A wordy post wherein I love having two kids.

When Mister Baggins was still very small, I had this wild idea that I was super mom and that being outnumbered wasn't going to stop me and all sorts of other dangerous thoughts and I left the house by myself with two kids, to go to--get this--THE MALL. I had a gift card and I thought I'd just snag a scarf so I didn't have to try anything on and I hadn't yet learned the importance of only going places with carts to strap small people into and basically it was a recipe for disaster. I hauled that baby carrier back out to the car, dragging one two year old behind me determined to NEVER LEAVE THE HOUSE AGAIN and that was my solo introduction to parenting two kids at a time.

Since then, we've gotten pretty awesome at venturing into public as a threesome, and handling both kids by myself is totally do-able. People had warned me that two kids was going to be a lot harder than one, but no one ever bothered to tell me that sometimes it's way EASIER than just one.

This business where your kids get old enough to entertain each other is freakin' awesome. It's like if you were 14 and you got to stay home from school only you weren't really sick and it turns out your mom had just stocked the pantry with Cinnamon Life and also there's a Boy Meets World marathon on TV. That's how awesome it is.

By way of example, my two munchkins are currently playing "Hiii-YAH!" together. This is a very complex and intricate game Bug invented after a couple of viewings of Mulan on Netflix (which she refers to as Fa Mulan since that's what they call her maybe like twice in the entire movie and it obviously stuck in her brain.) Essentially, Bug and Baggins both arm themselves with wooden spoons and run around the house striking poses as karate-like as a three- and one-year old can manage and shouting "Hiiii-YAH!" at each other. (And there is no way you could have mentally worked out those details on your own based on the name of the game, obviously.)

And, if you wanted to know, Bug is in her pajamas and Baggins is in, well, just a diaper because he's that size where he's a little too big for one size of diapers and a little too small for the next (not to mention we just bought a Costco-sized box of the smaller diapers so he's going to have to deal with it) which basically just means that the overnight diaper cannot possibly contain everything he's sending in to it and his PJs are soaked in the morning (please, parents, say that happens to your kids, too.)

And, if you wanted to know, I am using all this extra time that not entertaining my kids myself has freed up by... wasting time on the internet. Hello, funny Buzzfeed lists of humorous short GIFs and photos!

Sometimes, they decide instead to play the Laughing Game, which was also invented by Bug and is basically identical to Hiii-YAH only without the karate moves and with more giggling. (There is a lot of chasing each other going on at my house.) It turns out that my pots and pans, already spread all over the floor courtesy of Mister, also make for a great drum set, and Daddy's old electronic tennis racket makes a perfect 'buitar' (as Bug would say.) We're basically the Jackson 5 over here, minus the overbearing and abusive father-manager, and, you know, the talent.

Anyway, all of this to say that having double the littles really IS double the fun, and sometimes more.

And now, because I don't know how to wrap this up, some pictures:

Mister loves his puppy. "Doddy!" he shouts, excitedly signing dog every time he sees her. In fact, he can say doggy, Daddy, and Bug's name, with nary a Mama to be heard.

Every morning, Bug gets up our of bed, grabs a green yogurt out of the fridge, and treats herself to an early morning breakfast snack. One particular day, she must have had the horse before the cart a bit, as she was clearly not done being asleep.