Parks, Aquariums, Play dates, Oh My! Bonus, Cat Video that will Make Anyone Laugh!!! We Caught the Kitty...

We are keeping busy this week with Nonnie and Pickles out of town visiting their newest grandson, Kaine, and their first grandson, Alexander. Seriously, I don't think the boys have spent much time in their play room at all. They are having more fun chasing the cats and climbing everything in the house. Please be sure to check out the video of the boys loving the cat. Willow's face is priceless; don't worry, no animals were injured in the making of this video. They sure love him;) Press play!

We went to our new favorite park again this week, even though it was over 90 degrees out. This park is great for multiples because it is fully fenced – a must for two 16 month olds prone to running different directions and not always listening to their mommies! Not only does the park have a fence around it, there is a secondary park area for little ones that is also fenced in and it is almost all shaded. Here are a few pictures. The boys were too cute for words; they had most of the parents at the park cracking up. They just ran from one thing to another, and would throw their arms up asking “where” when we heard airplanes. They are still working on going down slides on their own and walking back down the steps of the jungle gyms, but all in all it was a very successful trip to the park by ourselves.

We also made it to the aquarium by ourselves and had a blast taking our time looking at everything. We even managed to not get wet during the rain that was in the area…perfect timing that day. The boys were let free for all of five minutes by the giant aquarium - see the picture and below that is a picture of the boys checking out the alligators!

Yesterday we had another twinkie play date with some of our favorite twin friends, but we missed the friends and moms of those who were too sick or sore to make it:( The boys cooperated with one nap yesterday so a morning play date worked out perfectly! Augustus had his “momma’s boy” moments, but no screaming fits when I tried to put him down to play. That is good. They really are funny how they are in a stage fighting for my affection. Seriously, how many 16 month olds do you know who say “MY mommy?” Tomorrow we are heading to the aquarium with our favorite identical twin boys. I know I will be tired by the weekend; however, hopefully the boys have lots of energy for daddy!!! They have been having a ton of fun with daddy playing outside when he gets home from work. It is perfect timing as they finish dinner and basically get to go outside to get hosed down from the mess they made;)

Sick Babies Again??? All is Well Now

Well, the boys survived another bought with sickness, and Matthew and I did too…barely! Whew, it was a rough one. They had really, really high fevers again for almost two full days. This occurred after we went in for their immunization shots and visiting the doctor - AGAIN. I am not sure if it is the shots, or the doctor’s office getting them sick. I have to try to stay positive that this will help build their immune system and later on they will be less sick. Gus had it pretty bad with a sustained fever over 105. We took them to the “after hours” pediatrician on Sunday night and they confirmed it was just viral and diagnosed pharyngitis. They had some pimply looking dots in the back of their throat and tons of drool; it was like they could not swallow their own saliva because it hurt too much. Then, days later when the fever was gone Gus had fever blisters in his mouth and throat. Poor baby! By Thursday Matthew took him back to the doctor because he was just screaming in such pain I thought there was something else wrong with him. The boys obviously did not have much of an appetite during the week, and I think it was messing with their tummies as well. The doctor just said that it was likely pain from the blisters in his throat making Gus so uncomfortable and irritable. However, he has continued with the fits as well, so it may just be a bit of the terrible twos coming early. The pediatrician actually said that the terrible twos begin with 15 months…and the boys are now just 16 months, so here we go! The boys are so good; it is just funny to watch Gus have a full blown fit. Raleigh just looks at me like “what is he doing???”

As the boys were feeling better we took them to Great Explorations in St. Petersburg. The boys had fun and were able to run around without us worrying too much about what they were getting into. The museum is a hands-on experience with tons of little interactive areas to play in. Of course, the boys loved the fire truck the best. The big cow in the orange grove area was also a hit. I did not have my camera with as I left it at a play date, but I took some with a disposable camera, so look for pictures when I get them developed. However, yesterday I bought a new camera and I am in love with it…which means tons of new pictures to come! Here are a few pictures of the playdate with some of the boys friends.

Some little things the boys are up to include: spinning, lots of spinning, walking on their tip toes and backwards, even sliding backwards on the wood floors too. They are very into new things and are so fun to watch. Raleigh loves to sign everything he can around the house and out and about. Gus has not been so active with the signing, but today he signed a ton while reading his book and I was so proud! They are still working on talking and have lots of new sounds, so I think they will take off talking soon. “Dad” is their favorite word right now. They never did say “da da” so it is awesome to hear dad all the time! I love that when we come close to Nonnie & Pickles house they start saying “pa pa” in the car. Their molars are almost all the way down now and the biting seems to have subsided as well – knock wood! Gus had been bitten on both sides of his face at one point and then a week later Gus had bitten Raleigh on his face too. Ugh! Better news is that they are moving towards a one nap schedule after the sickness. They have been sleeping in later and if they make it to 7 or 7:30 in the morning we know we are safe to get the day started and settle them in to a nap around 12 or 12:30. They also have decreased the amount of milk they have been drinking and have increased the amount of solid foods, which is helping them get better sleep overnight. We are also saving on milk expenses! Man, if they both drink around 30 ounces a day we were going through a LOT of milk. Now they are down to about 2 bottles totaling 16 ounces – which is exactly what they need. Plus, it means less bottle washing!!! Yay. Hopefully they will be down to one bottle soon and off them completely in the near future.

Water Works and the Next Hulk Hogans????

These kids keep me hopping & laughing. Enjoy the photos and videos. This is a snippet of what a day with twin boys will do to you. Don't forget to press play - you won't be sorry. All this laughing and giggling was after they had their shots for their 15 month checkup today as well. Gus weighed in at a whopping 25.4 lbs and Raleigh was exactly two pounds lighter. Amazing, we thought Rals had caught some ground. However, Gus dipped to the 50th percentile for weight and Raleigh dipped to the 25th percentile. They are long and lean. They are both about 33 inches long - 90th percentile.

Dad's idea of shopping with the boys...here they are hopping out of the carts into the sheepskin tub at IKEA!

VIDEO - WWF Superstars of the Future

VIDEO - That is a happy laugh and a big wet one!

The Story of the Ghost Cows

Sorry for the delay in blogging…if anyone is even reading – no comments in a while folks - except T who is a blogger like me, so thank you T! I have been reading the Twilight series and it has pretty much consumed all my free time in the last week and a half. Love it!

We recently had a visit from our favorite girl, Annie!

The boys just loved and adored her as much as we do. She is absolutely beautiful, and has just as pretty blue eyes as the boys, although they are a different color blue. Look out in a few years there boys! The boys even went to the airport to pick her up and were trying to hug her in her stroller, and steal some of her toys too! My best friend in the whole world, Kristy, and her mom also came for the trip. We had so much fun, but realized that maybe when we want some girl time we may need to pick a trip without the babies…but that is almost impossible to do! I am sure it will get easier as the kids grow up to get some more mommy time in on our trips. We wished they lived closer, but are just so happy to see them whenever we can!

My favorite story besides the boys just trying to cuddle Annie like she was one of their stuffed animals is that Kristy came up with the term “ghost cows” for the boys since their “moos” for cows, are really more like “boos” now. It is too much! However, the boys are able to say of course “mum-mum” which Raleigh says at least 500 times a day, and they also say dad, Non Non, Pa Pa for Grandpa Pickles – which sounds very similar to their sign language for fish…but they also say mine, na for no, my mum-mum (Raleigh says this a lot - as he has become a very big momma’s boy), quack for duck, baa for sheep when they feel like it, and Gus tries to say truck but it comes out more like nuck.

They got a new clubhouse for inside, but alas, they are fighting too much over it to let it be a staple of the playroom. They also don’t quite get sliding down the slide yet, so I am going to give it another try in a month or so. Here is a picture of the boys showing some brotherly love!

We’ve been to the aquarium a few times and have been in the pool to stay cool too. The boys love the water so much, but we really need to start swimming lessons soon! They think they can do anything in there and are a hand full indeed! They are still working on all four of their first molars and it is a big pain for them. They are not eating very well…which means they have been waking up hungry on many nights. They are eating a lot of applesauce and yogurt, but don’t really like munching on anything hard. They loved the meatballs from IKEA though so we are trying them to get them to eat something a little more filling. Any ideas out there from you other mommas who have gone through this? I hate to break out the blender for more “baby” food, but we may have to if they don’t start eating better soon! Our fourth of July was very quiet this year. The boys just don’t do well staying up. We still had an all American BBQ to celebrate the boys American side;) They love hot dogs and baked beans, but the beans do not love them!

Here is a gorgeous picture of our newest cousin, Kaine Martin. Isn’t he divine?