Summer!

It. CANNOT. Be. Mid-August.

Our last post was Mid-June, and we haven't had a moment's rest since then. The good news is, we've been busy having fun :)

Several of my teacher-friends and I have been trying to get together with our kids for playdates once a week or so. This beach day was probably the highlight...

Here's the whole crowd (I'm the one balancing the two kids who love water but refuse to touch sand!)

I LOVE this photo. It looks like he's punching him (which happens, don't get me wrong!), but here Robbie is actually feeding Jacob grapes. Adorable!

Bonus of the boys hating sand? Really easy to keep track of them. They wouldn't take a step off this blanket :)

We spend a lot of time just hanging out in the yard. Here's the guys relaxing one afternoon...

Jakey, hanging out in the cool grass!

Robbie, getting ready to show off his skills on the slide!

We took a trip to Chicago to visit Grandma Jean and Grandpa Don. If you ask the boys, though, the highlight may have been playing in the suitcases the day before we left...

Look! We both fit in the big one!

This was not staged, I promise. Robbie just climbed in and started doing some gymnastics.

Monkey see, monkey do!

 

Hmmmmmmmm. We don't seem to fit in this one as well as the big one!

 So we finally got packed up and went to Chicago. The boys LOVED playing at this park with fountains that shoot up at random...

Jacob looks like he's not enjoying himself, but he kept coming back for more - for a while he sat right on one!

Robbie showed no fear and RAN around the park, getting as wet as possible.

Taking a water break!

 Grandpa Jack and Grandma Sara held "camp" again this year in Aberdeen, complete with "water park", "movie night", and "field trip"...

The water park was a big hit.

OK, so here our boys demonstrate their differences: Robbie is happily yelling at the water while hitting it...

...Jakey is enjoying a quiet moment in his own "hot tub"!

Proof that daddy did spend the summer with us! Here's the whole family on the carousel.

 These boys LOVE their little red wagon! Unless it's pouring rain, we're in it every day, many days more than once a day. Once again, Grandma Kathy wins for best gift -- they'll love it for a long time!

Taking a break from practicing "sledding" down the hill in our yard.

Here's grandma Kathy with the boys. While we ran all over the country to see most folks, Grandma Kathy came to us many times. YAY for fun visits with Grandma :)

 Our sad news for this summer: We had to say goodbye to Merfy, Bob's canine "baby" of almost 15 years. We wanted to make sure we had some photographic memories of the boys with Merf, so here are some cute moments...

Jacob enjoys a tickle with Merf.

Robbie hugs Merfy. So sweet.

 We took a trip to Omaha so Bob could participate in his company softball tournament, and we could all visit Suzy, Robbie's Godmother and my good high school friend. Suzy treated us to a trip to the fabulous Omaha Zoo!

Robbie, in his monkey shirt, compares his height to that of various types of monkeys.

Jacob, in HIS monkey shirt, has lots to say about why we left the stroller in the car (don't worry, we went to get it!)

THIS is why we LOVE the boys at this age. They make a normal, boring drive into something hilarious!

Here, the "Suitcase Show" in action.

Random moments to make you laugh

Wow, if I quit my job we could continue to update our blog every day! :)  Here's the 3rd in a row...

The boys practiced their splashing in the pool... now they've brought it to bath time.

So, these next videos may require some explanation. Jacob's new favorite game is throwing small toys down our staircase, one after another, for 5-10 minutes at a time.The first video begins with a sad Jakey who has just unsuccessfully tried to push a too-large ball through the gate. He is so sad and sincere in his shock about what does and doesn't fit... you can see how it's entertaining for him. Interestingly, this behavior is the only thing that happens in this house that only ONE child does. Robbie just looks at him like he's crazy - like, "Why are you throwing away all our toys?"  :)

First museum trip!

No, you're not imagining it... we really are putting up two posts in as many days. Today was a specal occasion, which we documented just for you -- our first trip to the Minnesota Children's Museum. What a fabulous place! If you've never been there, here's a taste...

Our first stop was to play with these crazy, bendable blocks, complete with balls to throw through them.

It was tough to leave this area, but there was more to see...

We got hung up for quite a while on these stairs... not part of an exhibit, just plain old stairs -- but the boys loved them.

There is a special part of the museum for little ones (ages 6 months to 4 years). It's a magnificent spot to practice climbing, running, sliding... I think we spent more than an hour just in this little room. More than worth the price of admission, though. I love this picture because Jakey looks like he's trying to stand up so tall, and his shirt says "Who are you calling short?" :)



Here's Robbie in the middle of a spirited game of peek-a-boo!




Here's Jakey getting in on the "peek" part of the game.



Jacob was the first one to spy this fun-looking sparkly thingie (maybe it's supposed to be rain?). Anyway, monkey see monkey do... here's Robbie giving it a try.



At the top of the play area is a window from which kids can look down on St. Paul. Here they are, taking a look!



This is around the end of hour 2... Jakey seems to be saying, "Seriously? Nap time was an hour ago, and no snack yet?!?!" However, he snapped right out of it and ran off to play for another hour or so :)



Robbie wanted to stop and play with these blocks - this never gets old!



The above video cracks me up... I call it, "Cautious and not-so-cautious." In Jacob's defense, going up is harder :)

Yes, you're seeing this correctly. We dressed Jacob up as a beaver and encouraged him to crawl up into the dam. :)

So as this video begins, Bob and I are talking about the half hour Robbie has spent practicing running up and down a ramp, perfecting his technique. Bob noticed how much fun Robbie was having, and said, "He laughs all the way down"... and then, of course, Robbie takes a digger. Don't worry, though. That, too, ends in laughter :)

You'll note from my narration that in the hour we spent in the toddler room, this is one of the only times the boys were close enough to each other to get them in the same video. We're starting to call them "This way" and "That way."

Here's a quick look at Jakey exploring on his own... he was in the "prairie" part of the room, so was busy playing with everything from a big fluffy spider, to a foam tree, to a few spinny sunflowers.



Done. Totally out before we made it to the highway. All in all, a very successful first day at the museum. We had a blast!



Summer FINALLY begins...

Well, our last post was back on Mother's day weekend, and here it is Father's day weekend already! We've just finished our first full week of "summer", as Mommy was still teaching last week, and the boys were still in daycare. Add to that our crazy MN weather that has not been very summer-like, and it's no wonder we can't believe we're half-way through June already.

Here's a little snapshot of what Spring/Summer activities our little guys have been up to. Busy, busy, busy boys!

Jacob had to wait a couple of months after Robbie to have enough hair, but his first haircut was definitely an event... one he'll be glad he doesn't remember. He was SO sad :(

Unless it's raining, we spend a little time at the park almost every day. We are forutnate to have a little neighborhood park just a block away from our house...


Jacob wasn't so sure about the slide at first, but now he's an expert (and actually prefers climbing up rather than sliding down!)

 

Robbie loved this slide from the very first moment he saw it. Which is great, unless you're the only adult at the park, with two 15-month-olds, when they are both climbing up different parts of the gym to get to two different slides which are both WAY to big for them to do alone...yikes! But cute!




Slides are great, but this is Robbie's first love. We pull our wagon up to the park, and he can't wait to jump out and run over to the swings, arms raised to the sky, until we plunk him into one!





One day we unleashed the boys on the yard with 2 balls. They had a blast running and chasing them, and each other. I love Jacob's concentration in this photo... tongue out and all!

 


We are so lucky to have friends and family who donated lots of outdoor toys - our deck now looks like a mini-amusement park, but the boys love it. Here's Jakey poking his head out from the rocking fish (whatever happened to rocking horses?)




Robbie is amazingly fast at climbing up into this cube, and is the master of the slide (for the "water slide" version, see the video, below)




Here's Jakey helping Daddy with an extension cord.




Despite a cold Spring, we had one random 103 degree day. So, out came our new pool. The boys love to splash so much that we can NEVER have water in it when they're out on the deck unless they're dressed for swimming. It takes them no time at all to get sopping wet!




LOVE this photo. The boys love their Daddy. Here they are, watching him mow the lawn. I hope they're taking good notes, because Daddy will be more than happy to give up this chore in a few years.

 The boys are speaking up more and more every day, too. Probably the most commonly used word at our house is "Boo!" They use it to "scare" us and play peekaboo with each other (their favorite is to play in the curtains). That syllable has become Robbie's trademark move - so much that Bob now CALLS him "Boo" as a nickname!
We hear "uh oh" a LOT these days. We're determined to teach them that "uh oh" is meant for something that happens accidentally (as opposed to whipping one's sippy cup at the floor, and then shrugging and saying "uh oh" as if you don't know how it got down there).

Jacob says "hi", "all done", "mama" and "dada" very clearly. He still says and signs "more" and signs "please." His sign for please looks more like he's scratching under his armpit, but we know what it means (it means "I want something and am willing to be polite to get it. Now you have to figure out what it is!") He points a lot and is always "asking" us to bring him to things out of his reach (high windows, flower pots, off-limits books) so he can get a better look.

Robbie still loves saying "more" and now only signs it for emphasis, if he thinks we're not getting it. He doesn't say "all done", but does a touchdown move that shows when he's finished with his plate (additionally, he's figured out that prying the full plate off of its 'childproof' suction cup gets our attention quickly, too).


The boys in action...

With twins, people always want to know who is the "loud" one, the "shy" one, the "dominant" one, etc. and as parents we compare them, too, without thinking about it. Funny thing is, these little guys refuse to be put in a box or labeled in any way (good for them!). For example:

 Robbie always seems to be the more overtly social/outgoing one, with his big open-mouth smile... but Jacob is turning into a real flirt who knows how to smile just right to get what he wants (it's as if he thinks, "I can be social when it benefits me!").

Jacob tends to earn his reputation as the mama's boy, the sensitive soul, the shy one...except that it's Robbie who is terrified of the vaccuum cleaner and is afraid of loud noises!

At first glance Robbie seems to be the go-getter, the leader, the daredevil (and he is certainly not a cautious kid by any stretch of the imagination)... but it's Jakey who loves to climb everything, and is so trusting that he'll throw himself off the couch with no warning, assuming we'll catch him.

The boys' statistics at 15 months, for those who like to keep track of these sorts of things:

JACOB -- 30" tall (20th percentile), 21 lbs 3 oz (10th percentile)

ROBBIE -- 30" tall (20th percentile), 23 lbs (30th percentile)

This is SUCH a fun age... we love to watch them grow and change, but also would love them to stay this age for much longer - they are so sweet and fun-loving right now. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. :)

Ok, time for some updates! Our boys are almost 14 months old now. As you would expect, they are all over the place and into everything. Jacob is walking with confidence now, and Robbie is running.

 This wagon was a birthday gift from Grandma Kathy, and it is a big hit. When the weather is nice enough we come home from school/work/daycare and take a walk before dinner time. We also have a small park near our house, and they like to swing and go down the baby slide.

When I say they're into everything, I mean it... here they are "helping" us unpack the groceries.

 They like to play with balls, too...

 And they would play with the camera if they could get their hands on it...

Here Robbie displays some of our favorite tricks. He loves to "jump" (sometimes one foot leaves the ground, sometimes not!) and hug his stuffed animals.

Here Jacob plays with a truck (the truck and bus you see in this video are both favorites!), and then tries to stand on his head. Both of our boys do this on occasion. I guess when you're 1 year old, the world looks funny upside down :)

Lately Jacob has taken to "reading" out loud. He'll sit down with a book and babble while pointing to pictures, like he's explaining something to you that's very important.

Jacob took his very first steps a week after his birthday, but would only take a few steps at a time. Apparently, he was just saving his energy for when he had it all figured out... in the last week or so he's taken off, walking everywhere!

Here the boys are playing with a ball (you might also notice a hint at some "sharing" issues).

Ever wonder why it takes us 2 months to get a couple of good videos to share with you??? :)

We haven't had much success yet with getting any of the boys' real talking on video, but they are making first attempts. The only "words" they say very clearly aren't actually words, but they use them correctly! Jacob says "uh-oh" when he drops (throws?) his cup off the table. Robbie love to play peek-a-boo, and will often come around the corner with a big smile, saying "Boo!"

Jacob signs "more" when he wants something, although he's not real clear on the actual meaning of the word - it seems to mean: What is that? I want that! Bring that to me. Milk! Show that to me.... and much more! Jakey also says mama, but isn't very consistent about that one.

 Robbie signs more, and says it, too ("moe!"). He also says several other words (I'm certain of it!) but it seems I'm the only one who can understand him. He says book ("buh") and I think when he jumps/falls he's saying boom ("boo"). So, yes, maybe it's just a mother's interpretation, as all of Robbie's words start with "boo..." :)

Both boys wave bye-bye and night-night (my FAVORITE thing on earth is their sleepy, backwards waves on the way into their bedroom at night!). Both love to blow kisses, although Jacob prefers to do this at random strangers and rarely will do it on cue.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Hope your kids keep you smiling, as mine do for me!