2.5 Years/7.5 Months

Shannon and I wake up every morning, change diapers, clothe kids, cringe when we say good bye, work all day, come home, feed kids, change more diapers, talk about their day, read books, change more diapers, potty train, watch kids shows, and put babies to bed (two of them unwillingly, and not before spoon feeding two insatiable 7 month olds), and crawl into bed usually around 11. Then we wake up two or more times a night to tend to nightmares, hug friends, and replace missing pacifiers. Then we wake up at 6-6:30 every morning to do it all over again. On the weekends we clean, organize, and wash. 

We are starting to move out of survival mode into "busy" mode. We are constantly looking for the next "right" thing to do. Do they need to go to the doctor? Is Claire eating too much or too little? WHY HAVE THEY STOPPED DRINKING THEIR FORMULA? Why is Colin acting like he feels sick, does he need a different formula, is he teething, is he going through a phase, is he sick? 

And soon, very soon... we will need baby gates and running shoes on to manage this household, because the twins are seconds from crawling and if they do this like they do everything else, they will do it in the same minute, on the same day, and in opposite directions. 

It's very lucky that we have lots and lots of help, and we even have a watch cat.

Gus took up a new spot on the glider in the babies' room.

ADAM
Adam is doing incredible at potty training. We gave him a big push in the right direction a few weekends ago by letting him run around naked, which proved that he can "hold it" but was using the diaper as a way to avoid having to use the potty (which he had been doing at school very well). The diaperless, underwearless method worked for us since I don't have the time to ask him if he had to go every 10 minutes and then follow him in there. So after 2 days at home pantsless, and three evenings at home pantsless (pottying at school like normal), we're started making progress. And now the accidents are much less (as long as he's not wearing a pull up, which truthfully does more damage than good). And it is impressive to watch. I dreaded this phase, but so far, so good. When he goes at home, he gets a gummy lifesaver and when he does VERY well he asks for us to spin him around. Potty training is "fun!"


Adam told me he had to potty before bed without prompting, and afterwards asked for his treat. I gave him one (a reese's pieces) even though he'd already brushed his teeth. He took it, held it to my lips and said, "you eat it, Mommy." Sweet, sweet boy.

Therefore he got two hours of me rubbing his back, counting to one hundred and back down again, and singing songs at his request.


Some other recent Adam conversations:
"Adam, you ready to read some books?"
"No, I want to talk."
"Oh okay! What do you want to talk about?"
"ME!!!"

We then talked about his friends at school, his teacher, how good he was going potty-training and what kind of birthday party he wanted to have (ants theme).


He loves Dora the Explorer:
When we play games on the floor with Adam, he stands up and playfully scatters the toys and hides them:
Adam: "you'll never find them NOW! Muahahahah (evil laugh)."
Then he runs out of the room.
Me: "Swiper, no swiping!"
Adam: "awwww, man!"

(The villain in playtime, the hero in real life.)

Cutest mispronunciation so far:
Adam: "What's that?"
Me: "it's a coffee pot."
Adam: "Ohhhhh. A Copy Pop?
I wanna drink the copy pop!"

We now call coffee, tea, or hot chocolate "copy pop" in our house. 

Shannon and Adam were playing in the dark laundry room and took a break for a drink.
"Come on Daddy! Come with me!"
"What are we going to do now?"
"I have an idea! Let's SQUEEZE the dark!"
He demonstrated by raising his arms in the air and clapping them together like he was catching bugs.

If you're doing something he doesn't like, or playing with a toy he wants to play with, his response is: "You aren't a boy!" I don't know what it means, but he's very clear on it. Even if he's telling Shannon not to get him dressed.

Romp in the snow Tuesday morning.

Asking Colin for a ride.

Adam says, "Look at ALL the babies!"

COLIN
Colin is cunning...adorable... demanding and flirtatious. He wants to cuddle, he wants to be babied, and he wants to eat. We struggled every night with him because he didn't want to lie down to sleep no matter how exhausted he clearly was. We thought for a while that he was teething, but then his little tooth popped up and the fussiness continued, so we took him to the doctor to see if he was sick or had an ear infection, and there was nothing clear that they could identify. But now we're looking at a combination of moving back to the sensitive formula and feeding him much more, because he and Claire have both been insatiable, putting down about 8 jars/pouches of baby food a day plus snacks of cookies, puffs, baby rice crackers, and soft table food like bananas, peas, and carrots. It's no wonder he's wearing 12-18 month old clothes.

CLAIRE
Claire is independent...friendly...smiley, and ambitious. She wants to skip sippy cups and go straight for regular cups. She wants to skip crawling and learn to run... or fly. If you get near her there will never be something near or on you that she can't find to touch... a necklace, an earring, your ponytail, your nose. She is the easiest baby in the world, for now. But she is inches from crawling and therefore will be unstoppable. She gets so mad when there's something she can't do or you won't let her do on her own, and she is very opinionated. She is self-feeding and would rather you throw some food on her tray and let her do it herself, but will sit patiently and let you spoon feed her as well. But if poor Colin has a toy, Claire typically takes it from him.

I literally have to remind myself that Adam is only 2 1/2, not 3 1/2 as his vocabulary might indicate, and that the twins are only 7 1/2 months old -- and that is NOT adjusted by the 6 weeks prematurity. My super babies.