Sunday, 19 December 2010
Sunday, 12 December 2010
Friday, 10 December 2010
Festive Friday - personalised Christmas cards
Last week, being stuck in the house thanks to the heavy snowfall wasn't fun. The thing that I look forward to most every week is our trip to Twins Club on a Friday morning, and when that got cancelled because of the weather I was gutted. But along with the email cancelling the club, were the instructions for the messy play activity we were due to do that day - some handprint Christmas cards. Having been inspired by Christine's Festive Friday posts, I thought I could combine the two.
Without letting myself think too much about it, I pinged out an email to the rest of the club, offering to host Twins Club for anyone who could make it to mine. I immediately regretted this offer almost as soon as I sent it, as I was sent into a mad panic about having a (pretty small) house full of energetic twins.
On the day, however, we only hosted one other set of twins - our friends from down the road. We were determined to do our messy play, and here's what we created (finishing touches still to be added)...
Without letting myself think too much about it, I pinged out an email to the rest of the club, offering to host Twins Club for anyone who could make it to mine. I immediately regretted this offer almost as soon as I sent it, as I was sent into a mad panic about having a (pretty small) house full of energetic twins.
On the day, however, we only hosted one other set of twins - our friends from down the road. We were determined to do our messy play, and here's what we created (finishing touches still to be added)...
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Sunday, 5 December 2010
Thursday, 2 December 2010
Our family Christmas
Our fireplace last Christmas
So, the countdown to Christmas has begun. I may not have found the time to do the homemade Advent calendar I'd planned to do this year, but we're having just as much fun opening our shop bought calendar and burning our advent candle each evening.
Last night on Twitter, Pippa, Sandy, Jay and I were chatting about how family traditions mean so much more to us over the festive period than all the material stuff, and we compared some of our own ideas for traditions. Sandy, quick off the mark as ever, wrote a lovely blog post about the Calico family traditions she's planning to start this year, and I've decided to follow suit with my own post.
This year, the Young family hope to....
* decorate the tree together, to the sound of Christmas music (music from the rat pack, probably)
* find a local Christingle service to attend
* watch The Snowman at some point over the Christmas period
* give each other new PJs on Christmas eve, and all wear them for dinner
* eat Christmas eve dinner by candlelight
* open our stockings together in bed on Christmas morning
* have a special Christmas morning breakfast as a family (treats all round!)
* enjoy sparklers outside when it gets dark on Christmas day
And next year (maybe) we'll add these traditions...
* hang the stockings I've made myself
* bring out my homemade Advent calendar for its first year of many (I hope)
* add extra decorations to the living room after the kids have gone to bed on Christmas even (idea stolen from Lucy's comment on Sandy's blog)
* put wrapping paper over the door to the living room so Ez and Fonz have to burst through to get to the presents on Christmas day (idea stolen from Laura's comment on Sandy's post)
Do you have any special traditions at Christmas time? Beware that if you share them below, I am on the prowl for ideas so they may well become Young & Younger traditions too!
Sunday, 28 November 2010
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Life with twin toddlers
With Ez and Fonz both confident walkers now, I've realised that my days with twin babies are behind me, and my time as a mum of twin toddlers is beginning...
This way and that way
Obviously the biggest thing with them both walking is their increased mobility. I got them out of the pushchair in a cafe, and immediately they ran in opposite directions. We went to the playground with my friend and her twins (only a couple of months older), and all four of them ran in opposite directions! Think it will take me some time to get used to the added stress - it's so hard to keep track of where they both are all the time and I'm wondering if I may need to invest in some reins.
At home they're running around the living room, and we've taken the stairgate between the living room and kitchen down as they hate being penned in. There are three stairs, but they've learnt to negotiate them. I keep telling myself that if they fall, it's not a big drop.
One of the best of the recent developments is dancing! Both Ez and Fonz have always enjoyed music, but now they've started bopping along to it. Ez especially will grab my hands so we can dance together – she thinks it's hilarious and I'm just hoping she's not mocking my dancing skills.
Understood, over and out
The last couple of weeks have seen huge leaps in the twins' levels of understanding. If I ask Ez to bring me her shoes, she'll happily trot off and deliver them to me. Just before they go to bed, when I say it's time for milk, both Ez and Fonz will go and lie down on their sleeping bags, ready to be zipped in.
They know their routine, and they're getting to know various cues. If I put Fonz's coat on him, Ez will bring me her jacket and wait by the pushchair. They don't have many words ('dada', 'mama', 'cat' and 'maamaa' (banana) but the chat is constant, especially from Fonz.
Character building
Greater understanding means more interaction, and I'm loving spending time with the two of them. Their own, distinctive characters are clear to see – Fonz a cheeky, happy-go-lucky little monster most of the time, and Ez is sociable, engaging and full of good humour. They are getting to know their own likes and dislikes, and are enraged if things don't go their own way.
The slightest little thing can send Fonz into a fury. If I've passed him the wrong toy in mistake, or taken something he shouldn't have away from him, he'll throw himself to the floor and writhe around screaming, and if he's ignored the screaming will develop into ever-more-desperate sobs.
Ez is working out ways to wrap me and her daddy around her little finger – her approach is much cleverer as we don't realise we've given in and given her what she wants until it's too late. Mini manipulator in training I think.
I said NO BITING!
Watching them chase each other round the living room, in fits of giggles, is wonderful. You can't help but grin from ear-to-ear at the sound of two chuckling people. Ez and Fonz get on best when they don't have to have physical contact. The love being on opposite sides of a glass door, for example, or in their cots (pushed end to end).
The problems come when there aren't any physical barriers between them – then one can very quickly overstep the other's boundary mark, and there's pushing, shoving, biting (mostly from Ez) and shrieking. They are definitely beginning to enjoy each other's company, but they are a long way off learning to play with each other.
Jealousy is playing a bigger part in our day-to-day life, with Fonz particularly upset if I pick Ez up and not him.
Cut to me stood with two babies pulling at my legs and holding up their arms, whinging to be carried. My new life as mum of twin toddlers.
This way and that way
Obviously the biggest thing with them both walking is their increased mobility. I got them out of the pushchair in a cafe, and immediately they ran in opposite directions. We went to the playground with my friend and her twins (only a couple of months older), and all four of them ran in opposite directions! Think it will take me some time to get used to the added stress - it's so hard to keep track of where they both are all the time and I'm wondering if I may need to invest in some reins.
At home they're running around the living room, and we've taken the stairgate between the living room and kitchen down as they hate being penned in. There are three stairs, but they've learnt to negotiate them. I keep telling myself that if they fall, it's not a big drop.
One of the best of the recent developments is dancing! Both Ez and Fonz have always enjoyed music, but now they've started bopping along to it. Ez especially will grab my hands so we can dance together – she thinks it's hilarious and I'm just hoping she's not mocking my dancing skills.
Understood, over and out
The last couple of weeks have seen huge leaps in the twins' levels of understanding. If I ask Ez to bring me her shoes, she'll happily trot off and deliver them to me. Just before they go to bed, when I say it's time for milk, both Ez and Fonz will go and lie down on their sleeping bags, ready to be zipped in.
They know their routine, and they're getting to know various cues. If I put Fonz's coat on him, Ez will bring me her jacket and wait by the pushchair. They don't have many words ('dada', 'mama', 'cat' and 'maamaa' (banana) but the chat is constant, especially from Fonz.
Excuse me, this isn't what I ordered
Food is generally enjoyed, but new foods (unless given at nursery) are viewed with great suspicion. If what's put in front of Fonz at the dinner table isn't to his immediate liking, he'll swipe the whole plate off the table.
Ez is more considered, and she'll meticulously pick each offending bit of food off her plate, and leave it in a neat pile on the table next to her. Their sense of independence at the dinner table is clear and they want to use the spoon themselves – Fonz is still happy for me to load it for him, but Ez won't have help at all.
I guess it's all the energy they're expending running around, but their appetites seem insatiable! Morning milk bottles, breakfast, mid morning snacks, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner, bedtime bottle. I honestly don't know where they put it all.
Character building
Greater understanding means more interaction, and I'm loving spending time with the two of them. Their own, distinctive characters are clear to see – Fonz a cheeky, happy-go-lucky little monster most of the time, and Ez is sociable, engaging and full of good humour. They are getting to know their own likes and dislikes, and are enraged if things don't go their own way.
The slightest little thing can send Fonz into a fury. If I've passed him the wrong toy in mistake, or taken something he shouldn't have away from him, he'll throw himself to the floor and writhe around screaming, and if he's ignored the screaming will develop into ever-more-desperate sobs.
Ez is working out ways to wrap me and her daddy around her little finger – her approach is much cleverer as we don't realise we've given in and given her what she wants until it's too late. Mini manipulator in training I think.
I said NO BITING!
Watching them chase each other round the living room, in fits of giggles, is wonderful. You can't help but grin from ear-to-ear at the sound of two chuckling people. Ez and Fonz get on best when they don't have to have physical contact. The love being on opposite sides of a glass door, for example, or in their cots (pushed end to end).
The problems come when there aren't any physical barriers between them – then one can very quickly overstep the other's boundary mark, and there's pushing, shoving, biting (mostly from Ez) and shrieking. They are definitely beginning to enjoy each other's company, but they are a long way off learning to play with each other.
Jealousy is playing a bigger part in our day-to-day life, with Fonz particularly upset if I pick Ez up and not him.
Cut to me stood with two babies pulling at my legs and holding up their arms, whinging to be carried. My new life as mum of twin toddlers.
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