This morning I put the boys in matching shirts, so I wanted to get a photo of them together.
Dancing to "Happy and you know it."
Reading books
Since I finally figured out where the more toddler-friendly park in Killaloe was located, we headed there this afternoon. I was so glad we did! The boys didn't nap well and were going to be fussy no matter where we went. I'd rather have a couple meltdowns out of the house, then 2 straight hours of whining in the house.
Right away we found the swings
Gordon gave the spinner a try, but decided he wasn't a fan
My boys! Once Gordon got onto the swing, he stayed there the rest of our time at the park
I absolutely LOVED this playset. I had to help Walt the first few times, but he soon could get up, down, and around all by himself. It was so fun!
Walt was having a blast
Adele checked out the tunnels
Dad playing with the kiddos
Teeter-totter fun!
I'm not sure what Adele thought of the spinner
Having some ice cream at Scoops after the park trip
Mmmm, ICE CREAM!! Adele and Gordon would periodically shout "ice cream" so that we all knew what they were eating
I don't have a nice event or title for this batch. I've just taken a lot of photos and videos the last few days. Some I posted to Facebook, many I have not. In general, I thought it would be fun to share them here.
This first video is a new thing with my kids. I recommend turning the sound down on your viewing device.
Jeff and I took the kids to the large grocery store in a nearby town. This is how we roll. Walt was crying because he was ready to move and was unhappy I'd stopped to take a photo.
I cannot even express how much I love this photo of Jeff reading to Walt.
This was where I finally set up the kids' birthday toy from Elaine and Wayne. The kids love it, especially Walt.
This video is Adele doing a very fierce Tiger.
This particular morning the kids woke up and asked to brush their teeth. My only condition was they had to sit down to do so.
The kids are all teething and so we've been doing a lot of snuggling on the couch and watching Sesame Street (or Up or Wall-E). It isn't often I actually get 2 kids in my lap, though.
At our neighborhood toddler playgroup
We were playing with animal puzzles and Gordon decided to show that he knew the names of all of them.
The kids are definitely flying balls of energy now. This didn't happen overnight, but I suddenly noticed it more since their birthday.
Walter is climbing into and onto everything. He loves climbing by himself into his stroller chair, his car seat, and his high chair. I was so surprised the other day when I turned around and he was sitting in his high chair, proud as can be! His vocabulary is also expanding. He has a few more words that he says clearly and many more words he is trying to say. I've done some googling and figured out his speech is just garbled, which isn't uncommon. The couple of articles I read recommended a lot of singing, rhyming, and patience. Walt loves to sing, so that is an easy one!
Gordon is a regular chatterbox. Today at playgroup he was showing off by naming the animals on a blanket, which included a giraffe and an elephant. He also loves books and will come up to me and ask, not just for a book, but for a specific book by either title or description. He is a bit more into playing by himself vs. the other two and will often sit in the play pen or ball pit for extended periods just playing.
Adele's motor skills have improved so much in the last six months I can hardly believe I was ever worried about her walking. She runs around like a maniac and is so sturdy on her feet. She also is quite the conversationalist and I would say she knows as many, if not more, words than Gordon, but she just doesn't talk as often. She loves to read and sing along with mom and dad, though. Especially her favorite song, which she requests by title, "We are Dinosaur."
All 3 of them are doing great at the creche where they go 2 days a week. I've noticed a vast improvement on how they play at home. We can do a lot more structured play and they listen better to me when I instruct them to leave toys in a certain area. They are also loving to help put toys or books away. When we go to stores and such, I still throw them in the triple stroller. But when we go to friends' houses, play group, or to and from the creche, I let them walk on their own. They are getting quite good at minding me and going straight to and from the car. By no means are they perfect, but that's why I restrict us still to those couple of places.
We tried Play Doh, a birthday present, for the first time. Walt got the idea right away.
Gordon like forming shapes with the doh, then squishing them
Before baths, I've started letting the kids run around our bedroom. I'd love to be able to open up this room all day, but they aren't ready for that yet. Too much stuff they can get into!
After baths, I sometimes let the kids run around for a bit in just their diapers. As you can tell, they enjoy it a little. LOL. They went on like this for well over 20 minutes!
We've been a little tired lately since teething has kids waking up a few times a night. They never stay up for long, but it is enough to make them tired the next day.
We've also had days the kids boycotted their naps. They aren't ready to give them up yet (since they still sleep 2+ hours most days) and it shows with how terribly tired they are on the days they don't nap. Thank goodness for Sesame Street!
The kids are big Sesame Street fans and love to dance along to the music. Here's Gordon:
And here's Adele:
The kids got new pajamas from a variety of places and were SO excited to put them on after bath. I was so excited to get a photo of them in their new PJs. That, however, was a bit trickier.
The kids' birthday is actually tomorrow (October 4th), but we had our little playgroup party a day early. I went with a "Stars" theme since it is a word the kids all know. Twinkle, Twinkle little star is one of their favorite songs. And it made for easy decorating!
I put up a bunch of stars last night and couldn't wait to see the kids' reactions. Luckily, Dad was waiting with the camera to capture the moment when I let them out of the room.
Blurry Walt is so excited to see the hanging stars.
Both boys kept looking, pointing and saying 'star.'
Adele was absolutely fascinated
The stars were a big hit!
I continued the theme in the cake, sugar cookies, and fun cheese cutouts. The cookies were the ONLY thing that took any time. And that's only because I had to make a second batch because I misread the recipe the first time.
More of the decorations
One final shot of the decorations
I ended up making the shirts myself. The "2" is a bit faded, but overall not too shabby for someone who isn't very crafty at all!
The kids were SO excited to put on the shirts. They loved the big "2" and all the pretty stars. They also all have runny noses (and Walt is teething) so that's why they aren't too smiley here.
Adele
Gordon
Walter
Walter woke up quite miserable this morning. He was crying and crying all through breakfast and as we were getting ready for our friends to come over. I thought he would hang on me the whole party. But instead, he perked right up when he saw all of his friends! He was especially happy to see Nellie (pictured here) who is 24 weeks pregnant with her first child. Walt knows he can get lots of hugs and attention any time Nellie comes to visit.
Fun times!
We had quite a good turnout of our friends from toddler playgroup. A few babies were in attendance, but all the other kids were just turned two or just about to turn two.
So much fun!
A nice shot of the cake. I got it from a local bakery and they let me pick it up early this morning. It was delicious as well as gorgeous.
Time for candles. I'd forgotten to buy matches. Luckily Nellie only lives around the corner and was able to grab some from her place.
The kids did NOT know what to make of the candles. Walter blows on hot food all the time, but he wouldn't let the candles near him. I think I'm okay with them being uncomfortable with fire for now.
Singing "Happy Birthday"
Adele, my good eater, is the only one who wanted any cake. The boys said 'no thanks.'
Overall it was a lovely day. The kids and moms all had a great time! Tomorrow Jeff has taken the day off work, so we'll celebrate as a family and let the kids open gifts from us and the relatives. I'm very excited to see if the kids 'get' the idea of presents this year.
