Almost 18 months old!

Next week, the boys will be 18 months old. They do so many things each day that are new or interesting, I need to be better at capturing them here on the blog. Is it too late to make a new year's resolution?!
I know I won't think of all the cool things they're doing now, but here are a few...

• Ring around the rosies: I know I've mentioned this before, but they have gotten better at it. I still love the way Alex says "Ah-shes, Ah-shes" but now they all like to say down and collapse to the floor. This is the one time I like how they collapse.
• Speaking of collapsing, they are big on tantrums right now. They will fall to a heap on the floor and typically bang their forehead into the ground (sometimes even twice). Alex is the best at leaving a mark, Logan is the best at throwing his whole body down and Nick is more careful - seems that hitting your head actually hurts a bit.
• We love to share our toys and books, unless we don't. Sometimes they are great at trading with their brother (i.e. I want what you have, so if i give you something else, I can take what I really want). Seems they've learned that from us trying to distract them. Nick is especially good at sharing/trading. And sometimes, he's just doing it to be nice or to help us distract his brother. Of course, when it is a favorite toy and a brother has it, well, see the bullet above! They may move on to play with something else, eventually and grudgingly, but out of the corner of his eye, he'll see the second his brother puts the toy down and then he's off! And of course, even if brother was done with it, as soon as he sees someone coming to take it, he changes his mind and wants it back. So, in general, we either get along or we don't... I think it's called sibling rivalry and it won't end any time soon (right, Ang/Brandon?!). Here is a pic of them sitting in their boxes (another fav) sharing books and toys - it was a good day.
• Trucks are still a big thing. Everything is a truck - car, van, motorcycle. We love to watch the garbage men go by and wave at them. And of course, Adam and I love to hear Alex say "Big Truck". It is more like "BIIIGGG Truckt" where the big is louder and the truckt is normal. Other than an additional t on the end of truck, it is very clearly pronounced.
• We love to go for walks in our choo-choo wagon. I can even get them to say "choo-choo" while we're walking! They also love to talk while we walk, pointing out trucks (saw that one coming didn't ya) and birds and trees or just babbling consistently. Lots of "truckt" and "caw-caw" (birds). Here is a picture of us with our friends going for a walk. They came over last weekend for a play date. Abby (pushed by daddy Brian) is almost 3 months old and Skyler (pushed by daddy Derek) is 6 months old.
• We love to play outside. They have a few toys out there to push around and a car to play in. They also like to swing or just walk up and down the hill. We went to a park to play a few weekends ago and they enjoyed the slide and climbing on the toys. They mainly enjoyed running all over the place with all the open space. I think it was a bonus to see mom and grandma running all over the place trying to wrangle them!
• They still enjoy reading and will sit and flip through book after book after book. They sometimes share books and all have their favorites. Of course, the favorites are usually the favs of everyone. One of their newest favorites is "Goodnight Gorilla". They had a smaller version of it (actually a normal size) but as with all of the favorites, tore it up into chunks. Now they have a huge version of it which takes up their whole lap plus some. It is awesome to watch them read it and laugh at all the same spots or act surprised when she finds the gorilla in her bed. They even read the title of the book to us when they're on the first page. Granted, it sounds more like gog-gog-gogogo with a few r's in there somewhere. Love it!
• Climbing is our favorite past time. They love to climb up on the couch, onto the back of the couch, up on the storage cubes, onto the table, up into chairs, everywhere! They are even starting to attempt climbing out of their cribs. I don't think they realize really what they're doing, but both Logan and Nick have been caught with one leg swung up on the railing. With a little effort, they'll be over the edge in no time... Yikes!!!
• Talking is interesting. Some times they will have complete conversations - just in a whole other language. Nick is especially good at the long monologue, and he gets into it with his head and face, making sure you are following along with him. Sometimes they talk to each other and you have to wonder if the other understands - they have to, right?! They are getting better at telling us what they want. A lot of times it's a point and grunt, but I'm told that's the guy way. They will sign a number of words, mainly milk, eat, more, sleep, sometimes play. I think Nick even signed banana this morning. Poor kid was starving and I was trying to teach him new signs! He just laughed when I'd sign cereal. Even if they don't say the words, they love to answer yes (or no) by emphatically shaking their heads.
• Who am I? Well, typically I'm dada even though if I remind them, they can say mama. Whatever, I'll get over it. The cool thing is that they can all point to their brother when named - Where's Alex? Everyone points to Alex (although Alex may point to a brother). Where's Nick? Everyone points to Nick (again, he probably points to brother). Where's Logan? You get the point. Alex can even say Nick (sorta - at least you realize it's supposed to be Nick) and Nick can even say Alex (same story here). No one really can say Logan (although A & N say something, just not intelligible) and Logan doesn't even try to say his brother's names.

Well, I know there's more I'm forgetting, but for now, here's a chunk of them. I'll post more as I think of them! I'll leave you with a few cute pictures of the boys. Grandma Judy made some new hooded bath towels for us and the boys loved playing with them. Question is, are our little Jedi leaning to the light or dark side?!