Jack & Cullen Update

Here's all the funny new things they're up to these days, they make me laugh all day long!

* Everytime I say, "come on, boys" or "come here" Jack turns to Cullen and starts gesturing him to come.

*Both boys are major stallers. When I ask them to do something they don't want to do, they pretend not to hear. They wait until I'm threatening to spank them (or in Cullen's case until I'm actually moving toward him threatening to spank him) before obeying.

*I try to keep a serious face when they throw themselves down screaming hysterically and pounding the floor with their fist but inside I'm laughing. I think they throw the cutest little tantrums I've ever seen. Cullen even wails "NOOOOO" in his most pitiful sounding voice. Seriously, it's way too funny to keep a straight face.

*They are obsessed with light switches. They push their little chairs up to the switches and stand there flipping them off and on and off and on. The neighbors must think we're insane.

*They walk around the house holding their toy phones or sometimes Brandon's iPod to their ear saying (hello) "Hewwo!" That's all, just "hewwo"

*They are also obsessed with trains, "choo choo's" as they call them. They scream for choo choo's (their Thomas the Train video) as soon as they wake up. Their favorite part is the songs, they love to clap along. I now have every word memorized.

*It's been a real challenge keeping them out of the dishwasher and microwave at the new house. The other night Cullen put his toy police car in the microwave and turned it on. Thankfully our microwave didn't blow up because I was standing right there and stopped it right away but the car is still broken. I think we may have to put the baby gate back up to block off the kitchen.

*Whenever I announce that it's bathtime, they run away screaming "No! No! No!" but once they're actually in the tub, they enjoy it (most of the time).

*Whenever I tell one of them that something is a no-no, the other one turns to his brother, shakes his head and repeats "no-no" in their most serious voice.

*They still adore their kitties. "Meow" is probably their clearest word besides "no" and they greet the kitties with it every time they see them. They also love to chase, pet, hug and kiss the kitties. Emma mainly avoids them but Huck doesn't seem to mind their attention. The other day Jack walked up to Huck, poked him in the nose (not very gently), and shouted "Noooose!" Huck didn't even flinch.

*At every diaper change they tell me they have "poo poo" even if they don't. And it's always been very obvious when either of them actually is pooping, so whenever they see their brother doing it, they point to him and shout "Poo Poo!"

*They're learning more new words every single day. They try to repeat pretty much everything we say these days. I've lost track of how many they know now but here are some of their newest ones: juice, cheese, banana, wheel, boat, truck, tractor (this one's hardly recognizable but I know it's what they're trying to say because they always point to the picture when they say it), night-night, out, hat, hot, move, wow, book, spoon, eye, nose, feet, toes, mouth, ear,  choo choo, shoes, teeth, house, and windmill strangely enough (only Jack says windmill but it's surprisingly clear, I couldn't believe it when he first said it a few days ago). A lot of these words they don't say on their own yet, they just repeat them after we've already said them. And both Jack and Cullen can't say every single word in the list either, some words only one of them can say but I can't keep track anymore of which words they each know.

*They love praying. They've started folding their hands in anticipation as soon as they're in their high chairs. Jack sometimes murmurs along and both boys burst into applause after we say Amen. They have actually started requesting multiple prayers at each meal. Tonight we got to over a dozen and I finally had to tell them no more prayers, we needed to finish our dinner.

*They insist on being tucked in with their favorite blankets before each naptime and bedtime.  Then they shout "thank you" and "night-night" over and over again attempting to stall. Then, as the door is about to close, Cullen usually shouts "MOM!" and I pop my head back in and ask "What is it?" and he just gives me a blank look and says "thank you" again.

*Speaking of the word "mom," Cullen usually pronounces it with the strangest accent. It's sounds like he's a cab driver in Brooklyn. Or maybe a Bostonian Irishman? I'm not sure, but it cracks me up each time.

*I try to teach the boys new animal sounds, right now we're working on hissing like a snake and oinking like a pig. But Jack clicks his tongue for each of these... Not sure where he got that from, but I'm sure he'll learn the real sounds eventually.

*The boys know that going upstairs by themselves is off-limits but sometimes I still hear the pitter patter of footsteps above me while I'm downstairs. So I go to the bottom of the stairs and yell "Boys are you upstairs when you're not supposed to be?" and I always hear two little "no's" coming from upstairs in response. They may be naughty but they're not very smart about it.

*Cullen actually likes eating soap. I always catch him sucking on the bottle of bubble bath during bathtime. I guess I'll have to remember not to use that as a punishment for back-talk in a few years.

I could probably go on and on with all the cute/funny things they do but I'll stop for now, this post is long enough! I really believe I have the coolest kids in the world though!