The Amazing Climbers

Jack has turned into a climber. He climbs on everything. Chairs, couches, boxes, stairs and even toys. Last night after they got home from daycare they were playing with Matt and he attempted to climb on top of his toolbench toy. He managed to get a leg up before Matt stopped him. He seems to have no fear. James is much more cautious in general, but Jack seems to be up for any adventure.


It doesn't seem to matter if he has a stool or not, he just loves to climb. The stools help (thank you mom) him get into places that he shouldn't, like being able to reach over the gate and reach the bookshelf or trying to get onto our shelves along the wall.

Climbing on toys is no longer a challenge. Now he has moved onto plastic bins and diaper boxes. These are much easier for him to push around than the previously mentioned stools and allow him to reach even higher places.

Hopefully he can always be this proud of himself when he accomplishes his goal.

Back to a "Normal" Exsistence

So we are finally back to a more normal schedule with the boys. Matt went back to the midnight shift as of Monday. This is so much better for us than when he is on afternoons. When he is working afternoons he doesn't get to spend as much time with the boys and I don't really get to spend much time with him either. When he is on afternoons I had to do baths and bedtime by myself and even though I did it, it wasn't easy. When he is on midnights our schedule is much better. Matt comes home in the morning and sleeps all day before picking up the boys. Once he picks them up they have some time to play before I get home. Then we can have dinner together and put the boys to bed together. This will be much better for them since they miss their Daddy when they don't see him through the week as much.

The only rough part for me is doing the morning routine by myself. I try to get up before the boys wake up so that I am totally ready for the day before I go in their room. Once I am ready I go into their room to get them. This morning I was greeted with Jack sitting right up and saying MAMA! which was a nice way to start the morning. I give each of them a kiss and hug while they are still in their cribs and then I get their clothes out for the day and everything I need for diaper changes. I got Jack ready first this morning. While he was on the changing table he was pretty mad, but James came to the rescue with a stuffed turtle for Jack to hold while I was changing him. Once he was all ready I set him in James' crib to play. I do this since it is closer to the changing table and he can still talk to me and see my face at the same time. Once they are both ready I picked them up and carried them downstairs together. We are working on them learning how to go down the stairs by themselves since this will make it easier for me (and my back) in the mornings. Right now James is scared of doing it though so I still carry them. Once we are downstairs I slip on my shoes (always have slip on shoes) without setting them down. If I set them down it makes it that much harder to get out the door on time. I grab my keys and open the door (still holding 2 20+ pound toddlers). Once we're outside I thank whoever thought up the idea of a button on your keys to open your van doors because it saves me when I am getting them in by myself. I set one baby on the floor of the van while I strap the other one into his seat. Then I strap the other baby into his seat and we are on our way to daycare.

Once we arrive at daycare (all of 1.1 miles away from our house and less than 5 minutes in the car) I get one baby out of their seat while our daycare provider gets the other baby out. The way they act you would think they had been strapped in the car for DAYS! But they are happy to go inside and get their breakfast. This is the other thing that saves me in the morning when I am by myself. The fact that our daycare provides breakfast saves me a lot of time and frustration. It is totally worth it to have them eat there instead of at home.

And now a couple random pics.....

James "relaxing" in the lazy boy

And playing so nicely together

I also have at least 2 other posts started that will be up before the end of the week :)

Sunday Fun

This past Sunday we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house near Battle Creek to celebrate Jessica's 21st birthday. The boys were excited to ride in the car with Grandma and Grandpa and Jack even managed to keep his hat and sunglsses on.....at least for a little while.


Upon arriving the boys were very interested in eating all the yummy things from the grill and playing in a new place. There were all kinds of interesting things to do.


Once lunch was over we all ventured outside. Grandpa, Daddy and Uncle Mark attempted to fish, but didn't really catch much. We all ended up just sitting around in the shade keeping cool. It was a beautiful day to sit outside. James had a great time sitting with Grandpa and playing with his IH hat and Jack enjoyed sitting with Auntie M.



For those of you who know our family you may have noticed that Grandpa was fully decked out in his International Harvester attire for the day and I'm sure you can guess who bought the boys the IH sun hats. But for the keen observer did you happen to notice Auntie M's John Deere gator in the background??? Sometimes those green ones sneak in where we least expect them. The boys even took a ride on the gator. Each of them went individually with me and then together with Daddy. Jessica was the driver and she took it nice and slow for them. We went through the woods and by the garden to set off the sprinklers. She even took the boys past the chickens which they were very excited about.



By this point in the day everyone was ready for ice cream and cake so we all went back into the house for the best part of the day. Notice how nicely all those cupcakes are decorated!


The boys ate ice cream and cake.....but mostly ice cream.....which they loved since this is not something they ever get at home. Once cake time was done it was time for some nice relaxation before the drive home. Jack chose to climb up on the couch and "relax" there.


It took us a little while to get everything and everyone packed into the car for the hour ride home, but at least the boys were asleep before we even got to the expressway.

Weekend of Adventures

So after our air conditioning stopped working a week ago (since we've had the central air all of a year) it was a little irritating. When it was fixed on Tuesday we found out that we needed a dehumidifier for the crawl space to help keep the moisture down. This meant a Saturday morning trip to Lowe's as a family. We thought we were doing pretty good. It was supposed to be hot so we were up early and out the door before 8am. Our plan was to eat at the Big Boy by Lowe's and then do our shopping, except it didn't work that way. We pulled into the Big Boy parking lot looking forward to the breakfast buffet with the boys only to discover they are closed for re-modeling. This was slightly irritating since there are no other kid friendly places close to there. So we schlepped ourselves to the complete opposite side of town to eat at Coney Island. The very Coney Island we ate at just a mere 5 hours before I went into labor and ended up with the same waitress! The boys had a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and sausage and toast. Their toast and our toast to be exact. I don't know why I ever thought I would actually be able to eat all of my own breakfast when I knew the boys would want my toast. It makes me wonder why we don't just order extra, but this happens every time.

Once our breakfast excursion was over, we went back to the other side of town (where we started to be exact) to go to Lowe's. The boys loved this. They got to ride in the carts and were excited to wave to anyone and everyone in the store and babble away at each other. They don't like it when they can't see each other though and since they were each riding in their own cart they were quite loud yelling to each other to make sure their brother was still close by. After loading the dehumidifier into Jack's cart he was happy to bang on the box. We kept walking around the store and they were excited to touch carpet and stone samples. We even got to see the Lowe's racecar in the parking lot as we were leaving since it was race weekend at MIS.

After getting home, taking a quick walk, eating lunch and napping, it was time for the boys favorite activity.....building with blocks.



Or should I say taking apart whatever Daddy and Mommy build and then throwing the blocks. Or hitting each other with the blocks. Or fighting over that one certain yellow block even though there are 10 others that look exactly the same.



They had a good time though and enjoyed spending time with Daddy.

After tiring of the blocks they decided that it would be great fun to climb on top of the tub that holds the blocks.

After fighting with them to stay off of it, we gave in and let them sit on it with Daddy's help so that Mommy could take a picture or two.



For whatever reason climbing has become their new favorite activity.....but I'll post more about that later. For now, back to work!

Helping Out

I want to share a story with all of you. When I first found out I was having twins I was terrified. I know some real life twins, but I didn't know anyone with young twins in real life and I didn't know anyone who was pregnant with twins at the same time as I was. I had already found a lot of support on a few different online forums while we were trying to conceive and I turned to some of those same forums for support again. I found a whole community of moms and I turned to them for advice and support.
Now two of those moms are in need of our support. I have attached links to each of the blogs below so that if you feel so inclined you can read about their families experiences. I don't want to repeat their entire stories here but at 11 months old Cici choked on a piece of diced fruit and suffered a severe brain injury. At 11 months old Christian suffered a near drowning and suffered a very similar injury. Both families are using hyperbaric oxygen treatments not covered by insurance in hopes of some improvement in the lives of these little ones. Both families need prayers and support, both monetary and otherwise. And so in support of them I am posting the link to their shared store where all profits are being split between the families to help with treatment. Just a little something that I really wanted to share in support of them. And now off to upload the pictures for my next post about our weekend.....hopefully coming within the next few hours.


http://colofisch.blogspot.com/
http://www.christiansjourney.org/

Walking

One of my favorite things to do with the boys when it is nice out is go for a walk. I get them from daycare and when we get home they go right into the double jogging stroller. They love to look at all the new things as we walk by. They are particularly interested in things like squirrels, dogs and flowers. When we see dogs they say daw daw (as in dog dog) and we are working on "what does a doggy say?" woof woof. They are getting pretty good at it and will say woo woo if you ask them. On the weekends it is nice to get out of the house and on a weekday it is a nice way to wind down in the evening.


Sometimes Jack gets a little overexcited and trys to pull on the sunshade or leans over as far as he can to watch the wheels go around. He is quite inquisitive!
James is usually much more realxed and is more interested in watching his brother.


By the end of our walks they are usually tired, especially at night and this is good for me since they always seem to sleep better after they have spent some time outside.

The nicest part though is how much they enjoy being together and even though they sometimes bother each other in the stroller mostly they just like to be with each other.

Bathtime Fun

Both of the boys really enjoy playing in the bathtub. The other night when we went upstairs for bath time they were both trying to crawl in before I even had a chance to get their clothes off. It is hard to bathe them by myself, but I have a whole system down now that makes it easier for me. I grab 2 clean diapers and their towels and we all move into the bathroom like a herd of turtles. I start the water running in the bath and put in a few bubbles and their toys. It occupies them so I can get the first baby undressed and into the tub. By the time I have the second baby undressed, the tub is full and I turn off the water. I let them play with their bath toys while I spread towels on the floor to catch all the water they splash and I get their towels ready for when they get out of the bath. Jack's favorite thing to do in the bath is throw all of the bath toys onto the floor. James mostly just likes to splash and play in the water.



I wash each of them and let them play with their toothbrushes to "brush" their teeth. I always wash Jack's hair first and then James. They both like to "help" wash their hair and they love when we rinse because they like to drink the water I dump over their heads. By this time they are getting tired and I get Jack out of the bath first. I pull the stopper so the water starts running out of the tub and do a quick dry so I can get his diaper on. Then Jack sits and brushes his teeth some more while I get his brother out of the tub. I get James diaper on and then we are on to the next task.

They are pretty good now about following directions so I lift them over the gate and tell them to crawl into their room which they usually do without a problem. Once we are all back in their room I get them each into their pajamas. While they are on the changing table I finish brushing their teeth, clean their ears and comb their hair. I try to do James first since he is a little calmer about all of it and then I lay him down. Then I go through the same routine with Jack while James lays in his crib and talks to us. Once Jack is done I put him down in his crib with his penguin and turn on their music for the night. James will lay there and talk for a few minutes and Jack will cry for a minute or two while he plays and usually by the time I am done cleaning up the bathroom for the night they are asleep.

Jack Playing before bed

James talking to his brother before falling asleep

And for my Aunt Julie who will notice the cut on his chin, that is what happens when you try to crawl too fast and wipe out on the air vent. At least the biting has let up so he doesn't currently have any dental impressions from his brother.

All sorts of new tricks

So the boys are getting much more active and do many more toddler things than baby things now. They both jibber jabber while they are playing and love to pretend to talk on the phone. They are both lovey boys when they want to be, James with hugs and Jack with big open mouth kisses. They can even follow simple directions because if you tell them you want a hug or kiss, they'll do it. It is sweet they way they love on each other too, especially when one of them is tired or hurt.

They have started doing some new tricks. They can both climb onto and off of the couch. They try to get on the lazy boy, but it moves just enough that they can't yet. They can both climb up the stairs, but we haven't attempted coming down yet. They both like to look out the windows and get excited if they see trucks or cars driving by. But the biggest thing is James can walk. He doesn't do it a lot yet, but he is slowly getting there. If he thinks you want him to or realizes that you are watching, he'll stop. He does a few steps at a time and so far his record is 10 steps at daycare yesterday.

Jack the Couch Climber


Playing by the Window


The Stairs


James Walking


They continue to amaze me at the things they do and how smart they seem already. I can't believe that every day they are doing new things, but they are. It is scary when they think they are so big already and try to do things that they can't really yet, but sometimes they surprise me and they can, even though I'm still terrified that they will go face first off the couch some day.

Early Mornings

For the life of me I cannot figure out why the boys like to be up so early in the mornings. Today it started around 5am. I could hear Jack talking to himself and pretty soon I could hear him throwing his stuffed animals out of his crib. I knew what would come next. His precious penguin would hit the floor and he would scream when he realized he couldn't get it back. And that is exactly what happened. I plugged my ears and put the pillow over my head to try to block out the screaming, knowing full well that I would have to go in there and "rescue" the thing off the floor. Except as soon as I walked into their room, James was awake too and they both wanted to be picked up. I got them both out of their cribs and crawled back into bed with them. It was 6am.

Jack managed to cuddle with me for about 15 minutes before realizing that he had been suckered into laying back down. James on the other hand wanted to talk and talk and kick Matt and his brother. It was sweet while they were trying to hold hands, but I would have much preferred they closed their eyes for a few more minutes. By then Matt had moved to a sitting position so that he could try to contain Jack from crawling off the bed.....it's a long way to the floor! Then Jack decided that a fun thing to do in the morning is pretend to love on your brother and as soon as he lets his guard down, hit him in the face. James hasn't figured out yet to move out of the way or fight back so he just stayed there and took it. He thought it was funny and was laughing though so it must not bother him too much. By 6:20 I needed to start getting them and myself ready for the day. Brushing my hair and teeth and rushing to get dressed takes me less than 10 minutes most days. I miss those mornings where I could take a 20 min. shower and actually dry my hair before leaving the house. If I get a shower in the morning now it has to be as quick as possible so that the screaming doesn't get out of control. I changed 2 diapers (thankfully not poopy) and checked the weather for today. HOT. Hot for this summer anyway, if we hit 90 degrees it will only be like the second or third time this summer, but it was already humid sticky at 6:30 in the morning. The boys do seem to like to watch doppler radar and since Matt was playing with them, it went fairly smooth this morning. They brushed their teeth without a fuss and even gave up their toothbrushes afterwards without a fight which is unusual.
They got dressed in coordinating rompers (blue with an octopus and green with a gecko) and we all traipsed downstairs. It's nice in the mornings when Matt is able to get up with us because he can carry one baby down for me. This morning he had Jack while I got James into the car. Then my second trip to the car with Jack and shockingly it only took 2 trips to the car this morning and we were on our way.

I pulled into daycare right on time (which means 10 minutes earlier than I normally get there) after a total of 3 minutes in the car with James "singing" along to the radio and Jack "dancing" while fussing about being in his car seat. 1.2 miles is soooo far to ride you know. Terrie came out to meet me and we got the boys out of the car and inside. While we were pulling in her driveway I noticed that the temp said 66 degrees, but it was so sticky it felt warmer than that already. At least I know the boys will be happy cause they'll get to play in their diaper all day to stay cool, which means I will have 2 very dirty babies who will need a bath when I get home.