More observations

Connor and Cameron have such different little personalities that actually play into each other well. Cameron is so demanding but often in a really irresistible fun way. He is the center of attention and very engaging. He always wants to know what's going on and be involved in the activities. My dad was commenting on it tonight predicting he'd do well in sales. I concur.

Connor on the other hand is very easy going socially. He is very content to just be involved and is so sweet to be around. He does have his demanding moments but they are usually not overwhelming.

For example, every morning when I drop them off, this is the typical routine. As soon as I get Cameron out of the car, he becomes clingy which is a totally abnormal behavior for Cam. He is a very extroverted, want-to-be-in-the-middle-of-everything kind of kid, except as this daily morning drama is played out. I hold his hand while we walk up to the school while Connor runs for the door to beat us. When we go inside, Connor very confidently walks towards his class while Cameron becomes even more clingy sometimes wrapping himself around one of my legs or wanting to be carried (which I almost never do). Once we get to class, Connor finds a chair at the table and becomes very interested in eating his breakfast (that I bring for both of them). Cameron becomes more distressed as I try to set up breakfast for them. I give a distracted Connor kisses and a hug goodbye. When I try to do the same for Cameron there is such a production. Cameron asks for "another hug and kiss" sometimes even while I am hugging and kissing him. He just does not want me to go. I go sometimes only after the teacher is involved and holding him. By the time I am to the front of the building, he's fine - eating breakfast being his normal engaging self.

Connor is fairly laid back but definitely sticks up for himself too. Connor still often struggles saying what's on his mind both due to trying to find the right word and stuttering to get it out. However, he is not to be outdone. Cameron is a constant chatterbox and will often speak over Connor as he's struggling to tell me something. So Connor will tell Cameron, "no talk Cameron!" (without stuttering or delay). And while Cameron is very much in the center of everything, Connor is so observant. Connor will point out all kinds of things while we are driving - dump trucks, school buses, daddy's car (Honda Pilots EX trim in any color of his model year, 2005 - not to be confused with any other SUV of similar attribute), uncle Efrain's car (Chevy Avalanche, any color in his model year and trim), police, baloons, etc. Sometimes I think Connor misidentified something because I will not see it but I believe him far more than I trust what I've seen now that this has gone on for months and months. He is looking for these things and I will miss them but then will see them as we are closer to them or when we stop and I have a moment to look around.

Some observations

Connor is so my child. He has the same needs to clean, order and tidy things. Mike often leaves drawers slightly ajar. Of course, I need to shut them. So does Connor. He'll come into the kitchen in the morning after Mike's left for work and go through and shut all the drawers. He also voluntarily empties all the little trashcans in the house into the main one in the kitchen. He does this almost every morning. If I have a can to recycle, he will actually get upset if I put it in the recycle bin myself because he wants to do that. He loves to sweep and pulled out the mop the other morning. The only time I've seen him sit to concentrate for very long is when he's stringing things. Very orderely. I can count on him to put things away in their correct place most of the time. Connor is right-handed.

Cameron is more of a normal child. He enjoys making a mess and isn't really pleased when asked to clean it up but will and knows it is expected of him. He wants to do everything. He can concentrate on a variety of tasks. He loves to be around people, interacting and being the focus especially with people he's comfortable around. He warms quickly to strangers though. He's tried the garbage emptying and recycling routines but didn't find them very entertaining and is more than happy to let Connor have those fun jobs. Cameron is left-handed but still uses his right at times.

Here are some pictures to illustrate their differences. They were given stickers and crayons to decorate the picture.

This picture is Connor's. He put exactly one sticker in the middle of each square, made a few lines of color and was done. Perfection to my orderly boy!

This once is Cameron's. "Let's put on as many stickers as I can and color some too. Okay. Done now!"


My cuties

Yes, they have mohawks. I was feeling funky.

What a week!

Monday, as we pull into the driveway, Cameron starts screaming “My penis hurts, penis hurts!” Screaming. Tears. I was stunned. With the car seat he can’t even get a hold of his penis. What on earth is going on?!?! So I jump out of the car and pull down his pants to see what’s wrong. He’s so scared, wants me to be careful, don’t touch. Poor guy. The foreskin tip was a little red but I couldn’t see anything more. He complained about it all night, even waking up once wanting to go to the bathroom on the potty. We put Neosporin on it and when he got up in the morning and was still very upset with the pain, I called the doctor. Tuesday morning we go to the doctor. I explain to Cameron while we’re driving that Dr. Bhumi is going to have to look at his penis to see what’s wrong so she can give him the right medicine to make it better. “Dr. Bhumi kiss it make it better?” “No, Dr. Bhumi is not going to kiss your penis. Dr. Bhumi is going to give us medicine to make your penis better. No one should put their mouth near your penis until you are a LOT older and ask them to.” I’m pretty sure he didn’t get all of that but it’s never too soon to teach them their rights to their bodies, right? Dr. Bhumi thinks it’s just a little infection the Neosporin should clear up. If it doesn’t improve, move on up to the oral antibiotics and so on. No worries as long as it’s not a recurring problem. These things happen.

We go to day care. I explain the problem to their teacher and the owner and they tell me he needs to move out of the pull ups and into big kid pants. Cameron was not very happy about this AT ALL and was insta-melting. I think they worked on him all day because after school he was excited that we were going to the store to pick out some big kid pants. We got MANY. Connor even picked out a pack since he wanted to wear them too. While we are walking through Target, Cameron, ever observant, notices the women’s underwear. “Bra! Bra for mommy!” “Yes, those are bras.” “Boobies! Does daddy have boobies too?” “Yes, Daddy has boobies too.” What great conversations to have with two-year olds in public. Gotta love it!

We talked about wearing the big kid pants that night and they were very excited. Wednesday morning they were excited picking out which big kid pants to wear. So cute! Well, the drive to daycare averages 45 minutes which is about as long as they can go without peeing so I wanted to put a diaper on under the big kid pants just for the ride there and then take it off before taking them into school. That started Cameron into full on melt down. He did not want to wear big kid pants at all and only wanted to wear the diaper. Or at least that is what he told me. I couldn’t get him to explain and sometimes he tells you the exact opposite of what he wants so it’s hard interpreting some days. Wednesday was one of those days. Connor was such a sweetie, so quiet. Watching Mommy and Cameron melting down takes it out of him I think. Cameron made it all day in his big kid pants with no accidents! Connor had an accident, but was up for trying again Thursday. Both boys came home in their big kid pants today. I am so proud of my boys. They are so proud of themselves too!

measurements

Today we measured the babes:
* Connor 36.25 in
* Cameron 34 in
* Kaylie 34.5 in

Kaylie, almost 7 months younger than Cameron is now clearly taller than him. I hope Cameron is about to have a BIG growth spurt!

no babies

Today was really neat in a lot of different ways. They boys are just getting so big. They are definitely not babies at all any more. They talk very well and will let you know what happened and what they want, no problem. Their vocabularies are great. They do not often not have a word at least not that I can tell!

One of Cameron's favorite things right now is to demonstrate what he's talking about and then follow it up with the phrase "just like that." For example, today, at naptime, neither Cameron nor Connor were interested in going to sleep but they still need a daily nap. Mom takes them on Sunday afternoons for a few hours and they know they will see Nana when they wake up. So after about an hour of them jumping in their beds, laughing and playing (and after a few reminders from me that they couldn't see Nana until they took their nap), I got upset with them. I asked Cameron if he wanted to see Nana and he said "No!" and started bouncing again. I told him, in an angry voice, "That's it! Lie down and go to sleep. This is your quiet time and I don't want to here another peep from you." I then picked up Cameron and laid him down. I also laid Connor down and proceeded to leave. Cameron started crying whining "tucka in" to which I replied "No. I have already tucked you in 4 times. You need to go to sleep" and walked out. Cameron cried. Very dramatic. For about two minutes and then silence... for the next hour plus until the dog started barking and woke them up. When I went in to get them, we talked a little about how they were missing out on playtime with Nana since they wouldn't go to sleep and how I had gotten upset. Cameron then said he cried, immitated his cry (quite well) for a few seconds and then said "just like that." He also does this to imitate the mixer, blender, dump truck, etc. He's quite a good impressionist.

While Cameron is very animated, energetic and engaging with everyone, Connor is not one to run off in strange places unless he's running with Cameron. Connor is thoughful, helpful and more subdued in his toddler antics. When faced with new or uncomfortable situations, he just needs to hold my hand. (Neither of them try too much to get me to pick them up anymore since I almost always tell them my back is broken and I can't.) Connor's helpfulness and cleanliness are most intriguing to me. Today, for example, just before the boys awoke from their naps, I had discovered a nice flour mess Jack had made for me when I wasn't looking for a minute, which led to bedtime for Jack, which resulted in much barking which woke up the boys. After getting them out of bed, I told them Jack made a big mess and did they want to see. So we all went into the kitchen to behold the flour everywhere. I asked Connor to get the little broom in the closet which he promptly did. This is impressive since I only use that particular cleaning tool maybe every other week. We swept up the flour. When we were done, I asked him to put it back. He put it back exactly as it had been. I find this so amazing since he's two and not genetically related to me. How did I get "my" child?

The boys are gaining a sense of time. They know that their bed time is 8 (and that Wee Willie Winkie checks to make sure children are in bed by 8). I show them our clock in the bathroom and explain that the little hand on the 8 means it's 8 o'clock. I believe that is the only number they can identify. They also have some concept of the days of the week. They know that Saturday and Sunday they don't go to school but on Monday they do. They remember a lot. We went for eye exams at the end of December. We attempted to go again one weekend earlier this month to pick out frames for Mike and I but the store was closed. Now, whenever we go down that street, Connor points out the eye doctor. They still talk about their dentist, Dr. Copeland whom they have met once and won't see again until next month. They're little boys now. They are amazing and I just adore them.

First bubble bath

They loved it. Can you tell?


Cameron dove right in and was so excited.


Connor was hesitant but concluded the bubbles were awesome!

Happy Birthday Kaylie

Today we celebrated Kaylie's 2nd birthday.

The birthday girl


Cameron enjoying the party


The birthday song


Opening presents


Sharing a laugh with Nana


Connor doing his Elvis impression with Kaylie's new sunglasses

Merry Christmas!

Here's a picture of all of my favorites:


And here is Christmas joy (interrupted by Jack, our very hyper Doberman puppy):


Our very happy boys on Christmas morning:


On our way to Nana & Grandpa Warren's house that afternoon, I caught another one of our favorite things on film - Connor showing us where something is:


At Nana's, a pic of all the babes with Jackie:

quick update

I'm so swamped but just wanted to share a couple of really quick updates.

Cameron has pooped soley in the potty for the last two days. He tells me he needs to go and then goes. We are so excited about this. Hopefully someday soon he will no longer like wet diapers.

Connor does not like to poop in the potty. Even when he knows he needs to go, he prefers to do it in his diaper. Connor has developed a bit of a stutter. He does this mostly when he's upset or anxious. I have no experience with stuttering. Does anyone know anything about it or know of a resource you could share with me?

Here's a cute picture, just because:

Happy Halloween

The boys were so cute for Halloween. We had been talking about it for over a month - they were going to dress up like dinosaurs and go to people's houses. When the people answer their doors, say "Trick or Treat" and they will give you candy. The boys have been so excited. Here they are trying on their outfits for the first time (9/18/08):





Cameron - the cutest dino ever


Ok, Connor's the cutest dino ever


Can you tell they LOVE their costumes?

Here we are picking out pumpkins (10/25/08):








Getting the pumpkin ready (10/30/08):


On Halloween, we went to our friends' house, Jay and Dorothy, who were having a bit of a block party with all their neighbors and their children.

Here's Jay with daughter, Molly:


Kids in the backyard waiting to trick or treat:


We were waiting to trick or treat in a group but the boys were not happy being in their costumes so we went a little early. They did great!

Knocking at a door:


At one of the first houses, an elderly gentlemen opened the door. As he reached behind him to get his candy bowl, Cameron thought we were supposed to go in so he just went right on inside the house. It was so funny. Totally adorable. When people would offer them the bowl of candy, they didn't know what to do. Especially if the host said to go ahead and take another - that lead to them taking one after another, no end in sight. They had a great time though, no melt downs and they walked all by themselves the whole way. When we got back to Jay & Dorothy's it was dark but the boys were still doing well. Then a "scary" family showed up. Poor Connor saw a little boy dressed in a faceless mask with two red lights for eyes and literally screamed he was so scared. The dad was dressed in all black and had painted his face black with a little green around the eyes. After this, the boys would not leave my lap, they were too frightened. They hadn't seen anything like that before and weren't too happy about it!

It was nice cuddling with them though. :-)