The Crockett Family: My Two Babies are TWO!

Cleaning up one of their many messes

Ganging up on Michael

We have two of the most delightful individuals running around our house these days. What would we do without them?

Braden is a typical adventurer. He likes to do things like sneak out of mom's church bench to run up to dad on the stand. He is usually good to warm up to others, and it is pretty typical of him to have bumps and bruises from all his adventures.

Braden with road rash and asphalt all over his face after a fall.

He loves cars and basketballs. He loves to walk and run, especially when mom would rather hold him. He doesn't think he needs to hold a hand when we walk across a street or parking lot. He thinks he always knows where he is going, and gets frustrated when I direct him somewhere else. He is sweet and compassionate. He shares most of the time, and is kind to his brothers, most of the time. The most recent episode, is just a cute example: Nelson was wiping his hand on our chalkboard and it got all dirty. He showed his dirty hand to Braden. Braden ran over to the sink and grabbed an overhanging rag. He took Nelson's hand and gently wiped it clean. Braden likes to snuggle when it's book time, and goes to sleep very well at nights, even in his toddler bed.

Braden loves the Little Red Riding Hood pop-up book and hearing Goldilocks and the Three Bears

A few nights ago, before bed, he said, "Hey Mom," and when I answered him, he said, "Pretty." I was touched to the very core. And then the next night when he was saying it again, I realized he was more likely saying "Beddy" because he knew it was time for bed. The boy likes his sleep. When he is ready for nap or bed, he just wants me to hold him. So, usually around dinnertime, I end up with him begging at my ankles or knees to be held. He loves being in the older boys' room and playing with big kid toys; enough so that I can usually get him to do this instead of picking him up.

Braden

Nelson is such a fun character. He gives these "looks" all the time that make everyone laugh.

Nelson seems to always have a new sideways glance

And he loves to make people laugh, and be happy. He is starting to use his words to be funny too, and it cracks me up. He likes to go on fun adventures with Braden, as long as Braden has already tested the waters. He loves to be held and snuggled a lot. When he was sick a while back, and I needed to get dinner rolling, I realized that he would snuggle with anyone, as long as he was being snuggled. Michael is always good to be a snuggle substitute for Mom, whenever Nelson needs it. Nelson likes to try new foods, and is a great eater. He likes manzanilla olives and pickles, which most our kids could care less about. Nelson loves balls, and does this cute little squat where he gets low to the ground, and then "dribbles" the basketball. He usually gets 6-7 good dribbles in, before the ball goes dead. He loves playing basketball at half time when we are at Michael or Adelyn's games.

He is my little informer. When I have left the room, he likes to tell me what I've missed when I get back. If I leave at lunch, he'll grab my hand when I come back and show me his plate, "all done!" and one morning he grabbed my hand and took me into his room to show me what he'd been doing all morning while I was sleeping, "puzzles, books, beads" and was so proud. He also has learned to say "trouble" when he thinks he needs to rat someone out, including himself. He loves his TV shows, and I can't resist letting him watch them, just to see the twinkle in his eye when he hears the Windows Media startup music. He can say Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, and Daisy better than almost any of the kids' names. The only exception is Braden. He loves to say Braden's name.

Nelson

They love each other with no exceptions. Yes, they fight a couple times a day, but they don't make it an exception. One time, I started video recording them fighting over a toy grocery basket. Their hands were raw from holding and pulling so hard on the basket. This went on for a very long time, so I stopped recording. They were screaming and crying and fighting so very hard. After several minutes, Braden won the war. Nelson smothered his face into the carpet and wept. Braden patted his back, and gave him the basket. I know that had Nelson won the war, he would have done the very same thing. They are almost always looking out for the other guy before themselves. They certainly have a best friend in one another. We have a mom in town who, at the time of our conversation, had two sets of twin girls, with a little boy in-between them (I had 3 kids, with no idea there were twins in our future). She told me that sometimes, she wished her little boy had a twin, and my jaw hit the ground. Seriously, you would want another set of twins? But I totally get it now. They have a really neat relationship, and I see how special it is, and I want all my kids to have special relationships. I think that's why twins are always so "cute." They have something that none of us have and our hearts just eat it up.

They love to watch each other play games on the phone.

On their actual birthday, we postponed the official celebration, but we allowed absolute chaos. There were streamers, a parachute, balls, games and cake everywhere! We made their Jake and the Neverland Pirate cakes to be eaten in a couple days, and did everything we could think of to help them enjoy the day, including multiple rounds of ring-a-round-the-rosies.