M and L's birthday buddy Maya came over to play last week while her mom took her brothers to the doctor.  We "ate" cupcakes, tortured the dog, and watched  a little Dora.  They repeatedly asked for Dora, so I finally turned her on.  Wow!  These two year olds went wild!  It was like a group of teenage girls at a Justin Bieber concert!  They all danced and ran around and sang the theme song.  It was really cool to watch the three of them together.  The girls are getting to the age where they want to actually play with someone instead of play next to them.  All three like baby dolls, so that is what they played with the majority of the afternoon.

Last Saturday we had a family and friends get together for Maddie and Lena's birthday.  We invited a few of our neighbors and their kids over, and all of the grandparents were here.  We had lunch and Dora and Boots cupcakes.  The girls opened more presents (they are starting to think we have a present opening session once a week).  Besides me spilling an open container of pizza sauce all over the kitchen, everything was perfect.  We had great company, a sunny day, and two very happy two year olds.

Two year stats:

Madeline- 36 1/2 inches (95%), 33 pounds (95%)

Lena- 36 1/2 inches (95%), 33 pounds (95%)

Pretty amazing, huh?  I can't believe they are exactly the same.  The doctors just laugh at the fact that they were preemies.  So do my arms when I try to carry them.  One of the girls said, "Hola!" to the doctor when she came in the room.  Dora strikes again.  To put it mildly, the girls were very active while we were in the room.  There is  a little ladder that the kids climb to get up on the table, and there is a mirror lining the wall behind it.  I wouldn't be surprised if the ladder was completely worn out after our visit, and they needed to replace it.  M and L climbed up and down that thing so many times.  Fortunately, my mom went along to help...thank God.  As soon as the doctor asked if they were stringing words together, one of the them yelled, "My turn!"  Awesome.  At least she knows they are on the right track.  She did say these are two of the most polite two year olds that she has ever met.  I think they were showing off by saying please and thank you, since they were receiving so much praise for it.  M and L both did really well with their exam and shots.  The tears stopped as soon as I offered ice cream.  The Dora stickers helped, too.

There is this really cool place about ten minutes from our house called Inniswood Gardens.  I can't believe I didn't realize it is right down the road.  My friend Katy and I took our kids there a couple weeks ago.  She had just discovered it the week before.  The girls love tromping around the grounds.  The are free to go pretty much anywhere and climb on anything.  There are tons of flowers, lots of water, and cool things to play on.  It is certainly not your typical kid's park...no playground.  But who cares when there is so much other fun stuff??  M and L particularly like the wind powered water feature, the swinging bridge, and the tree house carved out of an old tree stump.  This would be an amazing place to take pictures of the kids if I really knew how to use our camera.  I think it is about time I study up.  My mom, Steph, and I took them on one of the hottest days this summer!  That is probably why Maddie ended up laying in one of the water tubs.

Grandma and Grandpa Smart and Aunt Stephanie came into town last Thursday.  Maddie has been obsessed with everyone wearing their shoes lately.  It has caught on with Lena, too.  One of the girls was always wearing Grandpa's flip flops.  Perfect fit, don't you think?  On my mom's last trip to see us, she picked up M and L's bday presents.  Thursday night they gave the bikes to the girls.  They did surprisingly well, considering they have never been on something with pedals.  Thanks to my friend Kim for the super cool Dora helmets (which the girls have been wearing around for over a week).  Maddie was a little confused about where on her bike to sit.  She tried the bucket, but decided overall the seat was a better choice.