Sweet Extract

Beep beep!

Just ’cause it makes me laugh.

After some objections, the boys have finally learned to love the rain.

First, we got the raincoats; the froggy raincoats. Then we got the galoshes. The latter proved to be a bit contentious. Nicholas, in particular, was not enamoured with the clunky fit and rigidity of the rubber. In fact, he refused to wear them for a while.

But then he discovered the puddles. OH, GLORIOUS PUDDLES!!!

Now we are enthusiastic about the rain. And we walk out of our way to dip our rubber toes in those magical puddles.

Click on the photo for more images:

Since the boys turned two, it was time to go for their usual milestone-related check-up. And, as always, I have stats’n'stuff to regale you with.

• Sebastian is 36¾ inches tall. That means he’s grown 3¾ inches in six months. WHAT THE HELLLL??! It also means that he’s in the 95th percentile for height at his age.

• Nicholas is 34¼ inches tall. He’s grown 1¾ inches in six months. He’s average size. But what’s most amazing is that, until this doctor’s appointment, none of us ever noticed that Sebastian is a whole 2½ inches taller than his brother. How did we not notice that?!

• Sebastian and Nicholas weigh, respectively, 28 lbs. 13 oz. and 27 lbs. 11 oz. They are both near the 50th percentile so nothing notable there.

• We’re not at the point of 2-way conversations yet but they’re both speaking understandable words now. On a regular basis.

Of note: Sebastian said SpongeBob yesterday. No idea where he got it since we’ve never watched it.

Most of his words are English although some French ones are starting to creep in. Nico has more of a penchant for French.

They’ve graduated from Hi! to Hello! (pronounced Hey-yo which I can only surmise must be the Spanish influence).

Nicholas likes to joke around and says froid (cold in French) while pretending to shiver whenever I change his diapers.

Nicholas also has the funniest, singsong way of saying Dadaaaaaaaaaa or Mamaaaaaaaaaaa or Sayaaaaaaaaa (Sarah) when we’re tickling/teasing him (note to self, get that on video).

• Every time Sebastian sees an Audi logo (which, given that we live in Marin, is QUITE often), he says Mama! Kinda young for brand recognition, methinks.

• The rain has started appearing so we got them both rubber boots. Sebastian wears them as often as he can, indoors or outdoors. Nicholas does NOT wear them. Mostly because he hasn’t figured out how to walk in them. He just stands completely still and cries until we take them off.

• It has begun. Nicholas has realized that you can hit people when they’re not cooperating with your rigid agenda. This a new and completely unwelcome development. Now we’re just waiting for Sebastian to take notice.

Of course, there are lots more things that the boys do and say but this blog post will sit in the drafts folder forever if I try to think of everything. I’ll be back with more stuff soon.

In the meantime, look who figured out how to use a harmonica today:

In case you were wondering, yes, we did Halloween with the boys.

In a show of debilitating cuteness, they were both dressed as Elmo. And, WOW, did they get a lot of attention. It seems everyone loves an Elmo but give’em TWO Elmos and watch out: effusive fawning ensues!

So, without further ado, I give you The Elmos (click on the photo for more images):

And, in case those images weren’t cute enough, here’s some video:

Oh, and couple more videos, just for kicks: one here and another one here.

So, today, after our 2 year checkup at the pediatrician, we went to a Halloween party. This one, to be specific. There were probably 60 or so people there. The video below is from said party.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera at the ready so you can’t see the incredibly adorable lead-up to this video.

When Thriller started playing, Sebastian climbed up the stairs to the stage where the woman in the funny dress was standing. She was in the process of emceeing a costume contest right in front of the stage. As she spoke, she kind of bopped to the music.

Sebastian got up and stood right next to her, watched her for a second and started to dance right along with her. Then (clearly because of his killer Latino looks and moves), the little girl in the purple costume decided to join in.

Turns out he’s not shy about dancing in front of crowds!

I should mention that I had no intention of having two, back-to-back posts about dancing. It’s a fluke… but ain’t it great that both of our boys like dancing?

Okay, he’s no Fred Astaire but, hey, at least he’s trying!