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.

Spring is here!

And with spring comes babywearing while lawnmowing, sprucing up our bedroom with some new paint, reading in the playroom off the nursery, and goofing off in our underwear.

Thank you to... who?

We had two delightful books delivered to the house yesterday, which the boys have been poring over:
The Piggy in the Puddle, by Charlotte Pomerantz; and George and Martha, by James Marshall.

They arrived via Amazon but with no return address or gift note. Who gave us these lovely books? We would like to thank you!

Developmental update

The boys' vocabularies have been growing, mostly in words that only a few of us can understand. For a while it seemed like Theo was content to have Beckett be the spokesperson of the group, and his language was lagging, but over the last few weeks Theo has really bumped up his speaking. Their social skills have also been advancing, and it's very fun to watch.

Beckett calls Theo "Zee-Zee" and himself "Buh-Buh". The other names I hear in the house a lot (besides Mama and Dada) are Du (Stu), Mimi (Mindy), Marp (Mark), and Dit (Dick, AKA the owner of the boat we rode in in Florida last month). Also Elmo, I think because I bought some new bibs with Sesame Street characters on them.

A couple nights ago Theo was having a hard time after we put them down for bed. I came upstairs and reassured him that Mama and Dada were right outside his bedroom keeping him safe, and that Beckett was in the bed right next to him. I continued talking to Theo (as Beckett roamed his crib, grinning and humming to himself), and then again said that Mama and Dada were right outside keeping him safe. Beckett then looked up, grinned, thumped his chest, and said "Buh-Buh?" I loved that Beck was trying to reassure Theo.

Sunday morning I asked Beckett if he was ready to have breakfast. He said yes, and I asked him what he wanted to eat. He said "Cheerios!" I asked him what Theo would like to eat for breakfast. He said "Oat!" which means oat squares. I was impressed that Beckett knew that Theo usually prefers oat squares. I guess I think of kids as thinking everyone wants what they want, but Beckett knows that Theo likes something different than him.

Theo has moments of incredible intuitiveness. Last week Mindy took the boys to see our neighbor whose husband died several months ago. The boys played while they talked, and when it was time to leave, Corinne asked if she could have a hug. Beck, as usual, refused. Theo looked up at Corinne with his shy smile and gave her a big warm hug. Mindy tells me that Corinne lingered with the hug and then said Theo had made her day.

Sharing seems to be becoming a little less traumatic for everyone. When we were vacuuming last week the boys did a great job of cleaning the floors (truly, we're only a few months away from plugging in the vacuum and directing them to the areas needing pick-up). But the most astounding part of the experience was that the other would patiently wait, off to the side of the rug, when the other was vacuuming. Then when I suggested it was time to share, the one with the vacuum would drop it and move off to the side so the other could take it. There are still LOTS of fights over stuff in the house but it seems to be getting better.

We've also started that phase of pointing at one another to try to deflect attention. I haven't seen it yet when they get in trouble (they rarely get into much real trouble, or when they do I know perfectly well who did what) but I have seen it when I announce something like "It's time to brush teeth!" or "Who needs a new diaper?" They both usually say the other one's name and point to the other. My favorite is when I ask "Who needs a diaper?" and one of them helpfully suggests, "Mama?" Thanks, guys, I appreciate the confidence in my toileting.