Mila and Siena turn 2!

Mila and Siena have been celebrating turning 2 for over a week, but yesterday was the big day.  It feels like a milestone for me.  But I feel like their 3rd birthday will be a better milestone.  To sum things up: they are exhausting!  Individually, they're great.  Even easy and sweet.  But together it's a lot of crying, hair pulling, climbing on me, vying for my attention, etc.  Two toddlers is a rough business.  However... this post is about celebrating them, so I'll focus on them as individuals instead of the collective chaos of little kids.

Just for a fun comparison, here's the post from Tiago's 2nd birthday.

The girls aren't the most amazing talkers in the world, but they're ahead of where Tiago was.  Their best phrase is probably "Mickey Mouse."  They're obsessed.  Siena started yelling that during the sacrament today at church, which was a little embarrassing.  (Lucky them, they were gifted these cute Mickey outfits from Courtney, plus dolls from my mom, who was at Disneyland last week.)  They also say, "Airplane Papa" (because they hear me telling Tiago that Hyrum went to Poland in an airplane.)  Siena pronounces it more like "ho-pay".  They can count to 5 in Spanish, and know the names of most of their extended family.  When Courtney and Peter left the other day, they waved in the driveway for 5 minutes saying, "Bye bye Peter!"  They're quite dramatic with their goodbyes.  I can't think of other words they say a lot.  Generally, they are talking constantly even though we don't understand most of whats said.  But the fact that they can say "Nemo" and "Dory" makes me think we don't have a speech delay on our hands.  That makes me think of another funny word they say.  "Poppins."  It can refer to the movie Mary Poppins, but its also what they call an umbrella. ha

(Mila is in the red skirt, although that's usually the one Siena wears.)

Last weekend we threw them a little party and invited Hyrum's family over.  It was low key but fun for them to play with cousins and get a little attention.  They weren't sure what to do about the candles, and when it came to opening presents Tiago was always willing to step in and do it for them.  What a good big brother... who really wished they were his presents.  

Siena on left with white bow, Mila on right with pink bow.

During the party, Hyrum's dad called Hyrum on Skype.  He was showing the screen to each kid, and Siena managed this face while "giving Papa a kiss."

The most distinctive feature the girls have is their wild hair.  It it several inches past their shoulders, but curls up to about chin-level.  They hate when I touch it, and it becomes completely tangled after a single nap, so I don't get to do cute things with it as often as I'd like.  (They've each had french braids once... it was adorable.)  I usually wash it once a week then brush through it.  They scream the entire time.  

(I *think* that's Mila on the right)

I came across this picture of Siena.  Her face is so expressive these days, often to communicate concern, disgust, or disapproval.  When someone else has what she wants, she lets you know immediately.  She laughs really loudly, and is usually content with herself.  She's fairly independent, likes to do things her way, but is my child most likely to come up and give me a 5-second hug just because.  She yells and screams to get her way.  Toddler tantrums have been going strong for at least 6 months.  Siena is a wild child.  Unfortunately, she's also had really bad eczema for the last 6 months and sometimes scratches until she bleeds.  

Mila is the singer in our family.  She loves singing in the car, at church, or anywhere else she has the opportunity.  At story time last week they played music for the kids to dance to, and she jumped right up front and started singing and dancing.  It's always a little surprising to me, because she has a timid side, but I think she just enjoys it.  "Let it go" is one of her favorites to sing along to (copying sounds, not quite words), as well as "Book of Mormon Stories" and "If you're Happy and you Know it".  She likes to wave her finger and say, "no, no, no!"  Most of the time she's obedient and always wants to hold my hand when we walk somewhere.  She cries a lot of sad tears and wears her emotions on her sleeve.  But one second she's crying and the next she's bouncing around with joy.  Another thing I love about Mila is her willingness (and delight) in playing by herself.  Since I enjoy alone time so much, I enjoy seeing Mila sit in a quiet room, undisturbed by her loud siblings.  When they're not dressed alike Mila is usually the one that has on pink so it's easier to know who is who in pictures.

They both go to bed around 7 and get up 12 hours later.  I doubt they're asleep that whole time, but they usually do well hanging out in their cribs.  They nap in the afternoon for about 2 hours, but some days they don't nap at all and it drives me a little crazy.

They're in a love/hate relationship with each other.  They love to greet each other good morning with enthusiasm (although they both call each other Mila) and then spend the day stealing toys and pulling hair.  It's not uncommon to find the girls sitting on top of each other, and each is just as likely as the other to be sitting on top.  They both love Tiago and like to carry his hot chocolate to him in the morning.

(Siena on the bottom)

They share a room and don't wake each other up, although I think their talking does sometimes prevent the other one from falling asleep at nap time.  The two ways to tell them apart (besides personality and facial expressions) is the dimple in Siena's nose and the freckle on her left leg.  In person I easily distinguish who is who, but sometimes I'm tricked by pictures.. and have to ask Hyrum.

Speaking of Hyrum, his nicknames for them have remained mostly unchanged for the last year.  Mila is "Rulitos" (although they both have curly hair, I guess he likes Mila's better) and Siena is "Marrana" (piggy).  Skyping with Hyrum gets them so excited.  They wave and blow kisses and point at him.  He's able to get them laughing hard by making funny faces.

Happy birthday girls.  We can't imagine our family without you!