Swimming

Today, Eric and I took the boys up to the rec center to give swimming a try. They both seemed to enjoy it, but I think they would have liked it a little more if the water had been a tad warmer. They did a good job splashing with their arms and kicking with their legs.
Next time: flips off of the high dive!

First Visit to the Park

Yesterday, we took the boys to our neighborhood park to try out the swings for the first time. It was a little too sunny for them at first, so they weren't really enjoying squinting and flying through the air in some weird contraption. After I put on their bucket hats, they could at least open their eyes to see what was going on. True to form, Reid quickly discovered that he LOVED swinging because he loves to be in motion. Aiden was not too happy and Eric had to hold him for awhile. After he was able to see what Reid was doing, Aiden was ok giving it another try. By the time we were done, we were getting big smiles from both of them. Reid actually started crying when we took him out of his swing to go home. We promised we would take them back.

(Pictures first, then videos at the end of this post.)

Aiden's first try- not much enjoyment:

Reid- loved it from the start:




Aiden- begging for mercy, so Eric held him for awhile:

Giving it another try. (Someday they'll probably tower over me, so I figured I needed a zoomed out shot to prove how little they once were.)

Trying out the gears on the jungle gym, Aiden's still not convinced the park is where he wants to be:

Another round on the swings; things are looking up:


Grandpa Starrs even stopped by on his way to the grocery store:

This worked to our benefit because we were able to get a picture of the four of us:



Aiden was actually enjoying himself towards the end:

Getting strapped back into BOB:

On our way home:


Swinging 1:


Swinging 2:


Swinging 3:

New Tricks

Reid:

Aiden:

Duet

While Julie and Amanda were visiting, they treated us to some great music. Julie on the ukulele and Amanda on the violin. I never would have paired those two instruments together, but it was a great match. When they were playing for the boys earlier in the day, I was told Reid was tapping toys together in rhythm while Aiden sang along with the girls.

Here's my go-to choice of lullabies:



So talented! What a treat!

Peekaboo! I See You!

On a whim a few months ago, I bought a couple of books for the boys while I was shopping for groceries. That Sesame Street really knows how to market to the baby crowd. Of course, being brought up on Sesame Street, I'm already sucked in. Turns out the boys love when we read these books. They seem to really enjoy being read to in general, which is a great thing.

Eric taught the boys to play peekaboo when they were really little (I'm trying to remember, but it seems like it was towards the end of the summer or when I went back to school.) We've played it with them ever since, although other exciting milestones over-shadowed peekaboo. Recently the boys started initiating the game.

Tonight at supper, Reid started:



Pretty soon, Aiden joined in:


My favorite part is that they still like to keep one or boths eyes on me while they're hiding. I pretend like I don't know where they are and look all around the room. Pretty soon they're giggling and PEEKABOO!

My mom reported that today Reid would play peekaboo and then Aiden would clap when he would appear. The image of that scene made me smile. When I later asked Aiden to clap, he did so without me showing him first. It's too cute and he gets the biggest grin when he does it. I'll try to capture it in a picture or on video.

Reid Sitting Up

I discovered this scene when I went up to the boys' room to get them up from their morning nap. Reid figured out how to sit up! Apparently this will be a very important skill if he's going to be able to socialize with Aiden when they are in their cribs.

Spring Break!

My cousin Julie and her roommate Amanda are visiting us during their spring break from St. Olaf. They're having a wild and crazy time.

Last night after the boys were in bed I took them out for my version of a wild night. We drove the minivan (WHoo!) to the Verizon store to get a new battery for my cell phone. The girls were able to check out the new iPad 2 while they were waiting for me. Then we walked down to Pier 1 and wandered around for about 10 minutes. They did have shot glasses for sale, but the girls passed. We hopped back in the minivan and headed to... wait for it... Babies R Us. (Woo-Hooo!) We picked up diapers and wet wipes. I know, too exciting. We finished off with a stop at Dairy Queen. It was the best part of the evening and the first time I've had DQ since I went back on dairy in January. (Reid's been back on dairy for a couple of months and he seems to be doing fine.)

The boys are loving playing with Julie and Amanda.

Aiden and Julie:


Reid and Amanda (Reid's showing off his new high-fiving skills):

The supper bunch,

while Aiden and Reid checked out my parents' backyard.

New Tub

We've been using the new inflatable tub for a couple of weeks now and it works pretty well. (Bath toys were Christmas presents from Sandy.)





Most importantly, Reid can finally splash to his heart's content. To avoid being completely soaked, I used to restrict his splashing when I was bathing him in the sink. Now I just step back and let him go crazy. He loves it.

Aiden's First Tooth

I thought I had captured Aiden's first tooth on my camera phone over the weekend, but I hadn't taken a close look at the picture until tonight. It's a little hard to see, but it was there. It's the only one so far.

Reid's 5th tooth just cut through a couple of days ago; two on top and three on the bottom. He has a big gap in between his two front teeth just like I had when I was little. Nothing a couple of years of braces won't take care of.


My handsome little guys this evening- Reid on the left and Aiden on the right:

They're practicing looking innocent after giving us a scare yesterday:
As Eric posted on Facebook, "Walked into the living room to find Aiden standing on top of Reid's back and head in an attempt to try and springboard over one of the gates. Luckily, Reid didn't seem to mind."

My Grandma Starrs

This morning my Grandma Starrs passed away. She had been in the hospital and nursing home lately, so as they say, it wasn't a complete surprise. But it was still a shock when my dad called me with the news this morning.

My grandma was one of the best grandmas around. She was sweet and loving, without being too Pollyannaish. When we were little, she and grandpa would hide Easter eggs all over their yard for me and David to find. She always had blueberry muffins and rhubarb cherry jam on hand for our breakfast. When she finally got a microwave, she hung the directions for heating up the muffins (Time 25 Start) on the cabinet for me and David to reference. When I went to college she sent me a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. When I opened the Schwan's chicken patty box I discovered that she had wrapped each cookie individually in saran wrap. Each cookie. She gave me her beautiful lavier necklace which I wore on my wedding day.

I inherited her love of lemonade and chocolate milk shakes. There is no doubt that I also inherited my grandma's eyes. Hazel. But more importantly, she was a champion eye roller. With years of practice under my belt, I think I'm prepared to take over the title. I can't tell you how important that skill has been when I'm teaching. Great for diffusing the whininess of teenagers.

My dad went up to Cheyenne to see my grandma a couple of weeks ago. I decided to call and check to see how things were going. As luck would have it, my dad was still at the hospital with my grandma and I was able to talk with her. She could hear me better over the phone than during my last few in-person visits. I had recently sent her some pictures of the boys including the one with Reid's first tooth. She said she was looking forward to seeing a picture of Aiden's fist tooth as well. I told her I had been trying with no luck. I stepped up the quest after talking to her, but getting a 10-month old to show off his teeth for the camera is as easy as giving him a haircut or keeping his nails trimmed. Quite the challenge!

I was hoping to take the boys up to Cheyenne to visit grandma during spring break in a week, which makes me even more thankful I had the chance to talk with her. I hope I can do as good a job of raising my little boys as she did raising her two sons.

I'm going to really miss my grandma.

Saturday

Reid LOVES the little airplane riding scooter. It's the perfect incentive for getting him to practice crawling. I've never seen anyone lunge so fast. (See the video at the end.)

I've been trying to get photos of the boys' teeth. Reid now has four. A top one came in two weeks ago (I think?) and then another bottom and top one came in yesterday. Chomp, chomp, chomp.

When I tried to get him to smile, he stuck out his tongue and blew raspberries.

Aiden is on the go. While I was finishing nursing Reid, Aiden managed to stand up and tried grabbing the remote control.

A few minutes later, he had moved on to trying to open the gate into the kitchen. He's very observant and knew the exact spot to reach for to open the latch. Luckily it's a pretty tricky latch for even us to open.

Finally, he moved on to the stairs. He did that again tonight while I was trying to get Reid's pajamas on. I quickly scooped Reid up from the changing table and ended up finishing putting on his pajamas while sitting on the stairs below Aiden to make sure he didn't tumble all the way down. I think it's a good thing that we've been putting a gate up in front of the stairs most of the time. He is on a mission.

Begging

Quite often our evening routine involves feeding the boys their supper sometime between 5:00-5:30. If Eric's home I try to cook supper while I'm making the boys' supper, or at least time it so it's ready after the boys are done eating. Sometimes the boys just stay in their high chairs and we eat at the table. This provides me a good opportunity to feed them some table food. If the natives are too restless after they eat, we move them back into the living room to play and we come eat/ keep them out of trouble. The boys like to check out what we're eating... and do a little begging.

First, the "aren't we just too cute for words" looks.

When that doesn't work, they try the "how could you starve your little boys; it's been 5 minutes since we finished eating, but we're famished" looks.