overnight

the boys turn 18 months old today! i thought the first twelve months went by in a flash, but now things feel like they're really rolling. and ozzy and abie, in what seems like overnight, have transformed into little boys. jordan and i look at each other in amazement every night as we reminisce the new funny/crazy/endearing/brilliant/kookey things the boys did that day. so in honor of the 1.5 year mark, here's a little sampling:

- abel's new expression is one of bewildered delight. "WHOA!" is all i can say to describe it. this kid never ceases to amaze us with his expressions. he's a crazy court-jester comedian one minute, and can melt your heart with sparkly eyes the next.

- both abie and oz have an impressive sign language vocabulary. i counted up their signs and they are up to 20! some of my favorite signs include airplane, house, baby (so cute), sleep (even cuter) and bunny. their verbal communication has improved dramatically, but with less-than-practical words including hyena (abel) and skunk (oz). go figure.

- abie is like spider man and can climb up ANY slide. i swear that kid has little grippers on his knees.

- both boys have a bizarre obsession with their bellies. they are constantly lifting up their shirts to pat and point to their tummies and bellybuttons. they try and balance food on their bare bellies during dinner. the best was when oz and another boy had a bellybutton pointing contest on the top platform of the jungle gym today. needless to say, oz won.

- abie has a case of the frights lately. i know this is really normal for toddlers, but it has caught me off guard. he totally freaked out when we got on the elevator at nordstrom this week, was shaken by thunder, and lost it in the little train depot at the children's museum. he is truly frightened and i just get him in my arms as fast as possible, hold him tight and tell him he is safe. oz remains unfazed by anything so far, but now that i wrote that, he'll probably be scared of the bath tomorrow.

- the boys are RUNNING EVERYWHERE now. that and walking on their tip-toes. regular walking is just so passe.

- oz started shaking his head "no," which is actually a really nice development for us. they both know exactly what they want (well, most of the time), and we try and give them many opportunities to pick out their clothes, shoes, etc.

- abie can be quite the shoe horse. some days he'll go through more pairs of shoes than our favorite sex in the city heroine. this morning he started out in his new stride rites, but after an hour he brought me his cool see kai run sandals to put on. 45 minutes later he pulled out his SKR tennies and sat down for me to put those on before our errands. even i don't blow through shoes like that!

- both guys now tell us when they have made a poop by pointing at their diapers immediately upon delivery. me thinks this bodes well for potty training...maybe???

i wish my recall were better, or i was more religious in documenting what they do on a regular basis. i guess that's what a blog is for, eh? well, at least the camera never let's us down...

oz-man




abie-j




the boys play dodge ball


petting pumpkin-head, the neighborhood cat. we do this every morning. that is when she's not hiding under her owner's truck!

howdy partner!

we got some serious texans on our hands, ladies and gents!

bye-bye

we're having a lot of fun over here at chez silverman with the simple gesture of saying goodbye. jordan got a heart-melting, "bye daddy" from abel this morning. clear as a bell. abie never ceases to surprise and delight us (although we won't be holding our breaths to hear it again - he's sometimes a one-hit wonder with words). and oskar waves goodbye to EVERYTHING we leave. the neighbor's cat gets a wave, airplanes as they pass over, cars driving bye, de-headed flowers. but my favorite, by far, is how he waves bye-bye when he turns the last page of the book over. such a grateful gesture that i can't get enough of.

some tids and more bits

i wanted to capture some impressions of abel and oskar as time motors on by and they rapidly approach the 18 month mark. like so many other twin parents have wisely said, it's impossible to make any concrete statements about who these people are. they defy characterization in a major way and are always switching things up. and as soon as i say oz is this and abie is that, they make me eat my words almost instantly. so instead of a lengthy character analysis, i thought i'd just bullet out some fun things they do:

- the boys are serious about their walking. we've taken them on several nature hikes on paths that have fairly rocky terrain. abel tends to be more cautious and likes to hold my hand on the walk. oz throws caution to the wind and barrels on down, remarkably able to stay up right on some pretty challenging terrain. they both seem to be in their element in nature and beam as we walk through the woods and greenbelt.

- abel is our current dare devil and loves to climb to new heights. he races up stairs, up the play gym, throws himself down slides that are WAY too curvy and high for him, climbs up and over our couch, etc.

- both guys are serious bookies. reading is truly their activity of choice and they both delight in sitting in our laps, turning page after page. sometimes they let us actually read the story but mainly it's just about pointing to different objects on the page and saying, "da dat?!" over and over again.


- oskar has become a major affection junky lately and he loves to give hugs and kisses just as much as he loves to get them. he'll give kisses, one after the other, for several minutes! also, both boys hug mati many times throughout the day, and will hug the neighborhood cats we come across on our daily walks.



- abie scratches his butt in the bathtub. we have no idea what this is about.

- the boys have learned to blow on their food before eating it, just in case it's too hot. also, abie started saying the word "hot! hot!" today when his hands hit the scorching 102 degree pavement.

- both boys are OBSESSED with eating all meals with a fork. it's made dinner delightful now that they are concentrating on stabbing every bit of food on their plates. j and i actually get to eat a normal meal!

- both boys LOVE to show us their bellies and touch their belly buttons.


- pouring is a major activity in our house now. bath time is all about pouring water from one cup to the other. serious concentration here. that is when they are not trying to pour water over each other's heads!


- we now have a stool at the kitchen sink where they climb up to wash their hands!

- our new favorite party trick is "ET phone home!" and the boys stick their pointer finger out for us to touch with our pointer finger.

talk to me

i recently posted on "how do you do it" about my concern with the boys' speech development. well, the boys never cease to make me eat my words. since saturday, abel started saying shoes, "zooz." it's darling. and mr. oskar has become obsessed with a new word. i think he's said it about one hundred times between yesterday and today. and what, pray tell, do you think this word is? ball? mati? block? food? oh no, oh no. ozzy's new word is skunk. pronounced "schchgungk," thank you very much. his german guttural inflection on the beginning is too much. our good german friend stef was amazed and, i think, a little jealous that oz can make this sound with such vigor, while his son (who he exclusively speaks german to) does not. kai also happens to have a 60 plus word vocabulary, so he can deal. anyways, me thinks (hopes) this language explosion they all talk of is making its rounds at our house. gosh it will be fun!

so if the boys like proving me wrong, watch for my next post on biting and hair pulling. i know i'm asking for a miracle here, but a mom's gotta try!

r, w and b extravaganza

my childhood 4th of july memories are beyond idyllic. a massive neighborhood parade where everyone dressed up, baseball games in the farm field, swimming in the afternoon followed by a huge picnic, all capped off with fireworks over a pond at our friend's house. neighbors would draw out of a hat who would host for the upcoming year. it was a true highlight.

i feel beyond lucky that our boys are growing up in the same kind of neighborhood that i did. this morning we got all dressed up in red, white and blue, cut through the wooded fields in back of our house and met a neighborhood full of families who were ready to parade and celebrate. it was awesome! the only bummer was the fire engine never showed. that would have made it over the top. the boys devoured choc. chip cookies, big wedges of watermelon, cruised around in their radio flyer, played with their best friends and got a glimpse of the fun to come by trying out a rad tricycle. this afternoon we'll bbq with some friends and the boys will get to run around the backyard naked, going in and out of the kiddie pool, hosing each other off from the texas heat. i couldn't imagine a better way for us all to celebrate.

wishing you all an equally awesome 4th!


abie totally "got it" when we sang the star spangled banner. he was so into it, i was surprised that he didn't put his hand over his heart!


getting ready to wagon in the parade.


enjoying some chocolate yumminess.



enjoying the parade.




the boys check out a rad tricycle with their bf kai.

obsession

to say the boys are obsessed with trucks is an understatement. at this point, our world revolves around identifying every truck on the road, in every book, and on articles of clothing. it's not enough to be riding the toy truck. no siree, we have to be looking at the truck book while riding the truck toy. and no, it's not enough to wear pajamas with trucks and other motorized vehicles. you have to wear said articles of clothing while sucking on a matchbox truck. this is clearly a case where nature has taken over. it's definitely in these boys dna.

walk about

the boys have become hard core neighborhood walkers. we typically take a 40 minute walk around the hood in the morning and the boys can walk half of it on their own. and it's pure delight for them. i honestly think it's their favorite thing to do. they stop and touch all the leaves and flowers, inspect all the major cracks and stains in the sidewalk, wave to the passing cars and cyclists, and say hello to all the neighborhood cats. our family walks, especially during the weekend when we have the time to really relish them, are some of our most treasured times. hopefully we maintain it as a ritual for many years to come.

family foto

it's a rare thing to find pictures of the four of us. i hunt through iphoto in hopes of finding a good family pic from different stages of the boys' lives and there's slim pickins'. so with j's mom in town this past week, i was determined to have some pics taken of all of us. i knew it wouldn't be easy. out of about 40 pics in 3 different shoots, we managed to get ONE good shot:



now, i say this pic is good because we're all sort of looking at the camera, no one is crying, it's not blurry and jordan and i actually look decent.

here are some of the pics we got to choose from. you'll note that the oz-man was having an especially rough time of it, due i think to his molars. or perhaps the site of the camera made him want to vomit?



i don't even have the words to capture this expression. it speaks for itself:



obviously oz doesn't want to be on my shoulders:



getting closer, but distracted by the car driving by:



and last but not least, my personal fav:



i think there's a very good reason professional photographers get paid the big bucks to capture those pics where everyone is smiling and looking fabulous and i think one of them is going to get a call from me very, very soon.

prime spot

the boys have decided that the coffee table affords them the best view while watching the backyardigans. where do they come up with this stuff?

food fight

for jordan's deceptively easy lamb kafta recipe, and to read about our latest foodie trials and tribulations, check out my recent post over at how do you do it!

you say potato

to say our boys have their own individual styles is an understatement. they just approach life differently, and it shows in interesting and funny ways.

- abie goes down stairs on his butt (always) and oz either crawls down backwards, side steps while holding the door frame, or (when a small enough step) will just barrel down forward. it's hysterical watching them go down the step at the same time to get to the garage.

- oz signs everything and abel verbalizes everything

- oz moans really loudly when we put him to sleep and abie is quiet as a mouse

- abie loves him some binkie and oz has nothing to do with it

- abie gives open mouthed kisses and oz does the peck

- oz is a terror when he eats w/ food going everywhere; abel is neat and tidy and gets the spoon in his mouth every time

- ozzy is right handed and abel is an obvious lefty

brotherly love

affection is exploding out of these boys lately. j and i now receive awesome kisses on the lips, hugs galore, as do lots of objects around our house including matilda, the couch and ottoman, blankies, stuffed animals, etc. but last week the boys' realized that they can shower each other with affection. sure, they've hugged before, but it's becoming a regular thing nowadays.

last week in the tub, abie was standing in front of a sitting oskar. oz looked up, saw abie's penis, and touched it. jordan said matter of factly, "you can touch your own penis, but not abel's." within 60 seconds the boys were sitting facing each other and, laughing, leaned in to give each other a big open-mouthed kiss. and then it happened. oz slipped abie the tongue, which made them laugh even more.

but this increased physical contact comes in all forms, and while sweetness is behind lots of it, frustration is behind some of it too. the boys are certainly sorting out the concept of "that's mine, this is yours" as well as taking turns on favorite toys and books. we're reffing lots of MMA matches around the house lately and they are both totally guilty. we really don't have one offender, but rather they have demonstrated that they can equally well tackle, pin, pull hair and clothing, get each other in the guard and smack each other on head. we really try not to laugh and find ourselves bitting our tongues a lot.

on the whole, i'm pretty impressed by how well they get along and how much they enjoy playing with each other. they have a really caring, empathetic relationship and they are constantly doing nice things for one another. if one goes into their room to get his blanket, he always brings his brother's blanket for him. if one goes into the kitchen for milk or water, he always brings his brother's cup too (and offers it to him!). they frequently hold hands and play footsie in the stroller. it melts my heart in ways i never imagined.

it ends as fast as it starts, the anatomy of a fight:

oz steals the wagon so abie pulls his hair


oz retaliates with a double fisted shirt pull



oz takes abie to the ground


they turn a corner and abie pulls oz in for a kiss


smiling and laughing, they're back up and abie is pushing oz around in the stolen wagon


hmmmmmm...i wonder where they learn this behavior?

(note bald man holding his best friend richard in his guard)

balancing act

abie's new thing is balancing objects on himself and matilda. two nights ago he spent a good 30 minutes following mati around the house, balancing cups on her back. and last night in the car i heard him cracking himself up. i looked back to find his book balanced on his head. over and over and over again, balancing the book on his head and cracking up. calling all pageant contestants, abel charges $100/hour for lessons on good posture.

MIA

i know, i know. it's been a while since i posted and i'm sorry. really i am! it's not for lack of things going on here, i promise. but these days it's been difficult to schedule time on the computer. with the boys solidly on one nap, i find i have to use that break even more efficiently now. and jordan is getting his CFP (certified financial planner) which involves him glued to our mac 3 hours every night. truth be told, i've enjoyed taking this break from technology! but as i run through my memory of all the fun things going on with the boys, i realize i've got to get my bunz in gear or else 16 months will have came and went. so get ready, here comes the barrage...