So many funny comments as of late! I had a very bad tooth infection two weeks ago and had to take antibiotics and also do warm-water salt rinses a few times a day. Carolyn apparently found it fascinating, and one morning, announced at breakfast "I'm going to be a Mommy and have coffee and take medicines!" like it was some great exotic luxury she was missing out on. So funny.

The girls have been enjoying the snow, the resultant ice from freezing rain and also rain on top of snow, and the fact that snow melts in sunshine creating lots and lots of muddy puddles. Yesterday, one of our neighbors was returning home from his afternoon walk while Carolyn and Helen were playing on the driveway with sticks, leaves, pebbles, and some mud. He yelled "What are they doing?" Carolyn proudly replied "We're making a MESS!" She was delighted with herself. I was finding it somewhat amusing until the mud started getting thrown around, at which point, we made a hasty dash to another activity.

Hasty is a misnomer, these days. Nothing is hasty. If I want to change diapers, I am usually required to play a 10 minute game of chase around the house and then am subject to loud complaining when the changee is caught. Getting ready in the morning is generally a 40minute event while we figure out what color we are interested in wearing and whether the clothing item in question must be a dress. We've just been in a major dress/tights-only phase and I think we are just rounding the corner now of wearing pants again. We've had a little potty action, but nothing too significant just yet, tho we are talking about big-girl underpants and big-girl beds. Hard to believe in just a mere matter of 2.5months, the girls will be a whopping 3yrs old.

Helen and Carolyn are proficient counters now, getting all the way from 1-10 and sometimes to 12 or 13, in sequence, and perfectly pronounced. They seem to be flourishing in preschool. Carolyn ran to the front door of school and excitedly yelled "I love Preschool, Mama!" Helen is a little more shy around the children and either prefers playing with her sister or playing by herself. Carolyn is starting to branch out and play with other children now for a few minutes here and there. We've had some playdates too, which have been fun for everyone.

The girls are able to put on their shoes by themselves (if they are velcro), sometimes put on their jackets using Debbie's patented process (!) called the "Flippy-Dee-Do-Dah". It involves laying the coat before the child upsidedown (hood towards the feet) and letting the kids put them hands in the sleeve and then flipping it overhead. It has a high success rate, at least in this household, and the girls love it.

We hope to get to a park later today, assuming it is not all mudbaths. I got published in FORBES magazine! I was amazed--there is my name, right along major CEOs and prominant businesspeople or politicians. I'm saving my copy for posterity.

Mother Nature always has something up her sleeve for the naysayers. After lamenting how "HOT" January was here in the DC area, we've now been overwhelmed with snow and ice. Let me first explain that the use of the word overwhelmed is facetious. Anything amounting to over 1/2inch of snow in Montgomery County, MD is considered Delta threat, and schools and government shut down. I am not kidding, and constantly rued my formative years being spent in the DC school system, where we just about NEVER shut down. Snow, Ice, Rain, Watergate; didn't matter. You still had to go to school.
So, the girls have basically had no preschool all week, and when we return next week, it's my morning to co-op! I hope the snack is good and Sally the Songstress is geared up with new melodies.

Being in snow and ice has been really fun for all of us. The girls enjoy making snow angels, crunching iced over snow, and sliding into the snow from their plastic outdoor gym equipment which Mark put on the patio to preserve our pretty lawn. It actually has made the equipment that much more fun for the dynamic duo who can actually use it in snow, since the equipment is placed on the patio itself, but the slide goes into the lawn. I've gotten the putting on of winter clothing; snow bibs, jackets, hats and gloves down to a 1/2hr speedy repetoire vs. the 45minutes or so it would take me last year to suit em' up, and then invariably someone would have a poop as we were readying to go outside.

Helen remarked that the falling snow, which started on Monday, late afternoon, was a good thing since it was giving our car a "drink". Carolyn was only pleased the snow had gotten crunchy today since that made jumping up and down in it that much more appealing.

Some new and fun stories to share today.

The girls seem to be learning something new everyday. Yesterday at lunch, Helen requested another carrot stick because she was trying to make the letter H. She said "I need another carrot stick. I need 3 to make an H." I almost fell over. I think I was 21 when I realized I could add and subtract correctly.

Carolyn has a seemingly photographic memory for streets and destinations. She only needs to see and memorize a few markers and she almost always seems to know which park we are going to before we have a clear indication of our destination. On Saturday, we drove past a street where I've been telling them we will go this summer and ride on a carousel. Now, they've never even seen a picture of a carousel but Carolyn pointed and said "I'm going to go for a ride on the Carousel and have a GREAT TIME!"

I cannot wait until this park with the Carousel opens for summer. It will be so fun to watch their expressions riding up and down on this particular carousel which is over 80 years old. I promise to attach photos (and continue to update this blog) before then, tho.

The WHY stage....

has officially begun in our house. Carolyn started "why-ying" me on the way home from preschool today. Why-ing beats whining any day of the week, of course, but now I really have to be on my toes to think of succinct answers, which, as all you experienced parents know out there, won't matter anyway. The joy is using the word "why?" for just about everything under the sun. Helen is sure to start later today or tomorrow because that is just the way things work around here.

Mark got the girls some nifty tricycles, and I think they are both doing extremely well learning to peddle properly. They mostly like to imitate me "backing up" which makes me wonder about why parking the car is so interesting to them. However, Helen did point out this morning that I was allowed to "steer" the big car since the wheel is too big for her.

Preschool is like second nature to the girls at this point. Zero trepidation and no complaining in the morning. They are now asking to go on days they are not scheduled for...so I think they'll be pleased when the Fall of 2007 rolls around and they find themselves at preschool 3 days a week. They both just love their teacher, Debbie and their TA, Denise. It helps that Debbie has such interesting art projects ready-to-enjoy first thing during morning drop-off. Carolyn just loves to paint first thing in the morning. Helen seems to prefer playing by the kitchen with the "foods". Dancing and singing with Sally the Songstress, who brings her guitar every Tuesday morning, is also a big hit.

The girls have been a big help at the grocery store lately. They ride in the cart and help me place items on the grocery store conveyor checkout belt, charming everyone around. We've even nabbed some free stickers!

Please check in on me in a week. I might be experiencing "Why" overload, by then.

We finally had S-N-O-W. This was a much anticipated occassion by the girls, who had been watching themselves as 20 month-olds enjoying a large blizzard of last February (06). They weren't too sure what they thought of snow at that time; on one hand, it was fun to fall into, but on the other, that was about all they could do since navigating bulky snowboots on just-getting-the-hang-of-walking-normally feet was, well, a feat in itself!

This year, we had a huge, magnificent storm of maybe 1.5inches, but freezing rain followed, creating slippery and loud conditions for walking. Carolyn surveyed the outside, took a few steps and said excitedly "It's CRUNCHY out today!" The girls had a great time jumping up and down, mixing mud and snow, as the snow and ice began melting away and trying to climb in trees with low lying branches. They were frustrated at the park when they couldn't go up and down in the tunnel slide, but managed to smear a lovely concoction of ice and wood chips over any low bridges or platforms. Needless to say, laundry was the first thing on my mind by 5:30pm yesterday. (Thank you Target, for making good, solid, inexpensive clothing and snowboots that clean up beautifully in one washing.)

Helen decided to make me a birthday cake in her grocery card with mashed ice and snow.

This morning was a preschool morning,and one in which I co-op. I decided to wear a dress since it's simply more comfortable for all the sitting, standing, dancing, and cleaning I do during the 2.5hr school session. The girls had their new blue jumpers on today (Thank you Thrift Shop!). Helen took one look at me, as I turned around to do dishes, and said "Mama has a BIG TUSHY!"

This Mama is going back to the gym, pronto, starting this Thursday. I figure if a 2.5yr old is noticing and commenting, I must be in trouble.

The girls are saying such funny things lately, it's getting hard to keep track of them all without writing it down immediately; good news for you folks out there enjoying this blog! I will be updating frequently.

On Saturday, I like to take the girls into the District (Wash DC) to the neighborhood I grew up, to be specific. We go to a park I played in as a young child too, so it feels kind of sentimental. Of course, the equipment has been updated and I don't recall running on astroturf. Anyway, on the way there we came to a stop sign were there was a delapidated, boarded up house.
Helen said "That house is broken!"
Carolyn said "That door is broken, Mama. We need some tape!"

They are enjoying their visits to the grocery store, and I think they are actually starting to enjoy not dressing identically again, which is something of a relief. In my pre-Mom days, I thought it was SHAMEFUL that parents would dress their twins in the exact same outfit. However, I'm now understanding, via my personal experience, that it is sometimes a strong preference amongst identicals either boys or girls. Fraternal twins don't seem to have the same inclination, at least so the Moms of fraternals have told me.

We are finally enjoying true winter weather which means we are wearing coats now for a reason rather than just a theory. Of course, this event seems to correspond with two sisters for whom wearing a coat has become another negotiation issue. Our nightly tour of seeing Christmas lights has also come to a close not just because 80% of the folks in this neighborhood have taken them down but also because it's actually light out now at 5pm and we can still be outside without having to rush home. In case I hadn't noted this before, the nightly ritual for the last 6 weeks or so was to go