So Happy Together

Here's a cute photo from this morning...and then a behind-the-scenes video, also from this morning! Jacob is a regular copycat of Micah most of the time. In fact, this past weekend, he learned how to climb up on the sofa and "jump" off onto a cushion (more like "step" off in his case) by watching big brother. I can't say I'm entirely happy about that development. But I guess I can't stop him from wanting to do those things forever!

Dan and I are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary this weekend! I am taking Friday off and we are going to do something fun, TBD, while the boys are in daycare. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, and at times it's been kinda crazy with moving all over the country, etc., but I wouldn't want to share that craziness with anyone else. In honor of that special occasion, I will print one of my favorite love poems. In my mind, it's about appreciating every moment, even mundane moments, and how love can change your perspective. (Thank you http://inwardboundpoetry.blogspot.com for the link)

AFTER PARADISE - Czeslaw Milosz

Don't run any more. Quiet. How softly it rains
On the roofs of the city. How perfect
All things are. Now, for the two of you
Waking up in a royal bed by a garret window.
For a man and a woman. For one plant divided
Into masculine and feminine which longed for each other.
Yes, this is my gift to you. Above ashes
On a bitter, bitter earth. Above the subterranean
Echo of clamorings and vows. So that now at dawn
You must be attentive: the tilt of a head,
A hand with a comb, two faces in a mirror
Are only forever once, even if unremembered,
So that you watch what it is, though it fades away,
And are grateful every moment for your being.
Let that little park with greenish marble busts
In the pearl-gray light, under a summer drizzle,
Remain as it was when you opened the gate.
And the street of tall peeling porticos
Which this love of yours suddenly transformed.

This Old Man

No, the title of this blog post is not a riff on Dan :-) It's the title of Jacob's favorite song! In the video below you can hear him singing it. He just loves to sing while in the tub and also in the morning. I am not a morning person, but things sure do look brighter when you have a sweet little person singing to you. I also included a few cute pictures of the boys that I've taken recently.

Big Kid

Although we talk a lot about Jacob's milestones since he's the baby around here these days, Micah is growing up so fast too. The other night in the shower (he only takes showers now) he told me that he was going to "start brushing his teeth at night and in the morning and using the kind of toothpaste that you spit in the sink because that's what big boys do and I'm a big boy now." So, we set him up with some kids toothpaste and a cup in the bathroom and he had been handling that responsibility well! He also dresses himself on his own in the mornings, which has resulted in some pretty "interesting" style choices. I'm happy to let that go, though :-) We found out yesterday that he will be attending Pre-K at Perritt Primary in the fall. He is very excited about being there because there is a great playground and because...you guessed it, that's where the big kids go. Perritt also houses Kindergarten and 1st grade so he will be there for awhile. Most of the boys from his class will also be attending so it should be a smooth transition for him. We are happy about this news because the Perritt program is excellent and there is a waiting list. But because of a new partnership between the daycare and the public school system, Micah and his classmates have an automatic space in the Pre-K program. It will make thing more difficult for us logistically since Jacob will be going to a separate school, but we would have had to face that next year anyway. I was just looking back at some of the older videos of Micah. Not that long ago we were still trying to understand what he was saying and now he's telling us some crazy stories of his own creation about fire trucks and Spider-Man and drawing pictures of lego towers he wants to build. It's fun to watch his personality come out more and more.

Me & the Boys

We don't have a lot of pictures of me with the boys since I'm usually the one behind the camera. But yesterday I asked Dan to snap one of us! Jacob decided to strike his normal pose, fingers in the mouth. And I love this cow shirt on Micah. He told us that he had to drink all his milk at dinner or the cow in his tummy would be upset. I told him, "Micah you have a cow on your tummy, not in your tummy."  He insisted, "But we have one in our tummy too, mom." I wasn't going to argue :-) Jacob has figured out how to open his bedroom door all by himself. The latch doesn't work so he's figured out how to use his hand to pull the door open enough to squeeze around it and then close it behind him. That little stinker is getting too smart for his own good! Now we just need to make sure he can't get out of the crib. Also, we are putting the bottles away and bringing put just the cup now. What happened to my tiny baby? (Ok, so he was never that tiny...) Micah is loving swimming lessons and finally agreed to put his face in the water and jump into the pool yesterday. He is learning freestyle and backstroke and mainly just how to enjoy the water. Kudos to Dan for spending the afternoon organizing the toys yesterday and getting rid of the ones that were broken, etc. It was such a mess in the bins that we didn't know whose toys were whose. And we found some that they hadn't played with in awhile. It was just one of those tasks that was desperately needed but we never really have time to tackle. This weekend there's a classic car show in town and a BBQ so we are planning to head over to that for awhile. We got a little rain a couple days ago which cooled things off a bit so hopefully that will continue into the weekend. A funny story: last week, my just-retired boss took all of us from work and our spouses out to dinner as a thank-you. We got a new babysitter that was recommended by some friends and is a recent OBU grad to come over and watch the boys. Everything went fine and both boys were in bed when we got home. As we were saying goodbye to the sitter, she said that although she told Micah her name, he called her babysitter at first and after awhile asked if he could call her Miss Abby. She said that was fine, and so they got along like that for the rest of the night. Abby was the babysitter we had been using regularly since Micah was 2 and she just graduated this year so she won't be coming back. I think Micah still misses her. I told the new babysitter that him wanting to call her Abby was a good thing, he must have really liked her to want to call her by his favorite's name!

Howdy Pard'ner

"Well, the corn ain't as high as an elephant's eye 'round here. We need some rain!"

Daddy teaches Jacob the finer points of video gaming.

Daddy and Micah work on a special project.

This week has been so hot and dry we've been spending lots of time inside. The 4th of July was a good day to just relax and work on projects like the one above. It involved melting crayon wax on a canvas and turned out pretty neat-looking! There were no fireworks because we're under a burn ban right now. But we did enjoy some watermelon and we talked about why we have this holiday. Both boys have been a bit under the weather. Micah's recovering from an ear infection and sore throat and Jacob's got some kind of fever virus since he woke up last night with a fever of 103. Sigh. It just seems like this year has been a tough one as far as illness goes. I hope they are both feeling better soon and that Dan and I can dodge this one. But it's hard to avoid all those sweet, sloppy kisses :-) Dan has been working on the kitchen, painting the trim and fixing little things that have been bothering us for some time. Micah become interested in the Exodus and keeps asking us to tell that story (starting with Joseph and the coat of many colors and ending with Moses and the 10 Commandments. When you think about it, it is one of the best stories of all time--Joseph's brothers selling him to slavery, his rise to power, the dreams, the plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, manna, the burning bush and the commandments. Lots of exciting moments in there. I wonder if he understands that the same God that held back an entire body of water to save his people is the God that we say prayers to every day. I'm not sure that's really sunk in for me yet some days.