A Christmas to Remember, but not Repeat

On Christmas Eve the boys woke up and happily played with their new playstand that Santa had left for them the night before. Then that evening Joshua started projectile vomiting :( Caleb thought that the sight of his brother retching was the most hilarious thing ever! We never made it to our church's Christmas Eve service, and that night Joshua and I slept on the floor at the foot of the bed, and each time he woke up I would roll him over so that he could aim for the hardwood floor. Then he would sip some water and drift back to a fitful sleep, only to wake up and repeat the process an hour or so later. We finally made it over to Mimi and Papa's in the early afternoon on Christmas Day and enjoyed dinner with Kiki, Sooja Emo, Samchun, and Sungmo while Joshua napped. When he woke up and vomited again, we knew that our visit to Granny and Babo would have to be postponed, and we finally made it there the evening after Christmas. We were fairly certain that Joshua was all better, but he continued to throw up once a day for the next 2 days. But he was happy for the most part and we all enjoyed visiting with Granny, Babo, Uncle Patrick, and Auntie Beth, although our delay sadly prevented us from seeing Aunt Frances. The day after that was a glorious one in which none of us threw up, and I scored an unheard of (at least in Northern Virginia) deal on $0.98/lb Fuji apples at a Wal-Mart somewhere off of I-81 on our way home. But my good fortune was short-lived, as the stomach bug finally decided to pay me a visit the next day, although thankfully only for one day. And even more thankfully, Joe and Caleb survived the Christmas week completely unscathed! Thank God!

So while this past Christmas was certainly a Christmas to remember, it's not one that we ever intend to repeat!

Okay, alright.

Here is a typical conversation that may be overheard in our house these days:

• Caleb: Cracker? Cracker?


• Mommy: Do you want some crackers, Caleb?


• Caleb (in a tone that suggests he is reluctantly conceding): Okay, alright.

The boys seem to think that "okay" and "alright" are perfectly synonymous to "yes". For example:

• Mommy: "Joshua, are you pooping?"


• Joshua: "Alright, okay".

The boys also like to exclaim "whoooooo!" while we're changing their diapers, mimicking my usual reaction to their stinky poos. Then they'll say "all clean!" after they're done being changed. They are extremely fascinated with the toilet these days. When I dump their poo into the toilet, they will stand by as I flush and say "bye bye, poo!" and wave as the whilring water whisks it away. They still are not fond of sitting on it, however. I think they're afraid of falling in. My cousin told me that she potty-trained her daughter Yoojin in one day this past summer by just letting her run around without a diaper on. So I think we'll try that this summer, and I'm sure the boys won't object- they absolutely love scampering around the house sans clothes. Caleb has even become quite good at removing his pants and diaper on his own.

25 months old (I know, I know...)

I know, now that the boys are 2, it seems pretty silly to continue with the x-months-old updates on the 10th of each month. But I figure it's just as good a time as any to talk about what's been going on in the wild, wild world of 2-year-old twin boys. Otherwise, who knows when I'll ever get around to it?

Caleb and Joshua have finally started speaking English sentences. Here are some things they can be heard saying nowadays: 

• Where is the monkey?


• All gone! Is there any more?


• Monkey, where are you?


• Read the book!

The monkey is a small orange plastic monkey that has recently become the object of Joshua's affection. Its mere presence will calm him down immediately. I snuck it to the doctor's office with us and gave it to him after he got his shots and he stopped crying immediately. Nice job, monkey!

The boys are also very alert and aware of their surroundings when we're on the road. They recognize the streets we take to get to Mimi and Papa's house and will start yelling "Mimiiiii! Mimiiiii! Papa! Kiki! Mimiiiiii" when we're still a couple minutes away (Kiki is their name for Uncle Chris). Similarly, they know that when we merge onto a certain highway we are on our way to pick up Daddy at work, and they will yell "Daddy! Daddy!" And after spending some quality time with Daddy at Chick-fil-a, when we turn into the parking lot of his building they will say "bye bye, Daddy" even before we stop the car, because they understand that this is where we drop Daddy off.

We have noticed that while the boys will sometimes quarrel viciously with each other, they are pacifists in their interactions with other kids their age. If another kid pushes or otherwise antagonizes them, they appear to be shocked. Their lips quiver, their faces turn red, and they fight to hold back tears, as if they don't understand what they did to deserve such treatment. But with each other, there is no holding back!

The boys are becoming very particular about their attire. They only want to wear tops that have pictures or words on them. They want nothing to do with their handsome argyle, striped, or fairisle knit sweaters. They do, however, enjoy wearing their vertically-striped button-down shirts which they refer to as "Daddy," on account of their resemblance to the shirts that Daddy often wears.

We have decided to majorly cut back on the boys' TV viewing lately. It had gotten to the point where the boys would throw tantrums if we didn't let them watch the same Baby Einstein DVD 5 times in a row, so we decided to cut it out of our lives cold turkey. The first few days were extremely rough, but we ended up going for about 4 weeks without watching any TV at all in our house. Then a couple weeks ago I let them watch Baby Einstein while I gave them a haircut, and they actually sat somewhat still during the haircuts since it was such a huge treat. They no longer ask to watch TV a billion times a day like they used to, and everyone is a lot happier.

2-year stats

Today Caleb and Joshua went to the doctor's office for their 2-year checkup. Both boys are healthy and on-track developmentally. When Dr. Russell saw that they could read the letters on the cover of a dinosaur book in the examination room, he was impressed and referred to the boys as "smarties", which we take as a compliment from a man whose career accomplishments have ranged from English professor to pediatrician! We also like Dr. Russell because (unlike some other doctors we've seen) he doesn't raise a stink when we bring the boys into their appointment wearing cloth diapers (he cloth-diapered his own kids), when we tell him that the boys are still co-sleeping with us, and when we opt out of the non-required vaccines. Why bother? Last year all 4 of us got the flu shot, only to be rewarded with a nasty case of the flu!

Anyway, on to the stats: Caleb is 34" long (70th %tile), weighs 28.5 lbs (65th %tile), and has a head circumference of 19.75" (90th %tile). Joshua is ever so slightly bigger than his big brother. He is 35" long (75th %tile), weighs 29 lbs (70th %tile), and has a head circumference of 19.5" (80th %tile). It's pretty interesting that the boys have always been virtually the same size ever since they were born... always measuring within a few ounces and quarter-inches of each other. I think that's pretty good evidence to support our new theory that they are monozygotic (identical) twins.

The boys are saying all kinds of new words and 2-word phrases these days. Some new phrases are "Cool car!", "Cool bike!", "good grief", and "oh crap!" (we are trying to encourage them to replace the latter with "oh brother!". They also like to point out whenever they see 2 of anything: "2 eyes! 2 B's! 2 flies!" etc. Caleb seems to have inherited my penchant for pointing out bugs, although he seems to be less terrified of them than I am. One time he pointed to a cricket and said "bug!" and looked absolutely horrified when I proceeded to vacuum it up (later to be released back out in the wild, or into the hands of our neighbor Lily who is obessed with adopting "pet" crickets). Joshua's leg is doing so much better now, and he is even running again. We are so thankful for good health.

Joshua walks again

Today Joshua took his first steps since having his cast removed! We have been pretty sure that he was physically capable of walking all along, but his mind had convinced him otherwise. Or maybe he was just waiting for Mimi and Papa to come back from their vacation? Who knows. He started off with a hobbling limp, but his stride is becoming smoother with each step. After he woke up from his nap, he seemed to have forgotten that he'd walked earlier in the day, and went back to crawling. But it wasn't long before he was up and walking again. Thank God!

Babo

Joshua and Caleb have decided on a new name for their Wolf grandfather, previously known as "Grandad". Ladies and gentlemen, introducing "Babo"! Once again, we have no idea where they came up with this name. They have yet to decide on a new name for "Granny". We'll see... maybe she will be the only grandparent who gets to keep her original name!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Caleb and Joshua are 2 years old today! Happy Birthday boys :) It's hard to believe that only 2 years ago today our family size doubled and our lives changed drastically... for the better, of course! The boys continue to fascinate us with their similarities and differences. We are still torn over whether they are monozygotic (identical) or dizygotic (fraternal), with Joe thinking the former and I the latter. Joshua seems to be the leader and inventor. He is usually the first one to come up with a new silly word or antic, then Caleb will copy him and add embellishments. Caleb loves to draw, Joshua loves to sing. Caleb is fascinated with studying and learning new things, and while Joshua appears more nonchalant about academic pursuits, he picks things up on the sly, always keeping up to pace with Caleb. They are some of the most hilarious people we know, and there is rarely a dull moment in our house. We are so thankful that God gave them to us on this day 2 years ago!

Bye, cast!

Joshua had his cast removed today! The X-ray showed that his bone has healed! Praise God! While we were waiting to have the cast sawed off, one of the other mothers who was there with her son (who was getting his 3rd cast in 2 years), noted the dearth of girls among the patients at this pediatric othopaedic doctor's office... boys are so much fun, aren't they? :) Joshua's leg is still sore so he can't really walk yet, but this everning he was absolutely delighted to get his first shower in 3 weeks. Our whole family is thankful that the cast episode is finally over!

These days whenever the boys see a picture of corn on the cob, like in one of their books, they'll blow on it as if they're trying to cool it down to an appropriate eating temperature. If one of the boys sees a photo of himself, he will point to it and say "brother!" They also like to call Daddy by his first name. If they think Daddy will be coming home soon, they'll stand at the front door and yell "Joe! Joe! Joooooe!" I think it's cute, but Daddy wishes they'd just stick to "Daddy"!

They also like to make letters of the alphabet out of everyday objects such as drinking straws and spaghetti noodles. They'll fold it at a 30-degree angle and say "A" then flip it upside down and say "V", then they'll widen it to a 90-degree angle and say "L". They also like to say "bye!" to everything, including letters that they read on food packaging at the grocery store. As we proceed down the aisle, they'll say "Bye, S! Bye, P!" etc.

Talking up a storm

The boys' ability to communicate verbally seems to have doubled in the past couple weeks. These days they can be heard saying things such as:

• "Ooooh, nice!" when they see something they like.


• "Hi Mimi!" when we are pulling up in to Mimi and Papa's driveway.


• "Bryce! Car? Bye-bye?" when they want to get in the car and go visit their friend Bryce.


• "Mimi! Papa! Car? Bye-bye?" when they want to go to Mimi and Papa's house.


• I can ask them if they have a poo and they will say "Yes" or "No", usually giving the correct answer. Sometimes Caleb even tells me "poo!" before I even ask. Maybe we can start potty training after Joshua gets his cast removed.


• They say "eat!" if they are hungry and "all done" when they're done eating.


• New favorite words include "bus, car, Bible, Jesus, sky, guitar, up, down, cracker, hello".


• They also can say most of the letters ("W" has proved to be quite challenging) and numbers. Sometimes I'll catch them spouting out a random string of words, letters, and numbers. I predict they'll be speaking sentences any day now.

The boys like for us to pat their backs when they're coughing, usually during a meal. Sometimes if we don't pat their backs in time, they will pat their own chests. And sometimes if one boy is coughing and having his back patted, the other will fake a cough so that we'll pat his back, too! I told you, they're quite talented actors.

Joshua has made incredible progress with his cast. He is almost as mobile now as he was before the accident, he's just not as fast. He can stand up without holding onto anything and walk. It's tricker on smooth surfaces but he does really well on carpet. It occurred to us the other day that for all Joshua knows, his cast is a permanent fixture. Considering how depressing that prospect would be, he is an amazingly cheerful and optimistic boy. He's really just as happy now as he ever has been. We think that's pretty remarkable.

Happy 60th Birthday "Mimi"!

Today was Halmoni's 60th Birthday! Most people can not believe that she is really 60 years old since she looks so young. We had a birthday party for her today, which was a lot of fun. Joshua and Caleb's gift to Halmoni was a new name. They have decided to call her "Mimi". We have no idea where they came up with this name. There is a woodcut print of Halmoni which I made in college that is hanging on our living room wall, and the boys will even say "Mimi!" when we point to it and ask who it is. They have also decided that Grandpa should be called "Papa". We just think it's fascinating how they have both agreed on the same names!

Joshua is quickly adusting to his leg cast. He has overcome his initial frustration and can now crawl while dragging his cast behind him, stand (while holding onto something), get on his bike all by himself and ride it around with one foot doing all the work, and get up into a chair all by himself. He can even jump on the couch, which really seemed to lift his spirits. We're so happy to see him adapting so well.

Joshua's Cast

Last night Joshua hurt his leg while going down a slide with Joe at the playground. Afterwards he couldn't walk, and if he even tried to stand up he cried and fell down in pain. So this morning I took him to the pediatrician, who took one glance at his leg and sent us to the orthopedic doctor. An x-ray revealed that Joshua's lower left leg had a big crack! The doctor remarked that Joshua was a very tough boy to withstand the pain it must be causing him. We left the doctor's office later this afternoon with a big orange cast encasing the full length of Joshua's leg and foot. They even gave him a cute little shoe to wear over it.

This evening Joshua practiced standing and walking a little with the cast, but it either hurt or proved to be too frustrating of an endeavor to pursue. So basically his mobility has reverted back to what it was when he was about 6 months old. He can sit and scoot around on his tummy, dragging his heavy cast behind him. This is proving to be extremely frustrating to Joshua, since he is accustomed to always being on-the-go. I almost feel as though this would have been slightly less tragic had it happened to Caleb instead, since he is more apt to be entertained while stationary. For instance, Caleb is usually the passenger in the wagon while Joshua jogs along pushing from behind. Not that I would have wished this fate on either boy, but you know what I mean.

I am beginning to think that having a twin brother who tempts you with fun and rambunctious activities does not make having a cast on your leg any easier! Tonight Caleb was jumping on the couch and Joshua was so upset that he could not join in on the fun. He looked at me pleadingly, asking me to take the cast off of his leg, and oh how I wish I could have-- I now realize why they make casts that can only be removed with a saw! I wish we could explain to Joshua the purpose of the cast in such a way that he would fully understand. And maybe he does understand, to a certain extent. Anyway, the next 3 weeks should be interesting. Please join us in praying that God will heal Joshua's leg very quickly so that he can return to being his normal happy active self!

Drama

It's hard to believe that one month from today, Caleb and Joshua will be 2 years old!

Lately the boys have become quite good at acting. For instance, these days everything we feed them is allegedly scalding hot. The mere sight of a plateful of lukewarm eggs will cause them to quiver in fear. Even a mouthful of cool, creamy yogurt prompts them to draw their fists to their mouths and wince in superficial pain. "Now I know that is NOT hot!" we tell them.

Sadly, the boys must have grown accustomed to having us accidentally bonk their heads against the car door opening when we lift them up into their carseats. Lately whenever we put them in their car seats, their precious noggins clearly unscathed, they will dramatically clutch their heads and rub their imaginary wounds while pouting and saying "ow! ow!"

W

W is the boys' favorite letter. They can't pronounce it yet, but they love it. They regularly quarrel over the W and M (since M looks like W when it's upside down) pieces of their alphabet puzzle. Caleb especially likes to walk around the house clutching a W in each hand, occasionally stopping to hold them up to me and ask me to say "W".

Last night Caleb fell asleep at the table in the middle of dinner because he had skipped his nap earlier that day. As is always the case when they don't nap at the same time, the awake twin (in this case, Joshua) grew lonesome for his brother's company. In an effort to lure Caleb away from his slumber, Joshua retrieved the two W puzzle pieces and offered Caleb the red W, which happens to be the most coveted W. While ineffective, it was a very magnanimous gesture that illustrates the boys' mutual affection for the letter W.

We think it's pretty neat that the boys like W so much, considering their last name (and Caleb's middle name) begins with W. Maybe they like W because it sounds so much different than its one-syllable counterparts, or maybe our fondness of President Bush has rubbed off on them, who knows? But for whatever reason, W is the boys' favorite letter.

The Library

Call me a slacker, but prior to yesterday morning the boys had never set foot in a library. I had always envisioned taking twin boys to a library as a nightmare of sorts... the inevitable shrieks, the unfriendly glares, the chasing of boys down aisles and aisles of books. Well, the other moms in our playgroup dragged us to the library yesterday, and it turns out that there is a special toddler room brimming with board books, wooden puzzles, velcro letters & numbers that stick to the walls, and most importantly, doors that made it permissible for them to scream "Nee Nee Neeee!" at the top of their lungs while pointing to the picture of the 3 bears in Goodnight Moon. They were in awe of the library's huge version of Goodnight Moon that was about 4 times bigger than the little board book we have at home. When they first laid eyes on this monstrous Goodnight Moon, it was as though they had never beheld such a glorious sight. Yes, the boys were in heaven at the library.

World's Youngest Granny & The Alphabet

This past weekend we went to visit Granny and Grandad for Granny's surprise 50th birthday party. Today is her actual birthday, so Happy Birthday to the youngest, hippest "Granny" I've ever met :) The boys had a blast riding their bikes all around Granny and Grandad's huge driveway. They impressed Grandad with their curiosity in wanting to know (and being able to identify some of) the letters on the license plates on the cars. They were also able to correctly identify Granny, Grandad, and Uncle Patrick! Before our visit we spent some time brushing up with one of our wedding photos, and I think that the boys are developing a pretty solid long-term memory as well.

Both boys now call us "Mommy" and "Daddy". It is very heartwarming. Joshua even says "Mommy, I do!" which I'm pretty sure means "Mommy, I love you!" He has a big smile and looks so proud every time he says it, and sometimes it's accompanied by a kiss, too :)

These days the boys are completely fascinated with the letters of the alphabet. They can say about a dozen letters and can identify most of the others. Sometimes they mix up the pronounciations for "M" & "N" and "B" & "P" but they get the general idea. We haven't pushed them to learn their alphabet at all. After all, we never would have guessed they'd even be remotely interested in learning the alphabet before age 2. It all started with the boys pointing to the text in their books and asking "Da? da?" which means "what is it?" At first we'd just tell them, "Those are words" but they would get increasingly frustrated with us and we eventually realized they wanted to know what the individual letters were called. Last week we got them a simple wooden alphabet puzzle and it now seems to rank among one of their most-played-with toys. When we're out running errands the boys will see different letters on store signs and read parts of them to us. For instance, today we drove through a BB&T bank parking lot and Caleb shouted out "B!" And the other night we were at Safeway and Joshua saw the Y at the end of the big sign in front of the store and shouted out "Y!"

Canine Farewell

Today Joshua spoke his first English sentence (and I use the term "sentence" loosely). Upon hearing our neighbor's dog anxiously barking from the other side of the fence, the boys exclaimed "dog! dog!" and walked over to greet it. When we told the boys it was time to go inside, Joshua called out, "Bye, dog!" as Joe escorted him inside the house. And there you have it, his first "sentence".

22 Months Old

The twins attended their first official playgroup this morning! It was at the home of their friend Faith, who lives in our old neighborhood. Their friend Ryker was there, too, and they met a new friend, Elizabeth. Caleb and Joshua spent most of their time taking laps around the living room riding Faith's tricycle and pushing her doll stroller. Maybe one of these days they'll actually play with their friends at playgroup!

Joshua and Caleb can now both jump all by themselves. They've come a long way since the Jumperoo! Their favorite toys these days are their Mega Blocks (which we were happy to discover were made in Canada, not China!), their toy animals, their tricycles, and their books. The boys, especially Caleb, also like to draw. They know a few letters of the alphabet (including "Y"...check out the September movies to see for yourself :))

Starting tomorrow we're going to be watching our neighbor's daughter for an hour and fifteen minutes each morning before the school bus picks her up at the end of our street. She will be coming over at around 6:50 am. Lately the boys and I have been sleeping in until 9 am! No more excuses, we're going to NEED to get our little night owls (and ourselves) to bed earlier from now on!

How to Break up a Twin Fight

When the boys are in the heat of battle, we interrupt and ask them "Caleb, do you love Joshua? Joshua, do you love Caleb?" and about half the time they will stop fighting and hug each other. Then we will tell them they are so sweet, and then they forget about the fight.

The boys have been making each other crack up a lot lately. Usually what happens is one boy will say something nonsensical (something from their twin language, perhaps?) that will prompt the other boy to laugh hysterically, and they will go on and on, back and forth, for 5-10 minutes. I witness such exchanges about twice a day, usually when the boys are off playing on their own in another room. It always warms my heart to hear their deep belly laughs floating into the kitchen or wherever I happen to be. Having a twin to share your childhood with is surely a great blessing.

The boys are learning their shapes now. They can correctly identify squares, circles, triangles, diamonds, stars, and hearts. Caleb has shown a particular interest in learning the letters of the alphabet, as well. He likes to point to the different letters in a printed word and ask what each one is. He still has a ways to go, though... right now whenever he sees the letter "C" he says "moon!" (you know, like a crescent moon...) :) Both Caleb and Joshua will point to the words in a book and ask "da?" which means, "What is it?" and we will say "words!" and then they will tilt their heads fondly towards the words and smile, which means they love them.

Who's that? Mommy!

You'd think that when words such as flower, Elmo, and turtle effortlessly roll off a young child's tongue, Mommy would also be a long-standing member of that child's spoken vocabulary. Well, this was not the case until today. While looking at our family photos on the computer screensaver, I was pointing to various family members and telling the boys who was who. When I pointed to a picture of myself, Joshua piped up and said "Mommy!" I was in shock. Did he really just say "Mommy"? So I tried again with another photo, and he correctly identified me as "Mommy" again! He has yet to address me as "Mommy" in person, but at least he can say who I am, and I feel honored to have finally earned the prestige that his beloved Elmo has been enjoying for the past couple months :)

Taking it all in

While the boys may not be speaking much English yet, we've come to realize that they understand many things. Lately we have been playing "Where is the...?" a lot. The boys can correctly identify so many things, including things that I'm certain we never specifically taught them. They know: house, tree, butterfly, squirrel, rabbit, mouse, eagle, bat, girl, boy, Jesus, sun, fire, zebra, monkey, giraffe, cow, frog, hippopotamus, peacock, leopard, tiger, boa consrictor, lamb, sheep, fish, polar bear, flamingo, window, car, pillow, corn, table, chair, couch, floor, ceiling, diaper, balloon, bird, rooster, boat, snowman, and horse, just to name a few. They also know their tummy, chest, bellybutton, elbows, shoulders, fingers, toes, and hair. They're so proud of themselves when they can point to the correct thing, and will sometimes clap and say "Yaaaay!". They clap and cheer for each other's acheivements, too.

The other day Halmoni was asking them where the different animals in the "Brown Bear" book were, and Caleb (who is especially quick to identify which animals are which) was sweet enough to defer to Joshua and let him have a turn at pointing to the correct animals, which he did. We thought that was really sweet.

One time a couple weeks ago we asked Joshua, "Where is the elephant?" thinking he'd go retrieve his elephant stuffed animal. But instead he hurriedly sorted through his alphabet books, found the "E" book, and turned to the page with the elephants on it! He was bursting with excitement and beaming with pride, it was so cute!

Words they do know how to say include: dog, puppy, turtle, apple, eye, owl, star, moon, baby, knee, duck, and book. They are also learning to count when they walk up and down the stairs, and even though they don't know all the numbers, it sounds like they're actually counting.

They've also started hugging each other. We ask them, "Caleb, do you love Joshua? Joshua, do you love Caleb?" and they will run towards each other and hug and gently pat each other on the back while embracing. I really need to get that on video!

Perfectionist

A few months ago I mentioned that Joshua would segregate broken crackers from whole ones and would only eat the broken ones as a last resort. Now he refuses to eat broken crackers altogether. He really enjoys Golden Rounds from Whole Foods, and will frequently ask for them. Unfortunately for Joshua, Golden Rounds don't hold up very well and about 90% of the crackers will have lost their roundness by the time they arrive on the shelf. If we offer him a broken cracker, Joshua will shake his head and protest, insisting that we produce for him a whole cracker. If there are no whole crackers left, stubborn Joshua absolutely refuses to eat the broken ones, no matter how hungry he might be (needless to say this works to Caleb's advantage, since he is not nearly as particular as his brother). It seems that we've got a little perfectionist on our hands!

21 Months Old

There's so much to catch up on, I don't know where to start!

Caleb is our little portrait artist. When he draws with his crayons, he will try to draw faces. He will say "eye" and carefully scribble a big sprawling dot. Then he will say "eye" again and draw another eye. Then he will say "nose" and draw his rendition of a nose. Then he will finish up by saying "mouth" and drawing a mouth. Of course the finished product doesn't really resemble a face at all, but it's a start, and as an artist who has always had much more respect for art that actually resembles something, I'm quite impressed.

The boys both love Elmo. They've never even watched Sesame Street on TV, but they have a couple books where Elmo appears on a few pages. We are slightly bewildered that they've learned to say "Elmo" but not other useful words such as "Mommy". When we were moving into our new house last week, we were pleasantly surprised by a potted plant, bottle of wine, and two gigantic helium Elmo balloons that our nice new landlords thoughtfully left for us as a housewarming gift. The boys were absolutely ecstatic at the sight of these life-sized Elmo balloons, and embraced them repeatedly while gleefully chirping "Elmo! Elmo!"

Joshua loves to rock out to a good beat. Whenever he hears music he likes, he will bop his head like he's headbanging. He has also composed his own little song that he likes to sing to himself. It goes like this: "Dooo ba doo ba doo..."

The boys are also learning to control their emotions. If I leave them for a little while, or if a little friend plays rough with them, or if they fall and scrape their knees, instead of bursting out in tears, they will stick out their lower lip and their faces will turn red and they'll try reallllly hard not to cry. They are getting to be tough little muffins.

Our little narcissists love to watch videos of themselves. Sometimes if they are throwing a tantrum or are otherwise inconsolable, browsing the "Movies" section of this website is the only way to calm them down. They will laugh uproariously while watching their own silly antics. Maybe we should market a compilation of "The Wolf Twins' Greatest Hits" and offer Baby Einstein a little competition!

Movin' On Up

The lack of activity on this site (other than our guestbook spammers... grrr!) is due to the fact that we have been busy packing, moving, and unpacking. That's right, we are finally settled into our new home! The boys handled the transition really well- they didn't skip a beat. That just goes to show that while we adults tend to grow attached to material things, such as buildings, what really makes a place home is the people you share the house with. As far as the boys are concerned, as long as Mommy, Daddy, and brother are with them, they'll call it home!

No!

The inevitable has come to pass- quite some time after learning to say "yes", the boys have finally learned to say "no!" I think it sunk in a few days ago when I got passionately upset with them for making an unusally huge mess. I must have been gesticulating somewhat wildly while exclaiming "no! no! nooo!", because now whenever the boys say "no!" they wave their forearms in the air, just as someone would who is saying "enough is enough!" They will walk around the house and point to all the crayon scribbles that have cropped up on our walls and furniture recently, and sternly say "no! no!" They have also started saying "no!" to each other when they irritate each other. They have not been so brazen as to use it against their parents, though!

Caleb has memorized the rhythm of Eric Carle's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear? books. Throughout the day I will hear him singing to himself "Brow-bear, brow-bear, wha da daa da?" or "Lion, lion, wha da daa da?" etc. He can also identify all the different animals at the end of the book, even in the Polar Bear book, which has children dressed up in animal costumes and is therefore a little trickier. If you ask him "where is the walrus?" or "where is the zebra?" he will point to the correct animal costume. He is one smart little animal-lover.

One funny thing that the boys have been doing for a while now, but I keep forgetting to mention, is that if you tell them "Joshua and Caleb, you look sooooo cute!" they will look down and examine their outfits to see what they are wearing. I don't know how they learned to do this, but it's really funny (and sooooo cute)!

On track?

Sometimes I can't help but compare Caleb and Joshua's development to other kids their age and wonder if they are "on track". One of my friends can ask her son (who is the same age as our boys), "Would you like to eat an apple, a banana, or pretzels?" and he will calmly mumble something to her, and she will reply "Oh, you want an apple? Ok!" I found myself gaping at this exchange in awe, considering that our boys are more likely to convey their food preferences in the form of pointed fingers, high-pitched shrieks, or Caleb's favorite phrase as of late, "ahbidgee-bijah!", which we've determined means a variety of things. Another friend has told me that her son (who is also the boys' age) has started speaking in sentences. Our boys will "speak" in sentences, sure, but none that any English-speaking person can understand! Also, Halmoni says (and has photos to prove) that when I was the boys' age, I could feed myself a sliced-in-half grapefruit with a spoon. The boys' favorite thing to do with a spoonful of food is fling it through the air. I'm even lucky if I can get a break from holding the boys' sippy cups for them while they drink! 

I have been told that I should attribute Caleb and Joshua's verbal shortcomings to the fact that they are twins and that they don't feel as great an urgency to learn to communicate with others, namely their parents and other people who speak English, since they can commuicate with each other in their own "twin language". Perhaps this is true, I've decided to let myself think that it is. As far as their motor skills are concerened, though, I probably have nothing to blame but my own uptight tendency to cringe at messes and wastefulness. Perhaps what's holding the boys back is my hesitancy to allow them to "feed themselves" (or in other words "fling across the room and smear all over their faces and clothes") organic baby yogurt that is nearly worth its weight in gold.

20 Months Old

The boys have hit the big 2-0! I've got to say that I'm kind of looking forward to when we can simply tell people "they're 2" or "they're 2 and a half" because keeping track of months can get kind of tricky after a while.

The boys have been enjoying their last month in this house before we move. This little old house and its many quirks have grown on us, and it's sad to think that in a matter of months it will be a mere memory, with a behemoth McMansion standing in its place. The boys won't remember this house when they're older, and we'll never be able to walk down our street and show them their first home. But at the same time, we feel like we've outgrown this small space and the move will be good for our family. We're hoping to transition the boys into their own toddler beds, and maybe even their own room, when we move... we'll let you know how that goes! A dishwasher and hardwood floors are two upgrades that we're especially looking forward to. However, we're really going to miss our huge yard, garage, and neighborhood, and Joe is going to miss his "man" bathroom since our new place only has one. But the new place seems to have less wasted space and more room for the boys to play indoors, so in that respect it will be an upgrade.

The boys are getting to the age where they're fighting with each other a lot, but they're also constantly "loving" each other and playing with each other really well. It's so fun to watch them sit across from each other and play "monkey see, monkey do", mimicking each other's actions and laughing uproariously. Another game they play a lot involves running towards each other from opposite sides of a room, yelling. They also enjoy wrestling their way out from under a big colorful quilt that is thrown over their heads. They also like to create crayon masterpieces, kick and throw balls, and ride their spring horse. They enjoy going to the pool and having water dumped repeatedly on their heads. Joshua has a strong kick and loves kicking the water, and Caleb has been experimenting with putting his face in the water. Have I mentioned that I can't wait til they're old enough for swim team? :)

Introverts

Last week we were on vacation with Joe's family at the lake, and the boys were unusually cranky about 90% of the time we were there. Upon reflecting back at our week at the lake, we've determined that they were cranky not because they dislike their grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins, but because they were constantly surrounded by lots of people. Speaking from personal experience, Joe and I can attest to the fact that introverts tend to withdraw and become very tired when surrounded by lots of people in social situations. And what do babies do when they get tired? They cry and whine. What do young toddlers do when they want to withdraw from their surroundings? They cling to Mommy and Daddy. The boys did all of these things a lot last week. Seeing that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, we've concluded that Caleb and Joshua must both be introverts as well. We can only hope that Granny, Grandad, and the rest of the family were not too offended by the boys' behavior but realize that they're actually just really introverted!

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.

Memorial Day at the Beach!

This past weekend we enjoyed our annual Memorial Day weekend tradition of getting together with our college buddies in Virginia Beach. We enjoyed a lovely visit in the comfort of the Hubbards' generous hospitality. While we were there we took the boys to the beach and they absolutely LOVED it! They played in the sand, ran along the shoreline, splashed in the water, and didn't even cry when they got knocked over by a few waves. They really were quite brave. I'm really hoping we can take them back to the beach one more time before the Summer's over.

Blowing kisses & our CSA

Halmoni has taught the boys how to blow kisses when it's time to say bye-bye. It's very cute. Oh, and now they can now walk up and down the front steps without sitting, kneeling, or holding onto anything. They are growing up so fast!

In other news, thanks to the kick-off of our CSA farm share summer season last week, the boys have been eating an interesting assortment of veggies. We got two kinds of lettuce, raddichio, radishes, turnips, parsley, baby bok choy, spring onions, and a dozen fresh eggs. And it's all organic! While these aren't all things we normally keep around the house, I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to fit all these different veggies into our diet so that nothing goes to waste. I've been a sneaky mommy and have taken the oddball greens that I can't figure out what else to do with and mixed them into the boys' daily spaghetti. Yes, I feed them spaghetti every day since it does a marvelous job of disguising the healthy veggies to which they'd otherwise turn up their cute little button noses.

Crackers, carrots, climbing, & car doors

I'm convinced that the boys would subsist solely on Earth's Best Organic Cheddar crackers if I let them. At $2 per 5-oz. box (they can eat one box a day), their addiction can get a little pricey, not to mention that it's not a very well-rounded diet. Well, I'm proud to say that we've been cracker-free for almost a week! Their last cracker was on Monday, and now it's Saturday morning. Instead, I baked some carrot bread and they love it! It took a whole bag of baby carrots, and I added some ground up flax seed and used honey instead of sugar for extra healthiness. They've been eating so much carrot bread that the presents they've been leaving us in their diapers have been bright orange .

This week the boys have started climbing onto the dining table, then doing such wonderful things as shredding napkins and scattering them everywhere. I tell them "no!" and make them get down, but they are very persistent. Also, Caleb's started a new thing where if you call his name or tell him "no" he will lower his head, divert his eyes, and smile slyly while he turns his head and runs away . He will either react this way, or he will feel really bad for what he's done and break out into tears. There's no middle ground with this passionate boy!

By the way, chasing after twin toddlers (who still don't let you sleep through the night) can be very tiring and cause you to do things you ordinarily wouldn't. Like leave car doors wide open in mall parking lots . Yup. The other day the boys and I went to the mall with Megan and while we were in Lord & Taylor, I heard our car's license plate # being announced over the intercom. So I ran out to the parking lot and the rear driver's side door was wide open. Thankfully no one helped themselves to either of our $300 carseats   Now, I have always been extremely vigilant about locking car and house doors, etc., so I was quite devasted and in my shame almost didn't tell Joe what I had done... but I did, and he then admitted to me that he was guilty of doing the same thing in the Wal-Mart parking lot a couple months ago! So that, ladies and gentlemen, is what having twins will do to you! But needless to say, it is SO worth it

One and a half years old!

Words the boys can both say and understand the meaning of: Flower, bye-bye, dog, hat, eye, ball, baby, airplane, book, shower, juice, shell, dad.

Words/phrases the boys understand: Hand, foot, nose, ear, cracker, cookie, milk, horse, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, brother, Caleb, Joshua, Do you love ____?.

Words the boys pretend not to understand: No! Don't go into the street! Come back here!

Words the boys still seem not to understand: Halmoni, Mommy :(

The boys' favorite thing to do nowadays is show that they love something or someone by hugging them or, if it's something difficult to hug (such as an azalea plant) leaning into it and cocking their heads sideways and smiling sweetly. We customarily prompt or respond to such actions by asking them, "Do you love the flowers?" and they will bend even farther over into the flower bush. It's like the farther they bend sideways, the more loudly they proclaim their love. I have no idea where they learned to do this, but they both do it and it's just about the cutest thing I've ever seen! When we ask Joshua "Do you love your brother?" he will rub Caleb's head, then wrap both arms around it and squeeze tightly. We know that Joshua means well, but Caleb is not so fond of this display of affection!

Joshua and Caleb love to play outside. They crave it. One of the first things they do when they wake up in the morning is ask to go "bye-bye". Now that the weather is warmer, we usually go outside twice a day, for a walk either riding in or pushing the wagon, or to play in our yard or Halmoni and Grandpa's yard, or to play with their little friends who live around the corner, or at one of the nearby playgrounds. Even though we have a huge beautiful backyard, their favorite place to hang out is of course the front yard, along the curb. They love watching cars zoom by, people walking their dogs (they always point and say "DOG!"), and planes and helicopters flying overhead.

We're pretty amazed at how the boys are able to associate things that are related but not quite the same. For example, in the boys' minds, any furry animal is a "dog". Any plant is a "flower". The other day, they were very intrigued by an illustration of a baby at the bottom of their yogurt bowl, so I told them it was a "baby". Then later on that afternoon we bumped into a neighborhood friend who was carrying her 6-month-old baby girl. The boys pointed to her and said "baby!" I was surprised that they were able to associate an illustration on a bowl with a real life baby. Their baby brains must be processing a lot more than we usually give them credit for!

I will... walk!

The boys are so talkative these days. Joshua has learned how to say "flower". He will point at all the blossoming buds in our yard and say "flower! flower!" Caleb likes to try to say "will", which honestly usually sounds like "wuh!" but it's a start. That is not an easy word, but he seems to have a special affinity for it. There's a line in one of their favorite books Are You My Mother? (which, I might add, is a 50+ page book that holds their attention even on the 3rd consecutive reading) where the baby bird says "I will! I will!" and Caleb always echoes "will! will!"

Forget the stroller... the boys want to walk everywhere now. They usually take turns pushing the wagon when we go on our walks, now. A couple times I tried letting them both walk down our street on our way to Halmoni and Grandpa's house, but since the boys each have their own agendas, such endeavors resulted in crying fits, with me carrying one boy and concerned neighbor ladies sprinting from their houses to help steer the other. Joshua is actually very focused and is good at efficiently walking in a straight line. One time he was concentrating so hard on walking that he walked straight into a truck's bumper. Caleb, however, is more curious and is easily distracted by pretty flowers, clouds, or a bird flying overhead. He does better on sidewalks, but unfortunately most of the roads in our neighborhood lack this novelty.

Our little supplicant

This evening at Halmoni and Grandpa's house we were gathered around the island right before dinner, and the boys were in their high chairs. Right before we were getting ready to say grace, Joshua took the initiative to pray on his own. I kid you not- he bowed his head, closed his eyes, said "Adabadabaadabadaa.... Amen!" and lifted his head and opened his eyes. We were all amazed!

Joshua also holds the phone up to his ear now and says "Hi! Bla bla bla..." But for whatever reason he won't talk if there's actually someone on the other end of the line.

Smoothies

Since discovering that Safeway sells frozen organic raspberries and blueberries for way less than what it'd cost to buy them fresh, I've been making smoothies every morning for breakfast. Berries, frozen sliced bananas, soy milk, and wheat germ... press the button and you've got instant healthy yumminess . Caleb and I have been enjoying them for a while now, but stubborn Joshua insisted that everything in my cup must be orange juice and decided a while ago that he didn't like orange juice. I tried offering him some in a little sippy cup but he didn't fall for it. Well I finally convinced Joshua to taste some today, and he loved it!

It took me a while to get used to the taste of soy milk, but after reading this article I've decided to reserve cow's milk for special occasions and small amounts, like in coffee, baking recipes, cheese, or an occasional ice cream. And Caleb actually seems to like soy milk smoothies better than the ones I used to make with organic whole milk!

17 months old

The boys are almost a year and a half old! Their new favorite thing to do is flitter-flutter their hands in the air like twinkling stars to prompt us to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for them. Halmoni taught them this. They are a most appreciative audience, always responding to our singing with wide smiles and generous applause.

They have learned the following new phrases:

• Oh man! Oh yeah! Oh wow! Do it!

They can almost say:

• Juice. Yes. Shell.

Whenever they sit on a little chair, they say "Shh-shhh" which is the sound I taught them to make when they sit on their little potty. Unfortunately, they seem to think that they can "shh-shhh" anywhere as long as they're sitting on a chair. Needless to say, we have put potty-learning on hold for the time being.

Caleb and Joshua LOVE to play outside. This recent cold spell has not sat well with them. They would bring me their shoes and their coats and say "Bye-bye? Bye-bye?", begging me to take them outside to play on the rain and snow-soaked earth. We are anxiously waiting for global warming to hurry up and do its thing so we can return to our daily outdoor romps.

Descending the stairs & Turning on the Xbox

Lately Joshua has learned how to come down stairs the safe way- sliding on his tummy. When he first caught on about a week ago, he did this over and over and over again, proud of his new skill. Caleb can do it if we closely monitor and coerce him, but as with most other things, he still prefers to do exactly what he sees the grown-ups doing, which would be walking down stairs on his feet. 

This past week Joshua and Caleb have teamed up to acheive a rather undesirable new skill- turning on the TV and Xbox to watch a Baby Einstein DVD! Joshua will push the eject button on the Xbox, push it back in (with the DVD already loaded) while Caleb turns on the TV. Then they will clap and marvel at their accomplishment as the Disney logo and intro music exudes from the TV. We usually let them watch only one half-hour movie per day, so if they start to get carried away we'll flip the swtich on the power strip so that they can't turn anything on. Hopefully it'll be a while before they figure that out! Joe remarked that this is probably only the beginning of the many great accomplishments they'll acheive working together as a team.

Brushing off Dirt... I am a Snowman... and Pushing

Caleb is a very clean boy... he does not like to get his hands dirty! The first few times Caleb fell outside and got dirt on his hands, he studied his palms, gravely concerned. He was anxious to get the dirt off, but not quite sure how to do this without Mommy's help. So I taught him to brush his hands together to make the dirt fall off, and he caught on immediately. Now every time he falls and gets his hands dirty, he will brush his hands together and look at me proudly. That's my sweet clean boy!

The boys are both learning so many new things. They can locate the following body parts: Nose, eyes, ears, mouth, hand, and foot. Caleb also thinks that he is a snowman. One day I was reading him a book that had a snowman in it, and I pointed to the little snowman embroidered on the bib of his green overalls and said "snowman!" Well, ever since then, whenever I read to him about a snowman, he will carefully and proudly point to his chest. He is always so proud of himself for remembering this and I just don't have the heart to tell him the truth- that he's not a snowman!

While Caleb is very interested in carefully admiring his environment... art, flowers, books, Joshua is all about action. He loves running and jumping onto the couch, and he loves to push and move things. He will push their little walker wagon, their big riding wagon, laundry baskets, the tall chairs at Halmoni and Grandpa's house (we're not too fond of the noise that makes), doors, and even his brother! Today I spent an extra half hour outside with Joshua after Halmoni took Caleb inside, just so he could push their big red wagon all over the yard and up and down the sidewalk. Every time I tried to guide him into the garage, he started to cry- genuine big tears, as if I were interfering with an important mission. At one point he was having a difficult time pushing the wagon up a grassy hill, and oh my did he grunt and strain, exerting every ounce of energy his little body could exude! Suspecting that his cap was perhaps getting in the way of his pushing, he even paused to remove it from his head mid-push. I eventually had to force him to take a break from pushing and carried him into the house kicking and screaming. Joshua is one determined (and strong) little man!

An outing to the National Gallery of Art

Today we took the boys downtown to the National Gallery of Art, since Caleb has expressed an unusual interest in art. He would express more interest in some pieces than others, and would let us know when he was ready to move on to the next painting. When he lingered particularly long at one painting, I asked Joe "what's this one called?" and he said "I don't know" so I looked, and it was Joshua commanding the Sun to stand still upon Gibeon, 1816 by John Martin. We feel that it's more than a coincidence that this painting featuring the eponymous Biblical Joshua and Caleb was the one that our young art enthusiast seemed most drawn to!

We also encountered this sculpture, c. 500-480 BC, depicting the legendary twins Remus and Romulus nursing from their mother the she-wolf, a scenario that strikes rather close-to-home for us! The similarities are striking, aren't they? ;) There's a photo of Joshua and me standing next to this in the museum in the March '07 gallery.  

Eye!

Caleb has learned a new body part, and he can say it, too! If you ask him where his eye is, he'll point to the general vicinity of one of his eyes and say "EYE!" He has known where his eye is for about a week now, but today when he poked me in the eye and said "eye!" was the first time he put two and two together. What a smart muffin!

This past week Joshua has gotten in several new teeth, including a couple of big ole molars. Needless to say, none of us have been getting much sleep lately!

Also, I have figured out a way to make the boys stop crying (provided that they're not crying b/c they're hungry or hurt)- comb their hair! Today Joshua was shedding tears over a toy that Caleb snatched away (usually it's the other way around) so I got my hairbrush and started combing his hair, and he stopped crying almost immediately. Then Caleb insisted that I comb his hair, too. Then later on they wanted their (already dry) hair blow-dried. These boys and their hair!

16 Months Old

Caleb peed on the potty twice yesterday! The first time I put the boys on the potty, I made a "shhh-shhh" sound effect to try to encourage them to pee. Now, every time the boys sit on the potty, they say "Shhh-shhh." They are learning new things every day. If you ask them where their hands are, they will show you, and if you ask our little animal-lover Caleb "where is the horse?" he will point to the horse among an assortment of animals. Same thing for a bunny. Joshua has learned what a hat is and will always find Grandpa's hat and take it to him and insist that he put it on his head.

The boys are becoming more independent and adventurous. They prefer to feed themselves, if possible. They are quite good at holding a banana and taking bites like a grown-up. They won't eat it if I cut it into baby-sized chunks. Lately I've gotten into a baking mood and have been baking whole grain bread, buckwheat waffles, and whole wheat cinnamon rolls from scratch, and the boys have enjoyed eating those as well.

Caleb and Joshua love climbing up onto the couch and onto the end table where our home phone is stationed. They like dial random numbers on the phone and "call" their friend the operator who always informs them that the number they have called is not valid, and they will hold the phone up to their ear and "talk" back to her. If they hear the phone ring they will run over to it and start "talking" to it.

Oh, and you may have noticed that I've finally gotten around to adding some movies to the website. I'll be posting more when I get a chance, so check back often!

Potty Learning

Today Joshua and Caleb both peed on their little potty for the first time! I put them on it after they woke up from their naps this afternoon, not really expecting them to do anything, but they both peed! Previous attempts to make them sit on the potty just made them mad, but they seemed to enjoy it this time around. I think the novelty of being in the forbidden bathroom distracted them. I think I'll try to put them on the potty from now on when they wake up in the morning and after naps. At nearly 16 months I know it's a little early for potty learning, especially for boys, but it would be great to postpone a few diaper washings, if nothing else!

Joshua put something back where it belongs!

Today Joshua and Caleb were rummaging through the lower kitchen cabinets, just as they do every day. In one cabinet Joshua stumbled upon the pot that goes in the rice cooker, and thinking it would make a fascinating toy, he removed it from the rice cooker and carried it out to the living room where he flung it around, kicked it, wore it on his head, etc. Then about 15 minutes later when he was done playing, he came back into the kitchen, opened the appropriate cabinet, and placed the pot back inside of the rice cooker, and shut the cabinet door! I was standing at the sink washing dishes the whole time, and was completely amazed to see him demonstrate such remarkable carefulness and thought, particularly in light of his recent bouts of wild and unruly behavior. What a smart boy!

15 months old

Joshua and Caleb seem to have graduated from babyhood to boyhood just in the past few weeks. We now have on our hands two rowdy and boisterous boys. And they certainly do act like boys! They are constantly seeking out adventure and don't seem to be afraid of anything. They routinely throw, kick, and hit things (including each other!), and they vociferously make their presence known wherever we go. It's just about impossible for me to take them anywhere by myself anymore. They hate sitting still in the stroller, and would much prefer to be running- not walking- free.

Joshua seems to have really good foot-eye coordination. World Cup, here we come ;) He's really good at kicking toys around on the floor like a ball. Which reminds me, we really should get him a real ball to play with! Joshua is also very particular about his snacks. He will only eat a broken cracker as a last resort. If you offer him a mix of broken and whole crackers, he will separate the broken ones from the unbroken ones and eat the whole ones first. Leaving the broken crackers untouched, he'll reach for the box and try to convince you that he should have an unbroken cracker. What a particular 15-month-old! Aside from whole intact crackers, Joshua also loves to eat meat, preferably beef. He just couldn't get enough of the tender pot roast at Old Country Buffet!

Caleb has very good fine motor skills. He regularly uses his index finger to point to your nose, push buttons, etc. Caleb is also very good at entertaining himself. While Joshua is off looking for adventure, Caleb is content to sit in one place for a long period of time and play quietly with a toy. He's such a sweet muffin! Speaking of which, he tends to have a sweet tooth. He loves sweet fruits, especially pineapple and pears. Caleb also loves animals- stuffed toys and real live ones, too. Whenever he sees a dog or other animal, he squeals with delight! The other day I showed him a bunny nibbling on grass outside the window, and he thought that was just great! Caleb really loves to look at pictures and artwork. When he lifts up one arm straight up in the air, that means he wants you to pick him up and give him a tour of all the artwork and photos hanging on the walls. Maybe he will be an artist like his mom!

Caleb the climber

First of all, the boys want to wish their Grandpa a very Happy Birthday today! They had fun spending the day with Grandpa!

Secondly, this evening Caleb figured out how to climb up onto our couch all by himself. He persisted in swinging and flailing that leg of his until he finally was able to hoist himself up. He was so proud of himself, and immediately got to work pounding on the wall behind the couch and knocking over the lamp which had previously been strategically positioned out of his reach.

Caleb knows his nose; Joshua makes music

This week Halmoni has been teaching the boys where their noses are, and now Caleb will point with his index finger to his nose or whoever's nose is in question when you ask him "where is Caleb's nose? Where is Halmoni's nose?" etc. Joshua's fine motor skills aren't as refined quite yet, and he will bat his entire hand in the general vicinity of your nose.

Joshua meanwhile has proven himself to be quite a musician. Today he picked up the recorder (a wooden version of the wind instrument everyone learns to play in elementary school) and started playing it on his own. Pretty impressive, considering I couldn't even figure out how to get it to make a sound at first!

Site Stats

On a whim we decided to take a look at this website's stats. Here are the stats for this past month:

Month	Unique visitors	Number of visits	Pages	Hits	Bandwidth
Jan 2007	1925	4434	8206	48911	767.24 MB

That's right, nearly two thousand different people have visited this website this past month alone! We've had visitors from all over the globe. We have quite a few fans in Brazil, Turkey, Mozambique, The Ivory Coast, Israel, Switzerland, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and many, many more countries. The USA Government seems to be a pretty big fan, too ;)

The most popular time of day to visit the site is lunchtime, between 11-1 pm, and the most popular days of the week to visit our site are Mondays and Fridays. No big surprise there.

89 of our 1925 unique visitors have added our site to their favorites. The search engine which directs visitors to our site the most often is Google Images. The top search phrase used is "twins baby boys," but we were amused to see that "Harris Faulkner baby" ranked #3.

Switcharoo

Ok, from now on I really need to stop labeling the boys' personalities! They keep switchin' things up on us! Recently Caleb has become very adventurous, which had previously been Joshua's role. He has climbed to the stop of the stairs at Halmoni and Grandpa's house a couple times when we weren't looking (Joshua hasn't) and every time we let the boys run around outside, Caleb makes a bee-line for the street! We aren't sure what has gotten into him. So much for being the "cautious twin"!

Caleb's wild side is also emerging in how he plays with Joshua. Joe likes to play Wrestlemania with the boys, and lately Caleb has been trying out some of his Daddy's wrestling moves on sweet unsuspecting Joshua. Caleb will come up to Joshua and throw his arms around him and pin him to the ground, then hit him on the chest once he's down, just like they do in the WWE. Then Caleb seems surprised and concerned when Joshua starts bawling in response to such treatment... that's not how Daddy reacts to his attacks!

Perhaps one explanation for all of this switching is that the boys teach things to each other and copy each other's actions. If one boy yanks off his socks, you can be sure that the other boy's feet will also soon be bare. They've recently taught each other how to make funny sounds by strumming their fingers across their lips, and since my last post Caleb has taught Joshua how to dance and Praise the Lord by lifting his hands up in the air. It's nice to see that they can be good influences on each other, too.

Caleb boogies and praises the Lord

Caleb loves to boogie down. He has a toy that plays music and he loves pushing the button and playing the songs and dancing along. He dances both sitting down (sways his upper body back and forth) and standing up (mini-squats up and down). He really loves music!

Lately, Caleb has also start lifting his hands high up in the air. He learned this in church. When he lifts up his hands, we'll say "Praise the Lord! Praise Jesus!"  Then, sometimes we will say "Praise the Lord!" and he will lift his hands. Sometimes both, sometimes just one arm. Either way, it's so cute!

I want this... NOW!

The boys will let you know that they want something by grabbing an object and thrusting it in your face with an outstretched arm and look of unwavering determination. For the past few months both boys have been using this tactic with their favorite books to say "Read me this book right now!". These days Joshua will find my hairbrush and thrust it in my face with the utmost urgency, then sit placidly with eyes half-closed while I brush his wispy thin hair. Joshua also seems to know which shoes belong to which members of our family, and will find our shoes and give them to us, fully expecting us to put them on right then and there. And now that he has his own shoes, he will find one of his shoes and thrust it at me and will not rest until I've put it on his foot. Then he will go and find the other shoe and do the same thing. Both Joshua and Caleb also do this with boxes of crackers to let us know when they want a snack. Now if we could only teach him to say "please".

14 Months Old

At 14 months, the boys can say just a few words: mama (means Mommy or food), da (Daddy), bye-bye, and amen (they say this after we pray... it's so cute!). They can also point out the members of their family. If you ask them "Where is Grandpa?" they will look at their grandpa. If you ask "Where is Uncle Chris?" they will look at Chris. They still haven't quite gotten the hang of "Where is Halmoni?" but to their credit, it is a bit more of a mouthful! Also, when our home phone rings in the middle of the day, they will say "da? da?" because they know that Joe is usually the only one who calls at that time of day, and they always enjoy "talking" to Daddy on the phone.

Ways in which the boys are different

The boys got a rolling duck toy for Christmas. Joshua likes to roll the duck around on the ground, while Caleb likes to hug the duck and make cooing noises at it. In general, Caleb is much more attracted to animals (particularly birds for some reason), while Joshua prefers shoes and cars. Also, Caleb seems to be more of the clown in general (he loves making funny faces to get us to laugh) even though at first we mistook him as the more serious twin. I think what we perceived to be seriousness is actually a hightened sense of caution. He usually lets Joshua do the exploring while he sits back and observes. Then Caleb will copy what he sees Joshua doing, matching his skill level in a comparatively short amount of time. A perfect of example of this is the pace at which they each learned to walk. Thus, Joshua seems to be the more influential twin. In addition to walking, Joshua has taught Caleb how to do such useful things as throw food on the floor and bat people in the face. Joshua's newest favorite thing is to walk and spin around in circles to make himself dizzy. Caleb has recently shown interest in trying to feed himself with a spoon. He doesn't get much food in his mouth, but he tries! Both boys are very proficient at feeding themselves now. Their favorite thing to eat seems to be anything coated with spaghetti sauce. Basically, they'll eat anything as long as it has some kick to it, including mildly spicy Korean food!

Playing outside

Well, both boys are seasoned walkers by now. Today I took them outside to play in our backyard for the first time since they've been walking. Joshua was all over the place exploring the various terrain- rocks, mud, mulch, ivy, concrete- not to mention making several attempts toward the gigantic dirt pile behind the new house being built in a lot adjacent to ours. Caleb meanwhile trotted around a little bit but was generally content to sit in one spot and soak in his surroundings.