My little Nuggets are twenty three months.  Although I’ve said a hundred times not to focus the future but live in the now, I cannot help but realize these guys are about to turn two!  Some days it feels like forever ago when I was on bed rest, then dealing with the NICU and navigating the challenges of twin newborns.  Other days, it feels like yesterday that we were there.

Their one year birthday definitely feels like yesterday.  I sat in the playroom at 6:00 AM and it was still pitch black outside when I took this picture and I remember that moment clearly.

Look at that snuggle tooth and those bald heads!

Weston

Weston has always had these incredible expressive eyebrows. He can raise one or do both in what I lovingly call the “Jack Nicholson crazy eyebrows”.

90% of the time he is showing extreme concern about something. Whether it be a bug on the ground or something in a book or the food he is eating or most commonly, his brother stole a toy, this guy wears a miniature scowl constantly.

Weston is still trying to talk but not making a lot of progress.  To get you to listen to him, he gets right into your face nice and close and then walks away, so you’ll follow him. He understands everything you’re saying and is helpful when he can wants be helpful.  I ask him to pick things up, or throw something away, and he is ready to help.  Unless it has to do with picking up the magnets off the floor.

Speaking of the magnets, he can identify and say the letters J, L, M, O, U and T.  I find it very cute that his favorite letters are J and L.  He will walk around with them all day.  Unknowingly that they are his momma and daddy’s initials.

Since we don’t watch much TV with the boys, when I do turn it on for them (trying to do dinner or lunch) West’s reaction is quite ridiculous.  He screams in excitement, wiggling his arms around and laughing.  I’ve never seen that much excitement out of him over anything but TV.  He then proceeds to turn into a teenager and not move a muscle, while completely absorbed into the TV.  Another reasons why I only turn it on for 30 minutes here and there.  When West doesn’t get what he wants (or the TV is turned off) he has taken to hitting things or climbing on furniture to get a reaction out of me.  His fits are pretty epic.

Corbin

Corbin’s expressions are awesome.

I’m pretty sure it’s a direct reflection of all the faces I make at him.  He’s always got his eyebrows up and excitedly pointing at something and has to tell me all about it.  Cue a lot of grunting and pointing. 

Corbin also received his first haircut this month.  He did really well but at one point his lip started to wiggle and he had a few tears.  I think he was just a little bit frightened.  It was over before he knew it because he still doesn’t have too much to cut.  I just wanted the newborn hair that was remaining to be cleaned up.

Corbin has also been trying to talk.  I can ask him if he can say something, “Corbin can you say, black truck” and he will say something that he thinks is equivalent and be quite proud of himself.  Sometimes it’s close and I can understand him and other times not so much. Corbin will surprise me though with new words and once he starts saying them, Weston will echo him.  Even though Corbin is my more cautious boy, it seems like he is the one to try something first.  Weston is his copycat in all things.

I addition to what they’ve been saying their newest vocabulary includes: Pop pop – Poppy (my dad), choose – shoes, back-back – backpack, cookcook – cookie, baaaackboom – vacuum, ahhhlbowbow – elbow or Elmo if we have our toothbrush out, dict – stick, gaaaga – goggles 

And lots of very specific grunts/strange noises which mean certain words for truck and car. They also moo for a cow, squeak for a mouse, meow for a cat, quack for a duck, roar for a lion, and baahaha for a sheep. Oh and monkey and gorilla are the cutest!

They are starting to play independently.  What I mean by that is, they don’t need me to entertain them.  They play solo or with each other for up to 20 minute increments.  They’re opening and closing doors (that was a bittersweet day, I’ve resorted to locking the doors to rooms I don’t want them to get into). they love to vacuum, color and take showers!  Both boys love to make the other laugh.  If one of them does something that gets a reaction out of the other, they will go back and forth in fits of giggles and it’s the cutest thing E V E R.

So much of life is an adventure for them and I try to keep busy.  We visit the parks in the area at least 3 times a week and we’ve been going the play areas at the mall too when it’s 100º.  They get a chance to interact with other kids there too and they do really well.

It’s been two and a half months since I stopped working and we’re having a lot of fun.  Time doesn’t stop so I’m grateful for this chance to spend my days with these Nuggets while they’re still small-ish. 

I’ve had a bit of a dry spell on blogging and it’s not because I don’t have anything to say…I just cannot find the time.  It’s more like, I’m not making the time but after dinner and a full day with the Nugs, I’m beat.  I haven’t been working on my photography either.  On top of all that, we’ve been in the middle of remodeling our kitchen for months now, so stopping to blog just isn’t happening.  I’ll get back into the swing of things, promise.

XOXO

Holy wow.

We’ve had a lot going on in August with friends and family. We had my uncle visiting from Thailand with my cousin attending the Dallas Cowboys summer camp.  Then my big brother and his fam came to visit last weekend and then this past weekend my parents and my younger brother, plus his girlfriend came up.

Everyone is trying to squeeze in time for us on their busy calendars before the summer season is over.

It’s Texas though, so last week and this week is 100 degrees.  A L L week.  Thank the good Lord we have a swimming pool in our backyard.  Although, the pool temperature is resembling a bathtub these days at 94 degrees.  Believe it or not, when it’s 104, the pool is refreshing.  I don’t know if I ever want to live without a pool in my backyard.

On Sunday the boys turned 22 months old.  Do you realize that is only 2 months away from turning T W O ?  What?  I have to stop myself though.  Just enjoy twenty two months.  Focus on the present and be grateful for the future.

Weston

I paused here for a few minutes to think where to start.  Weston is becoming a lot less aggressive.  He will still see something Corbin has and go take it from him but Corbin will relinquish it and move on.  If that were the case all of the time, anyone would probably just go take what they want.  If Corbin runs away, Weston then comes over to me whining that he wants it.  I have to explain sharing. Corbin is not giving up as much these days.

Weston’s vocabulary hasn’t expanded too much in this past month.  He is saying bye-bye instead of just waving and continues to use all the words he has learned up to this point. Most of the time though, he isn’t saying much. BUT you can tell he wants to reeeeally badly.  This leads to a lot of meltdowns because he is so frustrated at me for not understanding him.  80% of the time it is grunts and points.  About 50% of the time, I can figure out what he is referring to, and after asking him to say whatever it is, I give him whatever he was pointing and grunting for.  I do wonder if this is hurting his vocabulary growth…?

Weston makes me laugh all of the time.  He is a SUCH a copy cat and will make funny faces to get you to make the face in return.  If I jump, he jumps.  If Corbin does something that makes me laugh, West immediately does it, in attempt to get me to laugh at him.  He is definitely a mama’s boy, he picks me every time.

Corbin

The first thing that pops to mind, is he is my sweet boy.  He loves to snuggle and gives me kisses, when I ask for them.  He is very sweet and he still looooooves his daddy more.  He isn’t as kind to his womb-mate.  Corbin wants to play solo sometimes.  Weston does not want to grant that wish and that leads to Corbin getting frustrated, which equals a bite.  His bites are ruthless.  Last week, when they were sitting side by side in the grocery cart, Cor bit his brother for no apparent reason.  The only thing I could come up with, as this happened right in front of my face, was Corbin wanted his own space.  He isn’t a meanie towards Weston all of the time, he is actually the best at sharing.  If he has two toys, he will seek his bro out to give him one of them.

Corbin chooses to say the strangest words.  Last month was lawnmower and this month it’s remote.  He is really trying to say more, even though it rarely comes close to the word he is wanting to say.  Chee is cheese,  ra-mo is remote, bo-bo is elbow and eee is knee..  Then again, that’s what makes it so stink’n cute.  He is definitely getting there.

Even though neither are speaking a whole lot of actual words, these two have their “twin talk”.  They stand on top of their slide or open the bedroom door and yell down the hallway in something that sounds like, “daadaaayaa, yaayaa aahhdaaya“.  The both say it the same way too, like they know what they’re saying even if we don’t.

The Nuggets are both into cars and trucks (aren’t all boys?) and are particular as to which matchbox car they want to play with – Corbin’s is red and West’s is yellow.  If I cannot find the right car, watch out.  Meltdown commence.  They love music and dancing.  The 30 minutes of TV we do watch consists of the Notekins (Baby’s First TV) or Sesame Street — which I haven’t watched in like twenty five years but, in my opinion, is still the best children’s content on television.

Both boys are T A L L.  Nothing is safe anymore.  They can reach up onto the bar top and countertops where we used to put anything we wanted to keep away from them.  No such luck anymore.  They’ll climb onto chairs to get anything on the kitchen table.  Nothing is safe.

Neither has gained much weight in the last month, still weighing in around 27/28 lbs each.  Which is killer when they want to be held at the same time.  Which coincidently is always when I’m attempting to make dinner.

These kiddos make me very happy.  I used to think I was a total dork for missing The Hubs after the weekend.  We spend two whole days together and then have to go our separate ways for work on Mondays.  Now, I’ll miss The Nuggets when they take a 3+ hour nap, I get excited when they wake up.  These three boys are my whole heart.

XOXO