2 Twos

I have 2 two year olds.  Craziness. Ian and Suzie's birthday was on Thursday, September 26th, but their well-child visit was on Wednesday the 25th so that's really when the celebration began.  The pediatrician office is right next to an awesome playground in Berryville, VA.  Since they did so well at their appointment and it was such a beautiful day unlimited swing time was in order.  The big news with being 2 is now they get to drink 2% milk (so we get to have a break from buying whole milk for one whole month before Adella switches over, ha!) and potty training around 27 months was the suggestion our doctor made.  I think it's perfect timing since Dave will be home over Christmas break!  

 SUZIE
29 pounds (75th %tile)
35 inches (80th %tile)

Suzie is our little talker.  Her verbal skills have grown so much over the summer and her vocabulary increases (what seems like) everyday.  She isn't big on cuddling unless she is hurt, then only mommy's kisses will do.  Suzie LOVES to read!  She will look at board books on her own for a long time or have me read them to her over and over and over.  I love that she loves books.  Anything I do in the kitchen she wants to be a part of.  She has started to include role play into her playtime by pretending to cook and be a mommy to her babydoll.  Suzie likes when we do art projects, but seems to quickly loose interest.  Her hair has grown so much this past year!  Long curly locks that I have a heck of time figuring out how to keep out of her eyes since most bows and clips don't stand a 5 second chance.  Elastics to the rescue.  I'm so envious of her curly hair.  It's one reason I feel Suzie Q as a nick name fits her so well.  She is our adventurous eater and will try many different things.  Naps are a hit and miss with her.  I'm not a fan of the hours between 2-5pm when she doesn't nap.  So far she has been too independent to show much interest in Adella, but will be a sweet big sister when asked.  Suzie has an adventurous spirit and likes to try new things.  She always smiles and waves to people we pass in the store and like to say hello to any new person she meets.

IAN

31 pounds (80th %tile)

36 inches (85th %tile)

Ian is our handsome guy.  Dave and I both call him our little buddy.  He has had his signature look since birth and has really grown into it this past year.  Ian loves to get cuddles and gives the best kisses.  He really likes playing with his cars and can occupy himself for a solid half hour just lining them up in different formations.  He is a picky eater and not fond of the texture of chicken or beef and won't try more than one bite of certain dishes with flavors he's not sure about.  Watching Ian with Adella melts my heart every time.  He is so soft and gentle with her and those two can play peek-a-boo together like nobodies business.  He'll bring her toys and helps to put her pacifier back in when it falls out.  When food falls off her high chair tray he'll pick it back up and give it to her.  They are so amazingly sweet together.  Balls also remain a favorite toy and he has gotten quite good at kicking and throwing them.  He loves sleep and nap time and bed time are never a problem for him.  Ian is very reserved in new situations and takes a while to "warm up."  He is all about evaluating the situation and people before showing any emotion.  So totally opposite from Suzie.  Any time Dave gets his tools out to fix or work on something Ian is right there watching every thing he does.  He's over the moon any time he gets to touch daddy's tools or try to use them himself.  Ian enjoys our art projects and seems to have a longer attention span for them than Suzie.  He is not a fan of getting dirty while doing them though.  Paint on hands = meltdown.  We're working on it.  Ian passed Suzie in height a while ago, but he keeps widening the gap.        

 I can't get over how much older they look.

 I'd been brainstorming with Dave as to what we'd like to make a birthday tradition.  We've heard of filling the kids room with balloons to wake up to on their birthday, putting streamer outside their door and having a special plate to eat from.  I really wanted to think of something I knew I could follow through on every year AND that was practical for this year of having TWO 2 year olds (it's still crazy to me).  So streamers and balloons were out and bubbles were in.  I walked into Suzie and Ian's room blowing bubbles and singing Happy Birthday.  They loved it!  Next up was helping to make pancakes for breakfast.  Don't mind Suzie's wild woman hair in the photo below or our junk counter in the background.  Yeah that's right, we don't just limit our junk to one drawer.

 The twins are BIG fans of helping with any cooking project in the kitchen.  And they're actually pretty good at it!

The rest of their actual birthday was spent doing their favorite things - playing outside, eating yummy food, watching their favorite Signing Time DVD and getting lots and lots of hugs and kisses.

Since moving to our new house and being around farm animals more we thought it was a no brainer to go with a farm theme for the party.  Some fun cow, chicken and pig stickers for balloons, the birthday banners my mom made for them and a farm themed food spread and we were set.  This year we decided to invite family and a few friends.  It was a blast!  Not sure the guest list will be that big in years to come, but it was so nice to have our home full people all here to celebrate Ian & Suzie's birthday.

The Spread

 The cake was awesome and was the creation of someone else's mad skills.  I decided to take the easy and time saving way out this year and ordered it from a woman in Winchester who makes them in her home then delivers to your door.  The tractor and animals on the cake are toys that Ian and Suzie were super excited to see and love to play with.

For my own documentation purposes I want to include the pictures of the food.  I snapped these photos really quickly before everyone dug in and the flash kept going off so some on the labels are a bit washed out.  The dill dip recipe was so easy and my oh my so yummy!  And the ladies from Our Best Bites pulled through for me yet again with their awesome quiche recipe.

 The oreos were the "tractor wheels" and I made some mac & cheese cups for the "chicken feed."

 After eating we headed out the door for a short walk down the street to feed the horses and ponies carrots.  Ian took a fondness to a particular pink balloon that he held onto the entire party.  It wasn't tied to his wrist at all.  He just held it.  Most of the photos are not zoomed out far enough to see the balloon, but if you look you'll see him holding onto the string in just about every photo.  Silly boy.

The twins standing with cousin Victoria

 I snapped the picture below as we were all making our way back to the house for cake.  Every time I look at it I smile.  I love where we live.

Family Photo (photo bombed by Pop Pop Traxler) while everyone sang Happy Birthday

Suzie was BEAMING from ear to ear while everyone sang Happy Birthday.  She ate up all the attention and I have to admit my mommy heart was so thrilled to see her happy.  Ian was his usual observant, stoic self showing little to no emotion most of the time.  It takes him a while to warm up...

...but give him a piece of cake, make silly faces and he melts into a puddle of giggles! 

Ian & Suzie's view

The Daddy Tax

 We had this bounce house up in the basement during the party that the kids would cycle through and jump on.  It was our awesome fortune to inherit this from my brother and SIL before they moved to LA this past summer.  I didn't get any photos during the party of all the kids on it, but these are from that evening after everyone left.  Notice Ian still has his balloon.