This morning I went for a short run while my mom caught up w/ the girls. I saw the GG Bridge, thought of the times I had walked towards it while pregnant, and burst into tears. Tears of joy.
I am so grateful. This day is a wonderful day for me. It is only a tiny bittersweet, as I would have liked the girls to last longer inside of me. (Would they be taller? Have no asthma?) But I am, and we are, so so so so the lucky ones.
That doesn’t mean I’m not still sensitive to comments regarding pregnancy, labor, birth, prematurity, etc. I find that I am sensitive for myself, my daughters, and for all the families out there less fortunate than us. I have had friends, family, and strangers say things that have upset me. I want to announce to the world that “37 weeks is a TERM baby” when people refer to their 37 weekers as “early like mine.” I have had to listen to people describe other twin moms as having done “a great job” keeping babies in until 38 weeks, as if those of us who did anything less failed (I find that I have to tell people that “one just stopped growing” so they know it wasn’t because of me they came early, then I feel terrible because I’m just as bad as everyone else). When people complain that they “just want the baby out” because they are ‘tired of being pregnant,” I have to stop myself from reprimanding them. When people on the street tell me they are ‘hoping to get lucky with twins’ using IVF I understand their desires but want to warn them of the risks.
Clearly I’m too sensitive to it all. Especially since it is really NOTHING for me, as my girls have very few scars from being early. And yet for other people, they live with the ramifications every day, all day long. And for this I am truly truly sorry, and maybe even a little defensive on their behalf. So as I celebrate all that is wonderful for us about this day, I also send a little prayer out to all those for whom birthdays will always be bittersweet.
Now, onto the party…
We had a little birthday party for Dylan and Charlotte today. They were really excited…we talked about the birthday party all week. We’d list all the people who were going to be there (relatives and their friends) and we’d talk about the ‘art project’ we were going to do (making trains, planes and automobiles). The monkeys had a great time, if for no other reason than that everyone there was either a relative or a little ‘playmate’ of theirs. We had a great time (maybe too much, C threw up later that evening).
Here are some pics...
And most importantly, here is what I LOVE LOVE LOVE about the Fabulous Dodson Girls on their second birthday.
Charlotte:
I love the way your face lights up when you see someone you love. I love that you are so quick to give out hugs, and when you do, you willingly hold on for a long time. Your hugs are the best hugs on earth. I love you so much it hurts sometimes.
You love to sing. You stand on your green chair, hold a guitar, and sing “the goodbye song.” Your face lights up when I start singing something you know. Your favorite song right now is “Do Wi Circle Round” and all the Christmas songs (Santa Claus is coming to down, Run Run Rudolph, Jingle Bell Rock). You can actually sing Rudolph pretty well, although lately you are quick to remind me that “Christmas is OVER.”
You have a sweet tooth just like your mama. I thought you were going to kill yourself trying to get me to give you another bite of cupcake during our birthday party “taste testing.” You are a fruitaholic—I don’t think you have ever met a piece of fruit you didn’t like (just like your mama). You love pancakes and waffles, but only with “dip dip” that I “dwibble” on the bread and you usually ask for several pools of syrup (you point to 5 different spots on the plate and say “Wight Here”) (your mother clearly isn’t helping the sweet tooth issue is she?). You also like salmon, spinach, eggplant parmesan, avocado, eggs, broccoli, and apple bread. You are not a big fan of carrots and anything too tangy or tart you don’t like (though I have found you LICKING the salt shaker before).
You LOVE your cow and giraffe and lion, and when we get ready for nap and head towards them you start saying “I miss you cow. I’m coming.”
I am so grateful. This day is a wonderful day for me. It is only a tiny bittersweet, as I would have liked the girls to last longer inside of me. (Would they be taller? Have no asthma?) But I am, and we are, so so so so the lucky ones.
That doesn’t mean I’m not still sensitive to comments regarding pregnancy, labor, birth, prematurity, etc. I find that I am sensitive for myself, my daughters, and for all the families out there less fortunate than us. I have had friends, family, and strangers say things that have upset me. I want to announce to the world that “37 weeks is a TERM baby” when people refer to their 37 weekers as “early like mine.” I have had to listen to people describe other twin moms as having done “a great job” keeping babies in until 38 weeks, as if those of us who did anything less failed (I find that I have to tell people that “one just stopped growing” so they know it wasn’t because of me they came early, then I feel terrible because I’m just as bad as everyone else). When people complain that they “just want the baby out” because they are ‘tired of being pregnant,” I have to stop myself from reprimanding them. When people on the street tell me they are ‘hoping to get lucky with twins’ using IVF I understand their desires but want to warn them of the risks.
Clearly I’m too sensitive to it all. Especially since it is really NOTHING for me, as my girls have very few scars from being early. And yet for other people, they live with the ramifications every day, all day long. And for this I am truly truly sorry, and maybe even a little defensive on their behalf. So as I celebrate all that is wonderful for us about this day, I also send a little prayer out to all those for whom birthdays will always be bittersweet.
Now, onto the party…
We had a little birthday party for Dylan and Charlotte today. They were really excited…we talked about the birthday party all week. We’d list all the people who were going to be there (relatives and their friends) and we’d talk about the ‘art project’ we were going to do (making trains, planes and automobiles). The monkeys had a great time, if for no other reason than that everyone there was either a relative or a little ‘playmate’ of theirs. We had a great time (maybe too much, C threw up later that evening).
Here are some pics...
And most importantly, here is what I LOVE LOVE LOVE about the Fabulous Dodson Girls on their second birthday.
Charlotte:
I love the way your face lights up when you see someone you love. I love that you are so quick to give out hugs, and when you do, you willingly hold on for a long time. Your hugs are the best hugs on earth. I love you so much it hurts sometimes.
You love to sing. You stand on your green chair, hold a guitar, and sing “the goodbye song.” Your face lights up when I start singing something you know. Your favorite song right now is “Do Wi Circle Round” and all the Christmas songs (Santa Claus is coming to down, Run Run Rudolph, Jingle Bell Rock). You can actually sing Rudolph pretty well, although lately you are quick to remind me that “Christmas is OVER.”
You have a sweet tooth just like your mama. I thought you were going to kill yourself trying to get me to give you another bite of cupcake during our birthday party “taste testing.” You are a fruitaholic—I don’t think you have ever met a piece of fruit you didn’t like (just like your mama). You love pancakes and waffles, but only with “dip dip” that I “dwibble” on the bread and you usually ask for several pools of syrup (you point to 5 different spots on the plate and say “Wight Here”) (your mother clearly isn’t helping the sweet tooth issue is she?). You also like salmon, spinach, eggplant parmesan, avocado, eggs, broccoli, and apple bread. You are not a big fan of carrots and anything too tangy or tart you don’t like (though I have found you LICKING the salt shaker before).
You LOVE your cow and giraffe and lion, and when we get ready for nap and head towards them you start saying “I miss you cow. I’m coming.”
You love being “naked” (meaning only a diaper on). Whenever dinner is finished you yell “Naked Charlotte!” and start ripping your clothes off. Unfortunately, you recently availed yourself of clothes during naptime, but this time you took off your diaper too. Suffice it to say it isn’t a story I’ll tell at your rehearsal dinner, although walking in the room and seeing your cute butt in the air wasn’t a half bad memory nonetheless. (And you are very Puritan in your views—anyone in a strapless is deemed “naked” by you, and most animals are “Naked”—in fact, you call your pet flamingo a “Naked peacock!” You get that there is something funny about being naked, even if you don’t get what naked really is…
You LOVE your sister. You generally don’t like to do things without her. You sometimes go off on your own, but only for limited time and you usually head back to see what Dy’yan is doing. You are an extremely loving sister. If I give you something (milk, a snack, a cookie) you hold out your other hand because you need to get one for Dylan. If Dylan is upset you run to get her Bunny and Lion.
You like the color blue even if you don’t know the name of it. You are particular about things that are ostensibly the same. If I give you both cups of milk I have to inauspiciously give you first choice because you always think one is better and say “THIS ONE.” Of course, a few minutes later you always want to “share.”
You are a climber. You get into the spinning wheel at the park by doing a running dive in between the bars. I took you to Kalisa and Talia’s birthday party two weeks ago, and you were the most active kid there. You were fearless. You are also fearless when it comes to the ocean, which scares the sh*t out of me. You run straight for the water. You are curious. You see big holes in the beach and your first instinct is to jump into them.
When you see people you love you get so excited you start stomping your feet. It is the BEST, and when it goes away I will miss it forever.
You are funny and silly. You love to laugh.
Dylan.
Your grins are the world’s best smiles. They light up your face. You stick your tongue out a lot while smiling, or sometimes when you are focused (a la Michael Jordan). You have the best facial expressions. This was evident with you from day one…when you were in the NICU you HATED being gavaged, and you’d give this horrible look like someone was gagging you. We called it your ‘gavage face.’ You no longer give the gavage fave but you give lots of other looks. You raise your eyebrows a lot when you want to denote surprise or something new and interesting (like “oh!”) You give a REALLY mischievous look when you do something you KNOW is wrong.
You speak in guttural tones a lot. You also speak a lot while grinning and jutting your chin out. You love big words. You speak through hair—you don’t seem to mind it being in your face all the time.
You like to call people by their first names. “Marsha” “Andrew” “Molly” “Peggy”—you picked up the concept of two names really early. You say it in your guttural tone so it comes out like “Maaaaaasha.”
You are tough as nails. If you fall down, you assess the situation, and if you aren’t hurt you don’t make a big deal out of it. You jump right up and move on. For awhile we wondered if you felt pain.
You are getting to be VERY particular. If I try to dress you in something you don’t want or take something away from you, you say NO, emphatically, quick, and many times over. “No no no no no no NO!” If you want something and I say no, you first say no, then as stupidly start negotiating with you you start saying “ok ok ok ok ok”…not like “ok mom, I’ll do what you say” but more “See, in a few seconds Mom, you are going to cave and so I’m just helping you out by giving you the word to use when you do.” If I’m not careful you will own me.
You love clothes. Clothes of all kind really--you walk into stores and grab things and say “put it on.” Your favorite things right now are the black butterfly tee that glows in the dark, snowman pjs, an orange cozy outfit, fleece pants, your “Deer shirt,” your fire hat and fire jacket, the “doggy” outfit “from Todd” and ANYTHING related to ladybugs. You also still look for the Itzy Bitzy spider shirt, but since that was for Halloween I finally had to hide it because I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore (I know, terrible mother). You have specific taste in clothes, which is proving difficult when I get things that are different. You immediately claim an item as yours and then I do my best to convince C that the other item is “even cooler.” It is seriously making me rethink the plan not to buy you two the same things.
You like to play “time out.” Yes, PLAY “time out.” You run into the closet (I know it sounds bad, but it has a window and two SEPARATE doors--think of it as a small room) that I make you sit in when you get a time out. It must not be that traumatic for you because you love to PLAY time out. When I ask you what you did to get there you say “Bite Charlotte.” The other day the two of you were playing “time out” and you locked yourselves in there, and I got a lot done for a few minutes until I realized exactly WHY you weren’t underfoot.
Today you packed your “purse” (really, your soft Easter basket). You included the orange outfit you wanted to change into midday (you already had three shirts layered on--a base layer, your “Dylan’s Candy Store” “Lollipop tee” as you call it, and your “butterfly” tee that--so I felt justified in saying no), Bunny and Lion, my keys, a harmonica, quarters you found from the change jar by the door, and Elmo. You got it all ready and announced “I’m ready!” I felt so bad for you earlier when I was running off to a preschool tour and couldn’t find my keys (because you had taken). You ran into the room and triumphantly handed me my keys, only to look crestfallen when you realized that the keys were my ticket to exiting. I could have cried when I saw the look on your face.
“I DO IT” is a big phrase of yours.
You love Bunny and Lion. When you get tired or injured they are the first things you ask for… they comfort you and you adore them.
For as little as you are, you are a great eater. You love veggies—you pound yellow squash and spinach. You like sweets but only to a point—you do love cinnamon toast. You like Turkey, salmon, avocado, most fruits, and even spicy things. You LOVE black beans and quesadillas. You like yogurt with ‘sprinkles’ (blueberry flax seed, but I’ll never tell). I have no idea where it all goes. You are very particular about the plates on which you eat, and right now we are in a “heart plate” phase.
You are, as Andrew likes to say, “your mother’s daughter.” You aren’t quite as easy as others when it comes to doling out the love as your sister. You like to give hugs, but not all the time. Sometimes when C tries to hug you you respond “No thank you.” You like your alone time. You pick a horse and you stay with it…if you are in a Daddy mode you want nothing to do with me, and vv if you are in a mommy mode. You know what you want, you aren’t easily swayed, and you are devoted to whoever is #1 in your mind.
You love your sister. You don't mind being away from her for a bit, but when with her you don't like it when she does, eats, or wears something different than you. You consider her your playmate. She makes you laugh, and you love to make her laugh.
Both of You
You might be color blind, or just a little slow on the uptake with regards to color. Only time will tell.
Elmo is your home boy. I don’t even really know how it started, because you loved him before you ever saw him live. But you are definitely Elmo Groupies. You see Elmo riding on a bike in a children’s store window near us and you literally scream with excitement. You now know that when you are sick you get to watch a little Elmo’s world. The other night when C threw up I said “oh sweety you’re sick” and you immediately responded “Watch Elmo.” (Andrew’s worried that your desire to watch Elmo might lead to bulimia).
Other people on your List of Five are Big Bird, Clifford, Curious George, and Maisy. So far I’ve been able to keep you away from some of the characters who make me cringe (who the hell is Dora, and how do you know her name???)
You love anything with wheels, be they cars to ride, trains, trucks to sit on, fire trucks, wagons, grocery carts or strollers. You even tried to ride the ice cooler on wheels we recently bought for your party. The other night you insisted on going to sleep with your remote control cars.
Right now your favorite books are: The “Teddy Book,” The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” that Kallie gave you, If you give a mouse a Cookie that Linda gave you, (you like to look at the boy standing on the bookcase and say ‘No! No! No!’), the Grandma Book, Goodnight Gorilla, Click Clack Moo, Albuquerque Turkey, anything with trains, and anything you can sing.
Your favorite toys are: the kitchen, anything with wheels, the vet hospital (“Doctor Charlotte, Dr. Dylan, heart goes ‘boom boom’”), the garbage truck (still), anything you can put things in and carry around, be it a purse, a wagon, or even the cooler, your drums and guitars, stickers, stamps, puzzles, puppets trains and setting up the train set, and the basketball hoop (all round things at some point get the ‘shoot hoops’ treatment, and the best part is that as you throw it in you yell “She scores!”).
Everything “Goes to Texas.” The cable car on Main Street in Utah was “Going to Texas.” When you pretend play you are always “Going to Texas.” We lost Albuquerque Turkey for a week and he was “In Texas.”
You love stamps and stickers. The more the better. You love getting stamped on your hands and on your bellies. You love putting stickers everywhere, especially “Mommy and Daddy’s hands.”
You make me smile all the time. I love you, and I want to savor (almost) every minute with you. Happy Birthday to my girls…you’ve come such a long way babies!!
Both of You
You might be color blind, or just a little slow on the uptake with regards to color. Only time will tell.
Elmo is your home boy. I don’t even really know how it started, because you loved him before you ever saw him live. But you are definitely Elmo Groupies. You see Elmo riding on a bike in a children’s store window near us and you literally scream with excitement. You now know that when you are sick you get to watch a little Elmo’s world. The other night when C threw up I said “oh sweety you’re sick” and you immediately responded “Watch Elmo.” (Andrew’s worried that your desire to watch Elmo might lead to bulimia).
Other people on your List of Five are Big Bird, Clifford, Curious George, and Maisy. So far I’ve been able to keep you away from some of the characters who make me cringe (who the hell is Dora, and how do you know her name???)
You love anything with wheels, be they cars to ride, trains, trucks to sit on, fire trucks, wagons, grocery carts or strollers. You even tried to ride the ice cooler on wheels we recently bought for your party. The other night you insisted on going to sleep with your remote control cars.
Right now your favorite books are: The “Teddy Book,” The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear” that Kallie gave you, If you give a mouse a Cookie that Linda gave you, (you like to look at the boy standing on the bookcase and say ‘No! No! No!’), the Grandma Book, Goodnight Gorilla, Click Clack Moo, Albuquerque Turkey, anything with trains, and anything you can sing.
Your favorite toys are: the kitchen, anything with wheels, the vet hospital (“Doctor Charlotte, Dr. Dylan, heart goes ‘boom boom’”), the garbage truck (still), anything you can put things in and carry around, be it a purse, a wagon, or even the cooler, your drums and guitars, stickers, stamps, puzzles, puppets trains and setting up the train set, and the basketball hoop (all round things at some point get the ‘shoot hoops’ treatment, and the best part is that as you throw it in you yell “She scores!”).
Everything “Goes to Texas.” The cable car on Main Street in Utah was “Going to Texas.” When you pretend play you are always “Going to Texas.” We lost Albuquerque Turkey for a week and he was “In Texas.”
You love stamps and stickers. The more the better. You love getting stamped on your hands and on your bellies. You love putting stickers everywhere, especially “Mommy and Daddy’s hands.”
You make me smile all the time. I love you, and I want to savor (almost) every minute with you. Happy Birthday to my girls…you’ve come such a long way babies!!
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