The boys have become quite the little characters recently.  Their vocabulary has grown tremendously in the last month, especially Liam, which could be the cause of all their recent cuteness.  Here are just a few.

We've always done basically the same bedtime and nap routine, story just before nap or bedtime.  Now that the boys are talking a lot they decide when it's 'nigh-night' time.  When they're done reading their stories or when they think I should be done reading they say 'nigh-night' and they're off my lap and ready to get in bed.  Normally they're actually ready, but sometimes I think they just get caught up in being able to talk and enjoy 'controlling' the situation.
Like today, they were ready for their nap after 1 short story so I put them in their beds and left.  A few minutes later they were up and talking.  I go in to their room I see that they're both standing.  As soon as I walk in they both lay down.  I go over to cover Liam back up and tell him it's time for sleeping.  I turn to Coen and see that he has his eyes closed.  I go over and talk to him and cover him back up and he doesn't move. His eyes are now squinted shut.  Silly guy is acting like he's sleeping!  Where would he have picked up on something like that?  I guess children do naturally learn things... including pretending to be sleeping I guess!

Also because of their expanding vocabulary, they will often tell me what they'd like to eat for breakfast or lunch.  It almost always consists of cereal or pancakes for breakfast.  (Pancakes being their absolute favorite food.)  Then for lunch they will frequently ask for quesadillas.. or 'dilla!'  Their favorite being plain cheese.

Along with all their cuteness comes the 'terrible-twos'.  They have developed quite the tantrums.  Coen has picked up on some of Liam's antics and vice versa.  Some of the things they'll regularly do when frustrated or throwing a fit are:  Running to their room.  Burrowing their face in the nearest object like a couch, pillow or blanket... sometimes just the floor works fine for them.  If they are sitting, they will throw their head backwards.  Liam has this weird thing where he'll take his hand and squeeze his mouth/face while he screams.  Not sure where that came from, but I really don't like it.  And then you have your typical screaming/crying/hysterics.
(Their fits are much less often than their cute moments.)

To add to their cuteness they've been learning to ask for help if they're getting frustrated with something.  It's usually while they're whining, but at least they're asking!

They also play really well together.  I read articles stating that children won't actually play cooperatively together until they are older, but I guess that's a perk with twins.  They do great playing together and keep each other entertained.  Of course you have the brotherly moments where one will steal a toy, but for the most part they love being together and playing with each other.

That's about it for now.  More later!

It's been just over a month since I started training with Coen and he is a champ!  We've had a few rocky times but overall I think he's taken to it much better than Liam.  Mostly because he will poop on the potty regularly.  He rarely poops in his 'sleeping' diapers and Liam ONLY poops in his 'sleeping' diapers.  (They both still have diapers for sleeping and occasionally will wake with dry diapers.)

Coen will have the occasional accident when he's wearing pants... especially if he's playing outside.  He simply won't tell me if he needs to go.  So I have to make sure I'm checking with him frequently.  Otherwise he's really doing great!


Also, about a month ago I wrote that I had bought 2 large boxes of diapers ($100 worth).  Normally that amount would have only lasted maybe a month, but it's been over a month and I just opened the 2nd box.  It is so nice not going to the store every few weeks and dropping chunks of cash on diapers.  What a relief!

Today is day 5 and Coen is doing a fantastic job!  He's had a few accidents and is/was having trouble linking poop to the potty.  (He was going on the floor instead of trying or saying that he needed to go potty.)  Today I was walking room to room gathering things and he said potty so I told him to go to the bathroom.  I followed since I was headed that way anyway and he sat down and was acting different than his normal 'pottying' self.  He was pooping!  This is the first time pooping on the potty and he took himself!  I am amazed.  We still haven't reached this with Liam.  Once Liam took himself to the potty when he had to poop, but he still has too many pooping issues I guess.  (He still waits for his bedtime diaper to go.)
Coen is doing so great.  Yesterday we went out for breakfast at IHOP and he did great there too, he said he needed to go twice and he did.  Then we visited my sister and were gone for about 4 hours and he didn't have any accidents (except spilling his water).  I was worried that he'd have an accident since it was only day 4 and his first time wearing pants since we starting potty training but he surprised me and did a fantastic job!

Also, he's had 2 naps where he's been dry upon waking!

I would say that Coen was definitely ready this time.


(Side note:  I just bought almost $100 worth of diapers and wipes which is fine because I'll still use them for sleeping.  With them both in diapers that would have lasted just shy of a month.  With Coen in diapers and Liam only using them for sleeping, they would have lasted almost 1.5 months.  With them both only using for sleeping I'm guessing over 2 months.  Wow what a savings!)

Day 2 is complete and I think he's still doing well.  He did have a few more accidents, but I was far more distracted.  We had someone pick up some furniture from us and I was outside for several minutes and along with cooking dinner and being preoccupied he had accidents.  But I still think  he's doing great.  And he's still using the potty on a regular basis.

My only concern is I remind him a lot.  I did it with Liam because I was paranoid, but Liam would tell me if he needed to go, but with Coen he's less likely to tell me if he needs to go, or that he is going.  My concern is I don't want him to just rely on me to remind him to go, I'd like for him to rely on the urge to go instead of me.

So we'll see how day 3 goes. 

Recently Coen has been asking to go to the potty and has even taken his diaper off and gone on his own once, so I thought it was time to try training again.  I've discovered I think he only asks to go potty is for the M&M reward afterward.  I know this because he'll go potty, get his reward and immediately sit back on the potty and say 'chocolate!'.  LOL.  However it is seeming to work very well this time around.  He only had 1.5 accidents on the first day.  He pee'd in the corner of the living room after he had been wildly playing for a long time.  Then the .5 accident came when he needed to poop and he left a 'droplet' behind before I could get him to the potty chair.

So all in all, day 1 was a huge success.  1.5 accidents and the rest of the day he used the potty!  He even woke up with a dry diaper after his nap.

On to day 2, hoping it's just as successful!

24 months:
2 years.. what? ... already? The 2 years I waited to get pregnant and the 2 years I've had them have been entirely different. The waiting years seemed to go by so slowly but the 2 years these little guys have been with us have flown by! I can't even imagine how fast the time will fly as they get older.



For their birthday we had a small family party hosted at my mom's place. Aunt Janet got them their first tricycles and Aunt Sheri passed down 70+ Hot Wheels cars and a super awesome car ramp. This ramp is awesome! I can speak from personal experience. When Sheri's oldest son Quinn, was just a little guy I babysat him for about a week. I was 18 at the time and we had so much fun playing with his cars and the ramp. I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw Sheri pull up and I saw the top of the ramp in the back of her SUV.
I think the boys are having just as much fun with the ramp that I did 10 years ago babysitting. Liam is totally in love with the tricycle too! He tries very hard and is somewhat getting the idea of it. We don't have much space in our house but I'm hoping we can get the garage cleaned out before winter and they'll have a larger space to practice in. Coen enjoys the tricycles too, but he gets much more frustrated that he just can't do it. So his cycling times are much shorter, but he still tries.
They also got some much needed clothing from Oma and Opa. And Grandma and Grandpa Rick got them some finger paints and paint sponges, which they thoroughly enjoy... especially when mommy lets them paint all over their bellies, hands, arms and any other skin that is exposed!
Our boys are so blessed to have such a wonderful giving family.
This year I made them cloaks and pillows. They love putting blankets over their heads and running around the house, so that inspired the cloak idea. Coen immediately loved it, but not Liam. Liam had to see how much fun Coen was having before he decided he wanted to wear his. Then I got the pillow idea because 1. they don't have any pillows for their cribs yet and figured it was about time and 2. they love laying in and snuggling up with Whistler's beds. Let me tell you, I honestly didn't think a pillow could be such a big hit. They LOVE them! They sleep with them at night, of course, but during the day they will often ask for their 'illo just to have while they're playing.



Coen's speech has really grown the last few weeks. He is into repeating the last word of every sentence. Example: Me: Coen what did you eat? Coen: Eat. Me: What is in your mouth? Coen: Mouth. Me: Did you get something off the floor? Coen: Floor. Me: Open your mouth. Coen: Mouth. You get the picture. (In this particular conversation it turned out to be dog food that he was eating. Yup, dog food. And to top it off, later that day I found him trying to drink out of the Whistler's water dish.) He will often say words I didn't know he knew and he's gotten really good at pointing different things out in his books.
Liam's vocabulary is slowly starting to expand. He still will use the beginning sound for most words instead of attempting the entire word. Ex. mmm for more or milk, ju for juice, fff for floor, ba for ball, buh for blanket. (He will say ff for floor when he's had an accident or he's spilled his drink.)
I've been keeping track of how many words they use on a regular basis and I stopped counting after 60 something for Coen since they're supposed to be around 50 words and Liam is at 33, I think. So he's not quite there yet, so we'll see what their Dr says Friday at their 2 year check up.



One of their newest favorite activities is playing in their cribs. More specifically each others cribs or both in the same crib, but they do enjoy their own too. They enjoy playing in their crib so much that they will spend lots of time.. too much time just playing in there. Normally I don't mind if they want to 'independent' play because it gives me time to get stuff done, but when they're in their cribs they're not getting any interaction and it's not stimulating. So I've limited the time they can play in their cribs and the past few weeks I haven't let them at all. (I also fear they're going to break the cribs with the massive amount of jumping they do.) It's either a movie or crib time, they prefer a movie. (Speaking of, their favorite movies currently are Mega Mind and Tangled.)



Playing in their beds has brought on a new habit for Coen.. not taking naps. At least, I think that is what started it. In the course of 1 week, instead of taking a nap every day, he now will only take 3 or 4 naps. Every few days he'll decide to take one. I keep giving him the opportunity to take one, but more than half the time he won't. I don't necessarily mind, but he has woken Liam up several times and that's what I don't like. Liam still wants to nap, but with crazy running around it's hard. So I haven't decided what to do with Coen to keep him from waking Liam during the nap time... on the days he doesn't want to nap.



Update on potty training: It's been just over 2 months since I started with Liam. He does have the occasional accident and I'm not sure why since he'd gone a very long time w/o having any, but recently he's had a few close together. Also we're still struggling on the pooping issue.
I haven't tried again with Coen, but he's starting to show more signs that he might be getting ready. He now tells me when he wants a diaper change. Also, the other day I had just gotten off the phone and saw Coen walking out of the hall w/o a diaper. I asked him where it was, he grabbed it so I went to put it back on him. (It was still clean.) I noticed he had a little poo on his bottom. My immediate thought was 'OH NO! He's pooped somewhere in the house!' I clean him up and started the search. I found a small amount of poo in the potty chair along with a pee puddle directly in front of it. (When Liam misses he misses to the side, never in the front.) I checked Liam to see if he had any poo on his bottom and it was clean. So the only thing I can figure is Coen took his diaper off and went to the bathroom to take care of his business. Wow! I tried later that day to have him go diaperless, but that resulted in him pooping on the floor then finishing in the bathroom... but with appointments this week and next I'm going to wait on actual potty training with him until a later date.



They had their eye check up Monday and it went well. Patching Liam's eye has been working. He will now switch which eye he's looking with. He still primarily uses his right (good) eye, but will use his left eye on occasion. The Dr said they're both ready for surgery, I asked if we could wait until after the first of the year for insurance purposes. She didn't see a problem with that. Only thing is I have to keep patching Liams eye, only for 2 hrs a day instead of 5 hrs, for the next 10 weeks until their next appt. That's the other catch, they have to have another appt. since I'm waiting 4 months for surgery, and each appt is around $230 for each of them. Ouch! So we could definitely use prayers for the financial responsibilities coming our way.



Speaking of prayers. On of my most favorite things that the boys do now is reminding us to pray. When we sit down at the table Liam will clasp his hands together and say fuh-fuh. (Fuh-fuh, I assume is father, since we usually start our prayers with 'our Heavenly Father' or something along those lines.) Coen will do it too, but he's usually more interested in getting right to eating.



My boys have grown so much in this past year. I'm looking forward to watching them grow and discover new things. It is a financial burden for me to stay home with them, but I know we've made the right decision for us.






Tooth count:
Liam is DONE teething for a few years, until the last molars will come in. Coen hasn't made any progress on his for now.

They have become my little 'tumblers' and are experimenting with tumbling/rolling. Coen can do a full forward roll/somersault now, Liam still ends up turning to the side. Since he's learned this, I have been some what discouraging him just because I'm afraid he is going to hurt his neck. I've been working with him (when he wants to do a roll) to try and use his arms more instead of putting all his weight on his head/neck, so far no progress. I am looking into getting them both into a tumbling/gym group for toddlers. Kind of on the expensive side so we're having to wait for the time being.
Coen will also put his head on the floor and walks his feet up the wall. Looks like he may try handstands soon, maybe?
They also love jumping. (This has been going on for a while, but I kept forgetting to add it in my blogs.) Coen does really well and actually gets air. Liam still does the 1 leg hop to the other, so he's not quite there yet but he keeps on trying and it's super cute!
They both have always been climbers, but now Liam can climb into their cribs. He's only done it a few times though. He's also learned to 'walk' up the fridge by holding the handles. He'll also do this to doors. He's my little monkey!



Newest words. Coen loves to say soda, sounds more like doooda. They also are loving saying 'no', but they usually don't tell me no, they just run around the house saying 'no-no-no-no-no'. Recently their 'no's' have gotten a bit more mean sounding so I've started discouraging the use of 'no' when it seems necessary. (I know it will happen, but I'm hoping I can prevent all together the 2/3 year old that yells 'no' at me. If.. WHEN they do get to that stage, at least they'll know they can't get away with it.)
Coen is into trying to repeat anything we say. He may not regularly use those words, but if I ask 'was your cereal good?', he may reply, 'cereal good'. He will also count to 3, but mostly ends up 2, 2, 3 or just 2, 3... sometimes 2, 3, ouch! I'm guessing this came from spankings when he's not listening to us and we have to count to 3.



We've always loved reading and looking at books together. I often will ask them to point to different things on the pages and they're good at doing so. Now, that they seem to want to talk more I ask if they can tell me whats on the page instead of just pointing to what I'm asking for and Coen has really surprised me. He will name and point out lots of things on the pages. Liam does too, but you usually can't tell what he's saying, except for car. I still do my best to encourage him and let him do the talking so I hope it will soon pay off and he'll be trying out new words like Coen has been.



Liam has developed a new trait. He will stick out his tongue when he's concentrating. At least I know when I shouldn't interrupt him. :)
Coen has developed one too. He will spank himself. If he is doing something he's not supposed and he isn't listening to mommy I'll ask if he wants a spanking and sometimes he'll just do the dirty work himself. The only problem is he is so cute doing it, it's hard to keep a straight face.



With all of Liam's potty training and nakey time at home Coen has grown jealous and will often take his diaper off. I think I've mentioned it before but now it's much more often. I decided to try to train Coen since he seemed a bit more interested and after 1.5 days I gave up. I know I'm supposed to dedicate 3 full days, but he wasn't getting it... AT ALL and I was beginning to get too frustrated over it so I'm waiting and we'll try again another time. (For clarification when I meant not getting it at all, in the 1.5 days we were at it, he only pee'd in the potty once. And that 1 time was after he was already peeing on the floor and he had to go badly enough that when I put him on the potty he finished. After all the praise (and chocolate) he didn't even seem to notice he went in the potty nor did he even seem to care. So that's what I mean by 'not at all'.)



Coen really has become such a sweetie, when he wants to be. Trust me, he can throw some CRAZY fits. Anyway, back to the sweetness. We've had quite a bit of candies or chocolates in the house since the potty training began. The boys don't get them often but will sometimes ask for a tachick (chocolate) and sometimes they'll get an m&m or two. Coen, with all of his sweetness, almost always wants to share with his brother. He'll get two pieces. He will eat one and give the other to Liam. Aside from being so giving, you'll often find him giving hugs and kisses to pretty much anything or anyone... Liam, Whistler, the floor, table, lamps.. anything. It's adorable.
One night after a very rough day, I curled up with Coen on the floor of their room to finish out the night and hopefully get some sleep. I was awoken by a super smiley boy giving me kisses. Coen leaned over gave me a kiss then curled back up with me. He is such a sweetie.



Tooth count. Liam has 1 molar left then he'll be done teething for a while! 2 are fully in and 1 has cut through but isn't all the way in yet. Coen is still drooling and messing with his gums off and on but nothing has cut through yet.



(Birthday #2 update: Their birthday is in 4 weeks and I have nothing planned, no invitations made.. nothing. I just can't decide what to do. I did find out yesterday that my sister is in town the weekend before their birthday so I figured we'd do a family get together then... maybe that's all we'll do as far as a 'party' goes, I dunno.)

Well we've finally gotten the boys in to see a pediatric eye specialist. Dr. Grin, she is apparently the area's best and it shows by the lengthy waiting list for appointment dates.


I wasn't sure how the boys would do since their appointment was taking place basically right at their nap time and it was a 3 hour appt., (they had to dilate their eyes so it took longer than a normal check up) but they did great! Neva (Oma) went with me to help out and they kept us busy while we waited.
Basically what's needed for the both boys is surgery. Something I was dreading, but I figured may eventually be needed. Right now Dr. Grin wants to get their eyes seeing the best they can be which means new RX's for both Coen and Liam. Laim's good eye (the right) will also need to be patched for 5 hours daily for the next 6 weeks. Patching the good eye forces the bad (left) eye to work. She hopes getting him using his left eye will better prepare him for a successful surgery. Coen doesn't need any patching because he uses both eyes, but not together. He switches using them back and forth so he doesn't have a good or bad eye. So, once they are seeing their best with their new glasses and after patching, surgery will be done to correct the 'straightness' so their eyes have a better chance of working together and seeing properly.
Their new glasses should be ready in a few days and we've already started patching Liam. Their next appointment is in 6 weeks (just after their 2nd birthday) and we'll know more then. For now, we have to figure out some type of financing for the surgeries. We spent almost all our savings getting a new vehicle so we wouldn't have to have loan and now we expect to pay somewhere around $7000, so a loan or some type of financing will be happening anyway. We're hoping payment arrangements can be made with the office versus taking out a loan, but at this time they cannot tell us if they can do that since the surgeries have not been scheduled.



A little more on patching. Milo remembers patching well and he HATED it. He was only 2-3 but says he remembers it clearly. The feeling, the smell of the patches and irritation of having to wear them daily. He was trying to prepare me for the frustrations Liam would experience and after reading up on the paperwork given to me by Dr. Grin, I was prepared for the worst. The paperwork suggested putting tube socks over his hands and arms and having him wear long sleeved shirts so he couldn't take the socks off and he couldn't pull off his patch. Since it's summer and socks and sleeves would be too hot, I was fully expecting to have to hold his arms down for 5 hours a day. Except Liam has shown to be incredibly tolerant of the patches. I talked to him about it and tried my best to pump him up about wearing a patch. I let him pick his design (they are quite colorful) and we spent lots of time looking in the mirror checking out his new 'accessory'. The first day he came up to me about every 20 minutes and would say 'all-done' and touch his patch, but I told him that he had to keep it on until bedtime. He would go play and 20 minutes later he'd come back. He probably only did that only 4-5 times. Today is day #2 and he hasn't picked at it or asked for it off or anything.. and he only has about 30 minutes left until he reaches his 5 hour mark. He is such an amazing little guy. I can't imagine being a 2 year old and dealing with that and he doesn't even seem to care.

Some how, through all our faults, Milo and I have created such amazing little boys. We are so blessed.

We've been pondering getting a new vehicle for quite a while and with Milo getting a new job in west Shawnee, KS, it was time. We kept thinking we'd like to get him a super gas efficient new car, like the Ford Fiesta. That would require us to take out a small loan. With his new job paying more we figured we could handle it, but I was still hesitant to take out a loan. Our only debt we have is our house and I would have liked to keep it that way, at the same time we needed to get Milo into a more reliable vehicle and out of a gas guzzling truck.
Rewind to last year. We looked at getting an older SUV for me to drive but came up empty handed when we had to take our savings to pay off the last of my hospital bills. I was bummed because I would have liked a bigger vehicle, but I was happier that we didn't have any more lingering bills.



So there we were, ready to get Milo a brand new car when one of Milo's friends suggested revisiting getting an older vehicle and going loan free. Of course the wheels in my mind started turning, no loan, and we could get a larger vehicle! I know Milo wasn't immediately on board since I know he had is heart set on getting a new car, but he realized going loan free would be best for us.
So we started looking and we found several potential vehicles within our price range, but needed to get his truck sold before we bought anything so we were kind of sitting and waiting.



Neva came over one Monday just to visit and asked if we had called her brother Danny. (Danny works at a dealership.) We hadn't so she called and he had an SUV we could look at, so we loaded up the boys and headed over. Long story short, after a whirl wind day, I drove home a 2003 Acrua MDX. We traded in Milo's truck and paid the balance in cash without depleting our savings! (Our goal now is to build that savings back up and maybe in the future having enough cash to get Milo his new car he wanted.)

A few side notes:

This car is smarter than me. It has anything and everything you can think of. The main perk for me is the 3rd row seating and the fact that they easily fold down and I have plenty of room for their stroller/wagon AND groceries! In my car the stroller/wagon took up the entire trunk and I'd have to shove a few bags in the truck and the rest would have to go in the front passenger seat, so I barely had enough room. I absolute love this car and I find something new about it almost daily.

As you could have guessed, now Milo drives my old car, the Honda Accord for work and the Acura is now our family car. The other nice thing is we have the luxury of switching vehicles if needed. Before I could not put even 1 car seat in Milo's truck, but if he needs the Acura he can leave the Honda with me and I can still get out with the boys if needed. Win win... win!

A special note to honor Milo.  I'm not sure of many husbands that would leave car choosing to their wife.  Milo was working at this new job and couldn't take off to check out the vehicle himself.  After lots of prayers (on my part) and research from him, he trusted me enough to follow my lead with purchasing this car.  I love him so very much!

Just 2 months away from having 2-2 year olds!
Last year at this time I was busy planning and figuring out what to do for their 1st birthday. (Actually I started my planning several months before their first birthday.. and now here I am 2 months away from birthday #2 and I have 1 idea. I'll probably go with that 1 idea, but I'm still thinking of doing something specifically for family.)
My 1 idea is to have a picnic at a local splash park. It's free and it has fountains and things for the kiddos to play in. I thought I'd invite lots of little kiddos, family and friends and whoever wants to come can come. Bring a sack lunch or possibly even grill some food. I'll probably do this, but I think I'd like to have a small party for family.. but I'm still not sure.



Liam has become a cuddler. He loves cuddling stuffed animals and blankets while he sleeps. His sleeping is much improved now, and he hardly wakes any more during the night and will generally sleep through if Coen wakes up. I've found the only times he wakes up is if he's teething or if he's peed too much during the night. (We've been withholding liquids late at night to help prevent the latter and it's seemed to have helped.)
Coen's sleep isn't as great as it used to be. He will wake up now if Liam wakes up. He used to sleep through anything, but as he's gotten older his sleeping has gotten a bit worse. He still sleeps great.. just as long as he's not interrupted.
They still love reading books. They're pretty good about pointing to objects or animals in books if you ask them where they are.
They are still practicing repeating new words.. even though they're not really using the words they're learning. Liam still does a lot of whining when he wants something. I try to get him to say words that he knows, but sometimes he just won't or he'll just say part of the word. Like ba for ball, or fff for off, mmm for more or mmm for milk. So it can be very hard to decipher what he's saying. Coen has gotten slightly better about the whining, but he seems to 'ask' for less than Liam does. He does very clearly say COOKIE though.



We're on day 8 of potty training with Liam and it is going very well. We didn't have any accidents on days 4 or 6, and only 1 accident on days 5 and 7.... and day 7 was when we were out away from home and he didn't give Oma enough notice to get him to the potty. (She was watching them while I was test driving our now new vehicle. More on that later.) We did make it to church and through most of the service before having to leave without having any accidents.
Our only weak spots are outside playing. I take the potty outside, but he only uses it about half the time when we're outdoors. (I don't care if he pees in the yard, but since we're still training, I still want him to let me know. For situations when we're at the park, he can't just go pee anywhere, so we're still working on that. Another weak spot is he's in diapers at nap and bed time and in the morning he will poop first thing and usually hold it the rest of the day. He has gone poo in the potty a few times, but I think he prefers his diaper still, so I'm trying to figure a way to keep him from relying on his diaper... maybe it will just happen over time, dunno.
Potty training Liam has made Coen a bit jealous and now he constantly takes his diaper off. I'm not sure he actually wants to train yet, I think he just wants to be naked. Although, after this week I'm going to evaluate how Liam is doing and if I think I can handle it, I may try to start with Coen next Monday. I'm not really sure if he's ready, but I figure I can give it the 3 days and see how he does. Maybe since Liam is doing well and he sees Liam going on the potty, it may make it easier for him... who knows.

Well, by the end of day 3 we are not at a 75% success rate.  I think we're closer to 65%.  According to the article I'm supposed to wait 6-8 weeks and try again later.  I'm not sure I want to un-do everything he's already learned, but at the same time I don't feel like he's ready for outings (ie. the grocery store and such).  I know he's getting it, but he's just not consistent.  Day 3 was an improvement over day 2, he even went poopoo in the potty!

Liam took himself to go potty several times on his own, but the times he didn't he would start peeing on the floor and I'd rush him to his potty.  I don't expect him to go on his own every time after 3 short days, but the 75% success rate is sticking in my head.

Do I continue or wait and try again later?
For now, I'm going to give it 1 more day and see how he does.  If he still improves I think I'll continue, but if he doesn't make any improvements then we may abandon for now.  :(

Day 2 was not as successful as day 1 and here's what I think happened.

I was a lot more comfortable going into to day 2, especially after such a great day 1.  I think I let my comfort take over and I slacked off.  In the morning we were having lots of accidents and I realize that I wasn't watching him like I should have been.  After their nap I watched much more closely and we only had a few accidents.  He even got up from watching Nemo and got on the potty by himself and pee'd, without any help or direction from me.
He still has not pooped in the potty.  He had a poopy diaper first thing in the morning of day 2, and didn't poop at all on day 2.  I'm starting to get concerned.  I don't want to cause him problems by potty training since he's holding his poop, so we'll see how day 3 goes... as far as pooping goes.

The other issue I think was the 'newness' of the potty on day 1.  He wanted to sit on it all the time which I think helped with all his success on day 1.  Day 2 he was far less interested in sitting on the potty.  He would sit for about 2 seconds then want to get up.  I figured with the potty not being 'new' any more and my lack of attentiveness day 2 was not very successful.  We had probably 7-8 dribbles/accidents and only 3 or 4 pees in the potty.

On to day 3!

***WARNING***  This next post contains references to pee and poop.  Read at your own risk.  :)


So I decided to dive in and try to potty train Liam... or at least to see if he was ready.  He seemed to be giving me hints of when he needed to go or when he had gone pee or poo, so I thought I'd give it a try.
I decided several months back I was going to try a method I read about called "Potty training in 3 days or less".  it's geared towards children under the age of 3.  More specifically ages 15 months to 28 months.  (They say the closer your child is to the age of 3 the less likely this method is to work.)  Basically your child goes diaper free/pants free for 3 days (to start).  For those first 3 days you basically sit around and watch your child waiting for them to need to pee or poo and rush them to the nearest toilet.  Day 1, you are house bound.  On day 2, you leave the house for an hour and on day 3 you leave the house twice for an hour each.  If after the first 3 days your child is having 75% or more of success then they say it's safe to proceed, if less than 75% then your child may not be completely ready and to wait and try again in 6-8 weeks.  If proceeding, after the initial 3 days you introduce pants for going out, but no underwear or diapers while awake... and no pants at home.  (Diapers only for naps and bedtime, unless you feel they don't need it.)  The no pants at home stays a rule for the first 3 months.

So yesterday was day 1 and here's how it went. 
Liam woke up and pooped right away in his diaper before I came in to get him, which I was happy about because I knew I'd only be tackling pee first thing in the morning.  He held his pee for about 3 hours then started dribbling here and there.  It was never very much and we'd go sit on the potty but he wouldn't actually pee.  After dribbling about 3 times on the floor and dribbling twice in the potty he finally had a full pee on the potty!  The rest of the day was basically the same thing, he'd dribble a little bit on the floor then go to the potty and usually have a full pee.  Total I think he dribbled about 7 times on the floor but had 5 full pees on the potty.  I honestly was amazed, I was expecting to have full pee's everywhere on the floor all day, but he proved me wrong.
We did break a rule already and went outside for a bit yesterday evening.  He went pantsless and pee'd twice (not on the potty).
The only 'problem' we had yesterday is no poop.  When he woke up from his nap he started pooping before I got to him.  I saw he was trying so I took his diaper off and put him on the potty but he wouldn't poop.  He held it for the rest of the day and pooped first thing in the morning (in diaper) before I could get to him.. again.  So pooping might be our downfall right now, but we'll keep on working on it.

I'd definitely consider day 1 a success.  Let's hope he continues this pattern and that brother wants to join in.  (Coen was getting jealous that Liam was nakey all day and kept taking his diaper off too.  But I know I could NOT train them both at the same time, so he's going to have to wait for a bit.)

Wow, I am late posting this.  I actually had most of it typed up but forgot to finish and actually post.  Here we go.



My boys are growing up!  Every day they're learning something new and becoming little men.


It makes me smile when I see their funny expressions.  It makes me laugh when they mock us by 'talking' on the phone.  I always sat back and wondered where they get these silly faces, then one day I was giggling and being silly and realized I was making the same goofy face that Liam does when he's being silly.  So now I know.... it's me.  :)  They are my little boys.  I see a lot of myself in them and just as much of Milo in them as well.  I really love seeing how their personalities are forming and also how different they are from one another.



I recently stumbled across a blog and became interested in the activities this woman shared with her children, so I started following it.  As time went on she explained more and more about these activities and commonly referenced the Montessori method.  I of course said "what's Montessori?"  With the help of google and a few emails from this fellow blogger I was enticed.  The Montessori Method is basically an educational method where it allows children to learn in their own way at their own pace.  It also teaches self-reliance and independence.  I've checked out some library books and am doing my research.  So far I've implemented a few of the 'Montessori ideas' and have already seen some amazing results.  One example is I'm letting the boys eat all their meals and snacks at their small table instead of confining them in their booster seats.  In about 4 days they're already eating better, having far less messes (no longer throwing food or their cups on the floor), and it's much easier to tell when they're done, they simply get up.  Since they were doing well with that I decided to start having them help clean up their table when they were done.  Now, when Liam is done, he gets up, picks up his plate and takes it to the counter.  (Sometimes he needs help getting it onto the counter, but he's learning to help.)  Coen puts his plate away about half the time.  He usually needs a reminder. 
This is just a start to some of the wonderful ideas these books have given me.
(I've since abandoned having them at their table.  I missed having them at the table with us while we had our meals.  Since they were so much lower than us it felt like they weren't with us.. I know I'm weird. )


They continue to pick up a few new words here and there.  Liam is finally starting to repeat or at least attempt to repeat words if you ask him to.  Their newest word that they LOVE is 'no'.  I knew this day would happen, and so far I'm coping.  Coen mostly likes to run around saying no-no-no-no-no over and over.  I don't think he actually realizes the true meaning of him saying 'no'.  Liam just likes to repeat Coen... and so far neither have told me no.  (Which is a good thing for them.  That is something I don't think will go over well.)


They both are working on their last molars.  Liam has 1 of his last 4 and poor Coen has been a drool factory for weeks now with nothing to show for it.  (Oh, and he's also has the talent of putting his whole hand in his mouth.. and on occasion both hands in his mouth.)


One of Coen's newest cute factors is he loves being tickled.  Not only do you get these huge belly laughs and red faces from him but if he wants you to tickle him more, he'll pull your hand towards his belly (or feet) and say 'tickle tickle tickle'.  I love it!  He is such a goof.  He gets the ticklish nature from me.. but I hate being tickled.


I think I've mentioned this before, but they both love helping out.  They especially love throwing things away.. which we have to watch out for, since we've caught them both throwing things away that weren't trash.  They generally like help picking up, or putting things away, attempting to help with the dishes or laundry.

Well, I think that's about it for now.  Since I'm getting this posted so late I'm trying not to bleed any 'new' stuff from this month over into the next.  I better get started on it now.. so I don't post it 3 weeks late!

This particular post is just for me.

As of yesterday I have officially lost all my pregnancy (and after) weight!  I still have a wardrobe full of clothing that doesn't fit since my body shape is different, but this is just a start.  Here's how it went.

I was already over my ideal body weight when I got pregnant, weighing in at 149.  I lost 3 lbs due to morning sickness and 8 months later I had gained a whopping 60lbs over my starting weight, putting me at 209.  I was able to loose 55 lbs (weight at 154) within 2 months after the boys were born, thanks to breast feeding.  However after breastfeeding I slowly started gaining weight.  (I think I let my quick weight loss go to my head, and with  not nursing I was no longer burning those extra calories.) 
With my steady gain and after my gallbladder surgery (April '10) my weight had crept up to 165.  By the time the boys first birthday rolled around I realized I needed to do something.  I started out by watching my portions.  Simply cutting back how much I was eating but still eating whatever I wanted... and cutting back on soda.  Over the following months I was able to slowly bring my weight down to 155 and that's where I started to stall.  Luckily I have a great friend that was wanting to get in shape as well so we became workout/diet/accountability buddies.  So I started counting my calories and working out when I could.  Having her as my buddy has really helped.  She has motivated me and helped me stay on track.. especially after gaining a pound after my first week of cutting calories.  (So, thank you Cynthia!)
After a month of cutting my calories I've managed to loose 7 more pounds putting me BELOW my pre-pregnancy weight.  I'm currently 148!  I'm still watching my calories and am hoping to workout more.  My weight goal currently is 135.  When I reach that, we'll go from there if I'll maintain or loose more.

So there you have it.  8 months and 17lbs later, I'm feeling great.  Hoping for another successful 8 months (or however long) of getting in shape.


PS... I honestly can't believe I put my weights in for the world (or a few friends) to see, but there you have it.  No turning back now.  :)

My first thought about my boys being 19 months is the fact that in just under 5 months they'll be 2!  2, really!?!?!  Wow, it was a long road getting them here... 2 years in fact, and these past 2 years, since they've been a part of our lives, have flown by crazy fast!

The thing on my mind of late is once again the lack of vocabulary.  I've gotten some comfort from Mr. Gary Welch.  A great man and a speech therapist too.  He's given me some comfort and also some ideas to help Coen and Liam along with their speech.  Even though Gary and their Dr both say there's nothing to worry about quite yet, I just can't help but feel I've failed them in some way.  Just my mommy guilt acting up again I suppose.
Coen has picked up a few new words over the past few weeks which is comforting.  He's now up to 11 words.  (I've been writing them down since the Dr said to keep a tally so I know how many they're saying by their next check up.)  Liam is still at 2 words.

I've been battling with sleeping arrangements again.  Liam still sleeps in a bassinet in our room for naps, but is quickly outgrowing it.  He does fine for the most part during the night in his own room/crib, but for naps he tends to wake about 45 minutes into his naps and just doesn't sleep well in his own room.  My next experiment will be putting the bassinet in his room and see how he sleeps.  I'm trying to figure out if its the room or the bed... hopefully it's the bed since that's an easier fix.

They still love the outdoors!  During these recent warmer days, we've spent some time at parks, the zoo and in our backyard.  I'm excited for more consistent warmer weather.  I enjoy walking them up to the park and letting them play.  Great exercise for me pushing 50ish lb stroller up a hill and fun for them to get out of the house and run around.

The boys had their first dentist visit.  I know some people say, 'why so early?', but I like to think it's not too early.  My hopes are going early, they'll get used to it and not be scared about a dentist cleaning their teeth up and also we'll find any potential problems early.  Also, for us going early was a good thing.  I read that you don't need to floss until their teeth start touching, which usually won't happen until they have all their teeth... well not in our case I guess.  Their teeth don't touch yet, but Dr. Spencer said that there's not as much room as he'd normally see at this age so they needed to start flossing now.  Just 3-4 times a week for now.  I wasn't expecting that, but maybe this will prevent any issues from popping up.

Tooth count!  Coen is up to 14 teeth now.  Top canines are in and now he's working on the bottom two.  Liam I think is done for now.  He seems like his gums bother him sometimes when we're brushing his teeth, but I can't see or feel his molars yet.

Motherhood at 19 months.  Just more worrying and now beginning to think about birthday #2!


I realized after posting this I left out a few new things about their personalities that I thought I should have added in.  One for instance is Coen and acting shy.  I honestly do think he's shy or at least a bit reserved, however he's been giving this 'shy, I'm not going to smile' look and it is beyond adorable.  He'll put his head down and look up at you over his glasses while smirking and trying his hardest not to smile.  I find it completely irresistible.  
Liam has been going through a mommy phase.  It's nice to know he wants me around, but at the same time hard because I have another child to take care of and it's even more hard on the people he refuses.. daddy, aunts, grandmothers.  :(  I know his is just a phase so it will pass and soon I'll be the one he's refusing, so for now I'll enjoy the time he wants me to cuddle him.  Liam also, has been showing signs of potty training.  Coen did for a while, but those passed and now he'll pee just about everywhere anytime he's nakey.  Liam has been notifying me when he's gone or is going to the bathroom.  Twice now he has also gone into the bathroom to go... in his diaper, but still I think he's starting to make the connection.  So I may brave it and try with Liam to see how he does.  We tried with Coen a few weeks back and he didn't have any accident all morning, but began getting very fussy and irritated.  He then had an accident when I had my back turned for a second, I went ahead and diapered him up, and he almost immediately pooed.  Then he was happy and care free.  I think his fussyness came from wanting or needing to go, but not feeling comfortable without his diaper.  Which is odd since he pee's all the time on the floor.  In any case, we've set potty training aside for Coen at the moment and we may try with Liam soon.

I haven't posted any new pics recently so enjoy!

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I'm a few days late posting.. as usual.  This time I have good reason, the boys have been sick.  :(

It typically starts when we visit people.  There will undoubtedly be someone that has a cold, flu or something and anytime there is, you can bet Liam will catch it.  It tends to start with Liam and then moves on to Coen and myself.  (Once, Coen and I escaped an illness that Liam caught, but only once.)  This time it's a nasty nasty cold.  I've never seen them look and act so sick before, so I took them to the dr.. 'well, it looks like they have a cold'... really?  This sick and just a cold?  The dr said they look great otherwise, ears very clean, and lungs sounded good, so there's not much we can do for them.  UGH!  In any case, it looks like Liam is on the mend.  He still has a horrible cough, but his nose has dried up some and no more fever.  He's also back to his typical 1 nap.  (For a few days they were taking 2 naps ranging from 1 hr to 3+ hrs.  For me, it was a nice break from crying fussing babies.  It's so hard for a mother not to be able to do something for your child when they're hurt or sick.)  Coen on the other hand seems to be a bit worse off.  He basically didn't sleep for 2 days when he first got sick so that just compounded and made him feel really horrible.  He is sleeping better now and acting better, but still has a fever that keeps popping up.  Anyway, that is a very long explanation  as to why I'm late posting.

I was expecting by 18 months Coen and Liam would be talking up a storm.  I was wrong, very wrong.  Liam still says basically nothing.  To ask for something he points and says eh?  Coen still has his few words, but nothing new since 'bubble'.  The dr said that at 18 months they like to see children saying about 4 words.  She didn't seem concerned that Liam wasn't saying any.  She did say to start keeping a tally of how many words they start saying because by 2, they should have about 50 words in their vocabulary... really?  50!  We have a lot of catching up to do.

Real quick our 18 month stats:  Coen is 32-1/4 in. long (49th%), weighs 23 lbs 13 ozs (22nd%), and head circumference is 49cm (82nd%).  Liam is 33 in. long (71st%), weighs 22 lbs 7 ozs (9th%), and head circumference is 50cm (95th%).  Yup, still has his daddy's big head. :)  Since Liam is on the slender side, the dr suggested giving him some instant breakfast in his milk once a day to boost his calorie intake.  She said if he did get really sick and didn't eat much that he doesn't have much reserve.  So, we tried it, but that was the first day he was sick and didn't want to eat/drink anything.. so we'll try again now that he's feeling better.  I had been giving him some of the pediasure shakes that have lots of extra vitamins and minerals.  He likes them, but they're very expensive, so I'm hoping he will take to the instant breakfast shakes. 

There's not much new from the last month, except for 1 thing.  THEY LOVE MUSIC!  They've always enjoyed me singing to them.  (And if you've ever heard me sing, I'm surprised they like any kind of music after hearing me butcher songs.) 
Here recently I set up a small TV in our living room with a DVD player so the boys can watch Veggie Tales occasionally.  (I'm not big on a TV being the babysitter, but a 30 minute video I'm ok with.)  They won't sit through the entire video but when the intro theme song and silly songs with Larry come on, watch out!  They will literally run to their couch and sit down at stare intently while the songs are going.  I find it incredibly cute and I absolutely love the fact that they like music so much.  (Their favorite story so far is 'The Ballad of Little Joe' aka Joseph and the coat of many colors.)

Tooth count, since teething as picked back up.  Coen's top canines are about to cut through, but haven't quite yet.  So his total is still at 12.  Liam has cut all his canines so that brings him up to 16!  Dr confirmed that once he gets his 2nd set of molars (between age 2-3) he'll be done!  (Until he's much older.)  Just 4 more teeth!


I'll part with this little ditty:
If you like to talk to tomatoes, if a squash can make you smile.  If you like to waltz with potatoes, up and down the produce aisle... have we got a show for you!  .....

(Brings back memories!)

I'll be doing their 18 month update in about a week or so, but thought I would share a few quickies.

Yesterday we picked up their glasses.  Coen already seems to be doing well with his prisms.  The assistant there said to watch him for any behavioral changes.  That the prisms can sometimes cause young children to become very irritable because the extra light reflections can bother them, and being so young they can't tell us there is an issue.  I thought to myself, wow this can't be a worse time to watch for behavioral changes!  Coen has begun teething again and is having sleeping issues so he's been quite the grump the past week.  Anyway, he seems to be adjusting well already.  After only observing him for the few hours he's had them, his eyes don't seem to cross as often.  Maybe it's my wishful thinking, but they appear to be helping correct the eye turning issue already.
Liam has been doing amazingly well too.  I think he was excited to have glasses like mommy and brother.  Yesterday afternoon he only took them off twice and only once today so far (it's still morning though).  He likes to touch them.. a lot, but he keeps them on much better than Coen did when he first got his.  (Of course Coen was 5 months younger.)  One super cute thing and a reason I think he likes having glasses is, when he touches them he'll look at you and grin and then keep on playing.  It hasn't even been 24 hours, but I'm hoping they work well for the both of them.

Ok, now on to bubbles!!
For my Mom's side of the family we just had Christmas this past weekend.  The boys made out like bandits and received lots of cool gifts from their Aunts, Uncle, cousins, Grandma and Grandpa Rick.  One of the gifts was a Finding Nemo book with sound buttons.  (You know the one, as your reading you match the pictures in the book with the picture to the right sound button.)  The story was finding the hidden bubble.  One of the buttons is Nemo saying "bubbles, cool!"  The boys just love this book.  I think it is quickly becoming a new favorite.
The other day I heard Coen trying to say apple.  I worked with him to help him along, and he kept saying app or pulpul.  I figured, close enough, he'd get it when he was ready.  Well today, I hear him saying abul.  I thought 'wow, he's getting closer to saying apple'.  Nope!  I was wrong.  This whole time I think he was trying to say bubble!  He was sitting with the Finding Nemo book and hitting the button where Nemo says "bubbles, cool!".  After he'd hit the button he would say abul.  I think all this time he didn't want to say apple, I think he wanted to say bubble.  Maybe he wants to say both apple and bubble since they have similar sounds, but in any case I'm glad that he's trying to sound out what he's hearing.  It's just too cute to watch them learning.

The most recent news is both boys will have glasses.  Coen went in for his 4 month follow up and Dr. Mark has decided to change his RX and will be adding a prism in his lenses.  This will force him to use both eyes together instead of switching what eye he's looking out of.  Dr. Mark said they would eventually ween him off the prism so he'd return to regular glasses and may also end up having to patch an eye also.
We noticed just over a month ago that Liam's eyes were starting to turn in as well.  He didn't seem to want to use his left eye anymore.  We're not sure why this started, but seemed to get worse in a short period of time so we made an appointment for him as well since we were taking Coen in for his follow up.  Turns out Liam will need glasses too.  His RX isn't as strong as Coen's and his eyes don't appear to turn as badly as Coen's so hopefully the glasses will be just the fix that Liam's eyes need.  So we'll be ordering new lenses and glasses for the boys this coming week.  Will post pics when we're all set with our new glasses.

The boys are as wild as ever!  They are into everything.  Climbing into their booster chairs, into our chairs, onto the kitchen table, on their chairs and table (new gift from Aunt Janet, which they love!  They've even been sitting at their table for their snacks the past few days.)  They are the energizer bunnies.  They go and go and go. 
Just the other day, Milo and I were sitting in the living room and we hear Coen and Liam yelling.  (They like yelling and being boisterous when standing on things.  I think they're objective is to get your attention so you can see what they're up to... and they also just like being loud.)  So they're being very loud and we find Liam sitting and Coen standing on our dining room table.  You can't help but laugh at their adventurous nature, yet it's so dangerous.


As part of our bedtime routine we've been brushing the boys teeth.  They've never really protested, but don't seem to really enjoy it either.  Here recently, when it's time to brush their teeth, we ask them, 'are you ready to brush your teeth?' and Coen will head straight for the door and say 'ahhh'.  (Not all the time, but more often than not.)  They really seem to be enjoying recently.


One thing that really amazes me about them is their willingness to play on their own.  I will often find them sitting together reading books and playing with their toys.  These are the moments that I can get some housework done.  :)  A few other things that keep them entertained for hours at a time:  belts, blankets, climbing (that's a given at this age), our bed, laundry and laundry baskets, bowls/cups with a spoon.  I am very blessed to have such independent boys.

At the last update the boys were getting over a 2 week cold.  They got over it just fine then Liam came down with a 24 hour flu.  It was my first night staying up with him so he could vomit.  We spent the entire night in a chair in the living room cuddled up.  I didn't get any sleep, but he did.  I didn't realize how much he moves while he sleeps.. he was everywhere!  I tried moving to the floor so I could attempt to sleep, but that just woke him up and kind of frightened him I think.. maybe because he wasn't sure what was going on.  So we spent the rest of the night and early morning in the chair.
The following week, I got strep throat.  Once again we were very blessed and the boys didn't get it.  Neither did Milo!  Milo had to take 2 days off work to take care of the boys because the strep completely wiped me out (I slept for two and a half days!).  Luckily he had the time to take off.  We have since known lots of people that have been sick and other than the short flu for Liam and the 2 week cold, the boys have been illness free!  It could be that we don't get them out too often, but when it comes to freezing weather and sick people, my view is, why take the chance?  Taking care of a sick adult is not fun.. throw in a toddler or two... no thanks!  I am just very happy that we've been able to escape a lot of the illness going around.

A few oldies but goodies:
Some things the boys used to do as babies and have either resurfaced or they've held onto.  When Liam is tired and you're rocking him to put him to bed, he will rub the tip of his nose back and forth.  He used to do it all the time as a baby and here recently he's started it back up.  I find it so cute.
When Coen was learning how to sit he would cross his legs.  I remember some friends saying that it was so adorable... well guess what?  He still does it.  That's something that never left.  He doesn't do it near as often.. maybe because he is constantly on the go, but occasionally you'll find him reading a book, sitting with his legs crossed.


They also like to help when getting dressed.  For a while now, they'll actually straighten their arms or legs to make it easier when putting on their clothing, but they'll also pick up their shoes, socks, gloves, hats or other clothing items and try to put them on.  Which means they also like taking these items off.  Usually they'll only take off socks, and hats.  They haven't quite figured out how to remove the other clothing items.  :)

What else, what else... talking, nope not yet.  I think they're definitely getting closer though.  They will mock our sounds (and facial expressions), but they're not really into mocking words yet.
They have learned how to point to the following body parts:  hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth (still have trouble with this one sometimes), arm, hands (sometimes they'll clap for hands), belly and feet.  We're working on legs right now.. that seems to be a toughy. 


Coen and Liam continue to amaze me daily and I am so proud and happy to be their mother.