These Shoes are made for walking

The time has come for shoes. Both boys are walking, and their feet have slimmed down and formed arches. Our babysitter Carol purchased these first tennis shoes for them. Trey Davey’s shoes feature “Thomas the Train”, while Benji’s feature Sesame Street’s “Elmo”. It was amazing how quickly they adjusted to wearing shoes. The weight and fit were an issue at first, but they soon overcame those changes. They also quickly adjusted from scooting their feet to lifting them for every step. Shoe width is still a tricky thing, and the boys often trip due to bumping shoes during a stride. Once they develop a wider stance, running can’t be far behind.

The Diaper Dandy Dance

There’s a brand new thing
That’s all the rage
Now that you’ve reached
The toddler stage

You’ve got to do it once
If you have a chance
Come on baby
Do the Diaper Dandy Dance

First strip on down
To your underwear
Then wave your clothes
Around in the air

Shake it for me baby
Let me see you prance
Come on boys
Do the Diaper Dandy Dance

Well now slap your chest
And scream for joy
Run around the room
You naked boys

Burn all that energy
While you have the chance
Come on baby
Do the Diaper Dandy Dance

Classic Toys Never Get Old

Two years ago after attending a conference in Kansas City Sandy and I visited her parents at her childhood home. They were preparing to move to Florida and cleaning the Kansas City home to sell. We had just learned that we were expecting and they gave us a large number of baby articles. One of the items was a fisher-price corn popper that had been Aunt Kristin’s. This classic children’s toy was invented in 1957 and consists of a globe on wheels with a long blue handle. When a child pushes the toy it pops ever so many inches causing the brightly colored balls to fly inside the globe. Like most children, our boys love noise and movement and this well-loved toy is now providing double duty.

Hide and Sneak

Benji is a tease. He enjoys provoking reaction with foolishness, and then howls with joy when discovered. A good example happened recently when Sandy came upstairs to check on things. She entered the playroom and seeing no one presumed it was empty. As she turned to leave the volume on the television increased. She disregarded the action knowing some stations increase volume during commercials. Then, she realized the channel had changed to the shopping network, which is a station our family never watches. Turning to look at the TV the station changed again, this time to ESPN. When she stepped toward the TV she heard a giggle. Looking around she found Benji hiding in the tent with the TV’s remote control. Just then Daddy Dave returned from the nursery, where he had put Davey down for a nap, and found mother and son howling with laughter at his prank.

First Basketball Game

For years, Grandpa Edds has looked forward to taking his grandsons to basketball games. Last season he took Cousin Levi and both had a great time. He has been talking about taking the twins to a game this season, and when the opportunity presented itself this afternoon, we decided to give it a try. Pa has been a Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball season ticket holder for many years and he currently has floor seats on the second row. Knowing the twins had missed their afternoon nap we were prepared to leave if a meltdown occurred. Instead, they drank in the activity and atmosphere of college basketball. They watched the players’ movements intensely and mimicked the crowd’s cheers, clapping and three-point signs. Without a single incident, both boys watched the entire game, danced to the pep band’s music and charmed the cheerleaders. Grandpa’s friends came by with compliments for the well-behaved twins that swelled his chest with pride.

Look whose coming to breakfast

Trey Davey and Benji’s confused expressions are well placed. Ever since the Ice Storm hit 11 days ago, their regular routine has been completely disrupted. After being gone a week they thought that perhaps things would settle down to normal when we returned home, but not yet. Grandma and Grandpa Edds still do not have power at their house and are staying with us. This sleep-over is exceptionally fun for boys and Grands alike and a great opportunity for closer bonding, which has apparently happened with Grandma Ondra. Never an early riser by choice, Grandma made the exceptional effort to get up early so she could feed the boys their cereal and bananas for breakfast. Both generations enjoyed the breakfast surprise.

Birthday Benchmark Photo – 14 months

Fourteen months old is nothing to a man that’s 551 months old, like Daddy Dave, but these boys have accumulated an impressive number of adventures in their brief lifetime. Already they’ve lived through an earthquake, tornado, hurricane and ice storm, and they’ll likely soon see major flooding in our part of the country. They’ve been to nine states; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee, and they’ve stayed in ten different hotels in seven different states missing only Illinois and Kansas. Benji and Trey Davey love these adventures and look for every opportunity to explore new places and make new friends.