Sorry I have been really terrible about posting videos as well! But here are 3 to make up for it!

Here is Elijah, sitting on the toilet and playing with his computer. They can only play with the computer when they are sitting on the toilet, so they go often and for a long time. We had one victory a few days ago, but he really didn’t know what was going on, so we haven’t had any more since then. Oh well, it’ll take awhile!

Here is Rowan doing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and it really shows his speech delay (but it’s still cute!). He has improved quite a deal since last year, but there is still a long way to go.

One of their favorite things to do is sing Happy Birthday to themselves and blow out a candle, we do it over and over and over. and over.

Hey, just thought I’d let you know that Elijah pooped in the toilet yesterday! Woohoo! I never thought I would be so happy to type that sentence. EVER.

We haven’t really been pushing potty training, we just take them to the toilet at almost every diaper change and just make them sit on it. I instituted a new rule - I took away their “computers” (the cheap $20 ones that teaches them letters/numbers) and let them play with it when they are on the toilet. Elijah is totally hooked on this computer, so he always wants to go to the toilet. And when he’s there, he wants to sit on it forever. So yesterday, he said “doodoo coming” but he says stuff like that without meaning it so I didn’t really take notice. I had him sit down as usual, and then let him be. I checked back every couple of minutes to make sure he’s ok. He always sends me away. Then finally, maybe after 10 minutes, he said he was done. When he got up, I saw that he pooped! I don’t think he even knew he did it too. I was really surprised and pleased and praised him without going overboard. He just wanted to play with his computer.

I hope this is the beginning of the end. It’s really hard to train them since they’re not home all the time, but I’m trying to watch them for signs that they are pooping. They usually poop in the morning while at school, so that makes it hard. And a lot of the times when I see it, it’s too late to do anything. I was also worried that he would freak out about pooping in the toilet, since I heard that some kids think it’s a part of their body. But that is not the case, at least with Elijah.

So overall, the computer reward has been good for them. It makes them want to go to the toilet and it makes them sit there for a long time. I was going to reward them with gummi bears, but then someone told me not to always reward them with food, so I’m glad that this is working!

Wow, it’s been awhile since I posted here. I am back in Germany after a 6 week vacation in Texas/Hawaii/Seattle. The boys really enjoyed the trip this year, they are able to see and do more. They have really grown the past few months as far as maturity and it’s not so chaotic/traumatic taking them places.

In Texas, we visited with Michael’s mom for a week. It was a little cold, colder than I thought it would be and it was also a little empty without Tom. The boys really enjoyed playing with Raggs and Sydney, Michael’s mom’s two dogs. We didn’t do much though. We went to Huntsville almost every day and played in the park. The boys did very well sleeping in a regular bed together (as opposed to two toddler beds) and they only needed a day or two for the adjustment. They didn’t nap well though and while traveling, we let them nap wherever they wanted to - usually in the living room. Rowan does this really funny thing where he gathers up all the blankets in his room and brings them out to the couch for him to bury himself under. He always looks so cozy! They also participated in their first Christmas tree trimming, where Michael and his mom put the tree together (it’s a fake one) and then they hung the ornaments on the bottom. Michael’s mom also had them decorate a gingerbread house as well as some cookies and they enjoyed doing that too.

I was able to sneak away for a day to go into Houston to visit some of their fine yarn shops as well as attend a knit group. It was so nice to finally go to a really nice and well stocked yarn shop, but it was very painful on the wallet! I just went crazy! The knit group was also very fun and a large group it was! In Munich, sometimes there are 4 people, sometimes there are 10. But this one had 15 to 20! Very impressive! They were very welcoming too and I felt right at home.

The visit was over too soon and then we headed over to Honolulu where we it was nice and warm. It is so nice to go to somewhere so warm when it is cold back home! We are always required to go to Kozo sushi where I immediately load up on my favorite Ebi sushi! The boys really enjoyed Hawaii - being able to go outside without having to put on a jacket, socks, shoes, mittens, hat, etc. It was hard to control them going in and out, but they were pretty good about not running into the street. There was so much for them to do in the yard - they really enjoyed the swings - my dad had to replace one of the seats. They also liked petting the dog and examing the plants and strange animals. We also tried to take them to the beach a lot, but they rarely went in the water. Just as well, it’s much easier to pick up and go for a few minutes, then come back. They sure did like running around in the sand! We also went to several of the school and district playgrounds.

One of the best places we went to was the Arizona Memorial. Even though they are too young to understand what it is, they sure did have fun! It is completely free too! I think we will do this every year. It included 2 short boat rides, 1 short movie, an amazing bit of history and did I mention it was free? They also had a bunch of really large guns from the ships as well as part of a submarine that the boys enjoyed playing on. They just loved all the buttons and knobs and dials.

As far as the boys go, they are growing up. The trip was really good for their speech and they are speaking a lot more. Not in full sentences yet, but it’s getting there. Rowan used to be the one we were worried about more, but now it’s the opposite. We have a hard time understanding Elijah, especially when he says new words. Speech therapy really hasn’t been doing much, mostly because we haven’t gone on a regular basis. Between her schedule and our schedule and the room availability, we have like one session a month. It’s pretty frustrating, but I’m also hoping that they will start talking on their own and she would be there to track their progress.

Ever since they turned 3, they have gotten easier to go out with. They listen a lot better and can walk a lot more. We hardly use our stroller anymore. I can go shopping without it being a total nightmare!

We are also introducing them to the toilet. We’re not really pushing it at this point, but figure we have to do more than we are since they are the only ones in the kindergarten who are not potty trained. Whenever we do diaper changes, we sit them on the toilet and pretend to go to the bathroom. Then whenever they’re done we put a diaper back on, or if we’re really gutsy, we’ll put underwear on. They haven’t ever told us they need to go to the bathroom, but they are requesting diaper changes more, so I think we’re heading in the right direction. I can’t wait for diapers to be over!

Also, Rowan is done with his separation anxiety, thank goodness! It took a week of him crying, but then one day he was fine. It has been about a week since he last cried and every day he says “school fun”. They also can both count to 10 in German, which is really amazing and the other day, Elijah said “aufräumen!” (clean up) Elijah seems to be picking up German easier than Rowan.

I guess that’s all for now. I started this post about a week ago, so I should get this out. I’ll try to be better about posting!