Connor & Isaac turned 4 years old on Dec. 10th. Here they are at their 4-year-old checkup.
Here are their stats:
Connor
Weight: 40.5 lbs (80th percentile)
Height: 42 7/8" (94th percentile)
BMI: 49th percentile
Isaac
Weight: 31.75 lbs (15th percentile)
Height: 40 1/8" (46th percentile)
BMI: 3rd percentile
CRAZY to me how different their bodies are!
Since our kids are not in school, and Ryan & I still have to work normal full-time schedules, we don't get to feel the spirit of Summer as much as we'd like. We did try to do some fun things this summer though.
Last month we drove to Utah and left the boys for 4 days while Ryan & I went to Telluride, Colorado. Ryan had a conference there, so it was a perfect time for me to tag along for some R&R. Telluride is beautiful & it was a perfect place to relax & spend some alone time with Ryan. This was our first overnight trip away from the boys, but they didn't seem to mind our absence. They had a blast going places & doing fun things with grandparents (Steve & Deanna), Aunt Sheri, and cousin Mason.
Telluride (2 large waterfalls in one canyon!)
Connor, Isaac & Mason
We also put the boys in swimming lessons for the first time. They have probably only been in a pool (other than a kiddie pool) a handful of times, so they've not had an opportunity to learn to swim. Thankfully, they're not afraid of the water...so they just need to learn what to do once they're in! They had fun in their level 1 class. They aren't swimmers yet, but they learned some useful skills that we can help them build on. Most importantly, they had fun & gained a little more water confidence.
So, earlier this week I asked the boys what they want to be when they grow up. Here were their responses.
Isaac: I want to be a Daddy.
Me: That's a good thing to be! What kind of job will you have when you are a daddy?
Isaac: (thinks for a minute) I want to be a train!
Me: Oh! A train driver is a good job to have!
Isaac: No, not a train driver! A TRAIN!
Me: Well, that would be interesting.
Isaac: And then I want to be a monkey.
I guess he took it literally when I told him he could be anything he wanted.
Me: Connor, what do YOU want to be?
Connor: I want to be a doctor so I can wear my stepascope and listen to my heart.
Me: That would be a good job!
Connor: Yeah, and then I can play tennis.
The workings of their brains at this age really crack me up!
This was the strawberry harvest from our garden last night. Our strawberry plants have been going crazy for several weeks now. The boys love helping pick the berries, wash them, and eat them! I love having a summer garden!
We had a nice memorial day cookout with Ryan's PhD advisor (Jack Beauchamp), Jack's family & a couple of their friends. The boys had a blast in the pool. This was their first time in the water this year & I couldn't believe that after being in the pool for less than an hour, Connor was jumping off of the diving board with no float! He doesn't know how to swim, so he can't do this unsupervised, but he would have jumped over & over for hours if we had let him.
After swimming & dinner, Isaac was totally entertained by this drum set that belongs to Jack's son. It doesn't actually make any noise because it plugs into a Wii video game. That didn't stop the little rock star...
We have finally had some hot weather this weekend to kick off the unofficial start of summer. The boys had fun playing with water guns & their new slip n slide. They've never played with a slip n slide before, and the instructions specifically prohibit adults from playing on it, so there was no one to show the boys how it's supposed to be done. It was funny to watch, but they still had fun. 
For a few weeks now, Connor has been playing this little game with me. I'm sitting at the computer when I see something move in my peripheral vision. I turn to see that Connor has snuck up to the doorway & is peeking at me. When he knows I've seen him, he laughs, squeals, and runs away...knowing he's been caught. The first video is Connor. The second video is Isaac's attempt once he realized I had shot video of Connor doing it. Not quite as sneaky.
So, I guess it's feast or famine with my blog posts. That's because I only sit down at the computer to download pictures & video from the cameras once every month (or longer). Sorry! I'll try to be better about making time to tend to the blog.
This is just a fun little video of Connor & Isaac playing with dress-up clothes that they got for Christmas. It's nice that I'm able to enjoy watching them play together more & more.
Up until now, we've not been brave enough to go camping with the boys. We used to love camping before we had kids, but the thought of doing it with two 1-year-olds or two 2-year-olds seemed too daunting. Somehow age 3 seemed to be the right time. Ryan and I had also never been beach camping, so we decided we might as well go for it & try two firsts in the same trip. We only went for one night since we weren't sure how the boys would do. They loved it & we had a pretty good time too. I see several summer camping trips in our future this year...
Here are a few pictures & videos from our little adventure.
Playing on the beach 
Chasing waves. Connor on the left (being a big chicken) and Isaac on the right.
Back at the camp, Connor counting the rocks he collected from our campsite. 
Whenever they see fire, they think of the fire on their birthday cake...
All tucked in for bed. They actually slept very well! 
Yummy camping breakfast. Neither of the boys like eggs, so Ryan & I enjoyed eggs while Connor ate oatmeal & Isaac had a poptart. 
I've really been in a blogging funk lately, so this will just be a quick catch-up post with some pictures from the past month or so...
Our little In-n-Out fans
Isaac was acting like a baby. So, I threatened that if he was going to act like a baby, he had to wear a diaper & bib like one. Not to be intimidated, he said, "I want to wear a diaper & a bib." Great. So, here he sits, in timeout, in his baby garb.
"Helping" Dad work
Isaac is fascinated by flossing...so he wanted to try it himself.
Um, I'm not quite sure what to make of this combination...but he sure thought it was cool.
Isaac "fixing" Nemo.
A favorite game lately is to squish their faces together & laugh hysterically. It's such a cute thing to watch...until one of them gets annoyed & starts pushing. Or screaming. Or crying...
On Christmas Eve we put Connor & Isaac to bed....only to find two of the village people had taken their places on Christmas morning.
I'm a little behind on blogging, so I'll try to catch up in a couple of long posts.
For Thanksgiving this year, we went to Salt Lake to visit family. I was really hoping it would snow while we were there so the boys could play in the snow for the first time. Luckily, when we arrived, there was a little snow left over from a recent storm. The boys loved playing in it.
They also loved playing with Grandpa & Grandma's Karaoke machine...singing children's primary songs (from church).
Unfortunately, both boys were sick for most of our visit, but they did get to play a little with their cousin Mason.
Apparently, Connor was not in the mood for hugs. 
Isaac & his Aunt Sheri 
I think they both look like they've been hittin the sauce here... 
And since their 3rd birthday was only 10 days away, Grandma threw them a fun little birthday party.
Church is never dull when you have two 3-year-olds.
Today, as we were listening to the speakers, Isaac said (not quietly, of course), "Mommy, that boy said 'cool beans'!"....what the speaker really said was "obedience".
In this very same service, Connor, for no apparent reason shouted out "Ta Da!".
Usually my boys are very well behaved & fairly quiet in church. I don't think they were trying to be loud today, but I have no doubt that some people around us were having a little chuckle.
After successfully using the pronoun "I" for quite some time, Connor has started referring to himself in the third person. Instead of "I need" he says, "Connor needs." Today Ryan had the funniest exchange with him.
-------
He likes to play this game where we pretend we can't find him...
Ryan (asking Jenn): Where's Connor?
Connor: Here he is! He's right here! I found him, daddy!
-------
I really love this age. Rarely a day goes by when one of them doesn't crack us up.
I'm still laughing from this little exchange with Isaac this evening...
Isaac: Mommy, can I call Babe?
Me: Sure, go ahead. (I'm thinking he must have watched that movie at daycare about a little pig named Babe.)
Isaac: Okay. Baaaaabe! (pause) He's not coming.
Me: Isaac, who is Babe?
Isaac: It's Daddy. He's not here.
I guess I call Ryan "babe" more than anything else when we're at home. Apparently Isaac likes that title better than "daddy".
The boys came home from daycare singing this today. I'm not sure whether to be proud or frightened. I guess "Bad" was from Michael's more normal days, so maybe I don't need to be worried...
Connor is kind of a quirky little guy.
Ever since he began calling me by name, I have been known as "Monny" (pronouced exactly like mommy, but replace the m sound with the n sound). Try as I might, I could never get him to say my name correctly. Then, all of a sudden, one day this week he started saying it right. I have mixed feelings about this. All this time I've been frustrated at his inability (or unwillingness) to correctly pronounce my name, but now that he does, I'm sad. Another phase gone...one more step away from being my baby.
Another strange habit Connor has is wiping his hands on his hair. I can't get this kid to understand that a napkin is the proper place to wipe his hands....but even his pants or shirt would be preferable to his hair. Last night he ate a chocolate that melted a little faster than he could eat it. This was the result.
In case you can't tell, the "hair product" in his spiked hair is chocolate.
Here in Southern California, the traditional signs of fall are few. A little over a week ago, we had high temperatures around 110. The trees don't really display fall colors...they are either still green or have already gone from green straight to brown. Here is what we've been doing to feel the autumn spirit...
This past weekend we went apple picking. The orchards didn't open until September 1, and they were already nearly picked clean only a month later...so it wasn't as cool as we thought it would be. We did manage to fill a bag & the boys (especially Isaac) had at least a little bit of fun.
Connor studying the map
Connor picking
Isaac picking
The loot
Isaac enjoying the fruit of his labor
Ryan was just in Utah for work, and he brought the boys back some mini pumpkins from their Grandma Leitch. They had a fun time painting them tonight.
If I hadn't been around for all of those sleepless nights with 2 newborns at the same time, I don't know if I would believe that Connor & Isaac are twins. I mean, seriously. Connor is 2 inches taller & 7.5 lbs heavier than Isaac. People always think Connor is older because he is so much bigger (and he's big for his age). Isaac has blonde hair and blue eyes and Connor has brown hair & brown eyes. Their personalities could not be more different. It's so fun to see how they grow more and more different as they get older.
Isaac(l) & Connor(r)
Isaac
Connor
