Lights Trains, Lights Trains!

When Joshua was first learning to put words together to form mini-sentences, before he even learned to say "want" or "please," he used to say "lights trains, lights trains!" as soon as we came home, meaning he wanted us to turn on the lights in his bedroom so he could play with his Thomas trains. But somewhere along the way he grew tall enough to reach the light switch by himself, his interests broadened to include things other than trains, and now that the twins actually have a bed in their bedroom, there is significantly less space for them to play with trains. And so Joshua stopped saying, "lights trains, lights trains!"

Well, the other evening we once again came home to a dark house and out of the blue, Joshua said in his former fashion, "lights trains, lights trains!" Until then, we had forgotten that he used to say this all the time, and it hadn't occurred to us that he'd ever stopped. We playfully chided him as we reminisced about the boys' younger days, and Joshua's face broke out into a mischeivous grin, knowing full well that he'd said something cute that had stirred our nostalgia.

And so here I sit at half past midnight when I should be sleeping, creating a written record of "lights trains, lights trains!" before it escapes my memory yet again, mourning the loss of a plethora of other quirky little things that the boys have said and done on a regular basis which we have since taken for granted and forgotten.

Munchkins

This morning Joe stopped by Dunkin' Donuts to pick up some donuts to take to the office in honor of the last day of work for his friend Mark. Joe also surprised the boys and me by bringing us home a box of muchkins before heading off to work. After the boys had eaten their breakfast of eggs and strawberries, I gave them each a munchkin. Caleb proceeded to lick all of the powdered sugar off of his, only taking a bite here and there. Joshua nibbled at his donut, but became distressed by the powdered sugar that found its way onto his fingers and decided that it would be too much of a hassle to finish it. When Caleb realized that Joshua had abandoned his partially-eaten munchkin, he snatched it and licked off all the remaining sugar. Joshua, in turn, polished off Caleb's "naked" donut, now that it was less of a nuisance to consume, then proceeded to finish up his original munchkin after Caleb also licked it clean. Now don't you wish you had a twin with whom you could collaborate, too?

9 weeks = 9 hours

Last night, 9-week-old Moses slept 9 straight hours, from 11:45 until 8:45. Hallelujah! :) I could get used to this.

What a Potty Pooper!

This evening as we were sitting down to dinner, Caleb suddenly became visibly uncomfortable. In such a situation he usually requests a diaper, but this time the urge overtook him so quickly that he didn't object when we suggested he rush to the bathroom, where he proceeded to drop a deuce on the potty for the very first time! It was a decent-sized turd, too. We made a huge fuss over his accomplishment and even rewarded his bravery with an organic lollipop, which we let him lick during dinner in-between bites of chicken. Caleb was very proud of himself, as were we. Anyway, as you might imagine, the prospect of soon havng only two kids in diapers is very exciting for us.

And yes, I say "only two" because Joshua has not shown the least bit of interest in using the potty. The other day I insisted that he wear underwear, and he held in his pee all day long until the early evening, when it got to the point where he was visibly in pain and was begging for a diaper. Instead, I put my foot down and insisted that he sit on the potty. While sitting, Joshua mustered all of his might to fight the urge to urinate, only letting a few measly drips accidentally escape his bladder of steel, all the while sobbing uncontrollably. It was completely ridiculous, and demonstrated that Joshua is clearly capable of controlling his bodily functions, but is too stubborn to cooperate. After that episode, I decided to retreat and just hope that Caleb's progress will eventually motivate Joshua to follow suit. I'll also pray that as he matures, Joshua's stubbornness will manifest itself as perseverance, and that he'll use it to accomplish great things that are even more blog-worthy than relieving himself on the toilet.

8 weeks = 8 hours

8-week-old Moses has slept 8 hours straight the past two nights, from around midnight til 8 am! It has been heavenly!

Happy 2 Months, Moses!

Today we celebrated Moses' 2 month birthday with a visit to the National Zoo. Apparently, everyone else had the same idea, because the zoo was not only a zoo of animals, but people, too. We're just thankful we accomplished our mission to "go see the monkey at the zoos" per Caleb's request. The orangutans' tightrope-walking act sufficed, and we went home happy.

Moses is smiling and cooing all the time now. He is a good sport and tolerates his brothers' lavish attention, which can be literally smothering at times (especially when Joshua affectionately yells, "baaaabyyyy, beaaaabyyyy... yes you are!" over and over again while kissing his face). When we hold Moses, he likes to stiffen his legs and practice standing, and while he holds his head up he'll move it all around as he beholds all of his surroundings. He is still sleeping really well- lately it's been 6-7 hours in a row each night! I am extremely thankful, especially because Caleb and Joshua have been quite a handful lately, and if I didn't wake up each morning feeling well-rested, it would be a challenge to face each new day.

We're so thankful that God has blessed us with yet another healthy baby boy. When your biggest concern is that one of your baby's ears is oddly shaped (and even that, I've discovered, can be fixed while he sleeps with some gentle persuading from a bit of medical tape and a cotton ball... that's right- there won't be any punk kids making fun of my baby boy's ear :) ), you know you are truly blessed.

Morning Mischief

People sometimes tell us that having twins must make our lives easier since they are each other's built-in playmate. I'll admit that they do entertain each other quite well, but all too often that entertainment involves getting into mischief.

The other morning while I was occupied with feeding Moses, Caleb went into the bathroom to use the potty and Joshua tagged along to keep him company. A few minutes later, I realized that the bathroom door was closed and that I wasn't hearing the usual commotion. Now if you have toddlers, you know that silence is usually not a good thing! Suspicious, I opened the bathroom door only to find the boys "cleaning" the toilet (which, by the way, Caleb had just peed in) with my really cool brand new toothbrush. Needless to say, my reaction to this unwelcome scene was not pretty!

Later that same morning, I was once again distracted and the boys once again shut themselves into the bathroom. This time I opened the door only to find Caleb and Joshua standing side-by-side on the step stool at the sink, buck naked with water dripping down their legs. "Here, let me wash your butt!" they chattered happily as they smacked handfulls of water against each other's backsides. This time I just chuckled to myself and thought, it's true what they say- it is nice having a built-in playmate... nice for them but not necessarily for me!