The Brothers: 10 months.

The brothers are getting very close to a year. I find this very hard to believe. Perhaps because much of this year has been a blur of sleep deprivation and craziness. Speaking of sleep, I am not going to talk about sleep today. Let's just say some nights are good, some nights are terrible, someday they will sleep.

Soren, I am sorry. Most of the photos from this month are of Kai. I will do better next month, buddy.

The brothers are still working hard on moving they scoot around on their bellies but mostly go backwards. They have mastered going from their bellies to sitting, though. Both have started to crawl on all fours in very small increments but they really haven't taken off yet.

Kai is working hard on pulling himself up. He loves to stand and is getting close to pulling up all by himself. Soren is a little less into the pulling up and more into moving around. Generally he just scoots around the room until he gets stuck against or under some piece of furniture and then he starts squawking. Kai is perhaps a bit more needy in his desired play activities. To each his own. I am certain they will be moving with speed soon enough. It is fine if they take a bit longer than their big sister to walk, too. She was walking in favor of crawling by her first birthday. I must say I will be perfectly happy if the boys take a bit longer.

They still aren't doing much waving or clapping, but Kai can catch and throw a ball like a boss. They both also reach up with their arms to be picked up and are generally quite interactive. We will keep working on the waving because it is so darn cute when they figure it out. I think part of why they don't wave yet is they don't get dropped off or picked up from daycare. I think that is where Audrey picked up that particular skill. I guess we will have to start waving goodbye when we leave the room.

It has been a pretty busy month for the brother bears. They had their first Halloween. They were a monkey and a giraffe. They started music class. We went to Madison and saw all the Babas and cousins. So much fun.

They continue to love food, anything we give them. We have not yet found one thing they will not eat. Good work little men. They are big enough that they get angry when you take something away from them, sorry Audrey. As a result, Audrey has started "trading" toys with them when they have something she wants. I keep telling her they will be bigger than her soon, I guess she should enjoy her time as queen.

Still no teeth. I assume they do have teeth and will get them some day. For now they seem to make do quite well with just their gums.

In addition to those baby boys keeping their beautiful blue eyes, it appears they have a bit of curl to their hair. Jackpot.While we are on the jackpot subject, you may recall that Audrey was not a cuddly baby at all. She still isn't super cuddly but does request cuddles everyday. The brothers are way more cuddly than Audrey. Especially Kai, he is the cuddliest little dude and I love it! He also has a clear affinity for me which I must admit is nice given Audrey's preference for daddy of which she informs me everyday.

All in all, we have two happy, healthy little men. And don't worry guys, once you turn one and I cut back on these update posts I will do one for each of you. I do feel like you need some individual attention on the blog so you both get your own one year old post. You are welcome. Also, I really will update the name of the blog soon. Sorry about that little dudes.

Things the brothers love right now

• Scooting all over
• Standing
• Trying to chew on dog toys
• Putting any and everything in their mouths (mostly Soren)
• Sister
• Pets
• The rocking Police motorcyle
• Stroller rides
• Walks and runs
• Baths in the sink
• Life

Things the brothers hate right now

• Books, though it is getting a bit better
•  Diaper changes
• People interfering with their play, safety is a pain
• Falling

The brothers: 9 months

This is my 100th post. Woo hoo!

Also, it is the brothers 9 month post. They are almost exactly 9.5 months. Such is life.

Today may not be the best day to do this post. The boys have had a cold this week and sleep has been hell. Seriously. From 9 pm to morning one is up the other is up repeat, repeat, repeat. It has been on par with newborn days. We did get a 4 hour chunk last night, so here's hoping the worst is past. I do feel bad for the poor stuffed up little dudes, but I also like to sleep. No, I love to sleep.

Other than the sickness the brothers are great. We had their 9 month check up and Soren was 17 pounds 8 ounces, Kai was 16 pounds 13 ounces. Both are still on the growth curve like 15% and 7% or something like that.

Everything checked out well. They are a bit behind in their gross motor skills, but they were also a month early so no one is concerned. They will crawl, and pull themselves up, and walk, and wave when they are ready. They seem to be progressing just fine so no worries from us or the doctor. In fact, Kai is quite good at catching a ball. Here is some video proof.

What are the brothers doing? They are scooting all over the place. The get on hands and knees and rock but they mostly move by rotating and scooting on their bellies. It's not really army crawling because they mostly go backwards and side to side, though there is some forward motion. They definitely go after things they want. Before we know it they will be everywhere
 
I swear Kai has said hi and I also think they have both clapped and waved but it is not consistent yet. They say mama and dada and we think maybe they say it in the appropriate context. Food, they love food. Any food we put in front of them they devour some of their favorites are eggs, meat of any kind, and yogurt.

We started a music class with them and they love it. They love instruments, especially shakers and banging sticks together. They have a blast at class. So does Audrey, though she is not actually in the class but the teacher is quite kind about letting her participate when she wants. The class is at an indoor play space and she sort of comes and goes depending on what instruments are out. She always makes it for the goodbye song and dance. That little lady loves to dance and the brothers love to watch her.
 
Things the brothers love right now

• Food
• Blocks
• To steal each others toys
• Baths
• Stroller runs/walks
• Riding on mom or dads back in the carrier
•  Peek a boo
• When mom or dad walks in the room
• Winnie dog

Things the brothers hate right now

• Books (Kai likes them OK. Soren hates books. Hates them.)
• Getting their noses wiped
• Diaper rash (poor Soren)
• Getting stuck places, scooting around is hard

Happy brothers and a happy sister. She loves to help them and give hugs and kisses. She melts my heart daily, she also tells me daily daddy is her best and she likes daddy better than me. All things in moderation. 

Fall family fun.

We went to a pumpkin patch today. But of course, it was not just a pumpkin patch. There were also animals, a hayride to the pumpkin patch, a train ride, pig races, and all sorts of other stuff.

I tried to get a nice picture of the kids by the giant pumpkin on the way in as I thought it would be easier than the way out. They were not in a cooperative mood. We tried all sorts of sounds to get them all to look. Was. Not. Going. To. Happen. Not today.

Audrey mostly just wanted to play on the playground, but we did convince her to watch the pigs race, look at the animals, and go on the hayride to the pumpkin patch. She also really wanted to go on the train, as did we, but it turns out it only ran once an hour and it was small. Like really small. So when we went to get on there was no room and we weren't going to sit at the train station for an hour to wait. So, alas no train.

 

 

The brothers were pretty ambivalent about everything. They rode around in the stroller and carriers and took it all in. They did very much enjoy eating a small piece of Audrey's donut. That was the highlight for them for sure.

You may be wondering what the highlight was for Audrey. We asked her as we were leaving. She said going potty. Yep. Her highlight was going potty.

You may be wondering why that was fun. Well, she had to go about two second after we got off the hayride in the pumpkin patch. Of course. No bathrooms in the pumpkin patch and we all know a just potty trained little person can't wait 15 minutes to go after they say they need to. So to the woods we went. Her first peeing in the woods experience, and it was the highlight of her day. Oh toddlers.

The brothers: 8 months.

The brothers turn 9 months next week, so I should probably do an 8 month post for them. Sorry brothers, mama's work schedule has been extra crazy the past few weeks and I just haven't been able to make the time to get this post done. Sincere apologies. I will continue to live by the better late than never mantra.

Those brothers are happy, healthy little dudes! In the last month they have gotten a dog, a sandbox, and time with their Babas. They especially enjoyed watching the sandbox being filled.

Cutest video ever, perhaps.

They do love seeing their Babas, though perhaps they get a bit too excited about the extra attention. Every time grandparents come to visit they stop sleeping. For real. So much so that I brought them to Urgent Care to get their ears checked. It was that bad. Their ears were perfect, by the way. Like clockwork as soon as Babas leave they go back to their normal eat once around 2 pattern. I guess the little dudes can only handle so much excitement.

This month they have started loving solid foods. Both baby food and finger foods. I am continually amazed at what they are able to mash with their gums, cause they still have zero teeth. I think Audrey had 4 teeth by now. We keep thinking they are teething, I'm sure it will be true someday.

They also are working on their mobility. They both have backwards army crawling down. Unfortunately for them, they are not trying to go backwards. Baby life is hard. They also are getting up on all fours and making some forward progress here and there. They will be crawling everywhere soon enough, we are in no rush for that to happen. No rush.

Some things they espeically enjoy right now are:

• Playing catch
• Rolling around on the floor
• Watching the dog
• Food
• Sleeping in mom and dads bed (this is mostly Kai, stinker)
• Their dog and elephant
• Playing with sister
• Watching the world go by
• Practicing their crawling
• Riding in their stroller 

 
They do not especially enjoy:

• Getting out of the bathtub
• Reading books (hopefully they will come around on this one)
•  Diaper changes, mostly because it requires sitting still
• Nursing anywhere but a dark quiet room - distracted to the max, there is far too much to watch anywhere else

Happy 8 months brothers. Hopefully I will get your 9 month post done before you turn 10 months. Love you little buddies.

Love for little dogs?

We got a dog! Yay! Here name is Winona, we call her Winnie. Audrey loves her to pieces. She is sweet and cuddly, barks a little more than I would prefer, but is otherwise pretty perfect.

Here's the thing, she is a small dog. About 18 pounds. Now, I know there are lot and lots of small dog lovers out there. And I love all dogs, truly. But I am going to be totally honest here, I never, ever thought WE would own a dog this small. Never. We are big dog people, at least medium dog people. Honestly, I find myself feeling a bit embarrassed and defensive when I tell people about our new dog. I qualify her size with her wonderful attributes. That's right I apparently am a dog sizeist. Ridiculous, I know. But I am laying it all out there to help you understand how much we felt this was the right little dog for our family, because remember, we would never have a small dog in our family.

Which can only mean one thing, Winnie was just perfect for our family, perfect. We went to a couple of adoption days and didn't find any dogs that met our needs - which to be fair are high. Has to be good with small kids, has to be good with cats, has to be good with other dogs. That is a lot to ask, I know.

We were about ready to head out when we saw Winnie, with her super cute bat ears. We told the adoption people our needs and they said she would be perfect. She was so cute. Honestly, we were hoping she was a puppy on her way to medium size. They said she is a year old, I thought well shoot. JT's face said "nope, not a chance. I can't run with that little dog." But Audrey, Audrey's face said "I am in love with this little dog who is the perfect size for me." Smitten.

Audrey had been sacred of most of the other dogs we saw. They were big. They barked. She was not a fan. "That dog is scary" had become a common refrain. We did not want to adopt a dog she was scared of, wasn't going to happen. So we could not just brush off her comfort with this dog. She took her leash and walked her around the store like the owned the place. Winnie licked her face and she giggled. She said "this is my new doggie? She comes to our house?"

Good grief. We walked around. Hemmed and hawed. Expressed our honest hesitation with a small dog to the adoption staff. They told us about several medium sized dogs that would be good but weren't there that day.  We decided to go look one more place and then decide. Audrey was crushed that we left without her doggie.

My parents were with us, so JT and I just ran in to the next adoption day, quickly realized they did not have any dogs who met our needs and had a conference. Were we getting Winnie because she was the only dog that met our needs that day? Was she the right choice? She was really cute and Audrey loved her. JT told me my dad had to walk away he wanted her so bad. I told him Audrey was super sad we left without her. "Let's do it he said."

We went back to see if she was still there. She was. We sent the kids home with my parents so we could to take care of the details. Audrey was again crushed to leave without her doggie.

We haven't even had her a week, can I say for sure she is the perfect dog? No. Can I say for sure there wasn't another dog somewhere that would have worked for us, no? But can I say she is the right do for us right now? Yes!

She and Audrey chase each other around the yard. The boys smile and laugh at her. Turns out she is perfectly capable of going on short runs with us. She is sweet, kind, and cuddly. She tries to eat the kids toys and sometimes barks at phantom sounds, but this small dog is perfect for our family right now. Will we get a bigger dog someday, probably. But right now, Winnie is the perfect size for our family.

Let this serve as my apology to small dogs. I am sorry I have discriminated against you for so many years. Small dogs are no less dog than big dogs. Small dogs need love too.
 

The kissing hand

Audrey has a book called the kissing hand. It is a super sweet story about a mama and baby racoon. The baby misses the mama when he goes to school, so the mama kisses the babies hand and then tells him whenever he misses her he can just put his hand to his cheek and feel the warmth and love of his mama. It truly is the sweetest book. Thank you whoever gave it to us, Ms. Keisha and Ms. Kaylie I think?

The scene is bedtime last night. We lay in bed with A and read stories and then she cuddles with one or both of us for a bit before lights out. There is usually some negotiating about the end of cuddle time. I was laying next to her and she gave me her hand and asked me to kiss it. I obliged of course. She then gave me her other hand and did the same, again I obliged. The she said " now I have my kissing hands, mommy." And then she pressed her hand to her check and closed her eyes and smiled.

Oh. My. I. Can't. Even. I melted into a puddle right there in her bed. It was just the absolute sweetest thing ever. Made even sweeter by the fact that we had not read the kissing hand yesterday and there was no mention of kissing hands before she did this.

Sweetest girl with a huge heart and big healthy brain.

I just love her so much.