Your Dad

Girls,

Guess what? (Whenever I say that to you, neither of you says “what?”. You always say, yeah. Weirdos) It’s Father’s Day. Woo-hoo; I know. That doesn’t mean a lot to you beyond the fact that you’ll probably sing Happy Birthday to your dad. It’s one of your favorite songs and you sing it to people regardless of whether or not it really is their birthday.

In honor of your dad and the day, I thought we'd play the interview game. Even getting ready for this game was funny. I told you I was going to interview you and said that means I'd ask you a question and you'd tell me what you think. Jane, for some bizarre reason, you shouted out "PINK!". Well, at least we know what you're thinking...

What is Daddy's name?
L: Um... Jeff!
J: I don't know.

What do you love most about Daddy?
L: I'm not a daddy. Strawberries!
J: Crackers!

How do you know Daddy loves you?
L: (she grins) He loves me thiiiis much (stretches out arms). And he lets me get babydolls.
J: He loves me thiiiiis much (attempts to stretch arms wider than Luce) and he gives me vitamins.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
J: Play basketball!
L: Make ice cream.

Is there anything you want Daddy to know on Father's Day?
J: LADYBUGS!
L: APPLE JUICE!

I want to take a minute to tell you about this guy who is your dad. He loves you both so much. He adores you. He misses you when you have a slumber party at Nana’s house.


When he pulls in the driveway from work in the evening, we’re often sitting outside on the front steps eating freezer pops. Or sometimes coloring on the sidewalk with chalk. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, as soon as you see that he’s there, you race to the garage and are bouncing around before he even opens his door. If he’s lucky, you’ll follow him inside so he can change into shorts. But you know what? He doesn’t even care. If you’re insistent and less willing to let him change, he just sits on the sidewalk in his work pants and colors with you. Or helps you water the plants. Or lets you drip melted freezer pop on him. That’s how he is.


Daddy pulls out the watercolors and paints with you. He lets you use the glitter glue to your hearts’ content. He helps you catch and inspect all sorts of bugs. He is infinitely patient with you.


He’s the best tickler/chaser/hide-and-seek player. You love to wrestle with and climb all over your dad. You beg for more “shark kisses”. He pushes you highest on the swings and helps you dangle from the monkey bars.

Daddy is so proud of you, Jane. He is so proud of you, Lucy. He’s your biggest fan and always will be.

We're pretty lucky to have him.

Love,
Mama

Boys already?

Dear Lucy,

This morning you told me you have a boyfriend. WHA?! You are two and a half, and this is at least four years before I expected to hear any of that sort of nonsense. But you redeemed yourself when I asked why he's your boyfriend. You grinned and told me he makes you laugh.

Love you.
Mama

Little girls

Sometimes it overwhelms me that you are no longer babies. That first year was tough. Great, but nearly impossibly difficult. There's a webforum for twin parents I would visit when I couldn't figure out how to handle whatever was going on. I started out in the "Expecting Twins!" room where it was fun to poke around and think about how amazing it was going to be when you became a living out loud part of my world. Then, it was "Twins (The First Year)". Much more daunting. Anywho, while it was happening, it seemed like we would always be in that world. But recently I wanted some thoughts on bedtime (because goodness gracious, girls, you are not making that part of the day easy) and what has happened?! We're in the "Twins (Age 2-4)" forum now. You are full-on people now. With wants (lots of them) and desires and talking (so much talking) and crying (sometimes a lot of crying) and sweaty socks and grass-stained jeans and demands for pretzels and lemonade for breakfast and "just olives, mom" for dinner.

You both usually get up in the morning on your own and come down to our bedroom around 6am. 6:30 if you're letting me sleep in. But before you leave your bedroom, you collect your favorite 20 or so stuffed animals, dolls, and blankets, and then somehow manage to make it down the stairs with your armloads. This morning I could hear you, Lucy, saying so tiredly, "No Jane. Not yet". This was the first morning that one of you made the trip down without the other. But Jane, it was nice to have you to myself for a bit this morning. We snuggled on the chair, and I scratched your back (another one of your demands. If my hand goes too slowly, or I stop, you replace it on your back and glare at me. funny stuff, kid.) Then we made cinnamon toast and you got started on your breakfst while I got your sister up.

You started on your breakfast. As in, I didn't have to spoon-feed you oatmeal. It's such a joy and privilege to get to be your mama and watch you grow up into such lovely, funny, smart people. It's also making me the teensiest bit sad.

Love you so much.

Mama

Mother's Day #3

Ladies,

My third Mother's Day has now come and gone, and I want to tell you girls some of the things I really enjoy about being your mama.

Hugs. Both of you run at me at a cringe-inducing full speed and throw yourself into my arms. Or onto my leg. Luce, you wrap your little legs around me and squeeze. Jane, your hugs are fast - you give a hard squeeze and then are off on a sprint to the next thing.

Conversations. You talk and talk and talk. There are so many things you want to know, so you ask. And so many things you want me to know, so you tell. And it's super cute when you're hyped up because then the chatting is at a much faster pace with no breaks for air, and you both use your hands for emphasis, usually to touch or hold my face to make sure you have my full attention.

Sister-stuff. You guys are friends and playmates and sometimes each others greatest source of frustration. And it is all fabulous. I love listening to you when you don't know I'm there. Lucy, you are usually the director. Okay, Jane, you go over there and you're the cat and that's your baby and Jane, wait! Jane, come back. Jane, if you want to lay on your pillow, you can just lay on your pillow. And then Janey, you come running to find me with a scowl on your face and say, I'm just cranky at Lucy because she won't let me ___ (fill in the blank with any number of things).

Toddler breath. Okay, I will admit that this is least enjoyable after you eat a bag of funyuns (yes, that's a true and unfortunate story). But Jane, you are so funny and weird about breath. If you catch a whiff of toothpaste, you demand to smell my breath. I open up and you try to stuff your entire head in my mouth. Then ask, did you brush your teef? You adore dental floss because it's minty-fresh. And, this is what I haven't figured out. Your breath ALWAYS smells like cilantro (except after the funyuns). You don't eat cilantro. So...?

Your enthusiasm. We routinely make up stories for you and you love them. We've done this since you were tiny, so there are lots of stories and characters at this point, and to be honest, I can't keep them all straight. There is nothing as frustrating to you as when you want to hear a story about Charlie or Susanna and I can't remember the story-line. Yikes! But, when I do remember, you ooh and ahh and act appropriately surprised every time. Your little faces are adorable when your eyes open wide with wonder as if it's the first time you're hearing it.


Big imaginations. From bear hunts to "dis is our umbrella" (a tree in the front yard) to picnics with all your twins (you don't just have baby dolls - everything is considered a twin and comes as a set of two, so you'll pull out a bear and a unicorn and call them your twins), you ladies live and play by your vast imaginations.

There are about a zillion more things I could put on this list... I love you two meatballs so much.

Love,
Mama

Spring has sprung!

A couple of quick updates for you silly little girls.

*You made my week (not exaggerating)when you BOTH ate bok choy. I am not even kidding. Lucy, you are the pickiest little eater ever. It makes me almost crazy. The only reason I haven't started you in toddler eating therapy (no, that's not a real thing. at least not that I know of) is because you occasionally eat an entire pan of roasted broccoli. You are always looking at food and cocking your head and saying, "I'm not gon' like dat". Or, without even touching it, much less tasting it, shouting, "YUCKY!" So, imagine my shock, disbelief, then absolute joy, when you watched your sister toss back some bok choy and then you were interested in trying it, too. AND THEN YOU HAD SECONDS. Thank you, kiddo. And Janey, thank you for being an awesome little eater. You love asparagus, salmon, rice and beans among a zillion other things.

*Last night we were sitting on the front steps outside eating rainbow sherbet. You guys love to slurp the "soup" from the spoon at the end. Luce, I told you to look at the swirl in your spoonful - it was all orange with a pretty little spin of raspberry. You put your little face right down to the spoon and looked and looked, and when I realized you looked confused and unhappy, I asked what was going on. You disgustedly announced, "I don't want a squirrel in my ice cream soup".

*Janey, you have been picking flowers in earnest. This is my second year of willingly accepting the idea that all the lovely flowers in our yard are even more lovely when they're being fully enjoyed by you and your sister, and obviously, full enjoyment involves destruction. You have plucked every crocus, and now you're working on the blanket of little purple flowers in the front yard. It's so sweet that you pick one for yourself, then one for "Yuce". "Here you go, Yucey. I got dis one for you".

Love you ladies!
Mama

Terrible twos. Really?

J&L,

You are two and a half (almost). It is the best time to be a mama, even with the madness and mayhem of the crankiness, whinyness, and general frustration that seems to come along with being two. You are the funniest little people ever, not to mention the cutest.


Here's what you've been up to:

*Luce, the other day, when Janey tried to climb over you and you got hurt (or maybe just frustrated (see above)), you said, "Jane, you're breaking my heart. Please don't do that". WHAAA? Where do these statements, comments, thoughts even come from?!


*Jane, one recent morning, you woke from what must have been an interesting dream. You told me you don't like Zorasaur. The best I can figure based on your description is that this is a combination of Zorak (our friend Katy's ginormous cat who may have chomped on your arm) and the dinosaurs you're learning about at preschool.

*Lucy, when Jane was crying, you wanted to comfort her. "Here Janey. Let me wipe your tear". And then you proceeded to wipe away her tears with your fingers. And then you gave her a hug. And then I nearly choked on the mommy lump lodged in my throat.

*Jane, we finally had some snow. You were both beyond elated. For a solid week, you would find a remaining patch of snow sitting in some shade, and loudly announce, "IT'S STILL SNOWING!". Nothing I could say would convince you that it wasn't in fact snowing, that was just leftover snow. I am silly for even trying to argue with you.


*Luce, your imagination is impressive. I don't know how to even tell how much (if any) truth is incorporated in some of the tales you tell. About one of your buddies at daycare: "He called me a pickle. And I said, I'm Hilda or Lucy Sessner. And he said, It's nice to meet you Hilda or Lucy Sessner".

*Jane, at Costco, when another mom told her little girl, oh, look, it's some more babies, you announced, "Actually, we're little girls." Not sure if it was the actually or your facial expression that cracked me up more.

*You had show and tell at preschool this week. Since the theme is animals, all the kiddos were supposed to bring in a favorite stuffed animal. You guys announced without any hesitation that you'd be taking in your unicorn (Jane) and your flamingoat (Lucy). That's right. I wrote flamingoat. Because that's what you're sure it's called.


I love finding your little gloves in my boots and half-eaten cookies in my purse and toy cars in my coat pocket. I love that when I talk to you, usually trying to explain something, or sometimes just telling a story, you demand, "Say it again, Mama!" You love it when people talk to you like any other conversation. You love being introduced to adults. You love fruit snacks and if I forget to have them with me when I pick you up at preschool - whew, boy, am I in for it.


It has been an absolute joy watching you two become sister-friends. And, just in case you go through a weird phase of watching old TLC shows, that is totally different than sister-wives. You giggle together, wrestle together, play hide together (it's not really hide and seek yet, just hide), call for each other if your sister is in the other room. You two are so very different, yet so very much a part, maybe the most important part, of each others lives. I love you little meatballs very much.


Mama

Happy New Year!

Girls,

You really LOVED Christmas. The music, the lights, Santa... Whenever we would get in the car, you usually wanted to listen to Christmas music. Lucy, you always asked, "What's dis one about?" And Jane, you usually answered her, "It's CHWISSMASY music!" You're obsessed with Nativity sets, especially baby Jesus. Incidentally, you have one real baby Jesus (from an actual nativity set) and one fake baby Jesus (he's dressed all in pink and is actually the baby that belongs to the dollhouse set). But you don't discriminate.



As we were waiting in line for Santa at the luminary walk early December, we explained that when we got to Santa, you were supposed to tell him what you wanted for Christmas. When it was our turn, you both stood just within his hearing range and shouted, "I wanna Barbie!". Then, as we were leaving, his elf gave you each a packet of fruit snacks. You're thoroughly confused now because your understanding of fruit snacks is that they're Halloween treats. (YES, we're still trick or treating at our house. Pretty much daily, you decide you're ready for a fruit snack pack, so you get your Halloween bags, go to the kitchen door, gently knock and tell me "twick o tweat").



You loved decorating our tree, taking the time to play with all the ornaments. What's dat one? is a favorite question. You were particularly interested in the wicked witch on her bicycle, the kittens in the basket, sylvester the cat, and winnie the pooh. Tinkerbell's wings didn't fare too well this Christmas. Once there were presents under the tree, you reached a whole new level of interest, and Jane, you picked up one box at least daily to ask me about it. But you were both so good about not trying to unwrap anything and knowing that you needed to wait for Santa to bring your presents Christmas morning. Now that Christmas decorations have come down, you're definitely missing them. Lucy, you just recently asked in a bewildered tone where dat Santa went and I told you he got packed up with the other decorations. You looked so forlorn when you told me, "dat makes me berry sad".



We've been living with Nana and Pops since mid-December (Saturday, December 10th in case you're wondering) because we sold our house and don't close on the new one until the end of January. You girls have handled the transition so well. Luce, you cried several times, saying that you wanted to go home. Broke my heart. We had been telling you for several weeks that someone else was going to live in our house, we were moving in with Nana, then we're getting a new house. Your beautiful minds seem to have grasped these concepts, but I still cried a little the last time I took you through our almost empty house - the home you lived in these first two years of your lives, the home we brought you to when you finally got to check out of the NICU, the home where you've played and laughed and learned and become little girls. We'll miss Leo and runs around the block, and you'll probably miss hearing so many helicoptors. We walked through the house and you both said goodbye to your bedroom, your bathtub (so much splashing went on there!), the backyard... We took you to go through the new house recently, and you seemed to love exploring. Can hardly wait until the end of January when we actually get to live in it.




Funny things you've said and done recently:

Wead me 'bout da crackernut. (Nutcracker) - Jane
Any time I call you by a term of endearment or a nickname (such as meatball, monkey, sweetpea...), Lucy, you tell me, "I'm Hilda or Lucy Sessner". If I call Jane those same names, you tell me, "It's Hilda or Janey Sessner". I love that you think everyone's first name is Hilda.
I also love that you think everything is spelled L-U-C-Y. You know that's how to spell your name, and I overheard you reading the stockings, pointing to each letter. L-U-C-Y "Janey!"; L-U-C-Y "Mommy!"; L-U-C-Y "Daddy!"



I love you more than I can understand. Happy 2012!

Mama