An apple a day...

keeps the doctor away! I hope so! If this is true we shouldn't need to visit the doc for awhile! Brendan and Collin are chowing down on apples like they are going out of style. Yesterday I ran out of apples and Collin asked me about 47 times for an apple. I guess I'm going to have to add that to my list of stuff to buy at Sam's in bulk.

Brotherly love

I finally got it on tape! The boys started "wrestling" each other about a month ago. At first I stopped them, but once I realized they were both having fun and laughing I let them have fun. It's been hard to capture on video because every time I turn on the camera they stop! Collin has been quite the bully lately. I think Brendan finally got a little fed up with him this morning and tried to take him down!
(The video is a little dark, sorry! Wish I knew how to edit videos. Also, please excuse the Doodlebops on TV...oops.)



Other cute brotherly stuff, since the transition to their toddler beds it has not been uncommon to find one of them in their brother's bed. The other night we were putting them to bed and Mike looked in to make sure they were asleep. He found Brendan sleeping in his own bed but Collin was sitting in the corner of Brendan's bed just watching him! I'm surprised he wasn't trying to wake him up! This morning I heard them rustling around so I went to get them up for the day and they were both laying on the floor, head to head singing - it was so adorable! We are so lucky that our boys have each other as built in playmates and friends. Watching them grow up together is the best thing a mom could ever ask for.

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend! (*Warning - this post has LOTS of pictures!*) It was nice to have some quality family time. Saturday was just a normal day since I was working. Sunday we went to breakfast with Aunt Shelley and then we went home to play.
Mike took the boys out to the driveway with their tricycles. They had a blast even though they still can't get moving on their own.

Sunday night we met our friends Amie and Andy and their kids Sam and Lyla at Gattitown in Frisco. We ate lots of pizza and played hard. The boys got to ride a carousel and a choo-choo train, and they got to bowl! I forgot my camera though, so no pictures of this! It was really fun though!

On Sunday we met my sisters at the Children's Museum at the Museum of Nature and Science. It was the BEST kids activity that we have been to yet. The boys had a blast, and better yet, so did we!! They have everyday "scenes" set up for the kids to play in, such as a farm, a house with kitchen, a backyard, etc. It was really cool!
Here is a picture of the boys in the farm. They got these little bags and got to collect plastic fruit and vegetables.

Then they got to ride little rocking horses.


They even rode tractors!

After that was the messiest part of the day - the water table. Even though they had smocks on they got soaking wet - because you know they had to splash hard!

Here they are playing a little music.

Then we dressed them up in costumes. Much to the dislike of Collin. Although Brendan didn't mind one bit! Here is Magician Brendan:

and Construction worker Brendan:

and Firefighter Collin:

Last but not least they climbed into a firetruck, took it for a drive and slid down the slide!

Big changes

Big changes here in the Atok house this week.

On Sunday, Collin decided to climb out of his crib and face-plant on the floor.

I had put them down for their nap and went downstairs. About 5 minutes later I hear a loud "thud". I knew immediately that one of them had fallen out of their crib. I ran up the stairs so fast. Half-way up the stairs, I see their door open and Collin came out crying. He wasn't hurt too badly. But it sure scared him, and me. I nearly had a heart attack. I was afraid to put him back, but they needed to take a nap. I put them back in about 30 minutes later and sat outside their door. I heard laughing, "uh-oh", "no-no", "Coll-un, uh-oh". I'm pretty sure he was trying again but gave up and did go to sleep.

I started panicking. I'm so not ready to move them out of their cribs. They are such good sleepers, and I really don't want that to change. But, I also don't want my child to have a head injury because I'm too afraid to change. So, we went for it. We converted their cribs to the "toddler" beds. Basically it is the crib with just three sides (the front section taken off). We found a railing to go on that side so that they don't roll out of bed. We tried it without a railing and Brendan rolled out of bed all night long and one time I found him underneath Collin's bed!! The railings help so much but still allow them to get in and out of bed like "big boys."

They have done great with the new beds at bedtime. They have only gotten out of their rooms once each night (right after we put them down) and went back to their beds easily. But naptime is another story. I'm hoping that it will improve in the next day or so. (Hopefully!).

I guess it's sinking in...

We started time-outs (aka, sitting in the corner) awhile back for naughtiness. We make sure to tell them what they did wrong and then they have to sit facing the corner for 2 minutes. They dislike it, but it does work to take them away from the situation. It seems to be working because they usually only need to sit in the corner about once a day!

Anyhow, yesterday the boys were playing and Brendan had his Woody "doll" (Mike hates that I call him a doll. I guess he's a "character?") and he smacked Collin on the head with it. I told him "no hitting Collin, and let's play with Woody, not hit with Woody." What does he do? He takes Woody and sits him in the corner for a timeout! It was hilarious!

Unfortunately for Brendan he also got a time-out. Although it was really hard because I was dying laughing on the inside!

These boys are so hilarious. They really keep me entertained. Never a dull moment in these parts.

Silly boys

The boys love to do anything that imitates what we do - from pretending to drive, talk on the phone, wearing our shoes, etc.

Here is Collin in my sunglasses that he pulled off the counter:

And here he is sporting my tennis shoes...

Another funny note is how the boys have been figuring out how to push each others buttons. For instance, Collin is in love with the movie Aladdin and is often seen carrying around the DVD. The other day Brendan saw that it was lying on the floor. He immediately got a gleam in his eye, ran over, picked it up and ran to the playroom as fast as he could! It was hilarious! He was laughing while he did it. He totally knew that it was going to upset Collin. And it did, of course. Then I got to break up the fight.

And for good measure, here is a funny picture of Brendan I took this morning. He was really studying the monitor on his jukebox. He is such a thinker.

Brenny knows 5 colors!

For awhile now I have been pointing out the colors of different objects to get the boys familiar with colors. In the last few weeks, Brendan has shown an increased interest in the color of EVERYTHING. He started out automatically saying everything is "blue". But in the last day or two, he has started to get colors right when I ask him!!! I can't believe it! He can point out and say, "blue, pink, green, orange, and yellow", and once in a while "purple."

Here's a video I from this morning. Excuse the first part as the cat kept getting in the way and then I dropped the camera! It's also not the best video because I was trying not to draw attention to the camera, because whenever they see the camera they want to look at the screen to see the "babies!"



I'm sure before long Collin will be able to pick out colors too. He knows a few, but most of the time he won't stop playing long enough to focus on learning them! ;)