2!

Landon and Elliot are now two years old! They are changing and learning all the time and are at such an enjoyable stage. They make us laugh everyday and we are so blessed to have them in our home. Their language is improving daily and we have a lot of fun playing games and talking about the world around us. Here are a few examples of conversations we have often.

* When someone has a poopy diaper, I ask them who is stinky. It is hilarious that they already know how to point blame.

Me: Who's stinky?

Landon: Elliot (pointing at Elliot)

Elliot: Landon (pointing at Landon)

* On the way home from Riverside Park, Brooks started talking about a bear that he saw in the trees and then said he was just teasing. Elliot latched right on to that game and Landon joined in quickly too. The whole way home from the park they were talking about a bear in the trees. We usually have this conversation while we are in the car.

Elliot or Landon: A bear (pointing out the window)

Brooks: Where?

Elliot or Landon: Trees

Brooks: Where? I don't see it.

Elliot: Nooo. (while shaking his head) OR "I teasing."

(Landon hasn't quite figured out the part where you say you are kidding.)

* Elliot started listing things that fly like helicopters and airplanes. Then he thought it would be funny to list things that don't fly. He already is developing his sense of humor. Landon likes this game too.

Landon or Elliot: airplane flies

L or E: helicopter flies

L or E: cow flies.... Nooooo (while shaking head)

L or E: bird flies

L or E: car flies.... Nooooo

A couple of days ago, they were sitting at the table playing the "things that fly" game together. They have always jabbered back and forth to each other, but this was more like a real conversation. It was fun to listen to them communicate with each other and watch this new stage of language beginning for them. With this developing language comes a new stage of independence for them. They are expressing their desires more frequently especially when we leave the park before they are ready or when I tell them it is time to come inside after two hours of pushing cars around the yard. They both know the word "outside" well and stand at the door repeating it over and over. A new discovery they have made while playing outside is bugs. Landon is especially intrigued by the ants and will lay on his stomach observing them.

Landon and Elliot both love music and can sing/hum a few songs. At night before bed, they have a few regular song requests. "Weeoo" (aka the fire truck song) is always the first request followed by snowman, bubbles, cars or bus. We sing a couple of fun songs before the more reverent church songs. Before bed we also say prayers and give kisses. Landon and Elliot both know how to kneel down and just recently began saying the prayer by repeating what we say. They usually both repeat the words so we technically have three people praying at once. Landon and Elliot both give big tight hugs and then request butterfly kisses or Eskimo kisses (or both) before we say goodnight. Another thing they do at night right before we close the door is start requesting food. Landon wants a "Diyah" (banana) and Elliot wants a pear or an orange or whatever fruit he can think of. They say it with such a sweet little voice. It drives me a little bit crazy because I don't want them to go to bed hungry, but I also wish they would have eaten when I tried to feed them an hour before.

Landon is changing so much and he has become much more confident with trying new words in the past couple of weeks. I love watching him try new words. I ask him to put words together like "Drink please mom," and he focuses to say each word individually. He tries to be so obedient. Landon still has a sweet innocent spirit and usually only gets upset if someone takes one of his cars. He is still obsessed with lining up his cars and has a precise way of doing it. He plays so well independently. One of his favorite places to play with his cars is on the couch. He lines them all up in an exact order and then moves each one over to another area of the couch. When I ask him to count he says the first couple of numbers, but usually ends up saying "nine" over and over again.

Elliot's language is blossoming and it is so fun to listen to him. It is hard to get him to be quiet so Landon can get a word in. He knows how to count and has counted as high as 14. One thing that I have noticed about Elliot is that he has an amazing memory. He brings random things up out of the blue that we haven't talked about for two weeks. On our walk today, we saw some rocks and he wanted to count them because we counted rocks on a walk a few weeks ago. He also remembers the names for random animals and trucks that I don't even remember. One of the newer things he is doing is frequently repeating what I say. Elliot loves to sing. In sacrament meeting he was singing "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam." Shooting hoops with Brooks is one of his favorite things to do. He walks around the house during the day saying, "Hoops, dada."

L c-c-c-car from Shelci Crandell on Vimeo.

Landon says car with a very distinct beginning. I can't get enough of him saying "car."

Can you do it? from Shelci Crandell on Vimeo.

This is one of their favorite books. They know most of the actions.

Poppers from Shelci Crandell on Vimeo.

They are great friends and when one finds a fun thing to do, the other joins right in.

E counting crackers from Shelci Crandell on Vimeo.

I was trying to get Elliot to count the crackers, but he kept getting distracted by the types of animals and whether they were missing any arms or legs.