A Quarter Past Two!

Jaden and Cody are officially 2 1/4 years old! The most significant change within the past 3 months has been with their verbal development. At the boys' 2-year well check-up, we told their doctor that the boys were only saying about 25 words at the most. Now, Jaden and Cody are saying more words than we can count and are piecing multiple words together. What a fun, amazing thing it is to watch this language explosion!

Our favorite expressions that the boys are currently saying include: 

• "Oh, my!" (whenever there's a big mess or if something falls over)
• "Cue me, Mommy!" (for "excuse me" when they're walking by)
• "Ear-go, Daddy" (for "here you go" when they're giving us something)
• "Beep, Beep, Beep" (whenever we ask them to back up a bit)
• "Mommy, off!" (if Mommy tries to enter a private twin playtime moment on the couch)
• "minute" (when they're asking for a longer playtime)
• "Guy! Guy!" (shouted at random strangers, regardless of gender)
• "Bruth-ah!" (a term of endearment for one another, most often used by Jaden)
• "Day-den and Co-key" (their names for themselves, "Co-key" is from their cousin Abby!)
• "Day-den (or Co-key) turn!" (whenever they want a particular toy). 

Jaden probably asks for a "manna!" (banana) for just about every meal, and Cody will often refer to anything good as being "yummy!" (like when we put shoes on him that he finds comfortable or when we put socks on his cold feet).

Jaden and Cody, ready for a walk,
in their typical leaning forward posture!

The boys also LOVE to identify their colors, enthusiastically pointing out the colors of nearly everything around them. They know how to count to three but can occasionally fill in other random numbers up to 10 if Mommy is counting. Their other favorite vocabulary area is vehicles-- identifying trucks, jeeps, buses, trains, fire engines or police cars (with a "wee-ah, wee-ah!"), tow trucks, various construction vehicles, airplanes, helicopters, etc.

Probably the boys' most favorite pastime is spending time with books. Every day, they enjoy taking a book off their bedroom bookshelf, running it to the couch, flipping through the pages, tossing the book on the floor, and then running back for more until ALL of the books on the shelf are in one large pile on our living room floor.

Jaden and Cody also LOVE being read to. They now frequently request book-readings randomly throughout the day, rather than just at bedtime and naptime, and will often listen to 5-6 stories in a row. They seem more engaged in the plots of stories and are active participants with most stories (pointing out animals, colors, or other random objects in the pictures). The boys are especially interested in informational books about cars, trucks, planes, or trains. Occasionally, the boys will "read" aloud portions of stories to themselves as they're flipping through their books. Some favorites include Freight Train (they identify the colors of each train car, the engine, and the caboose); Spot ("clock... no; bed... no" as they are looking for Spot in the book); Fifteen Animals ("mouse, Bob, bunny, Bob, fish, Bob"); and their current favorite, a library book entitled Blue Sky. Because this book describes the sky in two word fragments (sunset sky, moon sky, star sky, etc.), the boys can actually recite this book accurately word for word!

Here's a video of Jaden "reading" Blue Sky. It's a bit hard to understand (especially with Cody whining a bit in the background), but you can get the idea!

When they aren't spending time with books, Jaden and Cody LOVE their cars and trucks and anything else that goes! Lately, they've started lining their vehicles up on the piano. They'll sit on the piano for quite some time and run their cars along this fun "track."

Outside, they also enjoy pushing around their vehicles on the driveway. One day, they even got a kick out of lining all their vehicles up!

With these 2 active toddlers, who have very short attention spans, our house is constantly full of clutter! Mommy learned early on that it was no use picking up the toys before moving on to the next activity. Five minutes later, the boys would request the toy that she had just cleaned up and put away! So, most days, our floors are full of blocks, toys, books, stuffed animals, cars, pillows, and more.  Sometimes, Cody even dumps a bin of soft blocks out over his head while saying "mess, mess!" They'll empty out their entire toy baskets seemingly just to create a messy pile of toys (like Jaden is doing below).

Other days, the boys' mess has a hint of organization to it. They will create lines out of their toys or large piles all in one place.

One day, Mommy tried out a new game with the boys by placing a track of tape along the kitchen floor. I figured the boys might like running along the tape line or even driving their cars along it. The boys ran along it for just a couple minutes and then discovered something even more enjoyable....

...lining up all their books along the tape track!

Jaden and Cody are quite the little helpers around home. Their favorite chores are emptying the dishwasher (not a single broken dish... yet!), retrieving the newspaper each morning from the driveway (usually in bare feet!), getting the mail, putting dirty laundry into the washer (they usually identify which clothing item belongs to which family member as they help), bringing in groceries from the van, assisting with short recipes, and helping with the self-checkout at the library and the grocery store. Mommy especially loves their enthusiastic helpfulness!

When people say that siblings can be "the best of friends and the worst of enemies," that phrase is quite fitting for Jaden and Cody. Recently, with the 2-year molars coming in, both boys have often resorted to biting to solve their brotherly disputes. Other times, one boy will take a toy away from the other and then chuck it into the crib or the kitchen sink so that it's out of reach. They are already very good at blaming one another. If we ever ask a question like, "Who has the dirty diaper?" or "Which one of you did (whatever crime)?," they will shout out the other's name or loudly say, "Bruth-ah!"

Some days, or even moments within days, the boys get along very well. It's fun watching them get motivated on a certain project or activity together. We hear SO much giggling back and forth between the two of them throughout the day and often see displays of compassion when another is hurt or sad. At bedtime lately, Jaden has started saying, "Bruth-ah. Hug too." It's so precious watching their hugs and kisses for each other.

Jaden (pictured above) is still our little rule follower. One day, when Cody brought his sippy cup filled with milk into the living room, Jaden firmly reminded him, "No. Kitchen." Another day, after Jaden was the victim of an unfortunate biting incident, Jaden came up to Mommy saying, "Bruth-ah bite. Crib. Crib." (This is where we've been putting the boys lately for time-outs after biting or pushing occurs, so Jaden was ready for Cody's time out!) On a couple different occasions, Jaden has folded his hands and said, "Pray, pray." when Mommy has forgotten to start a meal with prayer. We love his insistence on doing the right thing!

Cody has become quite the little tease in our household! One day, when Mommy was changing Jaden's diaper, she turned around to find Jaden's shorts missing. When she asked Cody where they were, he gave a little sly smile and pulled the pants out from under the crib! This activity has now become a regular joke when we're changing diapers. Cody also enjoys climbing into his carseat so that he's facing the opposite direction. He giggles when we open the van door and find him facing the wrong way! He loves making random noises or faces to make Jaden laugh. He's certainly found a way to give the whole family lots of joy!

At times, we can definitely tell that both boys are two-years-old, as they exert their independence. Most often, though, their tantrums and whines have to do with brotherly disputes. Both boys are overall ready to do the things that Mommy and Daddy ask and can usually be distracted when they're upset.

 Cody and Jaden are certainly very full of life and are constantly busy, busy boys! They are quite exhausting little fellas, but they bring us so much joy, too. We enjoy seeing the world through their little eyes and seeing the simple things that make them excited. We love our precious gifts from God!