Adventuresome boys
I peeked into the Great Room the other day to find Owen standing on the loveseat, looking proud of himself. I hauled him down, but it means we need to empty all of the bookcases behind the loveseat before the boys do. We were up at my parents’ place today, and Owen climbed right up on their couch.
Tonight in the bath, Owen was playing with two toys. He looked at Roo, and handed one of the toys to him. He got a big cheer from Nancy and I and looked very pleased with himself.
At lunch today, Andrew finished half of a cheese sandwich by himself. They are really starting to eat a lot of food. Good thing they still get by on childrens’ rates at restaurants!
Both boys have been experimenting with spoons. They sort of have the idea that the spoon goes in the food and then in the mouth. Sometimes the food actually makes it into the mouth. Other times, it is not so good. But they are learning. They seem to learn more every day.
I asked Andrew where the clock was when we were looking at a picture. He pointed at the (very small) clock that we could see in the picture. Andrew also recognizes the trucks on some of their shirts and goes “bbrooom bbrooom” (he knows trucks say vroom vroom, but he can’t quite get the v sound).
We went to Home Depot the other day and found out that not only can Andrew and Owen push our cart around, but they can also push around the big carts with a few pieces of lumber or a few boxes on them. It is interesting how casually strong they are. Andrew was dragging a chair around with him (not one with rollers) as if it were nothing.
The kids want to see everything, get into everything, smile at everyone, and occasionally say bye or wave. Andrew is more likely to say bye, Owen is more likely to wave.
We’re going to try to get a short video of the kids up in the next week or so.
Pictures
Andrew climbing with Grandpa Dale
Andrew walking with Grandpa Dale
Grandpa Dale feeding Andrew
The family at lunch
Our Great Room, before the kids wake up
Say what, Grandpa Larry?
Owen and Grandma Toni at lunch
Owen and Grandma Toni on the stairs
Signing
May 21, 2006
Nancy and the boys have been attending a baby signing class with my parents. They have been learning a lot of new things, and the boys are starting to pick up on some of the new signs. Owen used the sign for banana twice yesterday! Also, both boys know kitty: “hiss, fttt-fttt-fttt”. I hope they don’t show that one to the teacher 
Andrew can put his leg up on the couch. This means that he can climb up on the couch if he wants to now. It’s time for us to do another round of baby-proofing.
The boys are very confident in their walking now. They were running around last night with no problems. They are starting to work on going up and down a single stair at a time. Owen actually managed to step down a single small step without holding onto anything.
Owen is just about over the last bout of sickness. Andrew probably has another day or two left. Poor kids. Despite being sick and teething (Andrew is working on his lower canines), the boys are very happy kids.
One of our next big outdoor projects is to put up a fence to give the boys access to a small part of our backyard. We will be working on that over the next few weeks.
The kids are working on eating with spoons. They aren’t very good yet, but they do know that food is supposed to go on the spoon and the spoon is supposed to go in the mouth.
Pictures
Owen looking at Grandpa Larry
Owen sharing with Grandpa Larry
Owen working on a spoon
Boys playing with spoons and Grandpa Larry
Boys walking with Grandpa Larry and Scott
Andrew intent on something
Andrew in a restaurant with Scott
Andrew with a sippy cup
Music
May 13, 2006
The kids like music very much–both to listen to and to play. We let the kids starting playing on the piano this week. Sometimes they even play something resembling music, although most of the time it’s just a lot of keys being pressed. Kind of like a blog only musical…
The kids also got to play drums this week–both the bodhran at our house and the other drum up at grammie and grampie’s house.
Nancy and the boys went to a childrens’ signing class with my parents. They said it took all three adults to corral the kids! I think the adults have all learned some useful signs–maybe I can pick up something from them. We have “all done” now, which we hope the boys pick up on soon.
Owen has an all-purpose sign that means “water”, “eat”, “more”, and “yes” depending on context. Sometimes it takes us a bit to figure out the appropriate context!
Andrew was playing with the broom as well. I guess he saw Owen playing with the mop last week and wanted to get in on the act.
New words include “bath” (just heard it tonight!) and a very nice “thank you” from Owen at dinner, in an appropriate context. We’ve heard thank you before, but we haven’t heard it for a while, so it’s nice to see it re-entering their vocabulary.
We were walking around Bridgeport the other day. Owen had no problems walking on the rough surface (individual small paving stones), but we hit the smooth concrete and he went down. I guess he wasn’t expecting the ground to all be the same level!
Sometimes the kids will rush into new situations–other times one or the other will hold back and want to be held for a few minutes before jumping in. Andrew met some new children today (well, he had met at least one of them before). He gave the 9-year old a kiss. Andrew has really sloppy kisses. My parents captured it on videotape so we can bring it out when he’s sixteen.
Pictures
Andrew had to get in the act, playing with a broom
This spot by the stairs is the kids’ favorite hiding place
Andrew is making a C sign for cookie
Andrew playing the piano
Both boys dancing
Owen looking happy
Owen playing with keys
Owen relaxing after a hard day of playing
Owen walking
Cups and learning
May 6, 2006
Earlier this week, Owen managed to drink out of a real cup at a restaurant. Owen was bored–food wasn’t interesting him and neither were the minimal toys we had with us. I finally broke down and gave him a paper cup half-full of water. He drank it without spilling. He didn’t have any problems until he finally squashed the cup out of shape.
Owen also has constructed two two-word sentences. He said “dog bye” when Reigny went around the corner, and he made the sign for eat (hand to mouth) and said “cracker”.
Both boys have been sick this week–croup the doctor called it (hopefully I spelled that correctly). Andrew has had it a bit worse, so he hasn’t been making as much progress this week as Owen has. Still, Andrew was flirting with a little girl at lunch today. I think she was around two, so Andrew is showing his preference for older women
Both boys are learning to be very good with the animals, though we still have some work to do with not pulling Spice’s tail. But they pet nicely–in fact, Andrew is petting Reigny’s muzzle right now (Andrew is sitting in the playpen next to me while I write this).
The boys have grown a lot over the past few months. They comfortably fit 24 month / 2T tops. The 24 month / 2T bottoms fit well in the waist but are too long in the legs. Both boys are working on the famous MacHaffie long backs, though Owen has more of a long back at this point than Andrew does.
They are very active. Both boys have been working on climbing and moving furniture. Last night, Owen put his leg on the edge of the bathtub (he was trying to climb out). We don’t think Andrew is built right to be able to get his leg up that high yet, but I’m sure he won’t be too far behind.
We’ve heard lots of new words recently. Most of the words we hear once and won’t hear again for a while. However, Andrew knows that trucks say “Vroom”. He prounounces it more like “bmmm”. That word we hear a lot.
New words: gobble (like the turkey), bellybutton, up (we’re starting to hear this one more often now), cat (definitely getting this one down), book.
Pictures
We went to an SCA event and found another set of twins
Andrew also likes his peas
Nice shot of Andrew sitting on a rug at home
Nancy and Andrew playing
Owen in a box again
Look how excited Owen is
We’re not sure what possessed Owen to wear this hat–normally he wears a hat for about two seconds before pulling it off
