I'm told that keeping all the little things written down is a great way to remember it in the future. So, I don't typically write about things that would embarrass the boys, but this is one for the books, or in this case the blog.
The boys can be mischievous at times, if you can at all imagine that. I'm not sure if it is more mischievous or curious. When I am watching the kids and need a shower I'll lock the kids in my bedroom and shower. They often occupy themselves with the toys or books I have in the room, but other times, they find great entertainment under the sink or in the linen closet.
Like many ladies, I keep the tampons under the sink. A box from Costco that has several varieties... sorry men. Often I'll look out the shower to see the boys dumping the entire box on the floor. Then cleaning it up again. Recently the boys have begun opening the tampon packages. Then I had the wrappers thrown about all over the floor. It then evolved into the boys opening packages with their teeth and taking the applicator and inside apart. I find myself with tampons and trash thrown all around the bathroom floor.
I wanted to write about this not only to remember it, but also as a reminder to the boys that at one time they were not afraid of this "woman's" item. Should their future wives ask them to do a tampon run and they say "no" they will be reminded of their 21 month fun and festivities.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Earplugs and Cocktails
In talking with other twin momma's, it has become apparent that the time from 18 months until 2 doesn't have a proper name. A brilliant and witty mother named it the "Earplugs and Cocktails" stage. She couldn't be more correct. Everyone talks about the terrible twos. However, at 20 months, Brandon and Colin are figuring out life each day. Every car that drives by is Dada and sometimes that is followed by crying when Dada doesn't walk through the door. Colin has a name for his pacifier, it sounds something like papi. He's only allowed to have it at naps and bed. Sometimes he gets it in the car on the way home at night, in hopes he'll fall asleep. Should he see his paci during the day some crazy sort of crying entails because he wants it so badly. The boys are beginning to "fight" with each other, Colin bites Brandon and Brandon responds by hitting Colin on the head. They are figuring out how to speak with each other and share wants and needs. However, it usually ends with crying. Most of the time if they are fighting over a toy, one will run around the room with the toy as his brother follows... crying.
Do you notice a theme? Hence the earplugs.
If ever you want to embrace the joys of twindom, come to our house for dinner. Usually they are pretty good about staying in their seats. We have been working very hard to teach the boys that we all stay seated until everyone is finished or in Brandon's words "ninishhhhhhhhd". Lately, it has been a struggle to get Brandon to eat anything. He grazes his food for a little bit then takes handfuls of whatever is in front of him and chucks it across the room. He's got a great arm. He'll be a wonderful baseball player. He then tries to get the food off of our plates to play with or chuck also. There is no possible way of keeping our kitchen floor food free. Maisie does a pretty good job, but she's not always into our dinners. The daily cleaning requires a couple of cocktails.
I want that, no, no no no no. More please, more please, more please, no no no no no. What do the children want? They know so well what they do want, however they are still working out how to tell us. They have gotten good at pointing, but it often results in no no no no, once the package of whatever food it is, is opened up. Ugh! Being 20 months is a hard job. They are filled with ideas and wants yet so limited in sharing it in a way others can understand.
It sounds like a bunch of complaints. These are the little moments that make my world go round. Often food being tossed across the room is followed by the best hug or biggest smile. Enough to melt my heart. I guess I would say that all the difficult moments are sweetened by the warmth and kindess each of my boys has to offer. Colin's devilish smile or Brandon's big bright blue eyes that light up as he smiles. Random hugs by Brandon and Colin's determination to be independent. The best moments come when the boys give each other kisses. Oh, my heart is melting thinking about it. Brandon even makes a smacking noise. Eventually I'll capture a picture of it.
Earplugs and Cocktails, the time from 18 months to 2 years.
Do you notice a theme? Hence the earplugs.
If ever you want to embrace the joys of twindom, come to our house for dinner. Usually they are pretty good about staying in their seats. We have been working very hard to teach the boys that we all stay seated until everyone is finished or in Brandon's words "ninishhhhhhhhd". Lately, it has been a struggle to get Brandon to eat anything. He grazes his food for a little bit then takes handfuls of whatever is in front of him and chucks it across the room. He's got a great arm. He'll be a wonderful baseball player. He then tries to get the food off of our plates to play with or chuck also. There is no possible way of keeping our kitchen floor food free. Maisie does a pretty good job, but she's not always into our dinners. The daily cleaning requires a couple of cocktails.
I want that, no, no no no no. More please, more please, more please, no no no no no. What do the children want? They know so well what they do want, however they are still working out how to tell us. They have gotten good at pointing, but it often results in no no no no, once the package of whatever food it is, is opened up. Ugh! Being 20 months is a hard job. They are filled with ideas and wants yet so limited in sharing it in a way others can understand.
It sounds like a bunch of complaints. These are the little moments that make my world go round. Often food being tossed across the room is followed by the best hug or biggest smile. Enough to melt my heart. I guess I would say that all the difficult moments are sweetened by the warmth and kindess each of my boys has to offer. Colin's devilish smile or Brandon's big bright blue eyes that light up as he smiles. Random hugs by Brandon and Colin's determination to be independent. The best moments come when the boys give each other kisses. Oh, my heart is melting thinking about it. Brandon even makes a smacking noise. Eventually I'll capture a picture of it.
Earplugs and Cocktails, the time from 18 months to 2 years.
Banging on the window
Sunday, February 13, B woke up really early at 6:15, I rocked him and put him back in his crib. Then at 6:35, he was screaming again. Glenn got him and Colin who was now awake and brought them to our bed. It ACTUALLY worked for 10 minutes. They never lay down in our bed EVER! Then after a bit they got off the bed and began banging on our window with my hairbrushes. If we weren't so darn tired, we would have stopped it sooner. At around 7:15 someone begins banging on our front door. We have no clue why. I was wondering if there was an emergency with neighbors or something or was someone trying to break in? Glenn goes down to see who it is, and it was a neighbor checking to see if we were ok, because they heard the banging on the window. Clearly it wasn't a neighbor we know well or else they would have thought that we had kids. We didn't know if we should feel good that we live in a caring neighborhood or embarrassed that someone thought we were in such trouble b/c of the kids banging.
Note to self... don't let kids bang on windows.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
2 Little Monkeys Jumping on... EVERYTHING
Our 2 little monkeys love to jump and jump and jump and climb and slide. We have a new favorite place to go, it's called Catch Air. The boys have free reign of the place. A 4 level play structure that takes a whole wall which has slides and obstacles to climb. There are 2 ball pits which Brandon has taken joy in doing belly flops into as he cheerfully calls out "bump" or jump. Jumpy mazes to navigate, blocks to build, and tyke sized gym equipment to play with. This is a toddler's paradise. There is truly nothing better than watching the boys play with giant smiles on their faces and leave with kids who are so worn out that they come home only to lay down. A mother's dream and a child's dream.
In other news the weather has been frigid here the past few weeks. We've had so much time to play in the snow and enjoy sledding. The boys see the sleds and climb in, trying to drag each other around like I did while the white (icy) snow covered the ground. Today, the weather is a gorgeous 63 degrees. We went to watch Dada play tennis and ended up going for a walk around the campground at the JCC. Brandon was so delighted by throwing rocks while Colin kicked and carried a kid sized soccer ball. They love being outside. In fact, if I let Maisie go out into the backyard, the boys are at the door asking to go out too!
The boys vocabulary is growing and growing. I feel like they talk more and more each day. We are really encouraging them to use their words when they want something, but usually it take the form of whining then us giving them the words to use. Such is the life of 19 month olds. They are also more and more aware of everything around them. Colin now notices when Brandon takes something he wants. He has been biting Brandon, which we are also trying to teach him not to do. Now instead of biting, he will hit and push Brandon to the wall or whatever is nearby. Colin just doesn't know how to defend himself yet. It is quite a site to see! The boys love each other and it is apparent as they enjoy playing together too.
Meal times are always fun. Lately, Colin will look at his reflection in the window and start waving and saying "hi Caka". He enjoys seeing his reflection waving back. Brandon slowly gnaws on some food before he decides that he is "fini". Luckily most of the time he will just try to get down. Occasionally he still throws his whole plate on the floor, but it seems that we are almost through with that stage.
As for me, I'm trucking through teaching, being a mom, and trying to work out some. Although personal fitness is very important to me, I just don't find the time to do it. I'm so exhausted from a full day of work teaching and being on my feet that by the time the kids go to bed all I want to do is sit down, not work out. We've tried working out while the kids are in the room, and Uh Oh! Big mistake. They cry and want to be picked up. Hopefully one day I'll be able to really work out again without the guilt of not spending enough time with my boys.
In other news the weather has been frigid here the past few weeks. We've had so much time to play in the snow and enjoy sledding. The boys see the sleds and climb in, trying to drag each other around like I did while the white (icy) snow covered the ground. Today, the weather is a gorgeous 63 degrees. We went to watch Dada play tennis and ended up going for a walk around the campground at the JCC. Brandon was so delighted by throwing rocks while Colin kicked and carried a kid sized soccer ball. They love being outside. In fact, if I let Maisie go out into the backyard, the boys are at the door asking to go out too!
The boys vocabulary is growing and growing. I feel like they talk more and more each day. We are really encouraging them to use their words when they want something, but usually it take the form of whining then us giving them the words to use. Such is the life of 19 month olds. They are also more and more aware of everything around them. Colin now notices when Brandon takes something he wants. He has been biting Brandon, which we are also trying to teach him not to do. Now instead of biting, he will hit and push Brandon to the wall or whatever is nearby. Colin just doesn't know how to defend himself yet. It is quite a site to see! The boys love each other and it is apparent as they enjoy playing together too.
Meal times are always fun. Lately, Colin will look at his reflection in the window and start waving and saying "hi Caka". He enjoys seeing his reflection waving back. Brandon slowly gnaws on some food before he decides that he is "fini". Luckily most of the time he will just try to get down. Occasionally he still throws his whole plate on the floor, but it seems that we are almost through with that stage.
As for me, I'm trucking through teaching, being a mom, and trying to work out some. Although personal fitness is very important to me, I just don't find the time to do it. I'm so exhausted from a full day of work teaching and being on my feet that by the time the kids go to bed all I want to do is sit down, not work out. We've tried working out while the kids are in the room, and Uh Oh! Big mistake. They cry and want to be picked up. Hopefully one day I'll be able to really work out again without the guilt of not spending enough time with my boys.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Ready Set Snow!
The boys are officiall 19 months old. For the past 3 days I've stayed at home with them during the 2011 snow and ice storm in Atlanta. We were pounded with about 6 inches of snow then another 1/4 inch of ice. We took the boys out to play in the snow and had a blast sledding. Sadly, the boys didn't have such a great time. They were not so fond of the COLD snow. Later that day, we took them out again and they had a great time. We pulled them in sleds and they didn't have to touch the snow. Bbbrrrrr!
While we have been stuck inside the house I've been working on new skills with the boys. We are practicing counting to 10. Brandon will count along saying twoooo, nine and ten. We are missing a few numbers, but 2, 9 and 10 are a start. They are getting good at saying up and down at the right times. Colin often defends himself against his bigger stronger brother with a strong bite. :( I'm working very hard at teaching him not to bite. All the while Brandon has discovered that he has a strong arm and throws EVERYTHING. We are teaching him how to "give" us things. It works some of the time.
These two little monkeys love to climb, draw, use dot-dot's, and today they discovered shaving cream. I put it on the table for them to explore. It was slow going at first, but finally they played with it.
That is a little update about our monkeys. They are so much fun to be with especially because each day brings a new adventure.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Goodby 2010
2010 was a fantastic year. We had so many special moments from Brandon and Colin's first birthday, to visiting my family in Boston twice, a weekend away with the Frank/Solomiany families and a week away with the whole Blaustein family in Florida.
As I look back on 2010 I fondly think of many wonderful memories. We spent half of the year with Todd, Amy, Silas, Ella, Annie, Teddy and Poppy. We were sad to see them leave for Portland and then off to Spain. Gettting to know all the kids was really such a joy in our lives. 6 months later I still think that going over to my parent's house will result in a wide eyed Poppy coming in the kitchen to give the boys hugs or Teddy sharing special moments with Brandon and Colin. I expect to see Ella and Annie watching Hannah Montanna and hoping that Silas doesn't come back from a skating adventure with broken bones. Yes, they aren't my chidren, and I only had a short time with them in Atlanta, but the impact of having them in my life has been made.
Brandon and Colin changed in so many ways this past year. They rang in 2010 barely being able to sit up unasissted. Now they are walking, running, talking, playing, and growing each and every day. Colin has somehow inherited the "clean-up" trait from both of his grandmothers. Today, he couldn't eat lunch until he had helped me put all the groceries away. Once everything was away, he then came to eat. He even picked up a packet on the floor and put it in the correct box. Really?? That can't be our child.
Recently the boys have begun turning on their CD player when they want to hear music. Brandon turns it up so he can hear it better and Colin changes the song to the one he likes.
The boys LOVE bath time. They wake up in the morning saying "bahh, bahh, bahh". They want a bath! One day I was getting ready in my room and found Colin sitting in his bathtub playing with toys. (There was no water in the tub and he doesn't have the strength to turn on the water thankfully.) They have new bath toys and that may be the reason for the extended bath times. But these boys have always loved bath time.
We have a new swingset out side and the boys always want to go out to play on it. They could spend hours on the swings alone. The love to climb and slide down. They are helpful raking the leaves and putting handfuls into the wheelbarrow. They sweep the porch, tip the chairs, and eat lunch at their picnic table. If they were allowed to spend all day outside, they would!
I hope that 2011 brings as many wonderful memories as 2010 did. I look forward to their 2 year birthday and watching them begin talking with not only words, but with sentences and complete thoughts. I can't believe how quickly my babies have grown into little boys.
As I look back on 2010 I fondly think of many wonderful memories. We spent half of the year with Todd, Amy, Silas, Ella, Annie, Teddy and Poppy. We were sad to see them leave for Portland and then off to Spain. Gettting to know all the kids was really such a joy in our lives. 6 months later I still think that going over to my parent's house will result in a wide eyed Poppy coming in the kitchen to give the boys hugs or Teddy sharing special moments with Brandon and Colin. I expect to see Ella and Annie watching Hannah Montanna and hoping that Silas doesn't come back from a skating adventure with broken bones. Yes, they aren't my chidren, and I only had a short time with them in Atlanta, but the impact of having them in my life has been made.
Brandon and Colin changed in so many ways this past year. They rang in 2010 barely being able to sit up unasissted. Now they are walking, running, talking, playing, and growing each and every day. Colin has somehow inherited the "clean-up" trait from both of his grandmothers. Today, he couldn't eat lunch until he had helped me put all the groceries away. Once everything was away, he then came to eat. He even picked up a packet on the floor and put it in the correct box. Really?? That can't be our child.
Recently the boys have begun turning on their CD player when they want to hear music. Brandon turns it up so he can hear it better and Colin changes the song to the one he likes.
The boys LOVE bath time. They wake up in the morning saying "bahh, bahh, bahh". They want a bath! One day I was getting ready in my room and found Colin sitting in his bathtub playing with toys. (There was no water in the tub and he doesn't have the strength to turn on the water thankfully.) They have new bath toys and that may be the reason for the extended bath times. But these boys have always loved bath time.
We have a new swingset out side and the boys always want to go out to play on it. They could spend hours on the swings alone. The love to climb and slide down. They are helpful raking the leaves and putting handfuls into the wheelbarrow. They sweep the porch, tip the chairs, and eat lunch at their picnic table. If they were allowed to spend all day outside, they would!
I hope that 2011 brings as many wonderful memories as 2010 did. I look forward to their 2 year birthday and watching them begin talking with not only words, but with sentences and complete thoughts. I can't believe how quickly my babies have grown into little boys.
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