Anderson's Turn

Time for a post that is all about cuddle bug. Anderson is a lover and flirt, there is no way around that. He enjoys cuddling, kisses, and hugs....and he wants them often! Whenever we take him out of his crib he squeezes us tight around the neck and gives us a big hug. He will put his arms around Jake, go cheek to cheek with him and say "awww". Out in public Anderson is always on the hunt for someone to engage with. He waves and smiles at strangers always hoping someone will give him some attention and tell him what a cutie pie he is. He eats it all up and loves every minute of it.

Anderson loves his books. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is currently his favorite book. I have showed him how to point to all the animals and likes to do that over and over again. He loves magazines that that mailman brings, especially the ones with babies in them. Anderson doesn't like to play alone like Jake does. He prefers to have someone with him, talking to him and playing with him. If he is feeling neglected well then WATCH OUT! He has mastered how to express himself without talking. He can pitch a fit like no one's business. If I am folding towels, eating, or trying to do something else besides tend to Anderson he will sabotage it to the best of his ability. He will unfold my towels, climb on my lap and demand my attention. Much like Jake's begging for scraps, it's annoyingly cute as well.

Anderson is a very fast learner. He pretends to talk on the phone, knows where his head and sometimes his nose is, plays pat a cake, waves, gives eskimo kisses, claps, dances and does "so big". He likes to put blocks in their container when I show him the correct shape hole to use. He isn't as big of an eater as his brother. He is a little more finicky. He LOVES his yogurt, fruit grain bars and could eat an entire container of gerber puffs if you let him.

Anderson is a dream when it comes to sleep. He loves to sleep...no joke! He gets excited about going in his crib, squeezing his bear and settling in to snooze. He rarely fusses, naps twice a day for about an hour and a half and sleeps from 6 to 6 like Jake. He is a sweet baby with a big, big heart!

SO BIG!

The boys are showing me just how big they are during dinnertime.

Gettin Crazy at the Library

Sleeping Angel

Anderson playing with his puzzle

Mmmm...carrots

The boys got their first taste of school today, sorta. Uncle Jared and I took the boys to storytime at the library. It was their first experience in a "structured" environment so I was a little nervous about how they might cooperate. I'm happy to say they exceeded my expectations! When we first arrived Anderson and Jake were able to look at books, sit at tables made just for them and socialize with the other babies. They were the youngest in the 12-24 month group, most of the babes were 15-18 months old.

When it was time for circle time the boys sat on our laps, turned the pages of their book as the storyteller read and listened quietly. Then the real fun started....we sang songs, watched a finger puppet story, clapped our hands and for the big finale there were bubbles. The storyteller had a little machine that made lots and lots of bubbles and Anderson and Jake crawled all around trying to touch and pop them. Many of the songs that were sung were ones I sing to them at home so it was great that they were already familiar with them. You could see in their little faces that they were having such a good time. It was a very special experience for me, I just wish Kevin had been there to share it with us.

Jake Thomas

Time for a post that's all about Jake Thomas. Jake's favorites right now are food and toys. Little man Jake LOVES his toys and he can endlessly play with them. When we get him from his crib in the morning and bring him out into the living room he crawls right over to his toys and begins to play. He likes books, cars, his pretend laptop, and his little people toys. He is a master at putting blocks in their container, turning the pages of a book and sending the cars down the track.

Meal time is a happy time for Jake. He will gladly eat whatever is placed in front of him and still loves to eat his baby food. He will eat all the finger food I give him and still follow it up with two jars of baby food. When it is time for Mommy and Daddy to eat, Jake will beg for food like a little dog. He reaches for our plates or trys to pull me by my shirt towards him all the while saying mmm...mmmm...mmm. Its annoyingly adorable.

He's not one for napping, at least not until he has driven Mommy to the brink of her sanity...then he finally falls asleep. He will usually engage me in a 30-60 minute game of throwing his binky and monkey out of his crib, banging his binky on the wall, or having his own private fit of giggles for no apparent reason. Thankfully though he never pulls those antics at night, he always lays down like a good boy and goes to sleep. He sleeps from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m and usually naps for 1-2 hours a day.

He often likes to look out the window to see what is happening outside. He will pull himself up and put his hands on the glass and bang away. He loves baths in the big tub, when he hears the water turning on he makes a b-line towards the bathroom. He reaches in to touch the water as it comes out of the spicket and giggles in delight. And he's a splasher, he splashes like it's his job. He enjoys car rides and listening to his Sesame Street CD. Jake is still a sensitive guy to loud noises or sudden movements but he is by no means a difficult baby. He is quite easy going, happy to play by himself and very independent. He can tell you what a dog or cow says, wave bye bye, send kisses and play "SO BIG". He says Mama, Dada, toot toot, and recently started repeating "don't touch" when he hears Mommy say it. Jake is just as sweet as they make them.

Snip, Sniff

Bring on the haircuts!

Jakers

Anders

Anderson at lunch sportin his new do.

Messy faced Jake feeling like a new man.

My babies are turning into mini-toddlers...sniff, sniff. We took them for a haircut today and they did so well. Curious of the snipping happening around their ears but cooperative nonetheless. All it took was some bribery...balloons and puffs. The hair cut ladies were very nice to us and didn't make us feel like crazy overbearing parents as we snapped pictures and videos the whole time. They even gave us keepsake cards with the boys hair inside.

Okay, this isn't funny anymore

Let's see, 2 weeks ago on Monday Kevin came down with the stomach flu. Two days later Jake got a severe cold/croup, two days after that Anderson came down with the same thing. Since then they have made slow improvement but still have runny noses and coughs. This past Friday Kevin came down with the same severe cold as the boys and wouldn't you know it on Monday I got the stomach flu! It's not done just yet...oh no! Today Anderson has thrown up twice! I put the call in to Uncle Jared to come and save the day because I still feel like garbage but dammit he's sick too! This is insane...the McBrides were all sick last week, my parents are both currently sick and Kevin's poor Mom who has helped us out the past two days since I came down with the stomach flu will probably end up sick on the vacation she is about to leave on. So sorry Grandma, hope that doesn't happen!

Sunday pics

Booger Monster

Boogie Monster

Playing their favorite game where the balls spin round and round.

The aftermath of a day spent inside playing.

Brrrrr, it's cold outside! The single digit temps kept us in the house today. Much too cold for tiny fingers, toes and fat cheeks. We had big plans to take a mall trip but decided to stay in since the boys are still recovering from their awful colds. Their noses haven't stopped running, its just a constant drip of icky boogers. And the worst part is the little twin boogers don't want to have their boogers wiped. They fight us, run away and/or start screaming their heads off. It's really quite a lovely production they put on.

Tomorrow Kevin has the day off of work for MLK Day and I am so happy! A day with Kevin home is like a vacation day for me. I get to experience the luxury of dumping half the workload on him. Today Anderson really pushed us to our limits with his cranky behavior and Kevin was clearly frustrated and at his witts end. Makes me feel a little less crazy to see someone else pull their hair out.

Like Father like Sons

Frat boy...Anderson James

Wing man...Jake Thomas

Blueberry hysteria

All gone but not all done.

Kevin is a big fan of blueberries. He particulary likes to eat them frozen. We recently bought a three pound bag of blueberries for Kevin but it's looking like he is going to have to share. I made some blueberry french toast bake today and gave the boys some blueberries. I sat Jake down first and gave him a pretty generous helping of blueberries. I immediately went to get Anderson and noticed he had a stinky diaper so I was going to have to change him before he could eat. It maybe took me 3 minutes. I took Anderson into the kitchen, looked down at Jake and saw the blueberries were gone! I checked the floor because that is were fifty percent of the food lands but to my surprise not a single blueberry hit the floor. Little Jake had eaten all his blueberries in three minutes flat. Anderson did not disapoint either. Once he got a taste of those berries there was no stopping him.

Tuesday Surprise

Jake is feeling much better!

Anderson is still a little cranky.

Chasing after Momma

Surprise! We got mail from our friends in S. Carolina...Wyatt and Callie!

A book with my very own name in it...thanks fellow twinkies!

7 days and counting..

My poor bubbies....still congested and coughing. No fevers which is good but not sleeping or eating well at all. Jake wants nothing to do with food, which is a strange concept to process, since he is our little eater. Anderson is hanging in there, a little tired out but not nearly as wiped out as his brother. He seems to have enough energy to bite. Today he bit Jake, Kevin and myself. I took the hardest hit with a bite to the leg that actually broke skin. It is obvious that he really has no idea he is doing anything wrong. We firmly told him "no" when he bit Jake and Kevin and of course he reacted with a smile and giggle. After he bit me (hard enough for me to scream out) I picked him up and placed him across the room away from us in sort of a timeout. I'm pretty sure he got the message that time. He was soooo upset that Mommy was unhappy with him. He wailed and cried and crawled over to me and sobbed at my feet.

After teaching for almost 10 years I've seen my share of tears shed from children who have been disciplined and actually had no trouble holding my ground. I was a tough cookie. But today the ice on my heart melted. It is so different when it is your own child. I had to pick him up. I had to give him reassuring hugs and kisses. I had to tell him it was okay. I had to forgive and forget.... and I'm not making any apologies for it either.

6 days since it started and still sick..

Peek a boo
We love our penguin towels!

Yummy eggs and toast

Jake Thomas

Another hell of a day around these parts. Anderson woke up congested and coughing but no fever as of yet. Both little stinkers refused to take a morning nap but definitely needed one! When afternoon rolled around they both went down for naps and a half hour into it the dang cable guy showed up and unfortunately had no idea what an "inside voice" was. They both started crying from waking due to pure exhaustion and the cable guy continued to make loud phone calls, slam our doors, and yell from across the house. As you can imagine the boys were unable to nap.

So to top things off tonight after putting them to bed I hear Anderson fussing and whining in his crib. I go in to check on him and smell this awful stomach turning smell. The poor bubbie had thrown up everywhere. His lovey was covered in yuck, his bedding was soiled and his jammies weren't spared either. So out he came while I changed his bedding and jammies. He seemed unaffected by it all which I guess is good. Right now I've got his monitor cranked listening for any little sound out of the ordinary. Fingers crossed that we've now seen the worse of it.

One Year Well Check

It's been a long week here in the Edgar household. Kevin was completely out of commission for two days with the stomach flu and on Wednesday little Jake woke up from his afternoon nap with a fever. It seemed like his congestion, fever and cough came out of nowhere. He went to nap healthy and woke up a very sick little guy. He was pretty miserable on Thursday and completely annoyed with his brother. Anderson wanted to play and Jake just wanted to be left alone so the day was spent with Mommy peeling Anderson off of Jake. Every little thing Anderson did made Jake cry and unfortunately Anderson liked the reaction he was getting from Jake whether it was negative or not.

Today Jake started to feel better. He and Anderson were scheduled for their one year well visit this morning so off to the dr's we went....for a 8 a.m. appointment I might add. The dr. said Jake's lungs sounded clear and his ears looked good so we were relieved at that. The boys are growing well, they are in the 75th percentile for height and weight. Anderson was 22lbs. 14ounces and Jake was 23lbs. 6ounces. We were kinda surprised that they hadn't gained more than that but they are much more mobile these days and hardly sit still for longer than a minute so it looks like they are burning a lot of calories. Neither one cried when they were poked for a blood sample to check their iron levels and considering we were in a tiny 5x8 room for an hour and a half with them they were pretty cooperative.

Fun with a box

Tight Fit

Jake takes a turn as Anderson tried to close him in.

Hi there.

Sweetie Pies

We are finally getting around to opening some Christmas gifts and unpacking their contents. Finding room for all the new stuff has been a challenge. However the boys are loving every minute of exploring the new boxes. Tonight they helped me unpack my new pyrex and made good use of the empty box.

Poor Daddy came down with the stomach flu yesterday so we are all on baited breath waiting to see who it might strike next. Claire had it too so I'm convinced someone brought it to the birthday party. So far so good with the boys. There is no sign of anything sinister. I, on the other hand, feel paranoid after last February's hospital stay for the "maybe its rotavirus, maybe it's an infection from surgery" debacle I experienced. I'm almost positive that I had the rotavirus stomach flu and it was one of the worst experiences ever! So naturally I've been microanalyzing every little symptom I may or may not be having. In the meantime I am fumigating the entire house by wiping down everything with my handy antibacterial clorox wipes.

Make a postcard - it's easy!

More Birthday Pictures

Playing the wii on the giant screen.

Mike, Kevin, Anderson and Baby Drew.

Jake, Ashley, and Anderson

Jake and Baby Marcus

Family pic

Coming up for air

The basement party pad.

Awww, sweet little one year olds. Jake (L) Anderson (R)

Singing Happy Birthday.

We did it! Kevin and I actually pulled off a successful kid's birthday party. In the days leading up to it we kept saying we felt too young to be doing such an "adult" thing like planning a birthday party for two babies. Nevermind the fact that 32 is only 4 days away for me. The party went great, we invited around 60 people and we had around 40 come. The menu was pasta, meatballs, cheesy taters, chicken wings, veggies/dip, taco dip, cocktail wieners (gotta have those at a party) cheese and crackers and lots of other yummy snacks. The boys enjoyed sharing their playroom with all the little ones that were there. At one point we had five babies under a year of age, not to mention all the big kids that were there. By 6:00 the boys started to cross over to the "get me outta here" stage and we brought them upstairs, gave them their bottles and off to sleep they went. They were a little cranky this morning but that might have been because we TRIED (unsuccessfully) switching out their morning bottles for a sippy cup...they weren't having it. Better luck next time suckers.

Happy First Birthday Bubbies (Part 2)

Big Boys!

Anderson is signing to Mommy he wants to eat.

Waiting patiently as cousin Claire reads the card.

Sesame Street Garage and tunnels to climb through

Watching the movie in our finally finished basement.

The boys had an exciting first birthday. We met Daddy for lunch and the boys enjoyed a mexican dish...chicken and beans. After lunch we came home for a nap and the McBrides called asking if they could bring pizza over to celebrate with the boys. Anderson and Jake loved having Grant and Claire over for a visit. They watch their cousins with big eyes and laugh at the goofy things they do.

Grant and Claire helped the boys open their gifts and when that was done we all settled in to watch Ratouille on the new home theater. It was the first full length feature film the boys have ever seen and they only saw 20 minutes of it because it was off to bed. Happy First Birthday Anderson and Jake...ilywamhasfeae!