And Another.

I told you this would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen hours after my last post. Paul got home from work today and was standing in the kitchen. Logan was standing by the cupboards a few steps away. Paul looked at him and put his hands out to pick him up and out of the blue Logan took his first two steps toward Paul without holding on to anything. I sat there and watched dumbfounded. Then I repeatedly asked Paul if that just happened and was Paul secretly holding him up or something. We had a little celebration for him and laughed a lot then I set him down to try again and he did it again only he did three steps. Of course when we got the video camera out he quit. Then before bed tonight we tried to get it on video again and he took three steps or so and then he did five steps! Just like that he's standing around like what's the big deal. I tried to get Schaeffer to take some steps but of course he just knelt down and crawled again. These boys are something else.

We Have a New....

Stepper in the family! I was going to say we have a new walker in the family, but walking is a bit of a stretch for what is actually happening. I'm excited to tell you that Schaeffer has taken his first steps though! While we were on vacation my mom somehow convinced him that standing on his own two legs really wasn't such an awful idea. Previously, he would crumple to his knees as soon as you tried to get him to stand on his own or walk holding your hand. But when we came home he was like a new kid and could stand for great lengths on his own. His stability was amazing compared to before and he could even bend at the knees and stand back up. He was playing with toys without holding on and showing an amazing amount of progress. Thursday I tried to get him to walk to me a few times but every attempt he made quickly resulted in a crumble to the floor. Friday afternoon I tried again and he made his first little shuffles towards me! His feet never left the ground but he did make forward progress while standing. I was very excited and we showed Paul as soon as he got home. Saturday we tried again and he actually picked his little feet up and took two wobbly, unsure steps towards me. He collapsed in my arms and we clapped and giggled and made a great big deal of it. A few times since we've gotten him to take two or three tentative steps towards us. We'll see how long it takes him to get the hang of it. Yesterday afternoon he went back to his stubborn ways and won't even stand when I put him down, just collapses in a heap again. Who knows if walking is in his near future but I am so excited to see that we are "taking steps" in the right direction. Logan on the other hand is not quite so steady on his feet. Though I don't believe that is due to lack of ability. I know he can stand, he just isn't quite as sure as Schaeffer yet. On Saturday Logan was so cute though. He saw us practicing with Schaeffer and saw our excitement. He crawled right over to me, looked me in the eyes and pushed off my knee to standing, without holding on. Then he just stood there and grinned at me as if to say "look at me! I can do it too, Mom.". Then he would collapse in my lap and we'd giggle while he thought he was hot stuff. Funny boy.

It will be interesting to see if the boys follow in the same pattern they had when they were learning other skills like crawling and pulling up and rolling over. It always seems that Schaeffer is first but it takes him a while to be good at the skill and Logan is second but does the skill very well from the beginning.

Home Again

The vacation I had so looked forward to is now history. Makes me a little sad. I do love vacation. It was a wonderful break from the everyday, a great time spent with friends and a lovely getaway with Paul. It's very nice to get a chance to step away and enjoy one another's company without being concerned about the laundry getting done or the dishes getting washed or who's turn it should be to change a diaper or break up a fight or put Jack back to bed. It was nice to just be friends, husband and wife and set down the parent title for a few days. Just ask Tanya, I'm not the type to be thinking of my kids every moment I'm not with them. I'm not the type to call home to check on them or think about how much I miss them. I knew they were in good hands and if I was needed, I would be contacted. Other than that I needn't worry, I just needed to relax and enjoy myself and my company. And that's exactly what I did. The setting was beautifully rustic though the hills and winding roads did a number on my head with every car ride until I could get my hands on some Dramamine. We spent lots of time reading by the pool, relaxing in the extremely lazy river, playing cards on the balcony and even had an occasional nap. We went up to Branson a few times and saw a total of three shows. One was fabulous, one was ok and one I could have left at intermission. We tried out a new thing called paddle boarding which is incredibly easy but I thought, lots of fun. We played mini golf and some terrible shuffleboard. One game was so bad we decided to change the rules and play until the first team reached 0 points again. We ate delicious food and went on a beautiful tour of a big park filled with creeks and waterfalls and caves. We had a really wonderful time. But now we are back home. Home to our kids who missed us and who were happy to see us. Kids who learned new skills like blowing kisses and standing by themselves. We are glad to be home but so thankful we had a chance to get away.

Lizzard Face

Big A. Little A.

I finished another project today and I love how it turned out. Jack is really into letters right now and has picked up on them really well-thanks to Dr. Seuss' ABCs and Paul's patience. I had the idea to use letters to make some sort of art work on our walls that would make a fun place for him to practice letter recognition. The letter wall turned out really cute and Jack loves pointing out all the letters he knows. I think as he get's older and starts learning to read we will have fun trying to spell words on this wall.

Final Swim

We had so much fun last night at the swimming pool (our last swim this season). The park district had a movie at the pool night and despite the lateness of it we decided to take Jack on a Mommy/Daddy/Jack date night. He doesn't get many chances to swim in the big pool and I don't get many chances to swim with just Jack. I was really excited for the evening and so grateful that Paul's parents were up for watching the twins. Jack did such a great job swimming. We didn't get signed up for lessons this summer but he still has come a long way in a few months. His friend Haley was there and they jumped and swam and slid the night away. Jack spent about half the time last night jumping in to us and he was going under almost every time. I even let him jump a few times without catching him at all and then just helping him come back up. He did great, but that's a little scary for me! He and Haley also swam under the rope a few times. Peer pressure at this age is a wonderful thing. If Haley or Jack did something the other one would too even if they didn't want to at first. After an hour of swimming we all got changed, got some snacks and watched Finding Nemo on the lawn at the pool. I did not even consider that it might be chilly and we were all under dressed for the occasion, but we made do and the kids had a lot of fun sitting under the stars watching a movie and getting to stay up late and eat treats. I hope as our kids get older we can always find the time to spend one on one with them doing fun things like this.

A Ridiculously Great Day

Today I did something ridiculous. I spent 5 hours in the car with three kids by myself so I could get the boys hair cut at a specialty kids place near our old home. They get to sit in a car and pretend to drive it, they get to watch a movie, the hair cutters are really good with kids and if it's their first cut they get a certificate with their first lock of cut hair and a picture with their new do. I know it's ridiculous, but it turned out to be a great day. We got haircuts, had lunch and a play date with some friends and made a quick trip to Ikea. All three boys did exceptionally well in the car and even more exceptionally well during their haircuts. Somehow we were only a few minutes late for a 10:45 am appointment. Jack went first and showed his brother's proper hair cutting behavior-be very serious, do not smile, sit very still, and drive the car. Surprisingly, they pretty much all followed this routine. You could tell they were interested and curious about what was going on, but they only really got fidgety when they couldn't get their arms out from under the cape. Logan was mildly upset by the "tickler" aka the razor, but he didn't cry he just wasn't thrilled with it. 

First haircuts are a big deal to me. It's an instant transition from baby to "big" boy. It is a little sad to see their sweet baby hair fall to the floor, but these boys needed it bad. Schaeffer was practically sporting a mullet and Logan's hair was a wild mess and always getting tangled. The lady even had to spray some detangler on his locks so she could get her comb through them. Now when I look at their sweet faces they seem so grown up, and they look so much more alike. I thought Schaeffer would look a lot different with his stick straight hair cut off and no longer able to fly in the wind. But really he doesn't seem much different, just a cleaner, less mullety version of himself. I also didn't expect Logan's haircut to make such a difference. But his wild hair was sort of a visual cue to his personality. Now he looks like he needs a business suit and briefcase. His little curls are gone and his once darker hair is now even lighter since the dark was at the ends. I've actually called him the wrong name more times today that I have in the last several months combined. So their new do's are cute and very big boy, but I'm hoping that Logan will be like Jack and get his curls back when his hair grows out again.

Here are their before and after shots.

Schaeffer

Logan

And this is what Jack looked like after his first haircut. He was a little over a month older than the twins when he had his hair cut for the first time.