Pictures

"Words, words, words," Hamlet said. If he had Photoshop and a digital camera he could've caught his uncle in the act and wised his mother up to the situation. Alas, poor Hamlet, he knew not technology. I, on the other hand, have access to mucho technogadgets and software so I will entertain you with some photos of the wee lads. Enjoy!

Caught! Jason under the end table, part I. Jason under the end table, part II (acting all nonchalant).

Kevin wants in on the fun.

Kicky enjoying a quiet morning with a good book.

Our own Kicky plays his version of "The Wet Diaper Blues".

Mom, Kevin and Jason (all in a post-nap stupor) watch Sesame.

Kevin and his faithful steed head into town for a sasparilla.

Kevin enjoys the latest Grisham while Jason has some hair of the dog that bit him.

Jason and his mega-watt smile!

Jason models the latest in male PJs.

Another shy smile from Jumpy

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

So, last night dinner is winding down and suddenly Jason starts talking in his cute soft bubbly way. And as he speaks he looks at me and then at Joe and then at Sue and continues to look around at each of us as he talks. So he's clearly relating a conversation and addressing each of us. Yes, he skipped Kevin but Kevin was engrossed in his rice pilaf and chicken. So, Jason continues his tale and when he pauses I say "Oh really?" and he nods and smiles. Sometimes, Sue says "That's amazing" or Joe says "Oh yeah?". So the conversation goes on for a bit and then Jason puts his hands together and starts doing a pantomine that is clearly (well, pretty clearly for those in know) the pantomine that accompanies "The Itsy Bitsy Spider".

So, there it was. Jason was telling us the story of the itsy bitsy spider. Turns out that Sue has been singing it to the boys. Jason, always a quick study, was in turn sharing the story with Mommy and Daddy over dinner. What a good boy.

After his story, we all clapped, so did Jason. Kevin suddenly looked up and started beaming. Naturally he assumed we were applauding him. Funny Kevin.

Kevin is working on the word "spaceship". He said "parachute" on Saturday. He's been working on "Oscar" sounds like "ockar" and "Octopus" which sounds like "octpuh". He said "bless you" on Sunday after I sneezed.

So, you get a well rounded picture of the lads......Jason has started picking up objects and throwing them AT people. He had a small timeout yesterday after Sue caught him pelting Kevin. A "we don't hit or throw things at people" conversation ensued. Jason spent a small amount of time sitting on his stool during his timeout. According to Sue, Jason returned to his stool several times throughout the day. So much for punishment.

So much for plans: this AM I have a tippy sippy cup for Kevin that is meant to prevent spills, spitting, dumping, etc. I have a sippy cup for Jason that has a valve that's been removed as he's more adept with cups. Jason's cup says "Jason" on it in all bright colors. Kevin's cup is blue and see thru. I hand Jason his cup and he refuses it and reaches for the blue one. I hand Kevin his cup and he refuses it and reaches for Jason's. Oh well. I followed Kevin around with a burp cloth wiping up milk. So much for plans.

New Word Pantheon and News

Kevin: gorilla (sounds like: gorah or gorla)
plane
hello

Jason is more of a concept guy. He grasps concepts. He knows that the whale noise in the Animal Adventure is a "toot toot" whistle sound. So if I say "Jason, which animal says 'toot toot'?" He finds the Animal Adventure book and points to the whale and/or pushes the whale button.

Big news: Jason ate and liked strawberries. This is a huge thing, trust me.

Both boys have taken a big interest in the Superman and Batman banners that hang in their room. Much pointing, much furrowing of brows. More pointing. Kevin trying to say "Batman".

Both boys ate/liked tacos (and so they should as I ate tacos 3 times a week while pregnant).

Kicky and Jumpy run. All the time. Everywhere.

Jumpy and Kicky hate shoes. Thank goodness it's summer but you wouldn't know that from our weather.

New Bon Mots

Kevin pointing to toy "School Bus"

Me (shocked at two new words being spoken and I'm actually witnessing it and not hearing about it second hand): Yes. School bus.

He says it 2 more times. He probably won't say it again until he's 3. That's how this new word thing works, I'm finding.

Jumpy Speaks - New Word Alert

"Bunny"

More Developments

Without my cheat sheet (the daily sheet we keep on the boys, yes we still keep the sheet but we've found that's the best way to keep track of what they've eaten, drunk, done, etc), I might forget some things but hopefully I hit the highlights.

Jumpy has taken to carrying a hammer around. He "fixes" things. So far, he's fixed the window and the window sill in his room. He's fixed several books, some toys, and his brother's head (a couple of times). He has taken the hammer to bed several nights in a row. Chewy is still his best friend though.

Over the past couple of weeks, Kicky has said: Busy (at least, that's what I think it is and because we read "Bob's Busy Hammer, it seems to fit"), "Hammer", "better", "all better", "pretty", "happy", "goody-goody" (again, that is what it sounds like and when we repeat it back to him he smiles and laughs), "again" (sounds like "assez", "Oscar" as in the Grouch, "Bird", "airplane" and this morning "Fred".

Jumpy has said: "all better", "milk", "ball" and "balloon" and just this AM "Opa"

Even though it seems like Jumpy isn't as chatty as his brother, he's a better communicator in that he's able to say "yes" and "no" so he's better at communicating what he wants/needs. And, frankly, it's a challenge for Jumpy to get a word in edge-wise when Kicky is in full chat mode.

We spend as much time as we can outside as the weather has been spotty of late. Several trips to playgrounds so the boys can swing, time out in the backyard. The boys have a great time playing outside, or seem to. Allergies aside, Jason seems to be over whatever was making him miserable. I suspect the Oaks (shaking fist angrily at said oaks as they menace me as well).

Kevin is miserable with drool. I suspect his second set of molars are moving in. He drenches roughly 6 bibs a day. I can't believe that he doesn't drink more water. He's GOT to be dehydrated. Sadly, the fridge chew toys don't really reach back where he needs relief. The drool doesn't prevent him from trying to climb up on anything that will sustain his weight. Sue and I have caught him trying to climb up on his stool. He's tried to climb on top of several toys. He managed to climb into a rocking chair that had its cushions removed. He was very proud of that achievement.

Both boys climbed the stairs to the nursery on Saturday night. I tried to show Jason how to come down the stairs on his tush, but his legs aren't really long enough. So I'm going to wait and rethink the approach. Perhaps coming down backwards on all fours will the solution? I've been letting the boys explore the hallway and the kitchen. They are more confident in their walking abilities and seem eager to explore. 2 weeks ago, they wouldn't leave the living room if the gate was left open...that's all changed. Kevin is quick to slip through the gate. Jason will come out if asked to. Jason likes to play with the child safety lock. We surmise that he'll figure out how to bypass it in oh....3 days.

Kevin has been on a hunger strike. We blame his teeth but I suspect that 1) he wants control over his food and wants to feed himself and 2)he has an issue with the menu

Jason has become a powerhouse eater.

Growing like weeds. Both boys feel like they have rocks in their pockets and their clothes are snug. I keep thinking that their clothes are shrinking in the dryer but how can everything they own be shrinking? duh.

Jason has a terrific arm on him. He can toss a playground ball like no other 1 year old (yes, he's 16 months old today but we are refusing to join that club of parents who count their children's lives in months "Timmy is 84 months old and Guinevere is 24 months old." Timmy is 7 and Guinevere is 2. Say it. 7 and 2.). He can also toss a whiffle ball very well.

Mimi and Papa have returned from FLA and paid the wee lads a visit. The boys had a great time and really enjoyed seeing them. I suspect they were surprised at how much the boys have changed. They (the boys, that is) can feed themselves and are quite vocal at the end of every meal. It's a bit of a squeal-fest. Kevin typ starts the ball rolling and then Jason jumps in. I think Joe has some video of their shenanigans so I'll poke around for it and post it.

Sorry for the pix free post. I need to download the most recent photos and I'll do a pix only post.

Take care,
Kathy

Catching Up

Big thanks and kudos to Joe for updating the blog. I'm just coming up for air now after a hectic May. Here's the post I meant for May 20th:

Kicky and Jumpy get a visit from Oma and Opa and Auntie Diane

It's been a verrry busy week at our house, scratch that...busy month! Oma and Opa visited in May, leving the hot and dusty state of 10 gallon hats, cults and former good ol' boy presidents to visit the liberal, overly taxed state of MA in order to play with and cuddle the Jumpster and the Kickster. Auntie Diane left her toasty home state and flew across two-thirds of our country to do the very same.

The boys loved their grandparents and their grandauntie. Jumpy thought Opa's lip-popping was hilarious. Kicky enjoyed telling everyone stories and cycling through his ever-expanding vocabulary impressing everyone. Oma and Auntie did a great job at feeding our picky eaters. They were up against two teething toddlers who were pretty certain that they didn't know all of the house rules.

Speaking of....Jason sure was surprised when Opa firmly stated house rule #22 "Feet on the floor" after the Jumpmeister was caught sliding along the second level bookshelf on is tummy, feet kicking in the air.



Big Developments
Today, Wed, Jason said "house". Kevin pointed to a lion in the "Noah" book and then pointed to a lion in a poster that is hung on the nursery wall. Notable because 1) he was pointing out a relationship between objects that are the same and 2) he noticed the contents of the poster at some point in time. Later, as we read "Goodnight Gorilla" he pointed to the lion in the book and then up at the poster again. You go Kicky!

My Mom asked me if I was impressed with all the words that the boys are saying. I certainly am but what really blows my mind are all the concepts that they boys are grasping. The lion thing mentioned above, the various house rules and the fact that Jason knowingly flouts some of them and when I catch him he screws up his face into a hilarious goofy grin as if that's going to get him off the hook. It's almost an "I'm too cute for rules" look.

Another amazing example: Joe came home from work and then had plans and left shortly after his arrival. The boys kept hanging around the babygate, looking upstairs and saying "Dada". Finally I said, "Dada isn't upstairs. He's out. He's outside. Just like us earlier today. We went out and now, Daddy is out." The boys moved away from the gate. Kevin said "outside" and Jason said "out" and then followed that up with "Dada out" and "outside". They didn't go back to the gate again and Oma, Opa and I put the wee lads to bed.

Kevin has been saying "I see" followed by him pointing at various things. He sometimes says words, sometimes he just points. On Monday as I changed Jason, Kevin stood at the window pointing and frantically saying "I see! I see! I see!". I wrapped things up, literally, and then went to the window to discover what he was seeing. It turned out that it was Mailman Paul's truck and Mailman Paul. That's a big deal at our house. The boys play mailman with our junk mail. They stick the mail under the cushion of the rocking chair. Pretty funny.

I'll add pix later to an all pix post.

It's been a while!

Howdy do.

Tis me, Daddy Doherty here to regale you with tales about the boys from my relatively skewed perspective. I have to say that being a dad to these two boyz is nothing but an utter delight. From the mornings when I go in and they give me that smile to the evenings at dinner time when I hear giggles and squeels when I walk in the door. This is the best time I've had in my life, and I am just as happy as I can be these days.

Kathy does a terrific job of documenting the boyz and their daily activities. I can't add much more to her excellent descriptions. But I will share a few tidbits with you. The kids love music. Every morning they demand that the mp3 player be turned on so they can dance and sway to the Disney Animal Kingdom soundtrack. And they are picky. They like to hear this album in the morning, and complain when I put some other selection on.

On Tuesday, I was getting ready to take Kevin from his highchair and bring him into the living room. I said, "Ready, Kevin?". He said, as clear as a bell: "Up, up, Daddy!" Of course, he'll never say that again. But I swear it's true.

A more demonstrable cute thing is Jason's new way to talk to the kitty. Our cat, Ginger, who understands more English than most people I know, is relentless in the morning and evening when he wants to be fed. He will sit and meow annoyedly at you until you feed him and Mango. And he will do this constantly until you feed him. It is meant to annoy you and Ginger succeeds in this effort admirably. Sue often tells Ginger to, "Shhhhhhhhhhh". So the other day I was bringing Jason downstairs for breakfast and he saw a well-fed Ginger digesting on the sofa. Immediately, Jason pointed at the kitty, laughed, and started saying "SHHHH! SHHH! SHHHHHH!". Funny kid! The lesson here? Watch yer language.

So, no new photos for you all. But here's a video of the boyz & me on a Sunday morning. It's about 5 minutes long, so feel free to bail anytime. I just thought it was a cute snapshot of what a morning with the kids are like with their dad.

Enjoy,
Joe