Growing Up

Our last two days have been full of wonderful adventures but they have been very bittersweet adventures that have left me in tears more than once. Yesterday both boys figured out how to cruise around the living room pushing their stand-up walker. Though they have been standing on their own for awhile now, they really hadn't shown much interset in walking... until all of a sudden they are racing around the living room and there I am in tears because my little boys are starting to walk. Who gave them permission to grow up? Because I surely didn't! But sure enough as soon as they went to sleep last night, Jon and I sat down to order the invitations for their first birthday party. I finally gave up on the idea that not throwing a party would prevent them from turning one, though I did so VERY reluctantly.

The boys weren't interested in giving me a break this morning and they continued to grow up right before my eyes. This morning they got their first haircut. I have been toying with the idea for the last week or two but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Their hair is thin, but it was getting long and raggedy. Plus Matthew's hair was long enough to cover his little ear mark and we were having to constantly tuck it behind his ear in order to tell who is who. My mother's whole family is coming in to town for my grandparent's 50th anniversary party on Sunday so at the very last minute this morning we decided to go get their hair cut for the party. I needed to do it quickly like that so I didn't have time to think about it and change my mind. We took them to my dad's barber. She has cut my dad's hair for years and also did my grandpa's hair before he passed away, so it was only right to take the boys there. They did amazingly well and looked so handsome sitting up there in that chair. They look absolutely adorable with their hair trimmed and cleaned up, but afterwards I cried thinking that I can never undo what I had just done. They will never have all of their baby hair again, with those natural ends that first poked through their little heads. They will never have a first hair cut again. Now I look at them and they look like handsome little men and I can't help but wipe away tears while I look past them searching for my babies. As if that wasn't enough for one day, we took them to their first dentist appointment this afternoon too. They each have six teeth a piece and we know this because they sat like big boys while the dentist stuck his little mirror in there and counted them out. They were very excited show the dentist how big they are (soooo big!) and to get their new toothbrushes. Ever since, I have been desperately racking my brain trying to find a way to stop my precious babies from growing up. I've got one month to figure it out before they turn one year old and are officially little boys and not babies any more. Because at the rate I'm going, I'm not sure if I can handle this birthday!!! I may not even survive until then!

Daddy's Home!

Daddy has been home for exactly four weeks now and gosh are we having fun! We have been on so many different adventures... the lake, the zoo, the Hands-On Museum, the Metroparks, even the dog park! The boys have love the lake. They love to ride the speed boat, the paddle boat, and last weekend we took them kayaking for the first time. We also go up the Greenfield Village two or three times a week. Our goal is to ride each animal on the carousel this summer! They also love to ride the train and the model-T cars, and they love the horses and other animals at the farm. For Father's Day we got daddy a pull-behind bike trailer that has a stroller attachment, so we have been taking the boys rollerblading and biking all over the place. Rigby likes when we go rollerblading on the path at Lake Erie Metropark so we can swim and run along side us until his tongue just about touches the ground. Earlier this week we were going to bike up to Pizza Hut to get a pizza for dinner and despite saying to each other "It kinda looks like it might rain..." we went anyways. Luckily the boys were completely covered in the trailer because just as we were leaving Pizza Hut the sky let loose with the biggest downpour we have had in months!!! Jon and I were soaked to the bone but the boys seemed to enjoy the rain and when we got home and cuddled into a cold, sopping wet puddle in the basement, we all laughed so hard we about peed our pants.

Aside from adventures, the boys have learned a ton of new tricks since daddy has been home. They can give high fives and kisses. They can feed us bites of their snacks... unless its something they really like, then they just pretend they will give us a bite and at the last second shove it in their own mouths :) Any time we turn music on, of one of their toys plays some music, they dance and be-bop all over the place. They are both standing on their own now and believe it or not, head bonks aren't as common as they used to be. It won't be long before they are walking! YIKES!

I can't believe four weeks of summer have already passed. I've got to do a better job of keeping track of our adventures. Next weekend we are taking the boys to New York to meet Jon's grandparents, and then two weeks after that we are going to the Twins Days Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio! But for the time being, we're just enjoying every single moment of our whole family being home together day after wonderful day :)

On the move

Well, we're on the move! The boys have been crawling for almsot two weeks now. They have been army crawling for over a month, but two weeks ago they figured out how to do it on all fours. Apparently they were watching the dog and learned pretty quickly. Damn dog. The first two days were nice, because they were slower on all fours than they were with the army crawl, which meant that I could keep up with them. But then Jon caught Caleb doing wind sprints in his crib (seriously) and its gone downhill from there. They can accelerate so fast I'm suprised they don't leave skid marks on the wood floors! They quickly realized that we chase them and they find this to be hilarious. They must, because they turn around and laugh at us. Then they turn back and take off!

A few days ago they learned to pull to a stand. I thought we had a little more time before this happened. Nope. Caleb is smart enough to know that he should hold on with one hand at all times. He's even smart enough to know that in most all situations, two hands are better than one. Matthew, on the other hand, thinks that as soon as he catches his balance he is supposed to let go and walk! Despite numerous unsuccessful attempts, he has yet to figure out that this is not the case. Matthew is in the process of mastering the furniture walk... he has made it from the couch, across the ottoman, and to the chair. However, if he really wants something he knows it is faster to get down, crawl to it, and then stand back up to reach it.

Needless to say, we have bonked MANY heads and I am EXHAUSTED!

5:30am Shenanigans

So last night was my first night being all alone with the boys. Jon's leadership students had a team in the Clarkston Relay for Life, so from 7:00am yesterday morning until 10:00am this morning, he has been chaperoning about 50 eighth and ninth graders at the Relay. I took the boys out for most of the day yesterday and they had a blast. Mommy did too... some of Jon's students walked the boys for over an hour so Jon and I were able to walk and spend a little bit of time together :) But then I brought the boys home and daddy stayed overnight. Yikes! The boys crashed at 7:00 and I was asleep by 8:30 just in case they decided to torment me all night. But they did great. They both woke up to eat at 2:00 and I doubled them... I have never done that in the middle of the night before but it worked out great. That is, until I had to get two sleeping babies from the living room to the nursery and INTO their cribs! Matty woke up again at 5:00 but somehow I managed to grab him before Caleb woke up. I fed Matty, put him back in his crib so I could feed Caleb... and the shenanigans began!!!

First he crawled right over to where the two cribs meet to look for his brother. Apparently this is why they are BOTH awake every time we go in there in the middle of the night when we think ONE is awake. When he couldn't see his brother, he started to call for him. I imagine this is the part where Caleb is supposed to wake up and pop his head up, but since he wasn't in the crib this didn't happen. Eventually Matthew got bored of trying to wake his brother and decided to try climbing out of the crib. We have the mattress set at the middle level because they aren't pulling up yet and unless they are standing up, its impossible for me to get them in and out on the lowest level. So I watched his little hand reach up to the side of the crib as he tried to pull himself up. Luckily he wasn't too invested in the effort and gave up before making it to his feet. Bored once again, he quickly discovered that he can strum the crib bumper like a guitar! We have the mesh bumpers and they are pulled pretty tight, so when he plucked it with his finger, it boinged back and smacked against the crib slats, making a wonderful noise! He did this on the front side of the crib about 10 times, then toddled over to the side to see if it made the same noise. Yup! Sure did! By now Caleb was done nursing and I put him back in his crib. Matthew of course saw this and knew his brother was in his rightful place once again, so Matthew crawled over to where the cribs meet and called for his brother :)

Babies for Sale

Why why why do the boys sleep in when daddy is home and wake up at the crack of dawn when I'm by myself? Yesterday Jon took the day off and said he'd get up with the boys and the darn kids slept in until 8:30. This morning... 6:40. Seriously?! Who wakes up at 6:40am?? By 9:00 I was EXHAUSTED. Matthew made a very exciting discovery. (Exciting for him, not for me). They have both been army crawling for about two weeks now, but they have really only scooted around the living room since that is where we hang out and that is where all the toys are. I'm not sure they really even considered going farther than a few feet. But as I'm changing Caleb, I realize that Matthew is gone. The first step to being a great twin mommy is to lose one of your kids, right?! So I leave Caleb in the living room (totally naked of course) to go find my missing Moonpie, thinking that he couldn't have gotten far. Apparently he had made it across the living room, through the dining room, and well into the kitchen, where he discovered the glowing blue nightlight plugged into the wall just above the baseboard. Lovely. So I pick him up and trek downstairs to dig out the outlet plugs. Forgot about Caleb naked in the living room. By the time I got back he had watered the rug. I plopped Matthew back in the living room and diapered my little pee-er. Two minutes later, Matthew has made another break for it and this time he's headed towards the dog food. Now I really don't care if my kids eat dog food (they are Paddocks, they will eat worse!) but Rigby get super nervous with kids by his food. I'm a little nervous about how he will handle the babies by it and today is not the day to find out! I scoop up Houdini and decide that its time to tie them both down and feed them breakfast. However, since getting colds over a week ago, neither of them will eat any solids. I don't even know why I keep trying because it is seriously exhausting and I want to rip all of my hair out at every meal. I put them in their bouncers and strap them down. Now I can't lose one and the dog is happy that his food is safe (at least for the time being). Did we eat any breakfast?! NO! They performed somersaults in their bouncers (please see below) and ate more of the boogers dripping down from their noses than they did their applesauce or oatmeal. I still had to get Matthew's antibiotic in him, which of course didn't go any better than the oatmeal and now his pajamas are covered in pink bubblegum amoxicillian. I'm sure it stains, but I was too worn out to change him and stain stick it, so I sacrificed the pajamas and put them both down for an early nap! I am going to take a shower, and if I don't hear any screaming, I might even take the time to shave my legs for the fourth time since the boys were born. (And yes, they are 8 months old... you do the math!!)

Nap wars

Caleb and I are having a battle of wills as we speak! He is seriously the worlds worst napper. He was only napping for 30 minutes, which I thought was horrible, until he decided that 15 to 20 minutes was all the nap he needs. If that really was all he needed I'd be fine with it. But the kid is a major crab-cake ALL day! This morning he woke up after exactly 30 minutes (almost to the second) and I am leaving him in there to fall back to sleep. Its not working. And now I think he's woken up his brother. Drat. If anyone can make him nap for longer than a half hour, I will vote for you for president. I think I am losing this fight...

River

Thought I was getting a text message but apparently it was the actual theme song from The Office on the TV. Oops!

Took the boys down to the river for the first time. Jon was more excited than a six year old on Christmas morning. He held them both and they all just looked out over the water for a long while. It was beautiful. I know he was dreaming of taking them fishing someday soon. The boys were just glad to be outside. Stuffed them both in a baby swing and they squealed the whole time. If only they knew just how much time they'll spend on that river with their daddy :)