My Ham-Fisted Hooligans (At Least They Show Well)

Six odd weeks or so ago, the boys and I had an opportunity for a brunch-time meet-up with our prenatal class alumni. It's the first time we'd seen (almost) everyone together in over a year and we had a great time (also, no camera malfunctions this time around!). It was amazing how much more time we – as parents – had to interact with each other at our recent get-together. Apparently a lot can happen in a year.

Of course, it helped that my guys had no issue whatsoever getting familiar with all the different books and toys. For example, Nate was just as comfortable reading upside down at someone else's house as he is at home:

Ditto for Seth, who got down to business "organizing" as many toys as he could find onto our hosts' coffee table: 

... before he commandeered his own private "boat" for story-time that is: 

Of course, there was at least one thing out of the ordinary and it's not the toddler-friendly table and chairs: 

Before I managed to fully articulate the phrase "oh, my boys don't know how to use a fork", Nate had said fork in hand and was using it like a pro. In hindsight, I think perhaps he was trying to impress the young lady. 

And yet, methinks the young lady was not especially impressed.

None of which mattered much at the time, of course, because Mommy was sure impressed! I couldn't wait to get home and dig our dusty forks out of hibernation for yet another stab at things (lousy pun intended).

Unfortunately, back again in our home environment with an absence of other people to consider, all bets were off. My attempt to reintroduce utensils resulted in tears and fork-flinging and then an epic bout of sadness until the forks finally disappeared. Suffice it to say, it didn't go well – at all. 

I put the forks away once more to gather dust and quietly feared my boys would still be eating their meals like ham-fisted hooligans come college. 

• • • • • • •

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea what possessed me to drag the forks out of hiding that particular day, but I suspect I was feeling unusually well rested and up for a challenge. And you know, it went over pretty well!

No flinging: 

No tears:

And even though Nate and Seth were blatantly goofing off at this point, definitely no sadness:

And so it is at last – ham-fisted hooligans though my boys may be – we sometimes use utensils now at the OP.

Sometimes.

- L.

PS. Since even the pics at the end are a few weeks old at this point, the black eye Seth is sporting is the same one featured here. 

Maggot Tiles

A few months prior to Christmas there was a lot of buzz among internet Mommies about Magna-Tiles®.

More specifically, the buzz was about the Clear Colors Magna-Tiles® – and out of the line of Magna-Tiles® products, these would be the obvious choice as they are both colorful and see-through – being suddenly hard to come by. Private retailers though Amazon were jacking up the prices at an alarming rate which is mostly what the hullabaloo was about.

To be honest, I had no idea at the time whether this toy was a hot seller otherwise or not (turns out it was) – but I knew without a doubt that this would be a great toy for my boys. Seth loves building things and Nate loves figuring out how things work – and I love finding things that are within their parameters developmentally while providing a little challenge. 

Sadly, the escalating prices were due to the flooding in Thailand where the toy was manufactured. We managed to find a set at the regular price at a local retailer which was awesome, but regular price on the much coveted 100 piece translucent tiles set is still not cheap – although I justified the expense by telling myself that even if the boys didn't care for it, I would gladly play with the Magna-Tiles® myself. 

And I would have too, except the boys love them*.

Oh, and also they call them "Maggot-Tiles" in case you were wondering about the title of this post. I wanted to get that out of the way in case there was any confusion between Magna-Tiles® and their halt on production. Rest assured, in case you come across a set that isn't priced beyond belief at this point, it has nothing to do with maggots.

A few weeks ago, my boys still needed a lot of help with this toy so it was something I'd only bring out if I had an hour or more to sit and play. Now my guys are fairly solid if you help build the initial structure and then just let them play**.

Of course, this post be meaningless without some photos: 

– Oh hi everyone. Is us. I is having a good time figuring out how things work.
– Oh yes, hi everyone. I is figuring out how to make Nate work since I already knows my way around construction site. 

– First I points here and barks out orders.
– 'Dis not go over so great. 

– Since that not work out, I points here and explains personal architectural vision in great detail. Nate do the work alright, but he look a little less than impressed.
– "Personal architectural vision" also not go over so great. 

– Finally I gets hands on. Nothing worse than a grumpy crew if you knows what I mean.
– 'Dis nice toy, but would be better with set of earplugs right about now.

- L.

* My boys really loved this toy right out of the box, but I would caveat my recommendation by saying that they were easily frustrated by it initially even with an adult present. The magnets hold a structure together for great temporary play and collapse easily when done. Unfortunately, they also collapse easily when you're not quite done if you happen to be 2. The lack of permanence, despite the love of all things Magna-Tiles®, was actually a bit frustrating for us all.

** The structure in the photos was approximately 50% legitimately built by my boys. They have mastered a cube (which is mostly what you see here) and have recent skills at building a pyramid. The fancy stuff on top was adult-built. To be honest, I was more impressed that they managed to play with it long enough for me to think, "Hey, this is awesome – I should probably go grab my camera!", then grabbing said camera and spending awhile taking photos without any devastating cave-ins/mass destruction/fits of general hysteria***.

*** In case the "fits of general hysteria" is throwing you, keep in mind my boys are 2. They get semi-hysterical over lint at this point.

Happy New Year Everyone!

It's a new year and new things are already afoot at the OP. Check it out!

– 'Dis my awesome new chair, everyone!
– I not sure how I end up here, but there is toys so is OK I guess.

– Is not only functional, but stylish too. Potty is thing of beauty and it even come in my color!
– I check out unsecured floor grate and contemplate how to distract Mommy long enough to chuck toys down to mysterious "below" place.

– Cannot say enough good things about 'dis potty, everyone. Is sort of thing that puts a fellow in a mood to write poem, if you know what I mean.
– Since Mommy still looking, I take a moment to admire your strategic use of bath letters instead.

– OK. Here is poem everyone. Remember to be kind. I is sensitive guy after all.

"Potty red, Potty bright, 
I visit you both day and night. 

You has a shield to catch the sprinkles, 

While I sit and make my tinkles." 

– Er... I think my look say it all so you not have to, everyone.

• • • • • • •

Mommy note: The boys are loving their new potties and "potty time". We're keeping it pretty low-key and offering potty time a few times per day which, so far, is being met with much enthusiasm.

Nate was a little (read: VERY) reluctant until Seth sat down. After that, he couldn't get on the potty fast enough. The pics are from our very first trial run 3 days ago and I'm still laughing looking at them. Seth already looks like a seasoned pro and Nate is looking so uncertain about things, but tolerating the whole ordeal because he would never, ever want to miss out on anything his brother is doing.

PS. I know I mentioned Nate's belly-button in an earlier post, but the Pahk pics really didn't do it justice. These photos do. I mean it when I say I've never seen a more spectacular outtie. Seriously, it's like an extra appendage and for someone with a Touching Finger who loves buttons of all kinds, a "bebo" like that couldn't have happened to a better guy. He's pretty proud of it too!

Summer of Love: The Yogurt & Spoons Edition

True confessions: I wasn't brave enough to go it alone with messy foods and spoons, so I waited until Gamma Rita's visit last summer to try it out. The following pics are from some early days with yogurt...

Nate in the throes of perfecting his reverse-spoon technique when I suddenly sensed something was up:

Something not right here, everyone.

Turns out he was sitting next to the Colonel the whole time:

Spooky! 

- L.

PS. We haven't moved on much in terms of our spoon technique, although I am able to manage yogurt on my own okay enough now if I remember to take a few deep breaths first. Oatmeal on the other hand might have to wait until the boys are college bound.

The Elephant In The Room

Earlier this summer I wrote a post called "Things We Know". In it I stated that my boys are "keenly interested in all things abba-bet and can tell you what every single letter is no matter how abstractly it's presented". 

For your consideration, here is an example of what I mean by abstract (click to embiggen):

When I wrote that, the boys really had mastered the upper-case letterforms, including the ones shown here. At the time I wasn't sure whether to be impressed or alarmed. Shouldn't uppercase "D" look like a "D" or is a lumpy square also acceptable?

Since that time, Nate and Seth have moved on to learning the lower-case alphabet as well. In the longest video ever, you can see them happily working on their new puzzle which includes a reasonable rendition of upper and lower case letters. They are quite good at their new puzzle and are able to point out individual letters in both cases now in print which they tend to do unsolicited a lot.

Like when I'm reading them a story, for example.

It tends to make even the most gripping tale a little disjointed since I have to pause and acknowledge the letter being pointed out before I can continue.

Each and every time.

But I digress. 

For their birthday last year the boys got a set of colorful blocks. At the time they enjoyed stacking them (or at least watching me stack them) and knocking them down. We've also had fun color-sorting. The blocks also have the complete alphabet in lower-case and numbers 0-9 printed on them. Until recently that has largely been overlooked but now, of course, it's game on.

To be honest, I find some of the letters/numbers a bit ambiguous. Am I look at a lower-case "b" or the number "9"? Depends on which way it's facing I suppose, but some of the letters and numbers are definitely open to interpretation.

Still, I figured if the boys managed to master lumpy, square uppercase "D" then there wouldn't be much to throw them off course.

Until this: 

Like me, you probably think that's a lower case "m". And you probably think that because you know you're looking at an alphabet form. And you probably know that because you know that you're looking at a child's block on which alphabet forms are often printed.

Also, you are not 21 months old.

And not only are you not 21 months old, you are also probably not fairly obsessed with elephants. And even if you are fairly obsessed with elephants, you probably don't regularly go about making elephant noises.

So at first I was a bit mystified when I casually asked Nate what letter that was and he countered with his elephant noise. When I asked again he looked at me very seriously and said "el-fant!" and after pondering that for a moment I took a closer look.

And he was quite right of course. That's an elephant everyone!

- L.

PS. For your enjoyment, there is a new video with some of Nate and Seth's quieter "elephant noises" posted on our YouTube™ channel.

And A "Dibba Day" To You, Baby B!

Nate and Seth have only mastered a handful of words, but they don't let that stop them when they feel like having a conversation. Nate's go-to for chats runs the gamut from la-la's to did-did's to nay-nay's. Seth, known mostly for being a man of few (but well-timed) words has been trying out a couple of new chat-phrases of his own lately. "Dibba dibba day!" is exceedingly popular, but the occasional, "Numma numma nay!" gets thrown into the mix here and there.

For reasons that aren't clear, one of the most recent words they are saying is "Baby". I know I've been pretty adamant about Nate and Seth still being my babies, but sadly it's not a word anyone really says anymore. They both adore their Dr. Suess' ABC's book though so my guess is it's come from the "B" page:

Big B, little b, what begins with B?  

Barber, baby, bubbles and a bumblebee! 

And maybe it's just extra enthusiasm because their new word is very exciting after all, but often Seth will tack on an extra "B!" at the end (a la "Bay-bee-bee!") which may or may not be toddler-speak for "bumblebee". Or maybe he just remembers his name from a long time ago.

All this to say, there's a new video on our YouTube™ channel featuring a lot of la-la's, dibba-day's and baby, baby B!

•   •   •   •   •

Our current list of words:

Book (sounds like "Booh!". This was Seth's first word said in context.)
Ball (sounds like "Bah!". This was Nate's first word said in context.)
Duck (sounds like "Dah!".)
Up (sounds like "Up!" but also sometimes "Ep!")
Apple (sounds like "Ah-poo!")
Baby (sounds like "Baby!" but also sometimes "Bay-beeeeeeeee!")
Teddy (sounds like "Teh-dah!")
Daddy (sounds like "Da-dah!")
Mommy (sounds like "Mum-mum!" but also sometimes "Maaaaam!")

- L.

Nate Sure Likes His Train

It was like Christmas* all over again at our house last weekend in an effort to get Nate and Seth some new challenging and fun toys since they've gone pro and then some with all of the learning type toys they already had. They are especially good at sorting shapes, so I found a more complex shape sorter with at least a few shapes they were not already familiar with, a puzzle board with latches and a groovy train with shapes that can be stacked in endless and inventive ways.

The complex shape sorter? Already mastered.

The puzzle board with latches? They solved 4/6 on the first day. It's a toy meant for 3 years and up (although product reviews indicated it was fun for toddlers as young as 14-18 months). In hindsight however this was probably a huge mistake since it's basically teaching them how to get into stuff. You know, as though they need lessons for that. *sigh*

But the train. The TRAIN! It's a hit with Nate in a huge way.

– 'Dis my train everyone! 

– Hey Seth, wanna play with my train? 

– I will share it with you as long as you know 'dis my train. 

– Oh boy! I love 'dis train!

Seth is a little more take-it-or-leave-it with the train so he wandered off in search of something that would pique his interest. 

Only to find himself reunited with his first love once again. 

Nate might have his train, but Seth's bucket never gets old. 

•   •   •   •   •

Mommy note: The last time I posted about the boys sitting unassisted was shortly after our 9 month visit with the pediatrician where I mentioned that sitting unassisted is a major 9 month developmental milestone and it was an update to say that Seth decided sitting was a cool thing to do after all. This was about 2 weeks after our appointment and he's been sitting like a champ ever since.

Nate was still strongly in the "sitting is for suckers" camp at the time, and has remained steadfast on this point. He was pulling himself up to a standing position and liberally cruising, but no sitting. Playtime was strictly tummy time style and that didn't change until shortly after the boys celebrated their first birthday. Then Nate decided maybe kneeling would be alright.

I'm sure if you aren't Nate's mommy (or you haven't heard me mention my concern over this) you probably haven't even noticed anything was up – and while I'm not laying-awake-at-night-worried about it (yet) I made a point of following up with the pediatrician at our 12 month visit. Nate not only has some pretty malleable joints, but he was restricted enough in utero that he was born with fairly significant plagiocephaly as well as torticollis and I was concerned that his inability to sit up was physiological in nature. Even with support, he will often list to one side in his highchair for example (or squirm and cry until he finds a comfy slouchy pose).

Our pediatrician checked him over, particularly for a spine curvature (scoliosis) and didn't see anything that would indicate an obvious physical impediment. Nate was happy to show off his new kneeling pose and so she was able to note the "W" formation that his legs make when he kneels. It's not an uncommon thing for kids to do, but she did encourage me to get him to sit on his bum as much as possible.

As though I hadn't already been doing that.

We've continued to work on it without much success. Exactly once I was able to distract Nate sufficiently that he sat for about 45 seconds before he'd had enough. The rest of the time he simply flips over onto his tummy and crawls off.

All this to say, I was pretty surprised yesterday when Nate sat in his bath for the first time without support. Although afterwards I realized it was probably because we were having a fun time splashing and he was distracted enough he was tolerating it. Or he just didn't notice.

Because, of course, in lieu of a physical problem the next most obvious answer is that Nate doesn't sit on his bum because Nate doesn't want to sit on his bum. And knowing Nate, I could kind of buy that actually – but the truth is we just don't have an answer right now. He's a very physically capable little guy in all other regards.

And today he surprised me yet again.

I've seen this pose before, but not often and only recently. It's the half-kneel with one leg out at the side: 

But then he brought that leg around into what looks like a pretty comfy sitting pose and he sat and played that way for quite some time: 

I realize the rest of that pose looks a little painful (very painful?) and I'm not really sure how he managed it (it looked worse in person), but he was comfy and happy. And me? I'm feeling encouraged for the first time in a long time that this might just sort itself out after all.

Go Nate! 

- L. 

*The title of this post was lifted from a song off a fun new album I ordered for the guys which happened to arrive just this week – along with their new GAP pajamas (Pirates! Monsters! Yay!) and a few other things as well. It really was like Christmas all over again. If you're looking for some adult-friendly songs for kids that won't make your ears bleed I highly recommend our new hip jams from Leslie Bixler, collaborating with Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and featuring Dick Van Dyke (doing some funk-rap no less). Their album, Rhythm Train, is the awesome.

I had "Cole's Train" in my head all day watching Nate loving his new train. Go check it out!

Birthday Fun: Some New Toys

It was hard to get pictures where everyone wasn't a frantic blur, but I did manage to catch a moment here and there of the boys enjoying some of their new toys (and a couple of old favorites too). 

The soft blocks are a big hit with everyone. They're very toddler* friendly. No chance of taking out an eye on them (or your brother's eye either). Also, they smell nice. Weird, I know, but true. Apparently they taste good too. 

The drum is a big hit with Nate especially (watch out for some new video coming soon!). I was a little leery about getting it because the flashing lights, sound effects and pre-recorded songs sounded like a recipe for being the kind of toy that would drive me up the wall after the first hour. But so far, so good – even I like playing with it. Also, it has an off switch in the event that my temples start throbbing.

Seth went pro with the shapes puzzle this morning when he put all the shapes in the correct spot and blew his mommy away. I had a feeling this toy would be well suited to Seth – he's very meticulous with sorting and stacking toys and will often try to help me tidy up when it's time to play put-away in the nursery – I just didn't expect him to be so good at it already.

- L.

*Toddler. My babies are toddlers now. *sob*

Well... What Have We Here?

There are times when I poke my head into the nursery during playtime to take a peek at everyone (particularly if it gets a little too quiet in there) and am typically greeted thusly:

Two heads whipping around in unison with the most innocent of expressions on their faces that clearly say, "we wasn't up to anything mommy – honest!". Of course, I'm usually suspicious but can never prove anything. Until yesterday morning. Yesterday morning my guys were definitely up to something.

That's right – Nate and Seth have some new tricks to show you all!

Here's Seth showing off the Discovery Wagon by Haba™.

It's meant to help babies who are taking their first steps, but it's got so many gadgets and fun things on it I had hoped they would enjoy it right away. It didn't get a lot of fanfare the first couple of days – the stacking cups and hammer balls stole the show – but on Sunday Seth took an interest and pulled himself up to a kneeling pose by balancing his hands on the little blue seat. There's a mirror on the back of the chair and he had a grand time up on his knees chattering at himself.

And yes, of course there's a video. But before you run off to check it out, you should know that Nate also had some tricks up his sleeves. 

Not to be outdone by his brother, Nate busted out a serious crawling pose over in the Jungle Gym – and a pretty decent "downward dog" yoga move as well. And yes, there's video of that too.

Enjoy!

- L.

An Update + Some New Fun Toys

Earlier this month, Nate had his follow-up appointment with Osteopath Samara and not only did she give him a big thumbs up on his progress so far, we don't need to go back for any more visits! This is good news for me, but probably gets a mixed review from the boys. They always had a great time at Nate's appointments because Samara has the best toys.

At our last visit, she introduced some different toys than the ones we were starting to get familiar with because as she pointed out, the boys are older now and looking for new challenges... which got me thinking. And shopping.

I didn't want to overwhelm everyone, so I decided to introduce things slowly – but check out some of the new toys I was able to find online. They are definitely a hit.

Up first was our new Stacking Puzzle Box by Gowi™. It features 10 stacking/nesting cups and also comes with a shape sorter in the lid of the container that everything neatly fits back into when it's time to play "put away". The pieces stack up really high when fully assembled, but that was a challenge with two babies who were intent on destruction.

I'm surprised there are two that are still stacked actually. 

And there was not time to stack and take a picture before things got knocked down, but I like the motion in this shot: 

It was all very fascinating until Seth decided my camera looked like a fun toy too. The rest of Seth is out of frame because he's trying to climb up my leg to get at it. 

That's when I knew it was time to introduce the Hammer Balls by Plan Toys™ (minus the hammer of course for reasons that should be obvious). It's really a well made toy that can be enjoyed without the hammer option as the balls push through with a hand as well.

Seth was having a pretty good time with it... 

... when suddenly Nate spied the new toy and couldn't get over to it fast enough. I had no idea my laid back son could move this quickly. Seriously, he's a blur. 

In the end a good time was had by all... 

... although perhaps too good since later this afternoon the camera again found Seth in a sad state. 

Midway through his afternoon bottle he promptly rolled over and hit snooze. I couldn't decide whether this looked comfortable or not, but I leaned toward "not" and put him to bed.

- L.

PS. The new jammies in the playtime pics are size 18 months. 18 months!!! I know my babies are long, but this is starting to get ridiculous.

Rolling With The Punches

If you have babies, then you know that plans can (and often do) change on a moments' notice. For example, yesterday I decided to take the babies out for a stroll. It was a nice sunny day – a little warmer than expected – but still, I wanted to bring along the cute new hats Gamma Rita knitted for Nate and Seth, thinking that maybe I could take a few cute pics in natural light while enjoying a beverage on the patio at Starbucks (I even brought along my new macro lens to try out, but I'll get to that in a bit).

So, now you know what my plan was: cute babies, cute hats and cute pics while enjoying the nice weather.

I got everyone dressed to go, put the hats, camera and lenses by the door, turned around to grab Seth and saw this:

Oh, Seth.

He's been at it again and somehow gave himself a fine scratch/welt/bruise in the time it took me to make a single trip up and down the stairs. I think it's a personal record.

I still tried in vain to get some cute pics with the hats, but I ended up with a series of shots like this: 

They both look like a couple of dock workers after a hard shift and some brawling. Well, Nate looks a little scared actually but Seth looks like he's up for some action. 

Seriously, would you mess with this baby?

I rest my case. 

So I scratched (pun intended) my plans for pics in the hats and tried out my new macro lens instead. 

I think I can almost make out the Starbucks logo on the signage in this close-up.

Oh, and can you guess what Nate is working on here? You might recognize this face from previous posts.

He's been very busy lately trying to figure out how the latches on the 5 point harness work. Yes, the ones that keep him from falling out of the stroller. Oh, Nate. Honestly, I'm a little in awe of his dexterity and ability to concentrate and problem solve for a 7 month old baby – and a wee bit scared too. He's a little too good at it for one so small.

And lastly, the other thing I've been meaning to show you all are these awesome Dapper Snappers™ that I found at bynature.ca. They are great for long, skinny babies like Nate and Seth who suffer perpetually from pants that are too big in the waist while fitting otherwise. Can you tell which skinny baby is which by the way?

The makers of the Dapper Snapper™ even have an instructional video which I've favorited on our YouTube™ chanel. I'm a fan for sure since it makes all their pants fit. Pretty affordable too considering they appear very durable and go with everything.

Yay – no more droopy drawers!

- L.

PS. Give yourself a point if you guessed Seth in the first pic and Nate in the second.