The Boys

Here's a post devoted to these two cute boys of mine.  I'm still getting used to saying "the boys".  I've been so used to saying "the girls" for so long that when Nate came along I would keep saying "the girls....and Nate."  Now I've got two so it makes it easier.  :)

Nate loves his little brother.  And Elijah loves him right back.  He loves to just sit and watch Nate.  He can keep him entertained pretty well, which is nice when I need a few extra minutes to make dinner or whatever.

These pictures were taken at a science/wildlife museum we went to this week.  I thought it was so sweet that Nate was begging to sit and hold Elijah even though we were in such a fun place with tons to do.  

These boys are getting bigger every day.  Elijah has had a lot of new firsts.  He is now on solid foods.  I kept putting it off and putting it off and I felt really bad because he'd always be grabbing at our food.  He was clearly ready.  Still, he was not a fan at first:

He's gotten the hang of it now and eats pretty much everything:

Of course that means we're now dealing with stinky diapers and green and orange spit-up.  

Not a fan of that.

He's a rolling fool now.  In fact he just rolled off the couch tonight.  I know--I'm terrible.  I wasn't planning on leaving him there but something was bubbling over on the stove and I forgot.  

Here is some early rolling:

So proud of himself.

Nate joining in:

He also got to try out the swings for the first time.  He loved it!

Sometimes he lets me snuggle him and melts my heart:

Nate is growing and surprises me all the time with the things he can do.  He is my little helper.  I love it and I'm really hoping he doesn't grow out of it.  He does a great job getting his jobs done.  He is the best at brushing his teeth of all our kids.  He is actually quite a neat kid and doesn't like to be too messy for long.  

Now don't get me wrong--he can make messes with the best of them.  Before we moved he managed to dump out a whole big box of Cheerios all over the sunroom.  I got out the wet vac and told him he needed to clean them up.  I figured he would suck up a few of them and then I would do the rest.  I was so surprised when he kept working and working until he got basically every Cheerio in that room.  It was hard work for a 3 year old.

He's a sweetheart, too.  He is pretty sensitive and has been known to start sobbing when he's been reprimanded too harshly.  I love his soft heart.  I loved when he would run in and bring me roses from our old yard, too:

(Way better than dandelions!  That's one benefit of having tons of rose bushes.)

He's an early reader like his sisters, too.  He still has a hard time blending sounds sometimes but he is getting it.  Of course with all of our craziness it's been months since I've had him try to read much.  I need to get back on that.

Once again--refrigerator reading, courtesy of the word whammer magnets: (Buy one!)

One morning I found myself sitting up in bed with my two boys asleep on me.

You can't beat that.