Puppet Book, a very cute concept with the puppet built right in.

The last little video is of Chloe and I having a conversation about her snack and other things.
I hope you are able to see it.

Again this week we are hoping for some good weather in order to be able to escape the house and do some outdoor activities.