Count On It

A few weeks ago, Kathy came home from one of her twin mom group events with a life-changing piece of advice. The big pain in the butt with twin toddlers is that they always both want the same toy at the same exact time and will fight to the death to get it. And since we have learned the hard way that 23-month olds just stare at you blankly with zero comprehension when you suggest "sharing", as a parent you are left with the choice of (a) trying in vain to distract one of the kids with food or something shiny, (b) trying some kind of enforced sharing where you physically pry the toy in question from the clutches of one hysterically-crying twin, or (c) sitting back and watching inevitable toy tug-of-war and placing bets on who's going to win.

My money's always on Leah, by the way. That girl does not let go.

So I guess the twin mommies were commiserating about this difficult little dilemma, and one of the mommies - let's call her "Godsend" - suggested making a little "taking turns" game, where each kid gets to play with the toy for like 10 or 20 or 30 seconds and then hands the toy off to the other kid.

Kathy was telling me about this and right on cue, the girls started fighting over their favorite toy at the time, which was the rocking horse. So we decided, what the heck, let's give it a shot.

Riley was on the horse, so Kathy and I slowly counted from one to ten while she rocked back and forth on the horse. Then we sang out in an jubilant voice "Leah's turn!" Like magic, Riley obediently jumped off the horse and Leah got on. We counted from one to ten again, then sang out "Riley's turn!" Leah giggled, echoed the words "Riley's turn", and then jumped off the horse.

For reasons I do not entirely understand, Leah and Riley frickin' loved this taking turns game. They each would have these huge grins on their face as they gleefully announced the end of their own turn and voluntarily surrendered their treasured toy to their sister. In fact, the girls looked happier when they were surrendering the toy than they did when they were actually playing with the toy. After about five minutes of the game, they started counting to ten on their own and Kathy and I were just sitting back and watching. Oh yeah, that was the other advantage of this game that I forgot to mention. It taught them to count to ten. Within five minutes.

This was a glorious thing. A glorious, glorious thing.

So nowadays, pretty much every time they start to fight over a toy, we tell them to start counting. Here's Exhibit A (apologies if I've already subjected you to this):



Unfortunately, it's now been a few weeks, so the novelty of the game is starting to wear off for the girls, but I'd say the game still works like a charm about 70% of the time. As for the other 30%:

• 10% of the time, Leah says "1" and Riley starts screaming "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and runs away, taking the toy with her.

• 5% of the time, Leah starts counting but Riley keeps her head down and pretends not hear her, then when Leah gets to ten and tries to grab her toy, Riley reacts with exaggerated shock and outrage like a World Cup soccer player.

• 15% of the time, Leah gets to about "5" and an disgusted Riley chucks the toy at Leah, as if to say, "fine, take your stupid toy, I don't like it anyway."
  

So, okay, it's not perfect. But a 70% reduction in fighting - hey, who wouldn't take that deal? Ms. Godsend, wherever you are - thank you.

Show-Offs

Riley and Leah go to bed at 7:30 pm. Or rather, 7:30 pm is when we place Riley and Leah in their cribs. At 7:30 pm, all signs appear to show that they're ready for some shuteye. Riley's rubbing her eyes. Leah's all mellow and sucking her thumb. We lay them down in their cribs, kiss them goodnight, tuck them in, all that good stuff. And then we leave the room and they're totally quiet for about two to three minutes. To the uninitiated, it seems like they've gone right to sleep.

And then at 7:33 pm, it begins. 7:33 pm is Showtime.

Leah will usually start it off, suddenly singing as loudly as her little lungs will allow:

HEL-LO!!! HEL-LO!!!
HEL-LO AND HOW ARE YOU!!!

And then at this point, Riley will join in, and they will sing in unison.

I'M FINE!!! I'M FINE!!!
AND I HOPE THAT YOU ARE TOO!!!

And then with their opening number complete, they break into enthusiastic applause, with occasional "yays" and "bra-vos" thrown in for good measure.

Their setlist varies from night to night, but typically they follow up their opening song with a song aimed at any potential Spanish speakers in the audience:

(To the approximate tune of Frere Jacques/Are You Sleeping/Where is Thumbkin, also sung at the top of their little toddler lungs)

BUE-NOS DIAS! BUE-NOS DIAS!
COMO ESTAS! COMO ESTAS!
MUY BIEN GRACIAS! MUY BIEN GRACIAS!
Y USTED! Y USTED!

(Enthusiastic yays and bravos)

Riley and Leah then proceed through their entire Greatest Hits Library, which currently includes such classics as "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Happy Birthday to You", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", plus occasionally they'll throw in an original song such as "Neeew Diaper!" (which basically consists of them repeating the words "new" and "diaper" over and over and over.

The show usually wraps up around 8:15, but if they're really feeling the vibe, they'll play a couple extra encores and extend their set to about 8:30.

Kathy and I read some of the local Twins Group postings, and apparently this whole routine is pretty common among twins. Bedtime becomes "extended playtime" when your best friend lies just a few feet away, and apparently some parents worry that it might make their kids develop some bad sleep habits. Some parents even go so far as to sit in the room and then lay down the law if they start talking or giggling or singing.

I dunno. I can't say I'm too concerned. Basically, as long as they're not crying or injuring themselves, it's a-okay with me. Maybe I'll take action if the neighbors start complaining or if they start tearing up the room like rock stars. In the meantime, I think I'll just enjoy the show. 'Cause I hear they're taking requests tonight.

Here They Go Again

Naturally, Kathy and I love our daughters to bits, but hanging out with them sure does get repetitive sometimes. I guess routine and repetition are supposed to be good for toddlers and their brain development and all, but after day after day after day of reading the same books and playing with the same toys and going to the same places, you start going a little bonkers. You start making up tiny variations in a feeble attempt to keep your brain cells firing. Like, maybe today, we'll go to the 24th Street playground instead of the 30th Street playground! Wahoo! I'm a rebel! And this time, as I read "Barnyard Dance", I'm going to read with a slightly different intonation than the way I read it a few seconds ago! Wheeeeee!

So when you get to break up the routine by taking a little mini-vacation, well, it's kinda like an oasis in the middle of the desert. Sure, it takes hours and hours of packing and preparation and requires a long drive with cranky carsick babies in the back seat, but heck, at some point, it doesn't matter. You just gotta do it, 'cause otherwise you'll find yourself wanting to gouge your eyes out using that copy of "Barnyard Dance".

Too graphic? I went too far there, huh? Sorry.

So this past weekend, we left our reliable little routines behind and headed out to the mountains with the girls, to a cabin up in Groveland, near Yosemite for three days in the sun. Leah barfed all over our car's backseat twice, I got this weird sunburny-rash on my chest, plus I totally exhausted myself at times trying to entertain our friends' six-year old daughter while keeping Riley and Leah from injuring or drowning themselves. But it was glorious, I tell ya.

Mini-vacation summary:

• Riley likes being in the water. A whole lot. Too much for her parents' comfort, actually, given that she can't swim but apparently doesn't know that yet.
  

• When walking around, if Leah and Riley have the choice of holding hands with mommy or daddy or our 6-year-old friend Hailey, mommy and daddy don't stand a chance.

• With all due respect to San Francisco, it sure feels more like summer, when, you know, you get to see the sun.
  

Riley and Leah liked splashing in the water and playing with their sand toys and picking questionable-looking things up off the ground on a hiking trail by Hetch Hetchy, but their favorite activity of the weekend was probably when they discovered this random little hill at the marina and then proceeded to walk up it, then run down it, over and over and over. And over. About 40 times I'd say, each time making the same "whoa-oa-oa-oa" sound as they ran down with their cheeks jiggling with each step and their eyes wide with excitement. And I know I just finished complaining about how repetitive it is watching the girls do the same things over and over again, but ya know what, sometimes repetition can be kinda cute.