The fence

Derek is building a fence. WIlls is helping him by hammering. The fence is to keep the cows, chickens, zebras, and tadpoles from escaping! Nate would help but he is too busy playing with an airplane.

Baby Fight club

Baby Fight club: fight #437. Who will be victorious and who will end up crying? Our twin toddler boys have a love/hate relationship. Just a note: even if you 2 identical toys- the other one will be more attractive than the one you are holding. There is lots of screaming around here- thankfully there are more giggles and grins!

Hold on Wills

Derek and WIll had a great time this afternoon while Nate slept. Derek pushed Will around in the laundry basket then jumped in to play with him. Will thought it was hysterical and laughed and laughed. I love the moments when D has just one little to himself. Derek is so great with his brothers and they think he is the funniest guy. Will got dumped several times but thought that was funny too.

Happy birthday Daddy!

Mike's birthday was Monday but we celebrated this weekend so we had more time. You know you are a Daddy when your birthday activity is going to Pump it Up to jump with your boys. Derek and Daddy had a great time jumping. I watched the littles play with toys. Derek only wanted to jump with Daddy. At the end, Derek asked for his cupcake. We have only been there for birthday parties. Poor kid had to learn that bouncers don't always equal cake.

We had a fun cake at home though. D and I made it Friday then got to remake the cake Saturday after the first set of cakes ended up on the floor. We had fun making all 4 cakes. Will only ate a little but Nate loved the cake. Derek ate every little bit too. Derek sang happy birthday to Daddy several times over the weekend.

MIke and I had a great pre-birthday date. It was our first date with someone other than my mom babysitting! We went downtown and went mini-golfing at a glow-in-the dark, Pirate-themed, putt-putt course. It was lots of fun.

Sharing is caring

A conversation I recently heard:

Derek: Will and Nate you need to share. Will give it back to Natey. Natey you be nice. Sharing is caring boys.. sharing is caring.

Hmm where has he heard that before? Is was adorable. Maybe my words are sinking in!

Also (which is Derek's new favorite word) Wills is taking lots and lots of steps. For over a week, Wills will let go of something and take 6-7 steps. He also will stand for a while on his own, walk, stand, walk... Go Wills.

Roller skating

We are having lots of fun for spring break. I am planning fun things for D that we normally don't do. Monday we went to the play park for a special Mommy and Derek date. Yesterday we went to the library and got fun treats afterwards. Today we went roller skating.

Roller Skating!! We went to a special preschool session that was packed for spring break. Derek used the snap on skates for his first try. At first he pushed the stroller for support. It was great that parents didn't need to skate and I could bring a stroller onto the rink. D eventually held on with one hand and then was off on his own. It was fun to watch his confidence grow. Eventually the need for snacks was greater than the desire to skate so off we went for snack time. Will and Nate enjoyed the time from their stroller. I can just see a year from now... 3 little skaters. I am sure our seasoned pro will be a big help.

Green frosting

Derek and I baked cookies for St. Patrick's Day. We also made green frosting for them. D held on and helped and got his beater as a reward. I gave Will and Nate their first lick of frosting. It was a big hit of course.

The tote of wonders

The tote bag I ordered from lands' end arrived yesterday. It was delivered by our beloved UPS man he was given a round of applause by Derek. Derek loves the UPS man and still talks about the UPS man from WI (Kyle, my dad's business UPS man) he met that showed him his truck. Once the bag was opened there was lots of oohs and ahhs. Derek climbed in then we put Will in. Derek was back in and then Daddy carried him around the house. I am not sure what the weight rating is but D at 34 pounds is under it. Mean mommy hid the bag after the kiddos went to bed so I can actually use it!

The paper store

We are enjoying the creative play stage that Derek is in right now. He really enjoys pretend play. This past weekend he created his own paper store. Mike and I are to come, ring the doorbell, and he unlocks the door for us. He sells paper, just paper. Once you pick out your paper, he writes on it and gives it to you. We have no idea where the idea is from but we enjoy it. Will and Nate crawl up to the paper store as well. We told D to add a drive-thru window for them but he is not so sure about it. Derek even created a paper cutter for his store. This explains why he started ripping up paper on Friday; he was creating his inventory.

Show offs!

Will and Nate are becoming quite confident in their new skills. They are almost 16 months (14 months adjusted)

Will is in stripes-if one of boys is in stripes- it is always Wills. Will is walking one-handed behind his toys. He will lean back and hold a toy and stand alone without support. He has also begun to take a few steps. His victorious smile is adorable. He is quite content to babble but is quieter than Nate.

Natey is our talker. He loves to babble. He says mama a lot. I think it is for me now. When he says mama and I say that's me he smiles and giggles. He stands without support infrequently. He hasn't attempted steps alone. Behind a walker with the support if offers, he moves quickly. The boy puts all his focus into talking. He is a great story-teller and someone somewhere may just understand him. I just babble back to him and he nods and laughs.

We are blessed that both (actually all 3) are boys are very very happy. They are all sweet-natured and generally sweet. They enjoy stealing toys from each other, screaming in frustration, and stealing it back. I have tried to give each of them the exact same toy to avoid struggles. HAHA. Of course, the other toy looks more fun and they try to steal it. I just keep telling them to work it out and I try not to intervene. Silly boys.

Howdy partner

Geema brought Derek some western stickers and D thinks cowboys hats are the coolest right now. Mike brought out his cowboy hat for D to try on. He thought it was pretty cool. Just think his wonder if the boots come out??

I keep forgetting to post something funny that D said when Geema was here. I told D to turn off the light in the bathroom after he was done. He is usually very good about turning off lights and usually reminds me (our sweet green little guy). So this time I told D that we are trying to be eco-friendly so we turn off the lights we are not using and don't let the water run. A few minutes later he ran into the living room and announced" I want to be an eco-friend". Aww so cute our little conservationist.

The cave

Mike and Derek were playing with the dinosaurs. D decided that the dinosaurs needed a cave. They got a really big one. There was lots of laughs in the cave until it was pronounced that no brothers were to be in the cave. This sharing thing is hard. D is slowly learning to include his brothers. That being said D was very excited for Will and Nate to have morning nap time to have Daddy to himself.

A bin for everything

There is a bin for everything in this house. We really don't keep the littles in the bins but they were enjoying D and I pushing them around the room.

Displaying art

Derek really enjoys making projects with stickers. Usually they are for Geema or Daddy. This week D made one for his friend S who used to go to school with him. He really misses her. She also misses D and his chickens. D also loves to see his artwork. After finishing a project he told me he was going to hang it up. I was interested in how he would accomplish this. He used a sticker half on the sheet and half on the paper. Great idea D! He was pretty proud of himself.

Will and Nate are gleefully dumping contents out of a big tub

Sippy cups on their own!

Will and Nate have been using sippy cups since January when we stopped using bottles. I have needed to help them each time until this week. They finally got how to tip them and hold them on their own. They think they are pretty cool. Of course along with this power comes the power to throw the cups (and laugh with glee). They are very lucky to have a helpful big brother who retrieves their cups. During their afternoon snack time, D has been painting a ton again.

Cargos like Daddy

Derek was so excited that he and Daddy were wearing cargo pants that looked the same. I think Mike thought it was pretty cool too. We had a low-key weekend after Geema left. We set -up a new play rug for D in his room and then put up a gate in the hall to keep the boys more contained. Derek likes the added privacy he gets (and the cool factor is that he can open the gate).

Bye bye Geema

It was with great sadness that we took Geema to the airport. We need a last outing to IKEA (look a picture of just my mom and me) and then to the airport. It seems to get harder and harder to say goodbye after each viist. We had a wonderful week and lots of laughs. Come back soon Geema!

Oh the wonderful things that Geema can do

Ah Geema. She picked the best week to come. Without even knowing it, she picked a week we really needed her help. She watched D for the morning while I took Will and Nate to their 3 hour NICU follow-up, she watched WIll and Nate so I could go to the dr.'s office by myself, and she watched all 3 so Mike and I could have a date.

Most importlantly, Geema has lots and lots of play time with the boys. There was lots of horsey rides, lots of legos, and lots of crawling on the floor after all 3. Geema is the bestest play friend a boy can have. I am not sure who giggled the loudest. We all went to the children's museum and Geema and D had a blast playing vet and Geema loved splashing in the water with Will and Nate.

We had such a wonderful week!