Almost Two!

Maddie and Riley will be two on Sunday.

Two!

TWO.

2.

Crazy.

I am having a little party action for them a week from their birthday; the timing just worked out better that way. I had not actually planned to do anything on their real birthday, but as it would happen a few things have just sort of fallen into place:

• a good friend is coming to visit for the weekend
  
• said friend is a baker; who better with whom to whip up some birthday cupcakes to enjoy on Sunday and bring to daycare on Monday?
  
• both kids are suddenly obsessed with muffins, and Riley put the idea in my head to make blueberry muffins for Sunday breakfast
  
• I ran errands at lunch and totally randomly saw something that the kids have been wanting for ages; had to buy it

So nothing big, nothing major, but a few little birthday things to mark the day, two years ago, when the twins arrived.

A few snippets from our house lately:

[upon seeing some new construction toys in the backyard]

Maddie: "This a backhoe! This a dump truck! This a snack maker!"

Me: "A snack maker?"

Maddie [looking at me as though I were daft]: "This snack maker."

Me: Looks an awful lot like a bulldozer . . .

[during a diaper change]

Riley: "Touch it, penis?"

Me: "Go right ahead! It's all yours."

[touching, touching, touching]

Riley: "Take it off, penis?"

Me: "Um, that's not really advisable."

[noticing the scab on her skinned knee]

Maddie: "Maddie have jam knee! Clean it off?"

Me: "Why don't I just give it a kiss?"

[while shoveling sand into a bucket at the playground]

Riley [holding up large scoop of sand]: "Riley take a biiiiiiig bite!"

[at the playground]

Riley [face lit up with joy, lots of laughter]: "Riley like it, swings!"

[He has never been willing to get in the swings, but he was last week . . .]

[going down the front steps]

Maddie: "I see spider!"

M&R [singing]: "The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout . . . "

[while out on an evening stroll through town]

M&R [singing loudly]: "Twinkle, twinkle, little STAR. How I wonder what you ARE."

[upon waking up from a nap before his sister]

Riley [whispering]: "YaYa still sleepin'."

Riley [yelling]: "Riley LOUD!!!! YAYA!!!! YAYA!!!! RILEY LOUD!!!!"

They kiss each other goodnight before they go to bed.

They can climb in and out of their carseats on their own.

They can put on their own sandals, albeit consistently on the wrong feet!

They are growing up.