OMG! Our sweet little baby boys aren’t babies any more. Last night we kissed them good night for the last time as 1 year olds. Today they are big boys turning two years old. It’s convenient because “two” is the only number Henry knows. If you ask Henry how old he is, he proudly says, “TWO!”

Every day they continue to amaze us and make us laugh. It’s crazy how the smallest and silliest things are hilarious over and over again (both for us and for them). For example, one of Henry’s funny phrases is “Oh shoot”…and we make him repeat it ad nauseam.

Both boys have the best laughs and giggles…but in their own different ways. Joey definitely has a sense of humor…it’s just that nobody else gets it yet. But he will find certain things hilarious and laugh uproariously at them. He also loves to crack up his brother and on the rare occasions that he actually acknowledges Henry as someone other than an obstacle between him and toys or Mama, he will make him laugh and laugh.

Joey has suddenly decided to learn most of the letters of the alphabet, and he will proudly announce the letter “B” whenever he sees it (he knows other letters, but “B” is his favorite). Henry mostly knows the letter “O”, and he is quite excited to share his knowledge with everyone else. Joey loves reading books, and Henry is very into puzzles. They are both obsessed with their Magna-Doodle (although we suspect Joey’s interest in that toy is bolstered by the fact that Henry loves it).

Somehow, even with meat-appreciating parents, Henry and Joey have decided to be vegetarians. It’s possible that Joey has been influenced by the late Steve Jobs to become a “fruitarian” – he loves all kinds of fruit and eats other items only when cajoled. Henry is a very picky eater and other than breakfast sausage, turns his nose up at most meat. Even when we assure him that it is free-range, organic, and also that he will get a cookie if he eats it. Both boys love pancakes and waffles.

Henry loves his sister Sophia – he gives her hugs and snuggles up to her in her bouncy seat. Joey, on the other hand, mostly seems to view his baby sister as an occupant of Mama’s lap when he wants to sit there himself.

Henry is very concerned about his brother and is always on the lookout for him. The first thing Henry calls for in the morning is not “Mama” or “Da”…but “JOE!” He will bring Joey’s bear(s) to him when he finds them, and loves to point at Joey and shout his name. However, Joey has yet to learn how to say Henry’s name, and refers to him as “Eh”. Seriously.

Both boys love to run and spin and be physical. Joey has recently learned how to jump up and down, and is one strong little dude – he can hang from a bar and pull his legs up on an “L” shape. Henry, on the other hand, would rather run back and forth or walk around on his tiptoes. They are both enjoying one on one time with mama and going to gymnastics classes at My Gym.

As you might expect, a household with twin toddlers can consist of a lot of the word “no”. The boys are very much in a “testing” phase, especially Henry, who thinks sitting on the “naughty step” is a game. They also (obviously) don’t understand consequences, and if we say to one of them “If you do that again, you are going on the naughty step”, they will go directly to the step and sit down.

Joey is much more helpful than Henry, who tends to disappear whenever it is time to pick up the toys. Joey is also very concerned with throwing things in the garbage, and if he gets very upset if we don’t let him throw things away.

The boys had a wonderful Christmas and although they didn’t quite get it this year, they definitely enjoyed getting new toys and unwrapping presents. Henry loved seeing pictures of Santa and calls him “Ho Ho.” When you ask Joey to say Santa, he likes to whisper “Tanta.”

Even though we know this year will bring the terrible twos in full force, we are so excited to see what each day will bring. We can’t believe that just two years ago they were teeny tiny little peanuts. And just one year ago, they weren’t walking or talking and Joey had no hair! And next year they’ll be reading, writing, doing simple algebra and probably riding a two wheeler.

Henry and Joey bring so much joy to our lives. Their silliness makes us laugh and their love makes us melt. We are very lucky parents to have these two boys to remind us to slow down and enjoy all the little things in life.

Happy Birthday Henry and Joey. Your mama and da love you more than you’ll ever know. We hope you have a wonderful year continuing to learn and grow everyday!

Henry and Joey are 20 months old now. They’d like to tell you a little bit about themselves.

Henry

At 18 months, Henry is a little pistol. He loves to be on the go, running around and exploring. He’s got crazy blond hair that has a mind of its own and when he wakes up, it is usually sticking up in several different directions.

Henry loves to swing on the swings at the park and to go down the slide. He loves playing in the backyard with Joey and has a lot of fun playing with his playhouse. Henry can say “mama”, “dada”, “cookie”, and “uh-oh”. He also does the signs for “please”, “more”, and “milk”. He gives hugs and kisses, blows kisses, waves “hi” and “bye-bye”, and will give you 5. Henry can also show where his nose, tongue, hair and belly are. He loves his bottles and has had a harder time transitioning to a sippy cup, but I think we can finally put the bottles away.

Henry has an adorable gibberish language that he uses. He loves to pretend that he is talking on the phone and will have full conversations in his own little language. He imitates mommy by talking on the phone and drinking out of a cup. He loves pretending he is drinking coffee out of mommy’s empty coffee cup.

Henry is a great sleeper and most days will sleep for about an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours in the afternoon. He is an early riser though and will wake up by 6:30 or 7 every morning. He loves sleeping with his lamb lovie and has become very attached to it. He also still sleeps with his paci, but has been using the paci less and less lately.

Henry loves to watch Yo Gabba Gabba, Curious George, and Sesame Street. He also thinks it is fun to go upstairs when he thinks no one is watching. He often will disappear and be found sitting on daddy’s desk, pretending to be talking on the phone. When you find him, he will give you a huge grin, shake his hands in front of him, and say “tuk a tuk a tukkka.” It’s adorable.

Henry loves the water and had a great time in Michigan exploring in the shallow part of the lake and throwing rocks off the dock. He was very independent and was not scared at all. Henry is sweet and loving, but is not clingy. He likes to do his own thing and will come to you when he needs you.

At 18 months, Henry is a decent eater, but he is picky about textures. He loves turkey hot dogs, cheese, bananas, yogurt, melon, apples and veggies. He doesn’t really care for berries or grapes.

Henry has several nicknames that have stuck including “Hankers”, “Hanky”, “Hanky Pank”, “Panks”, and “Bubba”.

Joey

At 18 months, Joey is such a good boy. He loves to please him mom and dad. He is an excellent listener and does an outstanding job following directions. He will bring us whatever we ask him to and if we ask Henry to bring us something, and he doesn’t, Joey will go take it out of Henry’s hands and proudly bring it over to us.

Joey is very affectionate and loving. He loves to climb on your lap to snuggle or just to give you a quick hug or kiss. He is definitely a bit of a mama’s boy, but he loves his “Da!” and his Papa and will run right into their arms.

Joey can say “mama”, “dada”, “bye-bye”, “nigh-nigh”, “cookie”, and “Jo-Jo”, and can do the signs for “more”, “please”, and “milk”. Joey likes to talk for his brother too and if we ask Henry to say something, Joey will immediately say it for him. He also shakes his head “no” when he doesn’t want something and loves to give you 5.

Joey can point out his belly, tongue and his hair. He also likes to go around lifting up everyone else’s shirts to show their bellies too. If I ask Joey where the baby is, he points to my belly and then gives the baby a kiss.

Joey has recently (finally) taken an interest in books. He likes to get a book, bring it to you, climb on your lap, read the book (or some of it) and then repeat the process with several books. He especially likes books that have peek a boo flaps and ones that have pictures of other babies.

Joey is an amazing climber. He can climb the ladder in the backyard to the top of the slide and will try to climb up on anything and everything. When we were in Michigan, he loved to play in the sand and especially loved to collect rocks and throw them in the water. He was a little more nervous actually being in the water though.

Joey is a great sleeper and still takes 2 naps most days, just like his brother. A few times a week, he will wake up in the middle of the night, scream for about 30 seconds, and then go right back to sleep. He loves to sleep with his paci and his bear. Joey is also a great eater. He pretty much loves everything, especially fruit. He LOVES strawberries and blueberries, but will eat any fruit that you give him.

Henry loves reading books and is always chattering to himself.

Joey is constantly on the move and is getting really good at learning baby sign language – he knows “more”, “please”, and “milk”.

Both boys can say “cookie”…or, at least, “Ckkkkkkk!”

Henry’s favorite book is “Is Your Mama A Llama”. Joey’s favorite book is “Put Me Down, I Want To Play, Dad!”

Henry says that the cow says “vooooo!”

Poor Henry. All he wanted to do was read his Elmo book…but his brother was having none of it.

That’s right…in September of 2011, Henry and Joey are going to be big brothers! We don’t know the gender of the new baby yet (although we do know that there’s only one).

Henry really, really enjoyed his smash cake…

I bet you didn’t know that Henry and Joey were famous movie stars…

Can you believe it’s been a whole year? This video is a fun walk down memory lane for the first year of Henry and Joey’s life.

Yesterday my two best buds turned one. Looking back, it’s been a crazy year.

The Boys Are Back In Town

As you might know, we went through a lot to get these little dudes to show up. So when they finally arrived, it was the end of a long and tough road…and the beginning of a new one. Spending New Years Eve in the hospital with my wife and our two new little guys (although one was in the NICU) was difficult, but also the best NYE ever.

Coming home was bittersweet. It was great to be in our house and out of the hospital, but it sucked because we only got to take Henry home at first. Poor Joey had to hang out in the NICU for a while longer. Looking back, it’s remarkable to think of how fragile and tiny he was.

I was home for a couple of weeks before heading back to work, and it was definitely challenging. Everyone claims that parents of twins have no memory of the first month or two, blaming sleep deprivation on this memory loss. I really don’t have too many specific memories of this time, but a lot of general ones. We had a really fun photo shoot for Valentines Day, and the boys and Carrie flew down to Florida to see Nana and Papa. I also remember waking up with one of them about every three hours, and feeding them 2 or 3 oz of formula…and then waking up the other one and repeating the process. This was also the time when Carrie basically lived in our guest room, since that is where her pump was set up.

Changing From Babies Into Little Dudes

One year is really not that long of a time, when you think about it. But for these guys, it was everything. Sitting here now, thinking about how active they are, it

One of the most important things we did was take photos of the boys every month, to document their changes. Here’s a little slideshow of the monthly photos for your enjoyment.