Raising Twins II

Now that the boys are 11, I sometimes wonder how we survived! (Actually, sometimes I how THEY survived!) They were constantly getting into things, there wasn't a child safety device they couldn't figure out. They took off cabinet ties, door locks, and outlet covers! I had a sitter once tell me she thought her house was child proof but it wasn't Nathan proof! We brought their sister home from the hospital when they were two. Chris tried to go into their bedroom. The doorknob nearly came off in his hand! He called for Matthew, handed him a screwdriver, and asked him what he was supposed to do with it. Matthew then proceeded to continue working on the screws in the door!

Matthew has always been a fast learner. He has always been inquisitive. Once, when he was four, he came to me and asked, "Mama, why does people have teeth and cows don't?" I explained how they do, but they are used for different things than people teeth, they weren't used the same. He then asked, "Mama, why does cows not use their teeth the same as people teeth?" I THEN proceeded to tell him about tearing, shredding, and grinding teeth. After a minute, I said, "You know Matthew, that was a VERY smart question." He responded, "Oh, I know. I'm very smart. I think I'm gonna be a genius one day..."

Nathan's intensity comes through in many things he does. The one thing Nathan does REALLY well is get scared. I have NEVER heard a boy scream like he can, which, of course, makes him a target occasionally. Probably the best time he got scared was a complete accident. I had begun reading this LONG series of books, THICK books. It was late at night in the summer, last summer to be exact. It was probably after midnight. I was reading with the book propped up on my chest. I had no idea that Nathan had come in the room. I had one leg out from under the covers. As Nathan walked by my foot up to the top of the bed to tell me he had had a bad dream, his hand brushed across my toe! Well......needless to say, I was a LITTLE startled. I started screaming and kicking BOTH feet up and down in the bed! I knew I needed to stop screaming, but, couldn't! Chris was laying on his stomach and FLIPPED up to his back and nearly fell backwards off the bed! Meanwhile, Nathan begins screaming and dives over me, headfirst, into the middle of our bed. Well, then, I started laughing and couldn't stop. Poor Nathan. We finally all settled down and went back to sleep, after I held Nathan for quite some time and apologized profusely. By the way, I am still not sure how Chris stopped himself from falling off the bed!