Life with Jack & Zach: 21 Months

Greetings Family and Friends,

Yes, it has been some time since our last post. We have been a little busy and I have some catching up to do.

The boys turned 21 months on March 6, 2011. It is so amazing the things they pick up on now they are getting older. It is crazy but each day it seems like they do something new, etc. Pretty sad but I still log their routine each day, I know...sad. I find myself questioning if I would still continue logging the "every day routine" if I just had one kid. Keeping a log allows me to connect with them while I am at work. I get to read about their day, see how they are napping, what they are eating, what they have decided to STOP eating, etc. Lately, gosh, it has been a couple of months now where they have officially transitioned to one nap. They did good. On average they will sleep about 2.5 hours and on occassion they will sleep 3+ hours. Raising multiples has its advantages and disadvantages. The upside is that we can experience the low moments at the same time and know that a particular stage we are in will soon pass. The downside is major monkey see monkey do, the playing for the 30 minutes when they should be napping. I am often asked have you considered separating them and the answer is no. Although the thought crossed my mind. The boys will need to adapt to a particular environment and if we constantly removed them from sticky situations such as nap time, the possibility of keeping the other awake, then there goes the ability to adapt! :) All in all they are doing really good with the one nap in addition to still sleeping for about 11 hours at night. I think they are starting to have dreams, or they always had them but perhaps getting a bit more animated. Jack woke up the other night and Steve said Jack's heart was racing. Poor little boy. After a few hugs and kisses he went back to bed. Zach poked his head up once but went right to sleep.

The next step is transitioning them so they have a later afternoon snack and eat dinner with us. It will take some juggling but I think we are looking good so far and will attempt with that change this weekend. Right now it works for us where Karley starts their dinner at 5pm so we can get home, change, and play with them...eating our dinner somewhere in-between all this...

Their personalities are growing more and more each day. They have always been comedians but lately they are becoming a lot more silly. For example the other day the boys were in their room when we came home. Karley was in the kitchen cleaning up and all of a sudden we hear the boys running from their room to the stairs, down the stairs into the kitchen with Jack yelling Dada Dada Dada. Melt my heart! Zach slowly making his way smiling from ear to ear with the look on his face "Come and give me a hug and smooch"! Also, now if they drop something they say uh oh! Too funny.

The newest thing they have been doing lately is playing Mr Fix-It. They take their play screwdriver, tip chairs over, crawl under it and pretend they are screwing the nail in. They will do the same thing to their trucks, but "fixing" the tires. Perhaps NASCAR is in their future?

They love hockey, we all do. One night while I was doing laundry I heard Steve chuckle. I walked into the family room to find not only him reclined back in his chair with a blanket, but the boys climbed onto their chairs, reclined--sharing a blanket drinking their milk, watching hockey. Classic!

The boys certainly understand the "pee-pee" queues. I busted out their little boy potty and they are starting to show signs that they could be somewhat ready. We will see. They go to take their pants off and want to sit down. I am not getting my hopes up just yet but they are starting to show signs of interest. That is a start.

Yes, it is official. We have entered the terrible twos, Zach more so than Jack. Zach will experience at least one melt down a day, not too bad--heck it could be a lot worse. He will fight until he gets his way, which hence the melt down. We do not give into him and I don't want him thinking that we will so we stick to our guns. Some moments are hard, but all we do is redirect him somewhere else to get his mind off whatever the issue is. Again, some days harder than others.

In about 2.5 months the boys will turn 2. I have been thinking of a theme and not sure. They don't really get into TV and that is fine with me. They still love Elmo and Doggies, Monster Trucks, Tools, Books, Wrestling. They are typical boys. There are so many themes to pick from so one day the thought will hit me. Until then, slowly exploring options. This year it will be low key as we had a super sized celebration when they turned 1 (of course). They turned 21 months on a Sunday so Steve and I were able to enjoy the weekend with them. We decided to take them to San Clemente Pier, walk around, and dip our toes into the ocean for the first time since we relocated to CA. It was a little chilly, overcast, so we didn't stay too long. Zachary had a blast, but I think Jack was a little turned off by the large ocean. They love bath time and swimming pools, but the ocean I have to say was a little on the large side.

Well, enjoy the pics!