Reading and words!

We are trying to read to the boys again. It's so hard to read them stories without them running away or taking the book. I read to them sometimes at night if I'm trying to get them to go to sleep but it's usually something I'm reading at the time. Poe used to knock them out!

We were worried that their language skills aren't up to where they're supposed to be. Every other milestone they are way ahead of where they are supposed to me.

Sunday, Joy and I made a list of all the words they know and to our surprise they are right where they are supposed to be . I looked on various websites to find exercises or things we could do with them.

That night, without much trying they started exploding with words. They are making a good attempt at trying to repeat us.

One of the exercises is to read to them. So this week, we both started reading to them kids books at night. It had been mostly ineffective. It is hard to keep them still for a story. They do like grabbing the book and "reading" aloud themselves. Which is really cute and awesome!!! But not so much for learning new words.

Last night, Joy suggested we do it at the dinner time with them strapped in. That was much more successful! They ate and watched us read and show them the pictures in the book. Joy and I both read them a different book.

We are also repeating words a lot as we are doing things. "Jacob is sitting on the chair! Chair! Jasper is sitting in the chair too! The chair!" etc.

We have a play outdoor grill and oven in their playroom that they have been playing with a lot lately. Last night, Jasper was playing with the oven and after he put stuff in the oven, I pressed the sticker buttons on it and said "beep beep beep". He repeated instantly! I then made a "shhhhh" sound when I pretended to put water in the pan. Jasper and Jacob both mimicked. Really cute!



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Playing and learning

Last night, we had a fun learning and exercise game with the boys. Joy and I did things like jump, put our hands in the air, and stand on one foot and tried to get the boys to copy us.

Jacob loved it, Jasper was a little reluctant at first but then had really got in it. Jacob loved when we started spinning. As soon as he stopped spinning, I would go over to make sure he didn't fall into anything.

Jasper stated really getting into when we were standing on one foot. He had a little trouble balancing so he went over the wall and used his hand to lean. So cute!

Joy thought they could learn their animals by running to the animals that were on their wall. We would say "run to the lion" and then run and tap the lion, and then the giraffe. He did this for awhile.

We had a lot of fun playing yesterday!

Joy got a bunch of a activity books from the library today. It should be very helpful and a great learning experience.

Today, we had a snow storm. I'm hoping that it warms up a little bit to where we can take them outside to play.



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18th month check up and dudes' weekend

The boys had their 18th month check up on Friday and with the exception of flu shots, they are done with shots until they're 4! Yay! Next time we go in, Jasper will be on the big boy scale for sure. He was 29 pounds and the scale goes up to 30. I'm sure Jacob will to as he is just a little below him.

The poor dudes knew exactly what the examination table was used for and freaked every time they had to get on it. They only needed one shot and it wasn't too bad. It's still hard holding them still while they get pricked. I held Jasper who looked me in the eye with horror. Joy had Jacob who tried to flip over and crawl away.

The nurse we had was really nice. She gave them little books which they loved. She stuck around afterwards to wave goodbye which I think was very helpful. When we got home they took a nap.

Joy had to work with her cookie business all weekend, so it was mostly just me and boys. I worked on words with the boys. Explaining what everything is. I got several books from library that we read and they looked through.

We played a lot of ball, listened to music, ran around, and played with toys. They loved trying to pull the lights off the Christmas tree and almost making it fall. Tonight, i took the lights off the bottom of the tree. So we have a half decorated tree.

It was a great weekend. Really nice to spend some one on two time. Though, I wish Joy could have been with us.


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At the beaver marsh

Today Joy suggested we hit the cuyahoga valley national park to let the boys walk around outside. She texted my mom so her and my dad could meet at the beaver marsh.

We arrived first so we walked with the boys up to the marsh. Jacob did a great job at holding hands with mommy during the walk. I held Jasper's hood because he's not into holding hands.

The boys loved looking at the marsh and the ducks but mostly loved walking. We hung out there for a while then walked back to meet my parents.

The boys acted shy around my parents but warmed up to them later. When we walked back to the marsh, I held Jacob's hand. When I looked back Jasper and my dad were holding hands. He held hands the rest of the way to the marsh. We were amazed.

We hung out the marsh for awhile. The boys had fun with my dad who was goofing around with them. It was really nice being outside. I hope we get a few more chances before winter sets in.

Tonight, we had a good chill out night. After they got up from their nap, we put on Monsters Inc for them and then after dinner Joy and I played with them on the rug. Jasper laid on my stomach and we did plenty of secret handshakes, fives, and patty cakes. Jacob was a little more into doing his own thing in the dining room but he would stop in from time to time for a secret handshake.

Yesterday, Joy's mom watched the boys while we went on a date to see Breaking Dawn. The boys got to stay up past their bed time and watched muppets christmas movies.




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