Jump-O-Lene

Coolest toy ever!  I ordered this on Amazon as a better container for the plastic balls we've had temporarily dumped into a plastic baby pool.  This is much more fun because they can safely bounce around - although we quickly found out that it can be sort of dangerous as they launch themselves back out through the opening and onto the wood deck!  Also, this blow up toy is also HUGE...a lot bigger than I expected, it takes up half the deck.  I'm sure there will be more pictures and videos posted surrounding this toy to come, but for now here's their initial reaction to it the day we put it up.  It took them about 2-3 minutes to walk around and explore the new contraption before they discovered they could go through the little door and play inside.

Found: Feet

Spencer discovered his feet today (he'll be 15 weeks old tomorrow) and boy did he have fun kicking and holding on to them all day!  Oliver has gotten into giving Spencer kisses lately - except his version of a kiss is more of a wide-mouthed lick.  It looks like he's about to bite Spencer's ear off in the picture below!

Helping Momma

The summer heat wave has begun, and it was a perfect afternoon to take the boys out into the pool.  Oliver wanted to go swimming so badly (whining and pointing at the pool from the deck) that he volunteered to help me blow up his swim float.  It was really funny because he understood the concept of what I was doing enough to come over and put his face up against the float like I was doing.  I think he wanted to expedite the process of getting outside and into the pool as much as possible!  Then when we got out into the pool he didn't even want to use the float, preferring to play and jump on the steps without any help, or to be carried around in the deeper water.  Owen liked just sitting back and relaxing, which made it easier on me to watch them both in the water at the same time!

Cozy Crib

Cute picture of Owen on a day he slept for his whole 2 hour nap, and was still sleeping away when we went in to get him.  He has a habit of snuggling his head up in the corner of the crib for both naps and bedtime.  You can see he has his trusty wubbie in mouth and baby blankie in hand - the two things he cannot go to sleep without!

One or Two?

The boys have plenty of toys...enough that we can usually find something to divert their attention to when a fight breaks out over a particular toy.  And so I haven't gotten into the habit of buying "two of things", except in very special cases.  Well the toy lawn mower may just be one of those special cases!  They have gotten into very animated, loud, brotherly fights over this toy at least one time per day since we gave it to them - several times with lasting bite marks (usually Owen does the biting)!!  They LOVE this thing - it makes a lot of noise and they will push it around all day.  It even has a bubble component to it that we haven't introduced yet because they are still so enthralled with just the mower itself!  I can't imagine how much they are going to be obsessed with it once they discover it blows bubbles too.  I don't know...I'm holding out because I really don't think we need two lawn mowers - and on the positive side, it's giving us many opportunities to teach about sharing and taking turns.  That's a neat thing about twins - they start sharing early on (in the womb) and are faced with this reality everyday.  I'm just not sure how well those lessons are resonating with 16 month old toddlers at the moment!

Owen screaming as Oliver tries to get in on the deck mowing

Father's Day

We had a nice father's day with some pancakes and the boy's usual smorgasbord of fruit for breakfast. Last week I got some finger paints and had the boys put their hand prints on a mini-poster board (foot prints for Spencer since he wasn't cooperating by keeping his fists clenched). That wasn't as messy as I anticipated, but a lot more difficult than I thought since the paints are water soluble and very runny.  I also helped the boys make this little photo-video for Ryan :)

Hello Deer

Yesterday Oliver didn't want to come with us on a walk, so Owen and I went alone, converting the double stroller into a single.  Boy did Oliver miss out - we saw a buck just a few feet from us near the end of the driveway!  We see deer pretty frequently around the neighborhood, but usually they are too quick or setback in the woods for the boys to notice.  This buck was slow, steady, and close...he let us stand there and stare at him for a few minutes before running off.  You can see Owen pointing at him in the pictures below!

Water Break

Now that it's summer, when we go on wagon rides I've been bringing some water for myself and the boys.  They both like to take turns holding the bottle (Owen is holding the straw below), and then we make pit stops along the way for water breaks - where we all take a turn and have a sip.  The boys get so excited about this that they are clamoring for water about every 50 feet!  In the second picture below, Owen is trying to tell me he needs another sip.  We are trying to learn patience while waiting for our turn to drink, but they still don't like to wait very long!  In the bottom pictures Owen was trying to hurry Oliver up with all sorts of noises and gestures, but Oliver was taking his sweet time...

Nationals Game!

Last Thursday we took the boys to their first professional baseball game at Nationals Park.  It was an afternoon game, so we didn't arrive until halfway through in order to allow the boys their afternoon nap.  I also needed to give Spencer a quick feeding before leaving, and so there were a lot of moving parts as always in trying to get out of the house with all 3 babies!  Luckily I had both Megan and Katie with me, and we met Ryan at the game.  Amy and Bryan (who both work for the team) were there of course, and gave us an awesome tour of the corporate offices and stadium afterward!  After running around the Legal department, opening and closing all the drawers in Amy's office - Owen wasn't sure if the corporate life was for him.  And Oliver was so taken in by the game that he's thinking maybe he'd like to be a pro baseball player someday.

Sleepy Spencer

The past couple of days Spencer has really been relaxing when we spend time out on the deck.  I think it's been a combination of being close to his nap time and the warm weather.  Sunday he was sitting out in his Bumbo seat and when I put him down under his play gym for some tummy time it was only a matter of minutes before he started fading into a nice sleep.  He was directly under the fan and there was a cool breeze - I wanted to lay down and nap too!  The last 2 pictures were from today, when he actually fell asleep in the Bumbo...which surprised me since he usually gets fussy after being in the seat for 10-15 minutes and wants out.  This boy knows how to relax!  And he's gotten pretty good at doing so with 2 noisy brothers running circles around him (literally - you can see a blur of feet running past him in the picture where he finally fell asleep on his tummy)!

Going...

Going....

Gone!!!

Harley Boys

My dad and Uncle Matt let the boys sit on their motorcycles the morning they left to head back home to New York.  The boys were very excited about this since they love anything that goes vrrrrm vrrrrm!

Spicy Eggs - uh oh!

A few weeks ago I posted about Owen tasting some of the spicy eggs my dad makes and being willing to eat those over plain scrambled eggs. Well this past weekend my dad was down for another visit, and this time made an extra large plate of spicy eggs for the boys and they gobbled them all up. After breakfast we put them down for their morning nap, and afterward found Owen with red splotchy patches all over his face and body! His ears were larger than normal, puffy, and bright red.  Luckily his breathing was normal and he was acting completely fine, so we didn't need to take him to see a doctor - the symptoms subsided within a few hours.  We're not sure if it was the eggs, onions, or maybe the larger than normal quantity of one of these that triggered the reaction.  Owen has had eggs before and been fine, including the egg needed to make pancakes today, so I'm thinking maybe the onions were the culprit.  As Owen would say (his favorite expression lately) - uh oh!

Big Bear

Ryan brought home a huge bear the other night and we surprised the boys before bedtime with a knock at their door.  At first they were a little unsure, but then realized how soft and cuddly he was and jumped right in, snuggling and rolling all over him!  Owen even tried to give him his pacifier.  Then Big Bear jumped in Oliver's crib and the boys desperately tried to set him free.