apple of peace

On our walk back from the park today I let the boys share an apple. Ethan would take a bite then pass it to Seth who would hold it and take a bite and then pass it back to Ethan. This went on for the entire walk back. At one point the apple was small enough for Seth to plunk the entire thing in his mouth, which Ethan fished back out to eat another bite. The sharing ended with Ethan holding out the apple for Seth to eat and then pulling it away just as Seth went to take a bite. This made them both giggle for a few minutes. They finally gave up on the apple when it was about the size of a quarter. Glad that they are not finicky apple eaters.

ethan the photographer

I let Ethan have a bit of control of the camera today. He gets funny these days when you try and take his picture, so I thought maybe if he had a turn he'd understand what I was doing when I was trying to take his. The above photo is one of his shots. He was cute when he was taking Naomi's photo, he kept saying "homie, look here" then he'd say "boo". It's a bit scary what they pick up on, we are always being watched and are always an example. YIKES.

We played outside today too. It was a very nice day. I started off outside with the boys by having lunch. That was a mistake, since they hadn't had any time to play they both ate one bite of sandwhich and then said "all done" because they wanted to go backyard exploring. Oh well, they are not wasting away by any stretch of the imagination, and playing is better than eating! But I do have to admit, my hungry hippo Seth did come back and take bites here and there. He worked out that I would let him continue to play if he only had a bite, but if he wanted to hold the sandwhich he would have to sit. So he just came back for bites. They are so smart, smart enough to play dumb when they want to.

cooking with a toddler

Ethan loves to help, and loves it when it's time to fix dinner, even if that time is in the morning. Cooking with a toddler isn't for the faint hearted we ended up with a big mess, both on the counter and on the floor. The floor mess was from little bro playing while we cooked.

Our finished, but not yet cooked product. So thankful for a big slow cooker. It almost didn't all fit. I'll for sure have enough to share with a couple families.

homie

Homie, as Ethan has nicknamed her, ate for the first time last night. Ethan was so excited for her to eat rice, he kept repeating "homie, eat rice?, homie eat rice?" Honestly she just mushed it then spat it back out. She's still keeping me up 3 times a night most nights. I'm working a system to keep myself in enough sleep mode while I feed her that I feel a bit more rested by morning. We will get there eventually, I'm confident of that. I've taught both the boys to sleep through, but with her I've just been way more lenient and a lot more soft hearted, which is okay, especially since she is the baby. Yet the consequence has been a wakeful baby at night. She always settles back for her sleep after her feed, so we are definetly on track.

She each day seems to get smilier, if that's even a word. She is still finger sucking obsessed (anyone's finger, she's not biased) and dummy (pacifier) intolerant.

a mother's mistake

Seth is desperate to be like his big brother in so many aspects. I gave into him today and allowed him to eat his pasta with a spoon and bowl. It might have been a mistake by the mess that he ended up making but what's a little mess. My motto is, "it can be cleaned".

Here are my "nudie" boys running around the house having a grand old time. See, it can be cleaned, and they had a blast running around shouting "nudie!!"

morning play

We are finally getting a little more organization in the office/toy room area. We got a new toy box system for the toys. So far it's been a hit. Ethan is building a tower, which after he finished building he tore it apart and put all the pieces away (mr. organized). Seth (the little explorer) went through every drawer and pulled out several toys.

We also went to the library yesterday and got some new books. Set up a little table in the toy room and wa lah, fun at the table reading books.

swing

Ethan has hated the swing since he was a baby. Today for the first time he went on the swings and loved it. Seth is talking so much, when Ethan got off the swings before Seth did, Seth said to me, "Ethan, got off." Crazy that he is talking so much.

sweet day

We had a really lovely day together today. We spent the morning over at Sarah's place. The boys had a blast playing with their friends, Eleni, Jolene, Adele, Eowyn, and Lelani. The Fishers arrived back safely and are doing well.

I told Terry tonight that Ethan seems to be balancing out a bit more, or maybe it's me who is balancing out a bit more with them. Ethan was very pleasant regardless of who is more balanced. He was very sweet at Sarah's today, spontaneously saying thank you for lunch and our time there. He is also sometimes sharing without being asked with Seth. He has a very sweet heart. At the same time he is for sure a boy, and can be VERY rambunctious to the detriment of his brother and sister.

Seth is growing and understanding so much. It seems like he's had another little development spurt. It's fun to hear what he is saying and understanding. Yet, at the same time he has become a bit more defiant and slow to obey. Definitely asserting himself more.

Naomi laughed so hard today that she was snorting. I was kissing her cheek and neck, and blowing in her ear. She thought this was very tickely and funny. She loves chewing on stuff, and I'm finding that she is not as prone to lay without a toy as she use to be. I'm pulling out all my baby toys and putting them together to have on hand for her whenever she needs them.

Seth was asking for ganpa and ganma tonight. And that was Ethan's first request after his nap, "see grandma and grandpa?" They still don't understand the "they are on the other side of the world" concept, but I'm not sure I do either.

happy

Naomi was a very cheerful little girl today. She was often laughing and would consistently smile the moment her eyes met yours.

i need

Ethan has a particular way of expressing his desires, which is he only says "I need and then fill in the blank". We all overslept this morning so we were out of our morning routine. Instead of Terry getting the boys up, I went in to get them. Ethan promptly asked "Dada gone?", when I said "No, he's in the shower." Ethan replied "I NEED DADA!"

when dada got home

The first thing that Ethan said to Dada when Terry got home was "I saw Grandma and Grandpa and Maggie!" He hadn't mentioned it all day since it had happened so I wasn't even sure if it had made a blurp on his little brain, yet obviously it had. Ethan went on to say that Maggie was licking Grandma.

Seth continues to be Seth, getting into everything and being a total dare devil. He loves trying to balance on things and then tries to jump off those things. He also loves doing things just because I tell him that it's YUCK. Like eating the dirty bits in the window sill. He sticks his finger in the sill, and then in his mouth and says "Nummy!" and I of course repeat "YUCK!!!"

One about homie -- tonight at dinner she was sitting in my lap chewing on my finger. Seth was making funny noises in his high chair, making Naomi laugh.

My goal will be to post a few times a week with stories from our days.