Talking the talk

We are officially a family of chatterboxes. Both babies now are saying many, many things. Colin still is somewhat hard to understand if you're not part of the family, but his vocabulary has exploded. And, even more importantly, he now is starting to actually use his words to communicate with us. 

Veronica has moved into the stage of chattering away to herself, complete with all of the inflections and pauses that a “real” conversation would have. It’s fun (and funny) to listen to her go. I sometimes wonder if she thinks she’s really talking to one of us, or if she is just enjoying the sound of her voice. It is clear, though, that she is very proud of her ability to communicate. 

Both babies have mastered the names of their body parts, and enjoy playing the “name that part” game: “Colin, where is your … knee? Where is your … nose?” Veronica will sit down next to you and just run through the entire list: legs, arms, toes, feet, hands, belly, bottom, hair, teeth, ears … you get the picture. 

Veronica is consistently using two-word sentences, and has even branched into the world of three-word sentences a couple of times (“Uh-oh, baby up” and “Daddy, jacket please” are two she has used). Colin, on the other hand, is really focused on opposites; particularly “on” and “off” with the lights. 

We walk past our next door neighbors' house: “Off. Off,” says Colin, stopping and pointing at the porch light. On we move to the next house: “Off. Off.” Looking ahead, he spots a house with the light “On! On!” We pick up the pace to get to the light, then stop again. We have a lot of lights in our neighborhood. Which makes walks very long, and very slow. 

But he is walking, and talking, so I really have nothing to complain about. Life is good.

On the same level

Colin’s walking has just taken off. He now is confident enough to walk without pushing anything in front of him, and at the end of last week, he started to stand up by himself in the middle of the room (without pulling up on something). 

He also now is primarily walking when we’re outside the house (he still crawls inside fairly often) and is doing really well with turns, slowing down and stopping without falling. It’s quite amazing to see him, really. After all, it was only a few weeks ago that I was wondering if he ever was going to get it figured out. And now he’s practically running.

He and Veronica seem to be enjoying being on the same “level” now for playing. They play a game of chase in which Colin chases Veronica around — looking somewhat like a Zombie, since he still holds his arms in front of him for balance — while she runs away squealing. Then, when he catches her, they both crack up. It’s very cute. 

 
Ironically, as his walking has improved, Colin’s speech has exploded as well. He is adding new words pretty much every day, and is getting better about using his words when he wants something. He continues to surprise me when he points out something new by name. 

Veronica also continues to expand her vocabulary, and has gotten to the stage (which I love) where she chatters away as if she’s deep in conversation with someone. Only she’s speaking gibberish and is by herself. I think it’s so fun to watch and listen when they do that.

Veronica also now clearly demonstrates that she is left-handed, much to John’s delight. He’s been hoping at least one of the kids would be. And since right now Veronica shows the most interest in sports — especially those involving balls — John will be able to teach her how to throw and so on quite easily.

I’m hoping to get pictures and stories from Easter posted soon. I’ll just say the twins think hunting for eggs is great fun. We had a blast. 

Of Bikes and Babies

With spring (and sometimes summer) having arrived so early here (at least for now), we have been able to spend a lot of time outside. The garden is in full swing, the neighbors all have emerged from hibernation and the roving gang of kids has been set free from their winter confines. So of course, our thoughts have turned once more to biking.

Our spring garden, as photographed by Ethan.

We love our tulips.

I so desperately wanted to be able to start doing family bike rides last summer. But, alas, Colin wasn’t big enough (or strong enough) to wear a bike helmet. In fact, at 21 pounds, he is just not getting big enough for most helmets. So we had to wait. And realistically, we probably would only have been able to squeeze in a few rides, given everything else that we had going on. 

This year, however, I am determined that we will be biking. I am working to get back into biking shape so I can start riding to work again, Ethan has been out riding his bike again (and is getting used to riding on the streets with me so we can make some of our local runs that way), and we have managed to find one trike for the twins (I don’t want to buy a new trike, so I’ve been watching craigslist). But we hadn’t been able to squeeze in a trip to the store to get helmets. Until this week.

Finally on Sunday, we make a quick dash to BabiesRUs between lunch and afternoon naps to get the twins their helmets (and diapers, and wipes, and … ). It probably was not the best choice of timing, or the place with the most options, but it was close. So we went. And we managed to find two helmets that fit (Veronica) and almost fit (Colin). 

Veronica was very excited, and kept repeating “bike, bike” while she was carrying her helmet. Colin was more interested in trying to climb onto all of the shelves, and to figure out how to make the motorized motorbike work. While we were there, I also had Veronica pick out her first baby doll, and we got Colin his own doll stroller so they would stop fighting over the one John bought for Veronica a while ago. 

Biker baby ready to roll.

We weren’t able to actually get out on the trike on Sunday, but I took a vacation day on Monday and after breakfast we decided to work on getting the helmets adjusted for a better fit. Colin will have to wear a hat under his for now — his head is still too little for it to fit snugly. (I may actually head to the bike store to see if they have a better selection, and possibly a helmet with a smaller circumference.) As soon as she saw her helmet, Veronica was excited and took up the chant on “bike, bike” again. Colin … well I wish I had thought to bring the camera up before we started. I could have taken a screaming baby in the bike helmet picture to match the one we have of Ethan from all those years ago.

So Veronica, Ethan and I set out on a neighborhood bike ride (okay, I had to walk so I could push Veronica’s bike). She was very happy to be decked out in her new helmet, Colin’s fleece and her [sun]glasses. (Because we don’t go very many places without the glasses now.)

The baby was a big hit too, although apparently I should have bought one for Colin as well. I didn’t get one for him originally, not because he is a boy and I don’t think boys should have dolls (that’s certainly not my opinion), but because he hadn’t shown a lot of inclination to play with the one doll we have. Or at least, that’s what I thought. However, he was all over Veronica’s baby, much to her dismay, giving it lots of kisses and hugs and trying to put the baby’s pacifier in her mouth. And thinking back, I guess he does do all those things with the stuffed animals — I just think of stuffed animals as totally different than dolls because to me, when I was a kid, they were. 

So, again to minimize fights, I think we may be making another trip to the store so Colin can pick out a baby of his own. But in the mean time, they seem to be doing better with sharing this one.

Baby didn’t want to put her book down when it was time to go outside.