Kid Update

These boys are growing so fast. I have to start writing down what they are up to before I forget.

Graham

Oh, Graham where do I start? Graham astounds me. Graham astounds me with the way he memorizes phrases from his favorite movies and quotes them randomly- just.like.his.dad. He astounds me with his little night-time prayers, rattling off everything he is thankful for. He is learning about 'favorites.' His favorite ball, his favorite book. The zinnias are blooming and we go out and admire them and we each pick our favorite. He has been interested in who is a 'boy' or 'girl.' Not anatomically, just socially; he can distinguish who's a boy or girl. Graham can't pronounce words that begin with an S+consonant. So, "spoon" is "foon," "stairs" are "fairs," "scared" is "fared." I love it. Graham is potty trained! He can make it through naptime and in the car without an accident. He only wears a diaper at night- I know he wouldn't make it all night. But we are proud of him for accomplishing this :) Graham continues to be a 2-year old, of course. He is finally gaining more independence- he will sometimes play unsupervised or look at books by himself. But he still needs a lot of discipline and redirection. He loves to yell, 'no share!!' at his brother. He often says 'thank you' without being told, but never 'please.' He's still pretty demanding. And he's smart. He knows when we're in a restaurant and we want him to sit quietly; and he chooses just that time to decide to do the opposite. We're still working on obedience, and I suppose we will be forever- he's a sinner just like us! He is memorizing a Bible verse, and we are reading a Bible story each morning and we pray for his little heart to know Jesus.

Patrick

This baby. Really, we just think he must be the cutest thing we can imagine. His blonde whispy hair is starting to curl a little bit down on his neck. He is so congenial- full of smiles and sounds. He likes playing with toys- knocking over blocks and taking items out of other items (think: taking clothes out of a drawer). He loves to play with balls, just like big brother, and I swear he can say 'ball.' He is sleeping much better these days. Every night this week, he's slept from about 8:30 p.m.-3:30 or 4 a.m. Then he nurses real quick and is back to sleep til 7. He's napping better, too- for an hour+ most of the time. Until recently he's been such a cat-napper. So I'm glad to have some real breaks during the day :) He loves his bed and usually lays down right away when I plop him in there. He seems to be taking after brother in being a picky eater. He loves carby things like grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, spaghetti, crackers, etc.It's impressive how well he eats with STILL no teeth.  He still eats some baby food, but often pushes it away. He's won't self feed many fruits or veggies, which bums me out. It seems like if it's a squishy item, he just doesn't want it (like chopped peach or peas). We'll keep trying :) He is definitely self-weening. He only nurses once during the day and once during the night and pushes me away when I offer him nursing at other times. He's too busy for that; it kind of makes me sad, but I'm also ok with it. He'll be 1 soon and that's when I planned on weening him anyway. He can crawl so fast. It's a little scary. And he climbs, too! Up onto boxes or other items like that. I really have to watch him. No standing alone yet, or walking and that is just fine by me! My little cuddlebug can stay little as long as possible :)