Our Week

We took the boys to our little neighborhood park on Tuesday. The weather was really nice and the boys were anxious to get out. They had a good time running around, sliding and swinging.



L checking the place out. What to do first?



R found a ball, which is what he spent most of his time playing with.



On our way to the park.



L sliding down, face first.



Greg had to keep up with R because, as usual, he took off.



R also spent time trying to eat rocks.



Here's L, still swinging. He loves to swing. When we took him out to go home, he threw a fit.

Today we went to the Butterfly Pavilion. I thought that it would be a pretty cool place, but things didn't go too well. To begin with, both R and L woke up on the wrong side of the bed. My bed actually, since they both woke up during the night. We went to the mall for a very short time beforehand and the boys were in their stroller. They both were very restless, so I made the decision to let them wear their new halter/backpacks at the Butterfly Pavilion, so they could move around. They're still new at using them, so it didn't go great. The worst part was the heat. I researched the place quite a bit on the internet beforehand, and no where did it mention that it was a tropical climate inside and that you should dress appropriately. It is February in Colorado, so we weren't wearing our beach attire. It was hotter and more humid than Houston in August, plus the boys and I were wearing winter clothes. This made me and them cranky. L got so hot and flushed that his face was as red as his shirt. If we go back in the future, we will wait until the boys are a little older and go in the summer, when we will be more appropriately dressed.




L loved to touch and taste the salt water in the aquarium with the stingray.



Here's R with his monkey harness.



L and his bear harness.


How things are going:

L has not taken this move very well at all. He is a natural little worrier and control freak and he has not figured out what has happened yet to his old life. As a result, he's been a little nightmare for the last couple of weeks. Before we left Fort Worth, somebody asked me who got in more trouble. I quickly said R. That has now changed. R rarely gets in trouble now, but me and L have a battle of the wills every day. He has become a serious hitter and biter. When he doesn't get what he wants, he lashes out at anything and anybody who is in his path. We've been using time out, but it only works for the moment, not long term. To top it off, he has only slept through the night 3 times since we've been here. He wakes up usually around 3 am and wails. We've tried ignoring him and sitting next to his bed until he's back to sleep. But ultimately, we give in and bring him to bed with us. He is as loud as a foghorn and doesn't calm down. I really think that he could cry all night long. Somehow, R manages to sleep through it all. I feel really bad for him. He's world has turned upside down. He's no longer in the same place or under the same routine. His schedule is pretty much the same, but it is in a different place. This house is much smaller than our old house and he has little room to run around. He also seems bored. He liked to be helpful in the past, but I've had a hard time getting him to do the little things he used to do (like put his laundry away or bring me things).

So, what am I going to do about it? We got a membership to the Children's Museum, and I hope to take them once a week. I've also enrolled them in a Gymboree Play and Music gym class on Thursday afternoons. I can now take them to open play time there during the week, as well. We also have a membership to the zoo, so I hope to take them when the weather is nice. I also bought a couple of books today about easy at home activities to do with toddlers. I'm not very creative and early childhood is not my area of expertise, so I bought some books to help. So hopefully this will help L to get some of his energy out and stimulate him enough to be in a better mood and sleep through the night.

R, in the meantime, is doing fine. He's such a funny little boy. L is goofy, but R is silly and playful. He loves to try and make you laugh and he also has the sweetest and funniest belly laugh.


I leave you with a video of the boys talking on their "phones."

Fun Day!!

We went to the Children's Museum yesterday and the boys had an absolutely wonderful time. There is a large area there for children ages 4 and under that was full of things to explore and get into. R and L loved the slide and the tree house. L had a great time setting the table with the dishes and food and R loved to draw on the chalk board, play in the garden, and rearrange everything. The boys played until they were about to drop. On our way out, we stopped by the fire truck. Both boys loved wearing the fireman jackets and hats. There is an entire upstairs area we didn't get to yesterday. But we got a family membership, so we'll have plenty of time to explore it in the future. It was packed yesterday morning, so we'll be sure to take them during the week in the future. Below are a bunch of pictures from yesterday.

































As you can see, the boys had a ton of fun packed into about an hour and a half.

Below is a video of R turning in circles until he get dizzy and fell over. We thought it was pretty funny.

Have a great weekend!

Playing in the Snow

They boys got to wear their heavy winter coats for the first time yesterday in order to help Greg shoevel snow. I found these cute little garden shovels at Target which are perfect for them to "help" their Daddy outside. They got all bundled up to go outside and play. However, their mittens are so big, that we couldn't find their thumbs to fit in the right place and they couldn't hold their shovels. So we decided to take their gloves off so they could shovel. That wasn't too big of deal, until R's hands got so cold he cried. They really weren't outside any more than 10 minutes. R's problem was that he likes to eat the snow, which made his hands get really cold much faster than L's. We found them smaller mittens today that fit them much better.



R getting ready to go outside:



R eating the snow:



L took his job as the hired help very seriously. He threw a fit when I made him come inside and warm up.



Greg and I have postponed Valentine's Day for a week or so until we have time to get something for each other and go out. But we couldn't put it off for the boys. They got 2 new refrigerator toys. A Leap Frog jukebox from Grandad and Nana and a Leap Frog farm animal toy from us. We also got them harnesses. I hate the idea of putting my kids on a leash, but I hate the idea of them running off when I'm by myself with them even more. R, in particular, bolts when he has the chance and doesn't come back when called for. They are pretty cute harnesses, though. R has a monkey backpack/leash and L has a bear. Below are the boys looking at their Valentine's cards from Grandad and Nana and Grandpa and Grandma.




After lunch yesterday, I let the boys color. They've had some experience with this before, but never with their own coloring book. L did an excellent job and loved using all of the crayons. R barely made a few visible marks. After they finished, I asked them to take them to their Daddy. Greg was downstairs in the office and L flew down the steps and ran to him and yelled "Daddy" and gave it to him. R did the same, but a little slower and with more coaxing. Greg put them both on the filing cabinet next to his desk.




Video of the boys coloring:

We went to Babys R Us tonight to get more diapers. The last mass diaper purchase was during the Tax Free Weekend in Texas in August. We still have quite a few left from that, but L has moved on to the next size. So, $350 later, the boys have enough diapers to get them until we move, hopefully. We hope to reward the boys for their patience by taking them to the Denver Children's Museum tomorrow morning. I'll probably have pictures of that to post later.

Have a great weekend!!

The Move, Part II... And Other News

We are now all home as one family, minus the dogs, but with the cats and the boys (the dogs will join us tomorrow night). Greg and I went to Lubbock last Tuesday and picked the boys and cats up. R and L had a fabulous time with their Nana and Grandad and the cats had an ok time at Nanny's house. No permanent damage was done by either party. Mom and Dad just had toys to pick up and un-baby-proof their home again, and Greg and I are going to get Nanny's carpets cleaned, just in case.

The drive back to Denver was the worst part of the entire move. Somewhere between Trinidad and Pueblo, I got the stomach flu. I had the boys with me in my car, and Greg had the cats with him in his van. There is nothing like having to stop on the side of the interstate and stand in a snow bank to throw up (especially with 2 babies in the car watching you). We eventually made it to Colorado Springs (with 3 additional stops) and Greg's parents were wonderful enough to drive down and meet us there. Wayne drove Greg's van to our house, and I sat hunched over in the passenger seat, at last. I honestly don't know how I even made it that far driving. To top it off, Greg got the stomach flu the next morning. But he at least got to stay in bed all day (although I think he got a worse version than I did). We both lost the weekend, though, to feeling crappy. Fortunately, the boys have been OK and haven't gotten sick. They had this bug the first week we left them in Lubbock.

R and L learned all sorts of new tricks while they were in Lubbock. Mainly, their vocabulary has really taken off. They can mimic and repeat tons of words now and they like to point out what things are. There favorite word is "uh-oh," which they say constantly. I'm trying to teach them that uh-oh means an accident and not on purpose (like throwing food on the floor or a toy down the stairs). R has started saying "Ohhh" in amazement at things that fascinate him (like turning the fan on). L loves to point out shapes and say "circle" and "star."

They have adjusted pretty well to the new house. I got their room set up almost exactly like their old room and I think that it helped to not to make it feel too weird for them. They love the stairs. This is a tri-level house with 6 steps to each level. They have each taken a spill, but no harm was done. They love to crawl up the stairs and go down either on their bottom, or slide down on their tummies, feet first. L has been throwing serious temper tantrums lately, which has always been a sign of an ear infection in the past. But I took him to the doctor today and he doesn't have one. So maybe he's feeling uncertain about the changes. He gets so sad and mad all at the same time and he just wants to be held most of the time. Hopefully he'll feel settled in soon.

I leave you with some pictures below from the last couple of weeks. The first one is a video that I took of the boys when we were at Nanny's house last week. L especially likes to perform for the camera.

R and L helping Daddy to push the lawn mower to the front yard before we moved. We have started them early with chores.

R and L's last bath in their first home. They love to splash and make a huge mess.

Pictures of the cruise. We went to the Bahamas (which is behind us above) and Key West. We rented a wave runner in the Bahamas (no pictures of that) and went kayaking in Key West. The Keys have tons of wild chickens and roosters that run all over the place, which explains the picture that I'm in. No explanation in needed for Greg's picture. I took the picture of us all dressed up in our cabin (with the timer on the camera), so it isn't a great shot, but it is the only one I got of us looking nice.

Me, my sister, and my wonderful grandmother (my sister is wonderful, too).

Mom and I took the boys to Target last week and I let L out of the basket to walk. He pulled this wagon off of the shelf and immediately crawled into it. I pulled him around the store all the way to the cash register, where we left it. We don't need any more toys. But he had a great time riding around Target in style.

This is how R rode much of the way from Lubbock to Denver. He watched his video, sucked on his paci and held his and his brother's bears.

We stopped at a Burger King in Trinidad to let the boys run around for a while in the indoor play area. They had a good time trying to figure out the tube system.

And the picture at the top is from this afternoon. Nana and Grandad gave them super cute armchairs for Christmas, but they've been in Lubbock until now. The boys love to sit in them and read their books.

Have a great week!!!