I cannot believe that the twins are three years old already. I look back at the facebook entries from back when I was still pregnant and honestly it doesn’t feel like that long ago.

We’ve had quite a good month. We’ve just come back from a week’s holiday in Cornwall (more of that in a separate post) and we’re getting back into our old routine. The twins have been eating well lately. Maybe Elisa has had a couple of occasions where she’s not been her old ferocious eater, but her appetite is still quite healthy. On the other hand, Eric’s appetite seems to have gone to his old “little and often”.

Bedtimes are being particularly challenging lately. They are not sleeping naps at lunchtime anymore (sometimes at nursery, but only rarely), however bedtime is still tough in the evenings. Even when they should be tired! Elisa especially likes to jump in her cot, and seems to be supercharged with energy. Eric tends to be calmer but we’ve had a couple of evenings when he wasn’t tired and just wanted us to tell stories non-stop until well past 9 o’clock at night.

Development wise, they are doing so well with their speech and their fantasy / imaginative play. They are also playing together more and more, however their rough and tumble play can escalate into a proper fight within two minutes… We tried potty training a bit whilst we were away on holiday and also when we came back. We only tried with Elisa, who seems way more eager than Eric. But what a disaster. In Cornwall she did ok one day, asking to go to the potty several times. But that was it. I think the novelty of the pottete wore off and then she wasn’t bothered any more. We have been advised at nursery to get croc-style shoes so if they get wet with wee, you can just rinse them and continue wearing them, whereas fabric or leather shoes get wet and then you can’t continue wearing them. So, we need to go a get a couple of pairs.

In the health department everything has been ok this past month. Although we had a big scare just two days before going on holiday because Eric apparently got”slapped cheek syndrome”. A boy from their nursery class had Scarlett fever and the following day Eric woke up all red, and we feared the worst. So Jon took him to the doctors that very same morning before nursery, where we were told that it wasn’t Scarlett fever and it wasn’t contagious or even treatable, so it was ok for him to go back to nursery. We just had to keep an eye on his temperature. But as it turns out, by the Sunday morning his cheeks were back to normal, and he never even got a bit of temperature. So we dodged a big one!

Eric also had his last audiology appointment this week. He had some tests done where he had to play a game, reacting to the sounds, and he did ever so well. We have now been discharged as they have no concerns that there are any problems with his hearing (something that we already knew, but it is always good to have the ok from the professionals)

It was their actual birthday on Monday, and Jon and I surprised them in the morning with lots of presents and balloons even before breakfast. They loved coming down to the living room and seeing the balloons and opening the presents. They got: a big set of play doh, a doctor’s case with a stethoscope and many other bits and pieces, two sticker books, a wooden clock and brand new electric toothbrushes. They absolutely loved the doctor’s case and the play doh. Elisa got very excited with her toothbrush and she insists in using it over her traditional one. Eric is not 100% sure yet. We have other presents ready for them to give to them on Saturday at their birthday party.

At three years old:

Elisa’s favourite…

Drink: She loves juices. Fruitshoots, ribena, capri sun, real orange juice. She also likes water and gazpacho, but if she has to choose, she’ll go for a juice.
Food: She still has a great appetite and she eats mostly everything. Her favourite foods are cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, melon, carrots, green beans/edamame, rice, couscous, eggs.
Book: She really likes looking at books, although I am not sure she gets “into” the stories as much as Eric does. Her favourite book is “Ten little fingers, ten little toes”, she loves keeping it in her cot for sleeping.
Toy: She plays with lots of things, although she absolutely loves doing “tea parties” and playing with the kitchen. She’s also very crafty and loves painting and colouring, and she’s got a great eye for drawing!
Song: We don’t really sing nursery rhymes any more, although sometimes they come home singing songs from nursery that I don’t recognise. She likes singing, and she also likes making up her own tunes as well. And she can copy lots of songs from TV shows that we watch! The other day I caught her singing a tune from the Henry Hugglemonster show.
Colour: It varies day by day, although I must admit that to my dismay pink gets chosen quite frequently. At the same time, though, blue/red/purple are also big favourites.
“Thing”: She still loves animals and when we go to the farm or petting zoo she absolutely adores it.
TV show: She watches TV although I’m sure she’s not bothered about what we watch. She likes Peppa Pig and Ben&Holly, but she will watch whatever we put in front of her (or not, many times she just continues playing whilst the TV is on and she doesn’t pay any attention)
Friend: She always says that Eric is her best friend, and it is true that they get along most of the time. But other than her brother, I would say that Marc is her best friend.
Place: She loves being outside, in the garden, outside the front door, at the park, etc.

Elisa is…

She weighs 15.5 kilos and is xx cm high (need to check!). She wears some 2-3 clothes although most of her clothes are now 3 to 4. Shoe size is 7. She wears size 6 nappies and she is ready for potty training! We just need to get on with it!

She is a very happy girl, she loves to giggle and smile and has really come out of her shell in the last couple of months. She is also very active and loves to jump, run and race with her bike.

Eric’s favourite:

Drink: He loves gazpacho and just the other day he asked for some… But he is happy with orange juice most of the time.
Food: Very similar to Elisa, he loves melon, peas, grapes, cucumber, sausages, corn on the cob, rice, tomato soup, apples, beans/edamame
Book: Eric gets really into books, he ends up learning most stories! His favourite ones are the pirate one, hungry caterpillar and the three little pigs.
Toy: He also plays with a great variety of toys but if I had to choose one it would have to be building blocks. He is not as crafty as Elisa although he does enjoy painting and playing with play doh.
Song: He is not into music at all, but the only thing that he “sings” regularly is the “ten little monkeys on a bed” rhyme. Sometimes he joins Elisa in her singing too 🙂
Colour: He always says red but to be honest I haven’t noticed a special predilection towards anything that colour.
“Thing”: Eric’s “thing” is screen time. He loves watching TV shows and films, and he also loves playing with the iPad.
TV: All of them: Peppa Pig, Ben&Holly, Sofia the first, Henry Hugglemonster, Monsters Inc, Minions, etc.
Friend: Elisa 🙂 And he gets on with Marc too.
Place: Same as Elisa, he loves to be outside although he tires more easily than Elisa and tends to ask to go home much sooner than his sister would.

Eric is…

He weighs 16 kilos and is xx cm high (need to check!). He is fully on 3-4 clothes. And anything smaller that he wears looks tiny in him 🙂 Shoe size is also a 7. He wears size 6 nappies like Elisa, and in theory he is also ready to be potty trained, but we’ll see how that goes!

He is also a very happy boy, although he is a bit more pensive than Elisa and tends to “disappear” in his own world when he is playing sometimes or watching TV. He is very giggly and loves rough and tumble play.

We are having a birthday party this weekend with family and friends, so I will post a few more photos then. I also need to write a post about our holiday in Cornwall!