Month 11!!! (Only one more to go!)

First, how can it already be Wednesday?  You'd think with more daylight I'd have more time, but I don't.  If anything, we've been trying to jam in extra fun stuff.

Our big event this past week was getting a train table.  While the boys are too little to play with trains, the table is ideal for cruising.  It's just the right height and has a lip they can grab onto.  Best of all, we can cover it with their toys for playtime fun (or throw-it-on-the-floor-then-cry-until-someone-gets-it-for-you-then-throw-it-back-on-the-floor fun).

Since train tables can be pricy and it's not like a spoon or anything they would put in their mouth, I searched Craigslist for a few days trying to find a deal.  I found one "like new with just a little tear in the corner" for $45.  I called the lady and we went over to her house to get it.  Now, I hate haggling.  If I think the price is fair, that's what I'll pay.  If it's unfair, I don't even bother.  I could kid myself that I will talk someone down, but I know I won't.  I just didn't get that gene from my dad.

We get there and everything looks fine, although the table is a bit shaky.  Jim goes to load it into the van and it totally falls apart.  He's left holding one board while the rest is in pieces on the ground.  We look at each other.  Well, this isn't good.  We get the pieces home and I do a closer inspection of the table.  A lot of the screws are stripped out and some are missing altogether.  I replace the missing ones and move the brackets so we can use new screws.  Everything seems fine and Zach goes to town "dancing" with the table.

Fast forward 4 days.  I go to move the table so it's better centered on the carpet and one end falls off.  The new screws I put in were starting to come out.  Three were laying on the floor already.  I put it back together for the short term (and keep an eye on it) but I've officially written it off.  This table is going in the trash and we're getting the boys a new one.

At lunch we met Jim at Toys R Us and bought the boys a new table.  It's held together by bolts and nuts, not tiny wood screws.  Plus it seems to be made of wood, not particle board.  The lip on it is better for holding and it comes with a drawer.  Zach "dances" with it to his heart's content and it doesn't budge.

Alex is able to cruise both directions now but strongly prefers counter-clockwise.  Zach doesn't like to turn corners but will when he runs out of toys on his side.  The boys have tried to go double wide so Alex can pass Zach, but it ended with one boy on his rear end and the other with a bonked head.  Alex sort of knows to wait on me to move him around Zach, but that doesn't keep him from trying to push his brother out of the way.

I was in the kitchen this morning, trying to get their breakfast ready when I hear a "Uhh  uhhh...  waaaa!"  I look into the living room and only see one boy, and he's not the one making noise.  Alex, who was cruising the train table, is missing.  I walk around the table and see two little feet sticking out.  Somehow he managed to fall and land under the table on his back.  He wasn't hurt, just didn't want to e under there.

Couch time is officially over.  Zach was playing with my phone and dropped it over the side.  Before I could get to him, he went over the end of the couch after it.  He landed on his head/face and cried for a long time.  You can barely see the bruise two days later and he doesn't act like it hurts, but it pretty much freaked me out.  I held him for a long time, until he was pushing me away so he could go play.

The boys have been eating anything and everything.  I'll make them some food for dinner but most of the time they end up mostly eating what we are.  The hardest thing right now is to be sure they get enough veggies.  I got these potato and spinach cakes from the store and they seem to like them.  They're expensive, though, so I'm going to try making my own.  That way I can control the salt and which veggies are in there.

If I offer the boys something new that they like better than what's in the mouth, they'll try to spit it out to make room for the new food.  I have to be careful to keep them focused on one thing at a time or they end up not eating much.

I've been working a little with them and straws.  They're not very good at them and really just like chewing on them.  One day I was drinking some punch out of a to-go cup and the boys were going crazy for it.  I told them they could have some if they used the straw.  Of course, Zach immediately sucks up a whole mouthful of punch.  Red liquid is running everywhere.  I can't not let Alex try and he does the same thing.  Red is all over their shirts.  I dump out the punch and replace it with water.  They could care less about it now and go back to just chewing the straw.

We've been working this week to move our computer stuff to the front room and convert our office into a playroom.  I think that's the best option because that room can be quarantined with a gate and it is sunny in the afternoons.  It's been slow going due to the tons of junk we've been storing in there.  Plus we need to have a tech come out and move the DSL line to the living room.  I see an Ikea trip in our near future to get a couple of rugs for in there.

The boys birthday is coming up in a month and it's bittersweet for me.  I can't believe how fast they've been growing!  It seems like yesterday when we brought them home, although if you ask me at 4am when they're crying for milk, it feels like years since we did.  hehe  They're getting really good at walking while holding onto someone's hands, and they don't fall much when cruising.  I don't think it'll be too long before they're trying to walk.