Great visit with two sniffly boys and Joanne and Alex.

Lots of great calm water for swimming and kayaking.

Twin bedtime

The whole bedtime process gotten better of late, but this is a great glimpse into what it was like to put the boys to bed when they first moved into big boy beds a year ago, at the end of August 2013.

Zoo trip with James

Saturday morning we met our friends Brent and Kelley at the zoo with their son James, born about 10 days after Theo and Beckett. Here's Beck trying his hand at milking a cow.

Brent and Bryn and the boys on the tiger.

On an elephant.

 The boys liked walking through the zoo holding hands.

We wear pants at the dining table

There is lots of genital-touching at our house, for probably the last six months or so. Which has led to a new rule that everyone has to wear pants or shorts at the table, lest we be distracted and forget to eat while we stare off into space.

For an interesting take on this phenomenon, one which I ascribe to, check this out.

Raspberry picking

"Is THIS a good one?"

Friday afternoon we drove to our 2013 fall raspberry farm, the subject of many many stories the boys have told since then, for summer raspberry picking. It was every bit as delightful as fall picking, with plentiful berries right at the boys' level.

Game Drive

Still enjoying reading Game Drive, the southern Africa safari guidebook that the boys fell in love with at Joanne and Alex's many months ago that I found on Amazon. They know many of the animals by heart, and go through the book naming the animals they know (kudu, bushbaby, leopard, kingfisher, elephant, etc). Reading naked is tolerated in our home, especially with the heat the last few weeks.

Developmental update

Theo is particularly good at puzzles, and doing them keeps his interest for what seems like a long time. We have these puzzles from Grandma Kathy where the picture is right under the puzzle surface, so you can just match the pieces to where they go, and Theo is very quick with them. He's also good at the ones with bigger pieces where you have to look at the picture on the box, but they take a little longer. Theo's transitioning to not taking a nap, so sometimes when Beckett happily gets into bed and goes to sleep, Theo sets up in the pack and play in the other room, and reads books. Wednesday when I was home with the boys I was exhausted, so Beckett and I napped while Theo stayed in bed and read books for about 90 minutes. It means he's a little zoned out in the late afternoon/evening, and if we happen to be driving somewhere he'll conk out, but he never has temper tantrums or meltdowns because he's tired, so it's working for now. Beckett is learning that Theo sometimes doesn't need a nap, and doesn't even mind that he's by himself. I think he even appreciates that Theo's not bugging him and keeping him awake.

The boys are loving their swim lessons. We've been taking them for the last two weeks to a park near our house, where they are ridiculously cheap ($1 per 30 minute lesson). Grandma Joanie was disappointed that they weren't more advanced lessons, but T&B are in the 3-5 age group class and keep up with the bigger kids. They were reticent to get in the first couple of days, and Theo still has a little trepidation even still, but when we get to the pool Beckett happily puts on his swim clothes and takes off his sandals and runs over to stand in line with the other kids. He beams through the lesson and has even made some friends there. There are two girls and then another set of 4 year old boy twins. One of the girls is a bit of an instigator but Beckett enjoys goofing off with her and both Theo and Beckett like the other boy twins, Brendan and Kevin. During the lessons they float on their backs and on their fronts, and they throw balls in the water that they then swim (with help) to get. It's all very basic but it's great to see them get more comfortable in the water and learn about standing in a line and waiting their turn.

When they're together, Beckett is usually the one trying new things lately, and Theo's following after. But today when Theo skipped his swim lesson to read books by himself and play on the playground, Theo was super-brave, going down the fireman's pole without help and climbing up a number of challenging spots. It's almost like he loses his nerve when Beckett's around, or even when Jeff and I are watching.

Both boys have great questions and observations about their world. Beckett is still a little ahead of Theo in language and shows more interest in letters and words. Beckett can sight-read two words now (dig, mama) and is very interested in what letters spell. Beck is more eager to identify letters. We're definitely in the "why?" stage--lots of questions about how the world works and what goes on in our household.

Unless Grandma Kathy is visiting, or we're visiting at one of the grandparents', the boys are pretty much over cuddling in the morning. They love climbing into bed with their grandparents in the morning but yesterday, after two mornings of cuddling and reading books with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Greg, Theo and Beck woke up and chatted in their room until the green light came on, then went downstairs to play. It's an interesting development. We both miss the cuddling, but it's also awesome to stay sleepy for a little longer while they go play by themselves!