It's been a long, long time.

Dear boys,
  I wish I had been better at chronicling everything you have done for the past 20 months.  It has been so much fun to watch you grow and to spend time together as a family.  I couldn't possibly do our time together justice by trying to sum it up.  Only pictures can do that, and fortunately, there are plenty to do that for you!  The best I can do is to try again on this blogging adventure, and to include the small everyday moments that I hope to never forget.

Thomas, you sang ""Let it go" tonight at the table over and over again.  I finally found the song on Youtube and played the video, which you happily sang along with while playing with play dough.  You are so sweet!  After that, we searched for other songs we love to sing- "What did the Fox say?", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" theme song, which is when Owen then took the lead with singing.  Owen, you love your TMNT!  You insist on wearing the two t-shirts you have over and over again.  You have only seen one of the old shows (we don't allow the show yet) but you love to play with the toys and you love to hear the song.  You are going to be a Ninja Turtle for Halloween.

Love!
Mommy

"Mamma, snack!"

Dear Boys,
  This is the extent of our car ride home.  Owen, "Mamma, snack." Me, "When we get home Owen."  Owen, "Home?" Me, "Yes, Owen we are going home."  wait 30 seconds, repeat conversation.
  When there is a brief pause in Owen's snack requests, Thomas loves to ask Owen questions.  "Owen, do you want a headlight?" Owen, "No." Thomas, "Owen, do you want a tree?", Owen, "No", repeat many time with different things Thomas sees out the window.  :)

Owen is an eater right now- you eat constantly from the second we get home (literally has to be the first thing we do) until bedtime... you eat!  You must be a growing boy.

Fun loving boy doesn't listen to No!

Dear Owen,
  You little rascal... you love to hear No!  Right now, Daddy and I are chasing you around like crazy as you get into everything possible.  When Thomas was your age, we could put the television on and he would be quiet and focused.  You, however, do not care about TV.  Instead, you explore the house fearlessly :)
  Your vocabulary has exploded!  You will repeat any word that Daddy and I say, and you have quite a bank of words you use for communicating with us.  You will even string a few words together, like Mamma's cup and Daddy sleeping.  It has made things so much easier as you communicate with us more!
  Your brother has been a good influence on your playing.  You love to do everything Thomas does, and so you have learned early how to play with toys and pretend.  One of your favorite "big boy" toys to play with is the iPad.  There are a few games we play together before bedtime to help settle you.  You're very good at using it already.
  I don't think I can do this post justice and really describe how awesome you are.  Social- you love a crowd and feel very comfortable in new places; brave- there isn't much that will scare or intimidate you- the smoke detector appears to be the only thing you are afraid of; funny- you love to get a laugh and will perform for your brother, Daddy and I.  Blowing bubbles in the bath, making raspberries, there are many things you will do to entertain us.
  Things you love: your blanket (has to be with a silky edge), Gus (any animal can win your affections, but you have a special place in your heart for Grammie and Grandpa's dog), fig newtons (ha), playdough... much more I'm sure! 

Thomas 3 1/2

Dear Thomas,
   You are three and a half right now (actually 3 years and 8 months) and you are changing everyday.  Mostly, Daddy and I are constantly amazed by your vocabulary and imagination.  You love to talk, and you talk through your playtime.  We hear all about the adventures you are having and we get to enjoy your adventures with you.
  You love Hide and Seek.  We play quite a few times a day, pretty much whenever you can talk us into it.  You are still not comfortable being far away from us, or in a different room. So, your hiding places are very obvious... many times you even tell us where you are hiding!  It also doesn't help that Owen usually hides with you and gives away your spot by talking or laughing (although, you do that too :))
  You have been learning a lot the last few months.  You know how to spell you name and Owen's name.  You don't know all your letters yet, but you can recognize a lot of them.  You do know your numbers and you know A LOT about science.  You seem very interested in science topics, like nature and weather and you remember everything we tell you.  It's pretty incredible.
  We've recently discovered Virginia Burton's books.  Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel is a big hit, and you ask us to read it many times a day.  We also love Pete the Cat- these books make us laugh a lot and you love to read them yourself.
  You and your brother are having so much fun together.  You run around and play together every night when we get home.  You are very physical with each other, but it seems to make you both happy, so Daddy and I let you two be.  You are especially nice to him at daycare, and always watch out for him there.
 Some favorites are:  TV Show: Jake and the Neverland Pirates, food: PB & J, chicken nuggets and spaghetti are still popular, book: Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel, music: Yo Gabba Gabba

~Love you, Mommy

Owen is 16 months

Dear Owen,

 Wow! You're doing so much right now. You are a fun-loving and happy boy! You have a dozen words or so- Mamma, Daddy, Babba (brother), kitty, doggy, cup, ball, balloon, bobber (yes bobber- we fish a lot), bubble, and plane- I think a few more I am forgetting. You like the word doggy right now and call everything a doggy :-)  You have four teeth left to come in, and I think they are coming- we have seen a lot of hand chewing this week.  You have a great sense of humor.  One of your favorite games to play is when Mommy tries to get you to say "Mamma", and you say other words instead of Mamma.  You laugh and laugh at this game!  You also love tickling and wrestling games; you and your brother make me very nervous with your wresting!

You love to look at books.  I think we must read "Busy Doggies" about two dozen times a day.  You never get tired of it.  You are a climber, you are in the climb on chairs and up the stairs phase... lots of falls and boo-boos for you!  Your newest adventure is to climb on the train table and then cry until someone helps you down.

Outside is also a fun time for you; you mostly follow your brother around and do exactly what he does :)  Unfortunately, you aren't as good at picking out the ripe tomatoes, so you spit out a lot of green ones... Mommy does not find this funny!

We love you and enjoy you every day.

~Mommy

An Amazing Summer

Dear Boys,
  We have had one amazing summer!  A few things we have done...  Thomas and I have been taking weekly trips to Range Pond to work on swimming.  We meet up with some friends of Mommy's from school.  Owen and I have gone to Bear Pond a few times, you are so brave in the water that Mommy doesn't dare to take you two to the beach alone!

We've made many ocean trips, Pine Point, which was very fun with low tide and hardly any people, and Popham Beach, always a favorite of ours.  We went to Thomas the Train in Boothbay Harbor, something we enjoyed last year too.

We had our first camping trip at the Cathedral Pines Campground in Eustis, Maine.  We were fortunate that this trip was so successful and that both of you enjoyed sleeping in a tent :)  We squeezed in many other fun events, like a trip to the Children's Museum in Portland, the Maine Wildlife Park and the Smiling Hill Farm.

School starts next week, and as you can imagine we are all going to miss the summer fun!

Until next summer,
  ~Mommy

First Steps

Dear Owen,
You took your first steps last night! We are so proud of you. It's really about confidence now, you have been standing up for a week or so, but haven't trusted yourself to walk. Last night you were standing with Mommy and Daddy was just a step or two away, and you walked to him! Tonight you walked a few steps to Nana. It will be no time before you are running after Thomas outside!

You love being outside. We haven't been able to let you crawl around much; the ground is still cold and wet. You are more than willing to get dirty creeping across the driveway as fast as we can walk behind you! You also love wagon rides and stroller rides. We have been walking as much as possible to give you fresh air and keep you clean at the same time!

You love to eat. You only take two bottles a day now, we will be eliminating these soon too. It shouldn't be a problem with your love of food. Some favorites are... actually you love everything. You will eat a whole apple down to its core; you love these oatmeal muffins Mommy makes for you; potatoes, carrots, beef stew, strawberries, peaches, pears, peas... as long as you can chew it, you like it! I can't wait for your one year appointment to see your weight... I think its up there!

We love you so much. You are such an easy going and happy baby! Tooth number 7 came in last week, 8 should be here soon.

Love you,
Mommy

Snails

Dear Thomas,

You have invisible pet snails. It's awesome. Here are some things you have told me about your snails: they are shy. they eat lettuce and fruit. when you take them to the grocery store you let them touch everything and don't say no when they ask for something.

You hold your snails in your hands, especially at bedtime. They tried to make an appearance at daycare this week, but they decided they were not ready for that. (they are very shy) This has to be the most entertaining thing you have done since your birth! We love it!