A month of memories: Part Two

Dec 1st:  Today we took the rails off the cribs.  In preparation for this event, we bought a video monitor.  I have to say, I loved watching what they did in the "privacy" of their own room.  Here are some of the things that happened within the first 15 minutes of us leaving the room after they are supposed to be going to bed:
-Both boys came over and pounded on the door and yelled for us.
-Brady got up and got a blanket form the laundry basket for himself.  He then went over and got one for Brody.  That could have been the sweetest hallmark-like moment recorded thus far, but the generosity did not stop there.  He then brought his brother about 15 pieces of dirty laundry and only stopped once I went in to remove the dirty laundry basket.
-They climbed into the same bed but that did not last long before one jumped out.
-Brody yelled "jump" then jumped out of bed.
-Brady grabbed a book and started reading it in to Brody
-Both boys opened the dresser and trashed the floor with its contents.
[Mind you, it is so dark in their room that Chris and I had trouble seeing where the boys were when we walked in there.  At one point, Chris walked into the room and I was watching them on the monitor.  Chris stuck his hands out in front of him like a blind person and asked me over the monitor if the kids were close by.  That is how dark it was in there.  I have no idea where they get this kind of bat vision.]
-Brody started throwing stuff at the ceiling while Brady was reading to him.
-Brady started to twirls round and round yelling "spin, spin" lough enough that I could hear it through the wall and over the video monitor.
We did finally get the boys settled down, but it took a very, very long time.   This was a rough welcome to the first night of sleeping in big boy beds.

Dec 2nd:  Today Brady told me he had to pee right as I put him in the bathtub.  I assumed this was a distraction method so I told him no, he can hold it, figuring if he peed in the tub it was no big deal.  After bath I asked if he needed to use the potty and he did!  He peed right away.  I am so impressed he held it when I refused to let him go! I supposed I should trust him next time.
The boys started (randomly) saying "swim, swim" and laying on their belly in the bath tub while kicking their legs and trying to blow bubbles.  It was hysterical.

Dec 3rd: As a very special treat, we had on an old Christmas movie in the background while were were putting up the Christmas tree.  Fred Astaire was tap dancing and once the boys saw that, they were hooked.  Before bath, both boys were in only their diapers and shoes stomping around the hard wood floors "tap dancing".  It was awesome.

Dec 4th:  We had a great day with Aunt Kathy today in Palo Alto and tonight we decorated the Christmas tree.  The boys loved the ornaments and were amazed that we were hanging lights and shiny things on the tree. Unfortunately these concept was lost on them because they took off equal or more than they put on.  They were so excited by the whole process.  I have no idea how this tree is going to stay standing until Christmas.

Dec 5th:  Today Brady said (what I consider to be) and full grown-up sentence.  He was on the potty and he patted the potty next t him saying "Brody should sit down here".  I love when those moments of real growth happen right in front of your eyes.  Though I should note, it sounded more like "Brady should sit down here" because he calls his brother Brady.
Brody, for the second morning in a row, greeted Chris and I with not just calls for "Mama and Dada but "Hi Mama, Hi Daddy.  These phases sound so absolutely adorable coming out of his mouth.

Dec 6th.  Thanks to our friends E, L and M, the boys played with Play Dough for the first time today.  A great package of homemade play dough arrived and they loved squishing it onto their table.  The very first thing I thought to make with them were snowmen.  I hope that play dough snowmen are not the only snowmen they know this year.

Dec 7th:  Technically, since this happened in the wee hours of the morning, I am writing it on toady's memory list: I slept in the crib with Brody for about an hour.  The cribs have been turned into toddler beds and when he awoke for the 4th time not feeling well, I asked he he wanted me to sleep with him.  He nodded yes in the most cute/needy way so I curled up and wiggled into his crib and the two of us fell also.  Needless to say, Chris wants to upgrade them to twin beds relatively  soon so he does not find his giant wife curled up in the crib again, sleeping.

Dec 8th:  For the very first time I took one brother out of the house without the other.  We have never split them up before but Brody was sick and Brady was not (yet) so to make it easier on the one staying home with the sick, clingy toddler, I took Brady with me when we went to the Farmers' Market. It was really weird to have only one child with me.  To sum it up, it was shockingly quiet and calm and I did not hesitate doing a couple of extra errands on the way home because loading one guy in and out of the car was so much easier than two.  Sorry Brody, we missed you!

Dec 9th:  We have started trying to teach the boys (and Chris too, ha) to say excuse me after certain bodily functions occur.  Now every time Brody hears anything that sounds like a burp or a fart, he says "excuse me", even if he did not do anything.   I'm sure he does not know why this generates such laughter from his parents but it sure does!

Dec 10th:  We are a little over a week now with the boys in toddler beds.  I'd love to say that bedtime is getting easier, but it is still an adventure.  The best nights (the ones that I thought we had turned the corner and everything was going to get easier) happened to be the nights before the boys were getting sick.  Opps.  Some of my favorite activities from before they fell asleep tonight are:
1. I like the reverse banging on the door from the inside.  I can just picture them thinking "I know you're out there, come back in here".
2.  Tonight they got into the wipes and were wiping each others hair and face with them.
3.  They teamed up and yanked one of the bed rails off the bed, pulled the mattress off and started to unmake the bed.
4.  When we threaten to take something away because they refuse to stay in bed (e.g. music they like that is playing in the background, the night light they like, a stuffed animals they supposedly like) they just say "thank you".   It is both depressing and heart warming at the same time.

Dec 11th:  Both boys have been sick and Brady especially has trouble eating when he is sick.  What typically happens is that he goes a couple of days with decreased food then on day three he is veraciously hungry and severely cranky because of it.  He is past the ability to cope by this point so it is hard to get him to decided what he wants to eat.  Today we hit this point and after some snacking that took the hungry edge off, we sat down to dinner.  On the menu was garlic kale, something the boys usually enjoy eating. Brady started taking fistfuls of kale and shoving it into his mouth.  I had to refill his plate within 5 minutes of him starting his meal.  A few minutes later Chris sat down with his plate and Brady lend over and grabbed two handfuls of kale off of his plate and shoved it into his mouth, all the while yelling "kale, kale".  Chris and I looked at each other in disbelief.  We want to remember the day Brady begged for kale!

Dec 12th:  The best memory from today was that Chris called at 5:00 to say he was coming home early.  The end.

Dec 13th: We kicked off the birthday weekend with a night time trip to see some fancy Christmas lights at a local park.  The light show was huge and the boys loved it.  They have taken a liking to Christmas lights and they appreciate the specialness of seeing a house all light up.  They like pointing out Santa and telling me that he is wearing a hat.  Brady likes saying "cool" when he sees something he likes.  Sorry buddy, apparently your mom is stuck in the 90's and is raising you to think you are too.  I will try and update my vernacular.  To make the night even more special, we turned the car seats to forward facing!  I will not complain about the boys being rear facing for two years because the data very clearly shows that it is safer for kids to face backwards until they are bigger,  BUT I am excited to have them forward facing from here on out.

Dec 14th:  It was hard for me not to be sentimental today.  Every time I looked at the boys all I could think was "They are going to be TWO tomorrow!".  Gosh there are so many more things that I want to remember about this age.  I love how the boys play together.  I love how they need me terribly and and want to be fiercely independent at the same time.  I love how Brody does a little dance with his arms when he is excited about something.  I love how Brady will nuzzle me on short walks (e.g. from the car to the house) just because he has a few seconds alone with me.  I love that when they climb on the end tables or the kitchen table they yell "beast mode" while doing it. I love that the boys are healthy and smart, warm and affectionate, and all around amazing creatures.  I am so so happy to have these rambunctious two year olds.  Happy two boys!