Papa the Old Guy

Today, we took a bike ride down the street because it was so beautiful outside.  We got down to the tree at the corner (some kind of nut tree - not acorns) and Finn yells, "LOOK MOM!  BUTT GUYS!  LOOK AT ALL THE BUTT GUYS!"  And I realized that he was trying to say "BUCKEYES".  Made my whole day.

Me: Am I a boy or a girl?
Mitch: A girl.
Me: Is auntie a boy or a girl?
Mitch: A girl.
Me: Is papa a boy or a girl?
Mitch: Oh.  Papa?  He a old guy.

Mitch says "morer" instead of more and sometimes subs in "mucher".  He calls hockey pucks "hockey puckers".  If I walk too far ahead of him when we're on a walk, he screams, "CATCH UP WITH ME!"  He's very upset when people go places or do things without him.  And is often yelling, "don't go without me!" or "wait for me!"

Finn and Drew went to a hockey game tonight and Finn called me from the car on the way home.  He told me every last detail of what happened at the game, including eating kit kats, hotdogs, pretzels, and M&Ms (nice job Drew :)  and how "daddy went to the bathroom, like a million times" and how since he ate so many treats, he's going to need to eat something healthy like fruit as soon as he gets home.

First Skate of the Year!

Here are some pics of our first skate of the year on our rink in the backyard - it looks great and the boys had a blast - until they made a huge crack in the ice (guess it wasn't totally frozen yet...oops).  

Sledding in the backyard

Here are some pics of Drew and the boys sledding down the back hill into the ravine - anyone who's seen it knows it's a super steep hill - but this didn't stop them.  They had made their maiden voyage back there the day before, but I was on the couch with the flu and missed it.  Drew said he had never heard them laugh so hard as when they flew down the hill for the first time.  By the time I took these pics, it was old news - they were already hardened mountain climbers :)

I love the look on their faces here - the cold was starting to set in :)

I like this one because it looks like Drew just left Finn for dead :)

Happy New Years!

I think the boys were more excited about New Years Eve than they were about Christmas this year.  They talked about it and planned for it for days ahead of time (especially Finn).  He wanted decorations, confetti, and all kinds of festivities.  We cut up our own confetti, made New Years crowns, and hung streamers all over the place.  We blew up tons of balloons and kicked them and threw them around for hours.  Then came the tantrums, the meltdowns, and all kinds of other misery.  I don't know what it was, but he turned into a little monster (tired maybe?  too much holiday merriment?)  Anyway, by the end of the night he was crying, I was crying, and we were all ready for bed WAAAAAAY before midnight.  Here are some pictures from before things went bad and I put the camera away :)

I think this one is my favorite...captures the energy of the confetti-throwing frenzy that was happening.  Love that Mitchie is just a blur :)  For about a half hour earlier in the day (before we had even made the confetti), he stood in the kitchen throwing balloons around yelling, "CONFETTI! CONFETTI!  CONFETTI!"

Here's his chubby little hand playing trains :)

Finn and Mitch

I feel like I haven't written much lately about the boys' interests and funny things they say.  And I hate when I don't write things down right away, because I always forget their best material :)  Mitch LOVES to be roughed up at bedtime - he likes me to bounce him around in his crib, roll him like crazy from side to side and then he says "please hide me".  This is my cue that he is ready to go to sleep and means that he wants me to put his blanket on him and then pile all of his stuffed animals (6 or 7 of them) on top of his head, legs, and back so you can't see him.  No matter how much I rough house him before bed, he's always the first one asleep without a peep.  He knows when he's tuckered out.  We read two books in Finn's room together in Finn's bed and then Mitch jumps down off the bed and says, "Goodnight Finn, I love you!"  He runs off into his room and likes me to sing "Daisy, Daisy" while pedaling his feet like he's on a bicycle built for two.  He knows all the words!  Favorite phrases lately: whenever something disappointing happens: "Not again!" (even if it's something that's never happened before)  "That's a bummer!"   or  "That's sad business!"  He's obsessed with pretending that he's a kitty.  Yesterday he told me his kitty name was "Sarro" (like sparrow without the p).  He loves to cuddle and will say: "mom!  Let's cuddle!  Get the blanket!" then he'll run up to the couch and snuggle in, saying "oooh!  that feels good!"  There has been lots of arguing going on between the boys.  Usually back and forth over whose car won a race (this happens a thousand times a day and always ends in Mitch screaming and crying - he has a HUGE temper).  During his songs at the school Christmas performance, Mitch strutted out onto the stage without a care in the world and sang his song with all the hand motions.  Then they got to dance on stage to Rudolph while holding jingle bells.  It was the funniest thing I've ever seen!  He was the only kid jumping around and dancing like crazy.  He was obsessed with Christmas movies this year, especially his favorite, "Crosty" the Snowman.  :)  As he opened each of his presents this year he would be so into it and surprised and would say quietly or whisper, "OH MY GOD!" over and over.  He's still doing this every time he gets out certain toys he got for Christmas.

As they have been since they were born, the boys couldn't be more different from one another.  Finn is much more meticulous and precise than Mitch, paying attention to all the details and not missing one word you say.  He remembers EVERYTHING so we have to be careful about telling him about plans ahead of time in case things don't pan out as expected.  He likes to know the plan and schedule ahead of time or else he can get really grumpy and out of sorts (sound like anyone else you know?  Like both of his parents maybe?)  Finn is in a huge growth spurt right now and is always hungry.  He wakes up super early in the morning (sometimes before 6am) I think partly because he's hungry.  His latest phrase is "that's just not my thing".  For example, I'll say, "Finn, are you hungry for a waffle?"  and he'll say, "No mom, waffles just aren't my thing."  He's been asking us a lot if we can just stay at home - I think he's been overwhelmed by all the running around for the holidays.  At one point a week or so before Christmas, he had a full breakdown over the fact that we were "never at home anymore".  This was my cue to slow things down and cut out any obligations that weren't necessary, which was good for all of us.

His favorite thing is to stay in his jammies all day and just play here with us.  The caveat: he needs someone to be playing with him ALL THE TIME.  I'm not exaggerating.  He cannot entertain himself for even 30 seconds.  It's partly a control thing, him just wanting to see if he can get our attention away from whatever we're doing at the time.  But I think it's also just how his little mind works.  I think he's so inquisitive and curious that he needs someone else helping him along and answering all of the questions that develop during his unbelievably imaginative play scenarios (e.g. sailing a boat to Canada and running into some bears who are picking at the garbage in the dump, playing "serious bad guys", where we have to chase each other around with our "serious" faces on :)  He cracks me up, but I will admit that I get a little exhausted with things like the pretend sick polar bear veterinary clinic (no joke).  So we're working on setting the timer for 30 minutes where he gets my undivided attention and then 30 minutes where I get a break and he has to find  something to do by himself.  The other day, I heard him say, "Come on Mitchie, let's go play independently." :)  I think he's getting it.  He has been really trying to be nicer to Mitch too lately - letting him win races or arguments just to be the "bigger person" and encouraging him when they're playing together.  The other day they were having running races and I could see that Finn was letting Mitch win.  I heard him saying, "Good job buddy!  You won that one!" He continues to be obsessed with hockey (especially old fashioned Canadian players like Maurice Richard), sailing adventures (the movie The Dove and he and Drew are reading the book "Tinkerbelle" about a guy who sails from Massachusetts to England, Arctic explorers/climbers (loves the kids' book about Shackleton that Drew got him).  He's just a generally quirky guy with quirky interests :)