Baby Leashes...

I always thought it was funny when my mom would tell me that as a toddler she would put a leash around my waist when we were out and about. I never imagined that I would do that with my kids. My Grandma must have realized I would because she was nice enough to get us 2 baby backpack leashes before the boys were even born. I put them in a drawer and thought, well maybe we'll use them someday and now someday has arrived. I've realized that these are something we can't live without. The boys both like to walk and James especially hates to hold onto anyone's hand. Jack likes to hold hands, but he only wants you to go where he wants you to go, not where you need him to go. The leashes are cute. One is a puppy dog, which we gave to Jack. He loves dogs and likes to tell us woof woof so I thought it was fitting to give him the doggy one. James loves all stuffed animals or toys, but especially his bear, so it was an easy decision to give him the bear. They wore them at church a couple weeks ago for the first time and James was very happy about it. So much that he had to wear it backwards to be able to love on the bear. Jack wasn't happy about wearing it, so he mostly played with it. To get them used to wearing them I have been having them wear them around the house so they are used to them being on. They both wanted to wear them backwards while they were playing.




After awhile, Jack got tired of it being on his front and we switched it to the normal way to wear.



When it is on the correct way, the leash (which looks like a tail) attaches to a tab on the bottom of the backpack. When it is on backwards, the leash attached to a small tab on the side strap. I like that they strap securely in the front and aren't just straps they can slip out of on their own. The clips are very tight so I can't imagine they will be able to undo them on their own any time soon.



James really liked to love on his and wasn't happy unless it was on backwards. He kept hugging the bear and loving on it while he was playing. He even hung on tight while he was standing on our stool trying to get away from his brother.



By the time Matt finally got him to put it on the correct way, he was distracted by wearing his blue bucket on his head. At least he's imaginative.


And I'll admit he must be pretty smart to figure out that putting the strap in his mouth keeps the bucket on his head.

Eating Neatly.....sort of

We are very lucky that we have 2 good eaters. Both of the boys will eat most anything. They especially like vegetables. Jack loves green beans. If you give him beans he'll eat those before he eats anything else in front of him. James also likes green beans, but his current favorite seems to be tomatoes. He loves them cut up and I can't wait until he is a little bigger so I can just give him whole cherry tomatoes. They like fruit, this weekend they couldn't get enough of the strawberries at Morgan's birthday party. So far they only thing they won't eat are hot peppers. They both tried them and Jack actually ate a couple bites before he realized that he didn't like it.

For lunches on the weekend we have been doing lunchables on the days where we are busy. They seem to be the prefect size for them to share as long as we give them a few other things to go with them. I like that the meat and cheese are cut up small enough that I don't have to make them any smaller for them to eat, making it super easy for me. The boys love crackers so they are always happy to have a couple of those. When we have fresh fruit around it's easy to give them some melon or grapes with the lunchable, topped off by a few of their favorite cookies. I will readily admit that we do not routinely buy organic food for the boys, but these cookies are fabulous. They taste like regular graham crackers, but make much less mess so it's a win for the boys and for mommy.

Their current obsession on the food front seems to be goldfish crackers. All summer long that seems to be what they have gotten for snack and as you'll see in the pictures below, they have a pile of goldfishies with their lunchables.

I had to get a few pictures though since they were sitting so nicely in their seats and were being so well behaved while they were eating. Our next step is to get the table cleaned off so that we can convert the seats into the boosters and mommy can stop washing 2 trays 3 times a day.



PS- Jack thought he was the boss of his brother this day, hence the pointing while giving him directions on how to eat his lunch. To me it sounded like a bunch of gobbledy gook, but James seemed to understand.

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 :)

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.