This one's for the boys baby books I never completed

Over the last couple of weeks the boys have been making substantial progress on their verbal skills, both expressive and the other kind that's name eludes me at the moment...oh nevermind. I'll think of it later. Anyways  seeming overnight they've progressed from only using "choo choo"(Max) and "shtuuck" (Alex) to more sophisticated words like "closed", "open", "help","shister" "cold", "hot" ,"hurt" ,"hi mama",  "dada shoes" and even "uh oh we'd baba go?" or "Dada go bye bye car car!" 

My babies have grown from uttering just a handful of words to stringing together three and four phrases! Give me a moment while I gush with Mommy pride..... Okay Done.  

I've already experienced the joy of watching one child grow from a babbling, cooing baby into a preschooler armed with a lexicon that would put a debate team to shame and still the utter thrill of watching my babies learn to use language never wears off. 

A particular moment of motherly excitement came just a couple of nights ago as Max wrestled Alex to the ground in order to gain control of both his sippy cup and that of his brother. (No, that was not the moment of pride.) Upon finally gaining the upper hand and snatching both sippies he threw both chubby little hands into the air and shouted triumphantly  "TWO CUPS!!". 

What?!?!?!

 You know the word "two" and moreover what it means? I had no idea that he was beginning to grasp fairly abstract concept  like numbers and counting!  And seemingly as though to prove that it wasn't just a random fluke, he lowered one hand and shouted "ONE CUP!". 

Patrick and I were slack-jawed. 

It was as though we went from having a cute, warm, fun little puppy who did nothing but the ordinary things that cute, warm fun little puppies do and then one day that puppy begins to read The New Yorker ...out loud....in French. 

Seriously. We were that stunned.  

(No offense Max. We don't really think of you as a puppy. Mommy was just making a point about how stunned she was. I will say however that little boys are infinitely more like puppies than little girls, what with all the chewing of shoes, leaping onto laps, eating scraps off the floor and utter and total excitement they display every time you enter a room. Come to think of it I seem to remember that just a couple of days ago a certain little boy came into the kitchen on hands and knees barking and growling like a puppy. Can't blame me for making the obvious association!)  

And as if learning numbers wasn't enough of a trick for one week, yesterday at breakfast Max dropped his cup and said what sounded like "oh cup". Not thinking too much of it, I handed him back his cup and went back to engaging the children in a lively discussion on Christmas traditions loading the dishwasher. A couple minute later he drops his spoon and again says "Oh Cup". This time I correct him "No No Maxie Waxie SPOON. Look at Mama's mouth. SPOOOOON. Not cup" and hand him his spoon. I turn around and this time he drops his bacon on the floor and again says "Oh Cup".  And finally it hits me... he's not saying "Oh Cup"! He's saying "Oh Cwap!" 

And rather appropriately I might add.  

Then I think back to the last few days and realize he's been saying it all along. When he drops something "Oh cwap!". When he gets buckled into his car seat "Oh cwap!" When I close the door to their room for naptime "Oh Cwap!". 

CWAP, CWAP, CWAP. I knew it was time to clean up the vocab a little bit. I can't wait to see what he comes away after a few days with Grandpa Campos. 

Oh CWAP!