How does your garden grow?

So, this is the wreckage of my foray into my misguided attempt at gardening as a family...It was nuts. I was nuts. A 2 year old and a 11 month old are NOT ready to garden. What a mess....

Which resulted in what will now be our summer routine of outside baths - they feel like they are playing...I get an evening task out of the way...and next we are all off to bed. I cleverly had a hot water spigot installed outside after 4 nights in a row of hauling stupid heavy buckets of hot water out to counter act the bitterly cold water in the garden hose. I will now have a hot water spigot outside in any house I own in the future...I love it!

Which resulted in my boy nekkid driving around the patio...you can tell he is not having much fun at all...

And one of this precious punk...just cause he is so darn cute.

Dear Radley - Month Ten

Dear Raddles,

On Friday you turned 10 months old. Amazing and almost unbelievable to me really if I had not been here for it all. We are quickly closing in on a year and I cannot even begin to wrap my head around you being one year, little man! A part of me wants to demand that you to stop growing immediately, but I know that is not how this works. And that is a shame because you at 10 months is really, really awesome.

You continue to be the sweetest, gentlest, calmest, happiest baby that I think I have ever seen. I know it sounds like I am a bragging mama. But most people that know me also know I would be the first to admit if you were a bit on the high maintenance side. But it is just so fantastically awesome that you are not! I am frequently astounded at what I did right that God gifted me with such a wonderful unique little spirit like you.

It seems like you have just grown leaps and bounds this last month. It is a bit overwhelming to try to put everything down on paper about all we have done and how much you have changed in this last month. Here are things you are doing now, that you were not just a mere 4 weeks ago...

You talk. You have a 4 word vocabulary: Mama (me), Baba (bottle), uh (up) and ow (down)...usually said together while doing little baby squats like a miniature little Richard Simmons...just precious. You babble a lot more too, but I have not yet deciphered what you are trying to tell me. But I am fairly certain that there are more words in that babble somewhere. I just have to figure them out.

You swim - (sort of) and can even get rings from underwater platforms & steps. The way you gently flap your arms around when you are doing your 1,2,3 hummmmmmmm just makes me giggle it is so cute. You don't quite blow bubbles yet...you blow when out of the water. You open your mouth when in the water. But you just cant seem to blow while your mouth is open in the water. I know you will put it all together soon.

One, Two, Three...Hummmmmm..........

Lovin' the water...

You clap. You have started doing this when you hear the music from your baby class that I take you to weekly. You seem to be particularly fond of Wheels on the Bus and If You're Happy and You Know It.

You stand. (sort of). Recently you have started letting go from holding on for a couple/few seconds before dropping to the floor when you realize you have nothing to hold on to anymore. I expect you to master this pretty soon.

You play catch. Really. Catch....as in pick up ball, throw it and if I roll it back to you, you will do it all over again. I cannot tell you how much you LOVE playing catch.

You give kisses on demand...can I just say how much I love this...even if it is a bit slobbery...

You feed yourself. This has been a major development in our world. For a long time you did not understand how to open up your fist and put the food in your mouth. You'd just sit there, putting your fist in your mouth, then take it out and look a tad confused when the cheerio was still in your hand. But then finally, this month, it clicked and now you are a self-feeding wizard!

You still only have 2 teeth with no more even close to coming through. You are very very efficient with your two little teeth.

You love your brother.
And he loves you.

You love your mama.
And she loves you too.

With your new found eating prowess, you remain really big for your age in both height and weight. Many call you my little linebacker. You are closing in on your brother for both height and weight too. You are in several 18 month onsies...that only left your brothers dresser a couple months ago. I am catching glimpses of the toddler you are going to be.

You are changing so much so fast that at times I can clearly see that you will not be a baby anymore. And as much as every stage you go through becomes my new favorite and I am so excited for each and every one of them, I have learned with your brother how truly fast that time will come. And how much the little things that make me a bit nuts now will be the sweetest things I will miss then.

I love you so so so much,
Mommy

Snips & Snails

So, while I am putting the finishing touches on Radley's 10 month letter, I thought I would share with you the start to our day today and another milestone we have reached around here. It was a beautiful morning. The boys were waking for the day. I flung open our back doors to let in some fresh air. Mack went out to investigate the back patio.

Pay no mind to the party goin' on in his hair, or the fact that he has mismatched pajamas due to peeing through his diaper even though he was changed twice during the night. Oh yeah, please ignore the paci that he stole from his brother's room. We are all doing the best we can around here...

Anyway, I was in the kitchen whipping up some cinnamon toast for breakfast after reading a new and pretty darn ingenious way to make it that I had never heard before. And from the patio I hear Mack excitedly calling "Mama?!?! Mama?!? Mama?!?!" As I reached the back patio, he proudly reached up his sweet little hand and mumbled through the contraband paci "I gob ik"....translation: "I got it!"

At first glance I though he had just gotten his hand a bit dirty from who knows what. Yet as I went to give him a swipe of my towel...I realized his dirty smear was actually moving...

And had two little antennae. And was scooching around on his hand...

My boy brought me his first found treasure...a poor homeless snail from the garden....

I celebrated thoroughly as he thought this was the coolest thing ever. And told him when he was done to please put the snail back in the garden so he could go home. He trotted off with his signature "OK Mama!" I saw him sit outside and study the snail for a good 5 min or so, then get up and go put him gently on a leaf...

And galloped on in for breakfast saying "bye bye snay!" ...I love this kid

Hey! Who are you?

The last few weeks it has been quite amusing to watch the interaction between my boys. It is as if they are just now starting to figure out that the other one is here, not going anywhere and trying to figure out what to do with that newly absorbed information. Radley has become quite mobile and can walk assisted and is working on standing albeit a bit wobbly at the moment. I am still hopeful he will be on the move before his first birthday.

As a result, the opportunity to get them both together in a photograph has increased quite considerably as well as the opportunity to bug the crap out of each other. So far Maverick is taking the most advantage of the latter. Here is Mack taunting Radley with the water cup...

Radley takes the bait...he is new...he does not realize that brother is just trying to irritate him and has no intention of actually giving him the water cup...

But he will not be deterred.

Mommy arrives with a 2nd water cup...just in time...crisis averted...

Mack has started trying to help pick up Radley when it is time go somewhere...never mind that Radley only weighs 4 pounds less than Maverick at last check (roughly 80% of his own body weight)

Radley loves the attention and is easily amused by his antics...but really, imagine lifting to carry 80% of your body weight...yeah...not going to happen...

This year Radley can play water table too...so far Maverick thinks all the toys are "MINE". We are really working hard on the sharing thing. He is definitely getting better, but it is a struggle. It is a good thing Radley is pretty low key while Mack gets with the sharing program.

Oh yes...the chase for the toys....this would be Mack pushing the car away while trying to push Radley back going "No, Radley!".....

Resulted in this for Easter....(2 cars = happy mommy)

Mack....meet Radley...
Radley....meet Mack...
You two are going to have a great life! I am so happy you have each other to share the adventure with.
I think you two will work everything out just fine. XOXOXOXO

All my love,
Mommy

Sting Ray Rad-Rad

So, we have started back to swim lessons around here on what has been some very chilly early Spring mornings. I am on a mission to hopefully get Maverick swimming pretty well by the time we go on vacation in June. By product of merely being around, Radley is also getting in on this action and has started lessons too. Mostly just to get him used to the water. I don't expect much more as he is still so young. I love spending this time with them during the week as we learn a little more about each other...mostly they think I am a little nuts...and silly.

Here is the getting used to getting your mouth closed exercise...he was a champ...never cried at all. Mommy wasn't too thrilled she had to do it too...but we survived...

And he loves a little baby surfing on a foam mat...

Practicing the paddling...and splashing...

The kid loves to splash...

A little noodle fun...

Mommy is so silly with her bubbles...

And now for the big show....SUBMERSION!!!!

One, two, three....hummmmmmmmm

But what he loves best, is when big brother gets to come play too...he is the coolest of all...

Stay tuned...video coming soon...

Dear Mack - Two and 1/4-ish

Dear Mack-a-licious,

I had thought I would not be writing another one of these until around 2 and 1/2, but I find with each passing day you keep growing and changing so fast that I just wanted make sure I could log in the details before you change again and the details are gone forever. I am finding it hard to remember what you were like even a couple of months ago so I knew it was time to check in with you once again and make note of the wonderful thing that are making you who you are.

The big trend of the last few months is that You are a Big Boy. You Want to Do it Yourself. You actually say this quite frequently except no one would ever know because you pronounce it "I dit". From what I can tell, all this means you are right where you should be developmentally, and that is good. I want you to learn new things. You have a pretty independent personality even if this were not the phase you would be in by default right now, so it is not really a surprise. But that does not mean it isnt so totally and completely frustrating at times.

You see, learning to do things means doing them really, really, reeeeaaaalllly slowly. And sometimes we are in a hurry. Sometimes we actually have somewhere to be at a certain time. I know this means nothing to you. You still want to put on your own shoes and it. takes. forever. I am practicing taking a lot of deep breaths these days. I also count to ten quite a lot. I try to leave plenty of time for you to do things and hope I don't actually develop an eye twitch from the patience it requires to let you do "it" and still get to where we are supposed to be when we are supposed to be there.

Your other most noticeable attribute of the last few months is: Everything is Mine. And you let everyone within earshot know that everything you wish to touch, hold, do, play with, eat, look at is MINE!!!! I hear this often used word to be loud (very loud) and clear frequently in our world. From breakfast to getting dressed to all your toys...mine, mine, mine. I know this comes from the new mobility of your little brother and the shock and awe you have on your face when you realize he is perfectly capable of going where he wishes (to your toys) and holding toys and basically following you around wherever you go smiling at you like crazy in the hopes you will throw him a bone of approval, love or even just a basic "hey, bro". He is quickly becoming a worthy adversary, rather than a lump of baby. I see you trying to process that in your sweet little brain and the perplexed look you have at times is quite amusing. You are getting pretty good at giving him a little interaction and he just lights up when you take time out of your busy toddler lifestyle for a little baby play time. In the meantime I spend a lot of time talking to you about sharing and asking for things when Radley is done with them. It is slow going. You don't want anything to do with it. Here is Radley giving chase for the scooter car...

It also means your momma is getting better at anticipating possible conflict between you two and nipping it in the bud before anyone feels slighted...(Note the arrival of a 2nd water cup to the standoff...)

But while the conflict level is definitely up in our house this spring, so is how much real communication we can have because you are talking so much. You have gotten to where you never stop. Even when I am not in the room. You putter along having conversations with your brother, your toys, your trucks, imaginary people about all sorts of things. And in those unguarded moments it has been funny to me to hear my own verbal tendencies parrotted from your mouth. Apparently when I talk to you, I end with the word OK a lot. As in "We are going to go to the park, OK?" I never realized I do this, but now I know I do because now you end most of your sentences with "OK?". I also must say sorry alot because if you bump into anything or drop anything you are quick to say "sorry". Sometimes you say it out of context of anything which can be quite amusing.

Another thing I can see coming out in you that is ALL me is the fact you are pretty bossy. Yes. I said it. It was probably your lot in life anyway, since you are the oldest in birth order and I think it inherently predisposes a person to an overpowering urge to tell people what to do. But there is no denying that you got that from me.

Since I have spent so much time talking about how you are being difficult in several areas, I should probably be fair and mention an area of your life that you are wonderfully un-difficult about. Bedtime. You are so good at night when it is time to go to sleep. We have also started reading books every night before you go to bed. You seem to look forward to this evening ritual so much too. All l I have to do is ask you is if you are ready for story time and you jump up from whatever you are doing and run full speed into your room (never once looking back to make sure I am following), climb up on your bed and snuggle under your "bank" and start deciding which books in the pile by your bed we will be reading tonight. I, of course, follow and snuggle up in the bed with you and we talk about our day and read about adventures of Max, King of the Wild Things, Elmo, Mickey and a host of other characters. I love this time with you so much. I love when your eyelids get heavy and we snuggle up and just be still and silent. A few times you have rolled over and said "night-night mama" and that is my cue that you would now like your bed to yourself and I am free to go.

As I drift down the hall I reflect on you and our little family and I just want you to know that I think you are the funniest , most adorable and best kid I could ever have hoped for. I marvel at the amazing little individual you are becoming. You have such a special place in my heart, my firstborn, and I will love you more than you could possibly imagine always and forever.

I love you,
Mommy