My two year olds have grown by another month – quickly approaching that 2 1/2 year mark.  They have changed pretty dramatically since they turned two in December.. so I feel like mentioning that they are 28 months old is warranted. 

Did you know that it is appropriate to mention their monthly age up to year three?  Apparently in child development – because there is still so much change happening between the ages of two and three – this is perfectly normal.

When one of the sample gals at Costco asked how old the girls were and Jordan and I said two different answers almost simultaneously, I should have just followed up with- they are 28 months.  He said two and a half and I said two.  They sweet lady was so confused.. I responded to her blank stare by quickly grabbing another sample off her tray (it was Nutella and pretzels after all) and pushed the cart away out of embarrassment.. a tad offended that their daddy had made them older than they actually were.

Thinking back since the girls’ birthday to now – they have changed a lot and I love their little personalities!  I mentioned last month of their toddler conversation abilities, and while I definitely appreciate the normal conversations and less grunting or pointing demands, I am sad to report that the ‘twin talk’ that was once their only form of communication has since dwindled.  I loved watching them interact in this, but I also love hearing their little voices chatter back and forth as they play.

I realized a few months back how often we call them by sister and not by their name, and how hard we’ve worked up to this point for the girls to call each other by name.  Parker speaks and refers to herself as ‘me’ and only calls Jolie by her first and middle name – Jolie Grace.  When I first realized of this sweet phrase ‘Jolie Grace’ consistently coming out of her mouth – it made me think consciously of the fact that we rarely call Jolie by just Jolie.  It is either Jo or Jolie Grace.  It is the most funny thing to listen to Parker holler at Jolie when she’s running across the yard yelling Jowee Gaaaace!

Love it. 

We have approached the age of dress up play time- especially in Jolie.  That girl loves her accessories and loves anything frilly.  My high heels are her favorite- if I cant find Jo, I will head straight to my closet where I will find her with jewelry around her neck and my heels on her feet.  I recently came across these rather obnoxious tutus in the top of their closet – hot pink + camo tutus – that their great aunt Sherrye got for them before they were born. They have since remained in the playroom to be worn on a near daily basis. 

With the tutus always comes ‘yuuusic’ (music) and hours of twirling.  Feeling a little like giving these mice a cookie, but that’s how it always goes when we bust out to tutus.  They are still totally smitten with Mercy Me, and most recently Taylor Swift and Meghan Trainor.  Not to forget the original favorite (of all time) Pharell’s Happy.  Thanks to their BB , they can all but recite the entire song. 

We continue to work on our letters and numbers.  One of their favorite things to do is spend the morning at Barnes and Noble looking through books and playing in the stuffed animals.  BB and the girls will spend hours of the morning away doing this.

They can work the puzzles that are one big square and random puzzle shapes to connect together, in addition to the ones with the outlined shapes. 

Parker has gotten really crafty in naming the body parts.  She now points out my forehead, cheeks, and chin. We usually start with a refresher and she will point at my features and I name them, and she repeats – and then its all her, over and over again. 

Jolie is just smart as a whip, and uses her word much more often than Parker.  Jolie has this amazing ability of saying “thank you, mama” or “thank you, dada“.. and half the time it still surprises me when that comes out of her mouth.  We have been working for a couple months on ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, ‘yes/no ma’am’ and ‘yes/no sir’ – Jolie has got it down.  So much so that last week Jordan dropped his fork and Jo picked it up to return it to him, and when Jordan didn’t say thank you right away she looked him square in the face and say “SAY thank you, dada!”

‘Thank you, Jolie’

The toddler ‘tude has over stayed its welcome and has yet to move on.  we.are.ready.  SO ready.  There are some days when the thought crosses my mind to just walk away like I don’t know them while they (they being Parker) are rolling around on the floor of the Target bathroom (blech..a solid douse in sanitizer – you better believe it.)

There are also some days when the entire afternoon is spent sitting in front of the television because there is nothing else to do but sob our toddler head off if mama isn’t holding you (you being Parker).

I refrain at least once a day to not resorting in locking myself in the closet to hid just for 5 minutes.

The frustration that comes along with year two is real. 

Along with the word NO.  No to everything is Jolie’s solution.

I do appreciate that word when it comes out in a story their BB tells me when she attempted to convince Jolie to tell her the baby’s name.

“NO BB“

Good girl.

Bed time around these parts is 8pm..ish.  Every night they’ve gotten into the routine of sitting in their daddy’s lap in the rocking chair in their room and listening to worship songs to wind down.  They would sit their forever if we let them.  Most often the girls are dozing to sleep when we lay them down.  Everything is go-go-go these days, and this little bit of quiet time with their daddy right before bed is just what they need.  I have found that reading or listening to music before bed is much more successful in getting them the wind down for the day with ease versus sitting in front of the television for an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. 

We are learning about this parenting thing as we go, that’s for sure.

I feel like I will remember all this when baby three comes and we are experiencing these milestones/changes with her, but you know- there are a lot of hours of sleep between now and then and I will mostly likely forget. 

I know I will forget.  That’s what the blog and these updates are for. 

 Sometimes when I sit down to write these blog posts, little stories and tid bits of our life at the moment flood my mind, and I can never decide if that’s exactly what I want to write about- or if anyone will care.  But truth be told, this is our every day. This is what we wake up to & go to bed thinking, laughing, praying, and groaning about. So, while I appreciate every single one of you reading along this journey of parenthood with us- I know it might get old to hear story after tid bit and 100’s of words covering anything from ABC’s or reading books or going to the potty, but I guess I’m a one trick pony these days.. and on that note- happy 28 months my sweet girls.

t w e n t y – e i g h t

sister sugars. denied.