A Moment

So we're plugging along with potty training and big boy bed adjustment, and both processes are going just fine. The usual of a few steps forward, then a few back, then progress, then frustration. We're and the rugs are getting peed and pooped on left and right, and I've re-covered them with their blankets and have said "no jumping on beds!" with my Mommy Really Means It voice at least a dozen times a night (exaggeration, but it sure feels like it). We're falling into a nice pattern with bedtime routines and since half the battle is knowing what to expect, us adults are feeling pretty good. We were reminded of the time, some two years ago, when the boys first started to sleep through the night. I remember that for several days they fell asleep at 8pm, but then randomly a few nights later would wake up around 10pm, screaming bloody murder. A few nights of unpredictable sleeping will make a person edgy, so we tiptoed around the house between 8-11pm, wondering what the night would bring. That same sense of what will they do tonight? returned this week, but seems to be fading again. 


Our time at home is spent pulling up and down big boy underpants, convincing boys that the potty is fun, answering questions about poop being brown, cheering for peepee. When the one isn't peeing, the other is. There's no end to body functions, I was thinking to myself this afternoon. And for anyone reading this who has dogs and may at some point potty train kids using a stand-alone little potty, consider this a PSA: when a kid goes poop and you rush him to go get wiped, be sure to put the filled potty on a higher table before you rush away. The table needs to be high enough so the dog can't reach the potty's contents. That is crucial. Especially if one of your kids thinks its funny to let the dog lick him. I don't really feel the need to elaborate on what happened to make me suggest this, but I spent a good 10 minutes going to my happy place to get over that incident.


Then Cole said, "wook! I gotz two bears."

Me: "You sure do. What are their names?" (expecting Cowl and Gahdy).
Cole: "Ees Momma Bear and ees Daddy Bear."
Me (thinking that's just cute): "Which one is Mommy Bear?" 

Me: "That's a nice Mommy Bear. Are they playing?"
Cole: "No."
Me: "Are they sleeping?"
Cole: "No, no seeping"
Me: "What does the Mommy and Daddy Bear do?"

They kiss, what loving bears! And what a cute boy. A cute moment, right when I needed it. And then, as all the toys this child touches seem to do, the bears flew.

Soon

Today I'm day-dreaming of our roadtrip! This is the second annual big family vacation, the first being last year's voyage to Chicago. Read about that here, and here, and here, yes I'm long winded, cause it continues here. And more, here.

That first trip surprised me in terms of how much fun it was. A lot of work and prep, and for a few moments here and there Keith and I questioned our sanity and our decision to take 18 month old twins on "vacation", but the boys did really, really well. And truthfully, the two of us are happiest with a backpack, a map and some time to explore a new place. My favorite memory from that trip is getting stuck under an awning during a crazy summer thunderstorm in the middle of a busy Chicago street, and all 4 of us just standing there people watching and soaking it in. My least favorite was the fit Cole threw every single morning. We can credit him for making sure we got moving pretty quickly in the mornings, without his "urging" we'd not have seen nearly as much of the city. Cannot wait to make more vacation memories with my boys.
Sorry for the big font on the old posts, that's driving me crazy, but not enough to go back and fix.

Eh, who am I kidding. I'll go fix it now.

Changes A Plenty

We're nothing if not adventurous. Or slightly dumb. I can't decide. We're less than two weeks from a road-trip vacation, yes, with babies. So what should one do two weeks before taking twin 2.5 year olds (though Grady does think he is significantly older) on a week-long trip? Why, you attempt potty training and switching to big boy beds, of course. Both endeavors are going surprisingly well, so I'll leave you with some random thoughts, and a cute picture.


1. I'm glad we don't have wall to wall carpet. 


2. Before we took apart the cribs we told them we'd be switching to big boy beds, and the cribs would be going bye-bye. Keith added that their new beds would be blue. Boy, did they stick to this fact. For the next 30 minutes, they only wanted to know about the blue beds. I anticipated that they'd be sad to lose the cribs. It is the one thing that has always been the same, if you think about it from their perspective. We've taken away bottles, pacifiers, and we now even expect them to feed themselves, but they've always had those cribs. I thought it would be like a security blanket for them, but nope, they just waved goodbye as we carried crib parts out of the room. Then asked where the "blue beds" were. No meltdowns, so sadness about losing the cribs. Well, alrighty then, moving right along.


3. I picked a kick-ass color for their beds. It's a peacock blue, and damn if I'm not pleased with myself for having picked it. Martha.Stewart's Plumage at the big box store with an orange logo. The paint itself is not great, but that color is fantastic. Pictures tomorrow, tonight we focused on getting the boys to sleep. 


4. Grady is loving the praise he gets for peepee-ing in the potty and not on Spideyman on his big boy underpants. Loves it so much that he squeezes out 3 drops every 15 minutes to earn praise. And even pulls his undies up and down himself. Well, mostly up, sometimes half a bum hangs out. He's so hip-hop.


5. Cole likes to eat dinner and sit on the potty. By dinnertime I'm too tired to argue, so earlier today I zoned out for a minute and when I came back to clarity I realized he was sitting on his froggie potty on the kitchen floor with a bowl of cheerios, a sippy with milk, and a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs on his lap, all crowded on there precariously. Yes, I said a both of Cheerios for dinner. They just started eating milk in their cereal, and now we have to have some at every meal. I'm sure a Super Nanny would have a fit, but it works for me. He did his business, then told me to put him bowls back "on da table, puhweese". I complied. I clapped and cheered first, then complied. 


Pictures of these endeavors soon, maybe tomorrow if I can get their room redecorated by bedtime. (don't hold your breath). For now I leave you with this. Then I'm going to bed. Potty training is tiring. 

This was this past April, and Grady is giving Cole a brotherly hug. Grady is much more open with his affections. Cole is giving a kiss, but wouldn't turn to give the kiss, so instead he kissed nothing. You have to work for his affection!


Earlier tonight I was reminded of this picture when the boys were in their beds, and we had left the room. Cole lost his book/blanket/something, and started to cry, and by the time I made it into the room Grady had already jumped up, ran over and was patting Cole's back saying "awww, Coley, is (it's) ok. aaaallll ok". How sweet is that? They really do love each other! Hard to tell when fists are swinging 75% of the day, but nice to know there's some affection when no one is looking. 


Good night. 

Any Given Saturday

For the longest time -about two and a half years, actually- our lives felt like they evolved around feeding & naptimes. Errands were run between carefully calculated feeding sessions and could not, under any circumstances, interfere with naptime. Our scheduling was a bit obsessive at times, but it did give us many, many days when we could rest while two little boys napped at the same time, and that alone was worth the obsessing. 


Now, things are slowly starting to feel different. Our weekends are (sometimes) no longer a race from one feeding to the next, and we can sometimes just chill and do things around the house. Like two weekends ago, when we started the day with a bit of relaxing on the couch. Cole, like his dad, prefers starting all days on the couch. Those two can watch TV like its nobody's business. 

Elvis is a good companion. Reluctant at times, but tends to stick around because these kids get fed all the time and drop stuff.

And lest I pay too much attention to Elvis, Cole is ready to pose again.

Where is Grady during this couch session? Most definitely not on the couch. He  wanders about the house, and finally settles onto the office desk for some coloring. Sure, use Momma's favorite silver Sharpie. Not like it's permanent ink...

 Yep, press down hard on that felt tip, I'm sure it will work just fine after this usage. 

 And help yourself to anything in the office supply caddy. Big sharp scissors? OK. 

Then boss me around when I tell you "No scissors, Grady!" And no, I won't leave you alone. No one bosses momma.

That baby grew irritated with me taking pictures and bossing him, and went to find someone he could boss. Namely, his brother.

I don't mind some couch sitting, but we need to get out of the house, so we head into the front yard to help with pine straw laying.

 Important to get a nice even layer on the porch.

 And then boss your brother for a bit. No telling when he'll step out of line. 

Then the real micro-manager of the bunch comes back to do another proper pine straw laying technique demo. 

 Atta boy, Cole! Just take a whole bunch and spread it. 

Even free labor needs a break, and often a snack and drinks are followed by trying on some shoes. Some people prefer a comfortable, practical shoe...

 While others prefer a heel that shows off the calves. 

Then back outside for car washing. 

 And at some point during car washing I realize we're overdue for a haircut, but that activity is not documented.

Weekends like these I can most definitely get used to! It really does just get better and better.

2 Videoclips

Guess who has been busy sorting through the photo files on the computer? She's finding all sorts of oldies and goodies.

And we're over the mid-week hump! I'm giddy at the thought of Friday, but am also having a fun time with the kids at this week's summer program which makes each day more bearable. And dare I say it, even fun.

You know who else is fun? Superman!

Babies are Everywhere

It seems almost everyone I know is either having or has just had a baby. Or babies. Makes a gal nostalgic for the sweet baby moments we had with G-baby and C-spot. People told me that I would look back on the infancy period with fondness, and I've mostly thought those people were crazy and/or never had twins, but I guess I'm finally getting there. 

Here they are at 3 months, give or take. 

Random, part 2

Here's a little peek into a typical Saturday or Sunday activity. Pre-getting dressed, post breakfast. ie. Pre-the parents getting their act together enough to get out of the house.


Two things: 1)when the boys say "please!", they want their picture taken. It's like saying "cheese", but more polite. Grammy taught them that. 2)that wallcolor sure looks awfully yellow. Note to self to not use that in our next house. I tire so quickly of yellow colors. 








The fun doesn't stop there.

What is not documented is when they tire of playing on the bed and full-on crankiness sets in. Not as bad as the first two years of their lives, but cranky can sure grate on a person's nerves. Shortly after this the parents got dressed, got them dressed and got the hell outta the house for some errands. They love errands, and we love getting errands done, so a win-win for all!

One Week of Random

This coming week marks my last hectic week at work. I teach science in an informal education facility, and during the school year, we are busy with school groups, professional groups, international groups, you name it, I teach them all. During the summer when one might expect things to slow down, I am insanely busy. This coming week is the last of the insane weeks, and this summer I am more exhausted than any before. I used to love the rush and excitement of the summer programs at work, but since our home-life is so "full", for lack of better word, I'm not finding a whole lot of extra energy in the tank to put towards the job. So, crazy summer began on June 2, and will end, or at least simmer down a bit, on July 23. Only 5 more days. I think I can do this. Right? Right. 


I hate to leave you with nothing while I earn my paycheck, so this week you get some random pictures and random thoughts. 


Today, some of my old favorite videoclips of the boys learning to walk. The heavy breathing is actually me laughing. 

Life Imitates Art

Or, the other way around depending on your view point. Keith and I always used to enjoy leisurely reading the Sunday paper over a big ole breakfast. I read the funnies and sales ads, and he everything else. I would make an effort to read the rest, but there's really no need since he stops every 3 minutes to read something out loud to me. Lately we've been skim-reading or waiting until Sunday nap time to get our Sunday paper fix. This past Sunday we did the latter, and, I couldn't help but chuckle when I opened the funnies and the first comic I saw pretty much summed up our new morning getting dressed routine.

Last Thoughts on the 4th

That pretty much wraps it up for our 4th of July visit. As I looked back at our beach and other water outtings I realized it migth look like we are incredibly ambitious and active people. To be accurate I decided I should also show the lounging about times when little was done. 

Well, little was done by those of us not preparing the meals, I guess I should say.

And those of us not sitting and playing with our childhood toys. 

Seriously, look how many. Somebody was a spoiled child. I was lucky if I had two sticks to bang together*

And someone else has a keen sense of fashion.

A little resting, a lot of playing, a great weekend. 

*may be a slight exaggeration. 

More Water "Not from the ocean"

This time, it's at Grammie and Grampie's neighborhood pool. 

These pictures come without much commentary. Keith is out of town, and I'm using all my free time to get a few house projects done. If you're thinking it would be easier to get projects done with the third and largest boy home, you'd be wrong. 

Water of Another Variety

You didn't think I was done with our weekend away, did you? You know how I like to draw out an event and break things down. It's the science teacher in me, we're supposed to categorize things when we explain them.

So, our overall category for the weekend might be water. And this subcategory would be "water that is not in the ocean". See, the ocean's water was rough. Really rough. As in, this momma could not stand in the water past her knees, and while I enjoy a little rough surf and big waves, I simply cannot do that while holding a baby. Being near a waterfall with them was bad enough, but the thought of them getting caught in undertow made me stay on dry land. That did not stop Grady from demanding to go in the ocean, though. Here he is, with Dada. Not the best pic, but he was grinning from ear to ear and waving back at us sand-dwellers as large waves broke all around him and Dada. 

The undertow finally got strong enough to scare even Dada, so we opted to go to the splash park near the beach. And this, everyone, was well received.  We were a little timid at first, but went from sticking our hands in the water to figuring out that if you step on the water it splashes the on-lookers. Good times!

Tomorrow, I share with you the other type of "water that is not in the ocean".