Year 1 is Done!

Unlike most of my other posts, you're not going to see any whining and teary eyes here.  Oh sure, it's a bit scary to think that the boys are no longer babies but these mysterious "toddlers".  And yes, I do miss them being small (for the 30sec that they were).  But right at this very moment Alex and Zach are by far the most fun and enjoyable they've ever been.

I enjoy waking up to their faces crying at me to get them out of bed every morning, and how as soon as I do, they switch to happy grins.  Then the excited arm flapping starts when they realize we're going to pounce on Daddy until he wakes up.  While Jim's getting his shower, the three of us snuggle in bed together.  Zach likes to roll onto his tummy and check on the alarm clocks while Alex sits up and wrestles with the covers.

Then we all go downstairs for breakfast.  The boys have been eating rasinless bran cereal with whole milk, some banana, yogurt, and bites of whatever I'm eating.  Drinking from straws is totally the cool thing to do and the boys take turns seeing who can down the most milk.  Then it's off to work with Daddy, sometimes with tears and upset boys, but we all have to get our day started.

If we have no where to be, the three of us will usually lounge around in our jammies until after lunch.  They're still taking two naps a day, usually from 9am-11am and 3pm-5pm, give or take 30min-1hr.  On Monday's the cleaning people come, so we get our first nap then meet Daddy for lunch.  This ensures the boys avoid the scary vacuuming.  The cats aren't so lucky.  We'll normally try to multi-task while we're out and get in a shopping trip at Whole Foods or Babies R Us.  Then it's home to meet J and Ana for a playdate (they're in town every Monday for swim lessons).

After a lot of "No, don't pull her hair!" and "Please, don't slap her!" Ana escapes mostly unscathed and we go down for second nap.  Once we're well rested, it's time for a quick snack and Daddy to be home.  You should see them when they hear Jim come in the door.  I've witnessed everything from them completely bursting into tears of joy, to Zach falling over from too much excitement, to Alex pushing his brother out of his way to get to Jim.  Either way, it's been a long time since Jim hasn't had to hold both of them the moment he's inside.

While some serious guy time is happening in the living room, I'll start dinner.  The boys become instantly famished between 5:30pm and 6pm, so I'm racing against the clock.  I normally start them off with bread, then their main course (which is hopefully a meat, starch, and 2 veggies), black olives, and cheese puffs/cheese duck crackers.  Lately refried beans have been my go-to since the boys LOVE them and they mask just about any veggie.  One night they had refried beans mixed with lima beans and peas.  I also do something similar with mashed potatoes.

After dinner we go out back and do a little swinging.  Zach likes the baby swing but Alex only has fun if he's swinging on my lap.  The it's time for our evening wagon ride.  Other than when they're sleeping, this is about the only time during the day that the boys are silent.  They're so busy looking around that you won't hear a peep.  We walk to the end of the houses (turning around before the vacant lots) and go down every cul-du-sac.  Most nights the grey neighbor cat, Killian, will come out and meet us on the sidewalk for some petting.  He has a boy of his own so tail pulling and fur grabbing don't even phase him.  Alex and Zach get so excited to see him.

Then it's home (usually met with lots of complaining) and upstairs to bed.  I hold them both in the glider while Jim gets their PJ's ready in their cribs.  Then he changes one boy while I brush the teeth of the other.  We swap babies and then all settle in for story time.  The boys like to sit in Jim's lap, so I usually end up holding the book and turning the pages while Jim reads.  For whatever reason, we always dress Alex in Zach's crib and visa versa.  I don't know why.  Then it's off to our bed for night night milk, some burping, and they drift off in their own cribs.