developing minds

I posted a couple different sets of pictures the last week, so if you haven't seen them be sure to scroll down and take a look...

The twins are constantly learning these days, and I thought I should share some of their new toddler tricks.

Ryan:
Ryan now practices walking backwards just like Alyna has been doing for a month now. And I credit watching Imagination Movers for his ability to turn in circles. I don't think many 14 month olds can do that. It's really funny when he gets dizzy and doesn't know why he's walking sideways.

The other day when I brought groceries home from WalMart, he helped out by taking things out of the bags and handing them to us. It was great. We just had to make sure all the bags of canned goods and jars were out of reach so he wouldn't drop them on his toes.

Ryan, the adventurer, also went down the slide on the playset by himself yesterday... feet down on his tummy.

Oh, and he loves the movie Cars... he sat on the couch and watched the second half today while Alyna ran around playing. Now he's off saying VRoom while playing with balls on a ramp.

Alyna:
Alyna has learned to shake her head no. It's really cute cause her shoulders move too.

She is following in her Mommy's footsteps by turning into a little fish. The one time we swam in a big pool this summer she loved laying on her back with us kicking her feet. It became how we rinsed her hair out in the bath tub. We lean her back and say "Kick, kick," and splash water on her head. Last week, she started to lay back in the water by herself. She even arches her back so all of her hair floats around her. When she's done, she'll roll to the side making sure to lift her face high enough not to be in the water... most of the time. Then she promptly lays back again. Ryan always wants to try it, but then becomes nervous when you start to lay him down.

She has also learned how to throw away trash. This morning I heard her trying to open the cabinet under the sink where the trash can is. Of course, it is childproofed so she couldn't get it to open. I saw that she had a small piece of paper in her hands that she was trying to throw away. So I opened the cabinet for her, let her put it in the trash can, and then told her to shut the door. She loves to open and shut doors. About ten minutes later she brought me a dryer sheet she found so we went to throw it away too. Ryan joined in by bringing something he found on the floor as well. What a lovely new game this is.

Alyna is perfecting the art of manipulation. When Ryan has a toy she wants she will bring him another one. He'll sometimes take that one and she can have what she wants and walk away before he notices. She did this yesterday outside. Ryan was on the red riding toy, and she wanted to get on. He wouldn't get off, and I told her it was his turn because he was on it. She walked away and got the ball, brought it to Ryan and then threw it on the ground. It bounced a couple feet away, and Ryan got off to pursue it. Alyna happily mounted the riding toy with a big grin on her face. When Ryan came back and was upset I told him, "you got off so it's Alyna's turn now." It was only fair because he was the one who got off to go get the ball. It's payback for all the times he just comes up and uses his superior strength to wrestle a toy away from her.

I've had two "slightly older" women friends tell me that she knows how to do that because she's a girl, and that it will get worse over the years. Something to look forward to...