Here we are, at 2 years and 11 months. The boys are counting up to about 10. When I am talking to one of them, the other will sometimes say "I want to talk to you" or "I talkin to you now!" There is lots of singing. We sing before bed: "I love you in the morning, and in the afternoon, I love you in the evening and underneath the moon, oh, skidimerinky dinky dink, skidimerinky doo, I love you!" and Happy Happy Home (brought to us by Mindy), and then I sing Itsy Bitsy Spider in a whisper, separately to each boy. They have amazing memories and sometimes recall things from what seems like long ago, seemingly apropos to nothing. Their sense of time is strange: they still don't really get the difference between nap and bedtime, and often when they go to sleep at nap, ask what we will do in the morning when they mean after they wake up from nap. They say "yesterday" to mean anytime in the past.
They enjoy reading by themselves so much that sometimes they just want to keep reading quietly to themselves before bed, in Mama and Dada's big bed, instead of having us read to them (so sad for me!). They play by themselves and with each other a lot now, which is mostly peaceful but sometimes punctuated by a scream or a cry. Often the conflicts resolve without parental intervention, but occasionally a bite or shove necessitates a time out. We've moved bedtimes back til between 8:30 and 9 now that it's light out for longer, and because they aren't really tired til then, which allows for more independent play after dinner (and more time for pottying before bed!). They're still napping about 2 hours a day, usually between 12:30-2:30, but sometimes it goes a little longer. They drink more water than I've ever seen any kid drink, about 8 ounces every meal and a good bit between meals as well. I suspect they drink so much water because I drank so darn much while I was pregnant; they're used to their blood being thinned to a borderline-unhealthy degree. Theo is a more adventurous eater than Beckett, who prefers fatty carbs to just about anything. They still put their raspberries (their favorite food) on their fingers and giggle before they eat. Each. Raspberry. They love to help cook, and they can dump in ingredients that I've measured, and stir things on the stove, and peel carrots. They're mostly not wearing diapers at nap, though today they both drank a ton at lunch and then refused to pee before nap, so I put diapers on both of them so they wouldn't wet through their beds. Beckett has been pooping in the potty for several months so the sheen has worn off, but Theo has only recently (in the last week) been coaxed to use the potty for #2 under promise of watching a show afterwards. So sometimes he will say he wants a diaper on, to poop in, and when we say something about how he can watch a show if he poops in the potty, he says that he doesn't want to watch the show. At least we're moving in the right direction.
Their play is mostly centered around cars, trucks, and trains. They love walking around the block, either on foot or with their bikes or lawnmowers, and have lots of favorite spots along the way (Corinne's pinwheels, the tree with the red berries, the flagpole, Finn and Shannon's sand box, and their favorite stump). We usually have the chance to see a neighbor or two while we're out. They love to go to Wegmans, where they get free cookies and get to drive the racecar cart and our friend Mike the helping hand gives them five, carries the boys in to the store, and helps me get my groceries into the car. We have about five playgrounds that we go to with some regularity, and it's amazing to me how much more they can do after a winter inside to get bigger and stronger. There's nothing on the playground near our house that they can't do independently now, except go down the fireman's pole. They often fall into play with other kids on the playground, joking and laughing and chasing each other around. They love encountering the playground when they have it to themselves, though. They like to watch from the front window when friends are expected or when Mama or Dada are leaving in the morning. My favorite times of our days together are wrestling (rolling around on the floor in their bedroom, giving snuggles and cuddles and hugs and kisses) and the moments where I have both of them, tickling and kissing and laughing, and they run squealing away and then come running right back into my arms.
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