Mini-Mommy

Joshua has recently decided to assume the role of Mini-Mommy in our household. No, he does not do laundry, cook, or maintain this website. Instead, he focuses his energy on bossing around his big brother!

This morning the boys picked out the shirts they would like to wear today and were each holding a shirt while waiting for me to help them get dressed. Caleb dropped his shirt on the ground. Joshua sternly instructed his brother, saying "Caleb [insert dramatic pause], pick up your shirt". Caleb picked up his shirt. Joshua somewhat reluctantly offered his approval of Caleb's obedience with a mildly enthusiastic "good boy".

This was not an isolated incident. If Joshua perceives that Caleb is eating too fast during a meal, he will point his finger at his brother and sternly say, "Caleb, chew." If Caleb is throwing a tantrum, Joshua will tell him, "Caleb, stop screaming. Do you want to go to your room by yourself?" The thing that amuses me most is the tone of voice Joshua uses when he's dishing out these commands. His voice drops a few decibels and he utters his commands and threats in a firm monotone. I guess that must be what I sound like to the boys when they perceive that I mean business!

Sweet Caleb has been humoring his brother's Mini-Mommy tendencies pretty well. Although, I do wonder if Caleb's occasional outbursts against Joshua are partially rooted in his frustration with always being bossed around by his upstart little brother...

Want it. Say, "I don't want it!"

Joshua got the idea in his head that when he doesn't want something, whether it be a half-eaten plum or Skarloey the train, he should hand it to someone else and say, "Want it!" He would become very frustrated when we didn't understand why he would claim to want something he clearly did not seem to want. We eventually figured out that he probably got this idea because I would often offer him a piece of fruit or whatever and say, "Want it?" Maybe he thought that every time I offered him something, it was because I didn't want it? Who knows.

We naturally corrected him each time he professed to want something he didn't want. "Want it!" Joshua would whine. "Say, 'I don't want it'" would be our rejoinder. This went on for several weeks. Now, whenever Joshua gives us something that he doesn't want, he will rehash this oft-spoken conversation, even mimicking our tone of voice when we correct him, saying, "Want it. Say, I don't want it!" And as you might imagine, we are reluctant to correct him yet again for fear that he might start saying, "No, don't say want it say I don't want it, just say I don't want it" every time he doesn't want something!

Two fans... no! One fan.

The boys are always counting things these days. In their fervor, however, they usually will either skip a few of the items they're enumerating or count more items than actually exist. For example, Joshua was in the habit of counting 2 fans when in fact we only have one. We would correct him each time, saying "No, one fan." So now, whenever Joshua feels the urge to announce the number of fans we have in our house, he always says, "Two fans... no! One fan."

Swimming

The boys love going to the pool. Caleb will often bring me a pair of his swim diapers, hold them up to his crotch, and beg "pool? pool? swimmy pool, Mommy?" Upon arrival at the pool, the boys only get so far as the through the gate and onto the deck before they hurriedly kick off their shoes and make a dash for the pool's edge. Our tradiiton is to first go in the "big pool" and then when break is called, we migrate (reluctantly, and often not without a screaming fit), to the "baby pool".

Joshua started off the Summer as the more adventurous fish-like twin, but at this point Caleb seems to have surpassed him. In fact, Caleb doesn't even like for us to hold his hand when we are in deep water. Instead, he prefers to have us help keep him afloat by grabbing the back of his swim suit, leaving his arms free to paddle and his legs free to kick. Joshua will tolerate this, too, but generally prefers to have us hold his hand while he treads water. Neither of them are yet comfortable with being fully submered, although they do love being splashed in the face.

Today we discovered that the boys are tall enough to stand in the shallow end of the big pool, making my job significantly easier, since juggling two squirmy 30-something pound toddlers in the water is not an easy task. They can climb out of the pool all by themselves, and are learning to jump in by themselves, too. When we are in the baby pool they will put their hands on the bottom of the pool and practice kicking their legs behind them, and are very proud to show off their skill. If we can only teach them to not swallow water when they put their heads under, I am optimistic that they will be swimming before the end of Summer.

Prophecy Fulfilled

Yesterday I was lounging on the couch when Joshua pounced on me unexpectedly. "Oww!" I exclaimed, "you gave Mommy a boo-boo!"

Upon hearing this, Caleb scurried over, planted his hand on me, and with the utmost confidence said, "In Jesus' name, be healed!"

What you may not know is that when Joshua and Caleb were infants, Pastor Steve prophesized that they would be like bold lions, and that they would lay hands on their parents and they would be healed. So, in a small way, prophecy was fulfilled yesterday, and I'm sure it's only just the beginning!

Parrots

Last week we enjoyed a week at the lake with Babo, Granny, and the rest of Joe's family. The boys had a great time taking naps on the pontoon, swimming, eating Granny's delicious food, playing "pillow" with Uncle Jay, and watching Umpa Truckit (Uncle Patrick) and Cousin Nolan play Wii. They were so much more social and friendly than last year, which was a great relief.

I'm not sure where they get it from, but Joshua and Caleb are blossoming into social butterflies. We will be walking along the sidewalk on the way to the pool or wherever, and they will wave to total strangers and say, "Hi! How's it going?" People are usually slightly taken aback by our pair of gregarious tots, responding, "Uh, hi... what a friendly little fella!"

In case you have ever wondered what it's like living with 2.5-year-old twins, it's how I would imagine life would be like living with a couple of parrots- they make a huge mess and they repeat every single word you say. If Joe or I had a foul mouth, you would know it by now! Thank goodness in our home it doesn't get much worse than "Oh Shoot!" or "Oh my goodness!" I won't bore you with the mundane details, but they literally repeat almost everything we say.

If Caleb is misbehaving, Joshua is now likely to point his finger to their bedroom (aka the room they have never slept in and contains zero beds) and say in a stern, disapproving voice "Caleb, do you want to go to your room all by yourself?" Caleb likes to hold a phone to his ear and mimic my conversations with Joe: "Hi... Ok... uh huh... Ok, ok... ok... ok... Love you, bye!" If Joshua gets hurt, Caleb will gently pat him on the back and say "It's ok, Joshua. Don't cry, don't cry". Today Joshua did something praise-worthy and I said "Good job, Joshua!" but that wasn't enough. "So smart?" he asked. I assured him that indeed he was :)

Oh, this is unrelated but the other day we went to Toys 'R Us in an unfruitful search for a certain Thomas train. Can you guess what the boys' first words were as we passed the threshold into the toy-filled wonderland? "Ceiling fan! Ceiling fan!" they exclaimed as they hopped up and down with glee and pointed to the fans hanging way up above. Nevermind the aisles upon aisles of toys. It took them a good 2 or 3 minutes before they even noticed any of the toys. So maybe for their next birthday, in lieu of toys we will just request contributions to a ceiling fan fund and have one installed in our house :)

Dirty Bananas

Caleb has recently gotten in the habit of eating bananas the same way he eats corn on the cob- he holds the banana horizontally and nibbles only the periphery of the fruit. Why, you ask? He has decided that the core of the banana- the part with the seeds that sometimes turns brown when ripe- is dirty. Yes, his exact words were "It's dirty!" Because it's brown, we assume. When I give the boys a banana to eat, I usually break it and give them each a half. Upon receipt, Caleb will now promptly inspect the broken end to see if it is brown. If it is, he will sometime refuse it altogether. I have become quite skilled at breaking bananas in such a way that a minimal amount of brown is exposed. Caleb certainly is the most particular child I have ever met!