bestoftwins, Author at The Best of Twins

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How to Pack a Diaper Bag

Jan 252013

When you’re out and about with little ones, a well-stocked diaper bag is beyond essential. For us, the diaper bag is a portable base camp: a source of snacks, entertainment, and extra outfits for occasions that require them. And because we have twins, it’s double of just about everything! This is a guide to packing the perfect diaper bag.

Choosing A Diaper Bag

When you’re packing for twins, many standard bags won’t cut it. You need cargo room and plenty of pockets! Check out our reviews of diaper bags for twins to see what I’m talking about. Small- to medium-sized backpacks also work well, especially if you’re traveling on buses, trains, planes, or automobiles. Sometimes you just need both hands (and arms) free. Familiarize yourself with the diaper bag. Make sure you know about all the hidden pockets and zippers and key clips.

Before you go any farther, label your diaper bag with your name and phone number. A luggage tag works great for this. You probably wouldn’t get half a mile or 20 minutes without needing it, but better safe than sorry.

Diaper Changing Items

Let’s start out with the basics: everything you need to change the diapers of two little ones while you’re on the go.

Diapers. Depending on your twins’ age, size, and diet, you might need 15-20 diapers per day. Carrying more than that tends to hog too much diaper bag space.
Wipes. Do you ever notice how the wipes are the hardest thing to find in the diaper bag? Address this by carrying 2-3 travel packs or “refill bags” with 15-20 wipes each. That gives you 2-3 wipes per diaper, which should be enough.
Changing pad. Don’t forget this critical item! Not only will it offer your twins a soft and familiar surface to lay on, but it protects them the likely germ-ridden surface of public changing tables. Or, if you’re visiting friends, a changing pad’s protection works the other way around. The Kushies deluxe changing pad is a good way to go; it’s sturdy, waterproof, and available in 20 different designs.
Diaper rash cream. Riding around in a car seat or double stroller tends to encourage diaper rashes. There are plenty of diaper creams out there, but I’ve never encountered one that works as well as Dr. Smith’s.

Clothes and Blankets

Accidents happen. If there’s one thing we’ve learned while raising toddler boys, you can never have enough spare blankets and outfits. We try not to allow the diaper bag to become a traveling wardrobe, but we do allow a few essentials.

Extra outfits. In our case, that’s one for each boy and some days it’s just enough. Footed onesies are okay, but pant/shirt combinations are especially nice because you can swap out whatever’s soiled.
Pajamas. Often when we’re packing the diaper bag, it’s for an afternoon or evening trip and we know it’ll be dark coming home. The twins go to bed early, so we pack pajamas to change them into before heading home.
2 blankies. Receiving blankets can ride in the diaper bag all the time; they have so many uses. If it’s nighttime (or we’re headed on a trip), we break out the big guns: our uer-soft Aden+Anais blankets.

Feeding, Drinking, and Teething

We like to pack a diaper bag with everything for keeping the little ones happy, and that entails some food and drink. Depending on your baby’s age, that could mean anything from bottles to sippy cups to snack bowls.

Bottles with caps and nipples, or sippy cups with lids. These are especially useful if you stop at a restaurant or hit the drive-thru and want to give your little ones a drink.
Snack bowls with snap-up lids. We’ll load these with yogurt bites, puffs, crackers, or some other finger food that stores well and that our kids can eat on their own.
Packets of cookies or fruit snacks. Just the right size to throw back to our 3-year-old in the minivan.
Pacifiers. You can never have too many.

Baby Medical Supplies

It never hurts to take a few basic medicine items with you.

Orajel for teething pain. This is absolutely critical when your babies are teething, because they’ll refuse to eat and drink (and generally be miserable) until you get some teething relief gel.
Children’s pain reliever. A small bottle of children’s Tylenol or Advil with measuring syringe comes in handy, especially if we’re headed to the pediatrician’s office.
Q-tips. Plenty of uses for these!

Entertainment

Last but not least, we pack the diaper bag with things to keep our kids entertained. You never know when you’ll be waiting in the checkout line or at the doctor’s office. Being able to pull out a book, toy, game, or other distraction can often save the day. The pocket-size books are great for this, are are matchbox cars.

12 Travel Tips for Toddlers

Parenting Twins 7 Responses »

Jan 142013

Image Credit: Travel Mamas

We recently undertook a brave (and probably insane) experience: an international trip with three kids under the age of four. Was it worth it? Definitely? Were we insane? Probably. And yet we managed to come back alive. Traveling with toddlers wasn’t easy most of the time, but it gave us the confidence to undertake new family adventures. There are many things I might have done differently, things we had to learn the hard way.

I’m hoping to save you the trouble with these 12 tips for traveling with toddlers or small children.

Travel Prep

1. No amount of preparation is too much.

We had the trip booked half a year in advance, which gave us plenty of time for planning. And we used it! First, we did some research on the destination, the resort, the travel logistics. How should we get to the airport? Do we need to pack our own car seats? What activities will there be for children? All of these practical, long-range questions got us thinking about the details of pulling this trip off.

Our biggest concern was keeping our twins (18 months) happy and entertained during a long overseas flight and airport layover. We brainstormed every possible way that we might entertain them. Toys, activities, snacks, every kind of distraction was considered. We perused places like Etsy for cute, portable, unique toys that would keep the boys’ attention.

2. Pack snacks, toys, and then more snacks.

We packed what we thought was a lot of snacks and plenty of toys. It turned out not to be nearly enough of either. Toys are a problem because toddlers tend to have A.D.D. even at home, where we have dozens (hundreds) to choose from. Even with the most razzle-dazzle, fantastic little toys, they were bound to become bored. New, strange environments like airplane cabins and airports hold far too many new wonders for any toy to compete.

Snacks are another essential that we tried to plan for. Every purse and carry-on luggage and jacket pocket was stuffed with bags of crackers and fruit snacks. We had muffin packs for everyone for the ride to the airport, and even stopped for a couple of extra-nice coffees at the airport. Unfortunately:

The coffee came so super-hot that I couldn’t drink it until we were on the plane, and by then I had a toddler on my lap.
The muffins were a poor choice because the kids wanted to hold and throw and crumble them all over the airport.
Most of the remaining snacks were gone (eaten or thrown on the floor) halfway through the first flight.

Some snacks are better than others. Looking back, I’d have favored fruit snacks and applesauce pouches (the kind with the twist-off straw “nozzle”) and kept them more accessible. I’d also have had my coffee in the car on the way to the airport; trying to juggle a boiling-hot cup of it and wrangle three toddlers just isn’t a good idea.

3. Travel with Backup Cameras

We love documenting our little one’s adventures and growth with photos (and videos), mostly because there’s not time to do much else. A family vacation is one of those pivotal must-photo events, so we carefully packed our camera, charger, and a backup battery. About a day into the trip, we got sand on it, and that was devastating news. Few things are worse for cameras than dry sand getting into the moving parts.

There was good news and bad news. The good news is that I had my iPod Touch which takes photos and videos. The bad news is that it does poorly in low light or motion shots. Thankfully, I was able to get our camera working again. Next time I’d like to have two (one for each of us); that way more memories are captured and there’s always a backup.

People on the Trip

4. Family help is essential

We probably wouldn’t have taken this trip, and certainly wouldn’t have made it back, without grandma and grandpa to help out. With three kids under the age of 4, it’s just too hard to keep everyone together and tote our luggage around. At various critical moments, they or my brother were around to wrangle one of our kids, strollers, or suitcases. That extra set of hands was indispensable.

Once we settled in at the resort, we were fine. Completely self-sufficient. But the travel part was another animal entirely.

5. You’ll be “those people”. You know, the ones with the screaming toddler(s).

Are you ever in a public place — in a restaurant, at church, etc. — and seen parents with their hands full? A baby screaming, a toddler running off, a child being disobedient. When traveling, odds are good that you’re going to be that family. There’s very little you can do about it, other than try not to care. Remember that these are strangers you’ll probably never see again. Focus on keeping your family safe and happy first; the others can come later.

6. Some people will take pity on you

One thing that surprised me on a few occasions was how nice (tolerant) some people were of us. This began in the airplane, when a nice airline worker let us slide in line right in front of a college girls’ volleyball team that had showed up in line while we figured out that you can’t use self-serve kiosks to check in if you have lap babies. Groan. But the airline worker helped us cut in line and the coach didn’t seem to mind.

The volleyball players, too, were quite tolerant on the flight. Of course, we also bought some goodwill with fun-sized bags of M&Ms, a Pinterest recommendation that I should pass along. There were other acts of kindness by strangers who recognized what an ordeal it is to travel with three small children. Lots of little things, like holding open doors for our double stroller or letting us jump part of the line at security. We took any help we could get!

7. Some people don’t give a crap.

On the other side of the coin, there were a few bad apples out there. Where the airline employee excelled, just about every flight attendant was completely unhelpful. Not just to me, mind you, but really to everyone else out on the plane. One came up and groused at us that one of our kids’ toys had strayed into the aisles (“These aisles must be kept CLEAR”). I guess when you’re a flight attendant on a bankrupt airline, you’re not out to make new friends.

Then there are your run-of-the-mill jerks who jostle you with their body or overloaded luggage cart without so much as an apology. One guy who’d arrived at the notorious airport only about 20 minutes before his flight’s departure nearly ran down my mom and daughter, only shouting “Watch out!” To my mom’s credit, once he passed she said “I think ‘excuse me’ is the term he was looking for.” There are going to be jerks out there, whether or not you have little kids doesn’t matter.

Airplane Travel

8. Airport security sucks.

The fact that airport security sucks is widely known. The long lines, the invasive technology, the inevitable delays, and the flight restrictions all conspire to make airplane travel more difficult. Add in some cranky toddlers and you really have a stressful event. Here are a couple of things to remember:

Your stroller will have to go through the X-ray machine. Be prepared to hold your child and try to fold it up with one hand.
Baby shoes do not have to be removed and scanned. Thank goodness.
Remember the basics. Sometimes in the stress and chaos of traveling with small children, one forgets the simple restrictions like the bottle of water in one’s backpack.

9. The world is poorly babyproofed

Another lesson that our international trip with toddlers was quick to remind us: the world is poorly babyproofed. Many of the hazards and risks that we tackled when babyproofing for twin boys at home are now within easy reach: unsecured furniture, toilets, sharp objects, drinks, places to fall. This is true of virtually every public place, but especially airports, restaurants, and hotels/resorts.

10. Corral and contain (double strollers)

So how did we manage flights and layovers and hotel stays and public beaches with our energetic little ones? Corral and contain, baby! First of all, we packed sturdy lightweight double strollers (click for our review) and kept the twins in them whenever possible. At restaurants, we made prodigious use of high chairs and a booster seat.

When we did let the kids loose, we tried to do so in a contained area. In the airport, for example, we claimed an aisle of seats at the gate and used baggage to seal of each end, effectively making the middle a play area. We did the same on the beach with chairs and beach bags.

In enclosed places like our hotel room, we invested some time in toddler-proofing. Basically this involved keeping doors closed and putting things (trash cans, overpriced mini bar snacks, etc.) up high where they’re out of reach. Once this was done, we could maintain a sort of “zone” defense where each parent watched a room.

In open spaces we took a more direct approach: man-to-man coverage. Our 3-year-old was pretty good, so most of this centered on her younger brothers. Again, family help was crucial! I can’t thank them enough.

Kids and Vacation

11. Keep the daily routine

One strategy that really helped on our vacation was preserving the daily routine. Our daily schedule closely mirrored the one we keep at home:

Wake up and breakfast
Beach time or water park
Lunch
Baths, milk cups, and then nap time
Wake up and get dressed
Dinner
Back home for pajamas and milk cups
Bedtime for the kids

Notice how we worked around meals and naps? When you’re on vacation, it’s very tempting to throw caution to the wind and try to do too much. Skipping meals or naps or staying out late is just going to leave you with over-tired, cranky kids. Instead, we stuck to our routine and everyone was happier for it.

12. Expect a different kind of vacation

If you’ve taken a trip or vacation with young children, you know this already: it’s a very different kind of vacation. Traveling with toddlers takes a lot more preparation (and brings far more stress) than traveling with only adults. There’s not a lot of “me” time, but as a parent, you’re used to this already. And you probably don’t mind either! So take pictures, let them have fun, and do your best to keep everyone safe. Enjoy these times! You and your kids deserve to.

Teach Your Baby to Walk

Parenting Twins 6 Responses »

Dec 302012

Babies learn to walk at different speeds and accomplish it at different ages. Walking is not only an important developmental milestone, but also a convenience, so many parents are eager to know when their babies can learn to walk and how they (the parents) can help teach them. Our youngest son was a late walker, to the point where we sought advice from our pediatrician and from physical therapists. Their guidance and our own experience from teaching three little walkers (all of whom are runners, now) are the basis for this article.

When Can A Baby Walk?

Babies are different when it comes to walking, and our twin boys were no exception. The older one was an early walker and had graduated to climbing on chairs and tables by the time his brother caught up. Most babies take their first steps between the age of 9 and 12 months, and are walking confidently by 14 or 15 months. Our last born, the late walker, learned at around 17 months which isn’t very unusual. There are many factors at play here:

Age and developmental stage. When I say that most babies take their first steps at 9-12 months, that’s adjusted age. As many twins are born as preeemies, they can take a bit longer.
Coordination and physical strength are both required, and generally obtained with practice crawling and pulling up on things.
Environment. The household, the day-to-day activities, and the presence of siblings can all influence how soon babies learn to walk.
Genetics and personality. The latter was an important factor for our youngest; he’s a happier child and was simply content to stay where he was. He finally began to learn when his older brother was walking and out-raced him to every desirable toy.

How Do You Teach Your Baby to Walk?

Between our pediatrician and some physical therapists, we used several exercises to help our littlest boy get his feet on the ground.

Practicing pulling up on things

First it was just a matter of teaching him to pull up on the edge of tables, couches, chairs, or other steady objects. This builds both leg strength and confidence. Eventually they learn to start cruising along these things while holding on. Don’t forget to make sure your home is babyproof.

Walking with both hands supported

Sometimes I’ll hold both of his arms and encourage him to walk, but that doesn’t always work. He’s just not always into it. When he’s holding onto a wheeled cart or the Vtech baby walker, however, he just loves it. He’ll walk around as long as we’re willing to keep turning the walker around, until his little legs poop out.

Walking sideways

We set up a narrow lane for him to walk through (like between the couch and the coffee table), so that he can only move sideways. It’s good practice, but getting him to go along with this scheme isn’t always easy. It works best if we put some of his favorite blocks or snack at the far end to lure him along.

Corn popper was a huge help

Taking steps unsupported

This, in my opinion, is the critical exercise that teaches a toddler to walk. The parents sit or crouch a couple of steps apart, and take turns encouraging him to walk to each other. As he gains confidence, you move a couple steps back. But it’s important never to back away while he’s walking to you. If he expects you to catch him in two steps, don’t let him down.

Push toys that don’t offer support

Once our older twin mastered walking independently, he still needed lots of practice. We encouraged it by giving him a Fisher Price Corn Popper. It’s colorful and noisy; he loves pushing it along but doesn’t get any support from it. Not the greatest thing for when anyone’s trying to sleep in the house, but it sure keeps him entertained.

Final Thoughts: Walking is Overrated

It was a few months ago that our youngest got the hang of walking. A couple of times while we were teaching him to walk, we asked ourselves, “Are we sure we want to do this?” After all, he was going to learn eventually and it’s far, far easier to contain and entertain twins before they can walk. Now, he and his siblings don’t usually walk anywhere. They run, race, climb, or ride little toys.

So unless your baby’s development is way behind the curve, don’t rush this! Every milestone achieved is one less to look forward to, and walking is a big one. At the very least, make sure you have the video camera ready!

9 Great Gifts for Twin Babies

Product Reviews No Responses »

Dec 092012

About 3% of pregnancies result in multiple births, which means the odds are good you’ll need to shop for gifts for twins sometime in the near future. And they’re not always easy to come up with. I’ll let you in on a little secret: one easy solution is to pick your favorite baby gift (that you’d get for a shower or birthday) and just buy two of them.

Of course that may not be good enough for you, if the goal is to find a super-cute gift that’s themed around twins or multiples.

Twin Gift Ideas

We have twin boys, and my cousin has boy-girl twins, so I’ve seen a lot of twin gifts. Here are a few of my all-time favorites, sure to impress a room of onlookers at a shower or birthday party. Not to mention the parents of the twins being celebrated. These are people whose good side you want to stay on, because they are the gatekeepers of all future adorable twin photos.

Twin Blankets and Cuddle Toys

Soft, cute blankets and cuddle toys make great gifts, especially when the come in double packages designed just for twins.

Angel Dear Cuddle Twin Set

These two identical blankies for newborns come in a reusable box, and about 20 different cute identical animal options. They’re lightweight and machine-washable. According to the reviews, many parents get these for newborns that aren’t twins; if they become attached and lose one, there’s always an identical backup. Great idea!

Two Peas In A Pod Soft Toy

This toy has two identical dolls made of soft, silky fabrics in a green pea pod. They’re in gender-neutral colors (green, yellow, and purple) and have sweet little sleeping expressions. The dolls fall easily out of the pea pod (it’s mostly for show) but they’re a great size for snuggling.

Books About Twins

I’ve written an entire article on my favorite books for parents of twins, but there are also some excellent children’s books for twins. These make great gifts both for the twin babies, and for their siblings (who live with twins day in and day out).

	Twin to Twin by Margaret O’Hair A cute book about a brother-and-sister twin pair who share a meal, play outside, get a bath, create some messes (of course) and eventually are tucked into bed by smiling parents.
	Take Two!: A Celebration of Twins by J. Patrick Lewis This book is a collection of poems, pictures, and little facts about twins by two celebrated children’s authors. Clever rhymes about rockets to the moon, the old woman in the shoe, and other anecdotes make this a great book for twins or the people who love them.
	Two is for Twins by Wendy Cheyette Lewison This book is all about things that come in pairs — bicycle wheels, hands, bluebird wings — with humor and great cadence for reading aloud. It celebrates sharing and playing and the best things about twinship. We own this one (the board book) and got it for our daughter when we learned that our twin boys were on the way. A fun read.
	Who Loves Me? for Twins Personalized Book Here’s a great and unique gift idea for twins that you can do if their names are already picked out. It’s a personalized baby book from I See Me Children’s Books. Not only does the cover feature the twins’ names, but the story itself features 6 different spreads with the names of people who love them. This book is designed for twins or two siblings It measures 8.5″ x 8.5″ and is in hardcover 20 pages, perfect for children 0 to 6 years Takes 2 weeks to arrive after ordering

Outfits for Twins

Last but not least, there are many cute outfits for twins. This is the kind of gift you can have a lot of fun with, because you can tailor the outfits to the twins’ genders and personalities.

	Thing 1 and Thing 2 Newborn Onesie Gift set This gift set is just adorable for twins: Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. We received it as a gift for our boys and got some adorable photos. Extra points if you can find blue wigs or Cat-in-the-Hat hats to go with it!
	Twin Girls Gift Set with 2 Bodysuits These are matched pink onesies for twin girls; there are a lot of cute little sayings available from “Yes, we’re twins!” to “She did it!” (with an arrow pointing sideways) to “If you think I’m good looking, you should see my twin!”.
	Twin Baby Gift Set for Boy/Girl Twins For boy/girl twin sets, these blue-and-pink onesie gift sets are a good option. I like the pair that says “Monkey see” and “Monkey do” and also “My twin drives me bananas!”. Or the more subtle barcode with one that says “1/2” and the other says “2/2”.
	Twin Boys Gift Set with 2 Bodysuits For boys, you can get a pair of matched blue onesies or black onesies with cute little phrases like “Copy” and “Paste” or “We’re cute” or “I heart my twin.” My personal favorite, and one I wish I had for my boys, says “BYOB. Party. Our room. 3 a.m.”

10 Facts About Raising Toddler Boys

Life With Twins 9 Responses »

Dec 022012

Having your baby boy reach the toddler stage tends to be a life-changing event. Especially when you have not one but two miniature tornadoes running around, seeking to wreak havoc at every opportunity. Looking back, we marvel how easy it was when our daughter (now 3) was a toddler. We were thrilled when she learned to walk; it made taking care of her easier. She could do things for herself and rarely got into trouble.

With the boys it’s been a whole other story. They get into everything. Here are 10 rules we’ve come to appreciate in raising toddler boys.

1. You cannot babyproof enough

My recent article on babyproofing for toddlers was inspired by this rule. Any drawer, cabinet door, trash can, or toilet that they can get into, they will. Some of this stuff you can use legitimate babyproofing equipment for — cabinet locks, gates, drawer latches, toilet locks — while other times we have to get creative, even if it means using rubber bands.

2. No toy is as interesting as your stuff

I’m not sure why this is, but many times boys ignore an overflowing box of toys in the corner of the room and go after your things instead. It might be your mug of coffee in the morning. Or your pen. Or your laptop. Once or twice I’ve gotten to work and found blocks in my laptop bag. Anything in the house is fair game, and if it holds your interest, they notice and go after it.

3. They will climb

Credit: jonandlaura.blogspot.com

The latest trend for our toddlers is climbing on things. It started with the stairs, which were the training ground for this new skill. We encouraged it because, hey, at some point kids need to go upstairs on their own. They mastered stairs but then kept on going. They climbed on their toys, on couches, on chairs. The problem with climbing is that it’s a chain reaction: climbing one thing (dining room chair) often gives access to climb another thing (dining room table) and suddenly they’re 5 feet off the ground.

Now I understand those stories you hear about a toddler getting on top of the refrigerator. For us, the dining room table is a favorite target. Especially when the plates haven’t been cleared after a messy dinner.

4. They will outsmart you

One thing that constantly amazes me as a parent is just how smart kids are. They learn and remember things. They problem-solve. And it’s all cute and adorable until they start using that against you. For example, we tried to prevent them from climbing the dining room table by staying vigilant about pushing in the chairs. So they set their clever minds to figure out how to move chairs just enough to climb up them.

There’s no such thing as too much babyproofing for multiples.

When boys manage to get something from a drawer or countertop that they’re not supposed to have, you take it away, right? At some point they realize that step one is getting a hold of something. Step two is slipping away to a quiet corner where you don’t see them. Thus as parents of boy toddlers we’ve developed a sort of sixth sense: if we can’t see or hear the boys and they’re being suspiciously quiet, it’s like, “Uh oh. Where is he?”

5. Prepare for messes unlike any you’ve seen

Our daughter, bless her heart, was a dainty and polite eater of finger foods when we got her started on them. Sometimes food would fall on the floor; that’s just part of the game. In contrast, the boys seem to enjoy throwing food more than eating it. Even their favorite food will get tossed for occasional amusement. The problem comes when you think they’re eating the food, and so you give them more. You look away, look back, and the food is gone. So you give them more. Meanwhile, a veritable buffet of finger-foods ends up on the floor.

Boy toddlers take mess-making to an art form. They get into cereal boxes. They spill drinks. They tear up napkins or paper towels into tiny, tiny pieces and scatter them like confetti. Brace yourself, and invest in a good carpet sweeper.

6. There will be blood

If you’re a squeamish person and a parent, the toddler years will be rough for you. Because little ones who are just learning to walk, climb, and crawl are both clumsy and ignorant of their own mortality. Our boys get injured at a surprising frequency, and most of the time it’s in our very-well-babyproofed home. The oldest boy took us to the emergency room a few months ago (just after he’d learned to walk) by falling and hitting his head on the corner of a wall. Hazards like that are tough to spot in advance.

We’ve assembled a good first aid kit and keep it in easy reach. I can’t remember how many times I’ve had that out in the past year. Far more than I thought. You know it’s bad when you’re running out of certain sizes of band-aids.

7. Sharing is a problem

That’s MY cup

Toddlers develop a sense of possession about their toys, and sharing (for our kids at least) becomes a problem. For some reason, in a room littered with dozens [hundreds] of toys, there’s one that all the kids want at the same time. More often than not, it’s the Vtech Alphabet Train which is a house favorite (that’s why I wrote a whole article on it). The train is long enough for two to play at once, but not for two to ride at once. That’s the problem.

There’s inevitably a dispute that ends with at leaset one kid crying. When the boys are involved, it often becomes a shoving match or an all-out brawl. It must be something about the Y chromosome.

The best solution we’ve found when the kids are fighting over something is to offer one of them another toy. Not just any toy will do; usually we have to dig into the toy box or go to another room to find something intriguing enough to have them forget the disputed toy. Of course, this backfires when both toddlers want the new thing and start fighting over that instead.

Some of our toys, like the blocks for toddlers, are multi-player and they seem to be shared the best.

8. Two things are unlimited: energy and curiosity

Toddlers wear you out. They seem to have an endless source of energy for running, jumping, climbing, and throwing. When the weather is nice, we let them play outside as much as possible to burn off some of this energy. When it’s not, we try to find push and ride-on toys to give them a bit of exercise. When the energy runs out, though, you’d better have a warm cup of milk and nap lined up quick. Otherwise you’ll probably have a meltdown in store.

Curiosity is another thing that toddlers seem to have without limit. Our older boy is obsessed with my coffee cup. I’m not sure why; I let him look in it, touch the outside, and try to move it away so he can’t dip in a finger or dump in a fistful of cereal. No matter how many mornings we have together, he’s got to see my coffee cup. The great thing about this innate curiosity is that it’s easier to keep them entertained, by letting them play in a room or with a toy they haven’t seen in a while. Every five minutes of peace and quiet is a win, in my book.

9. You’re going to laugh

The things that toddler boys say, the things they do, are constantly cracking us up. They’re at the age where they recognize attention and crave it. They make little faces. They can be tickled and try to tickle you back. They offer high fives and shy grins at strangers. Even when they’ve gotten into a purse or drawer or cupboard for the zillionth time and made a mess, we’ve learned to try and laugh at ourselves a little bit.

Wherever you go, your toddler is going to make an impression (hopefully with charm, but possibly with a screaming meltdown). Most of the time, we think our little boys spread a bit of joy. And that’s a good thing.

10. These times are priceless

Hard as it is to raise a toddler boy (let alone two of them), these are going to be memorable times. So many firsts happen in the toddler years — the first steps, the first words and countless others — and they pass like a blur. Take photos. Write things down. Treasure these moments, because before you know it, your little man will be going off to school, then college, then starting a family of his own. Seriously. They grow up that fast.

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