Happy Easter

Our little bunnies enjoyed two Easter egg hunts this year.  We celebrated at Nana and Papa's yesterday with brunch and a gathering of loved ones.  The Easter Bunny left baskets that had everything from sunglasses to disco flashing baby chicks.  The coloring books, crayons and bubbles were an immediate hit...

-Will-

-Alex-

We woke up this morning and enjoyed pancakes, bacon and plenty of sunshine. The Easter Bunny didn't stop by our house until nap time...

-Alex-

-Will-

I planned ahead and had the boys dye eggs last weekend.  They really loved using the tongs and experimenting with the colors this year... 

 

 -Alex-

-Will-

The boys demonstrated their egg cracking skills learned from countless baking adventures.  Only 3 out of 18 eggs survived the process unscathed...

This egg was pulverized instantly by Alex...

I can't wait to see what my bouncing bunnies are doing this time next year.

Happy Easter!

Perfect 10

Things are looking up...

We don't know what the magic combination was but William fell asleep around 7:30 p.m. last night and didn't wake up until 5:30 a.m. this morning.  That is TEN solid hours of sleep for him and six straight hours of sleep for us.

So. Grateful. For. Sleep.

Lucky # Six

This cowboy didn't sleep for more than 8 seconds straight last night...

In fact, thanks to the advice of Harvey Karp, we have started documenting just HOW many times and when William is waking up during the night.  Let's count shall we...

In bed at 7:00 p.m.

Asleep at 7:45 p.m.

     

     1st wake up at 9:00 p.m.

     2nd wake up at 11:00 p.m.

     3rd wake up at 11:30 p.m.

     4th wake up at 1:00 a.m.

     5th wake up at 3:00 a.m.

     6th wake up at 4:15 a.m.

Up for the day at 5:00 a.m.

This is a snapshot of our night for the last few months, give or take a few wake ups.  We are literally vision questing at this point.  A unicorn could cross the road tomorrow morning and I wouldn't think twice.

Hitting the Books

This is the scene of a desperate, sleep deprived parent following the advice of the pediatrician (the book was recommended, not the wine and Pirate's Booty)...

Little Leprechauns

My little leprechauns were full of mischief and smiles yesterday...

-Alex- 

-Will-

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Good Morning Sunshine

Being a mother of twins has taught me to transition from sleep to full consciousness instantly and assess my environment Terminator style before moving a muscle.  I mention this because around 4:00 a.m. this morning I woke up to the strange sensation of something lightly brushing my arm.  My 'mother' sense kept me from swinging into the pitch black abyss which was a good thing because I would have toppled this charming creature...

Why is this worthy of posting you may ask?  Because this is the first time a free range toddler has ended up at my beside in the middle of the night.

We removed the child gate from their bedroom door last Sunday after a room transforming day trip to IKEA (more on that coming in a later post).  It didn't take long for the boys to take advantage of the freedom.

In just under a week, William conquered his fear of the dark and shuffled his little feet all the way through the house to my bedside where he used his sweet little fingers to tickle me awake.

February 2013

You two are all about exploring, pushing the boundaries and reaching new heights...literally.  The changing table is your Mount Everest and you both climb it in the early morning hours whenever the mood strikes, which is every day. Unfortunately once you both reach the summit, you fight over the nail clippers until gravity takes over and pulls you back to reality with a crash.

After exactly TWO of these crashes (which woke your poor parents from a dead sleep in a leap of adrenaline) the changing table was moved out of your room.

-Early A.M. Antics-

With nothing to climb, you were forced to think outside of the box.  Naturally the next mischievous step involved removing all the pictures within reach from the walls and disassembling the frames.

When you are not getting into typical toddler trouble, you are fascinated by buses, ringing the doorbell, construction sites, trains, snakes, dirt, spiders, dogs, balloons, monster trucks and helicopters.

You love watching... 

Any Mighty Machines episode with trains, monster trucks or helicopters
Dumbo

The Aristocats
Thomas & Friends

-Origami Valentine's-

We had a conference at school about your biting.  You two are part of an exclusive club of 6 that bite others.  Your teachers reassured us that biting is common and suggested that we focus on autonomy.  We are planning on making a few changes to your room so that you each have your own space at home.

Daddy is reading you...

Aesop's Fables
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Wind in the Willows
Treasure Island

William...

It seems that you are always in motion and when you body is at rest your words pick up where your feet left off.  The common nickname for both you and your brother is 'toots' but an old family nickname of 'twinkle toes' now comes to mind whenever I watch you run on tiptoe. 

You are most content when you are given the space to discover new things and play in your imaginary world where EVERYTHING crashes all the time.  Monster trucks, bananas, cats and cups in the bathtub...they ALWAYS crash when you are at the wheel.

You still tuck that sweet smile of yours close to my neck whenever we see new people.  It's nice to know that there are still some things that slow you down.

Alexander...

Those sweet little hands of yours often fly up and cover your mouth whenever you are surprised or scared.  You make the 'o' face whenever you are excited or anticipating something and you squeal, shout and laugh when you are simply delighted.

You are always buckled in behind me in the car so that you can get out first and help me with your brother.  More days than not, we listen for birds and identify a few by their calls before heading around the car to free your brother from his seat.

Stranger danger may be one of our biggest lessons to teach you because you literally say 'hello' to everyone you see, dogs included.

Thanks boys for making each and every second worth celebrating...

                              xoxoxo,

                                                   Mama & Daddy

Birthday Bug of 2013

The norovirus is no joke.

No wonder why cruise ships turn back to port when it hits.

For us, it all started on February 26th, Aaron's birthday.  He was wrestling around with Will when disaster struck.  Poor Aaron and the couch ended up completely covered in vomit.  For the record, goldfish crackers, pears and copious amounts of milk do NOT return nicely.

Then Alex threw up all over the rug in their room.  Temperatures flared and bodies became limp.  The sheer amount of laundry generated from sudden unpredictable vomiting and super liquid diarrhea was simply staggering.  So staggering in fact, that the washing machine started to leak.

Seriously.

5 days into the ordeal and we continued to face more tears, coughing fits, more vomiting and diarrhea soaked surfaces.

I wanted nothing more than to remove the garbage bags covering their crib mattresses.

The good 'ol fashioned flu is for sissies.  The norovirus is the viking bug that sailed into our lovely home and destroyed poor Aaron's birthday and eventually poor Aaron himself.

The grand finale was the sleepless Sunday night (day 6) that led to a doctor's appointment for William on Monday morning.  The verdict...a double ear infection and the possible sounds of bronchitis lurking in the lungs.  That explains why poor Alex's coughing lead to a few vomiting incidents.

That's what I call 'making memories'...