21 Months

Yesterday Rylee and Ayden turned 21 months old and they now are only 3 months away from their second birthday!  Doh!  It's already so hard to think back and believe they were such tiny little babies in the NICU.  Whenever I see a newborn now that is about 7 or 8 pounds, I am shocked at how little they seem and to know that Ayden and Rylee were actually quite a bit smaller!  How is it that I already can't remember that?  It seems like forever ago, but yet it was only 21 months ago.

It's also crazy to watch them play outside now, and to think back to when we first moved into this house back in April and how they struggled to stay upright when walking in the grass, or how they would fall over the slightest bit of decline in the driveway.  They change so much in such a short time period!

Here's a few pics from being outside yesterday morning.  We have a gopher that has completely destroyed the yard.

At least the gopher mounds are good for something!

I have no idea what the stats are for either of them.  We don't have a scale at home (with a battery) and they haven't been to the doctor since their 18 month check up, so they haven't been weighed or measured.  I do know that Rylee is in size 4 diapers and Ayden is in size 5. Rylee is wearing 18 month clothing, but beginning to move into 18-24 month outfits.  Ayden is wearing 18 month pants, but seems to have a really long torso so is moving into size 2T shirts.  All of his 18-24 month t-shirts fit, other than they keep creeping up so he's starting to show off his belly!

Both of them are starting to say more and more words.  Rylee's favorite words are no, gobble-gobble, baby, and uh-oh.  She answers "no" to everything!  Ask her if she wants milk and she answers no.  Do you want to go outside?  No.  Do you want to go play?  No.  Silly girl. We know very well that she means a resounding yes to those things!  She does know how to use the word no in the right context too, though.  If her brother takes something from her, she emphatically yells nooooo!

We still have those wild turkeys that roam around town.  Whenever Rylee sees them, she starts saying gobble-gobble.  If she is being a little stinker throwing her food on the floor during meals (which is every meal!  Gahhh!) and I call her a turkey, she replies with gobble-gobble.  Now I call her a turkey just so she'll say it and make me laugh with her cuteness so I don't get so irate about the food throwing, which is really getting old.

As of just a few days ago, Rylee started saying uh-oh.  I dropped a fork on the floor during dinner the other day and said it, and she started saying it over and over.  Now she says it whenever anything gets dropped and it is the cutest thing ever!  

Rylee also says, nigh-nigh (night-night), heyo (hello), hi, and bye.

Ayden is still delayed in his language skills, but he does say baby, nigh-nigh, hi, and bye-bye.  He also says "gah" for both car and dog.  He actually loves to have conversations with people and talks up a storm.  He has a lot to say, if only we knew what it was he was trying to tell us.

Ayden continues to show us new things that we have to baby proof around the house.  He is constantly getting into everything.  His latest thing is to take the bottom door hinge out of our front door.  Now, how the heck are we supposed to baby proof that????  Ayden has also learned how to open the doors to our entertainment center.  As soon as we leave the room, that's where he goes.  He likes to look through the dvd's and better yet, he likes to mess with the cable box.  Sigh....  I know these will be wonderful qualities when he gets older, but in a toddler, they are exhausting!

Being outside is probably Ayden and Rylee's absolute favorite thing to do.  It will be sad to see the cold, rainy Oregon weather that is coming.  We do now have rain boots and rain jackets though, so I am hoping we can still go outside some.  Who doesn't love splashing through mud puddles?

Summer Fun

Rylee discovered the thrill of drenching her brother

Oregon Coast

At Heceta Head on the Oregon Coast

Ayden has really gotten into playing with trucks and cars in the last month or so.  He sometimes sits and inspects the wheels, as if he's trying to figure out how they work.  Both Ayden and Rylee really like the baby doll they have.  We actually have two, but one had to be put up because it has hair, which Ayden still likes to try to eat.  Rylee likes to wrap the baby up in her blanket.  They also enjoy playing with their Mega Bloks.  Their favorite books are Little Blue Truck, Bubbles Bubbles, Five Little Monkeys, and a big animal picture book.

Their favorite shows/movies to watch on Netflix are Mickey Mouse's Three Muskateers, Curious George, Number Land (by Leap Frog), and Kipper.  I try not to let them watch too much tv, but we do watch it first thing in the morning while they enjoy their morning milk sippy.  Other than that, sometimes throughout the day it just becomes necessary!  Shoot me for saying it, but if Ayden wakes up early from nap, turning on the tv is the ONLY way I can keep him from running in to wake up Rylee.  If I try to distract him with something else, he just cries and screams so he ends up waking her up anyway.  Sooooo, we turn on a tv show instead.  It's also become the only way I can get dinner cooked some nights without having them whine and cry at my feet.  Their latest thing is to yank on my shorts/pants while I'm cooking, effectively pulling them down.  In order for me to keep my pants on while attempting to make dinner, I sometimes choose to turn the tv on so that I can keep my sanity.

This kept them occupied instead of the tv one night while I made dinner.
It only worked once though!

While many aspects of toddlerhood are driving me crazy, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  They make us giggle with delight at the new things they learn and they melt our hearts with the warm snuggles and kisses that they freely share.

He found Daddy's letterman jacket from high school.

She had to try it on too!

So much cuteness!

She melts me.

Mr. Personality

She makes the greatest sad/mad faces!  Don't worry though, she quickly got over it when I helped get her boot unstuck from the bucket!

He found an ink pen....

Twin Love!

Helping Mommy with the grocery shopping.