We've had lots more potty adventures lately, with Beck taking part so long as chocolate is offered. Theo's very interested in peeing on the potty, less so in pooping. There's also lots of coaxing, as every time Theo goes pee in the potty, he says "More!" as if I have control over whether he pees more in the potty.

A few weeks ago we drove all over God's creation to meet up with a photographer, a fellow mom of multiples, who took our Christmas pictures last year as well. The boys weren't in great moods but I think she still got some great shots.

Favorite new word acquisition

In the last week the boys have started saying "happy". As in, Beckett gets on his new bulldozer and says "happy." Or Theo points to Mindy, says "Mimi" (their name for her), points to himself, says "Zee-Zee" (himself), and then says "happy." Not possible to love these boys more than I do.

More fun with Auntie Jen

Thursday and Friday we were in Philadelphia to celebrate Jeff's graduation from his LLM program (he is now officially the most educated member of the Lovebo family). Sadly, we forgot to take any pictures with our friends Aaron, with whom we stayed, or Kasturi, with whom we celebrated her departure from her law firm on Thursday night.

It was pretty cold and dreary here yesterday so we entertained friends Jen, Jamie and baby Julie indoors. Julie was happy to try to pinch Theo, and Theo was happy to try on Julie's sunglasses.

Two Year Pediatrician Visit

This morning we took the boys to their two year appointment. Hard to believe that they only go once a year now! I'm sure we'll have reason to go back between now and next May but amazing that we're already on a yearly schedule for regular visits.

In terms of growth, the boys continue to grow according to their curve. Theo is in the 15-20th percentile for everything, and Beck is in the 25-50th percentile for everything. Today the nurse measured them as identical in height, which of course they are not, so I don't have the greatest of confidence in the accuracy of the measurements, but I record them here for what it's worth.

We got a referral for Early Intervention for Theo because I expressed some concern that his verbal development lags a little behind Beckett's. Whereas Beck routinely expresses ideas with two or three words, Theo still rarely uses more than one word at a time. Both know and use lots of nouns and positional words (e.g. off, on, over, open, close), Theo uses fewer words regularly. His ears have had some fluid buildup every time they have been checked for the last six months, which I am concerned is having an impact on his ability to hear and make language. There is no question that Theo understands as much as Beckett does about what is going on and being said around him, but he cannot enunciate, or express what he wants, as clearly as Beck can. My impression is that our pediatrician is not concerned but wants to rule out any possible delay or, if there is a delay, gather as much information as possible to determine our best course of action. We are going to bring Theo back in a month to re-check his ears. If Early Intervention believes he may have a hearing problem, we may get his hearing tested. Though he has not had persistent ear infections (just three last fall) the concern is that the fluid in his ears affects his ability to hear and make language. Tubes in his ears may be a good course of action if he does have a language delay and ongoing fluid in his ears and we think the fluid is affecting his hearing. Since this is such an important time for developing language skills, we don't want him to miss out because he has underlying hearing problems. Theo has such an expressive face and tries so hard to verbalize his feelings that we do not want him to become too frustrated that he stops trying, or gets too far behind during this important time. So we'll keep an eye on it and revisit the idea of tubes when we have more information.

Theo and Beck are in for a great few days with Grandma Joanie and Grandpa Stu as Jeff and I head down to Philadelphia tomorrow morning to celebrate Jeff's graduation from his LLM program. It will be great to see our dear friend Aaron and enjoy some time in Philadelphia to ourselves!

Birthday fun!

The boys have been opening presents for the last few days and have loved everything they have opened so far--fire trucks and a ride-on bulldozer and matching vacuum cleaners and lots of books and clothes. We celebrated Sunday with both sets of grandparents, and then went out to Boom Boom Mex Mex last night in a thunderstorm to celebrate again.

Big Rig Day!

Every year the City of Syracuse brings many of its machines to Burnet Park, next to the zoo overlooking the city, so kids can climb all over them. There were more than I can name--all manner of construction equipment, fire trucks, ambulances, SWAT vehicles, police motorcycles, tractor trailers, a golf cart, and even a helicopter landing by Mercy Flights. The boys were probably overtired already from a rambunctious walk and playground trip (the only people on the playground were three families with twins!) and then a Lowe's run to mulch up the front garden. So we didn't stay long, but I think they enjoyed the trip.

Developmental update-(almost) TWO!

Both boys are playing independently a lot now, especially in the morning and after dinner, often with minimal or no fighting amongst themselves. They understand much of the conversation around them and can communicate among themselves pretty well. Last night we learned how attached they are to their blankets when Mama forgot to move the blankets from the washer to the dryer until it was time for the boys to go to bed. We offered other blankets, to which Beck basically looked at us like, "who do you take me for?" They thankfully went down so that we could leave for dinner but woke up just as we arrived home and Theo was inconsolable for a while, even when reunited with his newly clean blanket. He woke up two other times last night, seemingly to make sure we were still there.

We still do a lot of walks around the block, so the boys know the route very well. Theo now usually takes his push truck on the walk, and Beck usually elects to ride in the Cozy Coupe car (pushed by Mama or Dada) until about halfway around, when he gets out and pushes the car the rest of the way.

More and more the boys are just eating whatever we are already eating for a meal, sometimes with modifications. If they don't like what we're eating, they don't eat. Fruit (especially strawberries and raspberries) are the reward for trying at least one bite of everything on their plates, but occasionally all they will have is one bite of each before eating the fruit. On a few nights Beck has refused all food and so he hasn't earned the fruit, and he's gone to bed without eating hardly anything. They both occasionally eat massive quantities of seemingly random foods (e.g. applesauce, turkey pepperoni).

Theo

• Peed in the potty for the first time Monday. Enjoys sitting on the potty, watching for any action, and trying to manually extract the pee
• Says a lot of nouns but also still says a lot of "dat" and points/grunts at things. I'm trying to encourage him to use words but responding less to the grunts and asking him to use words, with limited success. Beck does a lot of the communication for the group and Theo is much more easy-going for the time being and seems to need/want less, requiring less communication
• Expressive with his eyes and mouth, experimenting a lot with scrunching up his face, mimicking facial expressions, and watching others' expressions
• Great at hopping and jumping with two feet, and a very fast runner
• Likes to hold my hand while we walk down the street, likes to cuddle and give kisses and hugs
• Loves to keep things from Beckett that Beckett wants, even if Theo does not necessarily want to play with them
• Says "hi" and "bye" at home, often in pretend play, but not often to strangers. Often waves bye-bye to strangers
• More confident with physical challenges and less fearful
• Adventurous in eating and will almost always try at least one bite of a new food willingly
• Great fine-motor skills; loves taking things apart and putting them back together. He can latch most things in our lives (car seat, high chair, babyproofing locks) but thankfully cannot unlatch any of them yet
• Has developed a dramatic pouty face and almost-cry that completely disappears if his need is met (e.g. he starts a sad tantrum because he wants the toy Beck has, but then Beck offers it to him and takes the toy Theo was playing with and Theo's face returns completely to normal and resumes playing)
• Sometimes needs extra attention at naptime and bedtime, with extra cuddles, kisses and reassurance

Beckett

• Not interested in the potty much at all, except when Theo is on it at which time Beck tries to hit Theo playfully. Will sit on the potty for short periods and sometimes says "potty" but mostly not interested. Though he is very interested in peeing standing up, either before bath in the tub or outside
• Says a lot of nouns and some verbs. Has begun to say two- and three-word phrases, like "Dada worp vroom" (Dada went to work in his car) and "Zee Zee wheat" (Theo would like frosted mini wheats) and understands most of what we say. 
• Follows two-step commands well (e.g. "go get the bibs from the clothes basket and put them away in the drawer") and seems very happy to be helpful
• When he finds himself in possession of something he knows he shouldn't be (e.g. the TV remote, a phone), he brings it to an adult to surrender it
• Loves all things with wheels-excavators, bulldozers, dump trucks, cars, trucks
• Loves to say "hi" and "bye" even to strangers
• More careful with climbing and navigating around obstacles, but also more clumsy--tends to have more scrapes, bruises and bumps (often because he runs while looking somewhere other than straight ahead)
• More easygoing with strangers and less familiar people
• Less adventurous in eating. I've learned the best way to coax him to try something new is to offer something he likes and then ask him to promise to try the new food right AFTER. It's like Beck wants a show of good faith from me before making the deal
• Loves napping and sleeping and usually tries to climb into his crib at both times. Says "nap" with a huge grin. When he gets in his crib he flops down, grabs his blanket, curls up and closes his eyes
• Still a more solid guy, with greater heft and width, though he's not that much heavier or taller than Theo

Mother's Day

Friends Stacey and Joe brought their daughter Aria over for a nice Mother's Day brunch. "Brunch" meaning Stacey and Joe brought awesome pastries from Pascale's and Jeff made bacon in the oven. It was chilly but we still got some outdoor play time in.

Theo loves walking around in adult shoes. He actually loves his own shoes, too, and wants to wear his boots around the house whenever possible (including when he is wearing nothing else). 

Joe took the boys on rides in their car around the yard, which was a huge hit.

After initially being reticent about sharing their favorite indoor toy, the boys then enjoyed taking Aria for rides.

Outdoor time

Boys' first trip to Heid's