Great evening at home with the kids

When I got home last night the kids were in dress-up mode.

In honor of Movember, I decided to heighten the fun and add stick-on mustaches to their get-ups. But the Davises were not as enthralled with this idea as I was. 

I had to bribe Cary and Dean to keep theirs on long enough for me to snap a picture, and Clair isn't old enough to understand bribing, so she just cried and then ripped hers off and threw it on the floor.

(Note: That dinosaur costume is really made for someone Clair's size, but Cary refused to take it off all night. He made us all call him "Dinosaur Cary" and he roared at us 'til bedtime.)

Later on in the night, the kids were all "co-wing" -- Clairspeak for "coloring" -- with pens and stray pieces of paper. This happens quite a bit; there's lots of scribbling and pen-poking and usually nothing really worth noting comes out of their artistry.

But last night, Dean drew an actual person! For the first time ever! 

"It's you, Mommy," he said. "On the beach!"

Awwww. I was really very impressed. One of the fascinating things about parenting is watching how children develop. Sometimes you can see things happening gradually, as with Cary right now and pre-reading. And other times, it's scribble, scribble, scribble, scribble, and then BAM! a stick-figure with a head, eyes, legs and curly hair!

And finally, I felt good about our decision to get our butts to church again when this conversation happened:

Clair, climbing up the stairs, whining because she thinks she's going to fall: "Ah fall! Ah fall!"
Me to the boys: "Cary and Dean, go tell your sister she's OK and that she's not going to fall."
Cary: "Clair, it's OK. Don't be scared. God is always with you."

Isn't that so sweet? I don't think Clair bought Cary's encouragement, because I had to stop what I was doing and come get my poor whining girl, frozen on the stairs. But it doesn't matter. I felt so great about Cary (CARY!) rushing to help his sister, and remembering what they're learning in children's church when he did. 

A rare moment of Cary looking sweetly at Clair. Could we be turning a corner?

And then we all had dinner together, all five of us, and there was cookie-cake for dessert, gifted to us by a friend! 

All in all, it was a really, really good night.

(Until I woke up at 4 in the morning in a full-on heart-racing, blood-coursing in my ears, can't regulate my breathing panic. But that's a post for another day.)

Crack, Drive, Amaze!

My boys turned 17 months last week, and they are very much 17-month-olds!

(Look, we can eat corn-on-the-cob like big boys!)



They seriously CRACK Lester and me up, especially now that they feel the urge to "sing" at random times, and also to dance in their cribs, swaying their hips from side-to-side, or high-stepping and shuffling their little feet, baby River Dance style.

But they also seriously DRIVE Lester and me crazy in so many ways.

1. They are LOUD! Everything they say is said as if we are in a wind tunnel or something. Or perhaps they think we're so old, we're starting to be a little hard of hearing. 'Cause man - do they shriek! Dean screams and cries constantly, but even when he's just talking normally, his voice is loud. And Cary is his equal in that department. Imagine some tiny little person screeching "TRRRUCK! TRRRUCK!" while waving the "Trucks" book at you, demanding a millionth reading.

2. They are willful, obstinate, defiant and just plain mischievous at times. If we say, "Come here," they move in the opposite direction. The words, "We don't throw food on the floor," apparently get translated into Babyese to mean, "Please continue flinging your food onto the floor! This time with fervor! Thanks!" And so on. I'm so confused because all the baby books said, "Your baby loves to see you smile. He only wants to please you!" Hogwash and poppycock! My babies are tiny terrorists with adorable faces and chubby, kissable feet.

3. Dean still needs two naps a day, while Cary is more and more resisting the second nap. But Dean hates going to bed without his brother, and Cary hates being put in his crib in the afternoons. This is a conundrum. Help!

4. Dean's abusive-boyfriend tendencies are getting stronger and more prevalent. He literally pushes me around the house, attempting to get me to do things he wants me to do, or stop doing things he doesn't want me to do. He cries when he sees Cary sitting on my lap reading, and will push Cary off my lap if I don't make room for him fast enough. He shoves Lester away from me if we're in an embrace, or cries if I hug or kiss Lester and he's in his highchair, so can't get to me to shove Lester away. And the other night, I sang to him in his crib while Lester was getting Cary lotioned and pajama-ed for bed. While I sang, he looked lovingly up at me, and stroked Lovey the Puppy contentedly. The minute I finished the song and turned to Cary to sing to him, Dean grunted and growled at me -- growled! -- to express his displeasure. Not quite sure our precious baby really did this, Lester asked me to do it again. So I sang to Dean (loving eyes, more-puppy-stroking) and then turned to sing to Cary. Again with the grunting and growling!
Seriously, people, what is going to happen when baby Curve Ball gets here? (That's her nickname until we can finally settle on a real name for her.) Will I need to take out a protective order against Deanie? This is worrying me!

But more than anything, Cary and Dean seriously AMAZE Lester and me, with their humor, intelligence, affection and development.

Besides the Trucks book, Cary also loves a book called "Beep Beep" which has one page full of colorful cars on a highway. We always count the cars with him, and we constantly catch him sitting on the floor with the book, pointing one chubby finger at the cars and saying, "Twooo, twooo, twooo" as if he's counting!

Dean has learned how to climb up on the couch, throw the couch pillows on the floor, and then dive (sometimes headfirst, but more often feet-first) onto the pillows. Smart kid figured out that it's better to land on pillows than on our hardwood floors!

After tearing through our mail the other day, Cary stomped over to Lester with a health-care-insurance pamphlet, waved it in Lester's face and demanded, "Reeeee!" (read) ... He thought it was a book! Ha.

Cary still thinks his name is "Deeee" but Dean the other day leaned in Cary's direction with Cary's bib in his hand and, I swear, called Cary's name. Well, the last syllable of Cary's name: "Ree!" he said, thrusting the bib at Cary. "Ree!" It was cute.

Dean has learned how to slide on his belly down the steps. He is good at it! (This also makes Lester very nervous as someone -- I won't say who -- still has not put up the baby gate at the top of the stairs).

Both of them will telegraph that they're about to do something wrong by saying, "No, no!" before doing said wrong thing.Occasionally, they say it after they've done said wrong thing, as they're walking away from the evidence. Dean waggles his pointer finger while he's saying it. It's funny. And infuriating. (Kid, if you know you're not supposed to do it, why do ya? Huh? HUH?!)

And every day is full of hugs and kisses and giggles galore -- from both boys.

All in all, they are living up to the Ames' description of them at this age: Fun-loving AND Fussy.

And we are loving every minute of it!

Embrace the insanity

Dean's first haircut!



This weekend, Dean got his first haircut and both boys started walking!

They're still very unsteady on their feet -- and they only take 6 or 7 steps before falling into someone's arms, and then resorting back to crawling -- but they both did it! How crazy is it that they both started walking on the same day? This is probably the first milestone that they've hit together, or even close to together for that matter.

I'll try to get video soon, but it usually happens so fast, I don't have time to do anything but sit there and hold my breath and then it's over.

Also, we got Dean a haircut for the first time this weekend. I took totally cute pictures of him wailing, and then smiling at his newly-shorn look, but I left my camera at my mom and dad's! Grrrr!!

So, you'll have to wait for those pictures as well. Clearly, I suck.

(Edited 7/12 to show PHOTOS of the HAIRCUT! Whoo-hoo!!)

Here's Dean, realizing that he does NOT like the sound of those clippers:


When the very nice barber said, "OK, sweetie, all done!" he looked at her as if to say, "Really? You really mean it?" It was so cute!

And then, out of nowhere, he burst into this grin, like, "Check me out! I look smokin'!"


Which he totally does! With a haircut and 2.5 teeth, my baby boy looks like a whole new person. Such a big boy!


In other news, I have been feeling pretty down about the news I reported last week (right here on this blog!) because I really have no idea how this is going to work. So my friend Kelly sent me this video (letting me know what's in store for me and Lester, in terms of transporting three small children around):

Swagger Wagon

Hysterical -- this video definitely lifted my spirits! Never thought I was the mini-van type, but God clearly has other plans for me.

When Kelly sent me the link to the video, her advice to me was: "Embrace the insanity."

Good advice, Kel. I think I'm going to put that right up there on the list with, "Ignore the tray."

Shopping spree

Spring has sprung and that makes me feeling like having new things!

So yesterday, I bought the babies a big, shiny red ball and alphabet letters that will stick in the bathtub when wet.
I decided to give them the ball today, because it just looked like so much fun! I couldn't wait 'till their birthday.
I also bought them a bottle of bubbles for Michelle to blow with them during the day, outside on the porch. We showed them bubbles for the first time at my Mom's house this past weekend and they went crazy! So I know this will give them hours of outdoor enjoyment while Lester and I are stuck at work.
And I splurged and bought them little surfer-dude swim trunks! We have a blow-up bathtub we bought for the boys when they were newborns that didn't work well at all as a bathtub, but will work perfectly as a little pool on the front porch, or in the back yard.
Can't wait to see them in their little trunks!!
Oh, and I also bought them The Snowy Day in a board book, because they have snacked on the one we had so much, it's barely readable. Same is true for Good Night Moon, but I won't be giving them that new board book until their birthday.

Speaking of their birthday, it is now 14 days until Cary and Dean turn 1. Two exact calendar weeks.

As we approach their first birthday, I must share other random things about them.

Dean has been standing unassisted for up to 5 seconds at a time now. He only does it a couple times a day, but it is very exciting to watch!

Cary's love of books is so heartwarming. If he hears me reading a book out loud, he'll speed-crawl over to me, just to listen or help turn the pages. It's one of the few ways I can get him to come to me, since he flat out ignores my "Come'ere Cary! Come to Mama!"

Dean's favorite saying is "Unhdahg-unhdahg-unhdahgun." I have no idea what it is supposed to mean, but he says it with varying tones and inflections, as if he really is saying something important. I just repeat it right back to him, and we can carry on a conversation for several minutes this way. It's awesome.

Today, both boys patted their heads when I asked, "Where's your head?" But neither one tries to feed himself, points to objects, tries to help dress himself, says any real words, is attempting walking, can play pat-a-cake, nods yes or no, mimics what to do with a toothbrush, telephone or spoon, or makes animal noises.

According to the baby development articles I've read, babies this age should be doing all or some of these things by now. But guess what? I'm not freaked out by the fact that neither baby is doing these things. I know they WILL do them at some point, so there's no need to go crazy.

So, there's one thing I can be certain of as the babies creep closer and closer to age 1: At least one of us is maturing.