October in Tennessee

Our October visit to Tennessee included celebrating Grandpa's birthday. At the end of the evening, George set off some fireworks off his back porch. After Petra watched a couple she ran back inside and said "and when you turn little you will never do that again."  Ha ha!  They said they did not like the fireworks!

New Sand Pit

As soon as the sand was in the pit Jude and Petra jumped in. As I was carrying the loads over I heard them saying "this is my hotel, and this is your hotel."  Then they began making sand angels.  Jude was very excited to help shovel the sand into the wheel barrel too.
Tristan loves the sand pit, he can easily stay busy and happy in there for one or two hours!

Roly Poly Baby

I am sad that Tristan (aka Lowly) is over 12 months now!  He is now Lowly.  I have prayed for the relationship between him and Jude to be very close.  The twins still struggle to include him in their whirlwind life.  They are viewing him as a baby instead of a playmate.  Jude was already named "Huckleberry Pie" based on a Strawberry Shortcake character, and then shortened to Huckle.  A couple weeks ago when Petra was spending the night at Vovo's I took Jude and Tristan to the "sand pit" near our house.  Jude was annoyed that Tristan was attempting to play with his rake and dump truck.  I said "He's Lowly, he is your partner."  He seemed to like it.  Huckle and Lowly are forever adventuring in the Richard Scarry books that are a daily part of our lives.
I feel so aware of Tristan's growth and am sad his baby-ness is fading.  I just went in his room to make sure he was covered and he sat up and wiggled his little legs with a very sleepy expression.  Then he bent over on his tummy and fell back asleep. His newest trick is to crawl over and bite me- on the elbow, knee, arm, wherever.  Then he smiles and giggles-especially if I say "no."

Call from Jude!

Jude (Huckleberry) is really missing Honey Pie Pony.  Petra is spending the night all by herself at Vovo's for the first time.  After he took a bath I suggested we call her.  I can NEVER get him to the phone, let alone TALK on it.  As we walked down the stairs to call her, he was practically shoving me out of the way to get there first!  He held the phone and kept talking to it-even when she wasn't there yet.  "Hey Petra."  When she finally answered she heard my voice and said (disappointingly) "oh, it's not Jude."  I tell you,  twins are CLOSE.

Triscuit almost ONE

Oh my little baby Triscuit, you are almost one.  Just last summer I was waddling around with you in my womb just counting down the days until you arrived.  You are such a precious little baby and there have been so many times where I've felt like "I miss you!" even though we have been "together" all day long.  Loving and caring for Jude and Petra is like climbing on a roller coaster at 7am and racing all over the place til 8pm.  But there are wonderful moments during that ride that I get to cuddle you and enjoy your sweet face. Since the moment you became mobile you have been Adventurer!  You are so interested in what brother and sister are doing and want to touch (and taste) all their toys and things.  You love to climb stairs  and can't stand to be confined in a room- even if we are playing in there with you!  You want to be free!

Sampling

Now that Tristan is 11 months old I am remembering something that Petra did at that age.  She was sitting on Vanda's kitchen floor, and she could not walk yet.  Before her on the floor was a bottle of milk, and two pacifiers.  She began to sample each one, this wordless babe.  She would take a sip of the milk, tilt it and drink,  then put it down.  Then she would pick up a pacifier and suck on it for a few seconds and drop it.  Then she picked up the third pacifier and sucked on that for a few seconds.  She kept rotating the items, trying each one for a few seconds. We all looked on, amused.

Learning the Trade

Jude was very interested in helping install pickets today. See him working with Grandpa, daddy, and Hannah.

Tristan's sprinkler fun

Tristan greatly enjoyed splashing the water today! He is a crawling machine and wants to do whatever Jude and Petra do.

Aggressive Hugs

One of my favorite things about Tristan is his aggressive hugs! He has been doing this since birth! When you pick him up and hold him close to your chest, he makes a revving sound and grabs aggressively and hugs back. He will do this to mommy, daddy, and even friends like Jordana.  He is a total delight to our lives. It is also so adorable when he crawls over to me when we are all hanging out in Petra or Jude's room when he wants to nurse.  He will just crawl on over, and not so subtly grab onto mommy, pull hair, and give an aggressive hug!  Saying, "feed me!" He (at 10 months) crawls and climbs stairs very fast now and watches/ observes his siblings so close.  He acts like he wants to skip babyhood and be like the 3 year olds asap.

The Friendly Pirate Ship

Today we had our good friends Abby and Phoebe (and their baby brother Jude) come over to play.  I observe Petra play and bond with her own brother Jude daily and am sometimes completely awed by the closeness between twins I see.  They are so close.  I have also written about Petra's special friend Caleb whom she adores and she smiles at so much when they play together.  Today I totally delighted in watching Petra play with Abby. They both piled onto the hammock and asked me to swing them. I started to sing "the Friendly Pirate Ship" wiggle song and they were soon singing along.  Abby was wearing her sunglasses so Petra asked for hers and for the first time actually wore them! They just sang, smiled, and giggled at each other.  I've never seen her do that with another friend and it made me so happy.

Turning 3!

The third birthday party was so wonderful!  The theme was monster trucks and strawberry shortcake.  I wanted to make the trucks "crash" into the strawberry cake.  The kids loved it, but they loved their presents even more.  We started the party by decorating truck and strawberry cookies. I laughed so hard at all the kids just pouring on tons of sprinkles and icing! The adults judged the cookies on appearance.  Jude "won" after everyone voted, but cried when I put the cookie monster necklace prize on his neck. Ha Ha. After dipping strawberries in chocolate we all ran into the living room where the pandemonium began!  Jude and Petra ripped open their gifts so fast I had no idea who was giving what.  They received really special gifts from everyone and we've played with them non-stop.
Petra was a bit overwhelmed when everyone arrived and was clinging to mommy and daddy.  But by the middle of the party she was all smiles and playing with the toys and then chasing her buddy Caleb around the house.  Those two are inseparable when they get together.  Petra rarely chooses another playmate over her twin, but Caleb is her favorite.  I love the joy I see in her face as she plays with him.  When he had to leave she followed him outside and watched him leave.  She paced the sidewalk and didn't want to come back inside for a long time.  I've been so fascinated watching her make this connection/ friendship. Caleb is a year older than her.
Favorite toys : Mater and McQueen (truck/cars), Strawberry shortcake dolls, dump trucks and tractors, and the critters from Christmas

Monster Truck/Strawberry Shortcake Bday Party

 Checking out my strawberry table!

 Jude and Uncle Jon

 Mommy loves Daddy!

 Decorating cookies!

 Petra and friend Phoebe eating cookies from cookie decorating contest.

 Petra loves her cake!

A place for everything

There are some special toys that are packed away when not played with. This is increasing since the play is more sophisticated and there are little pieces that I want to keep a handle on.  Jude and Petra got a horse stable Lego set for Christmas that we get out most days and play with on the kitchen table. I always have them help me pack it away when done to keep it "new and special," and also keep up with the little pieces.  Well, today on their THIRD birthday, Jude got a Lego fire station kit.  Of course he played with it all day and I just let it stay on the coffee table since I had so much party prep to do. We tucked him in kind of late, and an hour later he told Chris, "I can't sleep- need to put the fire truck away."  So Jude came down and helped pack it away, and "put it in the kitchen."

Night Singing

One of my favorite things about this age (turning 3 on Friday) is the way they sing themselves to sleep.  They are tucked in between 7:30 and 8pm and usually sing or talk to their "friends" in their rooms.  I'm especially proud of Petra lately.  She has been napping each day so when bedtime arrives she's probably not as tired as Jude.  Yet she rarely resists bedtime, and I hear her singing.  So precious.

A good older brother

Today Tristan's fever spiked to 105 after a nap so the pediatrician said come on in for a check.  They gave me an afternoon appt that I had to really hustle to get to on time.  Jude was already eating a snack but Petra was waking up slowly when I need to shove everyone in the truck to get to Dr. Hirsch's.  I gently explained where/why we had to get going to Petra but she decided to go into hissy mode over not getting milk and then being "rushed" into vehicle.  Right or wrong,  I decided to man-handle her into the car seat against her will so we could get going and just endure the hysterics. As I put the gear in reverse Jude said "she needs a kiss!"  I put in in park, climbed back there to kiss her. It wasn't well received as she was still in hissy mode, but a move in the right (calm) direction. He saw her distress and suggested the remedy.  Already looking out for his younger sister! You can bet that I looked him in the eye and deeply AFFIRMED that quality!!!  You're a wonderful sibling Jude, and Petra- you calmed down in only 5 minutes and that's a big positive change/growth I see in you.  Mom also calmed down immediately and that's called the Holy Spirit changing me.

NO- Mater

Tonight we attempted to watch the first ever movie with Jude and Petra. For over a year, Jude has absolutely loved his "Cars" book, a small paperback that tells the McQueen and Mater story in a few pages.  We even gave him toy 'Mater" and McQueen" cars for Christmas to his total delight. But he became upset during some intense scenes of the movie and really upset when a large scary tractor chased McQueen and Mater.  We turned it off and comforted ...we will wait another few months before trying to watch it again.  For some reason it disturbed him for his favorite little characters to be doing stuff in a movie.  Something similar happened at Christmas.  Uncle Jon gave him a big fire truck with a personality but for some reason that day we could not get it to turn on.  Jude even took it to bed Christmas night.  When I activated the toy the next day he seemed to be excited then said 'I don't like it!" and would not play with it.
Fortunately, after bedtime routine, everyone was back to singing again.  Jude was singing the "potty song" after we tucked him in and Petra was singing a "walking with the wise" song.  One of my absolute favorite things  about the past 12 months has been seeing them develop the habit of singing themselves to sleep. I love to walk by their door and hear them talking or singing to themselves. Precious!

Age 2 / 2011 Highlights

So funny that I had so many entries in 2009 when the twins were born, a fair amount in 2010, but almost nothing in 2011 - the year they were "2." 2011 was such a significant year for me and the whole family in so many ways.  In January we first laid eyes on our home-to-be in Ashton, Maryland.  Al Clark opened the door that cold day to a gutted and very white house. From top to bottom each room had been stripped of all window treatments, light fixtures, and spray painted with white primer.   Dirty paper taped down on the floors but lifted up revealed brand new redish hardwood floors. Totally spacious and room after room was available in the walk through.  I wheeled the twins in the house keeping them in stroller for some of it, and Tristan was a bean inside my belly.  I feel in love instantly with the 100 year old house and so did Christofer.  We submitted an offer a week later, closed in 30 days but did not move in until May due to the renovations needed.  We were able to unpack most everything before Tristan Arrow was born to us on the 4th of July!  After Tristan arrived, the second half of the year was an intense growing season in our souls.  The twins were totally unprepared in some ways to share mommy and daddy and mommy was totally unprepared to cope with the 2 year old "will," (x2). There were lots of tears from the faces of Jude, Petra, and mommy, but the year ended with emotional highs of Christmas, and with mommy's heart broken in new and beautiful ways and being even more completely given over the amazing tasks I must do each day.  My goal is to completely overflow the love cups of my kids every day and let love and intimacy flourish in the home.
Other Highlights:

*Going from practically being non-verbal in January when they turned 2, to talking and playing all day long.

* Enjoying many visits from Grandpa as he helped us get the house livable. 

*  A special life-changing visit from Uncle Chris Kelly in June along with Cindy and Mary.  A dream fulfilled to sit on my front porch with my brother and really talk.

* It was a total joy to see the twins go from playing "among" others to playing "with" others.  Observing them play/ talk to each other all day but also seeing them play with friends- especially Ethan, Taylor Jo, and Caleb.

* Transferring to twin beds- out of cribs!  Favorite toys:  Jude continues to love cars and trucks especially McQueen and Mater, and an assortment of matchbox cars.  Petra has enjoyed a variety of dolls and started to name them (with my help at first).  But one day we walked into Vovo's house and there was a blonde doll with pigtails waiting for her on a table.  Petra immediately walked over to the doll and claimed her.  About an hour later she was still holding doll, and told us this was her "daughter."  "daughter" has been her favorite and has a secondary name of "Peaches."