All Aboard the Mickey Plane

Andrew is pushing Nathan on his “Mickey plane.”  I pushed him around for 15 minutes straight, when Terry asked me how much longer I would be able to continue.  I told him I had run out of fuel.  Andrew, who is just learning to walk, himself, stepped forward and continued pushing Nathan in the plane.  Both boys were happy and thankfully Andrew gets better mileage out of his fuel.

Look closely, Andrew is pulling Nathan’s hair.  Since his haircut, he is totally amazed by his brother’s hair.  I don’t know if he thinks Nathan needs a haircut or wonders why he doesn’t need one.  Then I remember scolding Matt for cutting Rebecca’s doll’s hair.  No matter what I said to try to get him to understand #1 – he wasn’t allowed to use my scissors and #2 – it wasn’t his doll, he would respond, “the doll needed a haircut.”  He was perplexed why I couldn’t seem to understand that.  We keep all scissors guarded, just in case it’s genetic.

This is Nathan in Gramma’s glasses, looking cool.  They love wearing my necklaces, boots, glasses…  They’ve got style.  We’ll move on to “man bags” soon.

Twins' First Steps

It was a sad week for Andrew.  They took away his pacifier (which was attached to a cute little beanie baby monkey).  He only got it at naptime and looked forward to those glorious hours.  So did his grandfather.  Ryan Joseph came in the morning and said he had to do surgery on Andrew’s little monkey.  When naptime rolled around, Andrew’s face was aglow in anticipation, only to discover Monkey had had an amputation.  Shock followed by disgust, followed by frustration registered on his face.  Monkey was thrown from the crib.  I tried to talk him into it, only to have it made clear to me that the amputation has ended a lifelong relationship. 

The new haircut seems to have affected him, as well.  He pulls on his own hair, his brother’s hair, his grandmother’s hair and even his grandfather’s hair. 

We took the boys outside to sit in the backyard on Friday.  It was windy and the boys were trying to blow back into the wind.  Thankfully, they haven’t tried spitting in the wind, yet.

Gramma made sweet potatoes, that stick nicely to a spoon for little boys who want to feed themselves. 

Andrew took three steps last week after leaving Gramma’s.  After hearing that, I kept thinking about why he didn’t take them a couple of hours earlier, so I could have seen it.  Then I realized, you have to put them down for them to walk.  Nathan took his steps here this Friday.  I’m catching on.

Books to Checkers

Grampa shares a good book.

I think I may have misplaced a twin.

King me!

Birthday Dollies

Yesterday, we celebrated Nathan and Andrew’s first birthday.  They loved the banana cake with caramel frosting their grandfather requested.  (We celebrated his birthday, too.) 

At one year, they enjoy climbing up and down the stairs, trimming “extra” leaves off of plants, playing atonal piano music, trying to keep up with the cat (who manages to stay a tail’s length ahead), playing with water, pushing buttons (including mine), and wagon rides. 

I hate to say it, but my children were never this much fun.  I guess that skips a generation.

Friday at Gramma's

The cat has learned to find a safe place.

What is it about toilet paper that is so magical?

We had our first road trip.  I now have car seats for the boys.  They seem amazed that Gramma can drive.  We drove over to our old house, where Terry was spending the day stripping (wallpaper).  They were glad to see him and eager to help.  We practiced ascending and descending the staircase, since there’s nothing else there.  After they discovered the ladder, I decided to head home for naps.

Easter at Gramma's

They love the water and come running as soon as they hear a faucet turn on.  A great time was had by all.

Wagon Train

It was the perfect day for our first “wagon ride.”  Andrew and Nathan were instantly excited to be outside in their own vehicle.  We drove along side Rebecca in her car for the first part of our trip.  Gramma couldn’t keep up for very long with Rebecca’s fast car.  But how fast can you pull a wagon backwards, since I had to keep an eye on Nathan, who was so excited he wanted to stand up in the wagon.  

Nathan never stopped screaming in delight.  Andrew took it all in much more quietly.  He lowered his chin down to rest on the side rail.  I think he was trying to feel the vibrations.  Nathan  notice his position and copied it. 

With Nathan being so vocal, it took a while to notice that Andrew had fallen asleep with his chin still against the side rail.  Nathan also noticed and grabbed onto the ear of his little suit.  He shook him as hard as he could.  Eventually, he grabbed both ears to shake more violently.  He was determined to wake him, if he had to throw him out to do it.  I had taken a cell phone in case we ran into trouble.  I called Terry laughing so hard I could barely speak.  He heard me chiding Nathan not to hurt his brother.  I couldn’t carry one of them, pull the wagon and take pictures to document our trip.  Terry came running, not sure if I had been laughing or crying.  Andrew continued sleeping, no matter what his brother did.