When it's raining...

A couple of weekends ago it was so windy and rainy out, we locked ourselves in the house, put on some good music, played marble run, play-doh, puzzles, read books and didn't leave the house until Sunday afternoon/evening.

The boys actually let me take a few pics of them playing without making strange faces at me (Parker) or hitting the camera with some random toy and then tackling me to the ground (Emmitt).

I love how babyish his cheeks can still look. He has actually gained 3 pounds since his surgery in February so we are moving in the right direction. He is stuck at 30 pounds now...but definitely better. His speech is still improving and most days it is crystal clear. I really notice the backslide in speech when he has a cold and/or is stuffed up. And it comes back to me-the way he used to sound-and then when it clears up, he sounds just fine again.I think the weather made me want to shoot in black and white. It was so dreary that weekend. I had to dig out sweatshirts from the back of the kids' closets and then Parker ends up going topless most of the day. He made me cold just looking at him. He has this thing of wanting to sleep in just his underwear. Even if we put him in jammies, we go up to tuck him in and he has stripped them off onto a pile on the floor.

Oh and that Emmitt. What a character! He is a little stinker sometimes. We keep forgetting that he really isn't a baby anymore. I almost have to go back and look at scrapbooks and blog posts of what Parker was doing at 16-17 months. But I think we really put more on Parker and pushed him into doing things as our first. With Emmitt we just keep thinking he can't do much because he is just a baby and when he does something we aren't expecting we are actually shocked by it! Duh. You would think by this time around we would have figured it out.Emmitt goes from being a total momma's boy to a daddy's boy in the same breath. One minute he wants me and only me and screams if daddy tries to take him away and the next he acts like I am not even in the room. He is so predictable sometimes it's hilarious and maddening at the same time. We can anticipate what he is going to do based on our day. Like when I pick him up from daycare, I know he is going to scream when I put him in his car seat. When we get home, I have to unload my car while he is still buckled or I won't be able to get anything done. When I take him out of the car I had better be prepared to hold him on my hip for awhile because if I set him down he will scream, throw his head on the floor and cling to my legs. So I hold him. Can't really blame him for wanting to see me after the whole day, but he does not understand that if he wants to eat, I'm gonna have to make supper. And I cannot stand the screaming and clinging to my legs... My boys...they are different yet the same. Bear keeps saying "Parker did not do this" or "Emmitt is so much more____" Like snuggling. Bear is convinced that Emmitt snuggles more than Parker ever did. But with me, I think Parker snuggled me more. Emmitt is signing everything we show him now where Parker was not signing much any more at this age but actually talking. Emmitt says about 5 words! Lots of noises for objects though. Like shoes is ssseess. Bird is caw caw. But he signs it too. He signs milk for everything to drink. He waves frantically to anybody who walks into the room, followed by a very high pitched Hiiieee. He copies everything Parker does and his brother gets the biggest kick out of it. Just tonight they were both "swimming like Nicker" in the tub...laying on their bellies going as fast as they could from one end of the tub to the other laughing big belly laughs!
Sometimes we are not so sure what the heck we are doing raising these two boys, but we aim to have fun doing it.