You know you have a "problem" when the name of your favorite fast food chain enters your 21-month olds' vocabulary. Ryan and I rarely eat fast food, but I am addicted to Caribou Coffee and will (probably too often) swing through the Caribou drive-thru, kids in tow, on the way to day care. So it shouldn't surprise me that today when I rolled down the window and was handed my coffee, the kids started chanting, "Bye bye Bou! Bye bye Bou!" It's funny when Isaac says it, but when Audrey joins him and they decide to shout it at the top of their lungs together, it's quite the spectacle. Perhaps they're trying to tell me that I need to kick the habit...:)
Now that they've started two and three word phrases, it's fun to see what combinations come out. Isaac has graduated from simply "Uh oh _____" and "____ please" to some more sophisticated combinations, but his sentence structure usually remains the same:
Uh oh ____ (i.e. "Uh oh basketball")
Hi ____ ("Hi Audee" - Audrey)
Out ____ (usually "Out Siddee!" - we obviously use that phrase around our house a lot)
Bye bye ____ (this one could be anything...the list goes on and on)
All gone _____ (usually "All gone yogurt" or his favorite foods when he has cleaned his plate)
Car wee/go _____ (I think he tries to tell us what is riding in a car: i.e. "Car wee baby" - a baby is riding in the car?)
...and let's not forget the possessives: "Dada's shoes," "Audrey's water," "Sydney's bowl," etc.etc. My favorite? When he points to my eyes and says, "Mama's blue eyes!" Granted, he thinks everyone has blue eyes and cannot quite grasp that Ryan's eyes are brown, but I think it's cute nonetheless!
Audrey has been adorable lately because she'll talk to us as though we're having a full conversation and she'll nod her head a lot and use hand gestures, but Ryan and I have no clue what she's saying! Then she'll wait for a response--and I'll have to scramble to say something more creative than, "Oh! Really?" or "That's right, Audrey." Isaac used to talk to himself a lot but rarely engaged us in these kinds of conversations, so it's fun that Audrey does this! It's also cute how much she follows and mimics Isaac. If he starts telling something "bye bye" or goodnight, Audrey will echoe him. That's one of the sweetest things about twins, I think!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Good Times!
Here's what we've been up to the last couple of months:
Lots of time spent coloring and with Play-Dough
Mmmm....waffles...
She wouldn't be a Falkum if she didn't play Cribbage!
Isaac and his buddies
with Grandpa Falkum
with Grandma Falkum
They love to wrestle each other. Cutest thing ever!
Showing Uncle Tim their favorites at the zoo
At Baby Jacob's house!
Friday, March 4, 2011
20 Months!
I can't believe our kids are almost two years old! Time really does fly...too quickly. Here's what's new with Isaac and Audrey at 20 months:
Isaac
1. Isaac is one chatty guy! He has an impressive vocabulary and--thanks to day care--surprises us every day with new words. In just the past couple of days, he has come home saying puzzle, circle, bubble, and--my favorite--cardinal (they have a couple of bird feeders outside of their classroom and they're studying birds right now!). His favorite words, however, are dada, Audrey (Dah-dee), tickle...or tickle, tickle!, uh oh, please, owie/ouch, and basketball (most balls are "basketballs").
2. He loves his sister. While they still fight every once in awhile (which will probably continue for years to come), it is so fun to hear him yelling, "Dah-dee! Dah-dee!...DAH-DEE!!!" when he can't find her or has something to share with her (yes...he does "share" with Audrey every once in awhile!).
3. He's obsessed with moons. I don't recall how it started, but I think my enthusiasm one night on the car ride home about a huge full moon in front of us may have had something to do with it (or it could be the fact that you could pick up any children's story and probably find a moon in there). And that's exactly what Isaac does: He flips through book pages until he sees a moon and points excitedly, "Moon! Moon!" It took awhile to differentiate between the moon and the stars, but he has since figured it out.
4. He has a mind of his own and a little bit of a stubborn streak, so getting him to cooperate takes some creativity and a lot of praise. He has a lot of energy to burn and thus does not like to be constrained or restrained--the stroller and the car seat are his enemies (thank goodness he hasn't tried to climb out of the crib yet!).
5. Isaac is a very social guy and has made a lot of friends at day care (they swarm him when he arrives in the morning). He loves to say hi/bye and his teachers have taught him very good manners, which we try to reinforce at home! While he doesn't blow as many kisses as he used to, he still loves to give hugs--so don't be afraid to ask next time you see him.
6. Some of his favorites:
Color - blue (though he says "purple" too)
Food - still blueberries!
Animal - probably monkeys, and most recently cardinals
Song to listen to - A Whole New World (Aladdin)
Song to sing - Old McDonald had a Farm ("e-i-e-i-o") - and he only has cows on his farm
Sport - basketball
Activity - reading stories, playing basketball, going down the slide, and throwing his food/dishes on the floor (he can't get enough of any of these)
Sounds - Ow! (Michael Jackson), caw (crow) and weeee!
Vehicle - truck (he knows the difference between a car and a truck, but anything questionable is a truck)
Audrey
1. Audrey is our little perfectionist. She either practices over and over again or waits until she's confident enough in herself before she shows off her skills. Examples? She loves puzzles--she could sit there for hours doing puzzles and usually won't put one down until every last piece is in place. She is very "dainty" with her utensils and would rather take an hour to eat a meal--one pea on her spoon at a time--than give up and use her hands. She also has a knack for stacking creamers; she will stack five of them perfectly and will swat your hand away while she tries to nudge the top one a sixteenth of an inch to the left so that the tower is that much sturdier. :)
2. She loves hygiene-related activities: brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, taking baths, and watching me do my hair (which you all know is just pulling it back into a ponytail!). She has recently taken an interest in the potty chair and needs to sit on it in the mornings after she brushes her teeth (it has been incorporated into her morning routine). She doesn't know what it's for or why it's there, only that she gets praised just for sitting on it--and who wouldn't want that? :)
3. She loves "no" and we're pretty sure she's in the phase where it's fun to say "no" for its own sake. We play a little game on the car rides home where I ask her what she wants for dinner--ranging from brussel sprouts and lima beans to pizza and ice cream--and she gets such a kick out of shaking her head "no" to everything--even when she knows it would be awesome to have ice cream for dinner (thank goodness she knows I'm not being serious!).
4. While she's still pretty quiet, she's very inquisitive, and her favorite word is "this." We answer the "This?" (as in, "What's this?") question a million times a day even though we know that she knows exactly what "this" is. She recently started saying door, shoe, and--just today--"uh oh" with a cute little shoulder shrug and hands up in the air. Aww...
5. Like Isaac, she also loves stories and it is fun to see which ones she chooses off of the shelf. For example, she always gravitates toward stories with animals--especially stories with baby animals--and those that have fun sounds like "Wow!" or "Tada!"
6. Some of her favorites:
Stuffed animal - Bonnie the Bunny (graduated from Caty the Caterpillar) - and no, I'm not very creative with names! :)
Food - oatmeal, but also she's still a meat and pasta kind of girl!
Animal - giraffes, zebras, horses...any hooved animal, really (I'm curious to know if she still loves the camels at the zoo!)
Song - "This Little Light of Mine"
Number - One (she knows how to show you her age and how to do E.T. phone home)
Sport - fishing (she still loves her pretend fishing pole and bath time is her favorite time of the day!)
Career - doctor (if the stethoscope is there, she has to wear it!)
Activity - puzzles, coloring, racing the push-toys down the hallway, wrestling Isaac (she knocks him over and pummels him--it's hilarious!), and reading stories
We love you both--you amaze us every day!
Isaac
1. Isaac is one chatty guy! He has an impressive vocabulary and--thanks to day care--surprises us every day with new words. In just the past couple of days, he has come home saying puzzle, circle, bubble, and--my favorite--cardinal (they have a couple of bird feeders outside of their classroom and they're studying birds right now!). His favorite words, however, are dada, Audrey (Dah-dee), tickle...or tickle, tickle!, uh oh, please, owie/ouch, and basketball (most balls are "basketballs").
2. He loves his sister. While they still fight every once in awhile (which will probably continue for years to come), it is so fun to hear him yelling, "Dah-dee! Dah-dee!...DAH-DEE!!!" when he can't find her or has something to share with her (yes...he does "share" with Audrey every once in awhile!).
3. He's obsessed with moons. I don't recall how it started, but I think my enthusiasm one night on the car ride home about a huge full moon in front of us may have had something to do with it (or it could be the fact that you could pick up any children's story and probably find a moon in there). And that's exactly what Isaac does: He flips through book pages until he sees a moon and points excitedly, "Moon! Moon!" It took awhile to differentiate between the moon and the stars, but he has since figured it out.
4. He has a mind of his own and a little bit of a stubborn streak, so getting him to cooperate takes some creativity and a lot of praise. He has a lot of energy to burn and thus does not like to be constrained or restrained--the stroller and the car seat are his enemies (thank goodness he hasn't tried to climb out of the crib yet!).
5. Isaac is a very social guy and has made a lot of friends at day care (they swarm him when he arrives in the morning). He loves to say hi/bye and his teachers have taught him very good manners, which we try to reinforce at home! While he doesn't blow as many kisses as he used to, he still loves to give hugs--so don't be afraid to ask next time you see him.
6. Some of his favorites:
Color - blue (though he says "purple" too)
Food - still blueberries!
Animal - probably monkeys, and most recently cardinals
Song to listen to - A Whole New World (Aladdin)
Song to sing - Old McDonald had a Farm ("e-i-e-i-o") - and he only has cows on his farm
Sport - basketball
Activity - reading stories, playing basketball, going down the slide, and throwing his food/dishes on the floor (he can't get enough of any of these)
Sounds - Ow! (Michael Jackson), caw (crow) and weeee!
Vehicle - truck (he knows the difference between a car and a truck, but anything questionable is a truck)
Audrey
1. Audrey is our little perfectionist. She either practices over and over again or waits until she's confident enough in herself before she shows off her skills. Examples? She loves puzzles--she could sit there for hours doing puzzles and usually won't put one down until every last piece is in place. She is very "dainty" with her utensils and would rather take an hour to eat a meal--one pea on her spoon at a time--than give up and use her hands. She also has a knack for stacking creamers; she will stack five of them perfectly and will swat your hand away while she tries to nudge the top one a sixteenth of an inch to the left so that the tower is that much sturdier. :)
2. She loves hygiene-related activities: brushing her teeth, brushing her hair, taking baths, and watching me do my hair (which you all know is just pulling it back into a ponytail!). She has recently taken an interest in the potty chair and needs to sit on it in the mornings after she brushes her teeth (it has been incorporated into her morning routine). She doesn't know what it's for or why it's there, only that she gets praised just for sitting on it--and who wouldn't want that? :)
3. She loves "no" and we're pretty sure she's in the phase where it's fun to say "no" for its own sake. We play a little game on the car rides home where I ask her what she wants for dinner--ranging from brussel sprouts and lima beans to pizza and ice cream--and she gets such a kick out of shaking her head "no" to everything--even when she knows it would be awesome to have ice cream for dinner (thank goodness she knows I'm not being serious!).
4. While she's still pretty quiet, she's very inquisitive, and her favorite word is "this." We answer the "This?" (as in, "What's this?") question a million times a day even though we know that she knows exactly what "this" is. She recently started saying door, shoe, and--just today--"uh oh" with a cute little shoulder shrug and hands up in the air. Aww...
5. Like Isaac, she also loves stories and it is fun to see which ones she chooses off of the shelf. For example, she always gravitates toward stories with animals--especially stories with baby animals--and those that have fun sounds like "Wow!" or "Tada!"
6. Some of her favorites:
Stuffed animal - Bonnie the Bunny (graduated from Caty the Caterpillar) - and no, I'm not very creative with names! :)
Food - oatmeal, but also she's still a meat and pasta kind of girl!
Animal - giraffes, zebras, horses...any hooved animal, really (I'm curious to know if she still loves the camels at the zoo!)
Song - "This Little Light of Mine"
Number - One (she knows how to show you her age and how to do E.T. phone home)
Sport - fishing (she still loves her pretend fishing pole and bath time is her favorite time of the day!)
Career - doctor (if the stethoscope is there, she has to wear it!)
Activity - puzzles, coloring, racing the push-toys down the hallway, wrestling Isaac (she knocks him over and pummels him--it's hilarious!), and reading stories
We love you both--you amaze us every day!
Monday, February 21, 2011
Catching Up
It's been awhile since we posted some pictures of Audrey and Isaac, so here they are! They also just had their wellness check-up (a month or so late) and they're healthy! I think someone was measured incorrectly, though, because they measured Isaac as 2 1/2 inches taller than Audrey--80th percentile!--and I can't see that much of a difference between them (though, if it's true, we're thrilled he's measuring tall!). We're still holding out for tall kids, against all odds...:)
Isaac's favorite hangout
Goodbye hugs for Mookie (he moved to Grandpa and Grandma's house)
Loves her rocking horse!
Computer games with Dad
Paging Dr. Audrey!
Mama Drama!
I don't think Ryan and I were fully prepared for the "expressive" personalities that come with toddlerhood. One of the best survival tactics is seeing the humor in the situation--because if you get sucked into it, you'll be eaten alive!
A few nights ago I was reminded of an episode of Super Nanny where she's trying to sleep-train a two-year-old who cries out, "Mommy! I'm dying, mommy! I'm dying! I'm dying!!!" to get his mom to come in and take him out of his crib. Well, whenever the twins get sick, we (against our better judgment) will occasionally take them to bed with us and rock them back to sleep. This means when they get better we have to sleep-train them all over again. This particular night, Isaac pulled out every trick in the book to summon us to his room in the middle of the night. It was really starting to wear on us until he resorted to the most dramatic, Oscar-winning speech I've heard out of him yet: "Mama! Mama, please!!! Please, please, please, mama....PLEASE! MAMA, PLEASE!" I just burst out laughing--it's so endearing that he tried the polite, sweet approach (after the temper tantrum approach didn't work out so well). It didn't win him a trip out of the crib, but it did win him some mommy points!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
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