Using Your Words

 

We are about to hit the 14 month mark!

This 13th month seems to have dragged on! It feels like the boys' 1st birthday was AGES ago!

 

Well, although it seems to have lasted forever, that has not stopped the boys from learning new things everyday!

 

Our biggest issue right now is communication.

They know what they Want..they just can't communicate it properly to us, which causes them to get very frustrated, very quickly.

 

The past week, they started this new form of communication...called:

"Scream your head off till you get what you want."

 

It's not so great.

 

At first, I gave in and gave them what they wanted- not realizing what I was doing....

 

After a few days, hubby and I were FED.UP. with the screams.

So, we have had to sit and completely ignore the screaming- I'm not saying that we are ignoring their wants/needs- but, we have to tell them:

 'you need to use words' Or

 'I don't know what you want when you scream'

Or, I even tell them the word they are looking for and keep repeating it- hoping they catch on and start using it!

 

Well FINALLY, as of this morning, Eli seems to be past the screaming stage. He all the sudden, started (what I call) the "Toddler Whine"

If he wants something he walks around going, "mee woo baa ooh mebo waahbe" --- all to a whiney voice...

Well, it's much better than the screaming- at least I can tell that he is trying really really hard to use his words!! That's a huge step in the right direction!!

 

Blake is still screaming..but I'm hoping after a day of listening to Eli 'chat and whine' he will also stop.

 

Since we are working on using our words, they have learned a TON of new words!!

 

So, as of 14 months, here is our list of words that we know (if I can remember them all..)

 

Hi

BuhBuh (buh bye)

Ah (eye- as they point at their eye ball)

Whoa (when something cool happens)

Boo (when they pop out of no where and 'scare' us!)

Mii (Milk- when they want their sippy cup of milk-and they know if it's water and not milk)

Bah (Ball and they grab, hold, show the ball)

Moe (More, when they want more food or drink)

Bah (Book-they had you a 'Bah' to read to them)

Ugk (Yuck- as they stick out their tongue)

Bah (Blankie- I only know this means their blankie cause they point to it then run and grab it as they say 'bah')

Car (obvious..car..)

Chuc (Truck)

Nigh Nigh (Night night- we say at bedtime every night)

Sigh (Outside-whenever they want to go outside)

Sha (sock)

Bah-um-ba (Basketball- they LOVE to sit and watch our neighbor boy play basketball- it's the only time they sit still for more than 3 minutes, while they say 'bah-um-ball' the entire time)

No-no-no (They say this while they shake their finger at us and laugh so hard!-- we did it 1 time in front of them from a funny commercial, now they think it is soo hilarious to do it!)

Mah ( Muah- when they want to give kisses!)

 

Well, that's all I can think of right now, I'm sure the hubby will remember more when he reads this ;)

Next step will be combining words! I love watching them learn words! They get so excited when they say something to us, and we understand them!

 

Sharing has also seemed to have gotten a little better in our house.

Blake seems to be a little better at sharing than Eli.

 

He will randomly just hand Eli a toy if he is done with it.  Or, if he steals a toy from eli (I know that's the opposite of sharing)- we walk him over to Eli and tell him to give the toy back to Eli...he has finally gotten to a point that he just holds out the toy and moves on with his playing! Like it doesn't bother him that he has to give it back..

Eli is not that great, yet.  He wants what he wants....  we will keep working :)

 

It was SUPER warm out on Saturday, so we took the boys to the park!!

Eli is quite the monkey-- he succesfully climbed to the top of the slide while neither hubby nor I were looking!

 

 

After the gorgeous weather,

We got a CRAZY snow storm this week! Sunday night into Monday, we got close to 12" at our house!

I so badly wanted to take the boys out in the snow, but really...who wants to spend 1 hour dressing 2 little boys up- just for them to get stuck in the snow, fall over and cry because they are cold and can't move... (And we never even bought them snow gear!)

So, being a smart mommy, I brought the snow to them!!

 

We played in the 70degree house and only had to put gloves on!

Talk about a good 30 minutes of pure entertainment  :)

 

Then 2 days later, it was 40+ degrees outside! So we took our 'snow play' outside!

 

 

 

Tomorrow I get to visit our cousin's 3 kiddos!

I'm so excited to see them all!
Thankfully it is going to be PERFECT outdoor weather!

 

Busy Easter weekend coming up! Enjoy!

 

<3

 

 

 

 

 



Homemade Goodies and More new milestones!

It seems as though the excitement of growing kids never ends!

 

This week's milestone::  MOLARS!

 

That's right! They each have 1 molar finally in!

 

1st it was Blake that went through the fever, sleepless nights, no eating- it went on for 4-5days... now it's Eli's turn!

The downfall of having twins....a bad thing will hit one baby- and by the time you are FINALLY over it, it starts ALL OVER again with the other! No breaks... 

And as a parent, you just feel awful. Eli looks so mierable.

Along with their physical growth, it seems like they  are growing leaps and bounds mentally!

I started unload the dishwasher earlier this week, and both boys came up and started messing with the dishes... I got so nervous they would start throwing dishes so I tried to rush what I was doing..
Next thing I know, Eli starts handing me the plates as he picks them up!
So, I praise him and go over-the-top saying what a Big Boy he is and how proud of him I am!
Blake hears me praise Eli, so he follows suit and starts handing me all the dishes he picks up too!

I couldn't believe it!  My two little boys helped me unload the entire dishwasher and had fun doing it!!

Then, today, I wanted to start a load of laundry.  So all three of us go into the laundry room, and I tell them how i'm loading the clothes into the washer-
Well, Eli takes it upon himself to start picking up 1 dirty item at a time and putting it into the dryer. After he puts the item in the dryer, he shuts the door. 
Then he opens the door and adds another item to the dryer.- this goes on for 4 different clothing items!
My big boy has been watching mommy do a lot of laundry apparently ;)

Yesterday, the boys both brought hubby and I their winter hats and coats, so we put the hats and coats on the boys- (They love to run around the house with their hats on..)
Next thing I know, Blake is standing at the front door, yelling!

He refused to do ANYTHING until we took them outside!
Well, it was freezing out, so we bundled them up and let them run around and burn off some energy!
 

 

 

 

Such a good daddy, rocking the boys back to sleep  <3

Miss Estella came into the world this week!!!

Hubby and I went to the hospital to see the new mommy & daddy and meet Stella!

What a doll! I can't wait to baby sit!!

 

 

My sweet boys love each other <3

 

 

Well, I've been wanted to try to make a few recipes, and I was able to do it this week!

I have been obsessed with chocolate milk in the mornings. I love it! And I love letting the boys take a few sips from it too :)

But, we ran out of chocolate syrup a while ago, and I'm too cheap to buy more.

 

So, thanks to Pinterest, I found a recipe!

I was so excited about it, because I hate the store bought syrup-- who knows what those chemicals are that are in it!!

**I'm not claiming this is healty by any means- but it is cheap, easy and you know all the ingredients!**

Homemade-Chemical free- Chocolate Syrup!

 

1 1/4 cup Sugar

1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 cup Water

1/4 tsp Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla extract

 

In a saucepan, whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder until most of the lumps are out.

Add in the water.

Heat on medium-high and whisk often.
Bring the mixture to a boil and let boil for 4-5 more minutes. Until the chocolate starts to thicken.

Add the salt.

Take off the heat and mix in the vanilla.

 

That's it!!

I kept mine in a ball jar- but a squeeze bottle would be even better!

Use within 1 week.

 

 

It's so perfect!!!

 

 

Also,  I have been wanting to make my own Hummus for a long time, but always afraid to!

We love hummus and have always bought it, so I finally got the nerve to test a recipe!

 

Homemade Hummus

 

 

1 can garbanzo beans(chickpeas)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon cumin

 

1 teaspoon garlic powder

 

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

 

Blend together in a food processor.

 

So yummy!

 

Enjoy and Happy Monday!!

 

<3

 



Boys will be Boys

 

This has been a really laid back week.

We haven't gone anywhere or done anything!

 

There is big news on my side-- I started a part-time job!!

It's a cake decorator job- and I get to pick my hours/days and make my own schedule! I just text my boss to see when our backup is getting low or if we have orders, and I come in to work according to the needs!

It's so great to find a job that can be flexible with me being a stay-at-home mom and also with Brad's on-call work schedule!

 

 

Other Big news--

 

Blake and Eli's new glasses came in!!!

 

Blake was keeping the same Dark Gray frames, but new lenses

Eli got new frames and new lenses!

 

They haven't been wearing their glasses for 1 week- their old prescriptions were so strong, that I was afraid it would give them headaches to wear them.

 

 

So..Who's Who??

 

 

These boys are CRAZY now!

We never thought that this stage would come so fast.

 

Our Vocabulary for a 13month old:::

-No

-Don't touch that

-What did mommy say

-Didn't you just hear what mommy said to Eli

-No,No

-Ouchy

-Do you want to get a time-out

 

hahaha  They are into EVERYTHING!!!!

 

They climb on everything, touch everything, pull everything, throw everything, pull everything....

SO funny and SO exhausting.

 

Finding new things for them to do, to exhaust energy is difficult! You want them to burn energy and have fun, without them getting out of control.

Let's just say I can't WAIT for this summer!!

We can get out of the house! Run around the back yard, jump in the kiddie pool, play in sand...

CAN'T.  WAIT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also have Molar teeth coming in!

Which is exciting in the way of misery.

Blake has been waking up around 4:30-5am crying...the only way to calm him down is to change his diaper and put orajel on his gums... and they don't even feel Close to pushing through yet!

Should be a long next few months with these teeth.

 

<3

 



Seeing Clearer!

Another big week has ended at our house!

 

The boys are officially 13 months old! Hard to believe!

 

It is so amazing listening to them learn to talk. Probably one of the best parts so far! They are learning to use different tones for different words and sounds. It's so cute!

 

Yesterday, March 1st, was our LAST DAY ON FORMULA!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I cannot express to you what an amazing feeling it is!

 

The only way you could understand, is if you were having to mix formula for multiples.

 

Making up 12 bottles every night in the beginning, then going down to 8 bottles every night, then working our way down to 4 every night ( I say every night, cause it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to keep up during the day with mixing the formula, while you are tending to 2 babies)

So today is our first full day on Whole milk!

 

So far, so good. We have been adding the milk into their formula for a while now, to get their little bodies used to it.

 

It is such a relief not having to scoop, measure, shake...repeat.  :D

 

Other big news this week::

 

We had our Riley visit for another check up on the boys' eyes!

 

Going in to this appointment, I had it in my mind to mention to the doctor about how much they are pulling their glasses off their faces now.

I wasn't sure if it was just because they are older now (and smarter!) and know how to take them off, or if their prescription wasn't quite right anymore --

So, I brought it up- 

the doctor thought it was maybe a little early to be needing new prescriptions (it's only been 6 months!)

But, she wanted to dilate their eyes and check just to make sure!

 

Turns out-- I was right!

 

They DEFINITELY needed new prescriptions!

 

*I am in no way an expert on glasses/vision- so I'm going to say a few things that I don't even know what they mean!*

 

Eli's vision was at a -9  ::this is what is current prescription is based on

Blake's vision was at a -7  ::again, his current prescription

 

NOW:

Eli's vision is at a -6

Blake's vision is at a -5

 

Apparently this is a HUGE decrease in the pressure in their eyes and it all means that their vision is improving Dramatically!

Faster than the doctors could have hoped!

 

She also said that their optic nerves are looking wonderful.

After this visit, we will go back in 4 months now, and if everything is still improving as well and as fast as it is right now, then we will only have to go in 2times a year!!

 

We ordered both of the boys' new glasses prescriptions- but we also ordered Eli some new frames :)

 

I can't wait to see them on him, and see everyone else's reactions!!

 

Boys driving their cars at the doctor!

 

We have also had some fun this week!!

 

We made a HUGE moutain out of our couch cushins! They had so much fun climbing it! When they got to the top, they were so happy!!

We "painted" with edible paint!

**Mommy just mixed some food coloring into applesauce**

they had so much fun!!

 

 

 

 

 

And, they helped mommy make some pizza dough!!

Eli was so scared of the mixer at first, but they were having a blast watching it go 'roud and 'round!

 

Yesterday, we had another awesome play-date with Miss Maylee!

I love that little girl as if she were my own daughter.

She is so incredibly smart!

 

 

 

 <3