Hats
The other day I pulled out some hats to play with. It was a very fun 10 minutes and here is some of the cuteness.
New Adventures
A month or two ago we had a playdate at the local Children’s Museum. It was a blast and I decided it would be a great thing to have a membership so that we can go back on really hot days, on rainy days, or just whenever to do something different. Having a membership is a savings if we only go 4 times in the year so I’m hoping to make it about once a month.
Yesterday the boys woke up from an hour and a half nap (not long enough) super fussy and basically a mess. So I threw them into the car, grabbed some snacks (not in that order) and off we went. It was perfect! The boys quickly let me know that the baby/toddler area was not going to cut it as Logan found a way to climb up and out of the neatly contained space. We were able to stay for close to an hour without my loosing one. I do feel a bit sorry for Forest though because he tends to get pulled along when Logan decides to venture off somewhere alone. But he didn’t seem to care and went along mostly willing.
I’d pretty much planned this for just such an occasion. I figured which ever afternoon they woke up early would be the perfect time for an outing downtown because then we could make it back home before the rush hour traffic got too bad.
I’m definitely going to keep this in my arsenal of how to deal with entertain toddlers on a hot or rainy afternoon!
Nothing Much…but then there was Dinner
I’ve been busy. I can’t say that it’s anything worth talking about so I haven’t. Mostly keeping the house clean and playing with the boys. Forest appears to be teething again, molars I’m guessing but he doesn’t let anyone into his mouth to know for sure. So he’s very clingy and I’m obliging.
Last night I had the opportunity to eat Thai food with my favorite twin blogging momma. It was great, two and a half hours of us being able to talk and get to know each other. Normally we are doing play dates and hardly get to talk with all the chasing this direction or that. So it was great. I enjoyed having someone to beam with about their recent accomplishments (our boys are less then 2 months apart in age so match developmentally) and commiserate about the trials and tribulations. She even inspired me to take the boys for a walk in the neighborhood this morning. Yet another reason why I love having MOM friends, they inspire me. I go “oh wow, you can do that?!” and then I try it. She thought I was amazing for flying with the boys by myself, I thought she was amazing for taking them into Toys R Us without being in a stroller! It’s all perspective.
Braces update
Monday morning I had my first appointment since having the braces put on five weeks ago. I have to be honest, I have no idea what exactly they did. I know that it involved taking off the rubber bands on most of the front teeth and instead using long, thin wires wrapped around to hold the main wire attached to the bracket. My teeth had begun to feel very loose and eating was painful for a good five to seven days before so this tightening was welcome. I had some achiness on Wednesday but otherwise there was no discomfort at all from this appointment.
After five weeks I’m getting the hang of it. I know what to eat and what not to eat. Oh, have you ever tried to find things to munch at a gas station while on a car trip that are braces approved? Yeah, that part sucked on Sunday. I brush my teeth often. I won’t lie, the flossing is really annoying so I find myself only doing it about once every couple of days. But the teeth are noticeably spacing out so it’s getting easier.
I didn’t expect to notice a difference so quickly, but there it is. My top front “fangs” have fallen back and no long exist. It’s strange because that’s who I was for so long. The cute girl with fangs. Well I guess since I’m no longer cute or a girl, loosing the fangs makes sense. I’m now a sophisticated, sexy Momma. Well, at least I can think that one night a month when we go out for drinks with friends and I put on makeup!
18 Month Well Visit
Logan is now 25 lbs 9 ozs and he’s 32.5 inches tall.
Forest is 21 lbs 4 ozs and 30.5 inches tall.
As we already knew, they are super healthy and doing great. Despite being only in the 5%, the doctor shows no concerns about Forest and accepts him as he is. I like that.
Father’s Day 2008
I was fortunate enough this year to have the boys all weekend for Father’s Day weekend. We spent the entire time having fun together, which included playing with lots of toys, wrestling, going outside, watching Saturday-morning cartoons, playing in the water sprinkler, playing Mario Kart Wii (the boys LOVE the WiiWheel), learning and practicing new words like “cigar”, “wheel”, “engine”, and “corvette”, and eating lots of yummy home-cooked food.
Here are some photos I managed to snap while we were playing in the water sprinkler and a few from around the house:
I’m incredibly lucky to have such loving, smart, and all-around wonderful sons in my life, and I look forward to them growing and learning between now and next Father’s Day.
Backyard and Birthday Shenanigans
I’m being daring today in preparation for what I hope to be a more regular situation. I’m sitting here in the computer room, looking out the window into the backyard where the boys are running around playing with balls and sticks. This feels very big to give them a bit more freedom, but still contained for safety.
I like the new duplex’s backyard a whole lot more then ours and we will have all kinds of fun new backyard toys for them after their unBirthday party next weekend. Had I mentioned that yet? We realized very quickly last year that it was super tough to have a birthday less then 2 weeks before Christmas. We are very blessed and the boys received many gifts, however we had trouble scheduling a birthday party date that worked for most people and by January 1st, we had too many new toys and clothes. And here we are half way through the year and those toys are either no longer interesting or like some of the clothes, outgrown. So until the boys are old enough to complain about this arrangement, we are going to celebrate their Half Birthday or unBirthday in June. I’ve had several people offer experiential advice about this and so far it’s a unanimous decision.
Isn’t amazing how quickly a post can turn from one topic to another?
On Fire
It’s not only hot outside ’round these parts, the language explosion is in full force inside of our house! Forest and Logan are constantly repeating the words they know, asking for new words and learning them within minutes, repeating new words with decent clarity. They understand concepts like “under” and “close”, which seems amazing to me. Forest can follow instructions to go do things, usually Logan can as well but I get the feeling he just doesn’t want to. It’s one thing to know that it’s coming but another completely to have it happen.
Summer Fun
18 Months
The past month has been such a great joy as my little men become 18 months old. It’s amazing how much they’ve changed in the past six months. How much more independent and adventurous. And yet they are still my little baby boys who love to cuddle and need to keep Momma in sight. Their personalities are really starting to come out as they amaze us with their knowledge of the world around them and how well they watch and listen to us.
Forest has burst into speech. And he seems to know all the animal sounds, or at least his version. It doesn’t get any cuter then his sweet little voice “bawk bawk”ing like a chicken or “meeeow”ing like a kitten. Both boys “do the chicken dance” because of their Elmo that does the chicken dance and they are adorable as they flap their “wings” and “bawk bawk”. Every day the boys pop up with a new word. It is amazing and awesome. They have also taken off with the sign language. It only takes me showing them a sign for about a day before it sinks in.
Here is Logan doing his version of the sign for water. Logan also always has to say the word while Forest is happy to just sign it.
Logan loves shoes and feet so much. He’s taken to putting on my Teva’s and walking around the house waving and saying “bye bye”. He recently tried high heels for the first time.
Forest shakes his head yes or no when you ask him a question and usually it seems like he really does know what he’s saying. Only a couple of times have the situations been too confusing and then it turns into a game.
The other day during a particularly stressful moment between two tired babies and one tired Momma, Forest suddenly looked at me, reached out and pinched my nose. Of course I responded with a “honk honk” and all three of us burst into a fit of giggles. As a baby he was always the one to bring me back when I get lost in emotion with the deepness of his eyes, and that moment was amazing as he did it with actions.
Logan gives hugs and makes kissing noises. He loves cars and things he can sit on, making all kinds of great noises. He hates being in his car seat and wants to sit up front and drive the real car. (thanks to Dusty and Chris for teaching him that one).
The boys understood that they flew on airplanes last month and that airplanes fly in the sky.
Eating was always easy for us but now, especially one meal a day, has turned into a joke. I’m constantly having to check my ego at the door as the boys will eat something one day and not the next. Thank goodness for all the peer support on the subject to remind me constantly that they get what they need when they need it and to just let it be.
Baths used to be easy too. But now they don’t want their hair washed and don’t want to get out of the tub because it’s a giant source of fun. Water in all it’s forms is one of the greatest toys available and luckily it’s free.
Teething molars is making them both super clingy and fussy. Ironically enough these boys scream when I want to go to the bathroom but have no trouble running away from me at the park. Fickle much?
We made the mistake of getting used to 11.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Never take such things for granted with kids. It was glorious while it lasted and now I know it’s possible so I look forward to it’s next realization.
We read often. But the boys usually don’t want to read alone. They want to sit in a lap as they go through the pages and point out the words that they know. It’s super sweet. At bedtime we re-read the same books over and over again for about a month and then it’s on to another. Current nap favorite Little Gorilla and at bedtime it’s Hush Little Ones.
They have figured out how to do up the “seat belts” on their booster chairs. A very cool feat but also a problem because they also try and climb into them by themselves all the time and it results in horrible accidents. I have even had to remove all the extra chairs from the table because Forest’s monkey antics have reached a point where even my easy going heart is envisioning emergency room trips.
I’m starting to learn that my best defense against Forest’s “bad” behavior is to ignore it. He wants to get a reaction out of me, and when I get angry he just laughs. So I ignore a lot of things and find that he just stops doing them. I never knew how much you could see out of the corner of your eye or while seeming to look at something else. Is this the mysterious “eyes in the back of your head” that I thought my mother had?
Forest and Logan are happy, healthy and intelligent little boys. I love to take them outside on mini nature walks as we discover bugs, feathers, neighborhood dogs and cats. We pick up sticks and eat dirt. We hug trees and watch airplanes and hawks overhead. These are such precious times and I’m daily thankful to be here with them and watch them grow.
