I Used to Think I Had Lots of Patience, Now I Have Toddlers

I used to think I had lots of patience, really now I'm not so sure.  The boys are almost 2 1/2 now and pretty typical toddlers.  I feel like all I ever say is no.  "No no no no NO!", "Shut the Fridge", "Don't touch the trash", "Stop jumping on your bed", Don't climb on your changing table".  I'm trying to do my best as a parent, but I find myself wondering sometimes if I'm doing everything right, am I yelling too much?  I can't be the only parent who feels this way right???

Don't get me wrong, the boys can be total sweethearts.  Owynn now says "I luf you" which makes my heart melt.  Oliver really loves hugs and snuggles.  And they are pretty darn cute.

So not the most current photo, but I love this one. Oliver and Owynn their first Halloween 2011.

 

 

But then there are days like today where I was counting down the minutes to nap time, hoping that after they get up they will be in a better mood.  (Owynn didn't nap and is quietly hanging out with us in the living room playing with his kindle fire.  Oliver is sound asleep, he really needed it.) 
Or yesterday; the boys woke up and instead of going into the living room and turning on the tv or getting out their kindles, they decided they needed to raid the pantry.  They dumped corn meal all over the carpet in the living room.  Dumped out my baking soda on the kitchen floor, along with onion soup mix, yeast, and other baking supplies I keep in there.  They also got into my little baggie of hershey kisses I had saved from my baby shower that said "It's A Boy", which were almost 3 years old, there were bits of wrapper everywhere.  The boys also got into the birthday candles, we're hoping they didn't eat any of those.   
Or the day before yesterday.  They pushed Oliver's bed up against their dresser so they could reach the stuff on top.  They got down a small bottle of lotion and got it all over Owynn, Oliver's teddy bear, and the bed.

I've been told by other parents of multiples that things don't necessarily get easier, just different.  I can see that, but I'm still really hoping this stage will get a bit easier.  

The Terrible Twos Are Almost Upon Us!

In just 3 & 1/2 short months the boys will be 2, I can hardly believe it!  And I can already start to see "The Terrible Twos" approaching.  The boys are slowly becoming more independent and trying to deal with all those crazy emotions they have.  One of Owynn's favorite words is "Mine!"   This morning he took a book right out of Oliver's hands, declared it "Mine!", and then lays down to read it.  (Well look at it, they aren't quite reading yet.)  Though Oliver is by far the bigger drama queen of the two; he's always been that way.

They are good at letting us know what they want, and then letting us know how they feel if they don't get their way.  Owynn insists on having naked time while I am getting them ready for bed, and is very upset if he doesn't get to run around that way for at least a few minutes before I put his jammies on.  They like to do things for themselves now too.  They help me get them undressed, and also put their shoes on and take them off.  The boys insisted on coming into the bathroom with me the other night, and while I was in there Owynn threw a bunch of their bath toys into the tub and then tried to take off his clothes.  He wasn't too happy when I said it was already past their bedtime and would take a bath this weekend.  

The boys are pretty good at sharing for the most part.  They do tend to fight over a single toy if they both want to play with it.  Although if one of them takes a toy from the other, we tell them to give it back to their brother, they usually do what we ask but you can tell they aren't too happy about it.  The one thing they refuse to share now is food.  Although, if I hand one of the boys two of something, they will bring the second one right over to their brother.  They each have to have their own now.  Like bananas, I used to be able to feed them one banana together, now they absolutely insist on having their own.  When we give them donuts (they think it's the best food ever!) they really want one to eat by themselves.  Unless they are in their highchairs and I am in the mood to deal with that giant mess, they usually just end up sharing one.

Stick with me here as I go off on a brief tangent to share some of their cute donut eating stories.
Sometime around the beginning of the year we had an almost empty box of a dozen donuts sitting in the laundry basket, on top of some clothes, with the whole thing sitting on top of the couch.  I went to the bathroom for like 2 minutes and I came back to find this:

          

(I love Oliver's face in this photo, he's the one in the background behind Owynn.)

A couple months ago John brought home donuts for everyone, and then was feeding them to the boys.  They boys got so happy and excited about having donuts that they came running over to me and gave me giant hugs.  John was like hey where are my hugs? 

Just last week John brought home some donuts.  I got them out and showed the package to Owynn and his eyes got HUGE and he just started SHAKING all over! OMG donuts, I am soooo excited! (Is what I imagine he was thinking).    

The boys are starting to throw tantrums already.  Oliver freaked out today when I tried to put him in his car seat (both going to and from the store).  Then when we got home he didn't want to go into the house.  He laid down outside the door and threw a fit.  Owynn seeing what Oliver was doing, then laid down and started copying his brother. Ugh!  On our way up the sidewalk I asked the boys to hold hands to keep them from running all over the place (this by the way is the cutest thing EVER) and when Owynn let go to climb up the step to the front door Oliver also started crying.  It really didn't help today though that they were both past due for nap time.  I have to say though, they were very well behaved while we were shopping in the store.  *knock on wood* and I am about to jinx myself here, there haven't been any breakdowns while grocery shopping.  I did take the boys to Barnes and Noble by myself last weekend, that did not go well.  That was my fault though, by the time we made it there after our other errands, they were very tired and ready to go home, and I didn't have the stroller with me.  

Overall though, the boys really are very well behaved.  But I can see the "terrible twos" creeping up on us, and will be here before we know it.  They are growing up so fast!