The Hoverman Honeys....: May 2013

It's a big day today, Roby and Eli are turning two. Big day for them, big day for us. We've had a "baby" (aka an under two year old) continuously since August 22, 2007. That is 2095 days of limited sleep, diaper changing, feeding, soothing, entertainment and, did I mention limited sleep? I'm pretty sure the limited sleep isn't going away in the near future but I have high hopes on the diaper changing!

Our little boys are well on their way toward kid-dom. They talk in full sentences. They play with each other and their sisters. They share, hug, say sorry and look out for each other. They love trains and make great train noises. They also love garbage trucks, their grandmothers, Vicky and Elizabeth.

Eli is very responsible and a good helper. Today he carefully took the bowl of kitchen scraps off the counter, walked outside, opened up the chicken coop, dumped the bowl out, banged it on the side of the coop to make sure everything was out, locked the chicken coop, looked down noticed there was still some watermelon stuck to the bottom, repeated the steps above and then returned the bowl to the kitchen counter. All with no prompting and with no help. Eli enjoys green beans more than ice cream and always eats the vegetables on his plate first. He has been known to get hysterical if you take the vacuum away from him. I once offered Eli a snack when Roby wasn't around. He carefully handed half back to me and said "Bobby." (Eli has christened Roby "Bobby" and it has stuck.)

"Li" walking with purpose

Eli's favorite activity

Roby runs more than he walks and jumps/hops more than he runs. He looks like he's constantly clicking his heels together in glee. He has an infectious smile. He likes to balance on the side of his crib like a tightrope walker (holding on with hands too but looking up to make sure you notice.) Roby greats me with a huge hug and a kiss even if I've been gone for 10 minutes. Roby is a giggler and is definitely our most satisfying kid to tickle. Despite his energy, Roby can also sit still and read books with his sisters. He likes to cuddle and often spends the last 45 min of sleep cozy in our bed. He is very attached to his blanky and his monkey. If he gets his blanky for himself, he makes sure to grab Eli's too.

Roby's hops

Roby's grin

While they are different, they have a lot in common too. Both boys know which clothes belong to each boy and are quite adamant that they are dressed in their own clothes. For the record, Roby owns navy blue socks, Eli has the light blue sparkly ones. If one boy does something naughty and gets punished, the other one tends to commit the same sin and expects to receive the same punishment out of solidarity. Both boys like to give themselves timeouts, they think it's hilarious. Both boys are making great strides with the potty training. In preparation I carefully bought two identical red kid potties anticipating struggles if we had only one. Because they like to make things difficult, these guys refuse to use the little potties and only go in the big one, of which there is of course just one in each bathroom. The anticipated struggles occur. Both boys repeat the last word of every sentence you say to them so conversations sound like this:

"Eli and Roby, you want to go potty?"
"Potty"
"Potty"
"In the bathroom?"
"Bafroom"
"Bafroom"
"And get a jelly bean"
"Jelbeeen"
"Jelbeeen"
"Are you going to go?"
"Go"
"Go"
and on and on and on....

They might be two but they are definitely not (yet?) terrible. We think they are pretty great and are looking forward to seeing what two will bring!