Updates!

These boys of ours are getting cuter by the day!  They will be 15 months on Monday.  Ethan can almost walk, but not quite.  He still needs one of our fingers for support (more moral support than anything).  Any day now, he'll be off and running!  He is also getting 4... let me say that again, 4... teeth on top.  Thus far, both of them only have the bottom two front teeth (though Sam is getting one of his top teeth).  Sam is walking with more assistance, and isn't as stable as Ethan, nor does he feel the burning desire to walk.  He loves it when Ethan pushes him around on their little musical car.  It's so cute!  Sam crawls in their car, I position them in a correct path down the hall, and off they go!  They are both happy: one pushing and walking, and the other riding and tooting the horn.

Sam is definitely left-handed, and Ethan is right-handed.  Jeff has always felt that Sam might be left handed, but it's becoming more and more obvious that he is correct.  When throwing a ball, Sam favors his left.  He still does things with his right hand, but we will often see him transfer the object to his left hand now.

And I think we can officially say they've said their first words.  They've been babbling for a while now, but they seem to be connecting it more with an actual object or person.  So, officially, Sam's first word was "Dada".  He's been saying it for a long time, but it's becoming more obvious that he is talking about Jeff.  Ethan's first word was "Mama".  Isn't that awesome?!?  This become completely apparent to us because all week Ethan would stand at the baby gate and whine "mamamamama" when I was trying to do the dishes or something.  Sam has also said "ball" last week when handing me a ball; he said "dog" and "whoa" with his babysitter; and he consistently says "dit-dee" for kitty.  Ethan just squeaks.  We are predicting that Sam will talk first, but Ethan will walk first.  We'll see what actually happens.  These boys have surprised us in the past.

They also enjoy being read to and pointing to things.  They can now find certain objects in books (mostly doggies) and definitely have favorite books.  Jeff and I have memorized this one book about a pig named Dudley.  Oh the joys of parenthood.  =)

They LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be outside!  And the fact that they are still crawling makes it not so much fun for mommy.  Sometimes we put our free-standing fence out in a circle, sometimes just a blanket will do, and sometimes Jeff and I each take a kid and walk him around the yard.  Whatever the format, they just love being outside.

Now that the evenings are lighter and warmer, Jeff and I have been taking the boys on bike rides or walks every night after dinner.  It gives us some exercise, the boys get to be outside and thus are happy, and it gives Jeff and I some time to connect.  It's wonderful!

Maybe someday I'll post pics of all this stuff.  But for now, here are some bath time pics (totally G rated, I assure you).  Enjoy!

15 month stats

Ethan:  22 lb 9 oz, 30 inches long

Samuel: 23 lb 9 oz, 30.5 inches long

Occasionally, the boys get an impromtu bath after, shall we say, a hefty diaper.   This is E.

E

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E disobeying rule #1 of the bath, "On your bottom!"

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