Expanding Vocabulary

The boys are suddenly doing SO much better at talking. They doubled their vocabulary in about 2 weeks! They still only have about 10-12 words, but they are making progress quickly. On top of their old words (Mom, Dad, this/that, please, thank you) they now say:

No (Jack's is pretty clear, Cullen says "nuh")
Oof Oof (Woof Woof, when they see a dog)
How (Hello)
Buh buh (bye bye)
Baba (bottle/cup/anything with milk in it)
Ball (this one is pretty clear, Jack even pronounces the l's most of the time)
Bah (bath)
Baby (again, really clear!)

And just on Monday, Jack said dittee (kitty) and joo joo (choo choo train)

I'm not sure if you all will appreciate my toddler-esque spelling but I was trying to give you a sense of how they actually pronounce the words :-)

I'm also amazed at how much progress they've made in just a couple of weeks! We went ahead and began enrolling them in speech therapy a few weeks ago but they were really backed up and couldn't schedule the boys' individual assessments until the middle of October. The therapist said that just by observing them for an hour or so while I was filling out the paperwork that they would probably just barely qualify for therapy (in Virginia, children have to be at the 25th percentile or below in speech to qualify). So if they keep adding a few new words each week, by mid-October they may not even qualify anymore! That's certainly the outcome Brandon and I are hoping for!

This is it

The only picture I've taken in 2 weeks. Cullen in a box. Enjoy.


(To our parents and siblings: I will try to get back in the blogging groove, I promise!)

Fort McHenry

Monday was Brandon's birthday, unfortunately he had work and class all day so we're celebrating on the weekends! Last Saturday, we went on a family outing to Fort McHenry in Baltimore, where Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner. It was the anniversary of the event so they were having a big festival complete with reenactments of the battle and demonstrations of life back then. I love that kind of thing! And the weather was perfect, it's so much fun to be outside again!

The military band

Firing muskets, blanks of course ;-)

They also had modern day military gear

Climbing on a real missile launcher, they fired these across the bay that evening (using blanks again, of course). One of the soldiers they use these in Iraq/Afghanistan and they can shoot up to 11 miles away with total accuracy! He pointed to a plane way in the distance and said, "See that plane? We could shoot that down with this." Wow.

We had a picnic lunch on the grass near a fence. We had to literally pull them off of this fence when it was time to go.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I miss her so!

I'm suffering from serious Violet withdrawals. I miss her like crazy!! I keep offering to let her live with me but for some reason Renee and Jon haven't taken me up on my offer yet. What gives?

How could I not miss this little bundle of joy? She's so precious! I think about you every day Vi!

Big Boys!

I bought these forks for them last week and they were an instant hit! If I forget to give them a fork with their meal now, they kindly remind me by hyperventilating and frantically shouting "Mom" while waving their hands in the air. They like being big boys I guess! And Jack is loving every second of the attention he's getting ;-)

Finally!

No more hiding out inside the apartment! The humidity is leaving, it's cooling off and we've been able to go outside a lot this week! We've gone to the park almost every night after dinner. The boys love it because they can run, climb, jump and slide to their hearts' content and I love it because they're finally old enough that I don't have to follow their every move with my arms outstretched waiting to catch them in case they fall. They still might fall but I'm not nearly as worried about it now (they're much steadier on their feet and the playground has that rubber padding below it) so I can let them explore and just be little boys.

They love to climb up the steps on their feet (not crawling anymore), go down the slides by themselves, run across the bridge over and over, and they've even started climbing up the ladders (they're only about 3 feet high). They also still love to swing and have thrown a couple tantrums when I tell them they have to stop and let another kid have a turn. Tantrums aside, this is such a fun age! I love playing with them! And I love how proud they get when they accomplish something (like climbing up a chain ladder) for the first time! Every day Brandon and I turn to each other and say "Aren't they just the coolest? We're so blessed to be their parents!"

My boys at the park last night

Cullen sliding down by himself. They finally learned to lift up their feet when they're sliding so they don't get stuck every few inches. Ever since, they are sliding maniacs!

Just for kicks ;-)