Towers Beware

Today, the boys got to try green beans for the first time. While Dom wasn’t sure what he thought of the first bite, he quickly warmed up to the green beans and cleaned his bowl. Alex, on the other hand, decidedly did not like the green beans. He started making a gagging sound as he spit them back out. Needless to say, he got to skip solid foods for the night.

Alex: Why did Dom get the good stuff?

The boys also had lots of time to play with the Twin-Daddy today, and they practiced their powers of destruction. Towers should tremble at their approach:

Our boys had a good day today – safe, dry and warm in our home while the wind and rain whipped around furiously outside. I was most impressed by how much Dom and Alex enjoy each other’s company. While they play independently, they also often moved next to each other. We sure do love our little fellas. My heart feels very full.

Our little boys are getting so big! They are really exploring their world and learning new skills both as individuals and together. I love to see them joyfully seek each other’s company. Even at this very moment they are pulling toys out of their basket together.

A Couple More Milestones

Size 3: They officially moved from size 2 to size 3 diapers on March 15th! We probably would have transitioned them a bit earlier, but we had managed to stockpile a lot of size 2 diapers. We were fortunate that the boys were able to finish them off. The size 3 ones seem so much bigger!

Standing: The boys are able to stand without holding onto anything for at least a 2-count now, and they were practicing this new skill last night. They’ve also started balancing by simply resting one hand on something instead of really holding on tight with both hands.

The Twin-Daddy got to play with Dom and Alex while I ran to the store last night and again this morning while he let me sleep in after a long night. Here are some photos the Twin-Daddy took last night of our little fellas:

The Twin-Daddy affectionately dubbed our boys Mr. Gabby and Mr. Grabby some time back, and the nicknames still fit. Dom loves to vocalize – jabbering, squealing, and generally finding new ways to exercise his vocal cords, and Alex’s little hands constantly reach out for new things to explore (and stick in his mouth).

When we went for lunch on Sunday with our friends Leigh and Eric and their son Alex, our boys had a good time sitting in high chairs. Dom used his new vantage point to catch the eye of nearby potential admirers, and he tilted his head, jabbered and smiled at them – enjoying the attention of his audience. Alex, on the other hand, waited until no one was watching him and made a grab for the limes on the table. Having scored half of a little green lime, he quickly brought it to his mouth for a taste. It was then that we caught him – just in time to see him make the funniest face! Too bad we didn’t have a camera ready.

ABC 123

We bought 2 puzzle mats with the ABC’s and 0-9 to make up the floor of the boys’ Playzone. We set it up Wednesday night after they were asleep and introduced them to it in the morning. Our little fellas happily played on it without any toys for almost 2 hours – so many colors and moving on it was a new experience. It does a good job cushioning their noggins when they topple over. They barely notice head bonks now – unless of course they fall on one of the hard plastic toys. Can you find everything we spelled out on their new floor?

Hats

I’ve been crocheting two hats for the boys. I already finished Dom’s, and I’m close to finishing Alex’s. Here’s a video of Dom in his new hat:

Milestones

• Alex is definitely crawling now. You can set him on one side of the Playzone and tempt him with a book, the keyboard or some tantalizing toy, and he’ll excitedly make a dash for it.
• Dom will rarely set out for distant goals, but he will crawl short distances to get to something just out of reach. This morning his crawling suddenly improved considerably though, so we’ll have to wait and see if he realizes this.
• Both boys have tried super-tiny little pieces of mango. They seemed to like it.
• Dom can now pull himself up to stand all on his own, and he’s started practicing when we put him down for naps.
• The first half hour to hour of naptime has now become the boys’ crib acrobatics session. They sit and stand up, and they often end up standing on the sides of their cribs that face each other.
• Both Dom and Alex reach for you to pick them up more now, and the Twin-Daddy thinks they’ve started saying “Mom” too (when they’re upset and crying).

At this moment, they have both crawled over to the musical table and pulled themselves up to stand and play together. So cute! Kind of like in this video from 2 days ago:

And here’s one more video of the boys having fun together:

I won’t write much tonight. Last night I was working on my dissertation, and I ended up staying up until 4:30 AM. That gave me 2 hours of sleep before the boys woke up. Fortunately, Dom and Alex took it very easy on me, and we had a really pleasant day together. All three of us napped for 2 hours this morning, and Dom and Alex each took 2 more naps of a reasonable length.

Alex and Dom played well together, and I really enjoyed just lying in the Playzone with them and letting them crawl over me for a little bit. It was a lot of fun to watch them playing with the Twin-Daddy when he got home too!

The big news today? Alex pushed off of me to stand up on his own for a moment, and Dom worked on pulling himself up to stand.

Oh! And I used our new dutch oven to make a chicken satay recipe with quinoa and veggies for dinner. It was pretty easy and tasty.