Second Year-A year In Review

Second Year





Time just seems to go so quickly. I can’t believe that the boys’ whole second year is behind us and that they are now two! Just in the last month they have gotten so big. They seem so much taller and boy like that they hardly resemble those two little toddlers from a year ago. Last year they were making the transition from babies to toddlers and just one year later I feel like they are already turning into little boys.



12 ½-13 Months

Both boys are getting really good at cruising around furniture and are fast enough to chase us around the ottoman. Brock can even climb on top of the ottoman. They both can let go of furniture to stand on their own and they’ve mastered climbing up and down the stairs. They love to play on the swings, hide and they fully understand peek-a-boo. The boys are using tippy cups, eating more finger foods and we switched them to whole milk. Mason got major diaper rash and eczema so we ended up having to put him on lactose free whole milk. They understand “mama” and “dada”. Brock started getting stranger shy and will only let mom, dad, grandma, nana or papa hold him. Brock took his first few steps at the beginning of July and on July 18th at the Dodge family reunion he took off walking for everyone to see. Auntie Tia got some good pictures of his first steps. He took four steps at a time that day and by the next day he was starting and stopping with up to seven steps at a time. They are starting to say “Uh-Oh” when they toss stuff out of the bath tub and they are really good at pushing themselves around the house on their little cars. They also like to slap hands and give high fives.



13 ½ Months

They had their first overnight away from mom and dad. They spent the weekend with nana and papa and they did great. They didn’t even care or get excited when we picked them up. Brock started making quacking duck noises and can cluck his tongue. Foods that they love include zucchini, squash, ground turkey, salmon, cheese and anything with taco seasoning. By this time Brock can walk across the room and Mason took his first steps. He took five steps at Grandma Dodge’s house at almost 14 months (8-5-09).



14 ½ Months

The boys are continuing to eat more table food. They love curry and grapes. Both seem slightly behind with mimicking and talking. Maybe not behind but definitely not ahead and they have zero attention span compared to other kids their age. We started separating the boys to force some one on one reading/play with them. We started with just 10 minutes a day. It was really hard at first but both are getting better now about sitting down with book and starting to develop an attention span. Brock is walking about 75% of the time and the little stunt rider can stand on the seat of his 4-wheeler. His favorite word is uh-oh. He gives loves, pats you on the back and is starting to wave bye-bye. Mason only took a couple of steps here and there until 8-22-09 when all of the sudden he just took off walking a bunch at nana’s while they were babysitting. He was walking really good skirting toys even. Who knew? He makes his silly “ham” face too.



Almost 15 Months

Mason started getting his lower lateral finally and Brock is getting his upper molars. Both can walk and even run really well now. They had so much more fun camping at LL Stubs state park now that they are more mobile. They played with their dump trucks in the dirt all weekend. They are starting to only take one nap a day and can climb up everything. We found Mason sitting on the kitchen table. Unfortunately they are also starting to fight over toys and they play too rough with their little cousin Kiley. They get really excited when nana or papa walk into the room. They love playgrounds, slides, swings, wheels that turn and they really love riding on the ATV’s. They make lots of motor noises and they are getting better at reading books. They are starting to get very snuggly and Mason is starting to copy words like book and thank you.



15 Months

Both boys first real word was thank you but they use it more in the context of “please” or “mine”. Brock will chase Mason around saying thank you if Mason has something that he wants. They say thank you as they rip toys out of each others hands. Mason also says book and Brock says ouch. They are learning to eat out of a bowl and drink their tippy cups sitting up. They like to feed mama Cheerios. We took them on their first trip to the zoo. They got to see polar bears and sea lions up close but their favorite part was the tractor. They get really excited to see nana and papa and they love to drive papa’s boat.



15 ½ Months

They had their first trip to the dunes when we camped at the Odd Fellows campground. Mason rode the bikes whenever he got the chance but Brock would only ride them on the sand. For some reason he cried and acted scared to ride them in the parking lot but sand was okay. We 4-wheeled the truck out to the beach and down the whoop trail which the boys loved. They got to see the ocean but their favorite part was “helping” daddy air down the tires. Mason ran from side to side checking the progress of the tires. Mommy rode one of the bikes down so they could get a ride on the sand.

Both boys are eating only table food now. They love the “cracked egg” on their heads and Brock gives lots of kisses. They both like to tickle us and themselves and Mason thinks it’s funny to tickle Brock when he gets his diaper changed. Mason is also saying and waving bye-bye.



16 Months

It’s pumpkin patch time! Our first trip was with mommy and daddy to Lone Pine Farms where they got to crawl all over the pumpkins. They also have a petting zoo. Brock loved the goats while Mason was terrified of them. Their favorite part was getting to play on the old Case tractor. Our second pumpkin patch trip was with Nana and mommy to Heavenly Farm where they got to ride on the “Pumpkin Express”. They loved the hay maze that was the perfect size for toddlers and the big bins of corn to play in.

The boys love running around outside and get daily ATV rides with daddy. Brock says “go-go” when he rides his rocking horse and both say “ba-ba”. They are very insistent when they want you to bring them their bottles.



16 ½ Months

They love, love, love the four wheelers. They think everything has a two-stroke motor and make motor sounds even when driving their tractors around. They stand by the door holding their shoes saying “bye- bye uhn-uhn”, which means they want to go for a ride. They say ba-ba, dog, pa-pa, and hot and are starting to realize that they can communicate with us. Ba-ba is all we hear all day long. They like to give high-fives, play “so big”, peek-a-boo and the “little Indians” song. They love to be read to now and are really good at pointing out dogs on T.V. Mason is the oven monitor. He likes to stand by the oven and tell everyone that it is hot! They are also learning to use spoons now. For Halloween Mason was a Tiger and Brock was a Cheetah.



18 Months

What noisy little boys. Here is a list of everything that the boys are saying now: Ba-ba, more, bye-bye, dada, duck, dog, shoes, socks, tickle-tickle, thank you, cracker, ouch, no, ball, truck, book, uhn-uhn, and Elmo. (Notice that ma-ma isn’t on this listJ).

Things that they recognized by name include: mama, dada, nana, papa, ball, tractor, duck, dog, book, shoes, socks, bowl, remote, truck, banana, apple, hat, cracker, chair, cat, eyes, nose, mouth, ears. They can point out all of the previous body parts too. They also use sign language for “more” and they make the animal noises for dogs, cows, and monkeys.

They love puppets and baby Einstein. They now stomp, jump and kick balls. They are learning to use spoons and their canines are coming in.



19 Months

The boys can now understand almost everything that we tell them. Mason asks “What’s that?” nonstop and he can open the front door. They are still great eaters and are starting to play more with each other. They give lots of kisses and love to be held and read to. They have discovered Elmo or “El-ma” as Brock calls him and they can now toss balls over hand.



20 Months

Finally!!! The boys finally say “Mama”. I walked into their room one morning and they both stood up pointed to me and said mama. Little turds, obviously they knew all along and just didn’t want to say it until now. The next day they pointed to a picture on the wall and said “Nana”. Again they’ve obviously been holding out on us. They also say baby (in reference to Peyton) and “all done”. They jump up and down now too. We took them on their second plane ride and spent 10 days in Hawaii with the Hamilton’s. They swam in the pool, played in the surf, dug through stranger’s beach bags on the beach and got lots of practice eating out at restaurants. We had perfect weather even with a Tsunami evacuation. It was a wonderful family vacation.



21 Months

What’s cuter than cute? Watching the boys give each other kisses that’s what! We had our second trip to the dunes during spring break. Grandma and Grandpa Dodge bought the boys a power wheels that looks like a John Deere Gator and gave it to them while camping. They love to sit on it but are too scared to drive it yet. They can climb up and down ladders and go down slides on their own now. They can climb to the top of play structures and they talk a lot. They can spin, twist and dance now but their favorite thing to do is to wear their rubber boots. Daddy even let them sleep in their boots one night. They cry at bath time when we have to take them off.



22 Months

They love playing outside and can put their own boots on now. They are no longer scared of the power wheels. James plays go-fetch with them by hitting golf balls and having them retrieve them. They started saying daddy instead of dada and they came home from daycare with their first art project, a picture that they colored. They colored pictures for the grandmas for mother’s day and went on their second trip to the Zoo on May 2nd. Mommy ran her second half marathon and Mason got his lower 2 year molars. Their cousin Javon snuck into the bath tub with them and the boys decided that two is bad enough but three is a crowd. The boys discovered that Nana and banana both have the same name (they call them both nana). They think it’s so funny that they point to grandma and the banana and just giggle and say nana over and over.



23 Months

We had two very angry little boys when we went to Las Vegas for 3nights/4days. We’ve left them twice before for two nights and they didn’t even notice that we’re gone but apparently three nights is different. When we got home they didn’t want to have anything to do with us and just clung to nana. They were still mad at us the next day. They wouldn’t even make eye contact with us. They seem to be on a growth spurt. They both seem so much taller, heavier and just bigger. They are copying words more, especially Brock. They love balloons, Legos, trains and playing outside any time they can. They have lots of “owies” and “ouches” that need kisses. They want to show them all to you and talk about them. Brock is refusing to stay in his play-n-pack at day care but is doing just fine at home.



2Years/24 Months!!

Can you believe it, 2 years old already!! We celebrated their second birthday with a picnic at Brownsville’s Pioneer Park. They got big wheel bikes, potties, basketball hoop and the gator from the grandparents. They also got to have their first cupcakes. Daddy is trying to have potty time with them but they aren’t very interested. Brock only wants to sit on the potty with the lid down. Hmmmm this should be interesting. They are having fun playing with the neighbor kids. The triplets are five now and the boys like to give them all sorts of treasures….leaves, rocks, weeds. The triplets like to feed the boys crackers through the fence like farm animals.

This is the best age yet! The boys are smart, silly, snuggly and interactive. If you call one the other one will go get him. He will march out, hold hands and drag the other one back to you. They started holding hands and walking together. We switched the boys to 2% milk and Mason is finally able to drink regular milk now. We camped at silver creek falls for the first time and the boys had a blast. Mason figured out that he’s the one steering the gator and Brock got good at pushing the gas pedal. That’s what we call teamwork. Brock pedaled his first tricycle all by himself and they ate their first smores. They still eat like little piggies. They are chubby and perfect, perfect, perfect! They can crawl out of their cribs now so we baby proofed their bed room but they do a good job staying in their cribs. Rae and Arien bought them play-doh for their birthday and they love it. I thought for sure that they would eat it but they don’t. They are really good at rolling it out. They love to hold our hands and walk with us. They are playing with each other more now and they are learning to share. They get really excited when they see airplanes flying over head too.



We have had the absolute best year with the boys. They just keep getting more fun and so much more delicious! We can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds in store for us. Bring on the twos!!