At night, the twins get to pick a book or two to bring to bed with them. They usually look at it before falling asleep and when they wake up in the morning. Sometimes I find George in his crib in the morning with his two stuffed animals, blue the longhorn and blue the dog, sitting in front of him as he "reads" (babbles) them a story. It is so sweet!
Clara has become quite the singer. We have a favorite TV show now that is on the Disney Channel. The twins never really paid attention to many shows before but Imagination Movers grabbed their attention. They love this show which is full of music and all about problem solving. Even when we aren't watching this fun show I hear Clara babbling the tune getting a few words right. Quite adorable!
George and Clara now put their stuffed animals in time out. They tell them "No!" and put them in the correct corner. If I ask what they are in time out for the answer is usually hitting. When the time out is finished, George and Clara make the stuffed animals apologize by hugging. Hilarious and yet so interesting to know that in due time everything that happens in this house will most likely be shared with the rest of the world.
While the twins' language skills seem to be developing at a lightening fast rate, so is their twin language. They will stand or sit next to each other and babble up a storm making strong eye contact. They will both laugh at the same time, run off at the same time, or even do the same hand movements. The other day they seemed to be discussing hairstyles. George would babble babble babble and then reach out to straighten Clara's hair. Then Clara would babble babble babble and reach out to mess up George's hair. It is so interesting to watch. Too bad I can't get in the conversation.
George is into all things construction right now. Our little town (and most of Texas) has been in a serious drought this summer. The drought has caused many water mains to break and also our streets to crack and shift. It's a little crazy. Because of all of these issues, we've had lots of construction equipment around. George's favorite by far...the digger. If we pass one, I make sure to slow down so he can see the digger in all its yellow glory. As soon as we pass the construction zone, George usually says he wants more, more, more! Sorry buddy. Mommy can't make diggers appear for your enjoyment. Although it is pretty cool that you think I can. :)
Clara is a summersaulting queen! One night when we were at my parents' house for dinner she was trying to do a summersault (aka forward roll). Grammy Quinn gave her a little nudge and over she went to thunderous applause from the peanut gallery. Of course this little sweetheart loves attention so we've been witnessing summersaults on a daily basis since. It is great that she can do it all by herself now!
Since George successfully mastered climbing...on everything. He has now moved on to jumping...off everything. We were hanging out in our media room and George climbed up on the couch and then up on the arm of the couch. I stared in astonishment as he slowly stood up on the arm of the couch and kept his balance. Then the little bugger jumped off onto the cushions of the couch! What!?! I was so shocked I don't think I said a word until he started climbing up to do the whole thing again. Now he tries to jump off everything. He climbed up on a bench, which is pretty high and sitting on hardwood floors, in our family room. I was in the kitchen and I hear, "Un, Ooo, Eee...Ump!" I got to him as soon as he was about to take a flying leap and possibly break an arm. Yeesh! He is only allowed to jump off the bottom stair onto the floor. I know we are such boring parents. The cute part is we taught him how to stand up and say, "Ta Da!" after he jumps.
Clara has unfortunately learned from her Mommy to tell someone to move. She hears Mommy tell our doggy Bailey to "mooovvvveee" out of the way. Now Clara will stand next to me and put her weight on my legs and say "Moooovvvveeee!" I sigh knowing this is all my fault. Teach this child some manners! I am working on adding the word please to the end of that request. Then we will work on her lovely voice tone. Hope she catches on!
There are some books that are favorites in this house. George's favorite is Where the Wild Things Are. It is one of my favorite children's books too so I don't mind reading about 100 times a day. One day when we were reading the story I got to the last page where the final line reads, "And it was still hot." I started reading the line "And it was still..." but didn't get to finish because George beat me to it. He happily said, "Hot!" I was so impressed by my little man's memory. He does this with other stories now too. It surprises me every time.
Grandma and Grandpa Hadjioannou watched Clara and George a few weeks back while we went to a friend's wedding in Indiana. When we came home I noticed Clara added a Greek word to her vocabulary....Opa! Grandma and Grandpa Hadjioannou say Opa a lot and it was only a matter of time before someone picked it up. She sounds absolutely adorable exclaiming, "Opa!" Obviously she is connecting to her Greek roots at an early age.
Most weeks John works late at least one night. My parents are awesome and always tell me to bring the kids over so I don't have to deal with the insanity of cooking and keeping an eye on the kiddos alone. This week when we were finished dinner I thought I smelled a dirty diaper. I turned to Clara and asked, "Are you stinky?" She was silent. I asked both of them, "Who is stinky?" Clara answered, "Pop-pop!"and pointed to my Dad. We all cracked up! She thought she was quite hilarious too.
The twins are so fun and I love watching them learn. They are like little sponges and seem to soak up the world. They love to explore and try new things. They think up new ways to use everything...including their stroller! This is such a great time in their little lives and I am having so much fun witnessing it!
