The Terrific Twos...at least we say that now!

I know I have said it before, but wow does time fly when you're having fun!! The boys turned two on Monday and what a wonderful couple of days leading up to it, and especially that day, was. We have been fortunate, being teachers, that we've had the last two weeks off for Spring Break and so we have really been able to enjoy our wild and rambunctious little dudes. The amount of talking and understandable words has increased what seems to be ten-fold and their little (or should I say sometimes very big) personalities have really flourished. My mom was here visiting too, and that made their birthday celebration all the better. We went to the zoo the day before and then surprised the boys with their very own train table (mommy was excited about that because it means less trips to Barnes and Noble to play with theirs, which means mommy spending less money on her book obsession!)!!!  We also had an awesome birthday lunch at Red Robin and the boys had their. Rey first ever ice cream sundaes. They couldn't get enough. They were practically licking the cups. It was great!!!

So who have these little dudes become? We spent their birthday morning at their 2 year well checkup. The doc called them rock stars and I completely agree! 😉 Both are healthy and happy and growing and growing beautifully. All things we LOVE to hear. And a note for each of my guys...

Landon,

My smiley, happy guy. You absolutely love to sing. You have for a long time but you just keep it up. You have found a new love for singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and have perfect the line from Old McDonald of "E-I-E-I-O" really hanging on that O!!! It cracks me up and just brings a smile to my face every time! You definitely are the big boy, weighing in at 27lbs and measuring 2' 11" you are wearing mostly 24 month and 2T clothing. The 18 month pants were really starting to become high waters and Daddy said I had to stop doing that to you. Hehe. You aren't very fond of fruits and veggies. Sometimes you'll eat them, most of the time you won't. You can't get enough PB&J sandwiches.  I am shocked when every once in a while you'll eat nearly a whole one all by yourself. You are my book worm. You could sit in a room of books and be the happiest kid in the world. And boy does that touch my heart. You really like reading Good Night Nevada, Barnyard Dance, and My Nose, My Toes and Me.

You are definitely are bruiser, in several ways. You are constantly trying to wrestle with your brother. I'm not even sure when it started, but you'll tackle him and just roll all over him. Most of the time you both are giggling, but sometimes you just tend to get on Brother's nerves. Haha. And although you have mastered the steps in out tri-level Colorado home, you over-excitement gets the best of you and you have taken a couple of pretty bad falls. Two recently have been face first, one resulting in a nastily little rug burn on your nose and another resulting in a gushing bloody nose and our first 911 call (ok, so maybe Mommy and Daddy panicked just a little)!  The big ladder fire truck came and so did an ambulance. You ended up being ok so we didn't have to take you to the hospital, but it gave us quite the scare.

You are so passionate and have no problems expressing your emotions, happy or sad, or angry which has really started to come out lately. I wouldn't call it the terrible twos, but tantrums have started a bit. For as much as I know you and your brother love each other, you guys can also fight with the best of them. I'm hoping it's just a phase. You are the sweetest little lover too. You have been really into hugs lately, and say Thank You for everything. You have mastered Excuse Me for those after meal moments when you're full, and are still very obsessed with airplanes, school buses, and trains anytime you see or hear them. Well, so does your brother. It's always an entertaining ride to he babysitter's house considering we must follow several school bus routes and live under a major flight path for two airports.

Lastly bubba, you never stop surprising us and making us laugh and smile. You are so eager and interested, to learn, take everything in. You have the greatest little wave and use your whole body when you do it, really bending over and getting into it. It cracks me up. Thank you Landon for bringing so much love and joy to my life. I never knew I could love as deeply and whole heartedly until you mad your brother came into my life two years ago!!!! I can't wait to see what the next year brings with you big boy!!! I love you.

Parker,

Oh Pee Wee. You are just too cute. You are weighing in at 24lbs and measuring 2' 8". It doesn't seem like a big difference from your brother, but it is definitely a viable contrast from your brother. You are finally into the 18 month clothes, although some of the pants need to be rolled up a little. Your blue eyes and blonde hair really set you apart from brother with his brown and brown. You still get referred to as the serious one, but we really see the little clown that you are more than the serious thinker! You have the greatest little smile where you don't show any teeth, but just kind of smirk. Gets me every time. You have started to pick up a love of singing as well, and are presently obsessed with the Frozen soundtrack, especially Let It Go and In Summer. You like to watch the videos of those so g's and clap feverishly and cheer when they finish. I call you my movie man. I am sure if I'd let you, you would sit and watch movies or cartoons all day. You just zone out (which is exactly why Mommy shuts off the tv every time). I do see some fun Mommy-Son movie dates in the future though. 😉

You are my adventurer in some ways more than your brother. You don't hesitate to climb up the jungle gym like bars at the park, love jumping off things, and enjoy hanging off the table letting your feet dangle. I have a feeling you'll love it when we out you in gymnastics class!  You also tend to be my adventurous eater. You love and I mean LOVE food!  All food, including veggies and fruit. You eat pickles, carrots, can't get enough of grapes.  You'll give almost any food item a try, which is funny because I was such a picky eater as a kid. I love watching you experiment and enjoy it.

You are so much like me. You will watch your brother do something the first time, and then based on his experience decide to join in, or opt out. I used to do the same thing with Auntie. Monkey see, monkey do...that's you. You love to dance. You're always moving and shaking. It is too cute. Music definitely gets to you. And you are my little biter (I'm happy to say it is getting better). If you are angry, boy howdy, watch out. You tend to want to bite in anger, especially when it comes to your brother. He likes to take stuff from you and that's how you think you should retaliate. We are working on that.

You love your Spider-Man car Mimi and Papa got you last fall and you really know how to move  around on it now.  You will race down our little cul-de-sac and turn around mad jam up some of the neighbors' driveways. You have mastered driving it and its fun to watch you. You and your brother are great sleepers (unless your sick or teething) but you love your night time routine. You have so much fun in your baths and then eagerly read a book and hop into bed. You are probably close to being out of your cribs, but Mommy more than Daddy is not ready to cut that cord yet. Hehe. Soon enough. You both love to be outside and can run and play for hours. I'm enjoying this part and I know we're all looking forward to warmer weather. Thank you little man for being a bright little ray of sunshine. Every time we walk up the stairs, I love how you still want to reach out and grab hold of one of my fingers with your little hands. Love you Pee Wee.

Well, now it's time for some pics. I am just so grateful and blessed and in love with my little family. I have the most amazing husband who is the best father in the world and two of the greatest kiddos any mom could want. I am so excited to see where the next year takes us (and physically I know, it will be back home to Nevada) but especially to see how these two little men grow even more.

Happy New Year...aka, Happy Catch Up Time!

 Happy New Year 2013! All I can say is how absolutely crazy is it that today is January 1st?! And by far 2012 was one of the best, really the BEST year of my life! I welcomed two of the most beautiful babies ever and have found that motherhood actually suites me (yes, I was worried it wouldn't...crazy for some to believe because I am a teacher, but remember, that's to high schoolers...babies were not really a part of my world very often)! And I am sure if you are reading this, you are probably shocked that I actually posted something, since I just realized I haven't done it since October with the boys' 6 month updates.  As you can guess, being a working mom has taken its toll! On top of that, I had one sleeping through the night and one not, so being that I was only getting 2-4 hours straight on most nights, I was definitely following the ranks of the walking "dead" daily.  But, I seem to getting ahead of myself!

So, since I know my time is limited even now, I will do the brief updates from the past few months and of course, will post pictures of my little beasts...I mean, babes! =)

The boys just hit 9 months old yesterday on New Year's Eve and what a great day it was.  We were fortunate enough to have my in-laws in from Christmas Eve until this morning and had a grand time celebrating the boys' first Christmas and NYE with their grandma and grandpa.  And they had a great time discovering these two very distinct personalities that have blossomed from their grandsons.  I am sure you are wondering, but no, no one made it 'til midnight in this household.  Actually, the boys were down by 6, grandma and grandpa by 8, and us by 9.  And I woke at midnight to the thunderous roar of fireworks from the Las Vegas Strip just a few miles away.  That was neat to see from my bedroom window.  Fortunately, the boys' as well as the rest of the house, slept through it all.  Phew! I have to say, the last few months have been AMAZING! The hubster and I agree, we seem to really be having a ton of fun now.  The boys are moving all over the place and talking up a storm.  Parker is our master crawler. If we put him down, it must definitely be within the confines of "baby jail" as we refer to it. We can't count out Landon though; he has this move we like to call the wounded soldier.  He pulls himself with his left elbow, giving a little push from his right foot, but like I said, he can really move quick with that.  He has been in about the last week or two, up in 4 point (on hands and knees) rocking away and every now and then crawls for a step or two, but he feels his mastered soldier crawl gets him around faster.

As for talking, Landon takes the cake with that.  He talks from the minute his eyes open in the morning (usually for 1/2 hour to and hour before we get him) until the moment his eyes close at night.  He is pretty expressive vocally. Parker isn't quite the man of few words that he leads everyone to believe he is, he just seems to be a little more selective as to when he wants to chat.  It is a sound that we just gush over in our house, the babbling babies.  And as for actual words, well Parker takes the lead on that.  His first word..."UP"! That's right, up! He says it as he crawls over to one of us and wants to climb on our hands which are extended, or even lately on our bodies, up in to a standing position. He has really mastered it too.  I all started right around the time my mom visited the first week of December. He could climb and stand, and was absolutely excited to do so, but then we realized we quickly had to teach him how to get back down.  So, it became a game.  Up and Boom was all he wanted to do.  Climb up holding on to someone's hands or the "baby jail" fence, and then Go Boom and sit back down.  Once he put them both together, all got a little better in our house.  Otherwise, he was climbing to stand up in his crib in the middle of the night (and at some points I am sure while he was still sleeping) and didn't know how to get himself back down.  Luckily, he has mastered it all and sleeping isn't effected anymore by it! Thanks heavens too, because Parker is definitely our night sleeper.  He's good from 6 until 5am or 6am.

As for sleeping and Landon, well that has been an adventure for me and him mostly. Landon was still nursing during the middle of the night until the first week of December. Of course, it was probably more for me than for him but I told myself that when he would wake up in the middle of the night, it was always easier to spend 10-20 minutes feeding him and putting him back down and he'd fall right asleep than any of the alternatives (because he wasn't the kind of baby to have you give him his binky and he would go right back to sleep, and I wasn't ready to just let him cry it out even though we had for going to be time). Needless to say, the night after my mom left us, Landon with his two bottom teeth out and in full force bit me several times instead of nursing. I knew then, he didn't need to be nursed, it was just a comfort thing and a bad middle of the night habit I had created. I know this because he would awake almost the same time or two every night, almost down to the minute. So, cry it out was our next option.  He did well. The first time the first night he cried for 29 minutes total. Same thing the next night. The third night he went longer and I was starting to worry. But then I remember everyone saying the third night is the hardest.  And it was. The next night, little crying here and there but he would put himself back to sleep.  I think it was definitely what he and I both needed.  I am happy to say that the past 4 nights have been great.  No waking or crying from my little big man between 9 and 4. That is huge in his sleeping world.  We have even had to wake him up a couple of those mornings.

With Winter Break in full force, we took it as an opportunity to adjust the boys' schedules.  Lately, they had been finishing only a full bottle here or there. So, it was time to drop a bottle and to work on establishing a better nap schedule.  I am happy to say both have been going well. The boys drink an 8oz bottle at 6am when they wake up, then we have started to feed them breakfast around 7:15 or 7:30am. Then it is usually right down for a nap after that.  Don't ask me why (although it I had to guess I would say it's because one of them hands down is usually up for almost an hour before "wake up" time playing in his crib), but there are pretty tired and ready for that first nap.  They usually sleep for about an hour to an hour and a half.  We consider that a good one. Then it's up, play a little bit and then their 2nd bottle at 10am.  This one is usually 6oz but either one will take turns not finishing it all (I am wondering if this has anything to do with the recent spotting of teeth popping up?!). Then play some more, lunch at 11:30ish, and then down once more for a 2nd nap.  This nap has been tricky. The first couple of days they both slept well (about an hour and a half), but the last couple of days one has usually woken up after about 45 minutes.  Then it tends to be a bit of a hairy afternoon! Then up again, 6 oz bottle between 2:15pm and 2:30pm. Then it's off to play some more, run errands, whatever distracts two 9 month olds long enough for them to realize they probably aren't going to sleep again until bed time. Then it's dinner at around 4:30pm, play a bit more, baths and relaxing time getting massaged with lotion, reading books and then their final bottle of 8 oz right around 6pm.  Then lights out! Aaaaahhhhhhh! Then, sleep! And for the most part, they sleep very well, especially in those first few hours.

Sorry for all that babbling about their schedules and food intake.  I think I do it more for me than anything...only because the way my brain has been working lately, I know I won't remember a lick of this information even a week from now! Now, before we get to pictures, we need to talk about the "elephant in the room" as they say.  What do I mean?! Well, it is glaringly obvious to people when they see them that the boys don't look alike (which a lot of people don't understand then how they can be twins, but we won't get into that). However, their looks alone aren't what seem to baffle people...it's their sizes.  Landon, my "tubba" boy has about 5 lbs on his brother. As of about 2 weeks ago (we went in because the boys had their first major head cold and we were making sure there weren't any ear infections) Landon weighed 22. 4 lbs and Parker weighed 17.  Yup, one is HUGE and the other comparably seems very small! There is such a distinct difference that a lot of people have begun to ask us how much older is Landon because he's too big to be the "little one's" twin.  LOL! It cracks us up every time.

Finally, there is the matter of our little "Helmet Head" Landon.  He has had his helmet on for about 11 weeks now. As of his last appointment the day after Christmas, we were told that he can now wear it just for naps and bed time! His head looks amazing.  A lot of people said they couldn't tell he any mis-shape to his head when we first got him in it, but trust me there was a big difference! Our biggest concern was how his ears were not symmetric and overall what that, along with one side of his head being flatter than the other would do to him when it came to wearing helmets for sports (because with us as his parents, it's pretty inevitable that our boys will be athletes of some kind). His doc said he has been the poster child for helmet wearing.  He wore it for about 23 out of 24 hours a days, just off in the early morning to clean it and again off in the even around dinner to clean it again (because boy howdy let me tell you, that thing can get nasty stinky!). His doc said he now is at a 1 (which basically means there is a 1 millimeter (I think it is millimeter difference from one side of his head to the other). No matter what, Landon is one handsome little dude! He is always smiling and just the sweetest little guy, but this makes us feel much better that we did the helmet early to help him. We also have just recently had him start therapy for the kink in his neck that he hasn't quite gotten rid of yet and it is working wonders too! Landon is definitely our little trooper and I am so grateful for that! I love that kid!

Ok, enough of my New Year's rambling.  On to some pretty cute picture moments if I may say so.  And just a little note, thanks again for all our family and friends for all their continued love, support, and help.  We hope you all have the most amazing and prosperous new year and that 2013 is as great for everyone as we feel 2012 was for us! Love you all!