Baby Fights Back

It's tough being the baby. For so many months, he could only enjoy the scenery where we left him. Boy, the baby is fighting back now. Just in the last couple of days, Michael has started pulling himself up on anything that will handle his weight. Tables, toys, Daddy's knees, Jason's head. You do what you have to do. And Michael is getting there.

Jason the Cookie Maker

To Jason, baking is a great stress reliever. And, with Grandma's visit last week, he figured he would be able to roll up his sleeves and make chocolate chip cookies using his cow-shaped cookie cutter. Thankfully, the result was a tasty treat for all of us. Really, Jason surprises us with his independence and his desire to help. A couple of examples. He's now able to cut his own fingernails. I don't know whether this is an accomplishment, but I was pretty impressed. Anyway, he always complained I was hurting him when I did it for him. This is a decent alternative. Yesterday, he asked if he could carry Michael. He's never asked to do that before, and quite frankly, I don't know why he would do it now. At 20 pounds and growing, Michael is more than half Jason's weight. The gap is closing by the hour. Then, at the YMCA today, he held the door open for a little girl. It's the first time I'd seen him do that. I was so proud. Another emotion rose to the surface, though, when Jason lunged at Michael with a crayon in hand and yelled, "I have to color you, Michael!!!" Don't worry, I stopped the artist-to-be just in time.

Michael's First Birthday

Another milestone, a big one, for Michael. He turned one year old this week. And, he had two big parties to help ring in the new year. The first one, on St. Patrick's Day--brought Grandma and Grandpa to us. Michael had ice cream cake, which he enjoyed very much, until some of it flew into his eye. Take a look at the second picture. Ouch. Then, a few days later, Amah and Akong came over, to dress him in a traditional birthday celebration outfit--and another cake. He took it all in stride. He seems a bit heavier these days.

Peyton's Birthday Party

The boys have been busy over the last week. A major highlight--a birthday party that both Jason and Michael attended at My Gym last weekend. The pictures really speak for themselves. The party was so well done. Always moving, the kids always involved. Jason enjoyed all the climbing, jumping, and rolling. He especially loved all the rides that were set up. Jason even spent some time in the ball pit with the birthday girl, Peyton.

Pictures to Come

The boys received haircuts yesterday. Pictures to come!!! I am happy to say both of them got through the process remarkably well. Doug thinks it's because they're so used to it. They both have so much hair!!!

Montessori Lessons

I'm fascinated with the Montessori way of learning. One of the concepts it stresses is sequencing. A book I read recently shared an interesting lesson, encouraging us to take pictures of Jason's routines, in order. I'm supposed to print them out, then have him talk about what he's doing, put them in order, paste them in a book, etc. This is as far as I've gotten. We'll get to the next steps soon.

Michael's word count has increased by about two. If you'll remember, his first word was "cheese." He's moved on to "uh oh." These days, everything we do is an "uh oh." And, just yesterday, so clearly, he spits out, "Daa-Dee." Doug is thrilled.

Here's a snippet of conversation with Jason after I picked him up from preschool today.
Me: "How was preschool, Jason? What did you do?"
Jason: "I played with toys, and with Abree."
Me: "Oh?"
Jason: "We didn't kiss!"

It is as if he's a teenager already!

Jason's Talking Letters

Lots of milestones to report. Jason and Michael are playing together more and more. By choice, which is nice. Michael has started to enjoy peekaboo with Jason. The giggles come out when Michael bends all the way to his left (while still in his feeding chair), then looks at Jason, who does the same thing. It's the funniest thing to watch. Above is one of the first crawling pictures I have been able to capture. He's getting sooo fast, I can't snap the picture fast enough. And when he hits vinyl, he KNOWS he can move quickly. It's hard to believe Michael is just a few weeks away from turning one.

Jason knows his alphabet. The Leapfrog Talking Letters Factory DVD singlehandedly made it possible. It's amazing. He knows the letters and the sounds they make. Just amazing. Here, he's playing (finally) with the tower of blocks that Grandma and Grandpa got him when he was born. He loves it now, more than ever.