20 Months

I find it so hard to believe that in four days my identical twin baby boys are going to be 20 months old! Many parents of grown children have often told us how the years just flew by in the blink of an eye, and I am beginning to understand exactly what they mean.

It seems like only yesterday we were struggling to keep two little preemie boys awake for a full feeding by putting a cold washcloth on their toes or stripping them down to their little diapers just to get them to drink before zonking out again.

Now they are talking, dancing, spinning, climbing, kissing, running, temper tantrum throwing little toddler boys!

I am loving this stage and I enjoy every day wondering what in the world they are going to do or say next! There is never a dull moment in this house when those two are present!

They have gotten so used to me being on bed rest now. Every time they are asked if they want to go to the car, or swing, or swim, or go play outside they always turn to me first, wave, and say "bye!" They will then run over and give me a big smooch before going "down, down, down" the stairs! Melts my heart!

They are talking so much now and even putting a few mini-sentences together. Every day we are hearing new words and they repeat most every thing we say. We need to watch that! We are even starting to spell out many words now because they understand way too much! I just can't believe what little sponges they are right now and how they love to learn, explore, and just soak up knowledge! They know many of their body parts, they are learning to count, they can stack blocks up to five or six high, they can recognize their colors, and their vocabulary is just exploding! We are so blessed to see these preemie boys just thriving like their NICU doctor said they would!

Here are a few cute stories that I don't want to forget:

Grayson:

• This little boy loves his little pool. He could spend the entire day splashing in it if given the opportunity. The other day after dinner Chris and I were cleaning up. Grayson comes running in after digging through his drawers and holds up his swimming trunks. "Poo? Poo?" he asked.
• That same night while swimming in the pool we told the boys that it was time to come inside, get dried off, and get our pajamas on and ready for bed. Grayson looked down at the water, waved, and said "Bye-bye poo!" He then stepped right out and wrapped himself in to his towel. Oh so precious!
• A couple nights ago, after toys were cleaned up, diapers were changed, and pajamas were put on it was time for the boys nightly cup of milk. (Yes, they still both drink a cup of warm milk at bed. We asked the Dr. about when we should possibly stop this part of their evening routine, and he said that if we want to mess with their bedtime routine we do it at our own risk! He said why mess with a good thing...and so we don't!) Anyhow, I was holding Ethan up on the couch and Chris picked up Grayson. We usually hold a boy while they calm down and drink. Typically they love this part of the evening and settle right down in our arms...but not that night! Grayson started bucking around, crying, kicking, hitting, swatting at his cup. He did not want to sit still! We looked at each other trying to make sense of what in the world was making him so upset! We tried everything to calm him down and get him to settle but he was having none of it! I finally told Chris to try to set him next to me on the couch. As soon as Chris placed him next to me he let out a deep sigh, rested his head against my arm, picked up his cup, and quietly drank his milk down without incident! Little stinker! We are entering a whole new chapter of parenting when it comes to dealing with toddler tantrums!

Ethan

• Ethan has really been getting in to his barn and animals lately. He loves to study the animals, make them "eat" the food in the barn, and make all their noises as he plays with them. It is so cute to see him running his little horse around saying "neigh, neigh, neigh."
• The other day Pop (Chris's dad) was over here helping us with the boys. The boys were sitting up on his lap while he sang and read to them. They love their Pop. In the meantime I was in the kitchen eating some lunch after they were done with theirs and I kept seeing these little eyes peering at me over the top of Pop's stomach. Pretty soon I heard Ethan say "down, down" and I knew he was on his way to the kitchen to come and mooch a few bites off of Mommy. He got as far as the kitchen doorway when he heard bath water start to run from the back of the house indicating that it was time to get clean! He looked at me, looked down the hallway, looked at me, looked down the hallway....then he held up his hand, waved at me, said "Bye!" and off he ran to get his bath! Bath time won that round!
• Ethan has been very concerned in his pool lately about bees. With every little speck of dust and dirt he points to it, looks at us with this concerned look on his face, and says "Bee? Bee?" We don't know where this fear started, but we have to keep convincing him time and time again that he's okay and the dirt won't hurt him! Last night while he was swimming there really was a bee flying around overhead. He sure was studying that guy!

Grayson

Ethan

I just love these boys more than words could ever express. I love the energy and joy they bring in to this home, and they sure do keep us on our toes! It truly is hard to imagine what life was like without them anymore! I can't wait to see them interact with their baby sister here soon.

What an incredibly busy, blessed life we lead! We are thankful!