ABC Fries

Every Friday the boys have baked fish, broccoli, and fries for dinner - having a couple meals during the week that are always the same helps make my dinner planning a little bit easier!  The fries are the big dinner treat for the week and are usually a healthy version of baked sweet potato fries.  I really use them more as a bargaining chip to persuade the boys to eat the other parts of their dinner first.  I can get them to eat huge pieces of broccoli and green beans without hesitation with the promise of a single fry.  Last week the store was out of the sweet potato kind, and I spotted some plain old potato fries in the shape of alphabet letters to try out instead.  What a hit!!  The boys loved identifying the letter before getting to eat it.  I thought it was cute how Owen was longingly staring through the oven glass and lingering around waiting for his fries last Friday, so I took a video.  Midway through, I thought of asking him to say his ABC's, and it was my lucky day because he was in the mood to perform on camera!  Now that the twins have gotten into singing at 25 months, this has become one of many songs they like to practice with me throughout the day.  They're so cute singing in their little voices - I just love it!  And a side note - it looks like Owen has dirt or snot on his face in this close-up solo, but it's just the scab he still has from falling outside over a week ago...

Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday we took the boys on an Easter egg hunt at the Sterling Community Center.  I really like the events held here because there is an awesome outdoor playground, and it's right next to the Sterling Fire Department (more on how our Easter outing turned into a fun fire truck adventure in another post).  The boys were let loose in the 2-3 year old group for egg hunting, and did a great job running around, finding eggs and putting them in their baskets.  Spencie was happy just walking around with a basket like the big boys, but we made sure he got a couple eggs too!

After the hunt was over, we headed back inside to check out the little petting zoo that was setup - the boys were really excited to pet the bunnies and goat, and chased the chickens and ducks around the cage a bit.  To my surprise, there was a tarantula available to pet...and everyone but me and Spencie pet that one!  The boys have been really into singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider lately and thought it was cool to meet and pet him, but didn't really understand that they needed to be gentle and started out petting the spider like it was a dog!

Before the event was over, we tried to get some time in with the Easter Bunny.  The boys have been talking about seeing the Easter Bunny for days, but got a little nervous when it was time to get up close!  They worked their courage up slowly by running over for a high five and then running back, holding his shiny eggs, and then finally we got Owen into the Bunny's lap and managed a couple pictures with all the boys together.

Udvar in March

I can't ever really get enough of this place...and the recent cold weather has been going on too long, so we ventured out to the boys' favorite museum once again this afternoon!  Each time, they have gotten better about walking on their own and holding hands when asked.  I still get the fear that Oliver is going to dart under one of the rails and start climbing all over one of the planes or space shuttle with every visit, but knock on wood, he hasn't.  The boys spent a lot of time looking at the "baby planes" today - the small helicopters near the far end of the hanger.  But they didn't waste much time before heading over to the huge space shuttle, which they ask for specifically by name now.  The highlight today was being able to let Spencie out for some running around with the big boys at our favorite spot to let loose - the upper level overlooking the Discovery.  All 3 ran up and down the long, wide-open platform, taking in the amazing sights!

Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela

The boys had a really great time last weekend playing with Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela.  They were incredibly silly around them and more energetic than usual if that's possible!  Matt put new bells on their tricycles and they couldn't stop talking about it.  I took a cute video of the boys playing with Matt and Angela before bedtime one night...

And some older pictures I came across today while working on a photo project...

Our Singing Stars

The cutest thing happened last week - the boys started helping sing the words to a couple of the songs Ryan and I sing to them every night before bedtime, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Row Row Row Your Boat!  At the end of our bedtime routine we turn off the lights, turn on the star projection turtle, and the boys crawl up into our laps to hear the bedtime songs.  They just suddenly chimed in Friday night and are now so excited to "help sing" that they tell us which songs to sing and in which order!  This little video was from lunch today when Oliver kicked off some impromptu singing and I grabbed the camera.  It's funny how he leads the way with Twinkle Twinkle and Owen takes the lead on Row Row (those seem to be their respective favorites).  I think Oliver also wanted to reward himself with a few peanut butter and jelly sandwich bites after his performance!

Oliver's Choo Choo Tunnel

A funny thing Oliver has started lately - running the choo choo train behind the sofa, along the natural tunnel formed between the back and the wall.  We first noticed him quietly playing with the magnetic trains on either end, then suddenly jumping up and sprinting around the sofa to the other side, and realized what he was doing.  It was pretty cute that he formulated this little plan by himself and was not interested in getting any help from Owen or anyone else in the process.  He experiments in putting several of the cars behind the battery operated engine that pulls them, and will carry armloads of trains to either end so that he can switch them around in different configurations for each run.  Spencie likes to get in on the excitement of watching the train coming and will follow Oliver around as he runs from end to end.  If you watch the video, you'll see that Oliver pretty much runs Spencer down on his way back from returning the train.  Owen has now earned the position of return-man and Oliver allows him to wait on the other side and send the choo choo back.  However, he still runs over to see that Owen is doing things according to plan!  We sometimes go through 2 batteries a week for that little engine, but it's worth it as they spend hours experimenting with it both on and off the train tracks.

Horsey Hike

Uncle Matt and Aunt Angela are visiting this weekend, so we went for a hike with the boys and were lucky enough to meet horse riders who were very nice and stopped to let the boys pet their horses.  Oliver even got to sit up on top and "ride the horsey" for a minute (Owen was too nervous).  We continued on the hike for a bit and then stopped for a snack and tried out the cool new folding chairs Matt and Angela brought for the boys.  Oliver realized that I gave him a snack flavor that he didn't like and traded pouches with Spencer, who also didn't like it and settled for some bunny crackers and raisins.  The boys were so tired by the end of our hike that Oliver laid down on the trail and declared he needed carried the rest of the way!

Too tired to walk anymore...

Quick Outside and Owie

Even though it was pretty cold out today, I wanted the boys to play outside for 20-30 minutes before dinner to get some fresh air and burn off energy.  They love trying to pull the big choo choo wagon off the porch, climbing in and out of the different color cars, and playing with the buckles so much that lately it's been difficult to convince all 3 of them to get in and go for a ride at the same time.  Owen has been determined to pull the wagon rather than being a passenger.  But today, after only a few short minutes of attempting to pull the other 2 around, Owen jumped in and was ready for a ride!  When we came back Spencie wanted out to walk around in the grass a bit, and it was funny to watch him, seemingly more off balance with a hood and gloves on, toppling over as he encountered different sloping sections of the yard.  While I was focused on trying to steer him clear of the muddier areas, Owen fell on the front step a couple feet behind me, trying to pull some toy that was too big for him up onto the porch.  This is probably the worst looking scrape he's ever had, but surprisingly he only cried for a couple minutes and stopped when I brought him inside to wash his hands and let him play with the water in the sink.  I think pulling him away from the sink and to the dinner chair elicited more tears than the owie.  In other owie news - Oliver jumped out of his crib again today before his nap, as I had my back turned and was changing Owen's diaper.  Our hope that the scare from his first fall would keep him from doing it again worked for a few weeks, but doesn't seem to be effective anymore...