Twins are TWO!

2 years old!

I just want to gush and cry and brag and sob…

These two. My best little friends. My favorite tiny people.

At 2 they are wild, crazy, smart, amazing, daring, snuggly stinkers!

They are the very best frenemies. Their relationship has been beyond fun to watch. They hate to be apart. When we are out playing, they will do their own thing but they want to know where the other is at all times. If they lose sight of each other, one will come up ask me, “Bubby!?” or “Nana!?” and I’ll point out where the other twin is and they will go find them, reconnect and continue on playing.

Oliver loves to chase Savannah while “ROOARRING” and doing monster fingers. She runs and screams and he wraps his arms around her and tackles her to the ground. Then they wrestle; she eventually gets up and they repeat. The best is when they do it in public – people just watch and smile and wish they had twins, too.

They still sleep in separate cribs, next to each other. However, if they are having a hard time going to sleep we will put them together and then they will snuggle and go to sleep talking and laughing. We have a sound machine that also has a projector on it, and they are obsessed with the fish projector. When it is time for naps or bed they start to ask for the fish. It’s really helped with naps and bedtime!

They just sit and talk to each other. It’s so cute! I have no idea what they are saying – but they do.

They are both OBSESSED with ghosts. WE have a Halloween book with a ghost in it, and they like to read it but they’ve never really cared much about the ghost in specific. But we went to At Home and they had an isle full of Halloween decorations and they saw some ghosts and it’s been 2 weeks and still all day they ask for ghosts. Hotel Transylvania has been a favorite show so I think those things combined to create this complete obsession with ghosts. We look them up on my phone, which they love. And read the book. And we recently found out there are ghosts in Scooby Doo which has become a favorite.

They love baths! The love bubbles!

They LOVE to sing!! Their current favorite is “London Bridge is Falling Down”. They will ask for the “Ashes Ashes” song. They don’t even care if I play with them – they will just spin in circles as I sing. Or hold each others’ hand and spin.

Their other very favorites are Popcorn Popping, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and the ABC’s.

They LOVE going on walks in the stroller! If I say, “get in the stroller”, they run right to it and climb in.

They love to unlock the front door, and we have to take turns - which does not go over well.

They are obsessed with fish and animals – specifically farm animals. We have to see all the horses in the neighborhood on our walks. They know where they are and if I start to walk the wrong way they will scream “Neigh!” until I turn around and go see the horse. They know all the animals’ names, but still call most of them by their sound, not their name. They looove fish.

Swimming this summer has been a total blast. They love it. We bought them puddle jumpers and they have done SO GOOD! They can turn from back to front, and kick and swim around the pool. I’d never leave them in the pool alone – but they are so good at swimming they really could just swim around on their own without help. It’s so cool to see! Oliver will just jump on the diving board and jump right in! The smile on his face when he emerges from the water is absolutely priceless! Savannah jumped in the first time, but since has been more nervous and sits on her bum and we pull her in. They love to throw pinecones in the pool and have mom and dad throw them back out.

I’ve definitely done my job teaching them the word share! They will now call Trevor and I out if they want something we have, saying “Share! Share!”

They love to pray. If we forget – they remember. As soon as we sit down they put down their food and fold their arms. It’s so cute.

They love when we growl and chase them around the house.  We are constantly chasing them around and wrestling. They love it! We also will scare them all the time. Wait for them around the corner, or hide behind the island. They love it and laugh hysterically! I’m going to seriously regret this family thing when they’re older though and scaring me.

Love to dance and music

One of my favorite things is our nighttime routine. We brush our teeth while singing (to the tune of row, row, row your boat), “brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush your teeth with me!!! Brush them high, brush them low, brush your teeth me! Brush, brush, brush your teeth, brush your teeth with me!!! Brush them fast, brush them slow, brush your teeth me!” And we do high and low voices, fast and slow voices.

Then we go to the bedroom and we sing a song that we made up, I’m not even sure when or how and I think Trevor made most of it up.

“This is when we go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep, this is when we go to sleep and close our eyes.

“This is when we close our eyes, close our eyes, close our eyes, this is when we close our eyes and go to sleep.”

“This is when we dream our dreams, dream our dreams, dream our dreams, this is when we dream our dreams in the Schauerhamer home!!”

When we get to the last part, we start dancing and singing loudly and the twins love it! They will scream and sing and dance along with us.  I’m really not sure how that started but I love this tradition. We do it together as a family every night. Trevor holds one baby and I hold the other. Then we pray as a family and put them in their beds to look at the fish.

I’m going to combine their list of words, since they say almost the same list. There are a couple Savannah says that Oliver does not. While Oliver can say all these words, he chooses not to most of the time, unless he’s under duress. Conversely Savannah speaks quite a bit. They both still sign a lot, while saying the word, or will just sign. Oliver especially will still sign rather than speak. They are starting more and more to put words together.

1. Duck
2. Quack
3. Neigh
4. Woof
5. Meow
6. Moo
7. Baa
8. Bird
9. Doggy
10. Fish
11. Bug
12. Gross
13. Airplane
14. Holy Smokes (Savannah thought this meant plane for a while)
15. Uh-oh
16. Mommy
17. Daddy
18. Bubby
19. Nana
20. Teta
21. Bob
22. Lacey
23. Baby
24. Show
25. Cereal
26. Fork
27. Eat
28. Snack
29. Drink
30. Milk
31. Juice
32. Apple
33. Nana (banana)
34. Cheese
35. Egg
36. Toast
37. Popcorn
38. Cute
39. Play
40. Out
41. Outside
42. Me
43. Mine
44. Hi
45. Hello
46. Bye
47. No
48. No way!
49. Yes
50. Thank you
51. Please
52. Sleep
53. More
54. Poop
55. Pee
56. Toot
57. Burp
58. Blankie
59. Ghost
60. Shoes
61. Where are you?
62. What is it?
63. Ball
64. Car
65. Chair
66. Go
67. Bath
68. Rawr
69. Giraffe
70. Book
71. Broke
72. Hair
73. Eyes
74. Nose
75. Mouth
76. Tongue
77. Ears
78. Hand
79. Up
80. Share
81. Help
82. Pray
83. Amen
84. Ashes, Ashes
85. Yeah!
86. Hot
87. Cold

Savannah

Nicknames: Nana, Savannah banana, Boo Boo, Stinky Cheese

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This little darling loves to talk and jabber. She says so many words and says a new word each day it seems like.

She is our feisty, stubborn, independent little stinker! If she doesn’t want help she would rather starve, fall on her face, get hurt than accept any bit of help. When she makes up her mind about something, she is set in stone. She is wild! She is our troublemaker, our instigator. She is usually the one that starts the fights, steals the toy, or comes up with a naughty plan. She doesn’t sit still very long and still has very little interest in watching a show. She has no fear at the park and can climb anything she puts her mind to – with no help. If you try to help she screams. She wants to do it all by herself.

She has to buckle herself in her car seat. She is constantly finding new things she no longer wants me to do for her, but she wants to do herself.

She is utterly defiant when she gets in trouble. She shows no sign of remorse over her wrongs (most the time). A typical timeout goes as follows: She throws food at the dinner table. I say, “Savannah, no throwing food. If you throw food again you will go to time out.” She looks at me and throws food. I say “Uh oh, so sad!” (which is what we say whenever they are naughty and going to time out) and she shovels as much food in her mouth as she can fit, then holds up her arms for me to take her. I put her in the timeout pack n play and she says “bye” and waves to me as I walk out.

She takes her diaper off every chance she gets. We have to watch her closely and always have clothes on her or she will take her diaper off. The worst is when she’s in a dress and I put her down for a nap and she takes her diaper off and pees in her sheets. I have to change her sheets all the time these days. She took a poopy diaper off on Trevor’s watch one day, but luckily didn’t smear poo! I’ve also found her diaper in Oliver’s crib? Gross. She has been showing signs to potty train since 20 months. She takes her diaper off, tells me when she poops and wants her diaper changed immediately. She also loves to point out when anyone is peeing. Aaand she’s the toot police! She will call anyone out who toots, even if it is in public and embarrassing.

She has figured out how to climb out of the pack n play, and out of Oliver’s crib. His is higher. She still hasn’t figured out how to climb out of hers, since it’s lower. She knows how to open all door handles.

She loves when I do her hair. Not because she likes her hair done, but because she loves to sit on the counter and try to use our toothbrushes, brush her own hair (aka pull out the elastics I put in by brushing it) and just generally make a mess for me.  She’s so observant and wants to do what mommy does. She has to put on deodorant before we leave the house. She hasn’t quite figured out that she gets the cap on and I get it off.

When she makes a mess or spills she will go get a cloth and wipe it up. She LOVES to wash her hands.

She takes her shoes off EVERY SINGLE TIME we are in the car. Even if it is for 5 minutes. Drives us CRAZY! We keep her shoes in the car, not the house, since we only put shoes on her when we are at our destination and she’s taken them off before we get home.

Her favorite movie is Ice Age 2. She doesn’t sit still for it that long, but longer than she does any other movie. And she will laugh at the squirrel. It is the strangest thing though – at the end the squirrel goes to the Pearly Gates, and he’s surrounded by clouds and nuts. Then he sees this giant nut. At this part in the movie she starts crying hysterically EVERY SINGLE TIME. Like, loses it. It happens every time, without fail.

Her new favorite word is “help”. She wants to help me do everything… the other day she had to help me take my pants off to go to the bathroom, get the toilet paper, flush the toilet and help wash both our hands.

She’s amazing with a spoon and fork. Currently they are both in a love affair with cereal. She likes to dress herself – usually after she already has clothes on. It isn’t unusual for her to have another shirt around her waist like a belt, or around her neck. We have to make sure not to leave any dirty clothes on the floor, or she will insist on wearing them over her clothes.

She loves to read and look at the pictures. She also destroys them. We still call her “the great destroyer”. She tears the books apart. She has destroyed so many of our board books. She tears apart our lego creations.

She runs like a drunk kid with a heavy backpack. It cracks us up. She wobbles and looks like she’s going to biff it with every step, but surprisingly she A- runs super fast and B – doesn’t fall that often.

She is such a snuggly sweetie. She loves hugs and snuggles (on her terms. She won’t hug or snuggle if it isn’t her idea or on her agenda) but is stingy with her kisses. She loves to hold her Bubby’s hand and will give him hugs and kisses when she hurts him.

Nothing drives her crazier than when Bubby whines. When he has a hard day and he is very whiny, she starts to lose patience with him and then she starts to hit him.

She’s just busy. She’s always getting into something, doing something. She rarely sits still.

This girl gives us a run for our money. She is the one I usually post pictures of, because she’s done something wild or crazy or weird. She makes us laugh constantly. She gets hurt often because she again, has done something wild or crazy. 2 of our most memorable moments with her this year has been her falling off the ladder and having a concussion, and locking herself in the bathroom and I had to call the police to get her out.

She’s OBSESSED with her blankie. She has one special blankie, the one Sister Connor sent, and it is the only one she will use. All others are inferior. She has to take it everywhere. There is no way she could survive 2 minutes in the car without it. She drags it all over the place and cannot eat without it. So it’s constantly dirty and has food stuck on it. So gross! But if I wash it she loses it. And won’t sleep without it. So whenever I wash it she just cries and cries. Oliver has to have one, too. And has to eat with it as well. But he doesn’t care which blanket, thank goodness.

When I asked Dad what words he would use to describe her he said: Independent, sassy, sweet, warrior princess, quirky.

Oliver

Nicknames: Bubby, Ollie, Ollie bollie, Handsome, Cheeser

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This guy is pure love! He is so sweet and snuggly. He is sensitive and easy going (unless he is having a hard day and then he whines all the live long day!).

He has his independent moments, but overall is happy with mommy and daddy helping still. Unless it’s eating yogurt and then he wants to do it all himself. He loves to “ROOAAARR!!” and chase and tackle his sister.

He gives the best cheesy faces! They kill us! He doesn’t do them super often, but has been doing them more often lately. And as soon as we try to take a picture he stops.

He is SO STINKING SMART. Have I said that yet? This kid is seriously too smart for his own good. Or our good. He just sits and thinks about things and tries to figure them out. You can tell he will be amazing with his hands. Putting things together, figuring out how things work, and he’s amazing with technology. He’s been able to expertly navigate our phones since he was barely a year old. We try and hide YouTube from him, but he always finds it without a problem. He didn’t skip a beat when we switched from iPhones to Androids. We stayed at the condo in Provo with my parents for a couple days last week. We don’t have cable at home, so he’s never watched TV – just YouTube or Netflix. I turned on the Disney channel and went upstairs to get ready. When I came back, he was siting on the couch watching YouTube on the TV. He had found my phone, opened it, found YouTube and picked a show and then he had figured out how to ChromeCast it to the TV!!! This kid!!! He is constantly amazing us at what he can do on our phones.

We have a little LeapFrog laptop, but I don’t let them use it often since they savagely fight over it. That is one of the toys that just has to be 1:1, because sharing is out of the question. He got it down one day though, and they hadn’t really fought so I didn’t hide it again. He didn’t play on it often and I didn’t do any 1:1 with him on it. Then one Saturday morning while Trevor was with Savannah I played on it with him, and the little smarty knew 3 of his letters! I was so impressed. We’ve been working since then and he knows more now.

This boy LOVES TO READ. He is obsessed with his books. He will also read independently, and talk about all the pictures. He has to have a book in his bed. He will read till he falls asleep, and when he wakes up he will sit and read in the dark until Savannah wakes up or we come get him. Savannah now has to have a book in bed, too. He has to have a book in the car as well. They will both read while we drive. I have to make sure wherever we go I have books for them and their blankies.

Oliver loves blankies. He has to have one most of the time. I think though he gets it from Savannah – if she wasn’t totally obsessed I’m not sure he would care. But since she has to have one, he does too. They have to do what the other one does. Luckily he doesn’t really care which blanket it is. He is so easy going about things like that. Savannah is so set on certain things and he is really usually easygoing about letting her have her specific thing which we are so grateful for!

Occasionally though, he will finally snap after all Savannah’s abuse and he will fight back. It takes a lot and a while but he does put up a fight sometimes.

He loves shows. He is constantly asking to watch a show, and will have a major meltdown when I turn the show off, so we really limit TV time. But he will sit and watch his shows mostly without moving or getting up. His favorites are: Super Why, Hotel Transylvania 2, Minions 2, Ice Age 2 (We only have Netflix so their favorites are limited to what is currently being shown on Netflix). These are Savannah’s favorites too. Their new favorite is the people version of Scooby Doo. They LOVE ghosts (more on that later) and dogs so Oliver asks for the ghosts (which means Hotel Transylvania or Scooby Doo) and Savannah asks for the woof, which is Scooby Doo.

He is usually willing to give hugs, kisses and snuggles. He loves his Grammy (Trevor’s grandma)! He will run to her and hug her leg – the only person he does that to.

He is so sweet and will just sit on our laps and watch a show, read, sing…

He will get so excited over things and just squeal/scream! It is too funny. And he is a runner. This boy runs from me all the time. He hates diaper changes and getting dressed so when he knows that is what is coming – he takes off. And he’s smart and has figured out if he runs on the other side of the island or the end of the table I can’t get him. When I dart one way, he goes the other. And he’s fast! So it takes a minute to catch him. He’ll escape in a restaurant or a grocery store and just run his legs off while laughing.

He hates drying off after a bath. He hates putting his diaper back on and he cries and has to be snuggled tight for a while to calm him down.

When he is in a silly mood, he is just full of so many expressions and energy and joy. He brings so much happiness to our home! And he is such a good match for Savannah. They are polar opposites but total best friends.

Daddy describes him as: Loves his shows, loves to read, sensitive, compassionate little man, super intelligent, cheery goofball