2 Year Update!- Warning this is REALLY long!!

Has it really been 2 YEARS since Will and Erin came into our lives?!?!?!  When I would hear people say, "I can't remember life before kids" I kind of thought they were lame. But, now that I have kids, I find myself thinking that same statement.  I can't remember life before Will and Erin (except for the Friday night Happy Hour dates with Mark, only needing to pack two bags when we went on a trip, and staying out/up as late as we wanted without worrying about how we would feel in the morning). Our life is so much better now and filled with so much love, fun, family and friends.  The kids have helped up make lifelong friends and make our family bonds stronger.  They put a smile on the faces of so many and make us such proud parents. 

So here's what we've been up to:

Will is very thoughtful, kind, caring and loves Mickey ('Dickey!').  He loves to lay on his Mickey couch, suck his thumb with his blankie and watch Doc, Mickey or Chuggington.  (Mickey is the only one that holds his attention for more than 5 minutes). 
He is such a thoughtful little boy.  Last week, I was rocking with Erin and Will went into her room, grabbed her blankie and Minnie Mouse gave them to her and then went to his own room to get his stuff.  Another day, he walked over to the coffee table, grabbed his sippy cup and brought it to Erin so she could have a drink.  He returned to the table and got a drink from the cup that was there.  He shares snacks and toys with her too.  I think Will was born with is thoughtfulness and gets it from his daddy. 
He likes to close the bedroom doors and say 'bye-bye.'  When he's walking down the hall and sees the closet doors open he stops, backs up and closes them.  He loves to throw things away and thankfully we have baby locks on the doors so he can't throw big stuff away.  It is cute to see a few wipes, wrappers, Kleenex or random things next to the trash can. 
Will loves to eat snacks: Goldfish, pretzels, fruit snacks (he'll eat 3 packages at a time if we let him), popcorn, crackers, animal crackers and just about anything in our snack cupboard.  He stands in front of it and points up trying to tell us what he wants.  He vocabulary is getting bigger and clearer which is good because sometimes snack time is a frustrating guessing game for everyone.
 
Will is great at playing independently with his trucks, trains, books, any toy that he can push, Duplo table, and Diner (kitchen).  He loves to wear the play oven mitts and 'cook.'  Today he was trying to cook a tray of wooden cookies.  Will plays well with Erin, but is starting to stand up for himself and not let her take his toys.  He loves to be chased and will look at you with his big smile and say 'chase' and off he goes.  Will loves to be tickled and lets you know by saying 'tickle.'
He continues to be a very happy boy.  He is starting to tell you 'noooo' and he means it.  He is very silly and has been given the appropriate nickname Silly Willy.  Will is a good listener and follows directions (it's strange that a two year old would do these things, but he does). He has a calmness about him.
I have been worried about Will's speech and not pronouncing the 'm' sound.  His vocabulary is much smaller than Erin's and isn't nearly as strong.  Over the past few weeks, Will has started talking MUCH more and is getting better at using words to meet his needs.  This would make sense because Will has been 6-8 weeks slower than Erin for everything (dating back to getting off of the ventilator in the NICU, drinking from a bottle, eating solid foods, sitting on his own, crawling, walking, etc). 
People often ask me if Will has any lingering effects from being in the NICU and at this point I can say 'no.'  He has caught up by the age of 2.  I remember the doctor's telling us that most preemies catch up by the age of 2.  At the time, I thought yeah right, do you know how sick my babies are? You have no idea what you are talking about.  It turns out they did and I am thankful for it! I am aware that Will (and Erin) could still struggle in school, have ADD/ADHD or other troubles stemming from their time in the NICU.  We will deal with that if it happens.  For now, we're just enjoying every second with the life we have. 

 

Erin's bear is wearing on of her preemie
outfits from the NICU.

Erin is full of energy and is very busy.  She has become a parrot by repeating the last word of every sentence.  When asking her a question, we've started to change the order that we ask it to see if her answer changes. For example, we'll ask "Do you want waffles or cereal?" She'll answer 'cereal.' So we ask, " Do you want cereal or waffles?" and Erin answers 'waffles.'  She seems to have figured it out because now she is starting to answer what she wants regardless of the word order.  She talks ALL OF THE TIME and has the cutest little voice.  It's a lot of fun to hear her make connections between things she sees or is thinking.  Erin has an amazing memory and ability to make connections.  We haven't seen our friends Jen and Pat in a few weeks and just today Erin started to list all of the members of their family, including their dog!  Yesterday, we were playing downstairs when she heard the water upstairs (Mark flushed the toilet) and she said, "shower" "daddy" and ran to the bathroom that is downstairs. I have no idea how she put it all together.  She isn't saying two word phrases yet, but it won't be long.  Erin notices specific details about clothes we are wearing, jewelry and our hair. I was wearing a shirt with a ruffle on it when I got Erin out of bed the other morning. She immediately began to play with my ruffle.  The next day I was wearing a vest and she said, "jacket."  If I wear earrings, she'll point to one and then turn my head to find other one and say, "more." 

 

 

Erin LOVES to color and can get her crayons from our junk drawer and sit at her table to color.  She knows the color purple and to her every color is purple. (which just happens to be my favorite color). She loves sparkly 'sprkly' stuff (she has pink and red shoes that are favorites). Erin love to play with the doctor kit, dress up stuff, books and iPhones.  If you have a phone, she'll be your best friend.  She can scroll through your pictures (and delete a few too), watch movies, rearrange your Apps and buy $135 Groupons for facial peels (that was the last time I let her play with my phone- I did get my money back).  She loves my Kindle and looks for it anytime she's in our room.  She knows how to play three different games and is almost able to get to the games by herself.  It's kind of scary how much she likes iPhones and my Kindle.  Will could care less about these things.  She loves to watch Mickey and will grab the 'mote' and say 'Mickey.'  She is very persistent and usually gets what she wants.
Erin has no feeding issues and LOVES to eat anything.  She doesn't have any trouble drinking from a variety of cups.  She is just like a normal two year old.
Erin loves to do anything I'm doing and wants me to hold her all of the time.  She is a ton of fun and a happy girl. I love when I hear her say 'happy' and 'good gurl.'  She is sweet, independent and helpful.  Erin is a good listener and loves to go 'bye-bye' or 'shopping.'  She loves to read books, rock and just cuddle with you.

The kids are so much fun and keep us busy (in a good way!)  Two years ago, I never could have imagined that our life would be this good! We are so blessed!