Silent Sunday

Girls and Boys - Noticing the Differences

One of the things I love about having boy/girl twins is watching how differently they are developing. When you sit and watch them you can certainly see the differences.
But is it simply down to their gender?
Many seem to think that this is the case.
Isabella is very attentive, she thinks about things and talks no end. I am going to, when I get chance, write down all of the words that she does know. She is 17 months but knows so many words! Isabella is quite independent too. Already, when she doesn't get whats, she wants she screams and stamps her feet! I can see that we are going to have a little diva on our hands!
Whereas Taylor is a lot more physical. Taylor has led the way with the climbing, crawling and walked first. He has no fear! He also happily sits and plays with cars or trains. He doesn't say much bless him, but Joseph didn't either at his age. Taylor is a lot calmer and chilled.
Taylor is certainly more of a mummys boy but Isabella is definitely a daddys girl.
So is this is all down to their gender?
Part of me thinks that it is, but I also believe that a lot is down to each individual child regardless of their gender.
It is the same with gender specific toys.
We have "girls" toys, "boys" toys and "unisex" toys.
We do have a pink Minnie Mouse tub and a blue Mickey Mouse tub but toys are not separated. They both play with all of the toys. Isabella often sits with the cars or trains and Taylor often sits and plays with the tea pot. They do not differentiate between the two. This makes me wonder if the gender specific toys are for the parents to specify what their children "should" be playing with according to society. Whereas children do not see a toy, at this age, and think "I cannot play with that, it is for a girl/boy" a toy is a toy and it is a way for them to discover the world around them.
It is going to be so interesting to watch how the twins continue to develop and change. The one thing I have learnt is to not compare them to each other. Each child is going to develop in their own time at their own level.
All 3 of our children are different and have their own individual personalities. It is our job to help them grow into polite, respectful but most importantly happy, contented people. This is, undeniably, the most rewarding job in the world and the one that I am most proud of!

Manic Couple of Days

What a couple of days we have had. I really do not know how I am still sane. The twins have changed into climbing explorers and escape artists and Joseph has just been full on.
If feel that I may have jinxed everything with my post that said it was getting easier! I have not had a moment to even blog! As soon as we've had some peace and quiet I've been shattered and ready for bed.
Taylor has discovered that not only can he crawl with his seat still strapped on but he can also walk with it on. The chairs were my safety net that has now been whipped away. Whenever I wanted to keep the twins in one place I would put them in their chairs. So these last two days have been exhausting days. I have been rushing around trying to get house jobs done before they can get into any mischief. Believe me this has been a huge challenge and a lot of jobs have just not been done. But on the other hand I have had even more time with the children. Our house is rarely spotless and the floors are always covered with toys but I like to think that we have got happy and contented children which is much more important.
After all of Thursday's stress from a bad night on Wednesday and feeling like we live in a mad house, hubby suggested asking my mum and dad to come down for a BBQ. This was to our first BBQ in our own house. This time, chilling in the garden, with the people closest to me and a glass of wine helped me no end. We had a lovely couple of hours talking, laughing and reminiscing. Apart from my hubby, my parents have a huge role in my life. We missed 7 years together when I lived abroad and from the moment that I moved back to England we have been close. Even more so when I moved back into the village. I really cannot imagine living anywhere else. I feel so lucky to have them just down the road.
Yesterday I made the trip to see my nanna and grandad. This is the first time that I have felt able to go on my own with the twins. I normally go with either my mum and dad or hubby, if he is not at work. Our twins have always been quite shy babies. If they are around people that they see regularly, they are ok, but if they haven't seen you in a while or they don't know who you are, they are hard work. They just want to be held and scream at the "new" faces. This may be my fault as we do not go far from home. When Joseph was younger I took him to different play groups purely because he was, at that time, an only child and I wanted him to socialize. I don't do this with the twins. I feel that they have each other to play with. We did go, a couple of times, to a local playgroup to get them weighed and as we were the only multiple family it felt like we were a circus show. The other mums, who just had the one baby, found it fascinating to sit and watch and stare at the mum with twins. It made me feel like people were judging and watching to see how I coped. For any new mum, whether you have multiples or singletons, this is hard. So I did shy away from the groups. But also, anyone who has multiples, will understand that going anywhere require meticulous planning and organisation and when you throw in the school pick ups it is hard! With two clingy, shy babies it would have caused more stress than enjoyment.
I felt that this visit the twins would be ok as we were all there, as a family, at the weekend. I knew that they would still be fresh in the twins memory. Thankfully I was not wrong. Taylor went walking straight in and even Isabella never made fuss. This was probably the first time that they have interacted and played with their great grandparents in this way and I could tell that they were over the moon with this. Since having the news about my grandad I have been thinking a lot. I am going to take the children over so much more than I did do. I have come to this decision, not just for the children and my grandparents, but for me too. I want to spend as much time with them both before times get really bad. It is hard to imagine how we will all cope when he does get poorly so that is why I want to see as many good days as I can.
I want to create memories for all of us to treasure. We certainly achieved that yesterday.

Going To Be A Long Day

Oh I've got a feeling Im going to feel it today.
My lovely Taylor woke up at 4:15 this morning! So I've had a total of 5 hours sleep. Thank goodness for coffee.
We have recently had a good run of full nights sleep. When I say a good run, we had a week of full nights, which is great for these two.
As I write I can feel the coffee working its wonder, I'll be ok!
Joseph has got a busy morning today. He is having a couple of hours at the leisure centre. In the summer holidays they do activity sessions. He tried them last year and loved it. As soon as the schedule was released he was more than keen to get his name down. This morning is Gladiator Camp. The session runs during the twins nap time so I should be able to get an hours peace and quiet. That is if I can resist the pile ironing that is sat waiting for me. It is unbelievable the amount of washing and ironing that 5 people make!
But hey, this is my life and even with the lack of sleep, piles of laundry, I wouldn't change a thing.

Week 1 Done & Getting Easier............. I think!

Well we have done just over one week of the summer holidays and I am still smiling and have still got all of my hair!
After hearing "mum I'm bored" on the first day, I thought "oh no, this is going to be a long 6 weeks!". However much to my astonishment, it has got better. Whether I'll be saying this in a few weeks time is another matter.
I have found that the more I involve Joseph in my day to day jobs and keep him up to date with what we are going to do, the better he has been.
Each morning he has helped me go down the garden to tend to the chickens and to check our vegetables. He has thoroughly enjoyed helping me to harvest any vegetables that are ready and is starting to gain a real interest in what goes on and is asking plenty of questions. Yesterday we even had an impromptu water fight. Ok, maybe water fight is not the best way to describe it, I had the hose and chased Joseph around the garden spraying him. He was giggling so much, the more he giggled the more I chased him and the wetter he got. Having that bit of quality time makes all the difference.
Another thing that he has been asking to do is baking. Joseph does love to bake buns, like his mum, but it's also another opportunity to have that bit of time together. So while tea was cooking we got baking. I made a basic sponge batter, with the help of Joseph's weighing skills, and gave him half in a bowl and let him go crazy with his buns. I told him that he could mix in whatever he wanted as they were his buns. I played it safe with banana and oat muffins, whereas Joseph added rainbow drops, chocolate chips and banana! Quite a mixture, but he enjoyed it, and that's what it was all about out.
Today I had half an hour's quality time with all 3 children, which believe me does not happen very often at all. I had Taylor sat between my legs, relaxing with his cars. Isabella was trotting around playing with whatever took her fancy and kept coming over to jibber jabbering to me. Joseph was laid on the settee behind me playing with my hair and chilling. It was such a relaxing, tranquil half an hour, and one that I know I will treasure.
After the children had charged their batteries it was back to the normal manic house that we know and love.
Dinner was late but hey time like I've had this afternoon with the children is more than worth all the rushing about after.

To My Fantastic Husband

This is going to be quite a soppy post, you have been warned!
I just want to say how lucky I feel each and everyday and how thankful I am for having such a fantastic husband.
My husband knows me better than even I know myself.
After yesterdays devastating news I have tried to go on as normal today. I honestly thought that I was doing a good job. I haven't been, consciously, thinking about everything and the future. But it wasn't until my hubby asked me what was wrong I realised that is was in the back of my mind and that I wasn't going on as normal.
I have never had anyone in my life, apart from my dad, who can read me like he does. This tells you how close we are. My husband is my rock, my lover, my best friend, my soul mate, my everything. He is the other half of me and I would not function without him. The only time we have been apart was when I was in hospital having the twins. We do everything together as a family and I love our life. I would not change it for the world.
James, I love you so very much, with all my heart, body and soul. Thank you for putting up with me and for knowing me the way you do!
Xxx