Where Have We Been?

That's a great question. Best answer: chasing around two very active toddlers! Whew, life is so busy here in the Morris household, I don't even know where to begin.

     First of all, a praise. We're sleeping much better! No more long wake-ups in the middle of the night, thank goodness. I feel so much more physically rested. However, I am experiencing a new kind of tiredness at the end of the days--emotional exhaustion from discliping! Oh man. Staying on top of Seth and Sam's behavior, teaching them to share, not throw fits, keep their hands to themselves, have manners, speak kindly, have respect, etc. etc. etc. I'm thankful for 5:00 pm daily, because that means reinforcements!

   I've been astounded in how quickly the boys have developed language-wise. It's so fun! Here's a couple fun stories:

*Everything is now "big"...big car, big tractor, big shovel, etc. Yesterday as I was using a windex bottle, Seth made sure to tell me that it was, "BIG soap." Very cute, and yes, it does look like a big soap bottle.

*Who would have known that I would already have to deal with bossyness? Now whenever I tell one boy to do something, the brother mimecs my words, with exact same influction. Yikes. Imagine me yelling, "Seth, come here," and then Sam repeating...and visa versa.

*We're still struggling with the word "fork" sounding quite naughty. Unfortunately, a fork lift (aka "f-off" in our household) was driving through Costco the other day. Imagine my embarrassment to have not one, but two little boys yelling that through the store. Ugh.

Brothers gotta hug! Sam, Seth

"For 3!"

Here's a picture of my Seth-boy. He's sporting Daddy's ankle brace. What a funny kid he is! Seth's voice is absolutely adorable: it kind of has a raspy tone to it, he sounds like an alley cat when he meows. He's got the cadence of language down really well, and will "copy" whole sentences, at least in a mumbling sort of way. He hates going to sleep, and loves keeping Sam up with him. When they're in bed, I often here "Shammy," and giggling ensues. Yesterday I checked on him at naptime, and he was sitting up, with a tubby naked tummy, and shirt in hand, saying, "Clothes off." I just laughed. He's been struggling with fits a lot lately, and I think it's because he's SOOOO close to being able to tell me what he wants or needs, but can't quite yet, and he's frusterated. We're frusterated, too, buddy, but just with your fits! A favorite recent memory of Seth: him walking through the grass, trying to put his shovel and rake over his shoulder just like Ben. Sweet boy.

Oh my Sammy-D, what am I going to do with him? He continues to be a daddy's boy. In fact, in this picture he's wearing a hat of Ben's that he seems to find daily and wear all the time. He LOVES basketball and has been quite put out lately when we visit friends' houses and they have balls, but no hoops. He looks at me with a ball in hand, and says, "Basketball Hoop?" like "Hello, mom, how can there be a ball and no hoop?" Sam is quite particular, but I never know when it's going to show up. All of a sudden, he'll only want orange cups, or a certain blanket. This drives me crazy, and we seem to butt heads more often than Seth and I do. Sam has a great sense of humor, and likes to tease.

This is a picture of the boys first thing in the morning. When I first get them up, we'll read together, and then I'll leave them in the chair to get breakfast for us. It's really quite sweet to see them reading together. Seth and Sam really do play well together...it's very wonderful. Recently they've mastered climbing in and out of the pack-n'play we keep set-up in the guest room. They'll play in there for hours and I'll hear, "Sheth's turn, Sham's turn." They also "switch" toys or books on their own. Very sweet.                                                    Oh, a funny final story for you: about three weeks ago at dinner time, Ben very ungratiously lifted a cheek and farted. (Great, right.) Sam looked at him and stated, "Daddy pooped." What a laugh we got! We explained to them that it was a toot, not a fart. Now, we have a whole line of tooting and pooping jokes/teasing. "Daddy pooped." "No, no, Daddy tooted." Or, I'll ask them if they have poop, and get the response, "No, mommy pooped." Oh, what a boy's household I live in.