My little babies are growing into adorable little boys! They will be 4 years old in August, and I can't believe how fast the time has flown since they were born! Sometimes it feels like just yesterday that I got that call that we were pregnant! And then laying on the table at the Dr's office for the ultrasound to show us how many babies we were going to have, and seeing those 2 little flutters of heartbeats on the screen! And the delivery of them happening so quickly on August 19th, 2006 and the 4 weeks we spent in the NICU with them! I know that the first six months are a total blur in my memory, but it seems that the last 3 1/2 years are now all gone! We will never get that time back with them, and I deeply miss the little itty bitty teeny weenie babies they were when we brought them home. I miss the non-stop snuggles and cuddle time we got when they were too tiny to get up and run off. If the last 4 years have gone by this fast, I can't imagine what the next 14 years will be like, as they start school and sports and school activities. They will be starting pre-school in September and as excited as I am for them, I am also sad that they are growing up so fast. I try to write down all the funny things about the boys that happen, but we get busy and that doesn't always happen! So here is a brief idea of what the boys are like right now, as they are approaching their 4th birthday! They may be twins, but they are definitely individual little boys, with their own special personalities and attitude!
DANIEL RYAN CAINE (AKA Baby 'A').................
When Daniel was born we kept saying he looked like a little wrestler or football player. He had this stout little body that just looked like it could tackle you! And I'm pleased to say that Daniel seems to be that same little football player/wrestler type, because he tackles Cameron with no difficulty and keeps him pinned on the ground as long as possible, laughing the entire time! We honestly believe he will be a good wrestler and football player when he gets older.
He has always been so very meticulous about the order he has his toys in and this has not changed one bit! His trains belong in a special order (never put the caboose in front and the engine in back), his dinosaurs are in order by type and size, his blocks are stacked "just right" and he lays his blanky on top of him at night "just right" (even laying out the curled corners). He has a type "A" personality that I believe will benefit him in the future! However, the down-side is that he can not be swayed to do something different than the "Daniel way"! And everybody must do it the way he thinks it should be done, or he dissolves into a mess of tears. It is a major challenge to convince him that there are other ways that things can be done. And I will be the first to admit he gets this from his Mommy. I believe that the "Jen way" is the best way!
When you ask Daniel to say "cheese" for the camera, he does this thing where he scrunches up his nose, has a smile like he is about to brush his teeth, and he furrows his eyebrows together! It ends up looking like he is mad, but that is his smile! We are trying so hard to get him to actually smile cute, because when he does, he looks adorable! But for now, we usually get the "Daniel cheese grin"! Such a goofball!
Daniel is afraid of the dark and HATES the closet door left open! He swears that there are monsters in there and he won't go in his room if the closet door is open a crack! He wakes up a couple times a night crying, and he seems to have many bad dreams about spiders and snakes. I don't know why, but Bryan says he has nightmares almost nightly about these things. Poor little man! He also usually wakes up in the same position he fell asleep. Flat on his back, arms over his head or his chest. He likes having cold sheets and he flips his pillow over before he goes to sleep to get the "cold side of the pillow"! He gets that from his Daddy!
He has FINALLY grown out of the stage of growling at us when he gets mad (which he did ALL the time), and has amazingly started to listen to us! WOOHOO!!! So now when we ask the boys to clean up the living room, Daniel says "OK Mommy!" and then gets right to work! (Cameron does not, but we'll get to that in a bit). Daniel has also recently begun to try very hard to color within the lines in his coloring book! He is carefully choosing the colors of each thing, and tries to color things the way they should be! I am so very proud to see this! Daniel is also Mommy's little helper! I absolutely LOVE that he loves to help me carry the groceries into the house and helps me put things away! It just puts the biggest smile on my face! And when I am cooking dinner or making cakes or deserts, he is the first one to pull up a chair to the counter and help pour everything in the bowl and help hold the mixer! Such a big boy!
And Daniel has recently started dancing whenever music is on in the house! And I'm talking crazy, wild, jump up and down, and spin in circles dancing! It is funny to watch, but he just loves it! And when I recently started exercising in the living room, he was the first to start exercising with me! Very cute watching your 3 year old trying to do a sit up! ;-)
And I must share the hilarious thing that Daniel said the other night at bed time! We were singing songs and Cammy started to interrupt. I said, "Don't interrupt Cammy!". Daniel says, "Mommy! Cammy is going to interrupt like a volcano!" It took me a second to catch what he meant. He got "interrupt" and "erupt" confused! I just started laughing hysterically, and that meant the boys started laughing hysterically, and then Daniel started saying it over and over again! "Cammy interrupts like a volcano!" I loved it!
Now on to CAMERON MICHAEL CAINE (AKA Baby 'B')........
When Cammy was born, he was skinnier and just looked longer than Daniel (even though they were both 19" long), and we started saying he looked like he would be a basketball player. He is now about 1 - 1 1/2" taller than Daniel, and is still long, skinny and will probably be taller than his brother. He has great balancing technique and very strong calves from walking on his tip-toes all the time. He is very flexible and does AMAZING somersaults! He just tucks and curls into this tiny little ball! Daniel still tries to do a head stand when trying to do a somersault!
As meticulous as Daniel is about the order of his things, Cameron could pretty much care less! He actually enjoys knocking over brothers towers and doesn't care about the order he puts his trains. However, he does LOVE to chug his trains all around the house and gets lost in his own little world of make believe! Unfortunately, he thinks that his trains need a "wash down" and proceeds to chug into the kitchen and uses the dog water to "wash down" the trains! If I had a nickel for every time he has been told to stay out of the dog water, I would be a millionaire by now! Cameron also loves to play with balls! He love to bounce them, roll them, throw them anywhere around the house. I have found them on the counter, the hutch, the bookshelves, etc... Actually, he just loves throwing anything..... Hmmmmm.....maybe we have a future baseball player in our midst!
Cameron does not listen as well as Daniel and we have not gotten past this stage with him yet. It does not matter how many times we tell him not to do something, he continues to find a way to do it! We have 3 goldfish that have somehow survived over a year now. We started out with the small tank in their bedroom and found that Cameron kept feeding the fish....the entire container of fish food! Yes, it should not have been left down in the first place, but even when we put it up, he would climb to where it was! He is quite the little climber. So it was moved into the hall bathroom. Unfortunately, during the day, Cameron would sneak into the bathroom to stick his hand in the fish tank, or try to feed them more food. So the fish tank was moved into our bathroom. That worked for a while, unless he snuck into our bathroom, and once again, the entire container of fish food would be put in the fish tank! Seriously, we are not sure how these fish have survived this long! So after keeping him away from the fish for a while, we recently tried to put a larger tank with the same fish in their bedroom (the fish have grown from all the food)! Within a few hours, Cameron had tried to take the lid off the tank and tried to "catch" the fish. So it has been moved again into the hall bathroom. The fish food is hidden and so far so good. Either way, he is ENTHRALLED with the fish and could stand in front of the tank with his nose pressed against the glass watching them!
Cameron doesn't like to clean up the living room either because he says "it is hard work Mommy!". He huffs and puffs like he is lifting 20 pound weights when he is cleaning up the living room. It is actually quite funny. He also gets easily distracted and begins playing with the toys he is putting away. However, Daniel used to be this way too, so I have hope! Cameron seems to get lost in his own world sometimes and doesn't pay attention to the things around him. He is quieter than Daniel in this aspect where he quietly does his own thing and knows what is going on in his little world. Daniel talks loudly while playing make believe. It is neat to see the difference in them!
And don't call him Cameron! He immediately says, "NO! My name is Cammy!". We have been calling him Cammy for so long now, that when we call him Cameron, he doesn't like it! We tried calling Daniel "Danny", and he DOES NOT like it! Funny....
And when it is bed time, Cameron is the last to fall asleep! He is wide awake and Daniel is usually snoring. It takes FOREVER to get him to go to sleep! In fact, last night, it was 10:00, before he was finally asleep! And I put them down at 9:00! I was laying on the couch, and he came out twice and peeked around the corner. Silly little boy! He is also the first one awake in the morning and takes the shortest nap. We are lucky if he naps for an hour. They are night and day when it comes to the amount of sleep they need. And Cameron is the most restless sleeper! His bed his torn to pieces by the time he wakes up! Blankets on the floor, sheets all messed up, and even the fitted sheet is halfway coming off the bed!
Cameron also loves to help Mommy in the kitchen! Him and his brother take turns pouring the water, oil, whatever the ingredient is, into the bowl and they both hold the mixer! I love having my boys helping in the kitchen! They love to help Mommy make her cakes!
And we finally have potty-trained boys! Yippee!!! Pull-ups for nap and bed time only and very rarely do we have accidents anymore! Daniel is funny and doesn't want us in the bathroom when he is in there. He likes his privacy. I think he gets a little stage fright! They even wear undies when we go out on the town and the boys tell us if they need to go potty! I am enjoying the fact that since they are boys, if Bryan and I are out together with them, Bryan gets to take them to the bathroom! ;-) Guess that is one advantage to them being boys! Daddy gets potty duty while we are out! Ha!
Well, I know that was a long book, but it took me a few days to get it written, and I'm glad that I did! It gives you a little glimpse in to our world and how the boys are doing!
Have a wonderful day!
Jen ;-)
