Caleb's Twin?

So, we all know that Caleb has a fraternal twin - Jacob. From the first day that Jacob and Caleb were born, we could tell them apart without problem. They are like night and day! People told us that we should label all of our pictures, as we would not be able to tell them apart later on - definitely not the case!

We are asking ourselves now, however, if we created Caleb an identical twin 18 months later! See for yourself:


Caleb at 2 weeks


Gabe at 2 weeks

Gabe looks a little bit chunkier around the jaw line and cheeks than Caleb at that age (makes since - Gabe is getting ALL of the Mommy Milk rather than having to share with a brother), but other than that, the picture looks to be the same kid!!

If it wasn't in the day of digital and therefore all of the pictures are in chronological order, we would have to indeed mark them so that we could tell the difference between Gabe and Caleb as babies! We'll have to remember to label any ones we print out!

One more quick comparison:


Caleb at 2 weeks


Gabe at 2 weeks

Amazing!

Happy 18 Months, Boys!

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.
~Elizabeth Stone

Jacob and Caleb are growing right along, become more and more like little toddlers and less "babyish." They are so fun now - when they're not having a tantrum, biting, or fighting over toys! Overall, they truly are good and very sweet little guys.

Jacob, our "Baby A," has really learned to share, which actually is not always a great thing. Most of the time he'll cave in and give Caleb a toy if he wants it, even if he was playing with it first. Also, all Caleb has to do now is point and "grunt" at a toy, and Jacob will go "fetch" it for him. That is very sweet of him to do, don't get me wrong, but Caleb is still not walking well, so he REALLY needs to be getting his little hiney up and practicing on his own! Jacob is one of the most tenderhearted little kids I have ever seen. He really is a sweetheart.



His giggle is contagious! He gets tickled at watching his brother do all sorts of crazy things! He also loves to dance (I need to try to get a video of him dancing to "Jakey got low, low, low, low, low, low, loooooowwwww...")



As far as mobility, by watching Jacob, you NEVER would guess that his motor skills were delayed only a couple of months ago. Last night he didn't want his nails trimmed (it's really torture to him, as he has to sit still for more than 30 seconds), so the silly boy was running from me laughing (what a fun game to be chased by Mommy)! He walks constantly, often carrying really heavy and/or bulky toys around. He also likes to "read" to us. He opens a book and babbles "words" as he turns the pages.


Here Jacob decides he is too busy too sit down and read, so he combines his two favorites - walking and reading.

Jacob is a GREAT eater! He is pretty good with a spoon/fork and will eat almost anything that we offer. He likes all veggies, but especially is a meat eater. The kid shocks me with the amount of food he can put away for his size! (A typical breakfast is a whole bowl of oatmeal, a whole piece of fruit, a 6 ounce cup of milk, and oftentimes some Cheerios or Cheetah Chomps to munch on while his brother finishes... and that's just for breakfast!)



His favorite things right now are balls/playing catch with Daddy, books, coloring, being outdoors (he is tall enough to reach the door knob, and tries to go outside several times a day), playing in sand, barbeque brisket (no, I'm not kidding), sweet corn bread muffins (what can I say - the boy LOVES good food!), and giving kisses.



Caleb, our "Baby B," is still, well, our little Caleb! I've never met another kid quite like him. He has such a fun personality and a smile (with big dimples) that can make anyone melt.



However he most definitely knows how to work that to his advantage! He still gets that look like he scheming up something often, and several times a day will actually look at me, smile really sweetly, and then throw a toy at or tackle his brother. He thinks that his cuteness will get him out of anything.



It already seems, however, that Caleb already has extreme stubbornness and perfectionist behavior. He CAN walk (we've seem him do it on multiple occasions), but just only does it when it benefits him. My thoughts? He is not wanting to walk right now - he wants to run - and he is not going to run until he knows that he can do it perfectly. Until that moment clicks with him, he's not going to attempt to walk alone too much - and the more we push him, the more ticked off he's going to get at not only us, but also himself. He is stubborn, he is a perfectionist, he is really hard on himself, and he is his Mommy all over! He'll learn soon enough that being a perfectionist is both a blessing and a curse.



Caleb is also very, very good with a spoon! The boy will diligently eat every bite with his spoon rather than use his hands (most meals). In fact, he tries to eat his finger foods (Goldfish, etc) with a spoon if he has one.


Here Caleb munches down on some Indian food - Chicken Tikka Masala, a toned down palak sadheko, and some mango with yogurt

His favorite things right now are giving hugs, tackling/rough housing with brother (which Jacob hates!), having bites of Mommy's cheesecake Blizzard when we go to Azle, making people laugh, giving "raspberries," his puppy, and going in the wagon for walks.


Caleb having a bite of yummy Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard at DQ.

As you can clearly see, we are crazy about these boys! They are twins, yet so very different. I love how both of their personalities shine.

Mommy and Daddy love you, boys! We can't wait to see you bloom even more in the coming months!

"Pffffftttt" (givin' some raspberries)

The coolest thing in Jacob and Caleb's little worlds right now is giving raspberries. Check out the video below where Caleb couldn't get enough of blowing raspberries on Momma's leg.



What's even funnier is that Jacob has had some pretty bad gas the last couple of days (he'll be so mad in a few years reading this, letting the whole world about his flatulence - hehehe), and so he'll "toot," and then laugh and blow a raspberry. I don't know if the noise coming from his little bottom reminds him about it, or if he thinks he is being a sly boy and covering it up. Either way, it is hysterical!!

Here's another video of both boys "attacking" their Momma. I have already started having to remind the boys the "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." Towards the end, Caleb gets a little excited and head butts Jacob. It really was merely a tap, but Jacob was getting sleepy.

Watermelon and Outdoor Fun

OK, so you might be a redneck if you strip your babies down to their diapers and let them go to town on a sweet, juicy chunk of watermelon in the backyard.



Not a great shot, but you can see the black eye that I mentioned a few posts back. Poor Jacob. It's been almost a week now, and it is looking better every day.



Jacob thinks this is some good stuff!



I think that little grin means that Caleb concurs.



Jacob says, "hey, bro, what do you think of this?..."



And Caleb's response...



So, yes, the boys LOVE watermelon. But how ever should be clean up this sticky mess?!



Easy! Fill the small pool, get Momma and Daddy in their swimsuits, grab the baby soap and a couple of towels, and throw the little dudes in. Now that, my friends, is either pure genius or redneck to the extreme!



THE END!!

"I Wanna Do It!!!"

Caleb has decided in the last couple of weeks that he does NOT want Momma to feed him - or even help for that matter! I had been letting the boys feed themselves about twice a day, and then I would feed them the other meal (so that I knew they were getting something with good nutritional value - like oatmeal, etc - at least once a day!). I initially thought that Caleb's refusal of food had something to do with him being sick (that he was afraid the food would make him throw up again), but then I noticed that if HE gets to feed himself, he's fine. I picked up on it after I began taking his plate away when he'd refuse to eat. He would scream, cry, and point to the food, but then refuse to actually EAT IT when I would give it back! I would give him something like dry Cheerios and juice to munch on, and he would eat every last bite and point to the container for more. I thought it was just that the bland Cheerios sat better with his sick tummy, but then I saw that he also began eating veggies, cheese, beans, etc. just fine if HE got to do it.

So I realized that it was not a "sick tummy" thing, but a controlling toddler thing!

Then and there, we made the decision to let THEM feed themselves every meal. I've accepted that they are "big boys" and need to teach themselves eventually, so I've completely let go and am letting them do all of their normal favorites foods without limits, no matter HOW messy my kitchen gets - oatmeal, spaghetti, etc. They are really doing quite well with the spoon and fork too! Well, uhhh, MOST days!

Jacob is proud that he had an especially good day with his spoon skills.

Caleb did pretty well too, meaning he didn't get much on his body or Momma's floor, but look at that little face.

Caleb is quite the proud little guy, so here is his applauding himself for a job well done on his oatmeal, milk, and pears. (Yes, he is my little ham!)

This was one particular day where they got a little crazy with their lunch...

That is watermelon and broccoli all over my kitchen floor. YIKES! For some reason I feel like Cinderella here lately, as I am on my hands and knees scrubbing three times a day. Can some one come pick me up in a big pumpkin carriage and make all of the work STOP?!

Along the note of food, we have found another favorite - soybutter! Our twin friends, Hagen and Mason, had posted a blog about eating sunbutter, and we thought that we'd also try it. (As many of you know, Caleb underwent allergy testing last October, and it came back that he potentially has a peanut allergy. I say potential, because the results are not always 100% when the child is that young. Also, the allergy showed to be slight, so it might be fine for Caleb to have peanuts down the road, but we are just holding off a while longer per the Allergy/Asthma Specialist's request.) I has not able to find Sunbutter at Wal-Mart or even Sprouts (I thought that had everything!), but we did find Soybutter, which I thought would serve the same purpose. (BTW, I have only seen Sunbutter at Target.)

What a hit! The boys love their dino shaped PB&Js - uhhh, I guess that would actually be SB&Js!

On the walking front, Jacob is finally walking... AGAIN!

As you recall, from our post on May 21st, Jacob walked!! We even had video proof of the kid! But the next morning is when we all got so sick, and he refused to walk again. Well, Tuesday night (yes, almost a month later!), he FINALLY started walking again.

The problem was that by the end of the night he was already getting pretty brave (not to mention tired - but didn't want to give it up), and fell pretty hard. I mean, it was one of those hits that immediately started turning purple and swollen. The poor boy was toddling along, slipped on a book, and hit his little face on the table. I think he was more upset with me trying to hold him still and put ice on his face than he was from the crash - the tough little guy. Jon and I got pretty panicy. What finally brought me back to Earth was Jon asking me my opinion "as a nurse" and not as "Jacob's Momma." Thinking about it that way, I could at least admit that from a nurse standpoint, the kid was FINE. It might be good to check on him once more before we went to bed and first thing in the morning - he'll have a little shiner on his eye, but he'll be FINE! As a Momma, however, I wanted to go to the ER for overnight observation. hehehe

I thought that we would have a recurrence of the last walking "SIKE," since every time he has tested the waters on this walking thing, something really bad happened to him. But the next morning, he was up and at it again!

Here he is taking not only the popcorn pusher, but also the chimes for a spin. You can't see the black eye, as it is on his right side.


But, anyway, it's always something around here! Now we just need to light a fire under little Caleb. He's done better by watching brother, but he is starting to get VERY jealous and acting more reserved, so we're not pushing him too hard... yet!

Caleb says, "Just TRY to make me walk without my push toy!!"

As far as the pregnancy, I am past the week 31 mark and still feeling great! I am much smaller and have much more energy that I did with the twins - go figure. My doctor's only concern is that I stay well hydrated while going out and about with the boys, since we are still doing our daily walks and frequent zoo trips.

Hmmmm... I'll try to work on some tummy pics soon! Perhaps tomorrow, if I am feeling ambitious after church. It'd be a good time, as I'll be dressed nicer than my recent day-to-day norm. ;-)

The Fort Worth Zoo

Jacob and Caleb seem to have acquired their Mommy's love for nature, science, and animals. Where else to take two little boys (and a big girl) with such loves? The Fort Worth Zoo! On just our first visit, we opted to get a Zoo Membership! It's $57 per year for adults, and kids under 3 are free. We decided not to get Jon a Zoo Membership this year, because we figure he would really only go with us a handful of times - not because he doesn't also love it, but because his Fridays off and the weekends get so busy already. Zoo Membership includes unlimited admission for the full year, free parking, 10% off at the food places, $3 off admission for my guests, and several other perks. Admission to the Zoo is now up to $10.50 per person and parking is $5, so this would mean we would have to go 4 times to have completely have the membership "paid off." Well, we have already more than paid it off!

Plus I love having a fun place to just go. Oftentimes the weather and the boys' attitudes for the day are "questionable," so I would not want to chance paying $15.50 just to have to turn around a come back home. With the membership, if we get there and one (or both) of the boys have a meltdown, we'll just bring our butts on home - only being out some gas money for the drive there. And we can go just to stay a couple of hours, not feeling pressured to "get our money worth" by staying all day.

Anyway, we love it and have always had a great time! The boys might be "questionable" when we leave, but end up happy when we get there. AND, they nap GREAT once we come home!

I think Caleb likes the Jaguar and Jacob likes the Gorilla best. Of course, they are too little to tell me this, but their actions and eyes speak volumes. Caleb stares in awe and points to the Jaguar, while Jacob makes monkey noises to the Gorilla (although I must say Jacob's "monkey" and "dog" sounds are really awful lot alike - we'll work on it).

We have SO MANY pictures from our Zoo Outings, but here are a few highlights - le Crème de la Crème, if you will.


Checking out the animals.


Leaning forward to get a closer look.


We go with a lot of other twins from McMoms often. Here we are "taking over" the Zoo! People are so amazed to see a caravan of so many precious twins come through. Just wait until we take some of our triplet and quad friends along too. ;-)


The boys and their friends, Lily and Maddie, checking out the penguins for the very first time.


A close up of the boys' faces while watching the penguins. Caleb is pointing with his infamous look of pure awe, while Jacob gets those blues eyes HUGE and looks at me for explanation. They tell me: "This, this??" (It means "what is this?") This is my favorite Zoo picture - sums it all up so well.


Getting pretty sleepy, but we have to make it by to see the Jaguar!


Jacob and Caleb have a goof-ball for a Mommy - but she does have a wing span of a Turkey Vulture! ;-)


This is another favorite - Caleb and Daddy feeding the parakeets.


Daddy is still feeding the parakeet, but we had to get a shot of Jacob's face watching too.


Caleb's sweet, sweet face. He gets so relaxed and calm while watching the animals.


A classic! The boys NEVER sleep in the stroller, but we really just wore ourselves out this day.

Will we continue to go once Baby Gabe arrives? Who knows! But knowing the boys' crazy Momma who thinks she can do it all, possibly yes. After all (to steal a quote from Mr. Jimmy Buffett), "if we weren't all crazy, we'd just go insane!" I mean, that's what it's like having little ones, right?! I could stay home and go crazy or I could take 18 month old twin boys and a newborn boy and make myself crazy. My choice - but either way, I am left being crazy! hehehe I think we will wait at least a month or two before getting Gabe out. Just so that we don't have to nurse every two hours at the Zoo and wait until we get away from the 100 degree, blistering Texas heat. It's always an adventure with these boys!

If any of you local people want to ever go to the Zoo with us, feel free to give me a call anytime. We are almost always up for it!

I am getting better about blogging, so hopefully I'll keep up on pics as we go in the future. ;-)

Memorial-Day-Weekend-Re-do!

We had a great, yet very busy weekend. Either way, it was MUCH better than our sickly Memorial Day weekend!

We started by Jon being off on Friday and ECI coming out to evaluate the boys. It went well, and we were so proud with how the boys behaved for the three ladies that came out with ECI! The results: they do indeed qualify, based on their Motor deficit. At almost 16 months, Caleb is about 11 months on Motor development, while Jacob is at 12 months. The great news was that they were at or ahead of the game for the other categories! Not surprising to us, Caleb was at 17 months socially. He takes after his Momma there. ;-) So, they will come out again in two weeks, and we will determine what all we can do to help get these little guys moving!

Entertaining their guests was very tiring for the boys, so they had a lunch of grilled cheese, carrots, and mandarin oranges, and crashed hard during nap! When they finally got up, Daddy and I had a big surprise waiting for them outside! We were finally able to wade around in our own little pool!! As you can see from the pictures, they loved it!







Saturday we had a Graduation Party for my cousins (the boys' second cousins), Kyle and Tyler. Kyle is graduating from Keller High School, and will be starting the "Blinn TEAM" program (part time enrolled at Texas A&M) in the Fall. Tyler is graduating as the Salutatorian of Lake Worth High School and will be starting Northwestern State University in Louisiana in the Fall on a great (almost full!) scholarship! We are very proud of both of the guys!


Jon, Jacob, Amber, Caleb, Cindy "Nan", and Al "Abuelo" at the Party


Gran with most of her crew: all of the Grandkids and Great-Grandkids that were there! (Kyle is to the left and Tyler is to the right of her in the middle.)


Jacob really wanted to practice his walking skills when he saw CAKE sitting on a nearby table. Jon kept having to distract and pull him away!

Sunday morning, we headed out to Mesquite for the Harper Family Reunion. (Jon's Gran's side of the family) The boys again did well, considering they had to get up early, there were tons of new faces, and they were outside with no great place to roam free.











Poor boys, again, crashed HARD after visiting with so many family members out in the sun all morning! Amazingly enough, once we got home, they actually continued to nap - shocking!





Here is a decent family picture from the Saturday night party:

(If we get both boys looking moderately happy, it's decent - if we get both boys looking at the camera and moderately happy, it's great - if we get both boys looking at the camera, smiling, and neither Jon nor myself happen to blink at that moment, it's a miracle!!)

Finally, here is my 28 week tummy!