Watching the kids grow and get along

One of the most fun things about having children is watching the dynamics between them.

Especially when they start off as twins, not even aware of the other's existence, it is quite fascinating to watch them grow, figure out that "hey, I like this kid," and slowly, slowly become best friends.

The boys went to a birthday party this weekend.  It was Thomas-the-Train-themed and it was a little bit off-the-hook. There were trains everywhere. Train-shaped sandwiches, trains on the floor, trains on the cake, a train movie. Even an ACTUAL TRAIN. (I was like, whoa! These people take birthday parties seriously.) All the kids were apoplectic over the train, and there were tears and tantrums when it was time to share. So it was really cool to see how my two boys looked out for one another, each taking pains to make sure his brother got a turn, and then another turn, and -- when everyone else went back into the living room to play with the hand-held trains on the tracks on the floor -- still more turns.

They thought this train was the best. thing. ever.

At home, they fight like the dickens. But out in the world, they are very protective of one another. It is very sweet, and I hope it is also indicative of how they'll be later in life, when it really counts.

The boys also have a hilarious ritual at night, after we say prayers and close their door for bedtime. They talk and talk and talk and talk, and sometimes sing, and also act out scenes from Sesame Street or Yo Gabba Gabba or from books we have, like Elephant and Piggie.

Lately, they're obsessed (especially Cary) with a Cookie Monster DVD Aunt Tootie gave them for Christmas, where "Cookie Hood" steals cookies to give to the cookie-less and everyone blames Cookie Monster, which hurts his feelings. They cannot get enough of play-acting this all day, and half the night. Take this hilarious exchange from last night:

Cary, in his bed, talking unintelligibly about something having to do with Cookie Monster, really, really loudly. 
Cary: Ohhhhh! (Mumble mumble) Cookie Monster!! Nom nom nom! (Gibberish) NOOOO! Cookie hood! (Nonsense) Don't! Ohhhh! Nom nom nom nom nom!
Dean (yelling at the top of his lungs): Cary! You have to get ahold of yourself!

Hahahaa! That CRACKED me up. I realized later that Lightning McQueen says to Mater Truck in one of their zillion books: "You have to get ahold of yourself! You're making a scene!" But at first, before I remembered that book, I seriously stood outside their bedroom door like, "Whuh?"

They are too funny.

It'll be very, very interesting to see how Miss Clair fits herself into this dynamic. It's clear already that she intends NOT to be overlooked. She crawls or cruises right over to where they are, and tries to play whatever they're playing. And when she doesn't get her way, she gets a serious 'tude. She is loud and gregarious and in-your-face, and I do believe those two Davis boys are gonna be in for it, as soon as she's able to walk and talk.

You can catch a small glimpse of her getting the best of them in this video:

A little background: We had been stacking tall Lego buildings in different color patterns, and trying to hypothesize which one would be bigger when we were done. The buildings kept falling, and it took us several frustrating times to finally get them both upright, so we could judge. And then...enter Clair!

Again I say, they are tooo funny.

One quick thing about each of my children

Quick report on the Davis children:

CARY:Yesterday, Cary pulled up his pajama shirt, pointed to his mid-section and said, "Baby!"

It was adorable! He was so proud!
Despite his enthusiasm, I explained that, no, Mommy is the one with the baby, and lifted my shirt to show him. He rubbed my belly, leaned in a little closer, and then yelled, "OUT!"

My sentiments exactly, buddy. My sentiments exactly.

He said it again -- "OUT!" -- so I had to tell him that the baby wasn't ready to come out yet. To which, he replied, "Toon?" (soon)....

Not soon enough, buddy. Not soon enough. :-)

DEAN: Lester had to stay home with the boys today because our sitter has jury duty (darn civic-minded woman!) and I skipped work Monday because of all our jillion dr's appointments, so I had to drag myself to the office today. While hanging out this morning with them, Lester sent me this photo of Dean, who had just eaten an entire apple, all by himself, without anyone cutting it up for him.
Here's Lester's words about this: I just finished reading a book to Cary when I noticed that the apple was gone. I asked Dean what happened to the apple and he said "eed it." I asked him where the apple went and he stuck his finger in his mouth. He ate everything except for the stem.

My child is such a gifted snacker. LOL. (But seriously, what a milestone. No more chopping every darn thing into tiny little pieces! Hooray!)

That's Cary's pajamed-butt in the shot, FYI.

And you might note that you rarely see photos of Dean these days without Cookie Monster near. Yes, Cookie has become the daytime "lovey." But never fear, Dean is still a complete and total nut for Puppy at night. This reminds me of an old, old song by Mary Wells: "Two Lovers."
In it she sings, "Well, I've got two lovers and I ain't ashamed. Two lovers and I love 'em both the same!"
That's totally Dean. Such a playa!

CURVE BALL: During monitoring this morning, I finally decided to bite the bullet and ask the tech about something that had been bothering me for many, many weeks. Since the gender scan at 19 weeks, not one person in the perinatologist's office -- not even the perinatologists -- will call my baby a girl. They never say "she" or "her" or anything. I know they try hard not to disclose the sex of a baby because so many people don't want to find out these days. But I already know! And they know I know, because they ask me at the start of every sono: "Do you know what you're having?" "Why yes, it's a girl." And even still -- they always call her "baby" or "it" or (my least favorite, because of how grammatically incorrect it is) "they" or "their." As in, "Baby's got their head in the right position!" "Baby's practicing their breathing!" Ugh!

I want to scream every time -- She's a GIRL! And she's JUST ONE GIRL, so how could she possibly be a "their?" UGH!!

It was starting to make me slightly paranoid. I thought: What if she's NOT a girl? What if they just thought she was a girl way back when things were not as clearly formed, but they know now that she's a he, and they don't want to tell me?? What will I do with the girly room? All the girl's clothes? We don't have a name for a boy!!! (I know this makes no sense...)

Anyway, today, I just finally asked, rather sheepishly: Can I take a peek at her girly parts again? I just want to make sure she's still a girl.

The tech quickly zeroed in on her bottom section, and sure enough, girly parts, plain as day!

I have a photo, which gives me great joy (the room can stay covered in flowers and hearts, Yay!), but Lester made me promise not to post "pornographic pictures" of his daughter's private parts. (His words, not mine.)

So you'll just have to take my word for it.

She's a she. Yay!