Jeff enjoying the Christmas tree he put up and decorated this weekend. The boys have been doing great with staying away from the ornaments. 

We all enjoyed a great visit with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Greg as well as great aunt Renee and uncle John and his GF Rachel. We also bought a train table (and trains, which they're not quite ready for yet) off Craigslist, which was a great find.

Theo also loves being pushed and pulled across the floor in the laundry hamper.

The boys enjoyed our singing holiday hats.

Theo loves the hook-on chairs we got for traveling. We had them out yesterday because we hosted neighbors Kristina and Will and their three boys (including 2.5 year old twins) for dinner. Theo's favorite thing is to get into the chair as best he can from the ground, then propel himself forward in it like a sled or something.

Dinner with four adults and five children under 5 was as loud and hectic as you can imagine, but there was no crying and no throwing food. In fact, after a good pause to take it all in, Theo and Beck ate well and enjoyed watching the bigger boys run around. 

Some observations on the boys lately:

• They are working really hard on their sounds and words. They've been busting out with some crazy realistic animal sounds way beyond what we've taught them--chickens bucking, horses braying, ducks quacking, and fish glub-glubbing.
• Sunday night the boys suddenly began an insane obsession with the vacuum cleaner. Not because we use it frequently or even recently, or even had seen or talked about it recently. But Sunday when I put the boys down to sleep (usually a calm and happy time) Theo stood right up in bed and pointed and grunted at their closet door (where we keep the vacuum). I said night-night to the the vacuum, opened and closed the closet door, and told Theo the vacuum was going to sleep. He continued gesturing and grunting. I told him goodnight and that I loved him and that it was time for the vacuum to go night-night, and I left. He continued crying for about five minutes. I went back in, picked him up, and he stopped crying immediately--and resumed grunting and pointing at the closet. I decided maybe he was afraid of the vacuum being in his closet, so I had him help me take the vacuum out of the closet and put it in my closet. Then I closed the closet door and closed my bedroom door. I said the vacuum was going night-night and we waved goodbye. I still wasn't sure that was the real problem because he still cried a little but eventually went to sleep. The next day Mindy reported that the boys repeatedly went up to my closet to point and grunt at the vacuum. Tuesday they spent most of the day either looking at the vacuum or downstairs pointing upstairs and grunting. When Jeff got home I was pretty tired of the vacuum obsession. I moved the vacuum back to the closet in the boys' room to see if that would make it better, especially after the boys continually returned to their own closet, pointing and grunting at it. I still haven't figured out what the obsession was about but it's ebbed a little bit, for which I am grateful.
• We are hosting Christmas at our home this year and would like to get a live Christmas tree but we're not sure how the boys are going to do with it. We don't want to create a hazardous situation with a large live tree with water and ornaments. So Jeff put up our small artificial tree Sunday to see how they would do. So far they've been enchanted by the lights but also respectful of the tree.

• The boys are loving to mimic everything we do. From guzzling unopened cans of soda/beer to talking on the phone. Theo even likes to pace around the house babbling on the phone with it pressed up to his ear. We do have fake phones but Theo found the remote for the TV tonight and used it like a phone.

•  I have been giving the boys preloaded spoons of soup, yogurt, casseroles, etc. but had never given them a bowl of something soupy and let them have at it. I made rice and black beans, which had never been a big hit before. But Beck did incredibly well with his fork but Theo was just so hungry or frustrated with the fork or just feeling like a beast that he just shoveled the food right in his mouth. Both babies ate super well, requiring many refills of their bowls.

Round & Round

Slowly, the boys are starting to play together, and it's really fun to watch.

     

Historical note: as of this moment, everyone in the House of Lovebo is healthy. First time since sometime in October. Healthy enough, in fact, for a little house tennis (/racquetball)! Look out, Bryan brothers!

Just kidding about the mono

It turns out the boys do NOT have mono. So we're back to the theory that we have been passing around some kind of virus or viruses within the family for the last two months. The boys have been feeling a lot better this week and while Jeff's still coughing a little and I'm only a little congested, we're calling that "well."

Theo helped Mama make a delightful blueberry torte yesterday while Beck was still napping. I never make something without sampling along the way, which Theo felt was important as well.

This week the boys discovered the coat closet, in which we also keep recyclables and unopened cases of soda and beer. The boys had a lot of fun taking the cases out, removing the cans, and then putting the cans back. They also loved holding the cans up and pretending to drink from them. I couldn't figure out where they learned to chug beers like this until I realized this is how Daddy Lovebo drinks his sodas. Aha.

Grandpa Stu came up solo this week as Grandma Joanie was recovering from bronchitis and almost-pneumonia. The boys had a great day with their Grandpa!

Prenatal Twin Video

Great video about MRI prenatal scans. A few great images of twins in utero fighting it out.

I find it interesting to remember sometimes that in utero Beck was curled up on my right side and Theo was sprawled out over my entire belly, kind of wrapping himself around Beck. I don't know what it means about their current or future personalities....

Back in action--this time with snow!

 The boys experienced their first snow earlier this week. Theo liked rolling around in the snow and the piles of leaves covered in snow. Beck liked tromping around.

Pardon the interruption in blog postings. We had exhausted our storage capacity and had to decide whether to move elsewhere or pay for storage. Urged on by Daddy Lovebo and Sarah, I decided to splurge on the paid extra storage. Here come a barrage of backlogged posts!