MIA

Sorry. It truly has been a long couple of weeks. The babies are teething, H is having some sort of anxiety which involves waking up in the middle of the night and taking complete advantage of his sleep deprived parents by weaseling his way into our bed, and we have been juggling the selling and buying of cars, getting the fence/irrigation installed, applying to an au pair program, getting ready to go on vacation and moreover day-to-day life. Things have been chaotic.

But I should be able to find a few things to say about the boys. H is a sponge for words. Dad was looking at a framed construction drawing that neighbors recently gave us for the boys' room. H was able to point to not only the dump truck, the excavator and the backhoe but he also knew the scraper, front end loader and of course the 'dozer. Amazing. I'd like to say who knew all those things even existed... but I know the answer to that: H did.

As for babies, B and E are doing well. The continue to be stuck in the all fours position- crawling has not commenced. This is extremely frustrating for B who bellows with desire to go places! to do things! E is somewhat more philosophical about it, but he still manages to scooch around the floor.

The Missing Link part 2

H and E continue to look very similar but at moments you can catch glimpses of H in B now and then.

H has been so funny lately- he's been having extremely elaborate, loquacious coversations on the old cell phone I gave him. He "phones" Mimi and proceeds to use every word he knows, at least twice, plus many many words of gibberish. He harhars at his own jokes, excitedly explains things about "Baby E! Eee Eee and Baby B! Bee Bee" and punctuates the conversation with outbursts of 'googoobah' and 'dahpahdoo' (meaningless to us). It's fun to see him chatting with so much joy.

As for the babies, they had their 6 month shots today-- a little late. B cried hysterically and E grimaced. Poor boys.

Babes in Toyland

Zoo

We took a little trip to the zoo today. H was bouncing off the walls before we even got dressed. "Bye-bye!" he cheerfully demanded. We reviewed (multiple times) the noises of the animals we were eager to see: lions, elephants, monkeys, giraffes, tigers (though we saw none), and bears. H had a wonderful time-- he even rode on a carousel. We were afraid a previous experience may have scarred him for life, but he enjoyed it this time around.

Play Ball

Decisions, decisions....

get back here you slippery little bugger

i give up. i'll just work on what i'm good at: being cute.

Isn't E such a little Ham. He's really a pro at sitting up, though when he does fall-- it's hard. He also likes playing with these nubby balls that he got for Christmas (back when he was a wee little guy). Now he spends significant amount of time (oh say three minutes at least) whacking at the balls and trying to get them to come closer. What a cutie pie.

Miscellanea

I don't have any pictures just a few little anecdotes. There are a few things that I want to remember-- I haven't had the opportunity to capture them on video and with the craziness of life at the moment, I'm not sure I will. But they are things the boys do that I know will pass quickly and I will forget about. For the moment, they are adorable actions that make me smile, remind me why I am feel so grateful for and blessed by my boys.

Babies- Getting down the stairs can be a juggling act around here. Usually it involves bringing one baby downstairs first. After settling that baby on the floor mat or near some toys, I return for the second baby and H. H can go downstairs by himself, but we continue to help him down when we have a free hand. The babies love watching H bounce down the steps. For whatever reason, each finds the action hilarious. On their own, they let out belly laughs and little screeches of delight. For whatever reason, the light blond hair flying as he bounces, the giggles that he emits as he goes, or the motion of his chubby knees bending in anticipation of the next little leap drive the babies to the biggest grins and the best moods. It happens every time-- I don't know why they find it so amusing, but it makes me happy that it does.

H- After the cold, we all had runny noses for days-- including me. I was sitting in the passenger seat the other day as we traveled to visit my parents. I was using a Kleenex to blow my nose with great gusto. A few minutes later, we heard the sound of raspberries and H's giggles. He was sitting in his car seat holding his nose and making raspberries. I was confused, but Dad said, 'H... are you blowing your nose?' H just giggled harder. Apparently, I'm the height of physical comedy these days.

H- Likes to brush his teeth. Every morning- 'Eeth?' he asks. Hard to distinguish from 'eat' one of his other favorite morning phrases. I strongly suspect that it is his toothpaste which motivates such wonderful dental hygiene, but who am I to question motives? Anyways, into the bathroom we shuffle; meanwhile, H is dancing around, blanket in tow, crowing 'I do it!' 'IDoIt'

Don't get me wrong, our life isn't one cutesy story to the next- there are plenty of baby food battles, clingy children, tick removal episodes and general chaos to make me really appreciate the aforementioned little moments...