Christmas Planning

Playdates and parties have made up a big part of the last few weeks. Pictures to come, of course. Today, though, we got the chance to take a breath and relax.

Jason and Michael immediately jumped into the box.



They stayed there for 20 minutes, at least. It was so nice.

Jason and I were talking the other day about presents for Daddy. I don't think sharing this conversation will reveal too many secrets. I asked Jason what he thought we should buy Daddy.

He thought for a moment, and told me, "Robots." I pressed on. "Anything else?" I asked.

More thinking. Then he said, "Nightlights. Lots of nightlights."

It gets better.

You can tell we do a lot of reasoning (some people might call it bribing), because today, I asked/told him to finish dinner, to which he replied:

"If you make me eat this fishstick, I won't let you come to any of my birthday parties, EVER!"

More Growing Pains

Almost 21 months old, and Michael THINKS he's 4. Just like his big brother. Here, Michael is climbing up the steep rungs leading up to the big slide at the park. I don't think Jason did THAT until he was at least 3.



Michael had no competition this day. Jason was nowhere near the steep rungs.
He was way too busy with Abree, who is moving in a couple of weeks.
I'm sure he doesn't understand what that means, yet. But Sheila and I are happy they're spending plenty of quality time together before they have to separate.





Of course, I don't want you to think it's all fun and games. Michael's motor skills are growing by leaps and bounds. He certainly wants to do EVERYTHING he sees Jason do. But, Michael has started to get pretty clingy and cranky, and worse yet, crybaby-like. So unlike Michael. I hope he grows out of it soon. Otherwise, you'll see more and more pictures like the one below. I asked Jason what he thought of Michael's recent behavior. He said, "I don't like it much, either."



By the way, thank goodness hair grows back. A mishap at the salon leaves Michael with no hair. Growing pains, and now this. Poor baby.

A Michael Milestone

The holiday madness is here, but, we are ahead of the game in at least one respect. Our tree is up, thanks in part to the boys' help. And they make sure it is lit every time we walk into the house.



We're celebrating another Michael milestone, as well.
I know Michael and I had a real-life conversation tonight.
Really.

We were eating peanuts, and I reached over to take one from the can in front of him.
He stopped me, grabbed the peanut out of my hand, and said, "No. Mine."
I said, "What?"
He said, "Look."
He proceeded to pop the peanut in his mouth, said, "MMMM," and smiled.
He is a little man of few words, but he managed to get his point across.

We Call This "The Face"

Thankfully, the boys can't hold those scowls for long.

This is what we're used to.



We hope you don't ever have to come face to face with "the face."