Happy Birthday Mother's Day Father's Day (2.5 year update)

Well, Brody managed to top his Mother's Day greeting!  I think his Super Hero name would have to be "The Appender"because he has strung together every major celebration we have had since April into one fantastic celebratory message.  This year, Father's Day coincided with the boys 2.5 year anniversary.  Though we focused on celebrating Chris and all his greatness, I could not help but mark this passage of time with memories of funny things the boys do and say at this age.  As they round the corner to 3, I'm hoping to capture as many memories as possible because they change so darn fast!

We started our Father's day with our favorite Farmers' Market breakfast and a trip to the park.  We came home for naps (we all napped in solidarity today!) and then took the balance bikes out for a trip to our local park.  Chris and the boys sported their Father's Day memorabilia- T-shirts that say "Beast Mode".  I bought these shirts especially for my rambunctious boys who are often spurred on by their Dad.  On more than of occasion I have had to say to Chris "please stop jumping off the furniture, you are teaching the boys bad behaviors". No sooner than these words are out of my mouth, they boys are climbing onto the furniture and jumping off.  Brody likes to yell "superman" when he jumps off things.  Brady likes to yell "I superhero!"

Once we got to the park, total Beast Mode commenced.  The park is always extra fun when Dad is there.  We played until the sun set and had a great time celebrating what a great Dad Chris really is.

 

 

Brady:

Brady is my total and complete chatter box!  This boy does not stop talking.  He talks and talk and talks and I love every word that comes out of his mouth.  He forms complex sentences and his ability to articulate his thoughts seems to improve every single week.  He LOVES to laugh and to be tickled and his laugh is incredibly contagious.  He loves puzzles and is happiest when he has my undivided attention and the two of us are woking on a puzzle.  He also like to draw and build with blocks.

Brady is a bit shy and more likely to assess a new situation for a few minutes before jumping in and participating.  However, once he gains confidence, he is incredibly passionate and vocal.  A great example of this is from our Mommy and Me Spanish class.  There is a lot of participation in this class where the kids are given chances to come to the front of the room and repeat Spanish phrases.  Brady has declined most of these opportunities and instead sits next to me and takes it all in.  After the third class, I overheard him counting in Spanish at home. I was so impressed that he had retained this much information after so little exposure.  During the next several days we counted in Spanish at home and when it came time to count out loud in class, he walked right up to the front of the room and waited for his turn to count out loud (he actually walked up while another kid was counting because he was so anxious to show off his skills.  He could not even wait to be called on!). The incredible pride I felt for him at that moment can not be throughly described.

Brady likes to show you that he knows what is going on by helping out with bits of knowledge from time to time.  For example, after about two weeks of Brody referring to his own knee as his ankle, Brady finally decided he had enough of this misnomer and piped up with a forceful statement "No D, ankle down here" and pointed to Brody's ankle.  After that, Brody never misspoke again!  He also does funny, sly things like moving toys to where they are supposed to go.  We have these step stools that spell out the boys' names in different color letters.  One stool has all the letters filled in and lives in the hall bathroom but the other stool (that lives in the lesser used bathroom) does not have any of the letters filled in.  One day when Brady was going through a toy bin, he found a Y that belonged in the stool.  He showed it to me, told me it was a Y and indicated that he knew it should go in the stool.  I really did not pay it much mind- but a day latter, I as in the back bathroom and I looked down and noticed that he had put the Y in the appropriate space!  I love those little moments where you catch yourself realizing the capabilities of your children.  It kind of makes you want to go in their room and wake them up just to give them a hug (kind of).

Being intelligent does not make Brady immune to awesome toddler bloopers.  Statements like "I runned away" followed by a flailing toddler running in the opposite direction and are typical of Brady. Once when I asked him if he can count backwards he started counting from 1 to 10 while walking backwards instead of counting down from 10 to 1.  He calls Brody "D bones" for no reason that I can understand.  He says things like "D bones, over here" and "That's right, D-bones".  You can't make this stuff up!  He is OBSESSED with the Three Little Pigs story and loves to be The Big Bad Wolf and blow everything down.  When I try to blow him down he says "No Mommy, I brick".  Brady is always thinking!

Brody:

How can I adequately explain Brody at this age?  He is constant energy with no fear of anything!  Brody has exceptional strength and coordination.  He can jump over objects with ease, lift heavy loads, sprint with great speed, jump off ledges of any height, kick and catch almost any ball that you toss to him, and ride both a balance bike and a tricycle with almost no effort.  He is incredibly physical, always moving, loves to "exercise" by copying exercises he has seen.  A few months ago, we bought the boys T-ball sets and within minutes Brody was whacking the ball off the T with incredible precision.  Using the Tee lasted about three days and then started tossing the ball up in the air, to himself, and hitting it with the bat.  Soon after that, Chris and I were pitching the ball to Brody and he was hitting it with [relative] ease.  He throws with great power and mimics all the baseball moves that he has seen (the wind up, the pitch, the catch).  He even pretends to run the bases in the back yard, and when he is done, he hands you something imaginary.  Chris and I are not sure he is handing us, but he must think that you get delivered something when you have rounded home.

Brody also says some really funny things.  For example, whenever he falls (which is often because he is always climbing on something he should not be) he yells "Superman".  I have no idea where he got this, but it reminds me of the scene in Notting Hill where Hugh Grant is trying to climb the fence with Julia Roberts and he slips and yells "Oopsy Daisy".  She mocks him and laughs out loud (in the way that only Julia Roberts can) and that is how I feel when Brody yells "Superman". When he is facedown on the pavement, I try not to laugh, but I always think how ironic this is because Superman would never be in this position; being Superman, he would never be face down like Brody is at that moment!  It kills me every time.  Another very funny Brody saying happened after I let him run around the house naked.  I kind of forgot that he had no pants on (something no mother of twins should ever do really) and I exited the living room to go into the bathroom and take care of my own business.  In the mean time, Brody had to use the potty and he used his own little potty all by himself!  When he was finished, he brought his toilet with pee into the bathroom and handed it to me.  I was so excited that he had done his business without any prompting from me that I said "Brody, you're a GENIUS!".  He loved getting so much praise and beamed from ear to ear.  When I finished going potty, I stood and Brody looked in the toilet, looked at me, and said "Mommy, you GENIUS too!".  I too beamed from ear to ear.

Brody is also very sensitive and concerned for others.  He does not like when he sees other kids get hurt in the park and always asks if they are ok.  He is very concerned when others are sad and shows great compassion for his brother and family.  He is also a total ham.  In Spanish class, he loves to be in front of the room speaking Spanish.  He loves it so much that he even asks for a turn when other kids are already talking! Once he is done speaking, he turns around, flashes me a huge smile, and gives me a big two handed thumbs up.  Then he runs- full speed- back to me and jumps into my arms.  Add to this that he of often wearing his rain boots (because he insists on it and I believe in choosing battles worth fighting), it is fair to say that most moms melt on the spot when they see him!

Brody has some catch phrases that I am sure I will never be able to remember just how he says them, but I will try.  He likes to say "What's da loud noise" when he hears something loud and "See DAT" when he see something exciting.  He says "where go" when he loses something (typically a ball) and he is the first to throw his hand up and "I don't know" when you ask him something seemingly obvious.

The dynamic duo:

These guys are amazing buddies.  They play together and love each other.  They cause trouble just as you would expect them to do.  One day at nap time, I heard a lot of ruckus coming from their bedroom. When I opened their bedroom door, I found Brady and Brody- naked from the waist down- each sitting on their portable potties that they had dragged on top of Brady's bed.  Brody was coaxing Brady to go pee, and upon seeing me in the doorway, Brody immediately held up his urine filled pot for me to behold.  The scene was so funny that I immediately called Chris into the room (after I grabbed the potty of course).  This was one time I was happy that I was not home alone because I got to share the hilarity that goes on each day!

It is so fun to realize how different these boys are.  As a mother of multiples, you worry about treating and parenting your kids in a way that caters to their individual personalities, especially since they hit every milestone at the same time.  At this age, it is so clear how different their personalities are that I hardly worry about that.  Their uniqueness forces us to parent them individually.  They are so perfectly different and yet still so unbelievably close.  These boys are the best and fill my heart with joy everyday!

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!

Happy Birthday Mother's Day

I received the royal treatment yesterday and I could not feel happier or luckier.  I slept in, got cards and coffee in bed, went out for farmers' market gourmet breakfast sandwiches and then spent a few hours at the spa.  I feel like a new woman.

I loved hearing my boys say "Happy Mother's day" and "I love you, Mommy".  I think seeing the joy it brought me fueled their vocal fire because they said those phrases all day long!  To make it extra memorable, Brody kept saying "Happy Birthday Mother's Day" instead of just "Happy Mother's Day".  For whatever reason, he was unable to disconnect the 'birthday" from 'Happy Mother's Day' and it was adorable!  Luckily I recorded it because I am sure that is the last time I hear it that way! 

Thanks boys for a wonderful day and for the pleasure of being your mother!  I love you!

April happenings: My Easter smells of rich mohogany and such

April is usually a really busy month for the McLeans and this year was no different.  We start off the month with Chris's birthday and our anniversary.  This year Chris changed roles the first week of April and we usually have visitors for at least two weeks during the month.  Add Easter to the mix and it makes for one fun month!

The boys were very excited to celebrate Chris's birthday.  They are fully aware of what fun birthdays can be and to have another pop up was very exciting.  In order for them to be ready to sing happy birthday to their Dad, I started practicing with them in March and they got pretty good at singing the whole song by themselves.  The boys picked out their own birthday cards to give to Chris by screaming and pointing  "Monkey one" or "Puppy one" at the desired card and they also decorated a box that held all of his presents.  The boys and I got take out from our favorite dinner stop to have waiting for Chris when he got home.  We also made a cake together and the boys helped decorate it.  After a lovely round of Happy Birthday, Brady and Brody raced Chris to his candles and blew them out before he had a chance.  They also tried to lick his cake and put their faces right in it!  To end the celebration, Chris's parents came into town that evening to spend the week with us!

A couple of days after the McLean's arrived, Chris and I took off for our first overnight stay away from the boys.  We headed to Napa to celebrate our anniversary, his birthday, and anything else we could think to celebrate.  We  had a WONDERFUL time.  We stayed in a nice place, drank tons of wine, rented bikes to ride to a local vineyard, ate fabulous meals, slept through the night, got massages, ate more fabulous food, and drank more wine.  We packed about as much into 24 hours as you possibly can and I only have the most random assortment of cell pictures to prove it! I can't wait to go back!

 After our over night trip, we got to enjoy the rest of the week with Granny and Papa.  We went to the beach, road bikes, blew bubbles, acted out silly songs, colored, traced hands and feet, did puzzles, and read books (the last four Granny pretty much did on demand the entire week!).  The boys loved having them around 24/7 and were so sad when they left.  It was really hard to drop them off at the airport because the boys did not understand where they were going and I was getting emotional trying to explain to them that they had to go home.  It must have been very impactful because every day since their departure one of the boys says "Papa/Granny airplane" and points to the sky.  Chris joked that maybe the boys just think his parents are circling in an airplane above us at all times.  It's quite a funny thought but that does not make us any less sad to see them go!

A few days after Mary and Oscar left, my Mom flew in to spend the week with us.  Her visit was equally as enjoyable.  We went on mini adventures each day to places like the local farm, CuryOdessey (also with Aunt Kathy), Costco, Santa Cruz and such- allowing us to show her the fun things that we do in our neck of the woods.  It was great to have another set of hands to handle the boys when we were out and about.  They loved playing with Nana every waking hour of the day and demanded -in somewhat militant voices- to be read to and played with.  Nana's trip also coincided with Easter/Aunt Kathy's birthday which was a treat for all of us!

The first day of my mom's arrival was sightly marred by the fact that Brody fell at our local park and got a pretty good size gash on his forehead (he tripped while running and hit his head on the leg of the bench).  We walked to the park that day without my regular diaper bag and I had nothing with me to apply pressure with.  Being resourceful, I took off Brody's shirt and used it to stop the bleeding (I have to say, I thought of my own shirt first but decided that was not a good idea, thank god in the heat of the moment I still had some wits about me).  We were a solid 10 minute walk from home so I had to walk/run to my car with my 35lb screaming, topless, toddler laying in my arms whilst I applied pressure to his wound with my chin.  We were a sight, to say the least.  Him lying down and me applying pressure in that way actually worked pretty well because the bleeding slowed way down by the time we got home.  I used an pack of steristrips from my graduate school days (how did I still have them in my closet, I will never know) to cinch the wound closed before loading him into his car seat.  Once Brody stopped crying he turned back into his sweet self and kept pointing to the blood on my shirt and saying "Ut oh, Mommy owie".  He though I was the one who was bleeding!  I took him to our doctor and after getting a closer look at the wound, they decided it did need stitching.  He was a champ through the whole event!  Once he was numb, he simply laid there and let the doctor stitch him up, only eying him warily out of the corner of his eye and never wiggling away.  He was just as angelic when the stitches came out.  The plastic surgeon said that if every kid acted the way Brody did, his job would be a piece of cake.  Chris and I were very proud of our little guy!

At the end of the week, we cashed in Chris's birthday present adventure from me which was an ocean kayak whale watching tour.  We went down to Santa Cruz early Saturday morning to paddle out into the deep blue sea and to be one with nature. Within two minutes of being on the water we saw sea lions, sea otters and grey whales (moms and babies).  It was fun and terrifying all at the same time.  I have no pictures of any creatures because I was white-knuckling my paddle the entire time.  It's weird how vulnerable and far away from life you can feel when you are floating on the open ocean.

Easter:
Last year the boys loved the  Easter egg hunt we set up for them so this year Chris and I were extra excited to plan and execute our Easter egg hunt.  Last year, however, I felt that the boys were too young to enjoy coloring Easter eggs so we did not include them in our celebration. This year though they were totally able to participate so I bought extra eggs and egg dye for the fun.  Being the pseudo hippie mom I am, I purchased all natural Easter egg dye (one step removed from making the dyes myself which I really wanted to do but was not able to fit in this year).  The all natural dye included three colors, a redish color, a purplish color and an orange/yellowish color (that kind of looked like iodine).  I mixed the dyes and brought the cups outside to my mom and Chris who were waiting with the boys.  I then brought the hard boiled eggs for coloring.  I handed the boys each an egg and explained to them how we were going to dye these Easter eggs beautiful colors.  All the while, Chris and my mom are looking at each other and eying me sheepishly, kind of waiting for me to catch onto something.  When I made no mention of the elephant in the room, one of them finally said to me "Um, Carrie, did you hard boil brown eggs on purpose".  It never occurred to me to buy white eggs for this project.  Also, I used the free range organic eggs, you know, the kind where they practically give the chickens back rubs at night to make sure they are happy instead of a lesser egg for such a child centric task (aka, when things are going to hit the floor fast and often).  Since the dyes are all natural (read between the lines: less than vibrant) we basically colored our eggs shades of brown instead of pretty Easter colors. The boys did not know or care that the experience was supposed to be any different, but the three of us were laughing the whole time saying this was one for the books.  The best part for me is that I hard boiled the eggs a day or two in advance so I thought I was 'mom of the year' because I had them sitting in the fridge- ready for action to be pulled out at a moments notice.  In the end, it looked like we had a box of wooden eggs for Easter.  Live and learn I guess; this this one will make me laugh for years to come.  

On Easter morning the boy got up, opened some presents from their Easter baskets and then went on an Easter egg hunt.  The bunny loaded the eggs with either tiny pieces of Easter cookies, raisins, or stickers.  They loved searching for the eggs.  Once they figured out that they could guess if the egg had a piece of cookie in it by shaking it, they got really competitive.  I even witnessed Brady trying to scam Brody with an unopened egg because Brady had already shaken it and knew that it did not make the "cookie" noise.  They are so funny.  The look of incredible excitement that they got on their faces when they found these treasures was so cute.  I am happy I got some of those looks on film!

 

After our egg hunt we headed to Santa Cruz to spend the day with family.  It was Aunt Kathy's birthday and cousin Megan's birthday (a few days later) so we had extra reasons to party.  We celebrated with some kite flying on the beach, a beautiful brunch, and some cake.  Aunt Kathy let the boys put their fingers right into her cake, that was definitely the best part (thanks for the pictures Kath)!

The next day we said goodbye to Nana.  See you soon Nana, we miss you!

April was one busy but great month!