The Secret Life of Gavin and Aiden

Although Gavin and Aiden enjoy engaging in typical two year old boy things (playing with trucks, getting dirty, spending time at the playground, roaring like lions), they also have a secret life involving more scandalous activities.

One such activity the boys love is "naked time." This consists of Gavin and Aiden squealing and running around the house in nothing but their diapers, often taking the form of wind sprints across the living room. They even request it by name, "Naked! Naked! Naked!" Although this time is usually limited to 20 minutes or so before getting dressed in the morning (or before bed), last week on a rainy morning it lasted for over an hour...


Gavin enjoys some light "naked" reading while Aiden finds just the act of being "naked" hilarious. You can only imagine the mayhem that ensues when the boys are actually naked in the tub. The squeals are really amplified by the bathroom acoustics.


So here is the problem with "naked time" - it appears to be a gateway activity that leads to other more sordid acts like reading a People magazine that Mama bought and left lying around. In another strange twist, the boys actually shared the magazine and each took a few minutes to peruse it without any fighting (shocking!).

Gavin spent the majority of his time with the magazine looking at a two page spread of stars at the beach. He was most interested, perhaps perplexed, with a photo of Matt Damon surfing.


Phew...all is right in the world again when the boys tired of the People magazine and together ripped it to shreds. Again, they were surprisingly cooperative. "Naked time" seems to foster brotherly love.

The Sandbox

Over the holiday weekend, Ian built the boys a proper and spacious sandbox. It is a marked improvement over the previous "sandbox" they had been playing in, which consisted of: a sand pile left over from when we redid our patio last summer. a border of weeds on one half, and an additional border of black PVC piping that previously lived under the old patio. From my description you can tell it was quite the classy little play area.

The new and improved sandbox has a square wood border, four corner benches, clean sand, and even a cover to help keep out critters who may try to use it as a dumping ground. Gavin and Aiden were excited to get in and start digging.

Gavin put his trucks to work digging and pushing the sand around.

Aiden gets acquainted with the sand and decides that it will not be good for eating, but excellent for playing.

No, Cheese, and Bob

Gavin and Aiden have turned into quite the little talkers lately. They seem to learn a couple new words a day and can even string two or three words together...when they feel like it.

Aiden's favorite words are "no" and "cheese." For example, when Aiden does something he knows he shouldn't, like touching the TV, he likes to say "No, no, no" in a mocking, sassy way while looking directly at Ian or I. He is so cute, but such a little stinker sometimes. "Cheese" is used at every meal as either a chant, question, or statement. When a meal does not include a cheese course, he looks at me with big puppy dog eyes and meekly asks, "Cheese?"

Both boys now greet Steve with a "hi," which is often followed with "Eeeeeve," their pronunciation of his name. I asked Gavin yesterday what his cat's name was and he nonchalantly responded, "Bob." We have been reading Sandra Boynton's book 15 Animals a lot lately and in the book 14 out of 15 animals are named Bob..."I have a cat named Bob and a dog named Bob..." Gavin really gets into the book and likes to say all the "Bobs." Poor Steve, the disrespect only continues.

You can ask the boys what color something is as long as the item is blue. Our act would never survive on the road.