Twins

Since I've been thinking about Caleb and Levi, it recently being their birthday, I thought I'd share some pictures of them over the past two years. Being the same size and identical just seems to make babies more facinating to look at. They both absolutely love their big brother, but they also love each other. The other day I saw them walk into the room holding hands, the first time I've seen them hold hands since they were very small. They interact with each other a lot now (a lot of it fighting over something), and want the other one with them. Levi will bring Caleb a toy; Levi always says, "C'mon Caleb" when he wants him to follow; and as I write this Caleb is calling for Levi from the other room, "Levi! Come here!"

At birth, Levi was 3 ounces heavier, and Caleb 1/2 inch taller. At their two year checkup, Caleb (who I thought weighed more, the two of them have mostly different diets right now) was 3 ounces heavier, and less than 1/2 inch taller than Levi. They really are identical when it comes to their growth! They have weighed within 1/2 pound of each other their whole lives, and been less than 1/2 inch different.

So, here's some of their love over their short little lifetimes.

About a month old - Levi, Caleb

About 6 weeks old, in the hospital. John thinks I posed this, but I didn't! Levi, Caleb

Halloween 2006, when they were 3 months old, just past their due date. Caleb is Thing 1, Levi Thing 2.

Caleb, Levi 3 months old.














They liked sleeping next to each other. Levi, Caleb 5 months old.

Levi with his fingers in Caleb's mouth. Neither seemed to mind! 5 months old.

I always laid Levi (left) and Caleb down parallel to each other, with their heads on those blanket squares. But somehow, before they could roll or scoot or move when awake, they always ended up leaning against each other by morning. 5 months old.

Levi, Caleb, 8 months old.












Their first time in a swing! Caleb, Levi 9 months old.









Friends. Levi, Caleb 9 months old. (Even though they're on my lap, I didn't pose this either!)

Levi, Caleb 16 months old.












Caleb trying to put Levi's sock back on, 19 months old.

Reading their favorite book, Winnie the Pooh, 20 months old.

Caleb feeding Levi something to drink - 21 months old.

They were both in this box, and Caleb was rubbing Levi's ears......2 years old

August 2008

I already wrote about our family reunions and the first day of school, and that's a lot of what we did in August. I don't have any pictures but we celebrated our anniversary (7 years) by going miniature golfing and John was very excited that he won. And here are some pictures of the month....

We (really mostly me fter everyone was in bed, they only watched for a few minutes) watched the Olympics - in this picture it was beach volleyball and Levi was all excited and said, "playing sand - ball!" Sand and balls - his favorites! Although John spent most of the Olympics doing homework (but he got his project working!), he got to see an actual gold medal - a coworker's wife won the gold and let him bring it to work.

They love their hats! It doesn't take many spare minutes for them to get their hats on, and usually sandals too. It is nice they can do these by themselves these days, though! I'm already not looking forward to the end of sandal days and having to wear socks and tennis-type shoes.

Ian, helping them with their milk. This was a one time thing, he usually doesn't let them lay on him but it was cute! He's a really good big brother, is most of the time patient with them, and likes more and more to let "the brothers" play with him. He won't let them in his room, however.

We went outside to ride bikes but what was really the most entertaining was using the tools to "fix" Ian's bike. This kept Ian busy for a while, and Levi and Caleb busy fixing their own bikes long after Ian got bored with it. They only quit when they got to help put the wrenches away, way after their bedtime.

I love this picture of Caleb!

Ian's already being observant in school - this is how his teacher carries her pencil, so he has been too :)

A big bite for a little boy!

First Day of School

Today was Ian's first day of kindergarten! He was SO excited to go! For at least a week he has been saying daily something about it almost being time for kindergarten. Yesterday when he woke up there was no "good morning", he came out and said, "tomorrow I get to go to kindergarten!" Then this morning he had to wait and wait (he's in afternoon) even though it was a half day and we only had to wait until 10:30 to get ready. This was a conversation this morning:

Ian: what time can we go?

me: we can get ready at 10:30.
Ian: I'll go look at your clock to see what it says.

He runs into the digital clock and comes running back

Ian: It says 10:19.

Three minutes later....

Ian: I'll go see what the clock says again.

After running in the other room to see, he comes running back, very excited

Ian: The clock says 10:30!!

me: Did you change the numbers?

Ian: Yes....

He could hardly stand it before we could leave for the bus. He knew the bus number, and was ready to ride it. We walk all the way around the culdesac and as we get to the bus stop, he turns around and says, "maybe you could just take me". Then he starts crying. I knew he'd panic at some point, but thought it would be after he was on the bus and it was pulling away. So I made him stay there and wait for the bus and meet the bus driver and look inside. Among others, there was another boy from our ward on the bus (named Ian). Then we got back off and went home to drive to school. At least he was still excited when we got to school, the bus issue didn't ruin his whole day. All the parents were there taking their kids inside and talking to the teacher, so we went in and after getting his name tag he was ready to go! There were kids at different tables and he wanted to color (oddly enough, the picture was a school bus) so he just sat right down with 4 or 5 other kids and waved bye. So I left.

When I went to pick him up, he was really excited about the day. He told me about having a snack, having circle time and talking about the calendar, and playing outside at recess. It even sounds like he was playing with some other kids! He told me the name of one other child he met, so that's pretty good for only being at the school for less than an hour and a half. And when he came home he excitedly told his dad that tomorrow is his second day of kindergarten! I think he's going to love it.

I made Ian a bus cake and even before we ate it he said, "then next year you can make one that says 'first grade' on it!" He's always thinking :)

Family Reunions Part 2

Our second reunion was to a cabin near Bear Lake. First we went to Utah to see our newest nephew, and then to the cabin for 3 days. It was nice to see all our family, and for the little boys to play with their cousins. Levi talks about his cousins still. The cabin had a huge yard for them to play in. It rained at night, but the days were very nice. I didn't take very many pictures, but it was hard to keep track of everyone and everything (mainly two two-year old things :)). We went to Bear Lake for a few hours and they all loved it - Ian even went on a jet ski! We stayed at the cabin the rest of the time but had a lot of fun.

Ian didn't want to get in the water at first, but once he felt it he loved it! The water was really warm and was shallow enough for him quite a ways out.

Levi and Caleb loved the sand! They walked some in the water, too, but had the best time scooping up sand. Caleb especially didn't want to leave, and was covered in sand.

Ian got to drive the jet ski in at the end! He thought it was really fun.

Family Reunions Part 1

We have been to two family reunions in the past few weeks, one to Yellowstone and one to Bear Lake. Both were fun. First, Yellowstone....

There was a lot of driving involved, but it was fun to see family and the beautiful things at the park. We saw waterfalls, lots of trees, pretty wildflowers, buffalo, elk, a moose, deer, lots of ground squirrels (that's what Ian liked best, he fed them muffins). Levi said he saw cows, and even a pig! Ian had fun with his cousins, racing his grandpa, and seeing all the fallen trees. Levi and Caleb liked playing in the dirt and rocks. They spent a lot of time in the car or stroller, so they liked the unrestrained time at the cabins. Pictures probably say things best, though!

Levi, Ian, Caleb

Ian liked the fallen trees.

This elk was getting ready to check into the cabins, too :)

"The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone" - this was an amazing waterfall and canyon.

Caleb giving his grandpa rocks. Both he and Levi gave him handful after handful.

Ian and his cousin watching the ground squirrel.

One morning I woke up, looked over at Ian's bed, and panicked! Do you see a boy in this bed?

From the other side of the bed, you really couldn't see him! It just looked like the blanket was rumpled. I guess he is pretty skinny :)