Boys as of late

Elijah has been saying some mighty cute things lately. Two of my favorites recently are: "Silly Eee-yijah!" anytime he does something funny and, "That's delicious!" when he eats something he likes.

Yesterday I went into my room. The boys were jumping from my bed into the pack-n-play and climbing out and doing it again. Not exactly behavior I would condone, but we are a little out of our normal way of life. I asked them what they were doing. Isaac put a hand on his hip and said, "Mommy, I'm playing with my best friend Ewijah." Man! How do you say no to that?

In other news, we will have our last two swimming lessons this week. The boys have done well with it. They don't know how to swim yet, but they are very comfortable in the water and are doing well. They can both float on their backs and stomaches (with help) and will try most everything the teacher suggests. Neither of them want to put their heads under water, but they don't panic if they do. At one point, we practiced dropping a ring on the ground and the kids had to reach under the water to retrieve the ring. As we got deeper and deeper, Elijah figured out a way to slide the ring up his leg and into his hand to avoid the head dippage. Way cute!

Potty training has been completed and finalized while we have been here with Isaac deciding he can now produce #1 and #2 on the potty. How wonderful that I have two little ones completely done just in time to start changing more diapers. I had heard boys were so hard, but I got really lucky with these guys. I think God knew that three in diapers was more than I was bargaining for. Isaac had been afraid of the #2 on the potty and was waiting until he had a diaper on for his nap or bedtime before going. (This got a wee bit frustrating as I knew, as soon as I put ont he diaper, he'd go and I'd have to change him.) I came up witha plan. He does not like pull-ups. (I have no idea why.) So I told him that he was a big boy and he had to either wear underwear or pull-ups to sleep in. No more diapers. He got very upset and said, "I'll go poop on the potty." He then sat down and went! Just like that. And he's basically gone ever since.

We laugh that he is making up for lost time now. He is going all the time. In fact, between the two boys and the potty, I feel like wearing diapers would be easier somedays. Between the time I met Jenny at the pool the other day at 11am and the time we left the BX at 1:30, we had visited public bathrooms NINE times. (Thank goodness Veronica was with me to break up the monotony a bit.) At one point, I had both boys going #2 in the bathroom in the BX at the same time. They were in stalls across from each other, and I stood in the middle holding their underwear and shorts (since they don't want to leave those on AT ALL while they go.) It was very crowded, and I couldn't lock their doors so I kept having to tell people, "Sorry! There's a little boy in there." At Chili's later that night, we took four separate visits. That's a lot of public restrooms. Especially considering I'm visiting them more frequently as of late as well.

Oh and speaking of public restrooms, Elijah likes me to "Move" when he is doing his business. (In contrast to Isaac who requests, but I do not acquiesce, me sitting on the floor right next to him.) But I have learned, with Elijah especially, not to step too far away in the future. He got down at the pool and locked himself into the stall. When he couldn't figure out how to open it, I got a brilliant idea. I would send Isaac under the stall to help him get out. When I told this to JB later he said, "Why wouldn't you just send Elijah out under the stall door?" Ha! I didn't even think of that! Not to mention that fact that sending Isaac under could have left me with both boys stuck in the bathroom. Thank goodness Elijah eventually figured out how to turn the latch back into an open position.

Overall, the boys have done incredibly well here in Germany. It's true that kids are more resilient than we adults. They talk about our home in Turkey. Whether they understand or not, I don't know, but they know that we'll go back after Abigail is born. In the car the other day Elijah said all-of-a-sudden, "Mommy, I miss Scrubsy." So do I! We are excited to get home in a few weeks. I'm excited for them to return to their "normal" life and for me to do the same!

***I've updated my books and movies watch in Germany page. Check out the new inclusions by clicking here. (Recently added items are in red.)

And here is a fun video of the boys: