Birthday Celebrations

We have attended two birthday parties lately. The first was for Jamie’s cousin’s daughter Athena, who turned four. The girls had a blast at her party because they got to go swimming in the Maple Grove Community Center pool. They were very daring and even went down a little water slide a few times. They loved it, and got mad when we made them leave. It even prompted them to try to go “swimming” in the bathtub now. They lay on their stomachs and flap their arms around while kicking their legs and claim they are going “swimming.”

Last weekend, we went up to my sister Rhonda’s house for her daughter Emma’s fourth birthday party. We celebrated Olivia & Violet’s second birthday as well. It was about a month early, but since my whole family was together anyway we figured it made sense to do so. The kids wore their Halloween costumes; Olivia was a ladybug and Violet was a bee. They went on a scavenger hunt and swung at a piñata. Violet was very much into trying to hit the piñata. All of the cousins took turns, and she was very eager every time her turn came around. Olivia took a swing at it once, and I guess that was enough because she didn’t want to try it again! She didn’t sleep well the night before, so she was pretty tired all day. Although she definitely got into eating her birthday cake!!! Violet really enjoyed opening presents. She opened all of hers and most of Olivia’s, because after opening a few gifts Olivia proclaimed “I’m done” and went and sat on Granny’s lap. It seemed very strange to me to be celebrating their second birthday. Where did the time go?

Jamie & I are convinced that we are already seeing glimpses of the terrible two’s. Both girls have been blatantly ignoring us lately, don’t want to listen, and at times are very whiny. In other words – they have been driving us nuts! :) Don’t get me wrong…we still love them dearly, but we are hoping this is a phase that passes quickly.

They are both doing well in their big girl beds. They actually got out of bed on their own for the first time this morning. We’ve been leaving their bedroom door cracked open a little bit at night, so I woke up this morning when I heard their bedroom door creak open. Sure enough, they were both out in the upstairs hallway heading toward the bathroom. Not a good idea since daddy was in there getting ready for work! :)

Violet & Olivia at Athena's birthday party:

Olivia in her ladybug costume:

Violet in her bee costume:

Olivia & Violet enjoying their birthday cake:

Big Girls

Our little girls are growing up. They moved into "big girl" twin beds over the weekend. The first night (Friday night) actually went really well. Olivia and Violet helped us set up their beds (we just put the mattresses right on the floor as a transition) so they were pretty excited. We put a whole bunch of books and toys at the end of their beds, and when it was bedtime we put up a baby gate across the door of their room so they couldn't get out, but yet they could see out. They stood at the gate and cried "mama" for about two minutes, and then we heard some rustling around. I checked on them about a half hour later and they were both sleeping in their own bed.

The last few nights haven't gone as well for Violet. She cried really hard when it was bedtime but she eventually gave in and went to sleep in her bed. She also woke up crying a few times during the night, but we just went in and tucked her back in and asked if she was okay and she said yes and went back to sleep. Olivia did really well and actually slept in longer than normal. They did move around a lot though - they were every which way in their beds. They didn't fall all the way onto the floor, but they came close a few times so I'm glad we decided to put the mattresses right on the floor first as a transition. I can't believe how much they've grown up, but yet how small they looked even in a twin bed.

Jamie repainted the girls' room in honor of their move to beds, so it would be a little more grown up. He spent about 16 hours just on the paint job, but it turned out so cute. Some pictures are below. I am very impressed with his talents since he did not use a single piece of painters tape or a drop cloth. He also painted the black ribbon freehand. We don't have any curtains or other decorations up yet, which I look forward to finishing soon.

Olivia & Violet also had a blast spending some time with Granny Thronson over the weekend. Jamie & I went to the Gopher football on Saturday, so Granny watched the girls. They had a blast, and still talk about their Granny! Plus, we had a great time at the game with Terri & Aaron.

The girls are talking a mile a minute now. They are actually piecing together sentences, which is kind of weird to hear. The other day, I gave Violet a cup of milk and I just about fell over when she said "Thank you mommy." It was so strange to hear an actual sentence come out of her mouth! Right now, Violet is totally into an alphabet puzzle that we have. Each letter of the alphabet has a picture on it of an animal whose name starts with the corresponding letter (for example, A is an anteater). She will take all 26 pieces off and then put each piece on again, naming the animal and putting the piece in the right spot on the puzzle. She can even name which animal goes in which spot on the puzzle without the pieces on the puzzle. She doesn't know the letters yet, but she sure has the animals down pat! Sometimes she will sit and play with that puzzle by herself for half an hour.

Olivia is our mover and shaker. She usually doesn't play with one thing for long before moving onto the next thing. She loves to play hide-and-seek, and she loves to sing the alphabet song, "If You're Happy And You Know It," and the Hokey Pokey. If we try to help her with something, she still proclaims "my do it." She loves to look at books, and tells us to "sit down" so we can read her a "story." She loves to talk about her "friends" at daycare and has even started calling Jamie "Daddy-O."

The new paint job in the girls' room:

Violet in her big girl bed:

Olivia in her big girl bed:

The Farm Life

The girls really lived the farm life this past weekend. We spent most of Saturday at Grandpa & Granny Thronson’s farm where they went on two tractor rides, saw kittens in the barn and played with all six of their Thronson cousins. They wouldn’t stop talking about their tractor rides; “Grandpa, tractor, trailer” were the words that I heard over and over. They were not too fond of the tractor noise when they first heard it a few months ago, but they didn’t mind it this time. They were happy to ride on the trailer and sing songs with their cousins.

We also spent part of Saturday and Sunday at the Suchy farm. The girls chased chickens and discovered mud puddles. They clomped in and out of puddles for about 30 minutes, laughing the whole time. They were covered in mud by the time they were done, but they loved every minute of it. They also saw all three of their Suchy cousins. Violet kept trying to wrestle with her oldest cousin Nicholas, who is 12 years old. Who do you think won? All in all, it was a pretty fun weekend for the girls.

Right now they are totally into dress-up, hide-and-seek, wooden puzzles, coloring, and singing songs. They have about four songs that they ask to sing – “farmer” (which means Old MacDonald and every time they say he has a “cow” on his farm), “boat” (which means Row Row Row Your Boat), “star” (which means Twinkle Twinkle) and “Bingo.” They also love Ring Around the Rosey, especially the part where they get to say “ashes ashes” and then fall to the ground.

They are very good buddies. When they are apart, they always ask for each other ("sister") or say each others names ("Wee-Wa" or "Bilet"). When they wake up, they usually ask about the other sister right away. Don't get me wrong, they are not always nice to each other and they are not always good at sharing with each other, but they seem to be aware that they have a special bond.

Violet, Olivia (who is crying because I put her down), cousin Emma, cousin Maya & cousin Alex getting ready for a tractor and trailer ride:Olivia & Violet after playing in mud puddles: Olivia & Violet going down the slide (in their words) "together:"
Olivia & Violet in their favorite hats: