Lily and Arden outdid themselves today.  When Arden starts actually speaking, I am in *deep doo doo*.  The two of them are so verbal and loud now, the thought of what they are going to do when they can really communicate with each other strikes fear deep into my heart. 

First I went to pick up Arden, who shared “her” Judi with Jennifer’s Sophia.  She was pretty unfazed by it, but I thought it was cool because now when I pick up Arden, I get to see Sophia, too!  Sophia had a great first day with Judi and actually took good naps and even managed not to barf all over herself too much. Arden began babbling as soon as I got her into the car.  As soon as we reached Rainbow Station, Lily’s teacher told me not to put Arden down or let her touch anything.  Apparently a bunch of the kids in her class have the flu or high fevers.  Great.  I’m glad both girls have gotten their flu shot!  Lily told me every detail of her pictures at school today and complained that it was cold out.  “Why is it cold, Mommy?”  Hmmm.  “Because it’s still winter, and winter can sometimes be cold.”  Lily: “I don’t like it.  Make it warm.”  I wish . . .

Lily is either exhibiting the initial signs of OCD or she’s just way goofy.  Now, either when entering or exiting the garage, she feels the need to “sing” the Alphabet Song at the top of her lungs, as fast as possible.  It’s a little bizarre but cute.  It’s EVERY SINGLE TIME we pull in or out of the garage.  She never, ever forgets to do it. We had our usual round of the Alphabet Song on speed while Arden screeched along, bashing her singing spider toy on the side of the car seat. 

The girls played and alternately fought over every single toy they had.  Arden tried to bop Lily on the head with a Dum-Dum sucker after stealing it from her table.  She missed, thankfully, but then tried eating the sucker WITH the paper still on.  Interesting.  We had a temper tantrum from Lily when she futzed around so long with her dinner that she lost out on the opportunity to eat pudding for dessert.  She screamed and cried all the way up the stairs, while I tried to calmly inform her that if she takes 40 minutes to eat dinner, while procrastinating, complaining, and moving food around her plate, she will not ever be allowed dessert. 

Once upstairs she got herself together.  She got undressed for her bath and said, “Mommy, I’m a MESS!” complete with a dramatic hand wave for effect.  She certainly was - two big snot trails running down her face, puffy eyes, and her usual Wal-Mart hairdo from a day at Rainbow Station.  After dinner we headed upstairs for the usual bath.  I believe that my hearing has been reduced significantly tonight.  Arden and Lily decided it would be fun to scream at each other in the tub - thinking it was hilarious.  When I say scream, I mean SCREAM.  They took turns looking into each other’s eyes, opening their mouths as wide as they could, and letting out the loudest possible sound they could muster.  This, combined with bathroom acoustics, created quite a ruckus.  I’m fairly certain neighbors could hear us blocks away.  My ears were literally ringing after a few rounds of ScreamFest.  I even called mom to let her listen in, because you had to hear it to believe it.

Arden was exhausted, having napped for a whopping one hour today, so we got her off to bed after reading “One Hungry Monster” to both.  Lily requested a few of her favorite sounds played, and she “danced”.  Her dancing consists of spasmodically jumping up and down while trying to “spin”.  She looks like a blender that is about to come apart.  Mike tried to slow dance with her but she informed him, “I want to dance by myself”.  We just let her have at it and then did our nightly cuddling ritual.  After hugging Mike, she puts her hand on his neck, tells him to stay, and gives me a little love.  She told Mike he smelled of bologna and informed me that I smelled like Cheetos.  Neither of us had eaten either of those two food items, but I’ll take it as a compliment. 

It’s now nearly 9 pm and I am, as they say, enjoying the silence.  It feels heavenly, but I wouldn’t trade the chatter for all the world.  It’s just too funny.