the owl

We have an owl that hangs on our front door.  It’s made out of fabric.  Yesterday Alex decided to reach up and pull on the owl’s leg.  Off it came.  I was walking in the door from work and I said, “Oh no!  The owl has a boo-boo.  We need the stapler.”  And that was the end of the conversation.  I grabbed the owl’s leg and took it into the kitchen.  I’d deal with it later.  About a minute later, as Kara and I are catching up in the kitchen, we see Jakob walk by with his Fisher Price medical kit.  I look at Kara and I say, “Where is he going?” and she responds, “No idea.  Wait?  Is he going to take care of the owl?”  And when we rounded the corner there was Jakob taking out his plastic band-aid and his stethoscope to tend to Mr. Owl.  It was the cutest thing ever!

Mary

more cuteness

Alex has become a bit of a drama queen.  His speech therapist nailed it yesterday when she responded with, “You could be a soccer player.”  No matter the severity of an injury a kiss from Momma or Mommy makes it all better.  But here is the deal.  If Alex falls and hurts his head he will want you to kiss it.  But then he will also hold out his hand and make you kiss that.  We always have to kiss two body parts.  The one that was “injured” and some other random hand, or arm, or cheek, or head.  It’s great.  My favorite is when he “bumps” his head but immediately sticks his foot out for you to kiss it.  What about your head buddy?

We are in the midst of some bedtime shenanigans.  Of course most of the shenanigans come from Alex but at times the boys will work together to create chaos.  The exception was last night.  The boys had a big day at the zoo and did not nap a whole lot.  So I think they were tired.  But there is part of me that thinks I frightened Alex to bed last night.  We used to play a “monster” game at bedtime each night.  I was the monster and I would chase the boys around the nursery until I trapped them in a corner and lifted them into their crib.  This would cause fits of giggles and deep belly laughs.  So last night after the boys finished their bath I decided I would bring back the “monster” game.  The boys and I were getting our snuggles in when I started our typical countdown but with a twist of, “5 more minutes and then the ‘monster’ is coming out”.  I got a giggle from Jakob who immediately started to run around the nursery anticipating the arrival of the “monster” but I only got a raised eyebrow from Alex.  Our little thinker was at work.  It has been several months since we last played this game and Mr. Alex is now more versed in the definition of “monster”.  He knows there are “good” monsters and “bad” monsters.  I’m not sure he could remember that a “good” monster would come out to play.  So when my next time reminder came, “2 more minutes and then the ‘monster’ is coming out” I immediately got a “No. No. No. No. No.” from Mr. Alex all while he was pointing at his crib.  I was shocked.  I hesitated in my response but I finally said, “You don’t want to play monster? Do you want to go to bed?” and I got an adamant “YES”.  So off to their cribs they went without a fit.  And even more surprisingly my little man immediately laid down in the crib and wanted to go to sleep.  It was the easiest bedtime in ages.  I think I might have frightened Alex into sleeping last night!

Mary

some glimpses

I don't have time for much these days.  But these are some current happenings that I want to remember when I am old and gray.

Alex is currently obsessed with hoses.  We took the boys to the zoo this past weekend and Alex started pointing and screaming when we got to the elephant exhibit.  So I went over and started talking to him about the gigantic elephant that was standing right in front of us.  It took me a minute to realize that Alex was actually trying to tell the elephant to move out of the way so he could get a better view of the giant hose that was wrapped up in the corner of the arena.  Sigh.  So maybe Alex is going to be a gardener or a firefighter when he grows up instead of a veterinarian or a zookeeper.  

Jakob can now put together several two word phrases.  The phrases are for the most part either “more ___ “ or “____ please” but it is great to hear Jakob speaking in “sentences” these days.  Jakob is also ALL boy and can, in typical boy fashion, fart on command.  I actually never knew this was a possibility until I had boys in the house.  So diaper changes are a blast. (insert sarcasm)  Jakob will fart as soon as you take off his diaper.  This is followed by the cutest giggle in the world and the phrase “more farts” over and over and over again.  That’s my boy!

The boys love to give kisses these days.  And for the most part we are finally away from the “open mouth insert tongue kisses” and now when the boys give us a kiss there is total concentration on their faces.  Jakob will actually lean in and grab your cheeks when he gives you a kiss.  This new phase also means that bedtime can be super sweet and annoying all in the span of 15 minutes.  We have to give everyone and everything kisses before I leave the room.  We give each other kisses.  We give our stuffed animals Danny (that’s Alex’s monkey) and Hoppy (that’s Jakob’s bunny) kisses.  We give our matchbox cars kisses.  We our books kisses.  We give our puzzles kisses.  Can you tell the boys sleep with a lot of toys in their cribs?  We blow kisses.  It becomes a game of course and I think I have to say, “no more kisses” and “one last kiss” about a bazillion times each night.

The boys are getting really good at taking off their clothes.  I guess this is a good thing and a bad thing.  But at bath time each night they now take off their shorts and shirts (with some help) and get to throw them down the laundry shoot.  They then take off their diapers and throw them in the trash can before they come to me to put them in the bathtub.  This new found independence also means that the occasional shoe and sippy cup have also made their way down the laundry shoot.  And there was that one occasion that a poopy diaper ended up down the laundry shoot.  Thanks Jakob.  It can be really difficult to keep eyes on two toddlers at all times.

We took the boys to Dairy Queen over the weekend.  We opted to get the boys a vanilla milkshake because we figured it wouldn’t be a total mess to eat on the walk home.  I asked the cashier to make me the smallest vanilla milkshake in the store.  I guess our definitions of “smallest” vary somewhat because the 12 oz milkshake that I handed to the boys was a bit BIG.  You should have seen the smiles that suddenly appeared on the boys faces.  Now our boys LOVE some milk.  They are actually a bit obsessed with milk and we have to control their intake all the time.  But even with their love for milk products I thought they would take a few sips of the milkshake and call it a day.  Nope.  Both milkshakes were completely gone by the time we got home from our walk.  That’s a whopping 520 calories if anyone is keeping track at home.  So next time … we get one milkshake and two cups!  I don’t even want to talk about the sugar rush that came about 10 minutes after we got home.

Here is Jakob with his "tiny" milkshake.

Mary