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| Zara sleeping with her beloved "Bear" on a road trip |
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| Lexi planning her Christmas list |
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| Lounging in front of the tv |
Where do I even start? These girls are fun, opinionated and silly. Every day is hilarious and hair-pulling. Sometimes I laugh and sometimes I want to cry. Instead of crying, I usually just count the minutes until nap time or bed time and take a deep breath! Because how can you reason with a two year old who is crying hysterically because her granola bar just broke in half? I am a mean mommy and do not give her new bar because we all know where that will lead.
On a bad day, the world is over if we don't let them climb into the car themselves, zip up their own pajamas, turn the lights on and off, turn on the water in the bathroom sink, close the refrigerator door, count the number of fish on each page of the book and the list goes on. Toddlers don't have control over much and they live for routine so I try to let them do as much as possible, but sometimes I say no and try to be consistent. I put the kabosh on letting them turn on the faucet in the bathroom sink because it was just way out of control and WET. I now tell them "its a mommy/daddy job" and they are ok with it most of the time.
On a good day, they are happy and easy going, share their toys and say please and thank you. I've been sick with a lingering cough lately and Zara will tell me, "bless you" after I cough. I am thankful that most days are good days with our sweet girls. Here are some more tidbits at two and a half:
- The girls are still great eaters, most of the time. They are definitely unpredictable though. As soon as I think they don't like something, they prove me wrong. Zara LOVES eggs and will eat almost anything else. Lexi LOVES fruit - we have been eating lots of mandarin oranges and pears right now. They will usually both try at least a bite of anything and we are happy with that. We tell them they need to take a bite and try it and don't have to eat anymore if they don't like it. Zara loves to tell us, "I don't like it" and "I DO like it!" Their favorite restaurant is Chipotle.
- Both girls are definitely particular and opinionated, but Zara in particular is very stubborn about it. She tells me what she thinks all day long ("I don't want that", "I want it", "I like it") and changes her mind constantly. If she gets crabby, she just starts crying about everything so I would much rather hear it in words. She seems to be very black or white because she loves to point out the rules and the way things are so I try to give her lots of consistency.
- They label everything that comes in different sizes (toys, animals, balls, leaves, houses, EVERYTHING) as the Daddy (largish), Mommy (medium) and Baby (small). Its so funny that they have this inherent need to categorize it all into family relationships.
- We are still casually working on potty training. Lexi seems to be very motivated by the M&Ms (and has some bladder control) because she usually goes on command when I ask them to sit on the potty. Zara likes the idea of wearing underwear, but is still figuring it all out and only really goes in the potty by chance. We will probably try to switch out of diapers again soon and see how it goes with more direct training.
- The girls are still sleeping in cribs. We plan to switch them to beds this spring. They both love wearing the Halo Sleepsacks and those keep them from climbing out. Lexi can definitely climb out without the sleepsack on and sometimes tells me, "Take my sleepsack off and I climb out by myself," but I remind her how hard she smacked her chin last time she tried. Then she lets me lift her out. Naptime is about 1:30 to 3:30 and bedtime is about 7:30 to 7:30.
- Marcus, A and Z attended Music Together class once a week this fall. They were shy at first in the class environment, but really opened up in the last few classes. We will probably try something different in the new year. They are already asking to take ballet and gymnastics, but those classes don't start until age 3.
- The girls love talking about people's names. They will tell anyone that asks that mommy is "Matalie Shirzad" and daddy is "Marcus Shirzad." Zara asks "what's his name?" about every person/animal pictured in a book. When a stranger in public tells Lexi she's cute, she tells them, "I'm not cute, I'm Alexandra". I get the same response when I tell them they are being silly or stinky or anything descriptive. "I'm not stinky, I'm Zara".
- We visited IKEA a couple times this fall and again last weekend as we continue to slowly furnish and decorate the house. The girls love that place. They usually end up with a stuffed animal and a big meal from the cafeteria. Zara keeps saying "we went to Tortilla" instead of IKEA. She tells the new monkey, "we got you at Tortilla."
- Reading books is still their favorite activity, followed closely by watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. The girls also really enjoy "arts and crafts", baking with me, walking to the mailbox, loading their shopping carts with toys and play food and puzzles. Now that the rainy season is upon us we visit the library and the children's museum at least once a week. The "bouncy house" (inflatable play place) is frequently requested as well.
Sunday morning we all slept in until 8:30 and then the girls came and snuggled in our bed until we all got up at 9. It was one of those blissful mornings that rejuvenated my "mom spirit" so much. It was exactly what I needed after a particularly difficult week of tantrums and tribulations. It probably won't happen again anytime soon so I better write it down!
