Bunny love

This week we are bunny-sitting for some friends from church who are putting their house on the market and don't want potential buyers to be scared away by bunny dootlets scattered about the house. And since our house is going to be demolished in a couple months anyway, a little bunny mishap here or there isn't going to cost us anything.



The boys love the bunny! They had the best time chasing her around the basement earlier today. Poor bunny often sought refuge under the bed, and the boys would get down on their bellies and growl at her in true Wolf fashion. Well, actually Joshua would growl and Caleb would laugh hysterically. At one point Joshua grabbed the bunny by the loose skin on her back and picked her up! The bunny was very cooperative and didn't put up a fight. When he let go of the bunny, he had two fistfuls of fur. Poor bunny! When I hold the bunny and pet her, Joshua will sometimes stick his head in between me and the bunny so that I can "pet" his head, too. I think he's just making sure that this bunny isn't going to replace him as mama's boy.

In other news, Caleb and Joshua have discovered the deliciousness of summer fruits. They love eating peaches, nectarines, and plums, provided that they are ripe and sweet. Caleb's favorite food is still yogurt. Whenever the fridge is open, he points to the YoBaby stash and asks if he can eat some. He will only eat yogurt if he thinks it's YoBaby brand, but since it's rather expensive I've been buying organic yogurt in bulk tubs as well. I save the little YoBaby cups, wash them, and pour yogurt from the big tubs into the little cups in order to trick Caleb into thinking he's getting YoBaby. I have a feeling he might catch on pretty soon, though, because he watches me like a hawk in eager anticipation of getting this cold creamy treat.

Percentile fun

This morning we went to the doctor's for a belated 18-month checkup. We also missed their 15-month checkup... oops! I'm going to be more on top of things from now on. The boys got 3 shots today, including their first MMR vaccination. A couple months ago we babysat our friend's son for a whole week and while he was staying with us, he came down with the mumps! Thank God for protecting Caleb and Joshua from catching the mumps, too!

Caleb is in the 30th %tile for weight at 24 lbs. 10 oz. Joshua is in the 40th %tile for weight at 25 lbs. 6 oz. Caleb and Joshua are both in the 80th %tile for height at 34 inches. Caleb is in the 75th %tile for head circumference at 19.25 inches. Joshua is in the 93rd %tile for head circumference at 19.75 inches.

The conclusion? We have a couple of tall, skinny boys with big heads! And they're both perfectly healthy. Thank God for a good report!

19 Months Old

Although the boys won't be 19 months old until Sunday, I'm posting early since this is going to be a busy weekend for us.

The boys' current favorite words are "apple" and "lion". Joshua will point to any round fruit and say "apple! apple!" If we give him an apple to hold, he will carry it around with him for an hour. He also likes to eat them. Caleb, however, likes to chew apples and then spit them out :( The boys also love to hug their stuffed lion toys and identify the lions they find in their books. Other new additions to their vocabulary include "boo-boo" (since their knees have been continuously skinned for the past few weeks) and "owl". The other day out of the blue, Caleb turned to a page in a book with an owl illustration and pointed to the printed word "owl" and said "owl". We don't even remember teaching that to him. It's amazing what they pick up in passing and remember.



This past week we spent a couple afternoons at the pool. They loved it! I turned them loose in the baby pool and they adapted to their new environment remarkably well. On our first day there, the other moms marvelled as Caleb and Joshua independently forged into neck-high waters while their own 2 and 3-year-olds sat timidly on the edge or clung reluctantly to the wall. Caleb was especially steady in the water and didn't even lose his balance once. Joshua toppled over face-first into the water several times. A couple times I helped him back up, but a couple times he was able to resurface on his own. Both boys revelled in being splashed in the face and having water dumped on their heads. Having been an avid swimmer in the days of yore, it warmed my heart to see my boys take to the pool so well!

The boys have also been creating some artistic masterpieces lately. They were given some nice beeswax block crayons and have been using them to create Jackson Pollock-esque masterpieces. Caleb seems to be especially interested in drawing, which is interesting since he's also been fond of observing art hanging on the walls.

The boys seem to be very strong-willed (to put it nicely) compared to some other kids their age. They do not like to take "no" for an answer and Caleb seems especially prone to throw tantrums if he doesn't get his way. On a recent play date I marvelled as my friend explained to me that her son doesn't touch their trash can because she told him not to. I tell our boys not to touch (or remove trash from or put their toys in) the trash can about 50 times a day. While figuring out how to effectively discipline strong-willed twin toddlers has been frustrating for us as parents, we're realizing that a positive side-effect of their strong-will and determination is that they are relatively fearless and confident. They are not afraid of the dark, going down slides head-first, climbing on playground equipment designed for older kids, big dogs who lick their faces, or being splashed in the pool by rough-housing 5-year-olds. When they fall and skin their knees to the point of profuse bleeding, it hardly phases them. They are, however, still rather skeptical of people they aren't extremely familiar with. But that's probably a good thing.

5-Year UVA reunion

This past weekend we attended our 5-year college reunion in Charlottesville. The boys got a very comprehensive tour of the Grounds from their trusty red wagon, and enjoyed being lavished with attention from everyone we passed, as usual.



On Saturday I had the privilege of being a panelist on the Class of '02 panel (thanks to Di for nominating me!). They gathered a group of alumni who've had a wide variety of experiences during these past 5 years, and my claim to fame was (of course) having twins. It was fun (and a little daunting, since it's been a while since I've done any public speaking) to share my perspective as a mom of twins. We were asked questions by a moderator and had to come up with answers on-the-spot, so that was a little nerve-wracking! I was told the panel discussion would be podcasted at some point. I'll put a link to it here if I ever find it. Thanks to Tim for being my personal photographer while Joe was outside chasing after the boys :).



Another highlight of the weekend was seeing Tiki or Ronde Barber (we can't tell them apart!) outside one of the pavillions. He was talking with several people near where Caleb and Joshua were playing on the Lawn, and at one point our boys ran up to the group and Tiki/Ronde turned around and smiled at them! Joe wanted to go up to him and ask if he'd let us photograph him with our boys. We thought he might oblige, figuring he must have a soft spot for twin boys, being a twin himself. But we were of course too shy to ask.