My Towheads are Two

Max Robinson Klein and Ivan Louis Klein are 2 years old! They are both silly and wonderful and funny in their own unique ways, and we laugh daily. So far, I have enjoyed each stage with the twins more than the last. It is a joy to watch them grow, and I am thankful every day that they have each other as companions. Possibly my favorite parenting moment was when they started saying each other’s names. And, in general, the way my boys pronounce pretty much any word brings me pure delight. A sampling:

Go-ree-uh (Gorilla)

Ga-na-na (Banana)

O-see (Horsey)

Mo (Remote)

Daw-ba-dee (Strawberry)

At-a-boy (Attaboy)

Max Bear is tall and strong, and forceful in everything, from throwing balls to throwing himself into your lap to read a book. He loves baseballs, bats, dog bones, nuts, throwing things (especially non-throwing items inside of our home…sorry, windows!), and several books about baseball including Home Run; Play Ball, Kate; and Take Me Out to the Ballgame. He runs with abandon, always looking like he’s about to take a tumble, and he does often take a tumble. He lives life at high speed.

Ivan Bear is mischievous, funny, and snuggly. He likes to look on as we read to Max, but he doesn’t sit still for long–preferring to play on his own and peek in on the book every once in a while. He loves stacking books, hugs before bed, remotes, a book about basketball called Slam Dunk, and a basketball hoop that Joel bought to hang off of our bookshelves. He is a pretty accurate shot with the basketball! And he runs on his tiptoes in a way that melts my heart. Ivan is curious about the world, energetic, and easy going.

They keep us busy and happy. Our life with twins is hectic and full and wonderful and I am finding less and less time for the blog. But, for now, I want to share that my boys are sweet and surprising and energetic and a total handful, and we love them so very much.

Almost Two!!

Well, we’re a month away from having two year olds! What a world! Here are some memories I will cherish from this time:

After a recent nap, Ivan woke up first and I took him quietly from their bedroom, leaving Max sleeping deeply. Van and I played together in the living room for a few minutes and then he ran back in to their room saying “Ma! Ma!” He went up to Max’s crib and pulled on his legs, so excited for him to wake up. It was so sweet and adorable, I almost melted on the spot. In the last few days, he’s started saying “Maksss” instead of “Ma”.

Max also knows Ivan’s name, which he pronounces “EYE-way” which makes no sense and is a beautiful sound.

They love, in no particular order, baseball bats, baseball (Max calls it “bee-ball” and Ivan calls it “BISSS-ball”), basketball, dog bones, chips (pronounced “DIP”), mango fruit, strawberries (“DOH-beh-dee”), cars, and a board book about Halloween.

And Max especially loves one of his baby blankets (“BAH-kett”), which we’ve started bringing to the park and on outings. And Ivan especially loves a single xylophone mallet.

They have broken two window panes on our front door: Ivan hit one with a baseball, and, together, and they stabbed the other window pane with small screwdrivers for electronics that I didn’t realize were in a box they were playing with. So that one is on me. In my defense, I was parenting solo while Joel was in Boston for work.

While Joel was traveling, the boys noticed he was gone and asked for him every day. He skyped with them and it was the first time they recognized him through the phone and interacted that way. Every time I took a call with anyone during the week he was away, they said “da-DEE! DA-dee!!”.

We all have minor colds now, but for the last month we’ve been mostly sickness free and the boys have been extra cheerful. I had help during the week Joel was away, but I was with the twins alone for a full weekend. And, although it was about as tiring as you’d expect, we had the best time together. One morning I took them to the park and after we all wore each other out, I loaded them in the stroller and we walked over to watch a little league baseball game. They were mesmerized for more than 20 minutes and correctly identified the batter, pitcher, ball, and shouted “OUT!” at random, incorrect, intervals. My favorite part was when a supportive parent in the stands yelled “Atta boy!” at a player, and Max and Ivan repeated it, too.

One reason we’ve been feeling cheery, I think, is that both boys have been napping a little longer than usual for the last month. Sometimes up to 2-3 hours and counting, both of them at the same time. It is such a gift!

But naps or no, we are always thankful for our beautiful, destructive, funny, athletic, silly, mischievous little boys.

22 Months

*Note: I wrote this about a month ago and forgot to post it, if that says anything about what life is like with the twins these days.

I keep notes on my phone each month about things I want to remember about Max and Ivan. This last weekend was sweet but also very long. It started on Saturday at 5:30 a.m., with one child waking the other child and both of them a bit cranky (they’ve had minor but very snotty colds). There was also one truly epic meltdown, and a smaller meltdowns over things like me telling the boys that they cannot throw the toothpaste into the toilet. These are the times when my notes come in handy.

So, according to my notes, here are the fun things about the twins at 22 months:

• They have started saying each other’s names. The way Max says Ivan is completely incorrect and it absolutely melts my heart.
• They are still bad at jumping but they love to practice.
• We took them to the beach today and on the drive home they both gleefully said “Basketball!!” back and forth, sometimes yelling it, sometimes laughing it, for oh, about 30 minutes. There was no basketball in sight, they were just excited about the concept of a basketball being somewhere in the world.
• They love playing in our parked cars in the driveway.
• They also love water fountains, their toes, bouncing balls poorly, and reading.
• Max climbs out of his crib several times nightly and it is driving us bananas, but I’m also so proud of him!
• When Ivan is tired, he walks up to his crib and says “night night.”

A Very Little Baseball

Joel made the ambitious decision for us to attend a baseball game, together, as a family, including the twins. We’ve taken Max and Ivan to games before: both the Yankees and the Dodgers, but they were younger and less toddler-y then. Now they are 22 months old, with distinct preferences to never sit still at any time.

Of all the excitements available at Dodger Stadium, they were most excited about the water fountains.

But Max did watch about 3 at bats with me, while Joel and Ivan admired the water fountains by the bathroom.

The stadium has two little playgrounds, one of which is fitted with aluminum and exposed steal features which become red-hot in the full sun and made our boys angry and frustrated. But the other one, although a little over-crowded, provided some entertainment for a little while.

Overall, this was the least baseball we have ever seen at a baseball game. But we got some good pictures, and I don’t regret the attempt.

These boys have been little cold-ridden snot-faces over the last month, but they are still so sweet and darling, between all the moments of frustrated whining.

And, importantly, we got one picture at the ball game in which we all look happy, and isn’t that the whole point?

So Many Beaches

Joel was on a social media platform recently that aggregated his photos from the last months under the generic title “Winter 2019” — and it was all pictures of us at the beach. What a happy winter turned spring this has been.

Santa Monica:

Manhattan Beach:

I feel so lucky to be raising our kids here.

Joshua Tree

On a Tuesday, Joel saw that the weekend forecast was for rain in LA, and for sun in the desert. So, like any adventurous parent, and he definitely is one, he booked us a room at a desert hotel and starting planning our getaway.

Our weekend in the desert included a visitor’s center, a diner, exploring Joshua Tree and marveling over it, encouraging the boys to say “WOWWWW!!” at all the amazing vistas, a bit of a restless night’s sleep in a cute hotel (where Max collected at least 6 remotes which he called “MOE”), admiring all the “RAH” (rocks), some glorious car naps for the boys, and blooming desert wildflowers. It was truly magical, until the last 30 minutes of the car ride home when we resorted to listening to an album of songs sung by Elmo in order to keep the boys happy. But let us not speak of that.

Los Angeles Zoo

We visited the LA zoo, where Max and Ivan deemed most every animal on four legs a “dog-GGIE”. We brought our stroller, but they were much happier when carried them on our backs, which gave them a better view of the excitement. They recognized the monkeys and the giraffes, and called an ostrich a “DUCKIE”.

Max and Ivan weren’t allowed to have their balls near the animal exhibits, because we could easily  imagine them taking aim at the lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Understandably, there were some tears over this zoo family policy.

So the twins’ consensus was that their favorite part of the zoo was an empty area near two trash cans where they could run around uninhibited and throw their balls.

21 Months

At 21 months, the boys are fun, active, and energetic, leaving Joel and I as blobs on the couch staring into the middle distance in total exhaustion every night. It’s worth it.

The biggest recent development is that Max learned how to climb out of his crib, and then Ivan learned, and now nap and bed times are totally up in the air. It’s mostly chaos, but one time at around 10pm, Max quietly climbed out of his crib, opened his bedroom door, and came into our bedroom to let us know that he was a pooper. There was no crying, and it was weirdly very sweet.

And sometimes, especially when they are supposed to be napping, Max will throw his blanket and bears to floor, climb out of his crib, and bring his blankets and bears over to Ivan. Then he climbs into Ivan’s crib and they hang out. Sometimes they read a book together. It is simultaneously infuriating and the sweetest thing in the world. They are so lucky to have each other.

They have so many new words, it’s hard to keep up, and Ivan in particular is a great mimic. He likes to say “Oh boy, oh brother” which makes us laugh. Other words I didn’t think would make their first 100 but have for whatever reason: flamingo (aka “Mingo!”), giraffe (“raaf!”), Grover and Elmo, happy, rock, road, and on and on.

We’ve had an unseasonably cold and rainy past month, and have been looking for indoor activities. Joel bought us family tickets to the Kidspace museum at the Rose Bowl, and it has been so fun to see the boys get used to being around other kids. They started off with skepticism, hiding together in the back of one of play rooms during story time for instance. Now they go in like they own the place, throwing balls to people (or at people, whatever), and saying “buh-BYE!!” to everyone who leaves while they are still playing. Ivan, who started off especially shyly, has become so gregarious.

They refuse to go anyone without at least 3 balls per brother, and they continue to adore scooters and bikes. Max still loves reading with us, and Ivan still loves reading by himself. They know that lions roar and cows say moo. They bring us joy.

20 Months

20 months is a fun age. Have I said that every month? Well, some months I probably didn’t mean it and this month I do.

After a mild cold that outstayed its welcome, making Ivan for one a little cranky and upset some mornings, we are back to both boys being in good cheerful tempers for much of the time. Ivan wakes up in the morning laughing maniacally these days.

They both love the following: scooters (pronounced “coo-er”), toy pianos (“nano”), Elmo and Grover (we have some Sesame Street books), bikes, balls, shoes, and backpacks. Max loves to read, or, I should say, loves to be read to. Ivan likes to read on his own and do his own thing. Max likes company.

We’re getting to a stage where they are very interested in what we do around the house. I set up a stool so that they can take turns “helping” me with dishes. And they love to play with the swiffer, broom, and vacuum. They “help” Joel with the gardening, too.

Generally, they still do well in the car. Although Max’s obsession with balls means that we give him one in his carseat, he immediately throws it, and then calls for the ball the rest of the way home. Once he did this all the way back from Malibu — about 45 minutes of “Ball! Ball! Ball!”

They fight over their favorite toys: especially backpacks, balls, scooters, and bikes. Max is a little better on the concept of sharing than Ivan, but neither should really win any sharing awards.

Max is mostly happy and easy going, sometimes prone to strong meltdowns, for example, when we take away a backpack or a scooter. Ivan has smaller little cranky moments throughout the day, but they are fleeting and mostly solvable.

But they are both usually so smiley, so good natured, easy to make laugh. They talk all day long in their babbly, beautiful language. They throw their food, but smile while doing it. Ivan runs on his tiptoes in the cutest way. Max snuggles up to read books and lets me shower him with kisses and snugs. Ivan likes to be held while I do things like make coffee or put my makeup on.

They are a lot of fun, those two.

Low Tide

I take great pleasure, on rainy California days such as this one, in posting pictures of recent sunshiny beach outings. Last month we visited the beach at Little Corona del Mar for one of the lowest tides of the year. Max and Ivan tolerated being back in the baby carriers as Joel and I explored the rocky tide pools, but mostly they loved dashing around freely on the sandy parts of the shore.