On Tuesday I’m going to sit in on one of the boys’ tumbling class and take some pictures and video to post here. Can’t wait to show off my little gymnasts in training.

An exciting post, I know. I did it again…got out of the habit of writing so this little post is an attempt to get back into updating the blog more regularly.

This year, Dusty is taking the boys to his parents house for their birthday. So Brad and I had a little mini celebration yesterday including gifts from my parents, Brad’s parents and us. The boys are so into superheros that when I found these cute tshirts at Old Navy, I couldn’t resist. Here are some cute pics of the boys from over the weekend, including while we were putting up our Christmas tree on Saturday morning.

Logan was so excited about us putting up the tree, he went and got some blocks and marked out where in the living room he wanted us to put it. We died laughing, it was so funny.

From December 09

Forest took an extra stocking we have and turned it into his Santa hat:

From December 09

The finished tree:

From December 09

Logan playing Candyland. It was amazing to me how easily he picked up the game and how much he likes it:

From December 09

Playing pirates:

From December 09

and finally, a sweet video of Forest being Santa:

From December 09

It was really fun and the boys tried to get into it, trying to catch snow flakes on their tongues. Unfortunately, the flakes didn’t show up well on my camera even though they got pretty hard for about 20 minutes. Here are some pictures, see if you can see the flakes. I’m not even going to post the pictures where I couldn’t see any, only the ones that hint at the snow falling. You may need to click on the pictures and see the full size to actually see the flurries.

From December 09

That’s snow on Forest’s hair:

From December 09

From December 09

From December 09

From December 09

The Dread Pirate Logan:

From December 09

Searching for safe shores:

From December 09

From December 09

The classes are for all ages so I was able to enroll the boys in for 3 weeks of classes, meeting for 30 minutes each, twice a week. I could tell right away that the teacher is good with the kids, always using fun ways to teach them gymnastics skills and tailoring the class around their interests as they change with each moment. I had hoped that we would get to meet some of the other kids in the neighborhood as well but no one else signed up for this class so the boys are getting her entire attention. I’m already excited to sign them up for the next age range and have them try out hour long classes in January or February.

The real point of this post, however, was that as the second class was beginning, she turned to me and told me that I could come back in 30 minutes. I hadn’t left the boys with a stranger in about 2 years. Not since when I tried leaving them at the gym day care, which failed miserably by the way. But this time was very different. The boys didn’t even seem to notice I had gone. They stayed active and had a nice person’s full attention with lots of neat bouncing mats and toys. But that moment cut into my heart just a tiny bit. For that brief second, I had a glimpse of what it’s going to be like when they finally start school.

Oh sure the boys spend every other weekend with Dusty and we have been able to take vacations thanks to wonderful grandparents who babysit. But this was somehow different. She wasn’t family. And I hadn’t expected it. I wasn’t needed and could actually get in the way. They were going to learn from someone else. Someone who is very kind, knows lots of great tricks that I have no clue about, and who knows lots of neat gymnastics stuff. Someone who is not me. Someone who is not family. And they were completely ok with it. Wow.

I was surprised that I felt something when that moment happened. I was taken by complete surprise at the rush of feelings. But isn’t that part of this whole parenting experience? Not only seeing the world through their eyes but seeing ourselves deeper through our own.

Cleaning out the pumpkin:

From Halloween 09

Then they had to decide what kind of face to make:

From Halloween 09

Drawing the face to cut out:

From Halloween 09

Helping Daddy carve:

From Halloween 09

Very serious business:

From Halloween 09

Finished product:

From Halloween 09

Let the trick or treating begin!

From Halloween 09

Forest Spiderman making sure I saw the giant spiderweb:

From Halloween 09

The smiling face of a kid with candy in his bucket:

From Halloween 09

We went over to Dusty’s neighborhood and the boys trick or treated for about an hour with some of their friends. They totally remembered what to do from last year, Forest was always up at the front leading the pack and had to be spoken to several times about only taking one. Logan tended to come up from behind the group, always shouting “trick or treat” and “thank you” with as much gusto as any kid can. Forest was very focused on the candy aspect but Logan really seemed to be into the whole experience. Even stopping to admire people’s scary decorations (but neither ever got spooked) and pet neighborhood cats.

And best of all, the costumes we got at the grocery store the day after Halloween for only $10 ($5 each!) that have added to the boys costume box:

From Halloween 09

It’s going to be so nice not to have to spend $20 a week on diapers! I’m looking forward to using that money to enroll them in classes and to do fun things this winter. And I tell you what, I can’t WAIT to throw the diaper pail away. I don’t mind diapers at all but the smell of that diaper pail…ICK!

So at 34 months we are embarking successfully on potty training!

When we ask Logan a question he says “uhmm” and pauses to think about it before he answers. The “uhm” is so cute and serious.

When the boys are playing rough with us and we grab Logan, Forest rushes up and shouts “that’s my friend/my brother” and will fight to free him from our clutches. His sweet defense gets to me every time.

Forest has switched from “thank you” to “thanks”. I get the giggles every time he says it. He’s very kind and thoughtful about it.

The boys can really make things look like things now when we have our art time. Forest has drawn a stick spiderman and a spider on his web. Logan draws spirals and zig zags. And they both made little balls out of playdoh to make snow men, complete with arms and scarves. Up until this time, they’d always asked me to make their balls saying that it wasn’t something they could do. But this time they just did it! There is something very awesome about them being able to represent real things via drawing and sculpture.

Logan is starting to say “your welcome” and “excuse me” more and more after my stressing those phrases in our daily life. It just makes a Momma proud to here her little boy say “excuse me” to his brother as he squeezes past him in a tight spot.

I also find myself with a different amount and use of free time. When I started this blog, I needed my online community of twin parents to give me an adult outlet as I struggled to balance myself as a person with myself as a mother. As the boys approach 3 years old, they only take an hour nap (if Logan naps at all!). They also stay up a bit later at night so I have less time to myself then as well. But I am also carving out more time for myself on the weekends and evenings. One parent can handle baths easily at bedtime so I am taking tribal belly dance classes. In the fall and spring I attend every retreat at Earthsprings to help Glenda and The Fellowship of Comparative Religions, which – for example, over the course of the next 8 weekends takes up 4 weekends. Brad and I have more and more social life with each month that passes as we spend time with our families and friends in ways we couldn’t even a year ago. And so it’s really no wonder that I just don’t take the time to write like I used to.

I’ve also always noticed that about myself. I go through periods of time when I love to write. I can sit down daily and jot down ideas and thoughts, desiring to put it all down. But then I go through times when I’m “stuck” in the midst of the thing and just can’t find the words. That’s how it’s been lately. I spend my days wandering the huge park across the street with the boys. Drawing starting lines in the ground and yelling out “ready, set, GO!” as we race from one tree to the next. Picking up acorns and pretending they are coconuts. Yelling into huge water pipes to hear the echo and wondering if a troll lives there. The boys and I are busy counting, reading, drawing, and just otherwise living and I forget to put down all the beautiful things that make up these special days. I may regret that some day as my memory is horrible and will only falter more in the years to come. But for right now it feels right for us and I’m guessing from all the hugs, kisses and “I love you”s that I get from the boys, they approve of how I spend my time as well.

Forest is our little “contrary.” If I am trying to change his diaper, he says he wants Daddy to change it. If Daddy isn’t there, he says he wants Logan to do it. Anyone but me. If I want him to change into PJs, he won’t want to do it. Even the “you do it yourself” big boy ploy doesn’t always work. He is extremely independent, not wanting anyone to do anything for him. He wants to take the cap off the milk and the toothpaste tube. He wants to help pour the milk and the cereal. When it’s time to go to the park, he doesn’t want to go to the park. Who would have ever thought I’d be struggling to get the boys into the car to go to a park?!

I’ve been working hard on helping the boys learn some important phrases: “Please”, “thank you”, “your welcome”, “excuse me”. I can’t begin to express how adorable and sweet it is when they say these words. We are also working on trying to get them to stop saying “I want” all the time and learn to say “I would like” or “can I please”, etc. We are also working on helping the boys learn to say feminine pronouns instead of calling everyone “he”. Logan really fights me about it while ironically Forest quickly tries to do it correctly. This is one area where Logan shows his contrary side. Any time I correct him regarding the use of a word, pronunciation, etc, he will refuse to say it correctly and insists that his way is the right way. It’s hysterical some of the stuff he says and it always ends in the use of his made up word “dobo!” So the conversation would go something like this:
Logan, “He is walking his dog.”
Me, “That’s a woman, she is walking her dog.”
Logan, “NO! I said HE is walking the dog.”
Me, “I understand but that’s a woman and we say she and her.”
Logan, “NO! I said DOBO!”
I loose it laughing every time.

Singing! The boys have started that sweet child thing of making up songs and singing all the time, whenever and where ever. Once again, it’s one of those things that makes my heart burst with happiness when I hear them humming or singing some song all their own. Or that they now love to listen to kids music and try to sing the words, even when it’s a brand new song.

I am constantly amazed at how the boys learn so much just from interacting with the world. No need for having special learning times about specific topics. No need for worksheets or special DVDs. They just learn. They learn songs and nursery rhymes because we read them in books. They are learning their numbers and alphabet because we use them, point to them, talk about them, oh yeah, and read books. They absorb and remember every tiny detail for further reference. Even when I think they aren’t paying attention, they show a few hours or days later that they most certainly were paying attention.

This age is such a balance of contradictions for me. I am exhausted beyond belief and the toddler behavior leaves me feeling like I’m going insane some days. And yet when they are sweet, they are the sweetest, most amazing beauty that was ever created. These two little people are such neat personalities that are unfolding and revealing more and more with each passing day. Days that go by too quickly.