Strawberry Fields Forever

Two weekends ago we took advantage of a Sunday with nothing on our calendar and decided to go strawberry picking.  I really wanted to take the boys strawberry picking ever since our slightly lame attempt at berry picking last fourth of July.  After almost a year, we finally got our chance!  I picked out a u-pick organic strawberry farm south of Santa Cruz and we headed over the mountain.  The boys were excited to go so I figured the outing would be fun and easy, and it was!  We had a great time.  Brody ate every strawberry he picked off the plants; not a single one made it into the baskets.  While munching, he did a little dance that included a cute arm swing, a spin, and a booty shake.  His talent is really unquantifiable.  Brady ate a few strawberries in the field but in typical Brady fashion, he clung to the first strawberry he picked the entire time we were out there.  While delicately holding the original strawberry with one hand, he plucked new strawberries with the other.   Thirty minutes later (in the car), I turned around and asked him were his strawberry was.  He slyly pointed to his tongue and with no words -just a Soprano like gesture- he let me know his strawberry now slept with the fishes (can you tell I am binge watching the Sopranos?  A little late to the game I realize, but thanks to Amazon Prime, I can finally get caught up on TV from the year 2000.). 

After berry picking, we decided to keep heading down the coast.  We wandered down to Carmel, let the dogs play in the ocean, walked around town and had a great afternoon.  The boys are getting so much bigger and more mature that's getting easier and easier to do these kind of adventures.  They skipped nap, and although they were tired and cranky by the end of the day, they were in good spirits the rest of the time.  It is great to see how easily they can roll with fun!

Big Boy Beds

We finally completed the transition to big boy beds!  This has been a long road, starting with the boys climbing out of their cribs back in November. I decided to write the whole long story, not because it's all that interesting, but because I want to remember that EVERYTHING is a process and no change happens like the flick of a light switch  This can also serve as a reminder to the future me that (especially with twins) what is good for one child at one time may not be the best for the other and that much of parenting is taking two steps forward and one step back.  Note to future Carrie: reread this post when the going gets tough! (Chris has been sending me a lot of emails from myself via my ipad saying things like "Future Carrie, you may want to buy more cereal when you are out because your husband was hungry and ate the last of it", or my favorite "Hi Future me, I thought I should know I'm super nerdy."  These have been cracking me up!)

Way back in November when the boys first climbed out of their cribs, we decided to change the cribs into toddler beds for safety reasons.  However, after a few nights of mayhem, it became clear that the boys were not mentally mature enough to accept that they had to stay in their beds or there would be repercussions.  Also, "repercussions" was not something I really had in my arsenal.  Aside from constantly putting them back in their beds, I really did not have any other carrots or sticks that they cared enough about to help them to learn what they should be doing.  This was especially true for Brady who did not have the impulse control need to spot himself from jumping out of bed and running over to his brother.  So after a week or two of terrible bedtime behavior, we put Brady's crib back together.  We spent months working on getting them to stay in their beds once the lights were off and we pretty much had to wait in their room with them until they fell asleep to ensure that no mayhem or dangerous behavior ensued.  SLOWLY though, Brody learned to fall asleep without getting up and he understood the meaning of the rule "no feet on the floor when the lights are off".  In time, he got really good at putting himself to sleep during nap time, so much so, that he would fall asleep way faster than Brady.  Turns out, Brady likes to play in his bed and settle himself down by reading or talking to himself and his energy was keeping Brody awake.  So, I split the boys at nap time; Brody sleep in his toddler bed and Brady fell asleep in the master bedroom in a pack n play.   For whatever reason, even though Brady knew he could climb out of his crib and the pack n play, he seemed to respect the barrier and would not escape (even when I found his brother standing right next to his crib with open arms saying "D- I catch you").  As of a month or so ago, we were in a really good spot sleeping wise, the boys were falling asleep by themselves at night, no one was getting back up after lights out, and naps were pretty regulated, so of course we decided to change everything by giving them their big boy beds ;)  Thankfully, this transition has been much easier.  They like their beds and based on our excitement and explanation, they understand that they were upgraded to something more special.  It just goes to show you that waiting for the right time (and a little maturity) is usually the right thing to do (if you can do it).  The passage of 6 months and the introduction of a new bed has made Brady really wants to sleep in his bed at nap time so he has been learning to settle himself down more quickly (if he does not settle down within a reasonable time period, I move him out of his bed).  Also we give stickers for good bedtime behavior which 6 months ago meant nothing to them.  More carrots and  more sticks has made my job a little easier!  All in all, it is wicked fun to have big boy beds in the house even though I was terribly sad that the cribs were gone!

The hats, inflatable hammers, and tool belts were party favors from an awesome birthday party and they got them the day of the disassembly.  Perfect timing so the boys could help Dad do some deconstruction! I have not decorated the room with other fun toddler tidbits just yet so I will post more pictures when the transition is final.  For now we are enjoying wide open floor space and comfy places to read books and to work on Mom's computer (what?!)!

Take me out to the ball game

 For as long as I can remember, Chris has refereed to us at the family of Giants.  I assume this comes from the fact that he and I are both tall, we have a 110 lb dog, Rocco, and a 60lb lap dog, Adriane.  Once the boys came along, they were immediately included in the family title, not only through heredity but also by 'carrying' their own weight and being on the bigger size (for twins) at their birth.  It seems only too fitting that we moved to California and landed squarely in Giants territory.  Of course Chris and I quibbled over whether or not the boys would be loyal to our home town teams, but taking it as a sign that we were meant the follow the Giants, we committed to being Giants fans (as much as you can commit, by buying shirts and hats!)  To sweeten the deal, the Giants have a minor league team that plays in San Jose, only 20 minutes from our house.  We went to a game a few nights ago and we are hooked!  The minor league games are SO family friendly, complete with local ice cream, craft beer, pitching and hitting games, and a bouncy house. What more could you want, really?  We enjoyed explaining the game to the boys, letting them cheer at the top of their lungs, and feeding them some of the nicest stadium food I have ever seen.  It was great fun and we will be back!  For now, they boys are enjoying wearing their Gigante hats and singing "Take me out to the ball game" as many times as they can!