Invasion of the Bed Snatchers

This one:

is growing up faster than I can believe. 

He has so much energy and is constantly testing my limits of endurance.

Lately he's been such a talker.

In addition to his constant jabbering we've been hearing a lot of actual words.

English ones.

He loves to say, "Thank you, momma."

And he sometimes calls Ty "mom Ty."

The other day we went swimming at the public pool. He was absolutely devastated when we had to leave.

He came out of the locker room where Ty had gotten him dressed and, sobbing, said, "He took my suit, mom. He took my suit."

It was adorable and kind of sad.

He's also (finally) able to do puzzles.

As in, he figured it out this morning.

It's pretty cute and he's quite proud of himself when he gets them all in.

He's still the master of naughtiness.

He's so creative.

I'm trying to focus on that instead of the mess/frustration.

That's him pulling all of the "bunches" out of the Honey Bunches of Oats.

The rejected flakes got dumped on the floor.

And we're still seeing this:

quite often.

It's okay though, because we're getting a lot more of this too:

He's a good brother and he loves Jay to death.

Sometimes Jay even loves him back. :)

This boy:

is getting cuter by the minute.
(Literally, you can sit around and watch him get cuter.)

It kills me.

I love him to death.

Lately some of his favorites are:

*food

He notices everything that goes into everyone's mouth.

And he wants it.

He's even started trying to charm it out of you.

As soon as he notices you eating he'll start cooing and smiling as if to say, "Aren't I cute? Don't you want to share with me?"

You think I'm making this up, but after he cutes it up real good he'll start glancing back and forth between your face and your food, just in case you didn't get the hint.

It might be my favorite thing ever.

*bath time

He loves being in the shower.

He spends the entire time trying to grab a hold of the water.

And when you let a little stream of it hit him in the mouth his tongue darts out to get it. 

Adorable.

*being naked

(Don't you just love that chub?)

I'm pretty sure he gets poop on his clothes just so he can get away with being naked.

He's sneaky like that.

Yesterday the weather was perfect. 

We took advantage.

Boys

Jay Alvin

This boy recently started eating solid foods, and he loves it. In fact, I'm pretty sure his entire world is now categorized into "things I can eat" and "things I can't eat." Every time he sees something new you can see the little wheels in his head turning, trying to evaluate its food potential. And he gets really angry when you eat in front of him and don't share. 

He's also getting more and more happy and interactive every day. He loves to watch Leo and he thinks Leo is the funniest person ever. He still hates his car seat, but he's loving his bouncer. He's pretty good about jumping long enough for me to get a shower and even do a little cleaning. We sure love his cute little face.

Leo

This one is becoming more and more independent. I can't leave him alone for any amount of time without worrying about what he's getting in to.

He absolutely loves his little brother and wants to be touching him constantly. (This is a bit annoying to Jay Alvin and also to me because it makes Jay scream.) He loves to share (unless you ask him to) and lately he especially wants to share his food with his brother. The other day I handed Leo a package of fruit snacks and he immediately ran into where Jay Alvin was. I didn't hear him make any noise so I rushed in and, sure enough, there was a fruit snack in Jay's mouth. I got it out before he choked on it, but Jay was sure mad about losing his treat.

Leo continues to amaze me with his ability to come up with new and exciting ways to get into trouble. Just when I think he's exhausted every possibility, he surprises me yet again. Just this morning he flushed a barrette down the toilet, covered Jay's hair in hand soap and flooded the bathroom floor all in about 5 minutes. Every day with him is an adventure.   

"Little people like you and me, if our prayers are sometimes granted, beyond all hope and probability, had better not draw hasty conclusions to our own advantage. If we were stronger, we might be less tenderly treated. If we were braver, we might be sent, with far less help, to defend far more desperate posts in the great battle."
C. S. Lewis