Potty time...

...for Adam! He loves sitting on the potty like his big brother. Often, when Daniel goes into the bathroom, Adam follows right behind and sits on the little potty while Daniel sits on the toilet. It's so cute and he looks so proud of himself.

As we all know, Adam doesn't have the easiest time going #2. It really is a painful process for the poor little guy. So we've started sitting on the potty when he needs to go and he's gone pretty much every day for the past week or so! Yay Adam! He is so proud and he looks so much more comfortable. Oh, how I wish this would continue for a long time. Wouldn't it be great to have a 1.5 year old who was potty trained? I know that that isn't coming for a long time but if I have a little guy who doesn't cry when he goes to the bathroom and I get a few less diapers to change...I'm not complaining!

Family Fusion dinner

We went up to the community centre this evening for the monthly Family Fusion dinner. Every month, they serve a dinner based on one culture and provide entertainment from a different culture. Tonight it was Indian curry with Japanese Taiko drumming for entertainment. The food was alright; of course, the boys wouldn't touch it. We ordered pizza for them. I knew Adam wouldn't eat the pizza, either, so I ate that (not being the biggest curry fan) and brought Adam a cheese sandwich!

They had fun with a bunch of little friends, running around the gym while the adults ate and visited. A few of Daniel's StrongStart friends were there, but he took quite a liking to 17 month old Olivia. He played with her the entire time, and was far more gentle with her than he ever is with his 17 month old brother!

Adam was a little out-of-sorts this evening. His cheeks were bright red the entire time, so he might be getting teeth again. But he still tried to play with the other kids. Poor little guy kept getting knocked over and was not pleased about it!

They were both fascinated by the Taiko drumming, but it started a bit late and they both got a little cranky. We had to leave before it was over. We were glad we went, though. It's a really fun community tradition and it was nice to see some friends and neighbours that we hadn't seen much over the winter.

Hockey!

We signed Daniel up for floor hockey on Saturday mornings, thinking it would be a fun way for him to run off some energy. Daniel's buddy Carson was there as well and they had a lot of fun. Daniel was definitely a natural! As much as I'm not a hockey fan, I was pretty proud of him! Adam had a lot of fun running around, chasing the balls, and playing with an Adam-sized styrofoam hockey stick.

Floor hockey is on Saturday mornings from 9:30-10:15 from now until February 14. It should be fun to see how much Daniel learns.

Updates on the boys

I was just talking with James about how the boys are doing so many new things and I haven't written about any of them. They are so much fun and are learning so much and I know I'm going to end up forgetting some of them. So here's a post just about the new discoveries of Daniel and Adam.

Daniel:

• He has so many new and funny words these days. One day, he came up to me and said, "Mommy, I have a mission for you." I asked what my mission was and he answered, "Amam have a poopy diaper!" with a sly smile. Sneaky little guy! He's also coming up with some pretty good words these days, like ferocious.
• He's starting to play on his own more and it's so fun to listen to him talk with himself. He take two toys (lately it's been two dinosaurs) and have a whole conversation with them. It's usually about how one is the mommy and one is the baby (or brother - drudder, in Daniel-ese) and how the baby needs the mommy to help him.
• Speaking of brothers, Daniel often reminds us that Adam is his best buddy. It's so cute when he comes up, "hugs" Adam (more like a choke hold) and says, "Amam my best buddy!"
• Daniel is starting to sing songs. He does a pretty good version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and the ABC song. He sang a bit of "The Wheels on the Bus" today and I think I even caught a bit of "Baby Beluga."
• He just started floor hockey lessons on Saturday. He was a little nervous at first but it didn't take long for him to get comfortable. He's a natural - he held the stick perfectly the first time and followed all the drills and games. I'm really afraid that we're going to have a hockey player on our hands. I do not want to go to 6am practices!

Adam:

• Adam doesn't say any actual words yet, but he is a great communicator. He can totally get his point across these days. If he hurts himself, he comes up, points to the injury, points to the thing (or person - Daniel) that hurt him and holds his owie up to be kissed. It's so cute! He does some great sign language to tattle on his brother!
• He understands absolutely everything now. If you ask him to give something to Daddy, he walks right over to James and delivers it. He can even retrieve something from off of the kitchen table and bring it to the sink.
• That latest skill means that he's a great helper these days. He loves to set the table, load the dishwasher and put toys away. I love it!
• Adam loves animals. He loves to read any book about animals and he gets all excited when he sees them on TV. He loved going to the petting zoo - we'll have to take him back again soon. He's starting to make animal noises. Mostly he just does a dog sound, which doesn't really sound like a dog. But he's starting to do lion/tiger/dinosaur sounds as well.

One of the greatest things is how well Daniel and Adam are playing together these days. I love that they can sit and play dinosaurs or cars together. Sometimes they'll just play side-by-side, but occasionally they do interact and it's the best sound to hear them laughing together. I'm really looking forward to when they play together even more. Right now, it doesn't last for too long and usually ends up with one or the other grabbing his brother's toy!

Happy New Year!

All the best to everyone in 2009! We've had such a wonderful year and I'm sure that 2009 will bring us even more happiness and adventure. We wish the same to you as well.

We didn't exactly ring in 2009 with much excitement. The four of us watched the classic Winnie the Pooh movie (which both boys loved).

Then Daniel and Adam went to bed. Daniel had the hardest time falling asleep. He'd lay there for the longest time, fighting to keep his eyes open, and then would force himself out of bed with various excuses. "I'm tared [scared]." "I'm grumpy" (when I caught him coming out of his room). "I want hot chotowit in bed." "You not cut my nails, Mommy." The excuses were getting stranger and stranger, and he was getting more and more out of it! Finally, he gave in and fell asleep.

James and I stayed up and watched the third Harry Potter movie (we're a little behind) and didn't even realize when it hit midnight until we heard Daniel say, "Whatcha watchin'?" For some reason, he woke up at 12:00 on the dot. I guess he knew something was going on! After asking for hot chocolate again, he fell back asleep. I don't think he ever was really awake. James and I talked to my sister and parents on the phone, wished them a happy new year, finished our movie and went to sleep. We sure know how to ring in the new year!