Happy Memorial Day!

We’ve had a jam packed weekend already, and we still have a BBQ tonight to go.  The boys are passed out now; they fell asleep promptly at 12:30 today after two solid days of fighting naps hard core.  Saturday they skipped naps entirely:(  Although, they did fall asleep at 6:30 that night and slept a solid 13 hours thereafter.  The joys of toddler beds at times.  They get overtired then play WWF with each other, and then they really get overtired and it becomes a vicious cycle.  As my mom is quick to point out, I NEVER napped, so any naps should be a blessing for me!

Daddy wanted to head to Busch Gardens – yes, again – yesterday.  We made it in earlier and were home by noon. It was just enough time to explore the Edge of Africa area and ride the gondola.  Our friend Miss Kim used to work in that area and was the first to show us it, too. Now, it is one of my most favorite parts to explore.  Lots of room for the boys to run “free” without too many people or places to escape to, or cause too much trouble in. I think their favorite part is the trucks they can climb in and out of, but hay, they are having fun, so who cares if it is not always with watching the animals.  The boys had a great time of course, and we really beat the lines of people by getting in and out early.  Wow, I have never seen the parking lot so packed!
  
Meerkat on lookout above a pile of sleeping meerkats (on the left) 
Rals hangs out with the hippo bums behind him
Nonnie came back from her vacation this weekend, too.  The boys were happy to have their Handy Nonnie back, and were little helpers with their screwdrivers in full force “fixing” her bathroom.  I love that Gus cannot keep his tongue in his mouth when he is “working.” It is kind of how you can never keep your mouth closed when you apply mascara, right?
  The boys practicing yoga.
Outdoor fun with new soccer balls.  Gus wanted to kick it through the goal, but Rals, well, he wanted to just throw it.
       
Pool boys!

    


In other news, Raleigh’s language still continues to build.  He constructs simple sentences pretty regularly now.  Augustus continues to try.  He really knows all of his colors and both are counting to three easily.  By counting, I mean pointing and counting too, not just repeating, one, two, three.  We headed to Ikea with the boys this weekend as well and it was cool to see Gus run to the different colored couches and tell us what color they were.  Raleigh was happy to hang with the sheep and cow skins, and even pulled a sheep skin down around his back and tried to put it on like a cape, and said “Super Bunny.”  His imagination is always going.  Everything has a dual purpose for lots of fun and play.  The rest of the week will be busy as well with Daddy on vacation.  We are super excited to take the boys on a full fledged fire station tour as well.  The bonus is that Uncle Tommy and cousin Alexander arrive late this week, too!  The boys will love having an older play friend around for sure!

Awesome Park & a Bit of Reflection

So, the week has been challenging.  The boys have been pushing boundaries and taking advantage of the fact that there is only one of me, and two of them.  Amazing that it has actually taken this long, so I know I am lucky, and must now learn new techniques from all my great MoM and singleton mommy friends.  I get frustrated, but try not to show it, because then it is really over.  However, today, despite their boundary “expeditions,” (aka not listening) I also remembered why I love these guys so much.  They are fearless and willing to try new things, and do it with such happy dispositions.  We are truly blessed, and I need to stop whining about how hard the “terrible” two’s are!

 

Here are a few videos and pictures.  Enjoy!

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

Conversations with Two, Two Year Olds

What could be more entertaining, right?  Hearing what your children are thinking after almost two years of not really being able to hold a conversation with them.  It is funny, to say the least.  Especially with our two characters.  Here are a few stories, snapshots if you will, of life with two, two year old comedians.

The other day, the boys and I were going somewhere and they had their sunglasses on.  Gus had put his glasses in his mouth, so I asked him to put them on his face.  He answered back, “no thank you.”  Raleigh said in this deep voice, “do it now.”  I asked Raleigh, “what did you say?” So he replied, “do it now, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase.”  This epitomizes their current personalities and conversational styles.  Augustus is the ever polite man.  Lots of no thank you, excuse me, and the like.  The “no thank you” can be a bit trying because he pulls it out all the time. For example, I will ask him/tell him, to stand up so I can take his pj’s off, or clean him off, and he will say “no thank you.”  Raleigh, well, he is the boss man, so he will come up with these demands in such a way that really makes me want to laugh, not pull my hair out, because all I have to do is ask him to be nice and he will add a please, or give a hug. 

Another favorite activity for the boys lately is to walk over the the iPod docking station and ask for “the man” and ask to dance.  Then we throw on some Dave Matthews and do a little dance in the kitchen.  Priceless.

Tonight, Matthew made his dinner of steak and potatoes with sautéed mushrooms, before the boys went to bed.  I was going to make something light after their bedtime.  The boys already ate a good meal before Matthew sat town to eat.  As soon as they heard Matt’s knife hit the meat they came running.  Again, it is like raising seagulls, or raccoons.   Normally, they don’t eat steak, but tonight, we let them give it a try.  Augustus loved it!  He also devoured the mushrooms…with ketchup.  Raleigh gave the mushrooms a good college try, but after the second one, spit it back out. Matthew is happy to have little carnivores to share with!

They have always been awesome helpers, but now, it is so part of our everyday routine.  They will take folded clothes and put it away.  They will help take the plastic items out of the dishwasher.  Anything that has to come upstairs, they are happy to help haul it, etc.  The broom is still their favorite toy.  I love that these boys are so helpful, and hopefully some day, their wives will be thankful too;)  They also take after Daddy in their interest in the kitchen.  The love to mix things, and help with the cooking.  It is great. Of course it takes longer, but really, we have time, lots of time to play in every way. 

The big boy bed transition has been smooth sailing.  Knock wood. After only a few days of crying at the door, they are champions at going to bed now. They rarely even get out of their beds after they wake up.  We have only found Gus in Raleigh’s bed once and vice versa.  I don’t think they are sleeping together, but rather going over when they wake up.  We have no more tears from Raleigh at all; which had been an issue at night time for a few weeks before we even made the switch to the toddler beds.  We did it on a Saturday night, and although Monday was a rough night for Matthew while I was out, by Tuesday they never looked back.  We had to buy the crib conversion railings to stop them from rolling out in their sleep, but that seemed to do the trip. 

Imagination play is still in full swing.  Lately, they will be watching something, or reading something, and you can literally see their wheels turning.  while I was out at a mom’s meeting, the boys were watching Max & Ruby.  I think I have said this before, but I hate this show, but, the boys certainly love it and it helps calm them down before showers, particularly if Matthew or I am not home.  Well, my mom happened to be watching it with them too, and she said that Raleigh was watching Max pretend to be super bunny and all of a sudden shot up off his chair and grabbed a blanket and started running around with the blanket behind his back, yelling “super bunny.”  My mom of course, went straight to JoAnn’s and bought fabric to make them their own super bunny capes.  Love it!

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Today we went went to Busch Gardens with Matthew.  The boys were super excited to show Daddy all their hang out spots.  It was ridiculously hot, but thankfully, we are still able to leave before naptime without any issues from the boys, so we beat the big heat of the day.  Although, they actually opened at 9 a.m. today, so we arrived too late to get the good stroller parking. The boys got to ride some new rides today with Dad’s help.  They rode the cars, the swinging merry-go-round, and we went through the rope bridges with ease.  We had been to Busch Gardens with friends earlier in the week too.  The boys ran into Cookie Monster, and I thought they would be happy and love on him, but alas, they were scared.  Raleigh got a little closer to Abby Cadabby, but we don’t even know who she is since I refuse to watch the newer Sesame Street episodes!

  BTW – How cool is this.  I got to take part in a fun activity at Busch where spectators get to play tug-o-war with the tigers.  This one was a four year old female, and yes, she was strong.  Me not so much.  So cool!

 

Monkey see, monkey do.  Yes, I know they are not actually monkeys;)

Raleigh gets air!