a good weekend

We ended up having a good weekend. On paper and as we were going through it, it probably doesn't seem that way. We didn't do any fall-themed activities and we spent a lot of time at home - but there were such fun moments involved through the 2 days.

Our babysitter moved this weekend and the person she planned to watch her kids wasn't able to last-minute, so she asked me if we could swap care Sat/Mon.  After talking with J who agreed to help out, we said yes. So, we had the 4 boys with us from 9-2 which ended up being mostly lots of fun. It was a typical fall-weather day, so they had some fun playing outside running around doing "bumper cars" in the cul-de-sac with their play ride-in cars. They had fun with the sand box and the swing set, etc. J got our 2 boys to nap at 1:00 and I hung out with the other 2 until their mom could pick them up. Then after naps the 4 of us went to Home Depot to check out flooring options (we're looking at vinyl interlocking planks made to be like hardwood throughout the the kitchen, living room, and hall way) - then we stopped at Kohls to check out rings for me since J wants to be sweet for "Sweetest Day". We're looking for an opal to represent the boys' October birthstone. On Sunday I was still dealing with my cold and we decided not to go to church (not the greatest choice) - but instead we ended up doing some major organization projects - mainly, getting that back bedroom cleared out and at least unburied the elliptical machine so that at least theoretically we can exercise daily again. It felt good, but it was a LOT of work - and we're far from done. While I was working on that room, J was making pork loin on the smoker (YUM!) and oven-roasted squash for dinner. The boys "helped me" - but mainly had a bunch of fun pretending the elliptical machine was an airplane, with one boy on each of the foot-plates. Then they found a pile of plastic cups that I'd stashed in the room - for some reason they found it HILARIOUS to throw the cups back and forth at each other and at J. I loved listening to their laughter. Grandma & Grandpa came over to have dinner late after the football game they were watching and the boys loved playing with them too - and that was a good distraction that allowed me to keep working on that room until bedtime.

As for the weight loss thing - well, I was convinced that I'd see a big drop this weekend, but didn't - the number on the scale stayed the same and I have to admit this was a big bummer. But I'm dedicated to this new way of eating and intend to add at least a bit of exercise and so I know that the weight will eventually come off - scientifically (calories in-calories out), it HAS to!  Just gotta persevere and be patient.

Monday update

We had a pretty good weekend, even though I'm sick with a cold that's now in my chest & I'm coughing. It's not enough to really keep me down, so the boys & I had adventures at the pumpkin patch on Saturday and zoo on Sunday. J was pretty committed to finishing his "spraying of lacquer on all the windows" project while he still has temps in the 70s. He got mostly done and is finishing up (hopefully!) today. Then on to the next thing. Actually, something really REALLY exciting is that he mentioned yesterday that he got another "no interest for 24 months" offer from Home Depot and suggested that we purchase the pergo/laminate flooring that we want to install in the living room, kitchen, and hallway!  It would be so so so wonderful to be done with the low quality carpet and the tiled kitchen that never could hold the grout. J's installed that tile 3 times and the grout just keeps cracking. We are done with tile and on to the fake-wood look throughout the house (except bedrooms, bathroom, closets.

A weight loss update: Still pressing on! This morning's scale read 202.8 which is nearly 4 pounds down from when I started last Wednesday. No real exercise, besides walking around at the zoo on Sunday and a very short walk while the boys rode bikes in the neighborhood Saturday evening. Which isn't good - but I'm glad I can drop weight even without formal exercise. I also guesstimated calories throughout the weekend, trying to underestimate where possible. It really went well. Didn't feel deprived, yet had good boundaries with the amounts I ate. Ideally I would know the exact amounts and calories of everything I consume and then keep that amount to 1600/day.  But the reality is that this is something I'm truly trying to incorporate into my life. I want to find a way of eating that works for me for the long haul. I struggle because I also want to drop weight as quickly as possible - because, hey, it's fun to see numbers drop and clothing fit loosely! But really I'm not desperately huge. From what I recall, this was about the weight I was when I got married nearly 6 years ago. Still over a hundred pounds down from my high before surgery nearly 7 years ago. And with all of my cholesterol, glucose, triglycerides levels in the normal/ideal range (except the good cholesterol that needs to be increased through exercise), I don't need to be in a hurry health-wise.  Much better to go about this at a normalish pace. We'll see.

yesterday went really well

Surprisingly had no big cravings for foods that aren't part of my planned calories for the day. Didn't really even feel hungry until it was dinner time and I did need to eat. Ate an apple while driving the boys to a playground to run off some energy. That got me through until after we got them in bed and then I had a PB&J sandwich. This morning I had my typical breakfast sandwich and my coffee/creamer, but ready to have a snack if hunger hit - but here I am 5 hours later and no hunger. Very interesting. I mean, I'm looking forward to having some lunch and will do in the next hour, but I'm amazed that I have no hunger or cravings at this point.

About the boys: W brought a plastic yellow car to the playground; G did not. G was very unhappy about this once we got there and begged to go back home to get a car to bring along. I couldn't believe this was such a big deal when we were actually there to run, jump, climb, swing, slide, etc. So, I used my cell phone's clock to set timer alarms for sharing this back and forth. This worked.

Calorie Counting Day 2

So, yesterday's tracker:

large egg 72

2 T cheese  52

breakfast thins  100

10 T coffee creamer 350

16 oz cantalope  155

lasagna  360

cheese stick 80

2 triscuits  40

large apple 116

2 cheese sticks + 4 triscuits = 240

1 thin slice deli roast beef = 20

TOTAL:  1585 calories

Changes for today: Well, I had to estimate the coffee creamer yesterday, because J didn't measure it and I wanted to overestimate rather than underestimate. I asked him to measure it this morning and he's got 7 tablespoons in my pot of coffee that I drink throughout the day. So, that saves some calories. I will likely try to have a "real meal" for dinner today - yesterday I was on-the-go because I was meeting a photographer at the park/playground for some photos of the boys with their cousin. They had scrambled eggs and toast while I was running around getting ready to go and then rather than risk myself getting too hungry by the end of the photos and then bingeing/making bad choices when I got home/got the boys to bed, I grabbed triscuits and cheese sticks to eat in the car. Then after the boys went to bed I had a large apple (measured on my food scale at 224 g). Plus a very thin slice of roast beef while I was getting the boys' sandwiches made for today's lunch.  All in all, not bad. 

Scale this morning reads 205.0 and I'll take it!

About the boys - we had a good time at the park/playground that we haven't visited before - it had a firetruck play structure and all 3 boys loved it. The amateur photographer had her hands full trying to get them to take any pictures because they were on the go - go - go, but hopefully we got some good ones. It was just a mini-session, less than an hour, for $30 to get the CD with printing rights. It might not be any better quality than what I would do myself, but this way we potentially will have some photos of me with the boys. We'll see. G's doing so very well with staying dry all night long. Not even 3 and he never wears a diaper - insists on wearing underwear to bed instead and he stays dry. Also doesn't have to wake up in the night to go to the bathroom. W is much more on the normal side for his age - he is staying dry during daytime naps, but then needs a diaper at night which I'm OK with - it's totally normal. I'm just so excited that they're completely potty trained during the day. A delightful surprise, since I just assumed we'd be working on this harder/longer into the 3's. They've been pretty consistent since the 4th of July when they were only 32 months old. Joy!

Almost a year

It's been almost a year since I posted anything in this blog!  I went back to it today by just googling "blogger" so that I could start up a new calorie restriction weight loss blog. But reading these posts about parenting the boys from a year ago - well, I realize that I (can/want to/should?) be writing about both topics. Just quickly on the boys - the "2's" have mostly been a really wonderful time. I'm not even really looking back with rose colored glasses. Sure, we've had some issues of defiance and pushing buttons with each other and with J and I - but mostly they've been really great little people to get to know as they have learned to communicate with us. Lots and lots and lots of words. They both have been speaking in 5-8+ word sentences for a few months now. Especially G lately likes to tell great stories about whatever he's thinking about (which drives J a little nuts sometimes, especially in the car) and W likes to ask why, why, why. And I love this - I really do. I just wish I always had the answers. He asks Why? and I respond - and then he wants to know why to my response - and then another why to that response. Which I guess can get a little exhausting, but I still love being able to talk with them and know what they're thinking about. We're using the 1-2-3 counting method for discipline/training behaviors. It seems to work OK for the most part. It sounds like the "3's" are typically much more challenging with that, so we'll see.

As for weight loss/calorie counting and restricting - well, J has managed to lose nearly 50 pounds from his top weight of when we got married. Nearly 6 years later he's feeling much better and his clothes are really loose. I'm so proud of him!  Meanwhile, I've been using food to deal with all kinds of feelings, from boredom to stress to depression to anxiety. And while I certainly can't manage to binge the way I did back when I ballooned above 300 pounds before surgery, I can apparently slow-and-steady gain weight. I was at my low weight in the weeks after the boys were born - 173 was my lowest. I'm up to 206 this morning. I can't let that continue - don't want to let that continue! I feel OK right now, but I know I will feel much better/more energetic when I drop this weight. My goal is to get to a healthy BMI as measured at the doctor's office. My height is now 5'8.5" and so my weight will need to be 166 to be within normal range. Usually I can guess/allow for an extra 5 pounds at the doctor's office versus my home scale, so my ultimate weight goal is to be 161 on my scale at home. Which obviously means I want to take off 45 pounds. Which will likely take at least a year. My plan is simple calorie restriction. My sister emailed me a link to a story about a nutrition professor who lost a lot of weight by eating only Twinkies and other processed/packaged food (maybe had one protein drink each day plus a multivitamin) and by keeping his calories restricted he was able to lose a bunch of weight. So my aim is to consume 1600 calories each day, which should translate to dropping one pound of fat each week. I'd like to add in some exercise because I'm totally completely sedentary right now. I have a desk job and my elliptical machine is buried in our 3rd bedroom under piles of miscellaneous items. If I do 5-10 minutes of moderate exercise each day, that's better than the 0 minutes I'm doing now!

So - my goal is to track this process daily for the next year, partly because supposedly tracking your food with a journal is one of the big indicators of weight loss success.  So, why not!

I did already meet a major goal this summer - to drop my addiction to Diet Pepsi. I was drinking SO VERY MUCH of that stuff every single day and I felt like it added to my cravings for salt/fat plus I had an increased drive for sweetness. So after I got home from our family vacation in July I decided I would go cold turkey and not drink any of it ever again. So far so good - it's been since Saturday, July 25 and now here we are on September 23, the first day of fall - and I have had none of it. I'm really proud of myself and really happy that I won't be passing along that tendency toward my boys with the bad example. Instead they see me drinking a lot of water.

I do want to take some body measurements too, so that I can track how these change along with the number on the scale. If I can dig out my tape measure I'll give that a try too.  So today is my first day of calorie control, which I expect will last a lifetime. I should be able to easily maintain 161 pounds with 1600 calories/day, especially with my bariatric surgery - I don't really feel hunger the way I used to before I did that. I will need to figure out how much coffee creamer J puts in my thermos of coffee each morning to determine how many calories I'm consuming from that - and I might need to cut that down!

I'm actually a little excited about this - we'll see how long that feeling lasts. ha ha

Happy Friday!

I loved watching the boys today just play with their kitchen using their microwave to heat up food - I had a longer time at home this morning because I had a doctor's appt and wasn't going into work until afterwards. They're so happy to play pretend. And last night - wow - it's become "All Star Wrestling" at our house. Suddenly they've discovered the joy of tackling each other and chasing each other from room to room - all while laughing deliriously. I had fun just listening to them (J and his friend were with them in the living room while I was cleaning up the kitchen). I so so so hope that G & W will be good friends. Watching them play & tease each other physically all in good fun feels like the start of that. We can hope!

we just hung out last night

It's funny - sometimes I think the only/biggest reason that the boys are excited to see me come home from work is that they're expecting that I'll take them "bye bye".  I'm sure I'm just being silly, but it's still a thought I deal with. Anyway, we didn't go anywhere last night. I came home from work and actually, no one was home! Grandma & grandpa had taken them in their little cars over to the neighbor, Willard, for a visit and weren't home yet. So, that was an odd unexpected 20 minutes to myself. Then Grandpa & G came home and G was very unhappy - it was clear he hadn't wanted to leave - either because he didn't want to be without W (Grandpa's theory) or because he didn't want to miss out on any fun. So, I took G back over there and we visited a little while. But that was the extent of our "bye bye" time last night. We worked on puzzles and we read books and we had dinner and we had BATH time.  G loves "swimming like a fish" on his tummy, but he loves it BEST when he's in there with W and has his feet in W's direction and kicks him.  Not cool with W, so we have lots of re-directing.

This morning when I was getting ready for work in the bathroom, I let them use brushes to brush their hair in there with me and let them brush their teeth too. They loved it and didn't mind a delayed breakfast (J had to run a last minute errand for my coffee creamer so it was just the 3 of us).

one month left

Only one month left before we have two 2 year olds on our hands!  I'm really enjoying them so much at this age and while I know there are going to be wonderful things about every age, I'm going to miss our 1 year olds. The one thing I'm looking forward to changing in the next year is their ability to tell us what they want. They've been saying more words lately, but they still often just point at something and do a whining sort of sound. When they're actually able to "use their words" so that I can realistically tell them to do that instead of whining - that will be really nice. 

We did take them out in their cars to walk along the river, feed the ducks, and play at the park yesterday after work. They loved it. G wanted to go really fast in his car, loving it when I'd push him ahead of me and then run to catch up. W didn't really want J to do that for him - I guess he doesn't have the same "need for speed". 

Living on the Edge

We broke the rules last night. We fed the ducks.  I was nervous about getting caught and didn't like that we were doing something "wrong", but the ducks LOVED the bread and the boys LOVED watching the ducks swarm over to us to eat the bread. So, I guess I have some moral gray.

It was fun for J and I to take them to the river and push them along the path in their little plastic toy cars with the pushing bars.  They has so much more visibility and freedom in those than in their double stroller. Plus, that thing is really heavy & only one of us can push both boys. Their cars are fairly light weight, they have a front "hoods" for storage of fishie crackers and sippy cups, and we can share the load of pushing them. We're going to do this again tonight - we're supposed to have mild fall weather again and J will try to get home from work earlier than last night so that we have time to let them spend time on the playground in addition to being pushed along the river.

G's first two-word sentence!

Two posts in one day, following a nearly three week absence...but this one definitely deserves a writeup:

G said his first two-word sentence yesterday, just before he turns 23 months tomorrow.  I wasn't there for it, but Grandpa called to tell me that yesterday while I was away studying, he woke up from his nap and asked, "Mama home?"

I'm so excited & proud!

the longer I wait to post, the more I avoid writing ANYTHING!

It's been almost 3 weeks since I last wrote and that's just unacceptable!  I did start up my Master of Public Health class during this time and it's been a little challenging - but still...the boys are growing and changing and doing so many amazing & adorable things that I don't want to keep procrastinating.  So here are a few tidbits to get the ball rolling again. I'm planning to write every day for the rest of this month, even if all the post consists of is one sentence. Knowing myself though, once I get writing, the words will flow.

Grandma & I took them to the park one evening last week and spotted a big Little Tykes play kitchen sitting out on the curb. This phenomenon of just leaving stuff for free on the curb for anyone to pick up is new to me since moving from Minnesota. I can't tell yet if it's a local or a state thing, but it's actually really nice. Especially in this case, because I'd been thinking in the back of my mind that the boys would LOVE a play kitchen, especially when winter weather arrives and we need to find a way to entertain them inside.  So this was a BIG score. It's in great condition and has: a sink/faucet, microwave, dishwasher, oven, stove, cupboard, and a little attached side table.  And the boys adore it!  They love to pretend play that they're cooking or washing their hands or putting things away in the cupboard.  So much fun to watch them with that. Of course W's bowl obsession works well with this - he can stack bowls there to his heart's content.

Speaking of bowls, W finally had to let go of his favorite orange bowl that he took everywhere with him. After it broke into pieces on the bathroom tile floor, J used superglue to piece it back together and sanded the rough edges (what a great Daddy!) and it seemed that it would be saved. Alas, it was dropped again and the superglue didn't hold. So we had to say goodbye to the bowl. And W was devastated - it did take a full 3 days of him saying "BOOOOWL" with his lips puckered and sounding like a dog howling (that's the best way I can describe his anguished call for his bowl).  Finally he slowly forgot about it and he's OK now.

We were at the park again yesterday evening and the boys were loving the swings - which is such a change from before!  So I decided to try an "underdog", but not that high - more of a "side dog", I guess - getting them up in the air higher than I've done before and they LOVED it. They laughed and asked for "more"!  Lots of fun.

They also love to run, run, run. It's so cute to watch them run in the park. Their little run is so cute.

Diaper rashes have been BAD - but I think that's because both boys are passionate about the cherry tomatoes we have growing in our garden. They love to pick them and love to eat them. "more! more! more!".  Well, we obviously have to refrain from feeding them tomatoes, because I think the acid is causing the burning bottoms. Not fun.

Lots more I could write, but will wait for tomorrow.

don't want to miss a thing

So many new things happen with these boys seemingly daily.  Yet I struggle to take the time just to even jot down bullet points. I'm not going to get complacent!

Yesterday G was showing more playfulness than usual. W was wearing his orange bowl on his head and G kept trying to push it off, take it, and laugh. W wasn't really feeling the humor of the situation though!

Also, while G has for a long while been saying "Bye bye" (often with a hand gesture right in my face to make sure that I understand he wants to get out of the house), W hasn't yet said anything like this.  Well, out of the blue yesterday evening, he was driving their doll stroller down the hallway and called out to me, "Bye!".  He's got such a cute little voice.

I was playing with the boys outside on Monday evening and they wanted to use their play lawnmower. Well, they both "started it up" by flinging their arm away from the lawnmower, just like daddy does (we've got a push-mower that starts up this way).  It's really a big reminder that they are watching everything we do. Big responsibility to be good examples for them!

I was so angry with Grandpa last night, because J shared with me that Grandpa had been giving potato chips (with dip!) to G.  This is after I've told him not to and explained exactly why (we have obesity running in both families and potato chips provide zero nutritional value and are loaded with fat and salt). He'd previously agreed not to - so finding out that he's still doing it made me livid.  So we talked again last night about this and he agreed (again) not to give it to him. Part of the problem is that Grandpa himself loves potato chips and apparently struggles not to eat them in front of the boys - and then the boys beg for some. Grandma's solution was "maybe go into another room to eat chips".  It's not my place to tell him what to eat/not to eat, but my solution would be just don't buy chips in the first place - or keep them at your house so that you're not tempted to eat them at ours.  Augh.

Julie's purchased flash cards to use with the boys during their mornings together - I'm so happy with her drive to be productive with them and it's great that they enjoy being with her. Even though they were doing great with J in the mornings, I think we're all better off with Julie caring for them during that time instead.

Tidbits

W absolutely insists on having the orange cup, the orange bowl, the orange fork, and the orange baseball bat. It's really pretty funny.

We continue with duct-taping their diapers at night and bedtime, because they keep trying to take them off before they go to sleep. I really don't like doing that, though, because they sometimes end up with bits of adhesive on their hips. I take it off with baby oil, but I still don't like it.

I've never mastered rinsing their shampooed hair during bathtime without getting water in their eyes and so I asked J to install a hand held sprayer attachment. I used it for the first time last night. I gave the boys a bath one at a time instead of our typical "both boys at once". G was wary of the sprayer at first, but after I let him touch it, hold it, and have it spray on his hand and his tummy, he was OK with using it on his head. And it worked great - no water in his eyes at all. W, on the other hand, wasn't as accepting of this new addition to bathtime and still struggled with getting his hair rinsed, even though the sprayer wasn't getting water in his eyes. Hopefully that will go away in time.

Still struggling against Grandpa wanting to give the boys (especially G) food when they're upset/crying and this is usually crackers & cheese spread or even on Sunday afternoon, he asked if he could give them ranch chip dip. I couldn't believe he'd even think that was an option. One of my biggest priorities is preventing eating/food/obesity issues for these boys. I don't want to go overboard and cause eating disorders/obsessions, but I really don't want them to struggle with being overweight or using food to manage their emotions. Childhood obesity is such a big problem and I'm always trying to learn everything I can about the best way to prevent it. Everything seems to say that it's at age 2 where you need to start being concerned about it and so if G's BMI at the 24 month well visit with the doctor is overweight/obese, I'm going to seek an appointment/advice from a dietician.

Happy Friday

J gets to stay home with the boys this morning, because Julie's worn out and tired - staying home. I don't think any 3 of my boys are complaining about that = lots of fun bonding time.

W has joined G on the loving-to-read-books train. They both were asking for laptime with their favorite books from Grandpa, Julie, and J yesterday. I didn't join in, because when I got home from work yesterday G was demanding to go, "Bye bye!". Meaning, he makes sure he gets my attention, looking right at me, and waving his little hand at me along with saying, "Bye BYE!". And I can't say no. So, after the boys ate a quick dinner, J and I took them to another park further from our house. They love this park. It has a lot more activity with lots and lots of little kids and their parents. They both enjoyed the swings and then W got hooked on climbing the big-kids-ladder and going down the big-kids-slide, over and over and over again, literally running from the bottom of the slide over to the ladder. I love his little run - he's got his whole body into it!  And G saw some older boys kicking a soccer ball around - and he walked right up to them, not really intimidated at all. They were nice enough to stop and kick it over to him and at first he tried to pick it up and take it away for himself, but I redirected him and he kicked it back to them. It was so cute.

I don't know what we're going to do this winter, when it's too cold to go outside - the boys LOVE running around and playing outdoors!

these days keep flying by

Oh, how I love these two little boys. Sometimes I think we should have another, because the days are flying by too quickly and they're going to be two soon and I won't have babies anymore. J and I talk all the time about how much we're going to miss these days and how sad we'll be when they leave the house in 17, 18 years. Anyway, some bullet points of recent moments I want to remember:

• W woke up too early this morning (6:40) because his brother was awake and ready to loudly start the day. So after I got G out of his jammies & sent him to see daddy for breakfast, I got W out of his crib and asked if he wanted to snuggle. He nodded yes, so I got his blankie, wrapped him up, and snuggled him in the rocking chair in their room. He leaned into me and seemed so snuggly satisfied. I kissed him and told him how much I love him and just spent a few minutes memorizing his face. It was really only a 5 minute event, but I think it was really important. I don't spend enough one-on-one time with them and need to figure out a way to make that happen. (this bullet point turned into a paragraph!).
• Julie texted me yesterday morning that she asked G if he loves his mommy and he said,"Yes", even though "No" is the much more common response to basically everything lately!
• W has the cutest little run I've ever seen - I saw it in action last night when Grandpa & I took them to the indoor playland.
• Also at playland last night: G was so excited about the bubble machine and kept saying, "Bubbles! Bubbles!", running around with his arms up & out.  So cute!
• W has a big ORANGE fetish - he was very upset when G was dressed in "his" orange shirt a few days ago, to the point where I took it off G and gave it to W. He also wants the orange sippy cup and the orange bowl. He wanted the orange toy in the "soybean sand box" at the playland. Interesting...
• G is in love with reading books lately. Grandpa says that they read 20 books in an afternoon and I believe it! On top of whatever they read together, he spends a lot of time bringing me books to read and sitting himself into my lap on the floor. He loves Goodnight Moon, Little Blue Truck, and My Mommy Loves Me.  
• W likes to run up to me and give my leg a big bear hug.
• They're both loving playdoh - they spent an hour with it yesterday with Daddy & Grandpa - which is amazing considering their very short attention span.

where are the words?

Yes, boys typically start talking later than girls.

And yes, twins often start talking later than singletons.

These facts dampen my worries that these 21 month olds aren't talking much yet. But this knowledge fails to lessen my extremely strong desire to communicate with them using words. I mean, obviously I talk with them (all the time, in hopes that this will help) - but I hear very little response through words.  They understand exactly what I'm saying and they easily follow 2-part directions. There's no problem with their comprehension.  But they don't use words to tell me what's going on inside those cute little heads. And I'm dying to know.  I yearn for that kind of relationship and it feels like I've been waiting forever. "Luv you, momma" is something I know will melt my heart and I just wish it would happen sooner than later. Instead, J and I express glee about the one word they both have started saying - "No".  Actually, it's really funny - G was very tired last evening, because he refused to take a nap after playtime at the park and he was kind of whiny. I told him, "I understand, you're tired", and he responded NOOOOO.  It's like, he understood not only what I was saying, but what I was implying (it would be bedtime soon).  Just these little glimpses of what 2-way communication can be like with them just whets my appetite and leaves me wanting more.

They're certainly working on their large motor & fine motor skills in lieu of the verbal skills, though!  They both can thread Cheerios onto dry spaghetti noodles stuck in play-doh. W can climb up the "big kids" playground equipment at the park and hang from a bar.  Both boys can throw the ball overhand, they're both running, and G is jumping.  W is trying to figure out how to throw things straight up into the air, since watching me demonstrate. It's fascinating to watch them learn new things and it's so fun to see how proud of themselves they are. So, I try to take great joy with their accomplishments rather than focusing on what we don't have (yet).

these fast-moving days

Went to the park near our house yesterday with Jan & the boys. As usual, they both took their shoes & socks off during the short drive to the park. I'm really looking forward to having that phase be a part of the past!

Keeping in mind what I've read about the possible routes of obesity inheritance, I decided to challenge G to run the bases with me. And he did!  We had lots of fun running (really, me jogging slowly, but he was doing his little run behind me) from base to base, jumping on each base when we got to it.  He laughed and had fun - and I kept hoping that maybe this kind of thing will activate a love of being active rather than sedentary.

A man with a remote-controlled airplane came to the park and the boys were enthralled, watching the plane swoop around through the air and down to land near his feet.

We also watched a couple playing tennis and they threw a couple of tennis balls over the fence to us so the boys could play with them. And wow, does W have an arm!  He's able to do overhand throwing of a tennis ball with seemingly very little effort.

Then after we came home & had dinner, I decided to test their ability/desire to "pretend play". I asked them if they wanted to "feed their baby". And they did!  We have a baby doll inherited from my sister and I got out 2 of their spoons and bowls - and both of them had lots of fun feeding the baby. And it was so cute!

They're both great with puzzles already, but G especially so. W gets frustrated when the piece needs to be "twisted/turned around" to fit and he gives up pretty quickly. G seems to have a natural talent with getting the pieces in correctly.

I'm so proud of these boys!

Diapers - time to potty train 21 month old boys?

The diaper saga continues...because I've noticed some adhesive lingering on their hip line from the duct tape. So, last night I thought I'd try to go without to see what happens.  Sure enough, they were both diaper-free this morning and had wet all over their cribs. sigh....what to do?  I have a small suspicion that this is a sign (along with others, like signalling to us when they're pooping during the day and interest in our "pottying") that they are ready to be potty trained.  Very young, especially for boys, but maybe we'll need to give it a try. I want to try the 3-day technique, but I'm concerned that it will be longer than 3 days with twins. I don't want to take a whole week of vacation, but maybe I could plan a 4 day weekend of "fun" times.  I just want to make sure that they're really ready for this. Maybe they just think taking their diapers off at night is a fun game, like their "take shoes & socks off during car rides" game.

Diapers & Duct Tape

G has apparently decided that he does not like to wear diapers in the crib. One afternoon last week he took off his diaper during nap time & got poop all over everything in the crib. Then he did it again on Saturday and again yesterday. We used duct tape after yesterday's incident and that worked to keep his diaper on. But I didn't use it at nighttime and when I checked on them before I went to sleep last night, lo & behold, he was diaperless again. So, I put a new diaper on while he slept and didn't think that using duct tape was necessary at that point. But I was wrong! This morning they slept in late and weren't awake before I left for work. But I peeked in on them before I left - and G was sleeping with his bottom in the air, no diaper once again. Amazing. I wonder what it means. He doesn't like the feeling of a diaper? Likes being naked? Thinks our reaction is somehow amusing? And least likely - could he be ready to start potty training? They turn only 21 months this week.

If anyone reading this has any advice at all, please leave a comment because I have no idea what we should do at this point!

Every morning...what a blessing

When even a "really amazing thing" is a daily occurrence, it becomes part of our routine and we risk missing out on the wonderment and enjoyment of that thing.

My "really amazing thing": Getting to enter the boys' room every morning to two little faces that can't wait to see me. Whether they're happy or cranky, W & G are there waiting for me and want me to pick them up. I feel so loved. It's such a privilege to be the one they need, the one who changes their diapers and brings them in for breakfast in their jammies.

Today, I'm thinking about how it won't always be this way. Someday, of course, they'll be adults and living somewhere else. But even much sooner than that, they'll be too big for cribs and will likely walk right out their door when they wake up, in search of me or their dad. Hopefully I'll love that routine just as much. I think I'll miss these days when they're gone, though.

The push and pull of raising little ones...the whole point of parenting is to raise them into adults who will eventually not need you anymore. But I enjoy being the one to meet their needs. As much as I will enjoy their milestones of more and more independence throughout their childhood and will be proud of their steps along the way to adulthood, I'm really truly going to miss the "20 month old" time. These are sweet, sweet days.

Grandma & I took them to the park yesterday after work. It's been such strange weather for mid-July in the Midwest, with a high of 75 degrees and low humidity!  We took their sand toys along and throughout the evening they ran along the park's paths, jumped on the bases in the baseball diamond, climbed the playground equipment, went down the slides, and interacted with new little kids.  Because Grandma was there, we could switch off following one or the other of the boys and we all had a great time. It's funny - they really don't have much of a need to be near one another when we're in public and I think that's really healthy. At least I hope so. I want them to be close friends, but I also really want them to not be "needy/clingy" with each other as twins. It's good for them to have different interests and enjoy other kids.