Wow, so much has happened! We spent last week in TX with my sister and her family while they were on spring break (they're teachers) and while Hubs worked at DFW. Here are some of the pics from the old Sony digital camera that I know how to both operate and upload. (You should infer here that our new camera, a very beautiful Nikon Coolpix which makes me think of Ashton Kutcher every time I pick it up, is one that I do NOT know how to operate or upload and has dozens of great photos on it from our trip. Maybe someday I can take a camera class...or read the manual, whichever comes first.) With no further adieu...
Daddy and N ride the bus from DFW terminal to the rental car. What a big boy!
N hamming it on the road trip from DFW to Louisiana
Best part of Louisiana? The hotel, of course!
Waffle House hospitality - free boogers with every meal.
N and his teddy that we had to rescue from the hotel's lost and found
Hubs and his Great Aunt I
Auntie P at her baby shower with Baby L's first bikini
Cutie Pie Cousin L and her custard smile
One of these days I'll figure out how to upload pics from the new camera and I'll show you more good times. But it likely won't be this week or next b/c I've got to pack! We're moving into bigger "britches" about 30 minutes south of our current location. Seeing as how there is still laundry in the machine from our trip, I'm already behind. But keep checking in on us - my Sony Handycam is working just fine.
Hee, hee,hee! I haven't seen this pic in years, but found it on my sister's laptop this week! Three years ago, my two sisters visited me in MN. Here we are playing lawn bowling at Brit's Pub! Oh, boy, was that ever fun! (That's me, Patti, and Megan from L-R)
It's Spring Break for us! So far we've visited Hubs' extended family in Louisiana, where we got to visit with his 95 year old great aunt, who met our boys for the first time. Then we drove to Texas, where we're staying with my preggo sister and her family while Hubs works at the airport down here this week. What fun! We're halfway through our visit and are having a blast.
The fellas were great little riders both in the airplane and the car and LOVE playing with their cousin. In fact, M is pretty attached to a pink VW beetle toy car...and to making a little plastic chicken drive it!
Chekmate, cuz!
Peek-a-boo! N is loving the outdoor playtime!
"Too coe!" M says after a bite of Chick-fil-a ice cream
Apple slices + BBQ sauce = happy boy
Uncle J and cousin L play slides with the boys
They were having too much fun to stop for a photo!
Daddy and N enjoying the warm TX weather
Ride 'em, cowboy!
We've been able to visit some outdoor playgrounds, feed the neighborhood ducks (we'll take the camera next time!) eat some Chick-fil-a (yum!) go to library storytime, where the best part was coloring at the end, color sidewalk chalks, and just plain old have fun with our families...including chops and dogs on the grill. Mmmm...summer. Our little travelin' men are having a great time down south!
Like so many other milestones, I knew this day would come. I was (somewhat) prepared for it in that I own Fisher Price Spacesaver High Chairs (no, this is not an ad nor will I receive any compensation for this blog entry - I just think they're cool). They attach to your dining room chair and also serve as a booster seat without the tray.
After nap, I give the boys juice and a snack. So, like nearly every day, I made their juice cups up and gave them to them first - because they are always "sir-see" when they wake up. I decided on a cheese-and-crackers snack for them, and as I was slicing the cheese, they each pulled out a dining room chair, climbed up, and sat there with their juice cups, like they were waiting for a snack!
This may sound quite mundane and boring, but I assure you, I did not teach them how to do this, ask them to do this, or expect it in any way, shape, or form! I was going to lift each kid into his high chair when I got the snacks on their plates and feed them off their trays like I do every day.
So this was their snack time yesterday:
They were so proud of themselves! I've allowed them to eat like this just a couple of times when visiting others' homes, but never here! So I spent a portion of my afternoon scrubbing down the high chairs, wiping down the walls, moving the table and finding new chairs to make the seats slide underneath the table ledge for dinner. Here's what I came up with:
That's chicken nuggets being dipped in Chick-Fil-A sauce (again, I just think it's awesomesauce and Daddy brings it home for us every time he flies through ATL, so you can imagine we have a stash) and green beans with milk for dinner. It was a moderately successful meal. I say "moderate" because N figured out how to push off the table and tip his chair back (is he my kid or what, mom?), which is going to be a challenge. I remember falling backward and whacking my head a couple of times. Why do kids do that? I can't explain it even though I was one of those kids. Also, I knew we would need a cover for my oh-so-beautiful-but-impractical-yes-mom-you-were-right-when-we-bought-this-seven-years-ago-that-it-wouldn't-be-good-for-kids table ASAP. I bought a lovely vinyl tablecloth and clips last night. It is bee-you-ti-full!
Hm, maybe the winter is getting a little long when our weekend is described as "Belly Buttons and Hidey Holes?" Good or bad, that's the life of twin toddlers in Minnesota!
BELLY BUTTONS
We watch Veggie Tales, a Christian children's program. It's a cute cartoon with singing vegetables and while most of them are Bible stories, they also do "music videos," where the veggies...here, just have a look-see. Then you'll know what I'm talking about:
So when we were teaching body parts, they immediately added "hey, hey" after we said, "bellybutton." Now, it's just been shortened to "hey, hey." So if one of my boys asks you where your hey-hey is, he means BELLYBUTTON! Okay? We're not teaching them anything dirty here.
Hi, hey-hey!
HIDEY HOLES
I've mentioned several times that N likes to play hide-and-seek, especially with the toy "boxes" (we have multiple containers). One is the large 30 gallon tote pictured in my previous post, one is a laundry basket, and one is...well...here, take a look:
It's just a matter of time before M figures out that he can get back at his sometimes-bully brother by climbing on top and staying put! This "game" he plays never ceases to amuse us all!
However, I am just a little concerned that his "magic" will develop along with his intellect. Did I ever tell you about the missing lovie*? (*A one-square-foot "blankie" with a fuzzy side/silky side we purposely gave each boy as a comfort item during sleep training long, long ago*) We "lost" it about a month ago and Hubs and I turned the house inside-out looking for it (I knew we didn't leave the house the day it went missing). N accepted a backup lovie and we accepted it as gone when I found his missing sippy cup inside the Diaper Champ. Logically, he figured out the Diaper Champ, threw his lovie away, and we took it out to the garbage weeks ago, right?
So we wrote off lovie. Then two days ago, while Auntie L showered, I cleaned the kitchen, and M played with toys, N quietly wandered off and FOUND THE LOVIE!
We have absolutely NO IDEA where it was.
Now N and his lovie, and his second lovie, and his back-up lovie are all a little lovie family together again in his crib. Along with the eebie (pacifier), teddy bear , and crochet blanket from GiGi. I can see where this is headed.
My boys turned 21 months last week and it's like they turned over an independent leaf. They are starting to play together well - and by that I mean, for a few minutes nobody (N) steals anyone's (M's) toys. In fact, two days ago I was working in the kitchen when I noticed it was QUIET. All I could hear was the droning of Thomas the Train and the water faucet. Huh? No chattering? No hollering? No toys making incessant music?
I turned off the water, paused Thomas (I have a bone to pick with him in another post) and listened. Nothing. I debated momentarily between dashing upstairs and lying down on the couch.
I dashed. They were in their room, playing! With a toy! Okay, there was evidence that they had been dismantling and splashing in the humidifier, but so what? I didn't want to disturb the peace, so I tried closing the door back down, but they saw me. The jig was up. Peace was disrupted. It was over.
Still, it gave me hope. Hope that one day, there will be much peaceful playing together. Hope that we will have a room one day dedicated to Boy Play, where, peaceful or not, they can be boys and I can have no little fear of disaster.
In other news, Auntie L is here with us for her spring break this week, so there should be plenty of pictures. We call her our photographer. She is paid in snotty baby kisses.
Grandpa A's truck rolled through last night, so the boys got to play with him. And his phone.
N's famous peek a boo smile - and new coffee cup.
I think the stickers look better on my tummy
Is this how you use it? M tries out the old Boppy we dug out for a friend's visit.
