Finally, on "film"

Jack has been saying his ABC's all the way through for over a month now but every time I get the camera he stops to investigate what I'm doing. My sister-in-law, Sara, was here yesterday and was able to keep his attention on the task at hand while I finally got it on video. As he started through a second time I got a little greedy (trying to get a visual of him pointing to the letters as he said them) and he saw what I was doing and got distracted. Oh well, once is enough I guess.

He speaks...

Charlie finally decided to talk to us a couple of days ago. He's been saying 6-10 words (which is the normal range) for several months but with Jack counting to 20 and saying his ABC's its been strange having him still be mostly into gestures but the day before yesterday he just started talking. He has decided to start with animals and body parts mostly. So far he says panda (of course), giraffe (which is really just raffe), zebra, ear, nose and mouth. He has also added a few utility words like eat and help. Jack is going very slowly with his sentences. We've still only gotten a few out of him. Last Saturday he brought Chip a book and proclaimed "I say book." It seemed pretty appropriate. They are also both very interested in helping right now. In the picture they were helping Chip wash the car.

I draw paper

We have our first real sentence. Jack is very talkative right now and spends lots of time naming things, reciting his ABC's and doing his numbers. This morning at church there was a little boy his same size but a little older who could really talk in sentences etc. I got the report that Jack was fascinated by him. It seems to have inspired him as this afternoon he told me "I draw (on the) paper" as he began to scribble on his paper. Charlie has started picking up a couple new words a day and I'm sure they'll be talking my ear off in a matter of days.

Kidz fun kutz

The boys hair was getting really long (as you can see in the picture above). I've been cutting it myself but it is getting harder and harder. Also, it grows so fast that I had to cut it about every other week. So yesterday afternoon we took them to Kidz Fun Kutz.

Charlie went first and he did great. He was really pretty cooperative and sat relatively still. He really liked the airplane and watching VeggieTales. He did try to watch every TV in the place so since we were the only ones there she just turned the others off. I was amazed at how well he did, no fussing at all.

Jack went second and fussed just a little. Mostly he just wanted to get down and run around somemore. He was also really interested in what Charlie was doing in the firetruck (another of the seats). But overall not a bad showing either. The stylist was very patient and very good. She didn't mind the wiggling or looking around at all.

They both have much shorter "summer" 'dos now.

Living the high life

We're at the beach and the boys are living a life of leisure. They really like playing on the beach (especially Jack) and in their little pool. They also greatly enjoy being waited on by all their loving family. Charlie has eaten his weight in watermelon and Jack loves kicking back on the couch.

A quick catch up

The boys have had a virus that kept them from sleeping well, thus mommy wasn't getting any sleep. All of last week I napped when they napped. This week we have been very busy preparing for our vacation. There is a lot of talking going on. Charlie can point out most of his body parts and say some of them. Jack can say ABC's to J without help and all the way with a little coaching. There is also a lot of coloring going on. The other morning I caught Charlie sitting in Jack's lap. It's very sweet how they are really becoming attached to each other. We'll post an update from vacation soon.

Playroom picnic

Lunch has been a challenge lately. Today I decided to try something different just for a change. So we cleaned up the playroom and had a picnic in the floor. They liked it a lot - especially playing with the sheet and running around from toy to toy between bites. In the end they probably ate about the same amount they usually do even though they definitely did not sit still. It was a fun experiment anyway.