2 years + 1 month!

so far the two's have been great to us.  there are hardly any tantrums going on compared to the 18-24 month stretch, and they seem to actually respond to reasoning lately, which makes daily life much easier!  instead of whining and crying, there has been a ton of laughing.  they are actually deliberately funny now... they're not telling knock-knock jokes, but they purposely say things just to get us to crack up.  livi loves calling people by the wrong name and clapping after she sings the first three words of a song (as if she is such a fast singer that she was able to finish the song in 4 seconds).  jacks loves responding to us using the wrong animal sounds - for instance, after talking about polar bears, he ran around yelling 'moo-moo' in a deep manly voice and with a mischievous smile on his face whenever prompted for the sound a polar bear makes.

they've also started spending more time on the potty lately.  jacks has been an early adopter of toilet technology - lots of pee and even a #2 in there!  considering he's the more obedient and food-motivated type, it doesn't surprise us.  livi, with her stubborn streak, is a bit more reluctant to actually pee in the little potty.  she'll sit there reading or playing with magnatiles for upwards of 45 minutes but she always holds it and either goes on the floor (both #1 and #2) or waits for us to finally put on her diaper.  so far we (mostly leanne!) give them an hour or two in the morning and an hour or two in the afternoon diaper-free, and we're thinking of going all-out no diapers at the end of the month and see what happens.

2 days late and still in pajamas, but can't stop the monthly pics now!

happy as can be

yes, liv, you are THAT old

they will eat almost anything if you can dip it...
so we've been making lots of dips!

john worked on a new home project, which drew quite the audience
(john + a power tool is not a common site)

tah-dah!  a huge improvement to our messy fenced off area thanks to ikea
(and john of course)

while cleaning out that corner of the living room,
livi stumbled upon a long-lost friend...her paci!!

while john was putting together cabinets,
we headed outside to stay out of his way

the sun was out but the water was freezing...he didn't seem to mind

sidewalk chalk....lots of sorting and breaking...less writing on the sidewalk

she screamed for 5 minutes straight because john was driving
(we think likely she just wanted me to sit directly in front of her)

all was grand, though, once they reunited with polly pup

potty-training means lots of naked time...
liv likes to share in the celebration of jacks' pee-pee's

new rule in our house:  if you're getting a treat, eat it on the pot

they happily obliged

nudie time makes them crazy

using their bare bottoms to mark their territory

shelby turns two!

jacks is lucky to have such a kind girlfriend!

balloons, like bubbles, never fail to disappoint

miss livi-longstocking

sharing a meal with her future sis-in-law

snack-time!

the heavens are shining down to illuminate the good in the world

i'll take two of those, please!

a pellegrini night-cap

taking over their book box

looks REALLY comfortable

building a bed (or tomb?!) for 'baby'

looking all cleaned up!  like their hair-cuts??

leanne and john were very skeptical about livi getting a cut,
 but i think it looks great!

feeling funky with his new hair-do

livi freaked out when it was her turn,
but nana susie busted out the phone and saved the day!

bones discovered a new place to hide his bully stick

cruisin' around like old times

nightly love-fest

....and finally asleep

peacefully dreaming about giraffes, trains, and b-i-n-g-o