Our annual photo in front of the house on the boys’ birthday. It started the day they came home form the hospital.
I can’t believe my babies are 2 years old today! It seems like yesterday that we were holding them for the first time. My babies are ALL boy now. They love cars, trains, trucks, playing outside, rolling around on the grass, playing in dirt, etc. The last few months, they have shown us just how much they have grown up and, even though they still need us, they have shown us that we can back off some and let them do their thing. They don’t require our eyes on them every waking second of the day. Not that we can leave them alone or not watch them at all, but we can walk into another room of the house and not worry about them as much as we would 6 months ago…I can go to the bathroom and not have to take them with me 
The boys are sooo fun right now. They love their independence and can play well alone, but still love to play with each other and with us and will let us help them (most of the time) when needed but most of all, they are still young enough to like holding our hand and snuggling in our lap.
The boys have such distinctively different personalities, its neat to watch them and how they react to things. But at the same time, they also play off one another and sees how the other one reacts to things, before he will react.
They have really started playing with one another lately and I LOVE it! They chase each other around the house, race each other (kinda), but the my favorite is when one of them is doing something and waits for the other one to see him because he’s waiting on him to join in. Then, once he sees him looking, they’ll both start laughing and doing whatever it was the first boy was doing in the first place. Hilarious!
My boys truly love each other, and this warms my heart more than you could ever know. They care about each other and help each other (except for when Ian tries to play with Hayden’s trains – then its every man for himself) and they worry about the other one when he’s not around. If one grabs his paci or taggie, he’ll grab the other one and give it to his brother. If one is upset, the other one will be truly concerned for him. Although the do know when their brother is just fussing because he’s being a Mr. fussy pants, or when something is really wrong, then they just carry on with their business. If one gets up before the other one, they will get excited when the other one finally gets up. If I take one to the store and Jonathan keeps one, they will point to the empty car seat in the car and in their words say “uhhh?”
The boys still love their pacifier – a habit that we are going to slowly break. We aren’t in a hurry to do it because we know they won’t have a pacifier forever, no one goes to kindergarten with one. We try to keep it put up during the day and only give it to them when they are sleeping. Baby steps, right?!
The boys are taking 1 nap now – anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours. Hayden usually sleeps about an hour and will do 2 tops, but Ian will sleep for about 1. 5 hours on average and will sometimes sleep 2 -2.5 hours. We have separated them during nap time because they weren’t sleeping when they were in the same room. Also, since Hayden wakes up before Ian he would go and wake Ian up when he wasn’t ready to be woken up yet – No Bueno! They have a bed time of about 730-800, depending on the day and how they napped. They typically wake up between 700-800, sometimes 645 or earlier and will sleep fairly well at night. We may have to go in their in the middle of the night to get a pacifier and that’s it. Rarely will they wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep – praise Jesus!
Hayden is our ham and comic relief. Most people don’t get to see that side of him, but we sure do! He is also our stubborn child! Oh my goodness, is this boy stubborn. You would think he couldn’t hear because of how often he chooses to ignore you. I can assure you, he has 100% intact hearing, he just doesn’t want to hear us. But if you switch and say something he wants to hear, my, how all of a sudden he can hear what you are saying.” When he does something he knows he is not supposed to be doing, he will wait for you to tell him no and when you do, he’ll give you this look like…”what are you going to do about it?” But, I’m glad he is stubborn, it just means he’ll be less likely to be talked into doing something he doesn’t want to when he’s older.
Even though he is stubborn, he is a very sweet child and truly cares for his brother. If Ian gets hurt or is really crying, he will start to tear up unless we tell him that his brother is okay. Hayden doesn’t give many hugs, and when he does give one, its usually just a head leaned into your chest. But the one person he will put both his arms around when he gives a hug is Ian. They give each other a hug and say”byebye”everyday before their nap because they are in separate rooms for nap time and we found this helps Hayden sleep better. He hates to be separated from Ian when they sleep. He typically won’t sleep well if they are separated at night – that’s only happened a couple of times though.
Hayden is starting to say more single words and his vocabulary is slowly growing. He will say (in his own words) cracker, book, bye bye, milk, ball, papa, mamma, dada and he will make noises for a police car/ambulance and train. As well as show us what a lion, gorilla, monkey, elephant, cat and dog say. He knows some shapes and will point out the correct shape if you ask which one it is. My boy is smart, he thinks of ways of doing things that your average 2 year old wouldn’t do.
This boy looooves trains and cars/trucks! We got them a train table for their birthday and he has played with it non-stop. He is still very adventuresome and loves to explore. He likes to climb and play with light switches. He’s fascinated that a light turns on when you flip a switch!
He is still a very very picky eater. It really depends on the day, but over all he likes bread, pizza, crackers, cereal, some yogurt and applesauce. He loves guacamole and will eat it most days if we offer it. He drinks mainly milk and water but some apple juice every now and then.
Ian is just as funny as Hayden, but in a different way. He’s silly and funny. He does not like to get in trouble, you typically don’t have to get on to him more than one or twice. Needless to say, he doesn’t see the time out spot nearly as much as his brother.
Ian is a sensitive little man. Just look at him sternly and he stops what he was doing. If you raise your voice at him, he will get teary eyed. He loves to snuggle and sit in your lap.
He talks a little bit more than Hayden does. He only says single words but his vocabulary is definitely growing. He says words like, dog, elmo (momo), cracker, milk, George (curious george), momma, daddy, papa, bye bye, book. He will tell you what many animals say or sound like, pick out shapes when you ask him which one it is, just like Hayden is doing.
Ian has a pretty good appetite. He will eat fruit, green beans, yogurt, some meat and he loves beans and guacamole…he eats great when we go to Chipotle! He also drinks mainly water and milk.
Ian love Curious George (Goge as he calls him) and loves his stuffed animals. If only I could find him a Curious George stuffed animal. He has like 5 animals that he sleeps with and he has to have all of them with him.
Ian is a very active little boy. He’s not hyper, just active and always on the go. He loves to dance and you can usually find him bobbing his head to the music.
These boys are amazing and we love them more than anything! I can’t wait to see what happens over the next year!
