It's the Same Old Song

Our choir is singing a song this Christmas that incorporates "Of the Father's Love Begotten," a hymn that was most likely written in the 300s. We are talking over 1700 years ago, people! I believe the melody is slightly more recent, perhaps medieval. Wow! I think it's so cool to sing an ancient song that countless generations before me have sung. 

What's the oldest song you know? Historians tell us that the oldest song in the world came from ancient Sumer and is approximately 3,400 years old. I listened to it...not very catchy. But hey, who am I to judge another culture's taste in music?

You probably know Yankee Doodle, and guess what, it's pretty old, too. I mean, not ancient, but old by American standards.

16 Months, Part 2

After I wrote yesterday's post, I realized I'd forgotten to inform the boys' fan club that they have a few more new tricks :)

Ostriching
This kind of looks like they are trying to do headstands. As in, they'll be standing up, then lean down and put their head on the floor. They also put their heads down on the floor when sitting in low little chairs. Invariably, they crack themselves up by doing it.

More Noise
In addition to all the animal noises I already mentioned, "ambulance siren" and "vrooming truck" are also part of their sound repertoire.

Headwear
Not so much hats as just any random fabric - they love to put stuff on their heads, like shirts, blankets, towels. Then they walk/crawl around and giggle. Gibson particularly enjoys blind walking, aka covering his whole head and face then trying to walk around. As you may expect, he usually crashes into something...

16 Months

I haven't done a "monthly" update in awhile so I figured it was about time to record their latest milestones!

Large Motor Skills
-Both boys are walking like pros now! About two weeks ago, Gibson really took off and now likes to walk all over the house. After a slow start to the walking game, Gus is right on his heels. It's so adorable to see them toddling all over the place like real toddlers, haha. They fall over all the time when walking, so they still crawl a lot, too. I'd say it's maybe 30% walking and 70% crawling right now. Maybe 40/60, depends on the day. I need to get them some real shoes so we can try walking outside at the park. Currently they just have soft sole Robeez for wearing in the nursery.

Fine Motor Skills
-They are obsessed with picking up little crumbs or pieces of fuzz they find on the floor. Tiny little things! Then they play with them and try to eat them. I assume this is good for their fine motor skills.
-I try to get them to color with crayons once in awhile, but they aren't too interested in it. I mean, they like to chew on crayons of course. But I don't think they grasp the concept of coloring on paper yet.

Play Time
-They love to put things into containers, like putting a ball into a box and shaking it around. This is supposed to be a developmental milestone, right? Mainly, they seem to find it entertaining.

-Emptying the recycling bin is one of their favorite pastimes. I have to make sure to put any metal and glass directly into the can outside; they have fun with yogurt containers and cardboard.

-Lately they've really gotten into stuffed animals, like hugging them and playing with them. I can see the little wheels turning in their heads as they realize that different toys have different purposes. (Now let's be honest, all toys are useful for whacking your brother, but some of them also have other uses!)

-We are now putting them both in the bath together. (I finally decided they were good enough at sitting still that they weren't too likely to drown.) They splash with enthusiasm and scream when it's time to get out!

Language

-They don't say a whole lot of words yet, just Mama, Dada, dog, ball, banana, and nigh nigh [meaning pacifier]. However, they do make lots of intelligible sounds! They can make noises like meow, woof, howl, moo, and cheep. They also like to make a "blub-blub-blub" noise by strumming their lips with their fingers. We have this musical turtle toy and they will sing along with me when I say "la la la." Otherwise, they communicate their desires by pointing, grunting, and saying "ah ah!"

Eating

-Both boys are doing great drinking from sippy cups. Gus was on a drinking strike for awhile there, so it's nice to see him consuming liquid again.

-They have definitely gotten more picky in the last few months. They won't eat several foods that they used to wolf down, like peaches and pears. But, they're also fairly open to trying new things. I made a dairy-free version of tater tot casserole that they thought was tasty. (I think that milk upsets their tummies, so we're currently avoiding dairy.)
-They have 6 teeth now, 4 on top and 2 on bottom. 

Personalities

-I'm starting to think they might both be extroverts. They are almost always happy when we are out and about, waving at the shoppers in Kroger or random people at the park. They love playing with other kids in the nursery at church. When we just stay home all day and don't go anywhere, they get kind of grouchy. Or, maybe I get grouchy and it rubs off on them...? 

Understanding Life

(I don't really know what to call this category)

-They understand the word "no" and hate to hear it! This morning, Gibson was trying to push a chair over on top of Gus. I said, "No no, that's not nice" and both boys collapsed on the floor, crying. Sheesh boys, I didn't even yell at you!

-They've figured out who Elmo is and run over to the TV, smiling and giggling, when he comes on.

Sibling Rivalry

The boys have progressed beyond accidentally inflicting injury on each other to full-on fighting. Oh dear. Based on my observations so far, Gus is usually the aggressor. I know, I know, you aren't supposed to "label" your kids. But what else am I supposed to say about it when he is literally throwing his weight around?? (He outweighs his brother by over a pound.)

Scenario:
Boys are playing with books. Gibson is flipping through the pages of one that Gus decides he wants to read. Gus grabs the book and turns aside to read it himself. Gibson cries.

What would you do in this situation? I've tried all of these:

A) Give the book back to Gibson and tell Gus, "Your brother is reading that book right now. You can have a turn when he's done." Then I give Gus a different book. Does it work? HAHAHA of course not! Two seconds later, Gus is back over there, grabbing the same book.

B) Let Gus keep the book he grabbed and give Gibson a different one. Does it work? Actually, most of the time, yes. I'm not sure if this means Gibson's more easy-going, more likely to cave in to bullies, or if he's just accepted the fact that his brother is the boss.

C) Use a different toy to distract them from books altogether. Does it work? About 40% of the time.

To keep the peace, we try to get two copies of toys when feasible. And I've actually seen some progress on the sharing front. We have this push walker that they used to really fight over - I had to hold one of them while the other one would take a turn or else it devolved into a knock-down-scream fest. But now, they can usually share it ok. It's like they keep an eye out for the walker to be available, and if brother is using it, they can find something else to play with while they wait. Oh, there is hope!

I'm trying to remember how my own parents handled it when my sister and I would fight. (Which we did. A lot.) I recall some toys being confiscated to the top of the refrigerator until we could agree to play with them nicely. I think once we were old enough, they expected us to work out our minor squabbles ourselves. Currently, I fear the injuries that will result if I leave my kids to resolve their own disagreements, since their main way of communicating disapproval is whacking brother in the head with the disputed item...

Time Flies

All you parent types who keep telling me, "Oh, enjoy this age - it goes by so fast!"...I think I'm starting to comprehend what you're saying. I didn't understand before because that first year of life (or first 14 months in our case, with our 2 bonus months) was long. Really long. I-wonder-if-this-year-is-ever-going-to-end long. There is no part of me that wants to go back and relive the year. I'm glad I took plenty of pictures to look at later when I get nostalgic.

But now? Time does feel like it's speeding up. (Here I must apologize to DF, as one of his pet peeves is people talking about the various speeds of time passing when it quite obviously always passes at the same rate.) Like, whoa, where did the month of September go? How is it fall break next week already? To me, it seems like the days pass more quickly now. My hypothesis about this phenomenon is because the kids are getting more interesting, so I'm not as bored. In addition, I'm not as sleep deprived. So, we can actually do things and have fun together! In fact just this morning, I led some high chair stretches including excellent upraised arms from my little protégés :)

The other day, I was talking to a woman whose kids are all in their 20s, but the way she was recounting one of her labor stories, you'd think she had just given birth yesterday. It hit me - to her, it probably does feel like just the other day she was holding her babies. Then all of a sudden, poof, they grew up! And before long, that's going to be me! I'll be the mom on Facebook (or whatever social media we're using) in 4 years saying, "Oh my word, how are my babies old enough to be starting KINDERGARTEN!!??"

It's strange to think about it sometimes. Right now, I know a lot about my kids. Not everything, since they can't really talk and tell me what they're thinking. But a fair deal. I know what their different cries/whines/whimpers mean. This too is a bit weird to me, because when they were first born I felt so clueless about them. I didn't really spend much time around babies before I had my own. People told me I'd learn as I went along, and apparently I did. Yay! Such mom skills!

But soon, I'm not going to know everything about them. They'll start talking, but then one day they won't want to talk as much. They'll have private thoughts and feelings that they won't share with me. They might even be able to sneak around and do things that I don't know about! And then one day I'll wake up and my babies will be off at college and I'll be staring out the kitchen window wondering who they are becoming...

(Assuming they go to college. Nothing wrong with vocational school though, boys. The world needs good electricians, too!)

Oh my. Yes. I need to live in the present. I recognize that I can't possibly savor every moment, but I can find some savor-worthy moments each day. And before you know it, today will be yesterday...

Just a Flesh Wound

Oh, I am not emotionally prepared to be raising two rambunctious boys. Too many opportunities for injury!

This weekend, we received our monthly delivery of diapers and related paraphernalia from Amazon. Normally, I toss the big cardboard shipping box in recycling, but DF suggested letting the boys play in it for awhile. It was a huge hit, of course! They loved it! We set the box down on its side so the boys could crawl in and out of it, swing the flaps around, and have fun. I was glad to see them enjoying their new "toy," but I couldn't help hovering next to them like a helicopter; I foresaw a high potential for injury with both of them literally bouncing off the cardboard walls.

Well, even though I was sitting 3 feet away from them watching them like a hawk, they still managed to hurt themselves! Gibson was inside the box, pushing on one side, when all of a sudden Gus crawled over and pushed in the same direction. It was a slow motion box somersault that I jumped up too late to stop. Gus cried a little, but Gibson really wailed so I picked him up. Then I looked down at my shirt and saw he was drooling blood on my shoulder. Upon closer inspection, I could see two little teeth marks where he'd bit his lower lip. Poor kiddo! I grabbed a wet washcloth for him to chew on. The bleeding stopped in like 30 seconds. Yeah, fairly minor injury...

I quickly banished the box to the kitchen and announced that they boys were never playing in a cardboard box again! DF raised his eyebrows and said something to the effect of, "You know they're going to get hurt sometimes, right?" "No!" I replied. "It's my job to protect them from everything!" DF thinks I can't do that, nor should I.

Sigh. He has a point. Most childhoods worth their salt include a handful of skinned elbows and knees, and maybe even a broken bone or two. Plus who's never sat around with friends swapping scar stories? I suppose most scars result from injury. But, ack, I don't like seeing my kids in pain!!

Today is garbage/recycling day, yet the box is still sitting in the kitchen. I relented. Maybe we can find a way to wedge the box between other things so it can't tip over as easily. The children's fun can continue, and I'll keep hovering nearby...