10/17/2012: Heppeh heppeh heppeh

Think Phil from Duck Dynasty.  I love how he says "happy happy happy".  How do you spell that?  I know I didn't get it right...

Today - all one hour left of it - is Blue and Green's First Birthday.  What a year this has been.

My boys are amazing.  It's amazing to me how many people tell us that.  And it's not because they are super smart or super amazing or super astute or super quick or anything like that.  No, they aren't ahead of the curve in weight, height, walking, talking or anything.  They are normal, fun, cute baby boys.  So how are they amazing?  Because they are soooo intent on staring into your eyes.  They want to see who you are.  They want to see how you see them.  Blue, when you pick him up, he will look deep into your eyes.  It's like he checks to see if you're a happy type of person or not.  And once he gets a good look, he adapts to what he thinks you'll tolerate from him.  Green, a little different.  He will look deep into your eyes, too, but then he tells a joke, in his little bah-bah-bah chatter.  And he WILL make you laugh.  These two are comedy.  How they interact with each other, how they interact with you, how they interact with me.  Anyone that has spent more than five minutes with them will tell us that it's easy to see how so many miss them when they don't get to spend days with them because they just captivate you and entertain you and keep you intrigued.  It's simply amazing.

In the last year, Blue has evolved in multiple ways.  Around 4 months he decided I was the reason for living. He was beyond smitten with me and it melted my heart.  The way he sought me out, would smile just because I looked at him...I was beyond hooked.  Beyond - because I've been hooked since I knew he was in the womb!  Who he is today, one year later....

• He is our public relations guy.  He will talk to you and get you up to speed on the state of the house.  He will continue to talk to you as long as you'll listen - and if you stop listening, he's probably still going to talk, too.  It's so much fun to listen to him sorting out all the various vowels and consonants and ways to mix and match those things.
• He is our super sleeper.  At night.  In the dark.  But come daylight...he is ready to go.  And he wants to go.  Now.  Until it's time to sleep.
• He loves his milk.  He will eat the food you give him, but he really wants that sippy cup or bottle.  He's happiest if you are giving him that sippy cup or bottle, holding it for him, letting him kick back in your arms.  But if he has to feed himself, he'll do that, too.  
• He is fiercely independent.  He makes it clear as often as he can that he is letting you care for him and with no moments notice, he will take care of himself, thank you very much.  If you don't do it his way, he'll just do it himself.  As his Mimi (Grandma) said, "whether it's right or wrong".
• He is no longer the mommy's boy he was at 4 months of age - but it's still written all over his sleeves that he loves his mommy.  Nowadays, though, he loves his daddy, sometimes more.  Depends on who is willing to do it "his way".  He's got a cute thing going right now where if I am taking care of something for him, feeding, changing a diaper, something like that - if I'm not doing it the way he wants it done, he shouts out "Da-ee".  It's so cute!!  He'll continue to shout out Da-ee until Daddy comes to see what's up.  Likewise, if Daddy is doing something for him and not doing it the way he wants it, then he switches to "Mommom".  And he'll keep shouting mommom until I check in.  Whoever will do it his way is his favorite at that moment.  He doesn't like either of us if we proceed to continue to do it our way.
• He is the boss.  And the instigator.  When he plays, he knows what he wants to do and he's going to do that.  If bro-bro gets in the way, bro-bro will get run over, pushed, knocked down, whatever it takes to get bro-bro out of the way.  If he wants the toy that bro-bro has, even if the exact same toy is sitting on the floor at his feet, he will take bro-bro's toy. 
• If bro-bro takes a toy from him...he will scream bloody murder at the injustice just done to him.
• Periodically you can see him sitting on the floor showing bro-bro what he wants bro-bro to do.  Bro-bro, being the little brother, age wise, but the bigger brother size wise, will do as his big brother commands...even if it means getting into trouble.
• He is a sweetheart.  He loves to give great big hugs.  And he loves to give kisses.  If you are sitting on the couch and he is crawling all around, he'll take a break and come over just to give a kiss on your leg and then head back to what he was doing.  When he gives you a hug he puts his little head on your shoulder and grabs on with both hands and holds on like there's no tomorrow.  And he relaxes like you wouldn't believe letting you know that all is right with the world just because he is in your arms.

Green has evolved, too, of course.  Around 8 months he decided I am the reason for living.  The smitten-ness is written on every square inch of his body.  It is definitely safe to assume I am hooked on him, too.  And that's a safe assumption because I've been hooked since day one, too.  When both of these boys think I can do no wrong, that just makes me want to be the woman they seem to think I am.

• He is our scientist.  He has a process for everything he does.  He picks up whatever toy is intriguing at the moment and he checks it out.  He has a process for this, three steps.  First, after picking it up, shake it.  Does it rattle, jingle, make noise?  Second, he tries to spin a part by waving his fingers across some surface of the object.  Does it have moving parts?  How do they move?  Finally, he claps with it.  Does it come apart?  Can it be put together?  Some toys are then perfectly suited for the mouth, and in the mouth they go.  So that he can pick up another toy and start this process again.  Other toys need to be discarded.  Not enough noise.  Not enough moving parts.  It is absolutely amazing, to me, a scientist, to watch this process and see the gears turning in his brain.
• He is our super sleeper.  If he wants to sleep, he will.  Through the night, of course.  Long into the morning, for sure.  Good long naps, too, of course.  He loves to sleep.  He has a process for waking up and it does not include going straight to the bottle.  He'll let you know what he needs and when, but just give him a moment, please, to try and shake the sleep off.
• He doesn't much care for his milk.  Give him food, please.  And serve him.  Feed him every bite, put every morsel in his mouth, just go ahead and take care of him, please.  He will gladly drink up any apple juice you give him - so long as you hold the sippy cup.  Come bedtime, he's happy to drink that bottle of milk - but hold it for him.
• He wants to be cared for and he wants to do things alongside you.  He is happy to hold the bottle, for example, but that doesn't mean you can let go.  If you let go, so will he.  Codependent much?
• He is still the mommy's boy.  But he very obviously loves his daddy just as much.  It is amazingly apparent that he loves his family and he thinks his family is integral to his happy existence.  He wants to be where you are.  Doesn't matter if he's strapped into a high chair or a stroller or a car seat.  So long as he's beside you, it's all good.  If you have to get up and go to the bathroom, just don't leave him behind in the family room with all his toys and his bro-bro.  But bring bro-bro, too.
• He is independent.  He is not the follower or the leader.  He's really curious about what bro-bro is asking him to do and he's very aware that consequences are real.  He knows to stop the "bad" requests before he actually gets into trouble.  He wants to appease bro-bro and Mom and Da.  He finds that balance with ease.
• If bro-bro takes a toy from him, he says whatever and moves on to the next thing.  It's all good.  Whatever's clever.
• He is the little brother but he knows he has the size advantage.  And he does not use that against bro-bro.
• He is a sweetheart.  His hugs, already at the age of one, ensconce you.  You know he is throwing all of his heart, soul, and mind into that hug and that hug is feeding him.  You know all is right when he can put his head on your shoulder and take a big breath in and just hold on.  He can go to sleep within seconds when he gets into his little hug position.  And he's certainly happy to lean back and give kisses.  Right on your check.  

It's fun to be watching the sibling relationship develop.  Blue knows that Green is something special and while he asserts himself as boss and takes as he pleases, he has Green's back like no other.  If Green is upset, Blue can reach out and put a hand on his shoulder and Green will instantly be fine.  Blue knows that he is important to Green and that Green is his lifeline to so much else.  Green knows that Blue tests the waters and puts him in precarious positions but he also trusts that Blue really won't let him get too far into trouble.  And Blue doesn't.  He will stop Green at just the right point.  There are things I am observing them do that I want to ensure to grow and develop and there are other things that I want to ensure they don't pursue.  In all great relationships there is always a giver and a taker.  Ideally, each party can flip flop as necessary based on various things the two in the relationship are up to.  And we see that, that although Blue is the one likely to be taking the toy out of Green's hands, he is also just as happy to give Green a toy back, too.  Like I said, I love watching this relationship develop.  It's important to me that they always know that this relationship can't be beat, that it be grown specially and tended to in order to promote good behaviors and remove bad ones. At the end of the day, these two boys are incredibly lucky to have this relationship in their lives.  I think twins are amazing because of that relationship, something the rest of us simply can't understand.  As my twin uncles say about each other "he's always there".  It can be a detriment, but if treated right, it's the best blessing ever.  They get each other better than anyone else.

Happy Birthday Baby Boys!!!  Mommom and Da-ee love you!!