I am too busy making them, and trying to remember whether we need milk again ~ to remember or make the time to write anything here. I called this early on, however, so am claiming points for being self-aware, at least.
Two little guys, with more and more interesting personalities every day. BB is so very articulate, and literate. Yesterday, he told me he was "not interested in apples for my snack, thank you, Mommy." Not just no, but, three year old "heck, no." Some other recent gems: "Do you have issues, Mommy? We don't have issues in the car." "Mustangs are cooler than Jaguars." "Is that a rice burner or a Harley?" When asked recently what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "Cake. And Cookies. And maybe cupcakes, too." When the follow up, "what about presents?" was posed; his reply was, "That would be good." Kid has priorities.
Things I never thought I would say, and have... "Don't hit the dog with the pumpkin, please." "Please stop licking me, that's just weird." "Please don't eat your shoe." "Don't pee on your brother, that's icky." "I told you that soap was not going to taste good."
I have a whole new appreciation, which I shared with my beloved recently, for the business of family dinners. Not just the cooking of said meal, which everyone knows is not my forte, but the whole process of deciding what to make, getting the ingredients in house, figuring out when it will hit the table, who will eat what, and how to use the least number of dishes possible so that clean up is quick. I think, after trying this for a while without his abundant talent and expertise to hand; that the most trying part may well be the front end, not the actual cooking. I told him recently that the next time he asked me what I wanted for dinner that I was going to actually make an effort to give him an answer. Usually, I am so grateful to have a wonderful cook doing this for us that I have said something along the lines of "it doesn't matter to me, whatever you want to make." You see, I thought I was being easy to please, accommodating, and expressing my inner feeling that I was happy with anything at all, because I didn't have to cook it. In reality, I now understand that some sort of an answer is actually helpful, because it takes at least part of that burden, the endless decisions, day after day after day after day of what to make ~ off his plate, pun intended. Looking at it from the other side of the chopping block has been illuminating, to say the least. LB has started feeding himself, occasionally with a spoon, with varying levels of success. Bath night is any night he eats without help. BB is getting more adventurous, loves broccoli, has eaten pad thai noodles, likes rice, satay, and quesadillas. We went to a Japanese steak house with some friends, talking up how cool it would be to watch them cook the food right in front of you... LB stayed home with a friend, this was a big boy date. As soon as the chef lit the oil and flames went shooting up from the grill, BB was under the table. Literally. It wasn't until all the food was cooked and the chef left that we coaxed him out to eat his food. He did try eating with some kid friendly chopsticks - and did a pretty good job!
We are all doing well, it is hard to believe how grown up these little guys are already. It's a blast to watch their relationship develop, the little guy doesn't take any guff from the big one. He will grab a handful of BB hair and just lay on him. Pull him right over. LB is starting to use some words, "no" (complete with head shake) and "dog" being among his favorites. He still lights up when BB sings to him or kisses him, or pays him the right kind of attention. A bond of brotherhood is definitely being formed - complete with the contests. There is a lot of pushing at our house, and I thought I was talking about sharing a lot before ~ I was just warming up. For Halloween, I wore a striped shirt with a whistle... but it was less of a costume than my current occupation. I think that whistle is going to come in handy.
