Last Thursday we met Sara and Preston at the Santaro Park playground when it was 50+ degrees out and sunny. The whole park was still closed, so we had to park at the elder community across the street and cross with our bikes under the closed and locked gate, but then we had the entire parking lot and playground to ourselves. The awesome bike track was still pretty snow-covered but the boys had a great time riding around the parking lot, then tromping through the snow to the play structures. Thankfully Sara brought extra gloves so that cold, muddy hands could be warmed up. My boys were so muddy after all the playing that I stripped them both naked in the parking lot of the elder community, had them pee next to the car, and then had them ride home buck naked. Because we're classy like that.

Wednesday night I was talking to the boys about how I would be home with them the next day, and I asked them what they wanted to do. I suggested going to the trampoline place to bounce around. Beckett said, kind of quietly, but with a huge grin on his face, "You could stab yourself in the face with a fork!"

Jeff and I have continued to laugh out loud at that one. Where on earth did he come up with that??

Wet, cold spring

When it's late March and still snowy and cold, why not take out the Trader Joe's gingerbread house kit that's been sitting in the closet since November? 

Theo waited a respectable two hours before chowing down on the house.

Theo

Theo is our little thinker, always strategizing, questioning, and figuring out how things work. He has lots of detailed questions about why things happen the way they do, how things work, and what a given item does. He's the first, for example, to ask HOW the baby got in Mama's belly. On a walk, Beckett is finding letters on street signs and Theo is asking about the architecture of the houses or why the telephone wires are going the way they are going. He is so-so on his numbers but he knows the number 16 because it's when he knows he can drive a car. He is more interested than Beck in the various features of our cars and of any piece of technology. He sometimes looks lost in thought and has to be encouraged back to a conversation.

He loves playing with Beckett but also really likes to play by himself, and has imaginative and complicated play scenarios by himself. At school Miss Mo tells us that he likes to play with other kids but also doesn't mind, when they get too rough or unpredictable, moving his toys or books elsewhere and continuing to play by himself.

Theo is physical in different ways than Beck. Whereas Beck barrels around, bumping into things and knocking people around accidentally (and not), Theo is very careful with his body but also very athletic and agile. He's a faster runner than any other kid I've seen his age, and was faster and better coordinated in the water when they boys were swimming in Sanibel last month. Theo almost never falls except when pushed or knocked over by Beckett, and he has way fewer bumps and bruises as a result.

I've been worried about Theo at school on and off this year because of how much he has dreaded going, and we've been thinking about alternative school environments for him as a result. But I went to school the other day to watch the short "class" part of the day, and he appears to be very comfortable and engaged with what is going on. Certainly the "class" is not sitting in desks and chairs and watching a teacher at the front of the room, but rather songs and physical activities and sounding things out together, but he seems to know what is expected of him and to enjoy participating in what's going on. I wonder if his tough time at school was more a longer-than-expected period of adjusting to the routine of school (made more difficult by the fact that they only go two days a week) rather than some underlying school issue. He definitely seems comforted by Beck's presence and interacts more with Beckett than with other kids, but so does Beck, and I mean, OF COURSE they interact more with each other than with other kids.

Theo is interested in cooking, and often uses his play kitchen to make various foods. He is also more likely to offer to help me in the kitchen. He is more interested in sweets than Beck and can eat more sweet stuff than Beckett.

Theo can also be more engaging with strangers or in strange situations than Beck. This past weekend we had some family photos taken and while Beck was hiding in my chest Theo was posing hilariously, using his hands to frame his face, and making all kinds of goofy faces. When we skyped with our friend Tricia a few months ago, Theo couldn't take his eyes off of her and just kept wanting to tell her more things, or look at the books she had in her bookshelf.

Beckett

Jeff and I always try to schedule special alone time with each of the boys. A couple weeks ago Beckett and I went to the mall to ride the carousel together. We also picked up pizza and he helped me return some stuff I ordered online. It was a small thing but it's really nice to be focused on only one little boy. We've taken the boys to bounce houses or even just out shopping alone, and it's very fun.

Beckett is loving playing with words and letters and sounds lately. He wants to know what every word starts with, and loves sounding out the letters and guessing. He also likes to play verbal games where he asks things like, "Why is your name Bryn instead of Tin?" He loves to rhyme and try out different ways to say familiar words. Though sometimes we can lose track of it in our concerns about Theo and school, Beckett truly loves school and I think actually looks forward to going.

Beck loves playing a game the boys got for Christmas called the Ladybug Game, which involves lots of counting and identifying words and numbers. There seems to be no or hardly any concern about who actually wins (though there is lots of talk about "I'm going to win!" or "Theo's in the lead!"), but they really love playing it. Beck has a longer attention span for that game as well as the Curious George memory game they play a lot.

Beck is less comfortable playing independently than Theo and, when Theo is uninterested in playing with him, Beck will try to initiate intrusive or annoying play in order to coerce Theo into unintentionally playing with him. Beck will steal a toy and run away gleefully, or just push Theo around to try to get his goat. Theo will more frequently ask to be alone and to play by himself, though they do play together most of the time.

Beckett is generally more affectionate than Theo and often asks for "lots of kisses" at bedtime. He's more sensitive to anger from me or Jeff and needs to be reassured if we are concerned for someone's safety or frustrated at something other than him rather than "mad" at him. Theo more often acts like he couldn't care less whether we don't like what he's doing.

Beckett is now a more adventurous eater than Theo, which is a shift from the past. Though it's hard to tell what he actually likes, because he's often more interested in pleasing me in asking for the broccoli or saying "mm, this is good!" than Theo is. But Beck certainly eats more, both at home and at school, and less can throw him off from eating.

Beckett uses more sophisticated language, sometimes hilariously. He'll say, "Theo, you can play with this toy, if you wish" or "if you like." He has a more extensive vocabulary than Theo and I hear him sometimes trying out new, longer words under his breath. He gets embarrassed if he thinks I am listening to him. Beckett also has better articulation of his words and sometimes corrects Theo, not unkindly. The other day Theo was telling us about a character in a book, and Jeff and I kept hearing, and repeating, "Bear? His name is Bear?" After a few times back and forth like this I looked at Beck for help. Beck smiled, looked at me, and said, clear as day, "His name is Bill."

Glow baths

I've heard about using glow sticks in the bath for a while now but never thought to actually buy glow sticks to try it out. Then I noticed a colleague who had a package of glow sticks in his office. I asked what they were there for, he said someone had given them to him a while ago and he didn't know what to do with them, and suddenly I was coming home with glow sticks. They are a huge hit. Daddy had the brilliant idea Tuesday night to open the window in the bathroom to make a towel hang from it to block out the light (thanks, daylight savings), which made the room pretty darn dark for trial #2 of glow stick baths. They are a huge hit! The question is, are we ever going to be able to take baths without them???

Sciencenter trip

I thought we'd hit the Sciencenter on a slow Tuesday but it turns out it's Ithaca school vacation week so it was packed. Darn. But the boys had an awesome time. Favorite activities are the treehouse, the train table, the penny parabola, and the convex/concave mirrors. After the Sciencenter we hit up the Ithaca Bakery for bagels and sandwiches, and then the boys' first trip to Purity Ice Cream! They were underwhelmed with Purity, maybe because they were stuffed with bagel or maybe because they're weirdos. We did save their ice cream, though, and they finished it after dinner (after being refrozen). My highlight of the day was our quick BJ's trip on the way out of town to stock up on Morningstar Farms chick patties (fake chicken that Mindy got them hooked on). The boys were happily smiling and saying hi and generally being angels in the car despite having been out of the house since 8am and being on the go every moment since. The cashier at BJ's said, "Wow, how do you look so sane?!?" Which I took as a compliment. There was some pretty heavy sleeping on the way back to Syracuse and few complaints about going to bed a little early tonight.