Category — Twins

(featuring Emily as the voice of Cinderella Barbie and Erica as the voice of Ariel Barbie)

Cinderella: I’m going to the hospital so my baby can come out.

Ariel: But it’s going to fall out.

Cinderella: No, the daddy’s going to catch it.

Ariel: No, the doctor is.

Cinderella: One’s going to say, “Weee!” and the other is going to say, “Why am I coming out?”

(pause)

Ariel: “Look at the two little babies.”

“I love my sister Emily. She’s my best, most beautiful sister.”

- Erica, when we we were talking about Thanksgiving in the car.

While grocery shopping today, I decided to introduce Emily and Erica to PEZ dispensers.  I flipped through the display, calling out the options, “Hello Kitty. Piglet. Snow White. Cinderella. The Little Mermaid.” They wanted some princesses, of course. They both chose The Little Mermaid. But when Erica got a closer look at hers, she said, “Can I have Snow White instead? That Little Mermaid looks funny to me.” Maybe it was the windblown hair. 

We were watching this and Emily said, “Is that church?”

Emily and Erica have moved on. Two weeks ago, on a Friday, we made a big deal about it being “panties” day. We put them on first thing in the morning, used the potty all day, and haven’t looked back. We’ve talked over and over about all the people we know who wear panties. We’ve made it to church and to the park and to the store and back without any trouble. Oh, yeah, except for the we-had-to-buy-the-flower-flip-flops-at-Target-because-they-got-pee-pee-on-them incident. A few days after that, on our first long afternoon of errands, we made eleven trips to the potty. Which means that if each trip takes a minimum of ten minutes, by the time we walked there, got it done, and walked back to wherever we started from, we spent 110 minutes going to the potty. Yes. That’s almost two hours.  Their reward. . . they got to pick out new princess dresses at Target after we made it for one week without diapers.  My reward. . . serious cash to use for something else, and the knowledge that I have, at last, passed this test in my life as a mom.  

I let Erica take the Purple Turtle on a trip to the mall. I know not to do this. . . not to take favorite toys out of the house to places where they are easily lost. But for some reason that I can’t explain, other than lack of sleep and an overwhelming desire for whining to cease, I caved, and the Purple Turtle came with us.The Purple Turtle did not make it back home with us. Somewhere between the car, the ladies’ restroom, Chick-Fil-A and Old Navy, the Purple Turtle fell out of the stroller. We retraced all of our steps and asked lots of nice people if they’d seen a small purple turtle. We did not find it, and it was not in the car. We had a sad conversation as we drove away.Erica: “But I love my Purple Turtle. What will I do without my Purple Turtle?”Emily: “Let’s go home and get my Pink Pig for Erica.”Me: “You would let Erica have your Pink Pig?”Emily: “Yes. For two minutes.”

So on the day after Thanksgiving, Joel gave me my birthday present. This was pretty fun for me, since my birthday isn’t until Dec. 5. He just couldn’t wait. It started with a movie. . . of him taking Emily and Erica to get mommy a birthday present. It started with the girls getting into the car and doing the buckles on the car seats all by themselves. They kept saying “I’m unique” over and over again, I think because we just watched the Doodlebops, and Moe said that on the show. So they go out for lunch and shopping. At the end, when they are getting back in the car for the trip home, Joel got them to say, “Happy Birthday, Mommy” into the camera. Then Erica says, “Mommy’s two and she’s going to be three?” “No,” Joel said, “she’s going to be three and two.”

Our usual bedtime prayer is, “Thank you, Jesus, for our family. Thank you for providing everything we need. Help us to love you and love each other. Amen.” At mealtimes, we do the same, but start with, “Thank you for this food.”

The other night at dinner Erica prayed, “Thank you for this food. Thank you for Emily’s food. Thank you for baby Luke’s house and New York City and the Lincoln Tunnel.”

Emily and Erica are three years old today. It’s crazy how quick they are growing up. The girls wore their princess costumes on the ride to the airport to pick up Grandma and Grandpa, who will be staying with us for about a week. Grandma brought them special “Happy Birthday” hats, which they put on right away, and wore for the car ride home. It was late enough by the time we got home that we are saving most of the celebration for tomorrow. We did let them each open one present tonight. They were just too tired to enjoy it fully. Plus, Uncle Geoff, Aunt Sarah and baby Luke will be joining us tomorrow. It should be a good time. . . chocolate cake, birthday presents, lots of family, and two very excited little girls.