The boys are 3!!

This is probably my favorite age so far with the boys.  They are talking so much and beginning to question their world.  Their personalities are growing stronger each day.

Similarities

• They started school!  It’s a part time program at Cedar Croft in Baltimore just a few miles from our home.  They love it!
• They are both potty trained now but are still having accidents at night.  Grandma Seacat convinced us to do pull-ups at night since we have enough things to do with the girls and laundry was piling up.
• They both love to sing.  Every night at bedtime they make Grandma Seacat sing songs to them.  Their favorites are the ABC song and Twinkle Twinkle.
• They can count to ten and even further but the accuracy is inconsistent past 10.
• They are still going down for naps.  We’re trying to have them sleep from 1 pm to 3 pm.  Nathan definitely needs a nap but Anthony will typically just hang out in his room.  We separated them for naptime into separate rooms but we’ll be putting them back into the same room here soon so that the girls can have the office room where Anthony currently is.
• According to their teachers from parent teacher conferences last week, they are both very well mannered.  They say please and thank you and are patient with the teachers.  They understand they aren’t the only kids in the world and will wait their turn.  It probably has something to do with being a twin… although at home this doesn’t seem to be the case, they both boss grandma around.
• They are both great big brothers.  They are so gentle yet curious with the girls.  We’ll see how that changes once the girls start moving.

Anthony

• Height: 38 1/4″ (75th percentile)
• Weight: 33 1/2 lbs (50th percentile)
• Favorite Toys: Cars, trucks, and trains.  He is very much a little boy.
• Anthony hates to get his hair wet.  When he’s in the bath or shower and it gets wet he screams bloody murder.
• Anthony loves to get his picture taken.  The other day he even requested that I take a picture of him.  He is charming with his beautiful smile.
• Anthony generally doesn’t like to get yelled at.  It’s very peaceful with him at dinner because he sits at his chair well behaved and eats almost anything we feed him.

Nathan

• Height: 36 1/2″ (25th percentile)
• Weight: 30 3/4 lbs (50th percentile)
• Favorite Toys: Anything with a plug.  He loves to take things a part.  He is our engineer.
• Nathan is still our jokester.  He is so smart yet knows how to get a rise out of people.  If you ask him which baby sister you’re holding he’ll say the correct name and then when we say yes he says “No, <other sister’s name> and gives a big grin”.
• Nathan is our talker.  No one else can really get a word in.
• Dinner time is a challenge with Nathan.  We spend a lot of time yelling at him to get back into his chair and eat dinner with the rest of us.
• Nathan loves to challenge us.  If we ask him to do something he’ll either do the opposite or ask why over and over again.

Us

• We are holding in there after the shock of doubling our offspring.  Steve and I haven’t had much time together lately just because we’re dealing with the kids.  My mom is here helping so her and I sleep in the basement together up with the girls all night so Steve can get his sleep for work.  
• We have the boys going to school in the mornings and then in the afternoon we have someone come to our home to help watch them from 3 – 6.  The boys love the two women who have been coming: Dakota and Alissa.  Dakota is a student at Loyola University.  Alissa is a teacher at the boys school and does all sorts of fun projects with them.  We’ve been talking about what to do for the girls and we are seriously considering getting an au pair.  I’m excited about the possibility of having someone from another country share their culture with us and become part of the family.  We have a great setup in our basement with an additional bedroom and bathroom for a potential au pair to live.
• I’m currently out on maternity leave and will be headed back to work in January.  It’s been so nice getting to spend the early days with the girls while they are infants and have some time to prepare childcare for the new year.
• The whole house has been battling a cold for the past month.  I’m sure we’ll see more of this now that the boys are off at school.  Between the cold and the c-section recovery I haven’t felt like myself in a long time.