Nearing TWO!

The MT Schleicher brothers are officially 3 months shy of their second birthday. These boys are definitely kids on the go! Here are a few of the rare, hard-to-capture moments with both boys looking at the camera simultaneously.

Cody, Jaden-- 21 months

Jaden, Cody

Bathtime for Cody & Jaden-- a favorite time of day

Jaden, Cody -- reading together in the glider

Jaden, Cody

The most exciting aspect of this past month was hearing the boys' language doors begin to open. Hooray! How fun it is to hear their little voices. Their favorite regular words are-- ouch, Amen ("men" after every prayer), oops (opps), Mama, Dada, juice, baby (Cody's favorite), all day (Jaden's favorite, from his Dig, Dig, Digging book), and hi (with a hilarious high-pitched inflection). They also love making the sound of a horse and the roar of a lion anytime they see pics of these animals. The following video captures a few of these language favorites:

Jaden and Cody still LOVE their books. They particularly love bringing a book apiece to Mommy or Daddy's lap. After sitting down and quickly flipping through several pages, they'll throw the book down and grab a new one. Between the two boys' books, our story times often sound quite amusing: "In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf... Diggers are good at dig, dig, digging... Out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar... they can work all day." Their book favorites are ones in which they can repeat some of the words: Blue Hat, Green Hat (to say "oops"); Dig Dig Digging (to say "all day"); Everywhere Babies (to say "baby"); and The Very Hungry Caterpillar (so they can stick their fingers through the holes in the book!). 

Every day, we can find stacks of books scattered throughout every room of our home! The boys can keep themselves occupied for quite some time just flipping through pages of their books. Sometimes, one of them will even babble along as he turns the book's pages. Here are our little "readers."

During the day, Jaden and Cody love playing in their cribs (as long as they're in the same one) and running "laps" around our recliners while pushing their Cozy Coupes, dump truck, or push rider. Sometimes the faster rider (usually Cody) will cut off the slower rider around a turn. Other times, they'll throw aside one vehicle and grab another to push without hardly missing a beat. They are quite amusing to watch!

Another playtime favorite-- sticking their
arms into Mommy or Daddy's shoes and
banging them together

Another favorite-- climbing in and out, and in and out
of anything and everything!

Here are some other random, recent fun facts about our boys:

• They both prefer to walk down stairs on 2 feet, while holding on to the railing.
• After hearing a burp, hiccup, or toot, they will always look at each other and immediately start giggling.
• The most successful places/times for haircuts are: 1. At the front window when the garbage truck is going by AND 2. In the bathtub!
• Started the month with an extreme fear of the bathroom scale (would scream like crazy when getting weighed at the doctor's office), but Daddy taught the boys how to overcome this fear and now we can't hardly get them off the scale!
• If one twin is hurt or crying hard, the other twin will come running to offer a hug, book, or toy
• They enjoy helping with basic "chores" around the house: pushing wet clothes into the dryer, handing dishes to Mommy or Daddy from the dishwasher, placing books on the shelf (sometimes), and bringing their bibs to the high chairs before meals (a daily favorite!)
• Frequently, when one twin is on the changing table, the other twin piles books or socks on top of the brother getting changed!

JADEN

our blueberry-stained boy!

Roaring at a picture of a lion

• Enjoys dumping out a full container of foam blocks over his head 
• Gets very warm and rosy-cheeked when he is over-dressed for the weather
• Following a double ear infection this month, returned back to sleeping through the night (yay!)
• Loves giving tight hugs around Mommy or Daddy's neck
• Will break out into applause whenever he hears the words "good job" (even if the words are directed towards someone else or when they're in the middle of a sentence)
• Likes to sign "thank you"

CODY

Our little goofball-- loves running around
the room with this plastic container over
his head

No, he's not wearing shorts. He just thought
it'd be fun to run around the house while
holding up his pant legs. Of course!

• What a little comedian! Cody seems to do anything to get a laugh from Jaden. Most recently enjoys crawling around with his head touching the carpet while Jaden laughs hysterically!
• Most often comes first when called to wash his hands or put on his coat or shoes
• After a double ear infection early this month, still has not returned yet to good sleeping habits (sigh...)
• Particularly impatient before a mealtime; wants to be held while Mommy and Daddy are trying to prepare the food
• A BIG fan of apple juice (can almost finish an entire sippy cupful in one sitting!)