What They're Saying Now: Summer 2014

Now that the twins are almost five, they're saying a lot more. They still have cute little phrases, but what's really interesting now are their conversations and how they interact with one another.

Getting Clarity
One of the challenges of being a parent is having enough patience. I find I have to repeat myself frequently because I don't always command the same level of attention as Legos, coloring, or watching The Octonauts. Sometimes they hear me, but just aren't clear on what I said and I get a, "What you say?"

It also takes patience to respond to "What you say?"

Hairstyles 
At their school, Miss Judy always makes sure Chloe's hair looks nice. When they have dance class, Miss Judy fixes her hair with a special ballet bun. It's super cute.

Each morning I ask Chloe how she's like her hair done and the other day she respond with "a sponge." It took me awhile to figure out a sponge was a bun. 

Then she asked me if I knew how to do it. I told her yes and that I wear my hair in a bun sometimes. Then she asked, "did Miss Judy teach you how?" It's all about your frame of reference I guess.

Frame of Reference
One of the awesome things about kids is how excited they can get about life in general. It is wonderful and infectious.

If we go swimming and Carl grills the kids will exclaim, "This is the best day ever!" They are right. 

Sometimes if they get a new toy or I take them to Monster Yogurt, they exclaim, "This is the best day ever!" They are right. 

However, there is a dark side to "best day ever." 

If I won't let them watch TV or it's time to take a nap, I can get a weepy, "This is the worst day ever."

Conversations with the Kids
One of the best things about their age is their ability to communicate and I love to hear what their thinking about. Yesterday the kids each picked a book to borrow from school and were flipping through and commenting on the books on the ride home. Connor had a book on snakes and Chloe has a book about tarantulas. 

I couldn't capture the awesome conversation on the drive home, but I did get them to tell me a little bit about what they learned in the books. My favorite part is how they interact with one another.




Sorry for the scream from Chloe to kick off this video, but then she helps her brother.

Cabana Kids

I found a swimsuit company with cute stuffed called Cabana Life and I ended up getting the twins several suits and rash guards from there this year.

At the end of July Cabana Life had a contest to submit pictures of kids for their kids model search. Winning means you get a $250 gift card, not to be a model, except that I think they get promotional rights to the pictures you submit.

At any rate, I took a few shots of the kids to submit for the contest.

The kids weren't suppose to wear accessories so the pictures with Chloe in sunglasses didn't get picked, but I love these.

Chloe is totally into getting her picture taken. Connor is a little more fickle about it and sometimes doesn't want to be bothered.

At this point he's done with the photo shoot.

Then I bribed him with the promise of ice cream. 

Yes, that's an "I get ice cream" grin.

What's funny about his rash guard is that I let him put his swim suit on by himself. When he came out of his room I told him he had the rash guard on backwards and the emblem went in the front. It wasn't until I took it off him after we went swimming that I realized he had it right the first time, the emblem goes in the back. So I submitted a picture of Connor for the contest with his rash guard on backwards and it's my fault. #MommyFail

Ultimately to win the contest you have to get the most "likes" for your picture on Cabana Life's Facebook page. I'm glad their cute pictures were selected, but my enthusiasm for the contest has waned. I think everyone who reads this blog has already voted but if not, you can click the links below to "like" their pictures.

Click here to "like" the twin's picture

Click here to "like" Connor's backward rash guard picture.