20 months: Naked Mole Rats and No Sleep

Yep, we hit 20 months. Now let me explain the title a bit more:

First of all, I cut the boys' hair...SHORT. Oops. I could have sworn that I used 1/4 inch to cut it before. Nope, definately 1/2 inch. And if anyone has seen the Naked Mole Rats at the zoo, their fur looks exactly like my boys' heads. Oh well. It will grow out, and I won't have to cut it as much.

Second, sleep. Ugh. I don't even want to utter that word in our house anymore. We've had a rough couple of months when it comes to sleep. The most maddening aspect: we don't know why; well exactly why, that is. It's a miriade of things: ear infections and snotty noses, different schedule, Ben being gone for a week, just a phase, etc. etc. etc. Least to say, we've been praying lots (and having everyone else pray too) that they get on a good sleeping schedule. We've had 3 out of 4 decent nights, and we'll take that for now.

Because of lack of sleep, this month has been a blurr. I can tell you a couple new things about the boys:
-Language continues to explode: they've started using 3 words together (like, "Dadda car bye bye"). It's pretty cool to see concepts come together.
-They are really into chasing each other...round and round...it always starts with lots of laughing and squealing; and usually ends with a minor injury.
-I've started setting them on the bathroom counter as I get ready in the morning. This has become a favorite ritual of ours. Now anytime I go near the bathroom, I have 2 little boys insisting, "Sit, sit." They are learning that mommy wears make-up and daddy shaves. Very cute.
-We've had wonderful breaks in the weather here, which means we've been shoving the kids outside for as long as possible. It is great for all of us. They both have little trikes that they cannot peddle yet, but scoot around good on regardless. They're boys, so they also dig, dig, dig and dig some more. They love "helping" mommy weed. I'm okay with the increase of laundry...I'll take just to be outside!
-We're really working on manners (please, thank-you, sharing). Conclusion: teaching your kids manners is very cool and rewarding!
-Love playing hide-and-seek.

We're learning that life with twins is full of very high-highs, and very low-lows. But in the end, we love it!

Seth, Sam

Seth

Sam

Seth, Sam

19 Months

I've had so many moments this past month that I want to remember forever. I feel as if I almost want to freeze the boys right here. Maybe it's because they seem to be growing up and learning so fast; too fast, in fact. Maybe it's because all things baby have slipped away, and they're such big boys now. All that said, I've really been trying to embrace today, enjoy the little things, and even enjoy the moments of them clinging to my legs saying, "Upeese," (up please). These days are truly days to cherish.

So what have Seth and Sam been up to this month of their life? What have they NOT been up to might be the better question! First of all, language has absolutely exploded. Their vocabulary is 100+ words; they will copy anything we say: for example Seth copied Ben when he said "delicious." My favorite thing that they have learned to say and understand is each other's names. They spend their days pointing to one another saying, "Seth," "Sam," in their cute little way. I'm sure it's a twin thing, but sometimes they seem to not entirely know which name belong to whom :) Yesterday, I went into the room where they were playing and it was quite stinky. I asked Sam, "Who has poop?" He quickly replied with a point, "Seth." Little tattletale. I asked Seth, "Do you have poop?" "Nooooo," was his reply. Seth is really into saying a quite nasally "no" to any question posed.

Physical development has also been huge this month. "Backeyball" continues to be our activity of choice. Ben has the hoop set up in front of the couch, so that the boys can stand on it and be tall enough to shoot. We're pretty proud of their form, as they already have one elbow pulling in to shoot (it looks like they'll both be right-handed). Sam's more determined to shoot hoops all the time, and has even gotten Seth to rebound for him a couple times! This month the boys learned to do somersaults and we played ring-around-the-rosies as a family for the first time. They play with puzzles, books, blocks, and their new tool set a lot. They love cars, trucks, tractors, "kuck-kucks" (dumptrucks), loaders, planes...and making all of the subsequent noises.

Sleep has not been kind to us this month (we've still been sick a lot). Seth had spent one night in the pack-n-play in the office, and apparently learned how to crawl out on this own. Ben and I had our first "knock on our door" experience. Another evening, Sammy was put to sleep in the office. Seth awoke in his crib in the bedroom and refused to lay down, pointing to the office saying, "Sam". I transferred Sam to his crib, and Seth then layed down to sleep. Sweet boys.

The boys love boots and hats. They also love--surprise, surprise--wearing anything that has a basketball on it. In fact, Sam through a huge fit when I dared to put a sweatshirt over his basketball t-shirt. However, if at all possible, they would rather be, "Nakey," which is what Seth requests anytime I put clothing on him. Good try, son.

I took all the following pictures in the lobby at Freightliner. I'm pretty pleased with them! (Sam in blue, Seth red).

Samuel: where do I start in describing my little Sammy? He is such a funny child! Sam is a bit of tease and understands humor more than Seth. He has this coy little smile when I call for him and he wants for me chased. Sam continues to be a bit of a daddy's boy, and had a very hard time adjusting to Ben going back to work after Christmas break (would wake up in the morning crying, "Daddy, Daddy") As I said previously, he is quite obsessed with basketball and spends his days shooting hoops. He also loves tractors and carries around his tractor book a lot.

Seth: one of our favorite things about Seth is how he runs. For some reason it remind us of Newmen on Seinfeld, with a kind of sideways trot, and makes us laugh a lot. Seth is very playful and likes to laugh and smile. He tends to do a better job sitting and doing a single activity for longer than Sam (like a puzzle or blocks). Seth's newest word is, "Alligator." I told Seth this morning that he gets the, "Sleeper of the month," award, because he's slept through the night for like a week now. Seth is also a good sharer, and if he is playing with a particular toy, will find the matching one and bring it to Sam so he can play too. And although his favorite new word is, "no," Seth tends to be a bit more compilent with our instructions.

My Talented Parents

My parents are so talented! For Christmas, my Dad made the boys a beautiful rocking horse that they just love. And my mom made the quilts for my nieces Miriam and Aidah. I can't wait to have her make quilts (maybe trains or planes?) for the boys when they get older. I think I know what my parents should do when they retire: go into business making stuff like this!

Christmas with the Ruda's

My family has dubbed this Christmas as one of the best Ruda Christmas' EVER. Yep, ever. My parents were gracious enough to travel up to the Portland area, so that Katie and I didn't have to travel 7 hours with all the kids, and we were so thankful. Ben and I hosted the big day at our home, which was really fun. I don't know who was more excited about the grandkids opening gifts--them or "Papa and Titi." But the grandparents had every right to be excited...they gave so many fun gifts to the kids (not to mention amazing homemade gifts which I'll feature in my next posting!) We went out of the norm for Christmas dinner and instead of turkey and mashed potatoes, we went for tri-tip, pork loin, and cheesy potatoes. In the afternoon we went for a walk, and then Grandma did art with all the kids. What an amazing day! God is so gracious and we're so thankful to Him for sending his Son to be our Saviour!

Christmas Eve...in front of our HUGE and dying tree

Kind of hard to get a good picture with 5 kids



Cool shirts from aunt Julie and uncle Tom



the chaos of opening gifts

Grandpa and sweet Clara May

Art Time

Our beautifully set table

Christmas with the Morris'

We celebrated Christmas a week early with the Morris family in Dufur. It was a wonderful weekend. The first morning we woke up to lots of snow (the most that the boys had ever seen). So we all bundled up and played! Seth and Sam got to ride on the 4-wheeler while Caleb and Levi attempted to snowboard behind. It was quite the winter wonderland. That night Seth and Sam were really struggling to sleep, but Ben and I were so thankful that the Grandparents each took a shift, making the night much more manageable! (Come to find out from a doctors appointment on Monday that both had sinus infections and Sam a double ear infection.) Opening gifts with Seth and Sam was really fun this year, because they could actually tear the wrapping paper and were excited about their gifts. We got them their first "backeyballs" and they were thrilled. Grandpa and Grandma got them a hoop...they spent all weekend saying "backeyball" and having people pick them up to dunk. Uncle Caleb and Levi also taught them about video game controllers, how to play the drums, and how to say, "button."



Brothers gotta hug




Mommy and Sam




Seth driving all by himself :)

Sam looking just thrilled with his "backeyball"