18-month update

Here I am sitting in the dark in the kids’ room, feeling so tired after having a very long day of cooking. Where is my Michelin star chef when I need him? Oh right, he’s on holiday. The boys have grown. They are men now, I kid you not. I can’t keep up with them. They’ve just grown so big in my eyes. A few months ago, they were so small and cuddly and cute but now… they’re still cute though, but cute doesn’t cut it. Being stuck at home with them these last three corona-working-from-home months have been very interesting.

So, what have they been up to, one might ask? A LOT; A WHOLE LOT! I think I have used my high pitch voice more than I have ever used in my life: “stop it”, “don’t touch it”, “get down.” These very short phrases are repeated between myself and my husband so much so that, as soon as we wake up and start interacting with them, within 15 minutes, we would have said it about 20 times to each of them. Multiply that by the number of hours in a day. Those phrases even fall on deaf ears sometimes. Here are a few highlights of the things they have been up to.

One fine afternoon, they had woken up from their nap and so we went to take them out of their cot to change them. We were not ready for what was about to hit us. Here was MJ hanging comfortably on his cot trying to free himself. My jaw dropped! How did he do that! Subsequent days after that, we would put them to sleep and hear them busy chatting, only for you to check the cameras and realize that this same MJ has climbed into his brother’s cot and they’re gossiping and plotting their next mischievous move. One side of their cot is higher than the other and so now we’ve separated their cots and pushed MJ’s against the wardrobe and blocked the front side with a chair and their laundry basket. Here I was thinking it was only MJ who could do that. SMH. PJ, has now not only learnt how to climb out from the shorter side, he can actually climb over the longer side. I used the dining hall chairs to block every possible escape route but still. It’s only a matter of time before… mmm let me not use my mouth to say bad thing. mamasnursery I need help 😫.

Guess what? They have been eating paint. Yup! They manage to use their tiny fingernails to scrape the paint off the wall and eat it. It must taste divine! All attempts to block the walls and threaten their dear lives have all been futile. Alas, we gave up. As if that isn’t bad enough, they’re favorite place to play is in the toilet and bathroom. There is just something about how toddlers love to clean the toilet. Apparently, toilet roll is meant to be wasted, so theirs is just to pull it and let it roll on the floor, and roll a few more and put it in the toilet bowl. The toilet water too is premium sparkling water. Bubbly! MJ likes to rub soap on his hair so you’ll catch him many times running into the bathroom to grab his soap to wash his hair. PJ likes to put his pail under the tap and just watch the tap overflow; kinda like a waterfall. Magical!

Oh did I also mention the water dispenser? They have grown a few inches tall and so they love to press the button, watch the water pour on the floor and splash themselves with the water. We thought that was bad enough, but now they’ve upgraded. Check this out: now, they let the water pour, and actually drink from the bottom where you put the cup. The water must taste differently there than in their bottle. Oh and by the way, I have changed their bottles three times already and they’ve broken them all. Who will dash me? I mean how does a spill proof bottle all of a sudden becomes a spill free bottle? 🤷🏽‍♀️

I must cast them in the next spider man movie. What can’t they climb? What haven’t we hidden away and taken from within their reach? One day, as I was exercising in the living room, MJ managed to climb the buffet table and reach my engagement picture which was hung up on the wall. Before I could get off my mat and grab him, he swung the frame and it came tumbling down with glass shattering everywhere. Oh, how proud he felt of his latest breakage. The major one was my phone screen but I have gotten over that so let’s move on. PJ’s own is to climb the table and turn the lights on and off because, why not? He’s in his father’s house.

The kitchen. They have toys, in fact, in abundance. Do they play with those? No. What do they prefer? Rolling pins, saucepans, bowls, cling film and foil, just to mention a few. I can’t find my teaspoons! I found two in their sister’s pouch inside her school bag inside her wardrobe. I found another behind her bed and so I’m left with one more. Oh and how PJ loves to wash dishes. He gets his chair, pulls it towards the sink and “attempts” to wash plates, i.e. let the tap flow and sometimes drink the water from the dirty dishes. Ah! How I can’t wait for them to do such chores. They should just wait.

“Let’s go outside.” The speed with which they will gather themselves to be let loose into the wild is impressive. They love seeing the outside world and will wave at every car they see and scrutinize every human being that passes by. Now, woe betides you if you say, “let’s go inside.” To show their dissatisfaction with what you’ve just said, they’ll frown and stomp their feet whilst walking backwards. Who doesn’t like outside?

They can finally say “mummy!” Hurray! They could say everyone’s name except mine. “Daddy” is their favorite. Many times I would teach them to say mummy and they’ll completely ignore me! Like, literally turn their heads away and say daddy instead or some other gibberish. I was reduced to taps on my leg when they wanted to call me. Ah! I didn’t understand. One fine day, I repeated it several times and PJ said it. It sounds like this, “mammm”. You have to make the ‘mm’ sound at the end to get it. Repeat after me, “ma-mmm.” They can also say, “goodnight”, “good boy”, “love you”, “I don’t know” and “thank you.” I am still yet to understand what “Adi a daa” means though. Their sister taught them how to say “banana.” She tells everyone this.

I must say that I’m loving the time I am getting to spend with them. Watching them grow up, learn new things and discover their world is such a beautiful thing. I cannot wait for them to grow though. A mama is tired of chasing toddlers around the house. Guess what their favorite rhyme is? “Shay shay shaaame, wo wo wo woo, a wild dog, wow wow, a pussy cat, meeoowww.” Blame that on their nanny.