Birthday Pictures

I finally got around to downloading new pictures, including the first day of "morning school" (MDO), Nathan's birthday, Patrick's birthday, and many random pictures. Enjoy, and if you're curious about the stories behind any, please e-mail and ask!

I have some more pictures uploaded that I've taken recently. They include some posed shots I tried with the boys that didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, but I ended up with a few cute ones anyway. (I bribed Patrick with yogurt, so unsurprisingly his are much better than usual.)

Go here to see such gems as these, as well as a picture of our brand-new furniture:

Vacation Pictures

Interested in pictures from last week's vacation? Click here.

A Conversation with Patrick

Last night before bed:

Matt: Patrick, what sound does a dog make?

Patrick: Bock, bock!

Matt: Patrick, what sound does a kitty cat make?

Patrick: Mee-ow!

Matt: Patrick, what sound does a Patrick make?

Patrick: Talk, talk, talk!

Matt and me (uncontrolled laughter): Yup, that's about right, Patrick!

Why haven't I been around? Where have I been? I'll give you two pictures of a typical day around here, and you'll see why I don't make much time for it these days.

This is Patrick's "No" face. If this isn't typical three-year-old, I don't know what is. Tantrums galore.

And then there's Nathan. And yes, he's walking. Yes, he's tough to keep up with. And yes, he's loveable and adorable and crazy silly. What else needs to be said?

If you'd like to see the other pictures I've taken recently and not yet linked here, you can find them here and here.

Two Nathan Stories

1. No, Nathan isn't quite walking yet. Every so often we catch him off-guard, and he proves that this delay in walking is a matter of will and not ability. The other day I was talking on the phone while playing on the floor with him. I put the phone on speaker and held it out, and that was all Nathan needed to take off walking--to catch the phone. Forget a carrot in front of a horse; this kid chases technology. He took probably a dozen steady steps before he realized what he was doing and fell on his bottom again. I think he considers scooting faster and less effort, but this gives me hope that he won't be scooting between his college classes a few years down the line.

2. Last night, we were going through our typical routine putting the boys down. Patrick insists on an ever-increasingly-detailed bedtime routine, one that now includes counting as we put his excessive sheets and blankets on him (don't worry, they never stay there for long). Patrick has been obsessed with numbers lately and counts every chance he gets. He easily counts to twenty and beyond.

Well, Matt was pausing between numbers as he grabbed the next blanket. "One..."

And from the other crib, we hear, "Too! Twee!"

Stunned, we stared at Nathan. He grinned his cheesiest grin for us.

Matt continued. "Four, five..."

"Siss!"

At this point, I was watching the whole thing with my jaw on the floor. Nathan continued to chime in at the correct times with ten, and several of the teens (they all sounded kind of alike, so I can't guarantee they were all the right ones in the right places).

Since then, we have prompted him several times to begin counting by saying, "One..." Sometimes he refuses to bite and grins that silly grin instead, like he's deliberately not doing what he knows we want him to do. Other times, though, he shows off by telling us several numbers in a row, always the next number after the one we've said.

That's right. Our eighteen-month-old can't (won't) walk, but he knows the majority of his numbers up to twenty. I don't see a whole lot of sports in his future, but some math competitions? Quite likely. That's my boy!

Also, new pictures, finally.

A Little Off the Top

Some of you may have noticed my inconsistent blogging lately. I simply have not had the motivation to write much. Do not be concerned, however, because I will still be showing up from time to time to make sure you don't miss out on any important moments, like Nathan finally walking more than a clumsy, hesitant step or two.

That being said, I am here today because of one of those important moments. We decided yesterday that it was long past time to get the boys haircuts. Actually, it was a little soon for Patrick because I could still see eyes and ears behind the mop of hair, but Nathan was starting to look like a wild man. So he had his first ever haircut.

Of course he cried, the whole way through the haircut. Even having his brother right next to him, calmly sitting throughout his own haircut, didn't keep him from being traumatized by the event. Fortunately he calmed easily once he was out of the cute little car chair.

I, however, am not recovering quite as easily. I miss those adorable little baby curls that will soon only exist in his baby book. He's still as cute and charming as ever, but he is certainly more that little boy he's turning into than the baby he was.

Of course I have pictures. You can see the whole group of pictures here, but here are a few before and afters for you.

Patrick before

Patrick after

Nathan from the front, before

Nathan from the back, before

Nathan from the front, after

Nathan from the side/back, after

Pizza, Pizza

Patrick's progress in his speech has been so gradual over the last few months that I sometimes forget how drastic it really is. Here are a few things he never used to do that would have been typical for his age:

--answer questions with "yes" or "no"
--answer questions at all without repeating the last thing you just said
--sing songs
--say full sentences
--connect several thoughts together
--use pronouns often
--say his numbers fluently
--say his alphabet
--name colors

I am now proud to say that he does every single one of these things. He surprises me with new things just about every day.

For example, last night Matt and I decided to order pizza for dinner. We're both fighting a nasty cold and didn't feel like cooking, so pizza was the natural solution. In the past, pizza has been hit or miss with Patrick, so we were stunned to watch him devour nearly three whole pieces of pizza. Yes, really. I was so shocked that I couldn't help but ask him, "Where are you putting it all?"

Matt and I couldn't keep from laughing as he replied, with a mouth full of pizza, "In my mouf!" That's my literal kid!

Sharing

This is a first. Both boys are wearing the same size pajamas. It's laundry day, and somehow we went through all of Nathan's pajamas more quickly than usual. He was left with just really warm flannel footy pajamas, all just a bit too small for him the last time he wore them several months ago. I couldn't do that to him, so I fished through Patrick's drawer for some that might fit. The ones I found fit remarkably well, just a little long (but elastic around the ankles keep them from dragging). It seems that we are only a few months from sharing nearly all their clothes. I wonder if it will be easier or more difficult to have them sharing a wardrobe.

Hopefully it won't be too much of a problem. Patrick is usually really good about sharing. He always willingly offers his brother part of his meals and snacks, sometimes even when he's not supposed to, like when Nathan's mouth is already full. There are the expected problems with taking toys away from each other, but Patrick is trying really hard to learn when that is inappropriate.

It's great that the two are playing together now, too. Sometimes they get a little wound up and play games that are a bit out of my comfort zone for them, like the open/close the door game, but it makes life a little easier when their games are less dangerous. I particularly like the game where Patrick mimics Nathan. It's hilarious to watch both of them scooting around the floor, like a crazy little choo-choo train. Nathan flourishes under the attention of his big brother as well. I can tell already that the two are going to be very close as they get older. It's a good thing, if they're going to grow up sharing a wardrobe.

You'll be interested to know that I finally got around to downloading pictures. I have pictures from Christmas, both places, and a few of Patrick riding his tricycle that Santa left at our house while we were gone, then a few I took of the boys yesterday. You can find them here (can you tell it's a lot easier on me to just link them?). Enjoy.

Slacker

Yup, I've been a huge slacker where this blog is concerned. Anybody remember when I used to post every single day, with pictures? I have proof I used to, but I can barely remember those days myself. Somehow the time just gets away from me with taking care of two VERY active children.

Since I last posted, we have celebrated Christmas and New Year's, and life has been back to normal for a full week again already.

We spent Christmas with my family--the whole family. During the days, there were ten adults, four children (well, four and a half, if you count my niece Anna's future baby brother or sister), three dogs, and the elusive cat. I think everyone was glad when we took two adults and two kids out of the picture in the evenings when we went back to our hotel each night. It was a chaotic few days, but lots of fun and I'm glad we didn't miss out on the festivities.

The kids banked for Christmas. When we got home, we cleaned out all but a few of their pre-Christmas toys to make room for all the new ones, and they haven't missed any of the old ones. They simply got that many new toys. Matt and I were definitely blessed as well, with more than we know what to do with.

The day after Christmas, we went to Big Spring to spend a few days with Matt's family as well. (This is where about half of the kids' toys came from; I told you they banked!) It was a little less chaotic there, until the dogs started running, but also a cherished family time.

I didn't take many pictures of our holiday, unfortunately. (I told you I was slacking.) In Dallas, both my brothers were there with their professional-quality cameras, that I kept mine in its case almost the whole time. I'll have to get some pictures from them. I also didn't take too many in Big Spring, but thankfully a few more than in Dallas. The problem is that they are all still on my camera. Yes, this long after our vacation, I have yet to download any of the pictures from Christmas and before. In fact, I don't know that I've even taken any new pictures since we got back. Remember what I said about slacking? I'll either post the pictures or a link to them when I finally get around to downloading them.

The boys are both growing so much right now. Patrick's language seems to be going through another explosion. He speaks in full sentences most of the time, and some of the things he comes up with crack me up. For example, yesterday when I was changing his diaper, Amber came poking her nose up to see what the fuss was about and sniff out whether it was a dirty diaper. I shooed her away as usual, and Patrick had to comment on it. "Amber eat poop?" he asked. I reassured him that I thought that was unlikely, but I thought it was hilarious that he thought that was the reason I was keeping her nose away from his exposed bottom.

He still loves school and asks every day if he gets to ride the school bus. He loves even more when I tell him he's going to MDO first. He names all of his teachers by name. It's funny, though, that all of a sudden he has started clinging to me when it's time for me to leave him at MDO. Unless one of his teachers is holding him and playing with him, he won't let go of me. I don't think he dislikes being there; he'd just rather I got to stay and play with him.

Nathan's personality is what is most interesting about his developments. He is a total hoot. He makes up silly games to play with each of us, and that mischievious smile will get him out of trouble almost every time he does something he knows he's not supposed to. It's like his goal in life is to make people laugh, and he knows he's good at it. I still get comments all the time when we're out whether he's always that happy. Yes, he usually is (until he gets sleepy, as many of you got to discover over Christmas break).

No, he is still not walking yet. I honestly think he could if he wanted to, but he's a little timid about trying it. Besides, his scoot will get him places almost as fast as walking, so what's the point? I know eventually one day he will decide it's time to walk, and he'll be off. When that happens, we'll never catch him.

Over the last few weeks, Nathan has sprouted just about all the teeth he had left to cut. It made for some frustrating, sleepless nights when he was in the most pain, but we seem to be past that now. He sports a full set of teeth instead. No wonder he's suddenly so eager to try any "real" food we can put in front of him. Like his brother, his favorites currently include waffles and anything with lots of cheese.

Guess what I just realized? I have a group of pictures I downloaded right before Christmas that I never shared with you. Since I am quickly running out of time to write, I will just have to post the link, like I did last time. You can find some cute pictures, including Christmas-y ones of Nathan here.