No Pictures?!?

I just went to look for some pictures to upload for this week. It doesn't appear that I took any. Oops. While a welcome change for you, the poor reader, it is an oversight on my part. I try to take pictures of my sweet boys. They are growing up so fast.

This week I was looking through pictures of Justin when he was 6 months and younger. I can't believe how fast that little baby has changed into a very busy, very opinionated toddler. His growth is incredible. He keeps me busy and is a challenge. I am sure that soon I will look back at pictures of him at this age and be just as amazed at how fast he grew. Hmm... I don't know if that sentence makes sense. I am still not getting enough sleep, thank you very much boys!

Justin received some wooden building blocks from my mother this week. When he saw them (mind you he walked right by them several times without noticing them before he literally sat on them) he was so excited and asked me what they were. I told him they were a present from Grandma and Papa. He exclaimed, "blocks!" and then added, "I can build with them!" We have been doing a lot of building and destroying and rebuilding.

His favorite books for the week include Dr. Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss' ABCs, and I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean. He tries to read them on his own and has memorized a lot of them. He gets scared of some parts, like the "scary" alligator for A and has to read it from a distance. He is such a screwy kid that way. He loves things that scare him, but he doesn't like to be too close to them. He pretended he was a dinosaur and then needed me to hold him because he is scared of dinosaurs.

Tiny continues to be a joy. He is a good natured little fellow. He reaches out with one hand and holds on to a crib bar while he sleeps. He is experimenting with his voice and can be quite loud. He laughs at Justin and enjoys watching his big brother. Ryan even laughed when I used the syringe bulb to suck boogers out of his nose. Talk about laid back!

Yesterday it was pouring rain. Justin and I spent almost an hour outside. He loves any chance to put on his raincoat and rainboots to splash in the puddles. I am not quite as enthusiastic, but I do like to see him having such a good time. I also wear my boots so I can splash. I am sure people wondered about us being outside intentionally in that weather.

Hopefully this week I can remember to take some pictures and remember some of the cute things that the boys do. The amount of sleep Justin gets (and therefore the amount that I get) has a lot to do with it. There are some days when it is all I can do to function.

Another Week with Kids

I love the way Tiny sleeps. Just give him a blanket (or burp rag, or hat, or towel, or shirt...) and/or cover his head and face and he sleeps pretty well. Certainly better than Justin did or does. I love it when I am near him when he wakes up. He opens his eyes and is immediately happy if he sees me. Even as I type, he is in the same seat as the picture with one blanket over his head and another clutched in his hand. So precious. Now looking at the next picture and seeing Justin out cold you might jump to the conclusion that he is a great sleeper. WRONG! He has been having night terrors and other funky sleep things going on lately that have made it hard for Rob and me to sleep at night. Evidently even though Justin appears refreshed in the morning, it must take something out of him too.

I know that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children under two NOT watch TV, but Ryan disagrees. Look at the way he contorts his body to see the screen. He can roll front to back and back to front now and thinks he is pretty cool. Sometimes his arm gets caught under his body and that ticks him off. He has a set of lungs and knows how to use them. I wish he would use them more often. The other day I caught Justin shoving foil from some candy into Tiny's mouth. Was Tiny screaming? No, he was laughing. He also laughs when Justin sits on him. Hello!?!? Why do you encourage him, Ryan? Ryan thinks that Justin is the best toy ever. I don't know if he is as good as TV though. TV is pretty awesome.
Ryan has also started using his Jumperoo. He likes it better than the swing or the chair. He jumps in it only a little so far. I have to raise it yet again. He is a tall dude and ready for setting three of four. At this rate he will outgrow it by next week!
I continue to be amazed that people have more than two children. My brother and his wife are expecting their fourth. How on earth do they manage? I can't get enough sleep with two of them! I look forward to the day I can smile again instead of clenching my mouth closed to keep from yawning or drooling. I wonder what it is like to NOT have a full laundry hamper. I think there was a time in my life when I didn't have to vacuum at least once a day. Oh well. I have grown rather attached to the little buggers--MOST of the time.

Here is a clip of Tiny making Tiny type noises. I would say that it is pretty boring if you aren't family, but Rob would probably tell me it is boring even if you are family. I am not sure which clip it is. I tried taking several, but the boy just didn't cooperate. I figured it didn't matter which one I uploaded.

Easter

Today was Easter. We had a nice Easter lunch with some friends from church. Justin was in heaven because he knows the kids who were there from his church nursery class. How fun is that? It was nice for me too. A delicious meal without the prep or cleanup. I could get used to that. :)

Justin was excited to look in his Easter basket and enjoyed more candy than he should have. He has been reading books about the Easter bunny with me and has really gotten into it this year. We talked a little about how we think about Jesus at Easter, but didn't go into that much. I figured if it came to Justin choosing between Jesus and the Easter bunny that he wouldn't make the choice I would want him to make. He's two years old. Getting candy from a walking, talking rabbit makes more sense to him than someone dying (not that he knows what that is) and being resurrected. Pretty big concept for adults. Hopefully this year he will get a little bit of the Jesus part at Christmas and be able to carry it over to Easter. For now we will continue to work on Jesus loves Justin and pictures of Jesus with children and other happy pictures.

We dyed eggs this week and he was thrilled to be able to watch the eggs change color. Better yet were the eggs that had his name written on with wax crayon. It was like magic to see the egg come out colored with his name on it! It did make quite the mess. I had the foresight to have us perform the messy task out on the balcony with Justin wearing only a diaper and an art smock. We had the table covered with a trash bag and plenty of wipes and water to keep things under control. Justin and I both ended up with dye on our hands and arms. Ryan was unhappy sitting just inside the doorway, so I moved his chair out with us and he promptly fell asleep. I was a little worried that he would get dye spilled on him and be green or something. Luckily, that didn't happen.

We also went to Nandemo (community center) this week for their mini sports club. Justin had a blast. He got kind of bored listening to some of the directions since they were in Japanese. The people running the activity had a lot of fun things, but they moved through a lot of them too quickly. The childen would have enjoyed doing some things over and over instead of once or twice. Oh well. If they have the time to plan a billion things instead of just a few, more power to them. Towards the end we had to make a less than graceful exit. Justin was not listening to me. It is important that he listens since I have Ryan with us (in our new Ergo baby carrier which is the best). If he doesn't listen, we are done. So I ended up carrying Ryan in the carrier and a screaming, tantruming Justin through the gym, down the hall, and to the stroller. Justin didn't even get his shoes and socks back on. I hope he gets it. I carried him home from the playroom once and ever since he has been so good about listening to me. We'll see. The gym is pretty fun. It has a lot of tempting things like a slide, trampoline, balls, bikes (and trikes and unicycles), balance beams... All that and space to run. So hard to listen to boring Mommy. (You may note that he has had a haircut in these pictures. Yay!)

Please Can We Get Out?

We have such good time at Nandemo, but eventually we do want to go back home.

I Love the Slide!

Justin has refused to go down the green playground slides for some time now. In the dry, winter weather he got a zap thanks to static electricity and decided to shy away from the risk. Well this week he decided to give it another go. Not too suprisingly, he loves it. He tells me that he loves it with the kind of attitude that sounds like he has known all along he would, but that I was the one holding him back. My silly little Justin.

Here he is on the playground with his friend, Ellington. When he first met Ellington he thought his name was Oxygen. That makes no sense. Everyone knows that Oxygen is a girl's name. :) Now he often says it as if it is three separate words. It is so cute. Ellington is such a good natured little boy. He is a bit younger than Justin and Justin sometimes gets overexcited and knocks him over or runs too fast when they are playing scream and chase. Ellington just keeps smiling. (Note how Justin is in DESPERATE need of a haircut!
The cherry blossoms are out and absolutely beautiful. Gentle breezes blow some of them down like soft, fluffy snowflakes. It is pretty and not cold like snow. I was standing out on the playground with Justin and Ryan. We were the only three people there. Ryan was asleep and Justin was actually being quiet. As the blossoms floated up, down, and around in the slight breeze I felt like I was in some sort of artistic foreign movie scene. I didn't see any cameras or hear any music or sound effects, so I am pretty sure it was just a rare, beautiful, quiet moment in my life.

The Glass Is Half ?

Okay, so finish the sentence. Are you a glass half full or half empty type person? I would finish the sentence so it reads

The glass is halfway across the room and Justin needs it with NEW water RIGHT NOW!

I do know that the laundry basket is not half full or half empty. It is constantly FULL. How is that possible? I can't do laundry fast enough some days. When my mom was here she did a million loads for me. Moms are the best. I love my mom. I'm not always so sure how I feel about being a mom though. The sick leave, vacation days, and work hours aren't very good. Maybe we should form a union. Wouldn't that be something?

This week has had its ups and downs. Occasionally I feel like I may actually even have my act together. Five minutes later, Justin will have me wanting to throw him across the room. He can be so stubborn and obnoxious. He acts like he is two years old. I wonder if he will outgrow that phase when he is three. I suppose I can't fault him for acting like a two year old when he is one. He can be such a sweet boy too. I love him so much. He and Tiny can just get going at the same time and often do.

Tiny now rolls from stomach to back intentionally. He thinks he is pretty cool. He is working on blowing raspberries and his constant spit bubbles are a source of entertainment for Justin. I love the times that Ryan and Justin are by each other, blowing bubbles and laughing. They look so cute together laughing and drooling.

Ryan slept all night in his crib this week too. He woke up for a 1:30 AM feeding, but otherwise was on his own. It was hard for me to sleep because I wondered when he would wake up. He has been sleeping in bed with me and Rob. Last night he was sleeping on his own, but when he woke up in the night to be fed I brought him in bed to nurse him and fell asleep before putting him back in bed. Oh well. I figure whatever works so I can get sleep. Tiny insists on having something on his face while he sleeps and I have finally given in. I worry about it, but I am sure that I am not the first mother to let her infant cover his face up.

Ryan is sleeping better than Justin is. Justin talks in his sleep and I hear that on the monitor. Justin gets up and does things in his sleep. Justin has vivid dreams and wakes up disoriented. Sigh. He was up at 4:30 the other morning and it made for a loooooooooooong cranky day. Generally he has been pretty good though, going down at 8:00 PM and up at 6:00 AM or so. I shouldn't complain.

Justin's favorite story of the week is There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and he loves reading the different versions of the story we have, watching it over and over (and over) on DVD, and acting it out with the manipulatives I gave him. I wish he would cooperate for pictures and video clips. He does such a nice job retelling the story, but the kid is stubborn around the camera.

Tiny's four month check up is tomorrow. I guess I will find out just how big Tiny Baby is getting.