A New Place to Play

My sister, Mom, and I are always on the lookout for fun, new places to play in our area and we recently learned about E2 Toys to Try. We went to play for the first time this afternoon, and all three of the boys loved it! It is an indoor playspace with a huge variety of gross motor, sensory, and pretend play toys, along with a toy store to purchase unique and fun items! As promised in my last post, here are some pics from this afternoon:

Riley crawling through the house that he and I built together.

Ross playing with the toy train set. He said "choo choo"!

Riley is filling up his tow truck with gas. When he drove the truck over to the gas pump, he didn't quite drive close enough for the hose to reach the car. So, instead of driving the car closer, he got out and picked up the gas pump and carried it over to the car. I like his problem solving skills!

Cutie pie cousins!

Riley steering the pirate ship.

Ross steering the pirate ship.

Riley has become very interested in stuffed animals lately. He found this cat and carried it around for quite a while. In this photo, he is giving the cat a ride on a fire truck.

Ross driving the tow truck! He was actually able to make the truck move forward a little bit, which is a new skill for him! He hasn't been able to figure out ride on toys until now.

There is a wonderful vestibular tent swing in the middle of the playspace that is big enough for all kiddos to get into together. Ross loves all vestibular swings and zoned out in there for a while, but Reid and Riley just kept popping in and out to visit.

Ross had a great time with the pretend kitchen!

This is a picture of Riley walking up the ramp onto the pirate ship! This was really hard and I was impressed with how well he was able to walk up this ramp! He figured out how to use the ropes to help pull himself up and didn't need my help at all!


Brotherly love inside the vestibular swing.

Lots of words!

I know that it has been nearly a month since I've posted and I apologize for that! The boys have been busy playing and learning and just generally doing beautifully! We did have a rough couple of weeks when they were both sick (croup!) but, thankfully, that is over now.

Riley is talking up a storm these days! He is combining 5 and 6 words all the time, and his vocabulary astounds me. Most recently, he has been talking about how much he misses me when I am at work and how he feels "so happy" when I come home. You know I love to hear that!! He describes and narrates everything he sees, and is full of curious questions about the world around him. It's so much fun to see his mind at work. He comes up with something hysterical every day and I love waiting to hear his latest revelations when I come home from work.

Ross' language, though, has truly been the greatest miracle lately! He is repeating a TON of words, and his spontaneous language has really taken off over the past couple of weeks! He is saying "all done" when he is finished eating or finished playing with a toy, without having to be prompted. He is saying the noises that various animals make, and the names of all of the letters and the numbers up to 10. He also says banana, but it sounds like "manana" which is just adorable! He says "up" when he wants to be picked up, and he says "hi" and "bye" like a champ! He has said lots of other words here and there, and it seems like each day he adds another word that he is suddenly able to say.

Ross recently had a check-up with the developmental pediatrician who diagnosed him PDD. A the time of his diagnosis, 6 months ago, she felt that his language skills were at the level of a 9 month old baby. Now, only six months later, she feels that his skills are at the level of a 15 month old. That's terrific progress! Of course, Ross is actually 31 months old, so we still have quite a way to go, but it's so encouraging to see him make such great strides!

I know that many of you really only check in because you want to see pictures or videos and I hate to disappoint you....but I just haven't taken many lately! I am so sorry! I will try to take some this weekend and post them soon.

The Effect of Birthday Cake

I just had to post these quick pics of the boys enjoying some of my leftover birthday cake at home today.

Riley is attacking his cake with both a spoon AND a fork, for maximum delivery to his mouth.

Ross has already tried using a spoon, a fork, and his pacifier, He is now going full force with is fingers. His hairstyle is courtesy of about two tablespoons of icing that he has wiped into his hair!

I would like to send a special thanks to my amazing family and wonderful friends who helped to make my birthday so special! I love you guys!

Ross said his own name! And Riley ate what?

I mentioned in the last post that Ross has been making huge progress with imitating sounds and words. Today, for the very first time, he said his own name! He isn't saying the "R" yet, so it sounds like "Ossi," but it is a huge accomplishment! I managed to capture it at the end of this video.

The start of this video is Riley trying to tell me what he is eating for dinner. For the record, he is eating carrot sticks. However, each time he says "sticks" it sounds like a word that starts with "S" that nice little boys don't say! It's hilarious! Of course, I had to keep asking him to say it over and over for my own entertainment. Then, I called my mom and my sister and made him tell them over the phone what he was eating so that they could laugh, too.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! The boys have begun 2009 by making some incredible progress, having fun, and being their usual amazing selves!

Ross has recently made huge leaps in his imitation of sounds and words, and has even said a few words spontaneously. He has also increased his interactions with all of us, which is so exciting! The other day as I was getting ready to leave for work, he came running over to me, said "mmmmwwah" and gave me a kiss. Then, he waved and said "bye." That was the first time he had ever given me a kiss, and it meant the world to me. I left for work with tears of happiness in my eyes. Isn't he incredible?

Riley's language skills are continuing to blossom. His name has been a bit tough for him to pronounce and he has said "Lee-lee" for a while now. The other day when I came home from work, he was suddenly was able to say Riley perfectly clearly! It seems like he learns 5 new words every day. He is also combining words more often and now uses 4 word sentences much more frequently. Riley is loving and cuddly, and his favorite question to ask is whether or not today is going to be a "Mommy day." He's amazing!

The best new progress, though, is how well the boys are playing together! They are chasing each other around the house, dancing together to the music on their favorite TV shows, and yesterday, they even made up a game where they were grabbing each other's noses and giggling like crazy. It is pure joy for me to watch them together. One night, after I put them to bed, I listened to them blow each other kisses back and forth in their cribs for about ten minutes. It was the most adorable thing. Riley kept calling "Rossi, mmmwwah" and then Ross was saying "Mmmwaah" right back at him. Then, Ross would clap and cheer. I loved it!

Today was a "Mommy Day, as Riley would say, and the boys and I had a fantastic time together. We started off with a special breakfast. I found this recipe on Rachael Ray's site and thought it was adorable! I made a couple of changes (raisins for the eyes and nose instead of chocolate chips and apple slices instead of a fruit roll up for the tongue) and served it to the boys for breakfast this morning! They loved it!

Poodle Pancakes! Riley was barking throughout breakfast! Ross ate every bite of his and then stole Riley's apple!

Then, we played all morning! In the afternoon, we went to the the Recreation Station to play. This was our first time visiting this playspace and the boys had a blast! Ross' TSS, Melissa, came with us, and was a huge help!

Ross LOVED the foam mat with the letters and numbers! He was able to repeat the name of every single letter! He even knew some of the letters before Melissa said them.

Riley asked a little girl for her ballon and she gave it to him! What a flirt!

Ross looking so happy with his letters!

Ross also knows all of his numbers......he put these here in order!

Riley had fun in the art room!

....and enjoyed going for a drive...

.....and loved shooting hoops.

This huge train is in the middle of the main room.

This is the inside of the train!

Riley is going to be a great Dad someday! He loves to take dolls for walks in strollers. Ross was still having fun with the letters! Look at all the great toys inside the train!

There is a sensory room which Ross also loved! He is playing with the fiber optic curtain in this picture.

Ross has always loved vestibular swings. This is a picture of him in the swing, smiling and happy, but the flash from my camera made him close his eyes.

That's what's new with the Twincredible Twosome! Please leave us a comment and let us know what is going on with you so far in 2009! Thanks for checking in with us!

I hope you are all having a great holiday season! The boys and I are having a wonderful vacation and thoroughly enjoying all of our time together. As Riley would say, we are having lots of "Mommy Days"!

Ross is a pretty particular kid when it comes to his food. He definitely prefers certain textures and tastes and, until recently, he has not enjoyed dipping his food into anything. This weekend, though, he discovered that he likes ketchup on his french fries and chicken nuggets! He actually liked the ketchup so much that at one point he was dipping the paper wrapper from a straw into the ketchup and eating it by it itself!

So, since he is now such a master "dipper", I decided to try to have him dip his pancakes into a little bit of syrup at breakfast this morning. I have offered it to him in the past, but he has always been upset by it. Today, his reaction was so funny I had to capture it on video:



In other big news......Riley pooped on the potty this morning! He has been showing some very early signs of being ready to start potty training, so one of the boys' Hanukkah presents this year was a Lightning McQueen potty seat (Red Car Potty Seat!!). They got it last night and I thought we would just play with it and get used to it for a little while, but apparently Riley was ready to use it right away! This morning, he said, "Mommy poop" which he always says when he needs to have his diaper changed and I said, "Ok, sweetie, let's go change your diaper!" He said, "No! Red Car Potty!" and ran and started banging on the bathroom door. So, we went in, he sat down, and he pooped within two seconds! I am so proud of my big boy!! We've been doing the happy dance all morning!

That's whats new with us.....syrup love and a big boy potty! What's new with you? Leave us a comment and let us know how you're doing! Thanks for checking in with us!

Happy Hanukkah!

I can't believe it has been almost a month since I've written a post! The boys are doing well and making great progess. Riley is talking up a storm these days, and even starting to try to make some jokes. Ross has started imitating sounds and gestures, which is a HUGE step in moving toward talking, so I am thrilled about that! They are both so much fun right now!

I want to wish all of our Jewish friends and family a very Happy Hanukkah! I am so looking forward to seeing the boys enjoy the holiday this year! It is going to be so much fun! I am also excited about our winter break, which starts in two days. Then, I get 12 wonderful days to be home with the Twincredible Twosome.

I can't do my first post in a month without including a couple of pictures, of course! Yesterday, we borrowed a Fisher Price Little People Garage from the Pittsburgh Toy Lending Library and both boys have been having a blast with it. Riley has been feeding his red car obsession and vrooming the red car up and down the ramps all day. At the same time yesterday, the boys received a wonderful Elmo telephone from our Secret Santa yesterday and Ross has been extremely busy making phone calls since we opened it up. Both boys love it, but Ross has really been enjoying "talking" on the phone so far. Thanks, Todd and Stacy!!