We love our new playroom in the basement. One of the fun things they can now do with so much space is races. They run back and forth chasing each other or just for the fun of it. Great fun for them and it tires them out - that's what we call a win-win situation! Alex is the fastest but Nick is the most "graceful" as Grandma Williams would say (i.e. not graceful at all). The boy can crash and get back up like a pro! They also love to climb. They each have their own favorite way to endanger their lives - I mean climb. They all like to climb up on top of the diaper boxes (more about those later). Alex will climb up on "his" little riding/walker toy and stand on the seat, look around very proud of himself to see who else is seeing him up so high. Logan and Nick like to climb up on the storage cubes. Logan has even climbed onto the top cube. I'm trying to teach them to climb down so that when they do it while I'm not looking (their favorite time of course), they at least have a chance to not bust their heads open. Let me be optimistic about this for a while longer please.
We love our diaper boxes! We pulled out 3 boxes for them to play with a while ago and they are still in love with them! First it was learning how to get in them and of course back out. Then they pushed the boxes (sometimes with a brother in it even) and became big enough to lift and carry the boxes. Now they have learned to turn them over and climb on top. For at least 2 days, Alex was so proud of it, he wouldn't get down. He'd sit on a box for 10 minutes (at least) and be happy - sometimes even if he didn't have a toy. Just sit there and watch his brothers. Of course, they've moved from just sitting on them to standing up on them. And the next progression... use the boxes to climb up higher! Tonight we were learning to climb up onto the couches and Alex was even using the height advantage to get a better view of the gate (I'm sure he was planning their next escape). They aren't able to breech the gate that is bolted into the wall, but the other adjustable gate is fair game. They have figured out that if they push it in just the right spot for long enough, it will tumble over - and they're free!!! Of course they make so much noise on the wood floor that we catch them before they get too far.
Another thing they have been doing lately is perfecting their tantrum skills. Originally it was just a whiny cry until you distracted them with the next toy. Then as their memories got better and they remembered that they didn't want the blue toy they wanted the green one... Tantrums turned into a complete collapse onto the floor in a heap. Occasionally this means bonking your head very hard on the floor too, but that just makes the crying sound more real (and makes it even hard to keep mom and dad from laughing). Now they're going full steam and have added some thrashing and rolling around in the mix. Here is a short video of Nick when he first started thrashing. The one I really wanted to get a video of was Logan the following night - he threw in a couple more roll-overs in each direction. Keep in mind, this is after I tried to comfort him and he wanted nothing to do with it/me...
The boys are getting much better at communicating with us. They have a number of signs that they use and it is so adorable! Not only is it exciting that they can tell us what they want or at least show that they know what we're saying. But the way their little hands do it is precious! The biggest one is "more" while they are eating and "all done". My favorites are "sleep" and "bath". We ask if they want to take a bath, no matter what they were doing, all three of them stop and start signing "bath". Granted, it isn't the right ASL sign for bath, but they all do it and are so enthusiastic about it that it makes it okay. They do have some words that they say (and mean), but some imagination is still required. "Birds" (which say "caw") is an easy to distinguish - and they'll stand at the window watching the birds for a while, especially Logan. "Duck" (that says "quack") is also pretty clear. "Dada" and "Momma" are clear, although I'm often Dada initially until they remember momma. I'll have to start a list of what all they are saying (and someone more than just myself understands) and post another blog about our words and communication.
Both Alex and Nick got new teeth in December. That brings Alex up to 6 (3 top, 3 bottom); Logan has 6 (4 top, 2 bottom); and Nick has 5 (3 top, 2 bottom). I'd swear they were getting more with all the drool lately, but I haven't noticed any. They're not fond of me sticking my finger in their mouths either. Although they do like to brush their teeth. Of course they prefer to not have mom and dad's help (which means they just suck on the tooth brush). I'm just happy that it helps get rid of the icky, stinky baby breath!
New foods and feedings are still my biggest struggle with them! Part of it is me not wanting to change what works (laziness kicking in - stay in the comfort zone). It's just easier to open a jar of baby food and shovel it in. We have a couple of kinds that are easy meals and some that we know we'll have a fight with (typically Logan and anything with chunks - especially carrots). If they could live on goldfish and yogurt alone they would be happy boys! We have been eating more new foods this week. I'll dedicate a future post to this topic so until then, be thinking of suggestions for easy foods to get them to eat... I need all the help I can get!
Last but not least, I wanted to close this post with a congratulations and welcome... We are very happy to have a new nephew/cousin - Halas Daniel Wise - who was born on December 30th. Both Halas and mom (my sister) are home and doing well. We're excited to see new pictures of him and hopefully get a chance to go down and meet him this spring. For more information about my sister and her family, check out their blog. Welcome to the family Halas!!!
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