A Mother's update to her children....

Dear Carter and Logan,

Mommy was making some observations this week regarding your development and growth and decided that it was a good time to update you on the things you are doing.
- You both love board books, but are still tempted sometimes to chew on them. Carter, you also love to see how the pages will bend. It's cute, but most of your favorite books aren't going to last very long.

- Carter, you've started to walk (or crawl occasionally) backwards for no reason other than you feel like it. Your balance is very good and you are a confident walker.
- Logan, your walking is good as well, though when you get tired or excited you start to stumble like a drunken sailor. This is very entertaining, but has caused more than one bruise on your poor little forehead. You run into stuff nightly in your flailing enthusiasm but many times you bounce back and take the blows in stride.
- Logan,  you are getting very efficient with your spoon and INSIST at most meal times to scoop your own food while mom or dad holds the bowl. It makes for some very messy meals, but I'm proud of you anyway. You do drive mom a little crazy when you pick food off your tray and toss it on the floor though. You've also gotten very good at climbing/scaling the chair at the table and getting yourself into a high chair.
- Carter, you're not as interested in spooning your own food, but you do like to practice when your brother points out that he's better at it than you. You are much more patient at mealtimes but if you are hungry you usually let us know.

- Carter, you are also getting very good at showing affection and you now offer kisses all the time. A couple of days ago you even consented and gave your brother one for the first time! You are very sweet little man. You are understanding more and more every day and have started to go get things and bring them back to me when I ask. You like to play keep away when you get to me, but the progress is still there, and you think the game is very entertaining.
- Logan, you have begun coloring all the time and for the most part you avoid eating the crayons. When you aren't coloring, you have begun pushing the step stool up to the sink in the kitchen and "washing" dishes for more than 20 minutes at a time. This is very cute, but you have a tendency to eat the bubbles. Dad thinks this is hilarious. The decision has been made that as soon as you are efficient, this will be your first household chore.

- Both of your eyes light up and heads snap towards the stairs when I ask if you are ready to go upstairs and take a nap. Usually you will both race to the bottom of the stairs and wait for me to remove the gate, then fling yourselves up the stairs in a mini race. However, if one of you gets ahead you will typically turn and wait, encouraging your brother to catch up. Rarely are you willing to go anywhere without your other half, which mommy and daddy both appreciate right now.

- Carter, you've got the sign for "more" down by pointing one finger into your other fist. Logan, you just point and whine, but both methods get the point across. As neither of you are really using any words, this is the most consistent form of communication so far. However, you are both talking constantly and your words are so close to forming. Logan, you like to say "Ga-den," which sounds like garden with a Bronx like accent, and sometimes you yell "DUT!!" at things. Originally we thought you had "duck" down, until we realized that this is just your favorite sound.
- Carter, you finally had a haircut last weekend. Mom couldn't stand it anymore and you were actually confused for a little girl which finally convinced me to do it. But Dad insisted on getting to do the first haircut, not a bad idea, but not the greatest. You look like a young man now instead of a little baby, very cute, and a big change from your long-haired appearance. You cried for a bit and were a little freaked out, but since daddy was doing it you seemed better off then had we gone to a stranger.

You are both doing a very good job of adjusting to your new surroundings and developing into mommy's little men. You are showing more and more personality every day and clearly you are becoming more intelligent little people. Soon we will have made the switch to one nap a day, and you feeding yourselves something other than crackers and finger foods. Maybe at that point daddy will get his wish and you can start doing yard and house work. For now, congratulations on doing this well, and we love you very much.

-Mommy

Wow how time has slipped past us!

Ok ok, this has been a long time coming.

It's been a pretty crazy last three months, so here's a quick message to update you on where we are at. My job has once again taken Bri and I to another place. While Washington has great potential for what I do, it wasn't an immediate success. Our board of directors and owners were wondering how and when we were really going to figure things out and make them as successful as the other states we operate in. I was waiting for a few key moments in which we really succeed to happen before giving them a full report. They happened in the beginning of May, and we didn't get the properties.

I took this information to the company and said that it's time to move on to another part of the state or simply move on. They agreed and gave me a couple of options, none of which kept us in Vancouver. To keep the rest of the story short, we have since moved to Gilbert Arizona!

I've been down here for most of the last six weeks, and Bri and the boys showed up last Sunday. It's been a tough transition but there is nothing better than being reunited with the three most important people in my life. The boys are walking now, and they are playing with each other more than ever. We are still unpacking, and working towards understanding our new surroundings.

This was a quick update. I (we) will try to get this blog going again. Suffice it to say, it's one of the best ways of keeping people informed, especially since we are now so far from family and friends.

Ta Ta For Now  (TTFN as the kids say these days)

-Evan

Observations from the father

Alright, alright.... my wife has been asking me to participate in this blog for some time, as it's a documentation of our tiny men and their upbringing. Oh yeah, and it was my idea in the first place so I guess I have some responsibility to be a part of the family. So here goes.



The other night my wife and I had a discussion regarding the difference in personality of the boys. I have thought from the beginning that parents of singletons are missing out on watching two distinct personalities develop side by side. It's great to watch one child develop, but watching two who are going through the same upbringing in the same surroundings develop into individuals is an incredible sight.

I use this as a preface because our conversation centered around how different they already are. More importantly, all those predictions that we make about our children and who they will be at some point in the future. In this case, our conversation centered around the topic of courage, fear (or lack thereof), and risk aversion.

Our children have very different levels of risk tolerance already. It's awesome to watch, and a little scary at the same time. Some of you may know, and for those who don't, Logan has decided that there is no such thing as fear. He will do anything. Two months ago we had someone check out the boys for development and when the subject of playing games came up, the only one we could think of is the one he plays when he wants to hang upside down (he leans over backwards and smiles at you). That's right, he loves it, and wants to do it anytime he can!

From climbing stairs, climbing shelves in the fridge, being thrown in the air, hanging upside down, he loves it all.  Which is the exact opposite of his brother Carter. Carter has days where if you pick him up, and don't cradle him close to your body, he starts to shake a bit with fear. This isn't a constant, but it does happen and we are very aware of when he's feeling a little skittish.

Taking this into account, and the fact that we are teaching the boys "NO" and "leave that alone" at this time, we came to a scary conclusion (due to the fact that neither of them currently listen to us at all). Carter, in 15-20 years, will be a wonderful student and young man. Good grades, quiet demeanor at home, caring of the people around him, and when he really wants something he'll ask politely. However, he'll do it even if you don't give him permission and then tell you how he never does anything wrong anyway and he's earned a mistake or two. I can feel it coming already.

His brother will undoubtedly do things a little different. Did I mention that when you tell Logan "No" he tends to laugh at you. No joke, he smiles, leans his head back, giggles a little, and goes right back to doing whatever you asked him to stop. I know, I know, he's not quite one yet (this friday), but he's still sitting there laughing at me. Logan is sure to take a different path than Carter. At this point I believe Logan will be telling us to jump off a cliff when his big skydiving trip comes up. Seriously, is it bad that I'm already wondering how hard it will be to control this little stud?

Anyway, I just thought I would share a little personality with the world. It's fun having these conversations, and knowing (in some cases simply hoping) that we are wrong with our predictions. Or maybe not, and I'll end up with a nuclear physicist and an x-games gold medalist. I could live with that.

The latest

Here we are again, months after the last post, and I have no better excuse for not writing than the two little bugs that are (finally!) napping in the other room. They do keep me busy (as strangers love to point out), but the fatigue is worth it. They get more adorable everyday, and I am amazed by how aware they are becoming of me and the things around them.

We went outside one sunny day a few weeks ago and even sat in the grass for a while, but they weren't really  in to the grass yet. Carter just sat without moving, petting the tall grass every once and a while, and Logan cried like he was being punished (Note the little tear on his cheek) while he tried to crawl into the closest lap that would get him off the grass. 

They have started to really notice each other as potential playmates (YEAH!!) and are getting very funny to just sit back and observe. Just last week at their grandma's house they spent 15 minutes racing up and down the hallway, stopping to look at each other and crack up and then run around a bit more. (When I say run, I imply a very fast crawl of course - we've not reached that milestone yet.) They love to chase each other back and forth around the living room.They also have started to sort of communicate with each other in a squealing sort of language. Not sure of the translations yet.

Though they aren't walking, both are getting very good at walking (or running, in Carter's case) behind their little push toys. Carter has actually gotten to the point where if he runs into a roadblock, he'll either push harder (in the case of something being in his way, like his brother) or move to the side of the toy and push it sideways. If you're in his way, watch out!

Logan is really in to whatever Carter is playing with, and the big push toys (though we have three different kinds) are no exception. Logan will actually drop what he's doing to go check out what his brother's playing with. Once and a while  they'll both get a handle on it at the same time and push together - it's led to some adorable moments (and sometimes one or the other being left in the dust!)

Both boys are still hesitant to let go completely while standing, but Carter is starting to do it more and more for a few seconds at a time. Logan has done it for almost 30 seconds at a time, but it's still pretty few and far between. The key, I think, is distraction. They just don't seem to notice they're not holding on to anything for a little while.

Carter actually stood up in the bath without any support for a few seconds, stopping both Evan and my "SIT DOWN" admonition just before it left our tongue. It's hard not to reward him for doing something like that (Standing on your own! Yeah!) when we are trying to implement such a strict SITTING ONLY in the bathtub rule. Oh the dilemmas of parenthood!

 Carter needed to relax in his 

rocking chair after all that walking!

 

Logan - still a little groggy, but 

always willing to give a smile.  

 

"What do you mean I've 

got more dinner left...where is it?" 

"Mom - this is the article I was telling you about...it has a very interesting interpretation of the relationship between quantum physics and the human body."

 "Mom, I'm trying to read my news. Honestly."

Cruising and spices

Whew...has it really been a month!?! So much has happened since the last posting. We've been up here in Vancouver for more than a month now, and there are still boxes everywhere. We've got a total of 6 teeth, 4 to Logan and 2 to Carter, and with the amount of drool happening recently I'm sure that there are more to come.

The boys had their 9 month check up last week (though they were officially 9 months on the 30 of Jan) and Logan has finally bypassed his brother in size. He was always bigger on the growth scans when they were in my belly, so that really doesn't surprise me too much. Logan, who entered the world at 4 lbs 8 oz is now 19 lbs 14.2 oz and is 28 inches tall (which puts him in approximately the 40th percentile for length and weight) and Carter, who was born at 5 lbs 2 oz is now 19 lbs 9 oz and 27.5 inches tall (which puts him at about 30th for weight and 20th for height). Logan is in the 75th percentile for his head, and Carter is about 50th. The cool this is, they no longer are adjusting percentiles because they were early (5 weeks you know) so their running with the big boys now, and doing a pretty good job, I'd say.

Carter has been standing up for a few months now, and has been cruising (I think the term is) along things for at least a month. He's even figured out how to get down without falling over! He's perfected his crawl, which is a true crawl on all fours, and seems to get around pretty fast if he's motivated. He has a habit of standing on the edge of his crib and yelling for us when he wants up and out, which is funny unless it's 20 minutes after we've laid him down for his nap or 3 am.

Logan can stand too, and does so at the edge of his crib when his brother eggs him on, but doesn't have the cruising ability down like Carter. He instead prefers to get back down to his butt and take off with his belly crawl. He rarely gets up on all fours because he's so fast the other way. "Why bother?" he tells me. He also nods his head (like he's saying "no") at random times, and sometime he wiggles a little so it looks like he's dancing. It's very cute. He's shown us a precursor to a wave, which was actually directed at a stranger saying hello to him while he was in his stroller. He claps his fists together, but hasn't got the open palm yet.

Both little guys are still eating very well, and still get 3 solid food meals a day. I've started spicing their food a little, adding cinnamon to their cereal, dill to their rice or curry to their lentils. They don't like lentils plain, but they'll usually tolerate them with a little spice.

About 2 weeks ago, we reached that terrible point most parent's reach when they have to respond to the age old question of "are they sleeping through the night?" with a well...not really. We had been pulling them in to our bed in the middle of the night when they'd get really fussy, but it got to the point where we would just put them in our bed once we came to bed. We weren't sleeping great and knew that in the long run we needed to teach them good sleep habits. Unfortunately I did a little research and realized we should have started 6 months ago. Oops.

We started sleep training while the cribs were still in our room and all I can say is, it gets easier. Last Sunday we finally moved the cribs in to their own room (they're cribs have been in our room) and aside from a few middle of the night trips across the house in a zombie like state, it's been working well. I wouldn't say great yet, but we're getting there.

Stay tuned, I promise there will be some new pictures soon.

Moving with more teeth

The last few weeks have been very crazy, but I promised Evan that I would spend a few minutes updating the blog (since I have so many fans...he he he) on all of our recent endeavors. Logan did get his first tooth on Christmas morning, and has gotten two more (the other middle bottom and one on the top, found just Monday evening) since then. On Tuesday morning, no longer able to take the ridicule from his brother about being the only Wiesner with no teeth, squeezed one out on the bottom. It’s still just a little nib with a ways to come, but you can definitely feel the sharp little edge. Both boys are working on getting used to the new weird feelings in their mouths, and Logan is constantly chewing on his cheeks or lips (or the tabletop, or his cribs, or anything he can get a hold of). He also has started puffing his cheeks out in the past few days; not sure why but it’s very funny.

Both boys are drinking out of cups, though not very cleanly yet. They’re both very eager, and Carter will even try to hold the cup for you, but we still lose about half of what they get to the trough in their bib. Logan likes to blow bubbles in the liquid (water, milk, juice…doesn’t matter) and that just adds to the mess. They also have the “leak proof” sippy cups we practice with every day, but anyone that’s tried those out knows that the “leak proof” claim is just a joke. The boys like to bite down on the spout, let the milk pour in to their mouth, take a little gulp and then open their mouth so the rest pours out. Some great milk goatees have resulted, but again, “leak proof”?? Ha ha ha…

You may be wondering what the “moving” part of the title refers to…well, we moved to Vancouver, WA. Not such an easy task with two little stinkers, but when you have the family I do (Thank God!), it’s not as painful as it may sound. I was a little freaked when Ev rented the Uhaul for Sat and I hadn’t gotten more than 8 boxes packed on Wednesday, but his mom came up from Medford on a Thursday, we packed like mad on Friday, and everything was out of the old place sat evening. We had dropped the boys off at their grandparent’s house in Vancouver, so that helped a lot. There are also quite a few unidentified black plastic bags in my new garage as well, but the new place is much roomier and so I’m ok with it.

Speaking of that, for those who haven’t heard, we’re having a housewarming party this Saturday at 2 pm, some come and see the new place!! Just give me a call if you need directions. Sorry for the short notice, but I only let Evan know about it 3 days ago, so you’re not the only ones!