Two twos - a study in contrasts

When Micah turned two on May 23, I found myself with two two-year-olds. Some people think that things must be even crazier now, but in actuality, things are getting a little easier. True, there are many days that I turn the corner and see scenes like this:

We also have our share of hair-raising experiences:

As well as moments (many, many moments) of comic relief:

One day I had just the WT 2-2s and I noted that they are very different people. In particular, I noted differences in the following areas:

Eating: Micah is a very neat eater. At dinner he was holding his ear of corn gingerly, turning it over and over to figure out where to take a bite. He'd ask, "Eat this? Here?" Meanwhile I look at Kara who has decided to make ketchup handprints, complete with a "Hah!"

Songs: Kara insists on having "Mr. Sun" sung ad naseum when it's time to go to bed. You know, it's the song that asks "Mr. Sun" to "please come out so we can play with you." Micah's favorite song is "Little Bunny Foo Foo." It's the song that talks about LBFF having a bad attitude and bopping things on the head until he gets turned into a goon by the good fairy. Oh yes, it's "POW! She turned him into a goon."

Favorite food: Micah is a confirmed carnivore. He cannot get enough "shoo-shaw" (known to the common man as "sausage."). Kara has never met a fruit or vegetable she hasn't liked.

Entertainment: Micah really enjoys videos. He watches them with much interest and makes comments while he's watching so you know he understands what is going on. Right now he is really into "Bob the Builder." Kara is interested in the theme music. Actually the thing that she enjoys watching the most is packed with action, high drama, and a satisfying resolution. She loves to watch microwave popcorn pop.

Reading: Micah is obsessed with "Cowardly Clyde." It's a long book that we take turns reading so as not to wear out our vocal chords. Micah has much of it memorized and will quote from it (his newest quote is, "Ogre turn to be horrified."). Kara likes her books short and simple. It's a winner if it has a beat to it. Her favorite is "Hand hand fingers thumb." It is a literary masterpiece that contains lines such as, "Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum." The last time I read "Cowardly Clyde" Micah was sitting to my left, soaking up every word. Kara was on my left. A few pages in and Kara flipped herself backward and started to snore.

Favorite activity: Micah likes to swing anything that resembles a sword and shout "En garde!" He also pretends to get hit and does an impressive Shakespearean death scence (complete with sound effects, "Uhhhhh!). Kara likes to try on shoes. Anyone's shoes.

Physique: Kara is delicate, somewhat wirey. Micah is a chunky monkey.

These two twos are definitely two of a kind!

Sous chefs

We do a lot of cooking and baking in this household. The picture above is our fantastic five in the space where our new oven would go.

Here the oldest three are showing off the Red Velvet cake they made from scratch (someone snuck into the picture). They're on their way to becoming accomplished bakers. Then there are the budding sous chefs...

They are honing their skills in the following areas:

Testing the freshness of ingredients - cinnamon, pepper, cumin, chili powder, and lemonade powder. Here are the twins reacting to the lemonade powder.

Here the WTs are learning about portion control. Hopefully they realized that dumping a whole box of Kix cereal on the floor is not an example of an appropriate serving size.

Micah likes to test the ripeness of oranges by shouting "Boing!" and bouncing the oranges on the ground.

The WTs both know about viscosity. If you are not quick enough when washing their hands, they'll lick the handsoap and exclaim, "Honey!"

Even though James and I do not drink wine, apparently the WTs are practicing wine tasting. They enjoy swishing and spitting out their water, only they like to redrink it.

Micah understands the need to taste test your food. Thankfully when he decided to take one of my teaspoons and drink a spoonful of toilet water, no one had "created" anything in the bowl!

Who knows? One day they may become celebrity chefs. They sure look the part!