[Warning: L.O.N.G post!!]
Two-and-a-half years Two
years and 8 months old!
(because Mommy was WAY late writing this blog)
WOW.
I just can't believe we are less than four short months from 3 years
old!!!
The boys are just amazing...we're astonished every day with their
new talents, words, abilities, conversations and thoughtfulness! They
walk, run, climb, jump, hop, and dance regularly and they love being together!
The boys are growing! Jack is about 31
pounds and Will almost 30. They are both right around 36 inches
tall--just the right height for frequent head bonks on the counter! =( They
wear size 8 shoes, and are in 3T shirts and 24m/2T pants, but can still wear 18
month shorts because they're so skinny! But as it is getting warmer, they love
being in just their diapers! They sleep from about 8:30pm-7:30am, and take one long nap in the afternoon.
They call each other "Brubber" most of
the time. They know their first, middle, and (most of the time) last name
and will tell you when you ask. They know the names of all their family
members (Mommy Alyson, Daddy Justin, Betsy Ross, Gigi Joyce, Boppa Steve,
Mammaw Kathy, Pappaw Gene, Joy, Guapo (Ryan =), Ryley, and Aaron, and will tell
you them on command. They can tell you that they live in a red house by the
doggy park, and what color our cars are. They recognize where we are (to
a point) when we drive around--going to Boppa and Gigi's house, turning into
the neighborhood to our house, by the park, Walmart, Sonic, MOPS, Hope (our church),
and will point every single water tower and school bus they see along the way!
They both will pee pee on the potty before bath
times and at other times throughout the day, but only when asked. They
are still in diapers, and Mommy is just waiting until summer to do the real
potty training. I think they'll get it quickly when they're ready! But, most
of the time, they will tell you when they're poopy. Especially Jack--he goes as
far as laying down on the ground and asking for a new diaper!
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| They chose these outfits themselves! =) |
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| Then added a shirt and a stuffed animal! |
They like to try to dress themselves. Jack
can put on his shoes all by himself (and Will is pretty close), and frequently goes to the shoe basket to
get his favorite monkey boots! He'll put his on and then bring Will's to him! They
love their Batman and Superman (Croc-like) shoes too! They are great at taking
off their clothes, especially their pajamas! Many times when I go to get
them up in the morning, the jammies are already off! I still dress them in a
ton of blue and green, as I'm sure you see in all my pictures. They
really know their colors, and will give brother the right color cup, bowl,
shirt, etc when asked!
Mondays are a highlight of the week...Garbage Day! =) The boys watch and listen carefully for the garbage man and we watch them out our living room windows, from the garage, and we have even followed and watched a garbage man from the car! Ha! Just last week, the garbage man waved to them once when he picked up our trash and then again when he drove back by and they were playing in the backyard. They were in heaven!! Someday it won't be so awesome when they're the ones having to take the trash out! =)
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| W |
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| J |
They are little both so amazing with technology! They love playing on their ipads or on our phones, and will ask for or find certain games that they want. We just found an broken old bluetooth headset that they have taken on as their own! They ask me to put it on them, and then they wear it around pretending they are talking to Mammaw or Gigi! So cute! Their new love is the remote control for the tv, and have actually figured out the play, pause, and mute button!
They have such amazing little personalities!
They are similar in many ways, but are really different at the same time!
It is amazing seeing their personalities blossom with age. For the most
part, they really were set from when they were tiny babies and have stayed
pretty consistent!
Will is still our little thinker, investigator,
engineer-type. He continues to spend longer amounts of time on what he is
working on/playing with. He will figure out how to make something work and
then play with it for awhile. He likes to do it on his own, and
really doesn't want (or really need) much help! He tends to try to control when it is his
turn to play with a toy, usually by just taking it from Jack's hands. But
we are working really hard on taking turns, waiting our turn, listening
for a timer, and then letting the other brother have the toy. They
are doing a pretty good job! He is our resident rule-teller, making sure he reminds brother and even us what they are not allowed to do! =) He is a sweet and loving boy, but will only give out hugs and
kisses when he is ready to do so. But he does love sitting on our laps to watch some of his favorite tv shows. He is majorly attached at the hip to his blanky! He won't sleep without it, and brings it with him all over the house. It isn't allowed to go outside or in the car, but somehow manages to sneak out with us at times! Boy does it get dirty--and it's pretty hard to sneak away for a wash!
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| Will and blanky |
Jack is our happy-go-lucky kiddo. He is happy a lot of the time and tends to almost flit around when he is going from one thing to another! His cute little blond hair almost flaps as he bounces around! He plays for shorter amounts of time on many more toys than Will, and most of the time is happy to move on to playing with another toy if brother has taken his. Jack has mastered using charming smile on us when he has done something wrong. It's really hard to discipline them when they flash us those amazing smiles, but we are working it! =) He really is our cuddle bug--giving hugs and kisses on demand, and we're pretty sure touch is his love language! Jack is our better eater, much more willing to try new things and eat more food. He is also much more of a monkey than Will is! I find Jack climbing higher on things than Will, but is usually pretty good about obeying when asked to get down. Just lately he has seemed to develop a phobia of spiderwebs. He gets VERY concerned when he sees one, and then will talk to us about it for quite a long time! And another new thing for Jack is putting his hands in his pants pockets! It's so cute!
They both have just the best smiles, that completely light up their faces! Their big blue eyes just twinkle as they laugh, play, and discover new things! They chatter like little magpies, about 95% of the
time!! They pretty much say anything you ask them to, and they definitely
talk in full sentences, and even on long trailing explanations of what
they are doing. Some of the cute phrases that they use frequently (and I don't want to forget) are: not today, I all done, no throw
toys...only balls outside, no kank-oo (no thank you), hanaber (hamburger), keekee-boo (peekaboo), the backside (back seat), Memmaw (Mammaw's new name--not sure why they decided to change it!), and so many more that I'm sure I'm forgetting! They constantly surprise us with new words that we're amazed they know!
They are complete mimics of just about
everything—including high-pitched squeaks, bird chirps, and anything ear
piercing! They love echo-y places too and will yell “echo”! They love to sing and dance and can sing right on tune. They love singing a variety of songs. We love listening to them through the monitor--worships songs, ABCs, Twinkle Twinkle, Old MacDonald, and many more! And if any some comes on with a good beat, they bounce around and dance like crazy--especially William!
They are comforting to each other and to others if they are hurt. They'll give a hug or kiss a boo-boo, and make sure their brother is alright. It just melts our heart! They are super ticklish and will giggle like crazy,
even if you are just making them think they are about to get tickled! They like tickling each other too!
They LOVE their Daddy! A fun little game they play is shaking their Daddy's hand! This is more like
a whole body vibration to them since Daddy does it super silly! They also love to climb all over Daddy when he lays on the floor after dinner! I just love watching them all together!
They love pretending and their imaginations are really starting to develop! I'll hear them talking to their toys, to each other, making up little stories! They also like to act like babies… especially after
bathtime. We wrap them up in their towels and rock them and they
(literally) say “Wah Wah” or "Mommy, sing Rock-a-bye Baby!"
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| Edgell, Gideon, Will |
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| J and Gideon |
They LOVE to play outside... in our yard, at parks,
wherever! And as it is getting warmer, they would spend hours outside
playing in the water! Can hardly wait to get them in pool in a few weeks! We have a ton of fun playing and going to various parks with our friends Gideon and Edgell. Such fun for the boys to have friends so close in age! They also have started to love art! We do a lot of chalk drawings on the front and back patios--so messy but so much fun!
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| This was Jack's drawing of Boppa, complete with his goatee! |
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| And Will added Gigi right next to Jack's Boppa! |
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| Jack "mowing" like Daddy with his popper |
They are beginning to actually be somewhat helpful when
being Mommy's little helpers! They get so proud of themselves when we make
a big deal about them helping clean up, stir something, carry a laundry
basket, etc. They don't forget a thing, and if I say that we are going to do something/go somewhere/etc, they will remember it and remind me until we do it!
They love letters and numbers, can count 1-10 (but know many many more numbers, just not in order), and can identify just about every letter in the alphabet. They also know a ton of shapes too! Some surprise me that they know (hexagon?!)! I know I'm biased, but I think they're pretty smart little guys!
They both absolutely ADORE all of their grandparents! We are so lucky to get to spend wonderful quality time with all of them, and the boys know them and are comfortable with being with all of them! What a special thing for our boys to have such close relationships with them all!
