Ooops, did I skip a month? I must have twin 15 month-old boys running around my house. 'Twas a wonderful and busy couple of months. Liam and Oliver are healthy and thriving (save Oliver's blasted ear infections and 8 molars peeking through between the two of them) and are learning new and alarming things daily. For example, both Liam and Oliver know what the word "no" means, they know how to shake their heads to signify "no," they even know to wag their index finger to emphasize the meaning of "no," and will do all of these darling activities right before engaging in an action that they know will incur a spoken "no," a finger wag and head shake from their mom. Like, say, trying to take the safety thingies off the electrical sockets or slamming their brother's hand with the garbage lid, or pushing over the baby gate to climb up stairs, or throwing their milk cup at the dog, etc, etc, ad nauseum. Everyday these boys have a new word, noise or motor skill that would melt Scrooge's heart. Liam started walking a few weeks before Oliver, but both are now pretty adept and bipedal locomotion. They look like two miniature Abominable Snowmen. Once in a great while I feel glad they will go to day-care next month when I consider both children running (Okay, I don't at all. Really I get sick to my stomach thinking about it). Both boys are remarkably keen on their farm animals and will assail you with noises that each cow, horse, pig, bear, snake, sheep, goat, duck, cat, dog, lion, monkey, elephant, polar bear, cheetah, mountain goat, and walrus makes. Yes, it is curious that the boys know what cheetahs sound like when I don't but I'm sure their noise is accurate. My favorite noise is for the pig. We attempted to teach the sound "oink" but were unsuccessful as the children thought that a snorting sound was much more authentic. Liam and Oliver's favorite activity, apart from pulling everything in a room out of its' place, is reading. They get into a routine; reading one book over and over and over until it accidentally gets lost in the fire by dad. Thanks to the generosity of everyone we know, the kids have a plethora of new books and toys Chris and I can get sick of. Luckily, a lot of people decided to purchase our boys toys that make noise and have electronic music. Thanks to Babcia and Tia Lu, the boys have started coloring and let me tell you, crayons these days can dye teeth very nicely. Liam and Oliver's favorite new game is to pull the cushions off the couch and jump on them.We recently took Liam and Oliver to their 15th month pediatrician appointment and found that they are now below the 1st percentile in height, in the 8th for weight, and over 50th for head size. Evidently, I need to begin injecting them with lard. Everything else is fine- especially since they were in show-pony moods and told our doctor all the words they can say, pointed out a dog (they say daahhhhh) in a book, and every time she said a word they knew a sign for, would sign the word. Nothing to be alarmed about- we're just raising petite farm animals.
Thanksgiving this year was lovely. We went to Ithaca to visit the Ivers, Pellerin and Funke clans and had a relaxing and delicious time. Chris, Zio Jonathan, Rene and I even got an afternoon free to shop and drink Margaritas on the Commons while Babcia and Grampy watched the boys.
Soon after Thanksgiving, our entire family came down with the stomach plague (or plaque, as Tia Lu calls it) and were down and out for over a week. Now, I hate to be too gross (or do I?) but I am going to share some icky things here. Oliver was the first to start the vomiting. Then I did. Then it was Liam's turn, but his was not isolated to the top region of his body. Then Chris. That night, Chris and I changed sheets no less than 12 (that's right, TWELVE) times. When poor little babies vomit (and do other things) they don't understand that they are supposed to contain the mess- in fact it seems as though nature encourages their bodies to writhe in just the direction where the trajectory of vomit will cover the most square footage of baby, crib, bedding, stuffed animals, floor and wall. Sometimes even dad. The only thing that got me through that night was the hopeful thought that I could get someone to feel badly for me afterward. The next day, Chris slept for 21 hours. Was I feeling better? Were the Boys? Well, you can just ask him.
Speaking of icky things, my mother-in-law requested that I relay a similar story. Once upon a time, Liam James, who was tired of being below the first percentile in height, decided that he needed to compensate with poop. When his mother smelled that he had done a deed, she took him to the changing table and couldn't help but notice the fecal material coming out of the neckline of his shirt. Liam's brother was in his high-chair, and Liam's mother needed to give him a bath immediately. What should she do? Well, firstly, she should stop, take a (stinky) breath, and think like MacGyver. The mom figured a way through the poo, but really should do stints in high school health classes to encourage teens to use protection.
We had super visitors before and after Christmas. Keith Jones brought his new and awesome girlfriend Shelly to meet the family. Aunt Megoo hailed in from Forks, Washington despite being stuck for a day in Chicago, and was able to chill with the boys. David, Siri and their two beautiful girls came north from South Carolina to say hi for a chaotic and fun eve. Dan and Laura came for a fun visit where we found out that Dan successfully defended his dissertation and is now officially a doctor! We got to spend a relaxing evening at Dan and Maggie's for a delicious dinner. Scott and Tania had a fun Christmas party before they headed to Wisconsin and then Scott to New Zealand- poor guy. And we had a fun evening with Tia Lu and Drunkle Ick making cookies.
Christmas was held at the Scherer house in Buffalo and was a rocking good time, as usual. Oliver and Liam were able to see their favorite cousins John and Andy, and also the McGinleys, Nancy and Mimi and Uncle Joe, Aunt Katie and Aunt Sarah. Gammy and Grandpa Scherer spoiled the boys in general, and Gammy HAND MADE two toy boxes for the boys! Lovely.
We went to Ithaca to see the Ivers, Aunt MaryAnn and Uncle Tim, and the Funke and Pellerin families right after Christmas. Again, the boys were spoiled like crazy by Babcia, Grampy and Zio J. They even got an antique rocking horse!
For New Years', we headed up to Aunt Lu and Uncle Ick's beautiful new house for a bad-canned-beer party. Erik made an elaborate test sheet, and covered ten types of canned beer in duct tape and we all suffered through testing what tasted like carbonated aluminum. The next morning was great as well. Budweiser won in case you were wondering. Overall, the party was fabulous- Lipa and Chris Perry, Kerrie and Ali, Rachel, Lena and Tony, Keith Jones and Shelly and Jonathan all joined us for a good time.
After New Year, Zio Jonathan stayed with us for the weekend and spent some quality time with Oliver and Liam. We had a nice birthday lunch and movie for Grampa Scherer- Happy Birthday! And Tania finally got home and we were able to spend some nice time with her and her mother at the Eastman House and some dinner parties.As you may notice in the photos, our house experienced some major changes during the past month. Since our attempt to move was unsuccessful, we decided to update and expand our home so we can stay in it comfortably a little longer. We insulated the back porch and opened the kitchen up into it, got a cozy pot-bellied stove, built a deck off of a sliding glass door, got new flooring (thank goodness!), purchased some new appliances and updated the upstairs bathroom. It was a dirty, noisy and high-maintenance month, but the growing pains were worth the final product and we are enjoying our new space.
Finally, happy birthday to Lipa, Chris Brent, Grandpa Scherer and Jr. Also, a shout out to the Marensteins who are experiencing same-life-karma in their beautiful and tyrannical Simon. We'll come see you REALLY SOON. For real.
Have a wonderful month!
