And he's off!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a walker!

The boys turned one and things have been happening rapidly around here on the development front ever since. Most notably: the day they were officially one year and one day, Brady stood up in the middle of the room - without pulling himself on anything - and took his first tentative step. For that day, that was all. But every day since then he's increased the number of steps until this evening when he walked clear across the room. Several times. Great job, Brady!

He still looks like a little peanut who is too small to walk which makes it even more cute. What makes it hysterical, however, is the look on Aaron's face every time he spots Brady walking. It's a look that is a combination of "What the....?" and "How the....?" You'll do it soon too, buddy, don't worry.

There's no turning back now!

Party Pictures

Aaron and Brady celebrated their 1st birthday today.
It was hot but the kids stayed cool in the pool
and the sprinkler
Aaron has been feeling under the weather (new teeth and resulting fever) but managed to be a good sport.
Brady, as always, was happy to have everyone's attention.
Alaina was a super helpful big sister.
Mommy made her first attempt at cake decorating two "banana" cakes for her little monkeys.
Sure they could have looked nicer but they tasted delicious.
While the boys enjoyed cake, the party guests enjoyed ice cream sundaes
Post-cake sugar crash resulted in some good snuggles for Gammy and Brady...
Aaron and Caroline...
And Pepere and Alaina...
Happy Birthday little boys!!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Dear Aaron,

You spent almost all of your time in the womb trying to claw and kick your way out and one year ago this very minute, you finally did it! You came screaming out and I felt an immediate sense of relief.

I had been waiting for you for much longer than just the 34 weeks you spent inside of me. I had been waiting for you for years. My first-born son, the boy I always longed for. You had been named in theory since I was in 7th grade and when I met Daddy, I was thrilled to know he also loved the name Aaron. I was thrilled to finally meet you after years of picturing you in my head.

You learned independence right from the beginning. In the NICU, it was you who was on CPAP and then under the lights, unable to be held for what seemed like the longest time. During your first few days at home you demanded that we make up for lost time and you wanted to be held quite often. But after just a few weeks, you regained your indepenence and you haven't lost it since. You play happily by yourself, you will comfort yourself to sleep, you were the first to refuse to be spoon-fed any longer - you must do everything yourself!

Right now, you have one and a half teeth and you are desperate - desperate! - to talk to us. You string together more sounds with more intonation...you must be saying something. If only I knew what. But Brady seems to know and that seems to make you very happy. You do say "Kayla", "Dog", "Dada" and you are working on signing "more" and "milk". I am still waiting for "Mama". Sure, you say "mamamamamamama" but it is not in reference to me. I know that you know I want you to say it by the way you laugh at me when I ask you to say it! It is the same look you give me right before you smack the TV screen with your hand or reach for an outlet.

Aaron, my brave, sweet boy. Every day you amaze me more and more: by yourself, with your sister and especially with your brother. I can't wait to see what the next year of your life holds for you.

I love you,
Mommy

Aaron Then:

Aaron Now:

When Alaina is Away...

The boys will play, with all of her stuff. They sneak into her room, they chew on her shoes (gross, I know). This last time they had the most fun sharing her "running stick"...

First Haircut!

After much hemming and hawing we finally decided to take the boys for a haircut. They had been rocking the mullet (bad) but with super cute curls (good) that we were afraid to lose. But once we had two different people refer to the boys as girls...we knew it was time for a little clean up. Unfortunately we went straight from daycare without stopping home first (aka DINNER time) so the boys were as tolerant as they could be at feeding time.

Aaron enjoyed watching himself in the mirror.


Brady preferred to cling with all his might to his Daddy for protection from the crazy lady with scissors.
And then the camera battery died so there is no "final product" shot. Just believe me when I say no one will mistake them for girls again - they are too handsome for that!

Bath time is fun

The boys like to watch each other take baths. Recently Brady wanted to "help" Aaron take a bath. He kept getting closer and closer. Before I realized it, Daddy had him in the sink with Aaron.
At that point we realized "why not?", took his diaper off and let him in together.

Just too much fun.

Until we took Aaron out. At that point Brady spotted Pepere in the backyard and tried to climb out the window.
Good times. And you can't beat the wild hair that comes with bath night.

Happy Father's Day

Hi Daddy,

Happy Father's Day!

This year you have taken such good care of us. We love all the playing, cuddling, teaching, and comforting you have done. You get up in the middle of the night (most of the time without complaining or being asked by Mommy), you try to teach us through play, you don't let us watch junkie TV, and you are not afraid to show your affection. Most of all, you take really good care of Mommy so she gets to do the fun stuff with us too, not just the "work".

We are so lucky to have you. We love you. And when we are better at expressing ourselves, we'll type these types of things ourselves instead of just "dictating" to Mommy who interprets our words for us!

Love you!
Alaina, Aaron & Brady (oh, and Kayla)

PS - Mommy really loves you too...

Teeth!

Before bed last night, Brady had his first tooth break the gum - bottom left. This morning Aaron woke up with his first - bottom right.

My father wanted to know: what are the odds that they would each get their first tooth on the same day? Well, Dad, since they are, in fact, identical twins, I think the odds were pretty good!

(I'll post a picture once the teeth grow enough to be visible!)

Favorite Brother

Alaina and Aaron were wrestling last night and she kept repeating - to his delight - you're my favorite brother.



To be fair, she said the same thing to Brady later in the night. And she also told me she loved the baby in my tummy. Good girl, don't play favorites!

Women troubles

Recently Aaron picked out his "girlfriend" at daycare and sealed the deal with a kiss.
Today Brady tried to move in on his brother's woman and was quickly put in his place - by her.

The Ladies' Man

While his brother and sister were napping, I scooped up Aaron for some one-on-one Mommy time at one of my favorite places...the mall. I was in need of some (more) maternity clothes for work and I appreciated his opinion. Well, his company anyway.

While standing in line to make a purchase, he attracted the attention of a rather adorable 2-year old girl. She made her way over to him and started rubbing his bare foot. Her father followed quickly and told me that "she loves babies". She sure did because she quickly moved from a foot rub to a head pat to a kiss on the cheek. Aaron was appreciative of the attention until she touched his bottle. Eek - hands off lady!

This is two older women Aaron has either made his move on or who have made a move on him. Brady has not been so lucky. So far, his biggest score has been with a little female named Kayla.




Keep tryin' buddy. Your day will come too.

Wait. Who are you?

My sons are identical. There are days when they look more like each other than other days. Lately, those days are coming more and more frequently. But even on their most identical days, I can tell them apart. I don't think it's mother's intuition; I really think there are the tiniest, subtlest differences between them that anyone who spends any significant amount of time with them would be able to distinguish. That being said, every once in a while, there are times where I have to stop and question: Who the hell am I holding?

This morning was one of those times.

Over the past few days I've noticed a funny line - like a crack - across the toenail on Aaron's right big toe. This morning, I was giving a bottle and cuddling Brady only to look down and notice his right big toenail. Same. Exact. Crack.

It was such a crazy coincidence that I had to stop and go back over the course of events of the last 12 hours to reassure myself I hadn't switched them at any point. Really, are identical twins supposed to be THAT identical? Maybe I'm in trouble. I guess we should go back to painting toenails just to be triple sure we always know which kid is which.

Croup sucks.

My poor Aaron was at the doctor just last week and diagnosed with an ear infection. After a full round of amoxycilin he didn't seem to be getting any better; just more irritable. Daddy took him back to the pedi and it turns out he had an ear infection in the other ear AND croup. My poor baby coughs until he gags or throws up. It's not pretty. But he's trying to be a trooper. He keeps playing and hardly ever complains:

I would say I see the end in sight but as he gets better with his new medications, all I can think is "When is it going to hit Brady?"

Bed time is the most fun time

First Words! (sort of)

Brady is barely using "mama" in context, however, he makes my day (and night) with his correct use of the word "up". Yes, up. He crawls over, pulls himself up on my legs, puts his arms up and says "up". Okay, it's more like "uh" but still, it's the right sounds in the right context. I'll take it.

Aaron on the other hand, has chosen his favorite person in the household. He has still not even attempted "mama" but has full command of "Nay-na". That would be his word for "Alaina". It's about the cutest thing I've ever heard.

Until one of them starts calling for Mommy. Then THAT will be the cutest thing.

Aaron's Special "First"

Aaron had a big milestone yesterday - his first kiss!

The daycare staff was all abuzz when I arrived and couldn't wait to tell me. Apparently he crawled right over to one of the "waddlers" - an older woman of 18 months! - pulled himself up on her and planted a big wet one on her cheek. I asked which child she was and was quite impressed with his good taste. He definitely picked the best looking girl in the group. Way to go, buddy!

We Did It!

In yesterday's post over on HDYDI, I made big confession: I NEVER take the children anywhere alone.

I know, I know. The boys have been around for 10-months; how is that possible? Trust me, it just is. I've never been in the position to HAVE to go anywhere without another adult so I just haven't done it. Also, I'm terrified. And the work involved just packing everyone up and loading them into the car (while herding the dog off to her crate) is enough to deter anyone.

But that has all changed now my friends. I am happy to announce that for the first time last night, I successfully managed to be out of the house - alone - with all three children! We accepted a dinner invitation from Katie and her brood. Dinner time is about the worst time of day for my children. They are tired, they are hungry, they want their mommy and they will fight each other to get to their food/me. But, Katie and her kids are the only people I would feel comfortable accepting this invitation from - at least the first invitation. I knew that if the kids (or I) did lose it, she wouldn't be totally appalled and may, in fact, even invite us to do something else with them again. So, I decided it was time to just go for it.

I am happy to report that even though we all ate about a third of our normal dinner portions, we did ALL eat (myself included!). There were no meltdowns. In fact, there was laughter. My normally stranger-shy toddler was (gasp!) playing without keeping me within her direct line of vision. My sons allowed me to PUT THEM DOWN and WALK AWAY.

This was a great confidence boost. Now that the summer months are here, I am looking forward to finally getting out and about. So many things await: summer concerts on the town green, the park, the zoo. Now, if they'd only contribute to filling the gas tank, we'd be unstoppable.

MOOOOOOOOOO

It's official: we are off formula! Woo-hoo!

Aaron and Brady are drinking milk like nobody's business. This is so nice for Mommy's wallet. Although, I am a little bummed that, unlike with formula, I cannot buy milk by the case on Diapers.com and have it shipped directly to my doorstep. Oh well. I guess a little planning ahead never killed anyone.

For Just $2 a Day...

I often sigh and whine at Daddy for his choices of outfits when he dresses Alaina in the morning. I do not appreciate coming home to find that he has taken her out looking like a homeless person. So I was humbled walking in the door at the end of the day with these two:

I swear, they do own shirts.

But this was a particularly rough day of drooling, messy eating, sweating and peeing at day care. The boys ran through their entire supply of back-up clothing. When I arrived to pick them up at 5:15, they looked like they had just gotten off the courts from a shirts vs. skins pick-up game.

They looked so cute, we let them go topless the rest of the night. They seemed to enjoy it. I believe Aaron even flexed at one point....

Just curious

How long does it usually take for a tooth to come in? My poor sons are chewing on everything. They are whining, drool machines. Aaron has one corner of one tooth poked through his lower gums. And that's it. It's been there for two days. When will the suffering (their and ours) finally end?