Sisters

They fight... oh how they fight.  The older knows how to push the younger's buttons.  The younger knows precisely how to shriek loud enough to get the older into trouble.

They battle to see who can scream the loudest or sit on the chair first or walk across the floor the fastest.  They always want to use the same cup or spoon or napkin or basket at the same time.

The older gets frustrated when the younger just. won't. leave. her. alone.

The younger gets angry when the oldest doesn't want to play.

They couldn't be more different.

But they wouldn't know what to do without each other.  They're in cahoots.  And they couldn't love each other more.

Sisters

When they love each other, they really love each other.  When they don't?  Erm, it gets scary.

(originally posted on my joint photo blog with Amy, Just Make it A Double)

Bunkies

I hate change.  I really do.  So I railed heavily against the inevitable change necessary in our house.  In order to fit our kids into rooms other than our own, we needed to bunk up the girls and give Sayer the smaller room that C was in.

I didn't wanna.

Because really, what good could come from combining two girls in one room?  Nothing!  Nothing could come of it but things like early mornings, yelling and talking before bed, waking each other up, and mischief.

Come on people, you KNOW it's true.

So understandably, I procrastinated.

"Oh, Sayer is fine in our room!  We don't mind!"  Shaun would raise an eyebrow at me when I'd say that, recalling the need to whisper and tiptoe around the sleeping baby next to our bed.

"I want to wait for ____ to happen before we change them over!"

"Well, we'll eventually do it...  I mean, maybe soon?"

Yeah, I made LOTS of excuses.  (Who could blame me?)

Anyway, vacation forced our hand.  When traveling, most kids aren't afforded the luxury of having their own rooms.  So, *deep breath* we bunked them up.

The first night was ok.  At least that's what Shaun said.  I wasn't there.

The second night was a little more insane.  C shrieked, Bean fussed, and there was general chaos all around.

That chaos ended up with both girls in a full sized bed together, head to toe.  C was enamored with the idea of a big bed and Bean liked the novelty.  But they fell asleep that way, so that worked.

The next night, the chaos erupted again, this time in the form of a VERY tired and VERY cranky Bean.  I jokingly told Shaun that if Bean wouldn't stop carrying on like a baby, maybe he should stick her in the crib.

He did.

And wouldn't you guess...  not a peep from either of them.

So vacation went onward and by the end, they were actually going to bed well with no fussing.

Moral of the story?  If you want me to do something I don't want to do, force my hand with a vacation.

Preferably one with a tropical beach and drinks with umbrellas.

(And oh, the girls are sleeping in their rightful places... Bean's crib days were numbered).

Girls

These two

Will always

Make for a lot of laughs

But better yet, a lot of love.

So She Has a Hint of Mischeif, Too

Yesterday, I was trying to get dinner ready for the girls and they were VERY ready to eat.

Note:  VERY ready to eat = cranky, squirrelly, prone to fighting and LOUD

So, to stave off the inevitable pull of toddlers underfoot, I put a movie on and left them to their own devices. 

Oh, another side note:  C loves, loves, loves climbing into boxes, baskets, bins...  any form of storage, no matter what size.  The only problem that tends to arise is when wants out, because while she can get in, she has a hard time escaping.  (This totally works to my advantage sometimes). 

Anyway, the girls were occupied watching a quality episode of Word World, and I had almost finished making the three of us dinner. 

Oh right, one more side note:  Bean likes to push C around when she's in a bin or basket.  C loves it and Bean thinks it's hilarious to have control.

So dinner was about to be on the table and I heard C start to squeal.  Then she stopped.  When I heard her again, she sounded she was far away.  Curious, I walked into the living room.  I could still hear C, but hadn't the foggiest as to where she was.  Bean was quietly watching the end of her show.

"Um, Bean?  Where's C?"

Bean turned towards me with a smile on her face that I could only describe as mildly diabolical and said, "I took her for a ride... and left her back in the other room.  She was LOUD."

For all the times that poor Bean gets picked on by C, I think Bean doled out the payback. 

Tacit Simplicity - Take 2

Fashionista

Bean got a hankerin' for some winter accessorizing today. 

And she dragged her sister into it.

While Bean was merrily modeling,

C was not amused. 

 
(I think Bean's fashion sense is spot on.   Note C's matching cowboy boots :)

You'd Think They Were Sisters or Something

They're certainly their own people and look a bit different, but it seems as C gets older, she's resembling Bean a bit more.  Matchy matchy, HERE I COME!

(Hey, roll your eyes if you will, but I've been looking forward to occassionally dressing my kids alike since I was about SEVEN.  So there).  (And yes, I know I can dress them alike even if they don't match, but it's all that much more fun).  (And yes, I will go all sorts of preppy one of these days and monogram something for each of them).  (Imagine what I would have done with twins?!  That's would be after I had to collect my exploded brain from the craziness).  (That's a lot of parenthetical phrases.  Hm). 

Anyway, later this week, I'm going to try posting some baby pics as requested (hi Genelle!!) and you can be the judge of who looks like who.  (Kudos to The Accidental Traveler for the idea as well).

But for now?  Check these out:

 

I'm sure you can tell who is who... but what's your opinion?  Look alike?  Not so much?  Are they even related?  

Survey says..... ? 

Sisters

The other day, the girls were happily playing on the living room floor, and I was on the couch sorting through some school papers.  Bean had a farm set across the room and C was rolling around at my feet. 

A few minutes passed and I noticed that the room got very silent except for a strange squawking sound.  I glanced up to see that Bean had completely pulled a very confused C into her lap. 

"Bean, what on earth are you doing?"  I cautiously walked over and sat down to assist if I happened to need to catch the little one. 

"Mommy!  I want to hold C in my lap!  You should take a picture.  We are cute!" 

That cracked me up.  I managed to get the two of them off the floor and into a chair.  The following pictures were the result of the impromptu sister photo session:

That's a lot of love, there.  A little tough love, if you ask me and C.

 

But C wasn't complaining too much and Bean was being ridiculously cute, so I let the mauling picture session continue...

  

Bean decided to try her Daddy's patented "Tickle Poke" to see if she could get C to laugh...

 

C was not amused.  

But C loves her sister.  And she'll love having photographic evidence of the torture she endured when she was a baby at the hands of her older sister.  Hey, the youngest needs something in her pocket!

More Sibling Um, Love...

I caught this lovely moment with my cell phone a couple of days ago. 

"Mommy, C's not being nice to me!"

Um, maybe because you're LAYING on her.  And pinning her down.

I'm just sayin'

First Fight?

Aside from occasionally wishing that I would pay more attention to her and less to C, Bean has always been a fan of her baby sister. 

But the winds of change are a blowin'

C is only getting better with her rolling techniques and now can aim for something and actually get there.  I'll see her flip to her belly, pop her head up and catch something in her sights and within 30 seconds, she's usually arrived at her intended destination. 

Two days ago, I put C on her blanket in the living room and surrounded her with toys. 

Bean was across the room singing the alphabet song and doing a letter puzzle.

(You can see where this is going, no?)

I was in the kitchen for all of 15 seconds when I suddenly heard Bean squeal,

"Eeeeeaaaah!!!   C!  We do NOT lay on our puzzles!"

There was silence for a second, then,

"C!!  YOU ARE LAYING ON MY PUZZLE!  THAT IS NOT A GOOD IDEA! GET OFF!!!"

I was hiding in the kitchen trying SO hard not to laugh at that point and then,

"MOOOOOOOOOOMMMMY!!  Make her get off my puzzle!  C!  GET OFF GET OFF!"

I had to come around the corner for fear that Bean, normally quite the pacifist, would suddenly become violent. 

When I entered the room, Bean had both hands on C's body, ready to shove her away.

C lay across the puzzle board and somehow managed to cover most of the pieces to boot. 

And she was grinning from ear to ear. 

The more Bean yelled, the bigger C's grin got.   

I swear, she already KNOWS how to push her sister's buttons. 

I think things are about to get interesting around here. 

More Sister Moments

Every once and awhile, Bean asks to hold her baby sister. The event requires cosmic timing as it has to be a moment where Bean asks, where I don't have a million things in my hands so I can be on "catch" duty, and where C is ready to be manhandled. (Because Bean is sweet, though not always thoroughly gentle).

Anyway, the other day provided some magic moments.

And of course, I took pictures. Why wouldn't I?

 

C was remarkably compliant and even cracked a smile...  I think that had a lot more to do with her sister than it did with me. :)

  

  

But by the end?  She'd had enough.  It's ok though... still a lot of love.

 

Sisters

Nothing but love.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

What exactly would you think if you walked in the room and saw this:

And then this?

 

And then, what would you do if you realized that Dad was responsible for it all?

I hope you'd laugh.  Because that's so what I did :) 

Oh The Cuteness...

The four of us were in the car today driving home from a dinner date. Bean wasn't particularly well-behaved and was generally being a weird mixture of contrary and silly. We pulled up to get a movie at the store and Shaun ran in. Disgruntled at not being able to go into the store with Daddy, Bean pouted a little. When Shaun was coming back out, I said,

"Look! There's Daddy!!!"

She peered out the window and said, "NO! I don't want Daddy to come in the car! He's NOT my favorite friend!"

Shaun gets in the car and hears what she said and asks, "But, Bean... if I'm not your favorite friend... who is?"

Without missing a beat, she grins and says, "C-REX!"

Sweet, eh?

If there's one thing I want more than anything for my girls it's that they always are each other's favorite friends. Here's to hoping!

(By the way, Daddy was much appeased with that answer, even if he is temporarily ousted from favorite friend status)