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

Good times at Camp Joanie and Stu

There has been LOTS of talk of "law-mow" this week at the house since Grandpa Stu took the boys on tractor rides last weekend.

First popsicles!

Last week we took a field trip to the Onondaga Lake Park to check out the playground. It's a "boundless" playground, supposedly for disabled kids and adults so they can participate in most things that are usually inaccessible at other parks. "Boundless" playgrounds are not good for one mama with two kids who run in opposite directions. I was wishing for a little MORE boundary, not less.

Here are the boys in the accessible swings, which they loved.

Then the boys pushed their stroller a fair way down the parkway. Eventually Theo got in and rode while Beck pushed, which was successful until Beck drove the stroller into a ditch and fell into a pile of dog poo. 

Redneck Landscaping

This morning we (but mostly our neighbor Will) took out most of our front landscaping with his 4x4 truck. On purpose. Here's the proof. (Don't worry-video to follow.)

Before

During

After

Some notes on twin development

A couple nights ago I finished brushing Beckett's teeth and then asked him to go tell Theo that it was time to brush his teeth, not really knowing what to expect Beck would do. Beck grinned and ran out to find Theo. The next thing I heard was Theo whimpering. Just then Beck rounded the corner from our bedroom, grinning triumphantly. He was dragging Theo by his back collar toward the bathroom. I was so impressed with Beck basically fulfilling my request that it was hard to blame him for being a little rough with Theo but I could understand Theo's distress.

The boys' names for themselves are a little more refined this week. Beckett is "Bop" and Theo is "tee-zee" or "cee-zee". They each use the names, for each other and when speaking about themselves.

On our daily walks around the block pushing the lawn mowers, the boys have their routes down pretty well. Mostly Beck leads, but occasionally Theo gets on a tear and just puts his head down and takes his lawn mower for a serious ride. Mostly Theo dawdles, pokes at puddles, examines miniscule pebbles, searches out pieces of errant roofing material, or becomes mesmerized by what a neighbor is doing, all while Beck is one-handedly, head-down bowling ahead down the sidewalk. Beck is pretty good about waiting for Theo to catch up, but occasionally, after waiting for a while, Beck will leave his lawnmower and run back to Theo. Several times I have seen Beck get behind Theo and push him, gently, like "move it!" They have also decided whose lawnmower is whose (Beck uses the green one, Theo uses the red one), though the green one is clearly the favorite and Theo will try to sneak it away from Beck if Beck is otherwise engaged. I'm impressed that Theo has just decided not to constantly fight about it.

Thankfully for a mama who hates to throw anything out, the boys usually eat all the food offered to them--but they share what they don't like and take from the other what they like. Grandpa Stu reported that at lunch today Beck ate his strawberries but then Theo ate the rest of the apples, grapes and oranges in Beck's fruit salad. Meanwhile Beck ate all of his grilled cheese and then most of Theo's, plus the crust Grandpa Stu had cut off. It's great! The boys may have preferences but very little gets thrown away. I'm not a "clean plate" mama but I do always offer to one what the other has decided he doesn't want. At naptime Beck sucks his milk down immediately and then waits patiently for Theo to quit playing with his cup and just turn it over for Beck to finish off.