I'm the Big Brother!

Today we had our 15 month check-up. I (Jonathan) now weigh more than Josiah, but Josiah is taller (by a whole inch!!) than I am. I think that he'll say that he's the big brother, but I am still older and therefore am considered the big brother! :) For those of you interested, I am 21 lbs. 7 oz. (I grew by over 3 lbs. in 3 months!) and I am 29 inches long (almost an inch longer than the last measurement). My brother is 21 lbs. 3 oz. (Up 2 1/2 lbs. from last check) and 30 inches long (1 3/4 inch taller than before). We are definitely growing boys! The doctor watched us play and explore around the exam room together. He commented that we are aggressive at play. We think that's a good thing, though Nolan and Isaac may not necessarily agree. :) We don't have any new pictures to post at the moment, but hopefully Mommy will download more so we can post them soon! Thanks for checking in on us!

If Only They Were Ugly

Uncle Phil requested a shopping story, so Mommy wants to share a story with you about an outing to Sprouts last week. Here is her version:

We took a family trip to Sprouts last Wednesday, which happens to be double ad day there. Sprouts is a farmer's market type store, with lots of produce and healthy things in it. Because the prices are usually very good there, a lot of the senior population also likes to shop there. Double ad day is extra busy because it's the day that the ads from two weeks overlap. On a normal trip to Sprouts we're accosted once or twice, on double ad days, you never know!

On this particular trip we were stopped almost immediately after entering the store. I had the boys in the double stroller and Mark had the shopping cart. He is great at evading, avoiding, and escaping the gawkers (which we say with love, of course). So he started on the shopping part while I was stopped by what looked like an older couple and the mother of one of the members of the older couple. They started asking the 'obligatory' questions - are they twins? how old are they? etc., etc. As they were getting ready to close their part of the conversation and I was about to walk away, the mother interrupted. So now I have three people talking to me at once, and asking the same questions again. I politely answered and then got my shopping face on and tried to look like I was leaving. Well, apparently that was not in everyone's plan for me.

The 'mother' of the group put her hand on mine to stop me from pushing the stroller away. I'm a nice person, so I won't use physical force to shove an old lady away so I can shop. However, this lady not only touched me, she leaned over and kissed my son! I thought I saw a window of opportunity to leave, but instead of stepping back, she stepped in front of my stroller. She made some comment like, "I have to kiss the other one, too!" and proceeded to lean over and kiss my other son. Mind you, this woman weighed all of 90 pounds wet and her structure looked like it matched in age. I thought she was going to fall on the boys - what a traumatic experience that would've been! We finally freed ourselves from our first entanglement, with only minor wounds - and most of those will be fixed with some therapy.

We were met with comments, glances, etc. through the rest of our shopping experience, but thankfully no more physical contact with strangers. As we were getting ready to check out, I took the boys to the end of the check-out line that Mark was in. It's easier to wait for him on that side than for me to attempt to maneuver the double wide stroller through the narrow lane. As one man in a restaurant so kindly informed my boys as we hit the door frame, "Your mommy isn't a great driver!" Anyway, the woman in front of Mark was still checking out, but was immediately drawn to the boys instead of paying attention to her own shopping.

The first comment was something like, "They're not identical, are they? His cheeks are rounder than the other one's." I smiled and told her that yes, in fact, they are identical. Then she said something like, "And his head is rounder." Yes, lady, identical twins still have differences - the characteristics are expressed differently in each child. Then there was a third comment which I don't even remember. As she was (finally) walking away, a man standing next to me looked over and said, "And one's wearing brown shoes and the other is wearing blue shoes!" The woman stopped and turned around and I put my head down to look at the boys so as not to have to make eye contact with her. :) That 'grandpa' made my day!

As we walked out we only heard one comment in the parking lot about how cute they are. I love being the mommy of two adorable boys...even when shopping with them is filled with such drama. :)

Shiny Red Wagon

Thanks to Papa and Nana, we got two new toys at their house! Mommy and Nana took us to buy a new wagon on Friday! Mommy put it together (almost) all by herself. She did most of the work while Nana, Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim watched. We don't have pictures of our first ride in it because Daddy and Mommy's camera broke and they're borrowing Nana and Papa's camera. However, Mommy forgot to put it in the diaper bag on Friday, so it was at our house while we were at Papa and Nana's. Here are pictures of us in our wagon - and with our other new toy: the box the wagon came in!

Here we are playing in the box:

Come on out, brother!
Look at me, Mommy!! I made it!

"Ta-Da!" Time to go for a ride!! We're all strapped in and have our drinks...let's go!
Why aren't we moving, Nana?This is the life...Josiah is saying, "I don't know where we're going."Hey look - it's Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim! Can we please get out?"You put your cup here, Josiah.""Well, I changed my mind. This is a good foot rest."

We love getting rides in our new wagon! Papa and Nana said we'll keep it at their house so we can visit all of our other 'grandparents' down the street! Thanks, Papa and Nana!!!

Weekend at Papa and Nana's

Last night we got to stay overnight at Papa and Nana's house. We had lots of fun with them! Daddy and Mommy came over this morning and we stayed all day with them. Here are some funny pictures of us playing!
I (Josiah) love the rocking chair! Here I am falling out of it... And laying on the floor thinking it's kind of funny.
Mommy took a picture of me when I got back in the chair, but it didn't turn out quite right.
Here is my brother in Papa's shoes!
Here he is looking down. I think he's wondering how Papa manages to walk with these huge shoes on his feet!
As you can see, we're wearing matching outfits today. We've been called "The Red Baby" and "The Blue Baby" before, so Mommy decided to dress us alike. :) She finally realized that she really does dress us red and blue a lot!

Swings!

The weather was so nice last week that Daddy and Mommy took us to the park at lunch time for a picnic! We loved being outside, and we got to swing in the 'big kid' swings for the first time! I (Jonathan) loved it - especially when Mommy pushed me higher and higher. Josiah didn't enjoy it quite as much, but I think he'll like it better next time.
We also got to go down a slide with Mommy and walk around the play ground area. It was so fun and we hope that Daddy and Mommy take us on picnics more often!

A Day in the Life...

Here are some of our 'typical' activities in a day. First, there is learning and playing with our toys. We are learning sign language since we're not talking yet. Daddy and Mommy think it will help us to communicate with them. We don't know why they can't understand us! Along with the 'official' sign language, we've come up with our own fun gestures:

Then there's the playing with things that aren't our toys:
It looks like I (Jonathan) am squishing Josiah, but I wasn't!
Then there's just looking cute for Mommy. Our hair is kind of funny because we like to put our dirty hands in it when we're playing. Yep - we needed baths!And of course the day wouldn't be complete without some funny faces - this one courtesy of me (Jonathan).The weather is so nice now, that Mommy thought we'd enjoy a walk! Here we are before...
And here we are after. Contrary to the looks on our faces, we really do like walking in our fancy stroller!Here is a new game that we play. Mommy says she doesn't know what's so funny, but when we play it, we think it's hilarious! You can see that we talk to each other...again, we don't know why Mommy and Daddy can't understand.

And then there is playing with our doggies. We love it - even if the feeling is not always mutual...

Spoons!

Mommy thought it would be fun to see what we do with utensils. So last week we got to use our spoons at dinner time. As you can see, we found better uses for them than the intended ones.

Sibling Rivalry

As you've seen from most of the pictures and videos, we love each other. However, we've found that we are two distinct people, and really try to assert our individuality. What that means is that we now like to fight. The other day at Nana's we decided that we both wanted to sit in the rocking chair that is big enough for only one at a time. Here were the disastrous results. (Nobody was permanently harmed in the making of this blog post.)

Josiah was in it first, and Jonathan came behind him: Jonathan will do anything to get his brother away - this time it happened to be pinching (Mommy didn't see that until she uploaded the pictures to the computer - she thought Jonathan just pulled my (Josiah) arm away.)
I (Josiah) was so troubled I just put my head down and cried.
I don't know if brother was trying to console or hold my head down.
Mommy saved me and my brother got in the chair.
Later on I got a turn and all was well.

Off to the Races

We have these fun toys that convert from push toys to ride-on toys. We love it when Mommy helps us get on them, but we can't quite figure out how to make them go forward. We seem to only make them go backward (kind of like the pony). Here we backed them up to the gate: Then we tried to figure out what to do next - get off, or maybe if we put our feet up Mommy will push us forward...
These things are hard to get on and off of:
Maybe it will work better upside down.
In the end, we just pushed them around like walkers. Oh well - maybe next time!

First Blood

Last Wednesday (the 12th) was such a sad night...I (Josiah) was playing and pushing the chairs around like I normally do, and then I slipped on the floor. I fell forward, and hit my lip on the bar on the chair. It was so sad and I cried really hard. Mommy came and cleaned up some of the blood and made sure that my teeth were all there. Daddy cleaned up the blood from the floor. Then Nana and Papa came in because they were going to spend the evening with us. It's a good thing they came, because I needed a lot of sympathy - the kind that only a grandma can give! After Mommy got me mostly cleaned up, she took a picture of my fat lip and blood-stained shirt. Yes, you should all feel sorry for poor, little me.

Speaking the Truth

Picnic at the Park

Last night we had a picnic with our multiples group (Way Out West Parents of Multiples) at the park! We got to go and splash in the splash park before we ate. It's so much more fun now that we can walk and run through the water on our own! Mommy forgot to take the camera when we first got in the water. When we went back, Jonathan was tired and didn't want to splash anymore. I (Josiah), however, kept going and going and going! Jonathan just stood here in this same spot while I ran all over the splash pad!
We had lots of fun at the picnic, but were very tired by the time everyone got there. It was too close to our bedtime. We hope that they keep doing picnics like this when we're bigger! Mommy arranged for jumpers/bouncers for the big kids and they loved them! There were lots of families there, and lots of twins and triplets. The other people in the park are probably all having their eyes checked today from seeing double all evening! :)

Doggie Time

I (Jonathan) love the doggies. I am an equal opportunity attention giver, as you can see below.

Here I am with Chloe. I came up behind her:I think I'll lay on my side...
What a comfy pillow!
Here's what George was doing while I was giving Chloe love:And then I decided later to give George the attention:

If you look closely, I'm holding his back paw.
I went on to inspect his front paws, too.
Eventually I tried laying on George, too. He doesn't like to be used as a pillow.

Mondays with Isaac

On Monday we got to spend the evening with Isaac! It was so much fun to have another little boy around. We think he might love our doggies more than we do!! Mommy got some pictures on Grandma's camera (ours is not working at all) and on Miss Sheri's camera, so you can see some of them on Isaac's blog! Mommy said that we're going to get to do this again in a few weeks...we can't wait!!

Here we are playing at the activity table...and Jonathan decided that Isaac's water cup is better than his.

Isaac was excited about something! He does this funny thing where he gets up and then flops himself down all spread out on the floor. Apparently this is a happy move...

Here we are playing in the hallway with our school bus, blocks, and cup. We kept trying to give Isaac our blocks that go with the school bus, but he wouldn't take them.

Here is Isaac after one of the sippy cups mysteriously opened and all the water came out. Isaac just sat and ignored the water until we came up and showed him how much fun it was to play in it! We had our own little splash park in our house! Afterward Isaac was all wet so Mommy had to change him. He played like this for a while, then we all got ready for bed. We think this look is something like, "No, really, Miss Jen, I'm innocent!"

It's a Girl!

Mommy's Cousin Chad and Mara had a baby girl! Our new cousin's name is Ella. Isn't she pretty?!

Here's a picture of the happy family: It looks like Ella already likes to play peek-a-boo!
What a pretty baby girl. We already love her!

Thanks to Ella's Auntie Britni for sending us the pictures. Congratulations to Chad and Mara!
Welcome to the world, baby Ella!

It's Been How Long???

So it's been a while since we've put stuff up on the blog. Mommy hasn't been taking pictures as frequently - she says it's because the camera doesn't always work like it's supposed to. We don't know, but we've also been very busy. Here are a few posts about what we've been doing. Besides the stuff we put on here, we've been spending time with Nana and Papa, playing with friends, and yesterday we got to go swimming and playing in a splash park where our friends the Thompson Twins (and their brother Noah) live. Mommy says she thinks it's funny to call Foster and Parker the Thompson Twins. We don't get the joke. Their Mommy invited us to swim there, and it was so much fun! We hope we get to go and play with them again soon!

We are now 14 months old and not only walking, but RUNNING! Mommy has been working a little bit, and Daddy has been working three days in a row every week. We don't like that because then we don't get to see him much, if at all, on those days. Our latest thing is carrying or pulling toys around. Jonathan has been walking backwards a lot so he can see what he's pulling behind him. He's actually pretty good at it. Josiah likes to do whatever big brother is doing. We both like to dance now, too. We are still eating lots and lots. We tricked Daddy and Mommy into thinking that we had slowed down, then this morning we ate oatmeal with a banana in it, an egg, and a whole waffle (all of this was split between us) and we each had a cup of milk. We're growing boys!

Mommy still can't get us to stop biting or fighting, but we have to give her something to do! She would think she was up for Mommy of the Year if we didn't have some faults. :)

Now that it's September we hope that the weather is going to stay below 110 so we can go swimming and enjoy the splash parks again. We'll try to get Mommy to take more pictures and videos and let us post them more frequently! :)

J and J

Isaac is 1!!!

Today was our friend Isaac's birthday party! He turned one last Thursday (on our 14 month birthday). We still remember visiting him in the hospital after he was born. He had a fun party! We got there and his mommy had Pirate's Booty (as mentioned in an earlier post) for all of us to eat. His mommy got the fruity mango flavored kind. It was so yummy! It was so fun that we could all share the same snack, even Nolan!

Here's the Birthday Boy, Isaac: Isaac's cousing Nicole feeding us the snacks. Someone also got their hand in the bowl - can you tell by the floor?? Feeding frenzy!
The Pirate's Booty got cleaned up off the floor...and Nolan was left alone. :(

Party Play Time

We got to play with lots of Isaac's toys - including his tent! We had lots of fun playing with his "old" toys and his new toys! Here I (Josiah) am with the birthday boy!

Happy Birthday!!

Here is Isaac with the birthday cake that his mommy made for him. His birthday party theme was Mickey Mouse! Here's Isaac with his daddy and mommy. He actually preferred his cake if it had Mango Pirate's Booty on it. Mmmm...Chocolate-Covered-Mango-Pirate's-Booty-Marble-Chocolate-Frosting Cake. What could be better?

We also got to bring home balloons from his party - that's so fun!! You can probably see more pics of his party on his blog.

Locked??

We love to play at Grandma's house! She usually lets us play with all of her plastic food containers. We think that's the BEST! However, one night she decided we shouldn't play in there... What do you mean it's locked???
I am so good at walking - and almost running - now! Look at me balance while trying to cute my way into getting back into the cupboard.
Here's my brother with Nana. She wouldn't let us in the plastic containers, but being held by her was a good trade off!

Double Date

Play Date, that is! We had a double play date with our friends Morgan and Makenzie. They just turned one a week before this playdate. Their party was lots of fun and it was there that we discovered how much we love helium balloons. Mommy tried to get some pictures of the playdate, but she claims it is really hard to get four one-year-olds to look at the same time.

Here is Jonathan with one of the girls' sippy cups. Whatever was in there was different than what Mommy puts in ours! If you notice, though, he's holding it in every picture!
Here's an up close of me (Josiah) and the other three playing in the background.This was us playing...the only one looking was Makenzie. Isn't she cute?!

Merely a Trifle

Miss Sheri brought over a recipe book for Mommy and pointed out a recipe for a trifle. We don't know what 'trifle' means, but we really like how this trifle tasted! It was Mommy's first attempt at making a trifle. She says it wasn't all that pretty, but we think it doesn't matter because it tasted really yummy. We think Miss Sheri should bring Mommy recipe books more often...

Funny Baby Hats

For the last couple of weeks we've been playing this funny game when we change our clothes! Mommy and Daddy put our shirts (or onesies, or rompers) on our heads like this and then we look in the mirror or at each other (kind of the same effect) at the funny babies in the funny baby hats! In this picture we're making funny baby faces in our funny baby hats!