Superstars!

Here's a proof from the boys' recent photo shoot. Will (in navy) was a total ham. He loved having his picture taken. Matt gave the camera man a run for his money. Mommy had to act like a loon throughout the whole process. It was an exhausting 10 minutes.

Boys

After another morning filled with fighting, crying and whining, I packed the boys up and headed for a local park. I explained to them that they would have to sit in the stroller while mommy walked and THEN we could go to the playground. We had a slight hiccup when Will saw the stroller, looked from it to me and exclaimed, "BACK!" As in "put that darn thing back in the car, we can walk." But all was well. We had a lovely walk and even managed to avoid crying fits when dogs passed us by.
After the walk I took the boys to the play area where they acted like kids in a candy store for all of 3 minutes. Apparently the playground cannot compare to the excitement of the nearby creek. So for the rest of the morning we threw "socks" (translation: rocks) into the water and played in the dirt. Who needs a playground when there's running water and a plethora of rocks?

Morning with Will

It's not too often that I get to spend quality time with one child, but this morning Will woke up at the usual time and Matt slept in. Poor Matt is coming down with a cold yet again.

So Will woke up and we snuggled in the chair for about 1.2 seconds before he insisted on picking out his outfit. He surprised me this morning when I didn't have to go through every option. He actually chose something from the front of the pack. He then insisted on picking out his diaper. Mind you, they are all the same. But he pilfered through every one before selecting one for himself and one for Matt. Lately he likes to stand up while I change his diaper. I guess he just needs something new and different in his life. I've at least taught him to help me a little by holding the sides, but perhaps someday I'll teach him how to change it all by himself. Then I can take a smoke break 8 times a day.

It was another hour before Matt woke up, so Will and I just hung out while he drank his milk. It's mornings like this that always make me wonder just how easy it would be to have one child. Guess I'll never know... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Family Tradition

We took the boys to an annual festival late last week. It's the festival that Chris's family attends every year. This year marked 38 years in a row! Although it's a spaghetti dinner, Will preferred the homemade rolls and jelly.
The next day, we got to drive "daddy's new truck" and loaded Caleb's car seat so he could ride along with us. C's mom was quick to point out that the truck could easily accommodate triplets. Let's not even go there.

Naptime Ritual

After I changed Matt's diaper for naptime today, he started protesting as I tried to snap his outfit. He kept saying "no, no, duh taa!" I was clueless as to what he was saying until I caught a glimpse of our handy roll of duct tape. You see, some wise twin moms suggested I use duct tape to secure their diapers before putting them to bed. We've had some issues with the boys taking off their diapers in their cribs, but I won't go into the gruesome details. Let's just say it's now standard policy to use duct tape anytime they're not wearing a one piece outfit.

Apparently Matt can't sleep without knowing that the extra form of protection is securely in place. I guess he's trying to tell me that he definitely cannot be trusted.

Fashionistos

Oh where to begin. I can't even remember the last time I posted or what I wrote about. Matt has just recovered from yet another summer virus. It's no fun having 1 or 2 sick kids. With only Matt sick, Will suffers just as much because I have to give 90% of my attention to Matt. Unfortunately for Will, Matt still felt well enough to bite, kick and hit.

Will has become incredibly bossy over the last few weeks. He has an opinion about everything. Every morning he agonizes about what to wear. It's worse than having a teenager in the house. Each morning we go through all the shirts in the closet. He looks them over, ponders, and holds them before finally commanding, "NO! BACK!" For the most part, he does a pretty good job at picking outfits that somewhat go together. But he's had some misses. Like the Hawaiian outfit in the photo.

The boys have been spending some time at the local library. Our wonderful nanny takes them every week or so, and they play with puzzles, run through the aisles, knock over books and sit for story time. When our nanny was on vacation I decided to take them and check it out. We were late and didn't get to play with puzzles, but we sat in on the story time. By the time it was over, I felt like gouging my eyes out or going out for a stiff drink. The boys were fine; I just couldn't handle the suzy sunshine-sing songy-storyteller.

The picture of Will and Matt in the stroller is one taken in the parking deck of the library. Our nanny said they insisted on wearing their rain boots, so she let them. She's a smart gal; there are some battles that aren't worth fighting.

I'm constantly asked if the boys have different personalities. For the most part they are pretty similar, but there are some definite distinctions. For instance, Matt prefers to bite while Will likes to hit and shove. Will has to eat out of a blue bowl with a green utensil; Matt settles for the red bowl and red utensil. Will is quite territorial when it comes to his highchair, his car seat, and any toy that he is playing with. Matt for the most part is pretty easy going. But a new difference that I discovered last week was their puzzle building skills. Matt very precisely stacked the blocks in the right order and then disassembled them by putting each piece in a certain place. Will on the other hand was creative in his methods and ended up with an abstract version of the same puzzle. See the proof below.

The last photo is of Will and Jake. Lately Matt and Will have been fighting over who gets to take Jake to bed. This was taken after nap time. Notice that Will turned Jake on his stomach so he could sleep. Awwww!

Observations from the week

Matt and Will tend to mimic one another. Yesterday I put socks on Matt because he is nursing an in-grown toenail. (Don't worry, Dr. Chris is taking great care of him.) Much to my dismay, he insisted on wearing his crocs. I tried to explain that he would look like a Florida tourist, but he didn't care. When I tried to put Will's shoes on, he refused to wear them unless he had on socks too. Then later in the afternoon Matt decided to remove one shoe and sock, so Will had to do the same.

You'll see Will's birthmark in the 2nd photo. We don't even notice it anymore. Will doesn't notice it. In fact he can point out numerous boo boos on himself and Matt, but he has never pointed to his birthmark mistaking it for a boo boo. Two neighborhood kids asked about it today, and it reminded me that one day Will will take notice of it too. We met with a specialist last fall for a diagnosis and he mentioned the possibility of laser removal (though it probably wouldn't work that great on the ankle and foot, so what's the point). I'm going to feel bad when Will needs years of therapy as a result of us not having it removed and instead telling him it's what makes him special.

Chris was our hero for the day. This morning he awoke at 4:15 due to an odd smell. He discovered it was coming from the refrigerator but couldn't figure out exactly what it was. While I was googling "noxious odor from refrigerator" and only getting results about food smells, it actually started smoking. After returning to bed at 5:30, Chris kept reminding me that he saved our lives. It's a good thing I don't cook that much, because I was able to move the most important refrigerator items into our mini fridge that we keep in the garage for Chris's drink of choice- Mt. Dew. The best part (for Chris)- I was able to leave at least 6 cans of Dew in the fridge for him. It was the least I could do for him after he saved my life.

Discipline continues to be a problem for me. The problem is that you have to remain consistent. Sounds easy, but it is so much easier to just give up. Take the couch/counter/sink problem described in an earlier post. I spent all day telling them to sit on their bottoms, but they continued to stand, jump and crawl into the sink. By 7pm Chris and I had both had it, so we moved the couch away from the wall. When I told Chris they'd probably end up falling from the back of the couch onto the floor, he said, "well, I guess they'll only fall once." Let the games begin!