My Ear Hurts

When I knew I was pregnant with twins one of the first things that popped into my head was that I wanted to do whatever possible to not foster competitivenss between them. Lucky for us, little parenting on this issue was necessary on our parts. Ava and Ryan truly do not compete with one another. Just recently they have learned the phrase, "that's not fair," but that usually surfaces when one has to eat four more bites of food and the other has to eat two bites. Don't get me wrong, they have their share of sibling rivalries-usually related to wanting the same toy at the same time, but so far they truly care about each other and are not in competition.
This week at least one of the kids has missed school everyday. Ava was sick Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Ryan was Tuesday through Friday. Perhaps Ava should have missed Thursday too. She seemed better; I was desperate. They both had horrific sounding coughs. Not much else, but they were worn down. Ryan was definitely worse, which is normal for him. He gets this stuff badly when he gets it. This morning I felt like he was doing better, but then heard that two kids from his preschool class had had coughs that turned into pnemonia. I figured I should take him to the doctor, just to be sure. Today was Friday and I did not want to take my chances and be in the ER over the weekend. I told the kids we were going to the doctor. Ryan was concerned he would have to spend the night, as his main memory of the doctor is when he had his tonsils out a year ago. I assured him he could come straight home. We went to the clinic and Ryan got up on the exam table to wait for the doctor to come in. At that moment Ava went into great detail about how her ear hurt. I just stared at her with that "are you kidding me" look. I told her she was fine. She went on and on about how her ear hurt. When the dr came in I told her what Ava had been telling me. The doctor examined Ryan-who was fine-and then had Ava hop on the table.  Ava was all smiles. And could not seem to remember which ear it was that hurt so badly. Hmmm... she was fine too. Sibling competition? Not my kids...but jealousy at the doctor's office... clearly.

Here We Go!

I have been wanting to start a blog for/about my kids for quite a while now. I look at them at 4 years and wonder where the last four years went. I can recall moments here and there. I remember rocking Ava in a chair at 3am with her eyes wide open, then finally falling back asleep, only to hear hiccups from Ryan on my way out the door. I remember bottles and endless bottles. I remember looking at them with amazement and awe at the bond they created from the very beginning. Somewhere along the lines I remember crawling, walking, talking, the word no, various classes. But the fact that 4 years have passed since they were born is just crazy. So many times I have wanted to write things down-funny antics, ava-isms, all sorts of things. And I never did. So, I figure 4 years is better than 5, right!?

Both Ava and Ryan say hilarious things. Ava does this a little more often. She has a mind that never stops and a mouth that goes along with it. Today we were driving in the car to preschool and Rihanna's song, "Cheers" came on the radio. Ava asked if it was my favorite song and I answered that I liked it, but it was not my favorite. After listening for a few more minutes she asked if it was part of the Nutcracker dance. Ummm, no. I am pretty sure the Nutcracker and Rihanna are not related. In any form. Intersting thought though. Ava will also talk just to talk. The other night at dinner we were eating and Ava stopped to ask us, "So, what are you all doing?"

So, I figure since it has taken me four years to start this blog, I may as well begin with a bang. Ryan and Ava LOVE imaginary play. Yesterday they were playing dollhouse before school and were talking in character voices for all their people. In character I heard Ava say, "This is f$%^&*(" unbelieveable!" Oh, out of the mouths of babes? Needless to say we had a talk on such words. But I can only imagine, if my 4 year old is dropping fbombs already, what do the next 4, 5, 10, years have in store for us? It will be a journey, I am sure. Here we go!