Communication

We had a milestone day in communication this week.

At breakfast I asked the boys what they wanted to do today...not really expecting any response.  Odin pointed to the gorilla on my shirt and said "ahaha" (while pounding his chest), then pointed at the door and said "oo."  I asked him if he wanted to go the the zoo to see the gorillas and he said "yes!" You better believe we went to the zoo and saw gorillas!

After nap I again asked what they wanted to do and Lars said "wa?," I asked if he wanted to see water and he said "yes!"  Of course we went to Golden Gardens and played in the sand and threw rocks in the water!

I think my days of having complete control over the agenda for the day are over!

This is the best shot I got at the zoo...checking out the African Savannah exhibit

It's a good thing Lars had that hat on.  When he was trying to see how the funnel worked it nicely protected his eyes from a deluge of sand at Golden Gardens.

2 x 2

We have two two year olds!  How did that happen?!?

Lars and Odin are absolute treasures to be with.  Language is exploding and all we seem to hear these days is "wha dat?" from Lars and "ahs tha" from Odin, both of them are trying to soak up vocabulary as quickly as we can give it to them.  They then turn around and have long conversations with us with all of those words they've been soaking up...too bad we don't really understand.  Yet.

They love running, climbing, digging in the dirt, playing at the playground, trips to the aquarium and zoo and in general being outside and getting out of the house.  I've been spending a lot of time and effort reclaiming my vegetable garden and berry patch from 2 years (gee, how come?) of complete neglect and as part of that we made sure to dig a dirt pile for the boys to play in.  They LOVE digging in the dirt, filling trucks, buckets, play wheel barrows with dirt and "weeding."  The weather has recently been very nice, so we've taken full advantage of it.

A recent outing to the Locks

Running at the Locks!

Looking at the touch tank at the aquarium

More splashing than animal touching happens in the touch tanks!

Lars contemplating the moon jellies

Mama's garden helpers.  Getting tomato starts to the car after a local plant sale.

Lars and a baby gorilla (bronze) at the zoo.

Hanging out at the zoo.

Odin insisted on carrying his sweatshirt, even when I offered to carry it for him...do you think this self sufficiency will last?

For their birthday celebrations, they lucked out with 3 different occasions to blow out candles on sweet treats.  They had so much fun!  On their actual birthday (Friday) we had a small dinner at home with mini ice cream sandwiches and birthday candles for dessert.  On Saturday we invited lots of friends over for a birthday party in the dirt pile, what a blast to have 16 little ones, mostly around 2 years old running around digging in the dirt!  Sunday we had a Mother's day/ birthday extravaganza brunch with family.  It was a full weekend, but we did it right!  We celebrated two amazing years with two amazing little boys.  We are so lucky.

Lars contemplating his 2 candles

Odin ate 2 ice cream sandwiches, Lars didn't eat any.

Presents!

Bubble solution!

Presents!

Trying out their new birthday easel, cool!

Lars' birthday cake for the dirt pile party!

Odin's birthday cake for the dirt pile party!

Directions to the party

Dirt pile party, SO MUCH FUN!

Dirt Pile Party...we were SO lucky with the weather!

 Mother's day/ birthday extravaganza

See a theme in the gifts from cousins Einar and Soren?

New Shoes!

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Lee took Lars and Odin shopping for shoes this week, it was an outing for just the four of them (I stayed home and weeded the garden, sweet!).  It's the first time they've been shopping for shoes since we've been able to rely on hand me downs up to this point.  They had a blast, and it's so nice that they have shoes that fit well, and look good!  Lars' feet are gigantic at a size 9C, in comparison, Odin is wearing size 6.5.

Nordstrom knows it's customers!  Aquariums are the COOLEST!

Apparently Lars made it his mission to bring all the sample shoes over for inspection.

Odin's final choice...silver and blue Sauconys

Super fun!

Businesses that take kids into account are so wonderful!

Lars' final choice, blue and black Nikes.

First Plane Trip

My dear friends Molly and Greg live in Napa, CA.  Last summer they had a son named Max and it was high time I got to meet Max and Molly and Greg got to meet my boys.  Nana Lynn came along with us in order to deliver an extra special present for baby Max...a tide pool inspired by the tide pool she made for Lars and Odin.  

Since Lars and Odin aren't two yet they could travel as lap infants which made the trip financially possible.  The travel was hectic and not without hassles and hiccups, but all in all, it went smoothly.  Both on the flights to and from Oakland our seats were changed and though Lynn and I were planning on sitting near each other and on the aisle, we were moved at the last minute and each adult was totally separated from the other adult.  Fortunately both boys did beautifully on both flights.  There was some wiggling from both of them at the last 10 minutes of each flight, but it was pretty easily dealt with.  We relied on lots of snacks and new toys.  Since it is over an hour drive to Napa from Oakland, and we arrived at 5pm on the first day, we stayed in a motel near the Oakland airport the first night.  It was the right choice, but it sure did seem funny to spend the first night of our visit close but not quite visiting with Molly and Greg.

Our visit with Molly, Greg and baby Max was great.  It's been ages since I've seen them, and it was so much fun to share my boys with them and get to know Max.  We had great food, great wine and the boys even got to watch a train go by while eating lunch (the Napa Valley Wine Train goes right behind Molly and Greg's house).  All three boys slept in the same room and it went remarkably well.  There were definitely some more wakings than either Molly or I were used to, but it all could have been a whole lot worse.  Molly and I even got a chance to go out to lunch just the two of us one day...that was really nice.

All in all, we are glad to be home, but it was a great trip.  Thanks to Nana Lynn for making it possible to travel and being such a good travelling partner.  Thanks to Molly, Greg and Max for their hospitality!  Tor is looking forward to visiting next time!

Odin and Mama on the plane to CA

Lars and Mama on the plane home

Swinging at Playground Fantastico

Happy Lars on the swing too

Checking out the little houses at Playground Fantastico, Napa

Molly and Max

Odin had to get in on the photo action!

Updates

I can't really believe it, but it's been more than a month since the last post.  It's time for and update!  Odin and Lars are now 22 months old and we are having so much fun.  Their vocabularies are expanding day by day, though amazingly a lot of their words sound like "ba?" so you really have to pay attention to the context and not just assume that it means "bath?"  They are both getting better at communicating and are so excited when you understand what they are asking for...those grins are some of the best ever!

They both love brushing their teeth and it is the most clear word that both of them say.  Good thing, since we went to the dentist for the first time last week.  The dentist approved of their dental hygiene!  They also copy me when I brush my teeth and are trying to learn how to spit their toothpaste...they've even been known to copy the gagging sound I sometimes make when brushing my tongue.  Ah, little sponges!

Two times now Tor and I have both been away for bedtime.  Grandma Jean and Grandpa Lee did and awesome job getting the boys to bed and we were able to get away and do our two presentations on our trip last summer.  It is so wonderful to have their support and help!  It was also so wonderful to be out as just a couple in the evening!!!

Lars is a big kid and he is fully in 3T clothes.  He is a giant.  Odin is no shrimp himself, but at ~6 lbs. lighter and ~2 inches shorter, it can be difficult to remember that Lars is the one who is off the charts.  The danger with twins is just how easy it is to compare them...it's not fair to either kid!

It's difficult to put into words how quickly things are changing and how wonderful these two little boys are.  I want to keep this blog as a record of their growth and development, but it can be so hard to find the time to do these two amazing boys justice in words.  It also seems like we are having too much fun to find the time to take photos, but these will have to suffice.

Yup!  We're raising Seattle kids...biking and drinking coffee

Trying to create a Leap Day celebration photo,  Lars loved the leaping.  I got tired!

Getting Odin in on the Leap Day photo action...not too successful

We noticed a small hole in our back yard...

When Tor dug down to investigate, the small hole turned into sewer repair.  Lame!

The boys sure thought it was fun to look in on me from the outside!

The steps to the back porch are a fun structure to play on

Odin woke up one morning and it looked like he'd been in fight club the night before.  Luckily he didn't actually sneak out of his crib and get beaten up, he'd just had a bloody nose in his sleep.  Gave this mama a heart attack!

Wise Lars

Little boys love reading!  Especially with Grandparents!

Reading with Grandpa Ralph

Lars at Ballard CC playground.  There are pictures of my sister and I playing on this ship!

Odin on the ship

I think Lars looks like my Uncle Don in this photo.  Maybe it's the black sweatshirt.