batteries, burritos, and bears

Hello friends and family,

My brother and his wife are now officially parents of Lexi after their adoption completed successfully last Thursday! Easton and Layla gained another Webb cousin. Lexi is 7 days older than our twins are so my brother and I have been walking the same path of parenthood at the exact same time.

Over the weekend I discovered a method of recycling toys that seems to be working. Step 1 is to find an awesome best friend with kids slightly older than yours. Step 2 is to convince your friend to give you their old toys. Step 3 is to introduce the toys to your kids and let them play with them until they are bored.

Now here's the tricky part... Step 4 is to notice when your kids get bored and THEN put batteries in the toy. Yea!!!


And just like that... With 2 double A batteries, they get a whole new enjoyment from the once lifeless toy. When I first brought home the plastic car stroller Easton and Layla played with it and Layla eventually started to push herself around on it saying, "beep, beep!" At that point I realized all those buttons and knobs probably did something if only the batteries worked. Duh. I should probably have saved that for my "What Works for Me Wednesday"...

Layla earned the name, "The Book Eater". Not metaphorically as a way to describe how quickly she reads books. I mean she REALLY eats books.


We have books all over our house in every room and every drawer. We've put books in their bed since they were old enough to roll over on their stomach just so they have something to do when they wake up in the morning. Yesterday when the dual alarm clocks went off, I shuffled in to find Layla's book half-eaten. That's not the distressing part either. The distressing part is that there were no bits and pieces of the book scattered around her crib or on the floor. The logical conclusion (aside from aliens zapping her book with a laser) is that she ate the entirety of the missing book cover; Foam and cardboard alike. That can't be good for digestion, you know?

We reached another milestone at the 4Webbs house this weekend. The twins have moved beyond signing the word, "eat"; Beyond saying the word "eat"; Now to the next level with is showing the word "eat":


Easton and Layla pushed their high chairs from the hallway into the kitchen area as a way of getting my attention to say they are seriously ready to eat.


Kendra ran to the grocery store and while she was gone, the twins grew tired of saying "eat!" I had to wait for Kendra to arrive back home and as we waited for her, Easton and Layla decided to push out their high chairs to show how serious they were about wanting to eat.

Once Kendra arrived home the twins attempted a new concept of eating... It's called a burrito.


I was surprised at how well they did to hold it and bite correctly. About half way through the burrito they both unwrapped and destroyed the tortilla. I'm proud of them for making it half way through!

There are a couple of pictures from the last week where Easton and Layla appear to be happy, but are really expressing something else. Here you might think Easton is displaying elation as he goes down the slide.


The real emotion he is showing is intense frustration. I can't remember what he was so disgruntled about, but it sure made for a sweet and humorous picture. You might think this next picture is about Easton pretending to give the stuffed bear a seat and a drink. While that is great to showcase his imagination, I'll have to point out Layla's facial expression as the real interesting part of the picture.


In case you can't decipher her "look", it is a result of Kendra telling Layla to share and give Easton a chance to play with the bear. Layla's response was a defiant stare-down directed at Kendra. Kendra's response was, "oh NO you DIDn't just do that to mommy". The result was a 1 minute and 30 second time-out on the kitchen mat. Go mommy!

What ever happened to Mickey Mouse toys? Layla is obsessed with watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and we want to buy her some Mickey Mouse toys. However, our search through Target turned up not a single Mickey Mouse item in the store. What gives? Any idea of where to buy those characters other than the insanely expensive Disney store in the mall?

See you soon.