Boys in the Hood

Emil and Colin have been getting taller and looking more like real boys these days.  They have some fun new tricks, too.  Every time I think I've got them figured out, that I'm one step ahead, they show me what a fool I am.

Daddy went hunting for five days, so I tried to keep dinner easy.  The boys love spaghetti, but they can eat macaroni by themselves - voila!  Spaghetti sauce on macaroni noodles!  They ate it, to be sure, but I was cleaning up them and the huge mess they made for over an hour after dinner.  (See the "Happy Halloween" in the background?  It's one of my three Halloween decorations.  I put them up while the boys were napping a few weeks ago.  When Emil got up, he stood right in front of that banner and said, "WOW!"  See?  It's just as good as an eight foot tall grim reaper in the front yard like my neighbor who is celebrating Halloween in style.)

 

I chose this photo even though it's out of focus because Colin is cheesing it.  He's not quite as messy as his brother.  Most of his food somehow ends up in his diaper.  And on the floor.  Colin is great with a spoon as long as the food isn't slippery.

We were at The Disney Store a few months ago and since the boys know Winnie the Pooh, I let them hold some of the soft toys at the store while Bridget tried to make The Hardest Decision of Her Life (what to get for $10 at The Disney Store, natch).  Emil was the one who gave this Pooh Bear a big hug and kiss and it was so cute I decided to buy it.  Since then it has become Colin's constant companion.  Emil has his binky and blankie for bedtime and Colin has his blankie and Pooh Bear.  One of my favorite things about Colin lately is that he will put his clothes in the dirty clothes basket after I change his diaper, start to run out of the room, then come back and give me a kiss.  So sweet.

Awww - I like to stand on my best friend to get a better view, too.   This is what Colin likes to do to the blinds.  I don't care, because he's not doing this:

You are looking at the death of me right now.  Emil scales the kitchen island drawers with his sticky feet and there is nothing I can do to keep him off it.  This is where I prepare the food, where I stand (always stand) to eat my breakfast and lunch, where I put drinks and mail and the groceries when I get back from the store.  Now it's the place I lift Emil B. off of ONE THOUSAND TIMES A DAY.

Sometimes he'll be in this position and put his little hands under his chin and then he says, "Za ZA za za."  I don't know what he's saying.  He's been pointing at letters in our house, on my shirts, on boxes and in books and saying, "J!"  Yesterday he found a letter magnet (the letter "E") and handed it to me, "J!"  Emil is exhausting because he is so smart.  Both boys love to be read to - especially if it's a book about Thomas the Train.  Sometimes I'll catch Colin standing next to the couch silently turning the pages of a book he's put on the cushion.  

I'm sure they're doing more and I just don't realize it's new.  This is probably true of most twins, but when they're around other kids their age they don't seem to mind if toys get snatched from them.  Meh.  They'll just find something else.  On the flip-side, they do think it's okay to take toys from other kids, too.