The Charlie Brown and Lucy Game

During bath time last night I realized the deadly duo have a new game. Leia would hold out two fistfulls of bath toys toward her brother, while he looked shyly on. As soon as he reached for one, she jerked them back and laughed uproariously. And it kept going on for a long time. It started reminding me of the old Peanuts gag where Charlie Brown tries to kick the football and Lucy always pulls it away at the last second. And every time she convinces Charlie that this time she won't pull it away.

At first it looked more like tormenting than playing a game, but it turned out Luke was up for the situation. He laughed right along with her. He started making more effort to get the toys, so she had to start crawling farther away in the tub. Which just made them both laugh more. We ended up with water all over the three of us and the bathroom floor, but it was worth it. If there's a cure for a rotten day at work, it definitely involves two toddlers laughing.

Stealing toys is old hat in any house with twins toddlers, or even twin babies. It's been going on since they got old enough to realize they could use their hands to actually pick up all that shiny noisy stuff. Leia has always been ahead of Luke on the fine motor skills so she was pincering Cheerios while he was still swiping at toys and like mittens were permanently attached to his hands. So she's been taking his toys since the very first time he picked up a block.

The times have changed a little though. These days he's catching up so he holds on to a lot more toys. Much to Leia's chagrin. Luke rarely cries when his toys dissapear into his sister's hand. Ironicly though, most of the crying occurs when he holds on to a toy. Leia does not take kindly at all to being thwarted. And it gets epicly bad when he takes one of her toys.
I haven't figured out how to handle it yet. Most of the time I take the toy away from the thief and give it back to the victim. Then the thief shakes a fist in my face while the victim decides to play with something else instead. I'm sorely tempted to stay out of it and let them resolve it between the two of them, but that turns Lord of the Flies in the blink of an eye. A slap fight between one year olds is a strange blend of hilarious and epicly sad all rolled into one.

Hatin' On The Garden State

The show Jersey Boys finished its' run TPAC last week so I've been walking past their merch and signs in the lobby every morning as I trudge off to my cubicle. Every day I walked by this particular warning sign at the entrance to the performance hall. Profanity warnings I'm used to, and I suppose I can understand. But this is just hilarious. If I was from New Jersey I'd probably be annoyed by how it plays to some overly simple stereotypes.

Not just profane vocabulary. Not authentic Jersey vocabulary, which I would assume meant accents. But authentic, profane, Jersey vocabulary.

Now couple that with this post that I saw recently at Looky Daddy! (a transplanted Texan who lives in New Jersey). Awesome.

A Canine Induced Haze

Turns out that Newscoma isn't the only one to have canine related problems. Except here at the W household our new canines are enamel instead of fuzzy. Yes, I realize that's a lame intro, but I'm somewhat short tempered at the moment since I live with two teething babies so I suggest you keep that opinion to yourself.

Fifteen months old and already the deadly duo are over achievers. (In the past I called them the dynamic duo, but deadly duo seems more appropriate for now.) Luke has 18 of his 22 baby teeth already, and Leia is close behind. Teething isn't an exact science, but most babies start getting their first ones around six months and rates vary wildly from one baby to the next. Not my ever rebellious kiddos. They started at 4 months and have pretty much been working concurrently. Leia is slightly behind Luke. She seems to have chosen to start up just as Luke is finishing so she can draw out the length of time her mother and I have to deal with a crying, angry baby for as long as possible rather than letting us have a few days to regain our sanity between rounds. The timing is really uncanny, with each cycle of teeth just about the time you can see the tops of Luke's new teeth poking out his gums Leia's gums start to swell as hers get closer to the surface.

These days they've both got more teeth than babies I know who are 6-8 months older than them. The canines have been the hardest ones by far. If you aren't familiar with types of teeth, the canines are the ones that come to the sharp point in the front of your mouth. They're the ones at the corners where the teeth start to curve back deeper into your mouth. From what little I remember of my wisdom teeth experience, I can't blame them for acting up while those things are coming in, but it isn't conducive to relaxation for their parents. They're very unpredictable at the moment. Saturday they were both clingy, tearful wrecks who picked fights with each other every time we put them down, but Sunday they were as pleasant as could be as they played on their own, and all the fights were accidental rather than intentional.

Such is life with babies in general and twins in particular. I think we're due for a teething break soon, but I fully expect the two year molars to arrive at least six months early. On the bright side maybe we can distract them by taking them outside rather than being cooped up like this long winter has had us.