Celebrate: (Mostly) Good Times

I am now officially the mother of two two-year-olds.

The theme of my weekend was: T-W-O. W-T-F?

Saturday, the day before the twins turned two, was one of those golden and near-perfect days on which much was planned—any of which could go horribly wrong—and, against the odds, it all went off without a hitch.

FORESHADOWING: This, rather than the actual day, is what I will choose to remember as a celebration of the twins second birthday weekend.

On Saturday, we managed to get out of the house by 8:30 a.m., drive downtown, pick up my friend, play on Boston Common, ride the Swan Boats, eat lunch, take a three-hour nap, pick strawberries, put away a colossal dinner, and squeeze in a bath.

There were no tantrums. 

Everyone liked the Swan Boats. It took a bit of cajoling to get Riley on, but, once on, he thought the experience was very cool.

Everyone loved picking strawberries. Hands, faces, and shirts were stained with juice. The little train we had to ride to get to the strawberry patch was "bumpy!" and a big hit. The petting zoo will perhaps be less overwhelming next year.

The weather was wonderful. Sunny, low 80s.

It was a day so nice there's almost nothing to say about it. Best of all, it was capped off with a lazy evening of wine-drinking, Chinese take-out, and catching up with an old friend.

Sunday dawned promising. The kids "slept in," and my friend mixed up some waffles. We were all set to head over to the park with the "biiiiiig slide!" when Riley FELL DOWN THE BASEMENT STAIRS. Top to bottom, head over heels. Both my friend and I were in the kitchen, merely steps away from Riley, when it happened, and yet somehow it still did. I made it over to the stairwell in time to see him fall about halfway down. It was one of the most sickening feelings I've ever had to watch him tumble down those stairs and land on his back at the bottom.

Of course he started to scream. I gathered him up, raced back up the stairs, and cradled him on my bed. Once he calmed down a bit, I assessed the damage.

One small scratch under his eye. One slightly puffy lip.

That is all.

Within five minutes, he was asking to go outside and go on the slide. He and I were both very lucky. 

The rest of the day was much, much better. We went to the park, played with bubbles, went down the biiiiiiig slide, and had friends over to decorate cupcakes. Oh, and there were a few presents scattered throughout the day.

Two.

A friend e-mailed Maddie and Riley some birthday wishes, and in her message, congratulated me on making it through my first two years of mothering. She pointed out that much is made of surviving the first year of parenting, but that there is much to celebrate about surviving the second year as well. For me, making it to two means making it through babyhood. The twins still sleep in cribs and wear diapers, but virtually all other vestiges of babyhood are gone, and the holdovers will be gone soon enough. I'm not sorry to see the baby stage go. My struggles with toddler parenting have thus far been deeper, but my joys have likewise been more intense, and the work I'm doing on leveling out the lows is bearing fruit.

Happy birthday, big kids. We've learned a lot from each other in two years. May we learn much, much more in the years to come.