Spring is here!

And with spring comes babywearing while lawnmowing, sprucing up our bedroom with some new paint, reading in the playroom off the nursery, and goofing off in our underwear.

Thank you to... who?

We had two delightful books delivered to the house yesterday, which the boys have been poring over:
The Piggy in the Puddle, by Charlotte Pomerantz; and George and Martha, by James Marshall.

They arrived via Amazon but with no return address or gift note. Who gave us these lovely books? We would like to thank you!

Developmental update

The boys' vocabularies have been growing, mostly in words that only a few of us can understand. For a while it seemed like Theo was content to have Beckett be the spokesperson of the group, and his language was lagging, but over the last few weeks Theo has really bumped up his speaking. Their social skills have also been advancing, and it's very fun to watch.

Beckett calls Theo "Zee-Zee" and himself "Buh-Buh". The other names I hear in the house a lot (besides Mama and Dada) are Du (Stu), Mimi (Mindy), Marp (Mark), and Dit (Dick, AKA the owner of the boat we rode in in Florida last month). Also Elmo, I think because I bought some new bibs with Sesame Street characters on them.

A couple nights ago Theo was having a hard time after we put them down for bed. I came upstairs and reassured him that Mama and Dada were right outside his bedroom keeping him safe, and that Beckett was in the bed right next to him. I continued talking to Theo (as Beckett roamed his crib, grinning and humming to himself), and then again said that Mama and Dada were right outside keeping him safe. Beckett then looked up, grinned, thumped his chest, and said "Buh-Buh?" I loved that Beck was trying to reassure Theo.

Sunday morning I asked Beckett if he was ready to have breakfast. He said yes, and I asked him what he wanted to eat. He said "Cheerios!" I asked him what Theo would like to eat for breakfast. He said "Oat!" which means oat squares. I was impressed that Beckett knew that Theo usually prefers oat squares. I guess I think of kids as thinking everyone wants what they want, but Beckett knows that Theo likes something different than him.

Theo has moments of incredible intuitiveness. Last week Mindy took the boys to see our neighbor whose husband died several months ago. The boys played while they talked, and when it was time to leave, Corinne asked if she could have a hug. Beck, as usual, refused. Theo looked up at Corinne with his shy smile and gave her a big warm hug. Mindy tells me that Corinne lingered with the hug and then said Theo had made her day.

Sharing seems to be becoming a little less traumatic for everyone. When we were vacuuming last week the boys did a great job of cleaning the floors (truly, we're only a few months away from plugging in the vacuum and directing them to the areas needing pick-up). But the most astounding part of the experience was that the other would patiently wait, off to the side of the rug, when the other was vacuuming. Then when I suggested it was time to share, the one with the vacuum would drop it and move off to the side so the other could take it. There are still LOTS of fights over stuff in the house but it seems to be getting better.

We've also started that phase of pointing at one another to try to deflect attention. I haven't seen it yet when they get in trouble (they rarely get into much real trouble, or when they do I know perfectly well who did what) but I have seen it when I announce something like "It's time to brush teeth!" or "Who needs a new diaper?" They both usually say the other one's name and point to the other. My favorite is when I ask "Who needs a diaper?" and one of them helpfully suggests, "Mama?" Thanks, guys, I appreciate the confidence in my toileting.

First soccer game

The boys have been enjoying their grocery cart together lately. Beck will ask to go into the cart, and Theo will come over to push him around. Then Theo will point to himself and to the cart, and Beck will ask for help getting out of the cart. Then I help Theo get in to the cart, and Beck pushes Theo around. Beck is a little stronger than Theo, and Theo weighs a little less than Beck, so Beck moves a lot faster than Theo does, but they both seem to love it.

Grocery cart fun

More awesome visitors

I forgot to add these pictures of our dear Auntie Alexis when she visited Easter weekend. She brought treats for all--three Babar books for the boys (which they LOVE, despite the colonial overtones) and prosecco and Cadbury eggs for the grownups. We love you, Auntie Alexis!

Emily and her daughter Eleanor came to visit last week while Claire was here. Good luck to Mommy Alexa defending her dissertation this week!

Zoo Trip

Yesterday I asked the boys, as I often do in the morning, what they want to do that day. I was expecting that I would get the usual response, which is either grunting or "LAWNMOWER!" from Beckett. Instead, Beck said, very clearly, "zoo!" To which I had no response, because I didn't think he knew that word and we hadn't been to the zoo for months. So I asked, "why do you want to go to the zoo?" Beck said "ANIMALS!" Stunned, I said, "let's get our coats and shoes on, then!" And we went to the zoo.

It was an awesome day at the zoo. The first stop was the lions, who we haven't seen in a while because they are not on display in the winter months. But they were out and walking around. Dada Lion took a nice big poop and one of the lady lions had a long drink at the pond while the other lady wrestled with Dada. Then Dada came over to the window right in front of us and roared for about two or three minutes. He was so close that his breath steamed up the glass. I know that all of this is horrible animal abuse and evidence that the animals are stressed and all of that BUT it was awesome nonetheless.

Then on top of it the zoo is renovating and so a huge part of the middle part outside is torn up. There are a dozen or so excavators and backhoes and front loaders and workers all digging and dumping and working, which is a show in and of itself. The elephants were also up and around, as were the tigers, but the lions and the diggers were worth the price of admission (which is zero, because we have a $50 annual membership). And we were gone and back in less than 90 minutes. All in all, a first class day at the zoo!

Theo walking in his boots-with his hands

Visit with Auntie Claire

Last week our dear friend Claire spent the week with us from New Mexico. The weather was positively dismal (rainy, bone-chilling cold) but we still managed a few walks and excursions. Claire also built us a great playhouse for the boys, which lives on the deck now for the muddy season until we move the patio furniture out.

The boys took to Claire very quickly, and by the time I got home from work Monday (Claire arrived Monday morning) the boys were very comfortable with her. They especially enjoyed her palpations of their bellies to figure out what they had eaten.

Rainy Tuesday walk through Green Lakes State Park. I offered Theo to ride on my back and he pointed to Claire instead.

Claire building the playhouse in the dank cold drizzle.

This morning I took Theo to the farmers' market and Beck went around the block with his lawn mower accompanied by Dada. We also had a little wrestling on the crib mattresses as I remade their beds.

Theo photobomb!

This afternoon when they woke up from naps we went out for another walk around the block with both lawn mowers and then spent a long time in the swings in front of the house.