Dear Shenzie and Heaten,
You know how every single month I say it was the best month ever. Well, I’m sorry to say that this month I will not be typing those words to you. This month was VERY challenging. Between the teething, ear infection, colds, hitting, biting, scratching, crying, whining, and general crazy I am glad that it is over. Ok, enough of the bad, onto the good. You are both so sweet and perfect. It is such a wonderful blessing to have you both, you make my life so much better, happier, and of course crazier. You have really started interacting with each other more. A lot of the interaction is hitting, pushing, scratching, or biting, but when you’re playing nicely together it melts my heart. You chase each other around..it almost seems like you’re playing hide and seek. You laugh at each other and play really well together when I’m not in the room.

You both LOVE to be outside. The minute you see me put on my shoes or I put on your shoes you go racing to the garage door. Shenzie, for some reason you think the sign for outside is the sign for dog so you constantly make the dog sign while standing at the door. You also do the dog sign when you look out the window to outside. It is too cute and funny. Since we don’t yet have our backyard finished the garage is your play area (sorry kids, we’re working on it)…but you don’t seem to mind.

It is so amazing to watch you both and see how very different you already are. You are these two little individual people who just happen to be twins, but you couldn’t be more different. I love watching you learn new things and see the world with you. The days are long sometimes, especially lately, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. You are both growing up so fast it makes me head spin. I love you little Clammies, more and more every single day.

Dear Shenzie,
You are still shy and timid around strangers, but you are getting better as far as new things. The first few times we went to the park you were too scared to leave the wagon, now you walk around like you own it. You never leave the driveway and get scared when cars go by. Silly me took you for a walk to the mailbox the other day and now you go racing down the driveway onto the sidewalk and just keep going with me chasing behind. I’m glad to see you’re getting more confident in the world.

I say this every month and I’m sure I’ll say it for a long time to come, but you are SO smart. It is almost like I can see your little mind working when you learn something new or figure something out. You chatter constantly and have added a few words to your vocabulary. You know: ball, bear, bye bye, brother, mama, dada, bonk, cracker, moo, quack, eye, and I swear you are saying your one two threes. I will call out each number and you will always respond right after me with different sounding “words”. We are working on body parts, you know eye, head, and nose.

Your new favorite thing is spinning in circles until you get dizzy and fall down. It is hilarious. Heaten saw you doing it one day and copied you, but I don’t think he liked the falling down as much. You are definitely my thrill seeker. You crawled up onto the day bed the other day and went diving head off onto the floor, luckily I was there to catch you. You laughed and then did it again. You also love music and love to dance. You “play” the drums, piano, and keyboard.

You are still into wearing hats all the time which amuses me to no end, except when it is 75 degrees out and you insist on wearing your duck beanie everywhere. People probably think I am crazy putting you in a winter hat in such hot weather, but you cry if I try to take it off or switch it to a summer hat. You know what you want and you don’t let anything stop you from getting it. While that trait is going to cause me a lot of headaches right now I will be glad you have it in the future.

You are a very spirited little girl and you end up in time out on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. The worst is when you bite Heaten, but the scratching, pinching, and hitting aren’t good either. You know what you are doing because you will look right at me before pulling his hair or scratching his face. I’m sure you do it for the reaction so I’ve tried to give you no reaction and just soothe your poor brother. I can see you and I are going to have many, many battles ahead of us. Trust me, I’m bigger and I will win.

Little girl, I love you to bits. You are such a ray of sunshine, a dose of happy, and perfect in every way. I am so lucky to be your mama.
I love you.
Love,
Mama
Dear Heaten,
My sweet, sensitive, loving soul. You have such a sweet and gentle soul. Sometimes I just look at a photo of you and want to pick you up and squish you tight. You are so wonderful and happy and perfect. Your laugh is infectious and your smile is contagious. I am sorry that your sister beats up on you so much. Lately you are fighting back. You will hit Shenzie in her head or push her face so she falls over. It all makes up for it though when you laugh at her silly antics and try to copy what she is doing.

You are definitely a papa’s boy. The minute you see him you raise your arms for up and are content to sit on his lap for hours. You cry when he puts you down and has to leave for work. It is so sweet that you love him so much.

You are a boys boy. You love the outdoors, you love to throw rocks, you love to destroy things. You laugh and laugh and laugh when you drop something or throw something. You laugh and laugh and laugh when I chase you through the house and tickle you.

You like to “read”. You’ll sit with a book for the longest time flipping the pages and looking at the pictures. You still do not like getting dressed, getting your diaper changed, or getting undressed. You do not like to keep your shoes on and if you are wearing only a diaper you try to take it off. If it weren’t for the pee puddles on the floor I wouldn’t mind, but alas you must wear your diaper.

You love other babies and children and when we go out and you see them you “talk” to them or point at them and laugh. You are not shy around strangers and are not scared to do new things, but you are very careful in how you do things. You are not the daredevil your sister is, and trust me when I say that is a good thing.
I love to watch you “run” away from me when I’m chasing you. You still haven’t mastered the whole leg bend walk thing so you do this sort of frankenstein-hobble-wobble run that is so cute. I am sorry to say that your Daddy wants to cut your hair. I am trying to talk him out of it…even though it gets a little messy I still love it. I can’t imagine you without your rockstar hair. Silly Dada.

Little man, I love you so much. You make my heart so happy. You are my perfect son and I can’t wait to see whats next.
I love you.
Love,
Mama

March 8th, 2008 at 10:11 am
They jre beautiful. Leah and Jeff were very similar to Shenzie and Heaten as babies,
though Leah was the careful one. Barr babies Daddy was very much the cuddler, and
the gentler soul. Leah loved her hats, and we still talk about her “pottie hat”….
each time she used the potty chair, she stripped, then ran for her hat….then did her
thing. Jeff was as bo okish as Heaten, and as you know, some things never change.
Leah was about a year older than Shenzie when she became a fashion guru….nothing that
I suggested “looked nice”. After the age of three, Leah chose all her own clothes!
Love you all, and miss you.
Grandma from Saskatchewan, and Grandma Linda
March 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I was wondering if mom was going to comment on the similarities of our relationship to Shenzie and Heaten, I definately see it when I see picures and hear stories!! However, I was always the cutest…Just my opinion… I love Shenzie’s facial expressions and Heaten’s soft eyes. Thanks for all the great pictures. Love,
Leah
March 9th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Wow… they are growing so quickly. I hope they continue to be friends more than foes. They are so cute!
March 10th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Holy Cow..I cannot believe S&H are 17 months old! Such different but equally
precious personalities. I vote a big NO to cutting H’s hair.
BTW-yesterday did you see when Dave was holding S and Dad came up and tried to take
her from Dave..she WOULD NOT go to Dad and I could tell it was upsetting him..haha!
She just kept shaking her head and leaning into Dave.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
M&J are starting to grab each other and push. Is this what I’m in for??
I was just saying today that Madison walks like frankenstein! Too funny! And it just dawned on me today that I’ll have to cut Jackson’s hair one day. That kind of freaked me out a bit. I love Heaten’s hair is adorable. Maybe you could just trim it so it stays in the same style/shape?
It’s amazing to think that S&H are only 5 months older than M&J. I feel like they’re so much older!