App-O!

Far from his only word but his favorite by a long shot, we hear App-O, App-O 100 times a day from Benj. He wakes up saying it, he goes to sleep saying it, he says it over and over. I'm not sure if he's actually obsessed with Apples or if App-O pretty much stands in for any and all food items. We're also hearing Out, Up, and Mine a tremendous amount. The trifecta of 2 year old vocab? Ah, but we don't hear "No" very often just yet, so I know we haven't hit 24 months. ;)

Not to be outdone, Claire has also started chattering although her personality is much more reserved so we don't hear her little voice nearly as often. While Ben is outspoken and blabbers constantly, Claire only come out with it every once in awhile but when she does I realize she's just as able to speak as he is. Just the other day she melted my heart with a very clear "Bean-a" aimed at her brother. He hasn't said "Claire" yet, but I have heard him say "Hannah" and "Gabe".

My twins will soon be two and the baby days are leaving us quite quickly. Walking, talking, running, throwing--all the major physical milestones have been met and now we're just on to.....potty learning!!!! EEP! I've let Claire go naked a couple of times when it's been above freezing here lately but it doesn't seem that she has much interest. Which is fine by me. I've had three early learners and I'm not keen on the accidents. Gabe waited until he was 3 and then was done in 2 weeks. We never had one accident in his pants!

I haven't decided what we're going to do for a party this year. Most likely something small here at home. I may even cheat and do just one cake again. Last year we had a pool party in Dallas at my friend Shannon's house. We are moving back to the area in June so we'll probably just have a little shindig with our friends and call it a "belated birthday" party for the twins. ;)

Speaking of Dallas, I'm super excited to be moving back. There are some very special women here in Wichita that I'm going to miss VERY much, but Dallas feels like my home. Hard to believe I've been gone a whole year. I love Texas. The weather, the people, the metroplex, the birth community. I'm grateful that I'll be able to practice midwifery there some day and not worry about the legal ramifications like I would have to do here.

I'm also considering opening a natural light studio with a very good friend of mine when we get back. She and I mesh well both personally and professionally and it would be nice to share the financial risks of a small business with another person (who has GREAT business sense!) And the thought of working in studio as well as on location is AWESOME!