The Birthdays Bash!

Twins turning two is pure chaos.  I don't know how else to describe it. 

My babies, Charlie and Louis, turned two years old on May 28.  Its so awesome to look back and see how far we've come.  I remember the feeling of holding both of their little six pound bodies for the first time.  I remember it every time I one-arm their 30-lb bodies at the same time now.  I remember their skateboarding stance they used while taking their first steps.  Now they are jumping, climbing, escaping!  I'm so blessed with having these little ones.  Even George wouldn't have it any other way.  When Grandpa Frank teases George, Grandma Dori says "What are we going to do with Grandpa?".  George says something like "throw him in the garbage".  Sometimes when George is being attacked by his brothers I ask him "What are we going to do with Charlie and Louis?"  His response is always the same: "Just keep them."  

We traveled to River Falls on Charlie and Louis's actual birthday.  We ate dinner at Culver's, and they had free ice cream, WAY too much ice cream for a 2 year old I might add.  When we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa Holter's house, they had these cute cupcakes waiting for them (Louis is in the red shirt, Charlie in blue):

Sadly, they were far more interested in the little dinosaurs than they were the cupcakes.  They took almost all the dinosaurs off the cupcakes to play with them.  More cupcakes for me to eat.

The real birthday party for Charlie and Louis was the first Saturday in June.  We had family at our house and made them a spider cake and a spider web cake.  They love bugs and spiders, a misfortune for the six and eight legged critters the two year olds encounter these days.  In fact, if there is a spider web found in our yard, it gets knocked down.  They really got into opening presents, although being two years old the attention span is short for any present they do open.  They received so many wonderful gifts!  Luckily I had the video camera on the tripod recording gift opening, because it was impossible to be mom and take pictures at the same time.  Hence the lack of gift-opening pics. 

A behavior worth noting is how they tell you to stop singing, praying, etc, when they don't want you to.  Here is Louis in the picture below telling whoever was next to him to stop singing him happy birthday.  They stick out their arms in a stopping motion while saying "uh-uhhh", which is how they say no.

Everything is normal for these two little ones as they turn two, except their speech development.  They speak twin language which we are working on, and I'll have more on that later.  Their personalities are differentiating them more and more from each other.  Louis is the bold, confident one.  Charlie is the quieter, sensitive, shy one.  They are very loving and caring.  If you make a sad face, they are both there with hugs and kisses in an instant.  When one is sad, the other tries to comfort him.  They share (remember, they're only two!).  They also fight over things, but this behavior is decreasing.  Sometimes they seem to scheme together.  One day, I took the kids and the dog on a walk without a stroller or wagon--just legs and feet.  Charlie and Louis fell back about 15 feet together for a little bit.  All of a sudden they both ran up to George and I and attacked me, clinging to my legs and roaring.  The funny thing is I never heard them talking to each other.  Sometimes I wonder just how deep the twin connection is.  They just don't need to talk to each other, they just understand.