Wow! It’s been two months since I wrote a blog post and over a month since the twin-daddy posted. Our little guys have been growing, learning new skills, and having new adventures. I’ve been searching through e-mails to create some blog posts to catch us up a bit. Here is the first installment from June (with a little of May thrown in):

Exploring Uncharted Territory: Alex crawled under the bed, on top of the boxes underneath and to the other side. Wow! (May 20)

Shoes: Dom and Alex got their shoe sizes measured (4 wide), but when we went to look for shoes, we discovered that they have chubby little feet that don’t fit into most shoes. We finally bought them some velcro sandals that didn’t squish their toes! And it’s pretty funny how the first thing our little guys want to do with their shoes is chew on them. How do they test? Hmmm… I like the way my teeth sink into this. (May 21)

Climbing On: Both Dom and Alex were able to get on the riding lion unassisted for the first time. (May 21)

No, No: The boys have been learning “no-no” in relation to certain activities since May, and they still enjoy testing those boundaries. Are you serious about not touching the cord? Still serious? Are you sure? What about now?

Stealing Toys: Dom and Alex have been stealing toys back and forth, and it is starting to become a point of contention at times.

Alex (May 22, 2011)

Manipulating Objects: Alex managed to move the Cube of Wonders several feet and position it behind the doorway of their “house.” Then, he crawled through the doorway and tried to pull the cube through after him. Unfortunately, he was frustrated in his efforts to get it to cross the threshold and gave up. (May 27)

Colds: The boys have had a couple rounds of congestion in the last couple months with Mommy on nose patrol with boxes of Puffs all over the house and long nights with babies sleeping on Mommy in the recliner and the Twin-Daddy letting Mom catch naps whenever he could.

Dom (May 22, 2011)

Spinning: The boys discovered the spinners on their Playzone walls, and they started spinning them away as fast as they could and laughing together. Since then, it has become an activity they enjoy doing together – spinning the spinners on the two walls at the same time or sharing a set of spinners. (June 2)

Dom Stands Up: We just saw Dom stand up completely on his own with no help from people or objects! And yes, he did it on the blue tub. (June 5)

Visiting Friends: We took the boys over to our friends’ home, and they were fascinated by watching their son Alexander run and play. Dom and Alex also loved the age-appropriate toys they could play with and exploring a new environment. Dom has now joined Alex in waving. (June 5)

Cafe Italia: The boys and I went to Davis to have lunch at Cafe Italia with Puck for his birthday – a day early. I shared a little of my raviolis with the boys. Alex didn’t like them, but Dom liked the spinach raviolis though not the cheese. They had a great time playing with the paper on the table and then in the rolling high chairs. (June 7)

Tubs and Evening Play: It was really cute to see Dom dancing and then heading to his dad with big grins on his face. Alex was really cute with the blue tub too. The boys have really enjoyed the tubs – pushing them all over the room, pulling them off shelves, scooting them under the baby gate, carrying them, and now wearing them as hats. (June 7)

Sitting on the Blue Tote: Alex does enjoy getting on the blue tote, and he’s learning to watch the edges and practicing the best ways to roll off. Dom got on the tote several times this afternoon too! One time he got on, off and right back on, but the last time he climbed on, he fell off head first into the pillows and wasn’t very happy about it. I picked him up and comforted him until he felt better. (June 10)

Wrecking Crew: The boys had lots of fun with megabloks today. We tore things down and built them back up (well, Puck and I did the building), but the boys enjoyed playing with our constructions and disassembling them. I made a large ring and a smaller ring during their morning nap. Later, Alex tried on the smaller ring as a hat, and he crawled into the larger ring and then tore it apart with the help of his brother on the outside. They also had a great time shaking their toys and making lots of noise after we set up one of the play gyms with toys hanging down. (June 12)

A Little Chat: On our way home from CostCo, Dom and Alex had a little conversation in their car seats. It was cute. Later that evening, they were wearing only their diapers in Dom’s crib for a bit before we put their PJs on them, and they thought that was absolutely hilarious. Alex discovered his belly and thought that was pretty fascinating, and he still pats his belly sometimes when he walks around. (June 13)

Chasing Shadows: This morning during breakfast, Alex started slapping his tray with his hands, but it didn’t seem completely random. It took me a little while to figure out what he was doing. He was trying to catch my shadow on his tray when it moved! He had a good time chasing Mommy’s shadow. (June 17)

Laundry Basket Car: I had the laundry basket out of the closet, and Dom and Alex immediately started pushing it. At one point, Dom started to climb inside, getting a bit stuck with his feet off the ground. I helped him get in and then added his brother, and they loved being pushed around in it together – though occasionally trying to stand. Later, I let them push it turned over. It was a big hit as a new toy. (June 17)

Storytime: I started letting the boys pick out most of the books we read before naps now. They each get 2 choices between a selection of books, and then I read the same final book. They seem to enjoy picking a book and only occasionally reach for more than one. We read a minimum of 11 books a day. (June 18)

Dada: During a trip to Barnes and Noble, the boys tried to engage another little boy in conversation, though he was too shy, and they babbled away. Later, we crossed by a main aisle, and both Dom and Alex suddenly started saying “Dada.” I looked around, but I didn’t see Puck. However, right after that Puck found us. He hadn’t seen us, but I think the boys might have seen him cross the aisle. It had just felt so much like they were saying it because they had seen him and then he showed up so soon afterward. (June 18)

The Dommy Gun: Dom has a special laugh that Puck calls his Dommy Gun laugh. (June 18)

The Cabinet: Alex discovered the cabinets in the hallway where we keep the towels and sheets and managed to open the door today. Oh, the risk of future pinched fingers! He was awfully proud of himself for finding something new. The next day Alex showed Dom how to open the closet doors, and they were knocking each other over in the corner in their excitement. (June 23)

Tunnel Adventures: Dom crawled into their tunnel and kept going deeper in, turning and smiling. Alex came over to watch and soon followed his brother into the tunnel. At opposite ends, they would smile, crawl toward each other playfully, stop, laugh, and back away. It was adorable. (June 23)

Talking, Walking, and Laughing: Alex has been talking a lot with his tongue sticking out of his mouth the last few days – pretty cute and funny. Dom has really stepped up the game on his walking, and he continues to talk a lot and imitate the sounds we make. He’s started doing Alex’s snort-laugh which is pretty hilarious. Both boys are very good about holding their own bottles of haffle now. (June 29)

No Pants: I put long sleeves and pants on the boys today as we had another cool day – though it didn’t rain like yesterday. It was pretty funny though because I went to make their breakfast, and I looked over the counter at them in the Playzone to discover they both had their pants off! I don’t think it was intentional; I think they just stepped on the bottom of the pant legs repeatedly and accidentally pulled them off. Once I rolled up the pants a little bit, they stayed on the rest of the day. (June 29)

From the Twin-Daddy:

Alex loves books.  His favorite is a soft, chewy book with bright colors and animals.  Like most brothers, his love of the book has provoked a covetous desire in his older brother who occasionally steals it. This can lead to a back-and-forth stealing match that can last for several minutes, and it isn’t limited solely to books.

 

Alex has come up with some bait-and-switch strategies to handle Dom’s desire to “share” toys.

 

 

The Dynamic Duo Raids the Bookshelf

In addition, Alex and Dom will occasionally team up to raid the bookshelf.  You can see them being quite brazen in their larceny as Alex sneaks books off the shelf and passes them to his brother:

The Cheerio Thief

For all that Alex seems to be a victim of Dom attempting to steal his favorite book and most other toys, Alex isn’t completely innocent either as these hidden camera photos demonstrate.

From the Twin-Daddy:

Who is the ladybug princess? Last year one of my nieces went through a bone marrow transplant. It was a tough time for her and the entire family. She displayed so much courage, spirit, and grace in the process that it would be impossible to be unmoved by it. She suffered from a rare genetic condition called Kostmann’s Syndrome but with the bone marrow transplant, she made a complete recovery.

She had to walk through fire to get to the other side, but now she has emerged like freshly forged steel stronger and better than ever. To celebrate her recovery I decided to cut my hair and donate it to the Locks of Love foundation.

My ponytail was 23 years old which makes it older than a lot of my fencing students.  Here are some pictures of us parting ways and of me sporting my newly cropped haircut.

It was actually pretty fun and, for all that I look clean cut now, I’m still a total loon or if you prefer a very silly uncle/daddy.

~P.

Alex continues to flirt with walking. Here’s our little walker taking several steps in sequence yesterday to get to his daddy!

 

Laugh and Chase

Our boys also started a game of Laugh-and-Chase, though the video only catches the end when the game has started to break down. Apparently, the game goes like this: they laugh at each other; then, Dom takes off crawling and Alex crawls after; they stop, sit and laugh some more and start over.

Car Envy

In this next video, Dom comes over and steals the toy Alex was playing with, and Alex…well, you’ll just have to see what he does:

I brought out the camera yesterday afternoon and had lots of fun taking photos of the boys while they played in our bedroom. I’m posting some of my favorites. Remember to click on the images to see the full photo (the first photo of Alex by himself in red especially). They’re getting so big!