17 Months

Could he really almost be a year and a half? Not quite yet. Not for another month. But it hurts my heart just thinking that in one month he will be that age!
But for now...at seventeen months he is a busy monkey who is so loving and demanding at the same time it is exhausting. He gives the best hugs. He grabs onto your shirt by your shoulders and hangs on as tight as those little arms can. He will always lay his head on your shoulder and loves to be rocked or swayed. Loves the rocking chair at night. Loves to snuggle in the mornings and after naps. If you ask for a hug and kiss he comes running at your with a wide open wet mouth and arms open. He waves and says that high pitched Hi! to everyone that walks in a room. He is eager to blow kisses goodbye and a quick wave when we leave also.
He wants what he wants when he wants it. A bit like his mother in this aspect that he wants things done yesterday. He is communicating much better these days with signing and some words. To the point where we at least can figure out what the heck he is saying. The other night he was really whining in bed. 45 minutes had passed and he was still whining. So I went up there and picked him up, asked him if he wanted me to rock him (head shake no), okay. I asked him if he wanted more water (head shake yes and a frantic sign for milk/drink), okay. Then I saw his little finger point to Parker's empty bed and then to the door. I already knew that Parker had gotten out of his bed and snuck into ours, but apparently Emmitt had seen him do it and wanted him back in his bed. So we walk to our bedroom as Emmitt's little finger leads the way and spot Parker sprawled out sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed. Then Emmitt made the shhhhh sign with that finger and a loud hiss that meant brother is sleeping. I walked him back to his bed, gave him his cup of water, layed him down and not a peep came out of him until morning.Bear and I keep saying how different it is this time around (second child). We swear we had Parker doing way more than Emmitt at this age and that we often still refer to Emmitt as "just a baby". When in all reality he is almost a year and a half.
He is so determined to do things that I really have to sit back and let him learn by trying. I have to make a conscious effort to not do things for him, like in stead of placing him at the top of the slide, but letting him try the ladder. With assistance of course when he screams for it.We realize that he is in fact doing many of the things that Parker did at this age. I have the pictures to go back and see what we were doing back then, thank God, because some days my memory is just gone.
Emmitt realized that it was a little scary to go down the big slide looking at the landing, so he took it feet first on his belly and did it again and again and again. Big smiles each time he went down. He is much better at the park these days. Not as much sand eating, if any. Stays by me where we are playing. Sand throwing? Well that's another issue. He just can't resist that feeling between his fingers and just has to toss it in the air.When you tell him no, no he just shakes his head no at you. Like, yeah I totally agree with you, no, no. But then tries it again with a sideways glance to see if you are really gonna catch him in the act.
This age is really fun. I love the talking and communicating. He can really show us what he wants. He tries everything his brother does, so in some ways he is doing more than he should. One of his favorite pass times is to be pushed in the doll stroller by Parker. They call it their snowmobile?! He will finally sit through as many books as I want to read to him. He will try most foods when they are on his plate. I am not sure he is growing with the little food he eats, but he is. He is still holding his own at 21 pounds. His white blond hair gets a comment out of every body. Lil' Toe-head. I don't love that phrase but what are you gonna do? Bear and I were both bleach blond babies too. It goes great with those brown eyes! I think my hubby still thinks there is some debate on whether or not they will still change color. I mean he is almost a year and a half. Almost. But not yet. He is still "just a baby".
Speaking of baby. (no were are not). But I reminded Bear that when Parker was 18 months we started trying for a second and a month later we were pregnant with Emmitt. Wow was all he could say.

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.

Sliding and sliding and sliding

Ah, the Lepper family is too good to us. We joke around about all the crap they drop off for our kids, but deep down we love it. The toys we get are things that we would never buy our children but are so glad we have them. Best of all-they are FREE!
Recently we were delivered the Banzai Water slide. This huge slide that blows itself up (I love that part) stays upright, you attach a hose to it and watch your kids and their friends have hours of endless fun on it!
Emmitt won't even go near the thing for the simple fact that it shoots water in his direction. Come to think of it, he is scared of the other "Lepper toy" which is the four-wheeler, but we all know that is because his brother randomly runs him over with it.
Parker absolutely loves both of these gifts. He goes down the slide over and over and over. He'll change it up a bit and go head first or feet first or a bounce and jump. Any way he does it, he is smiling when he goes down.Friday before the Fourth Parker's buddies, Bradyn, Max, Nate and Morgan came over to slide. One after the other...sliding down the same slide like it was something new each turn they took.
I love how Max got air on this one. I believe this is his first actual time down the slide and he bounced off the top and landed (thankfully) on his butt on the slide. His eyes were just huge when he got off.
Bradyn being brave and going head first. Randomly the bigger kids would shoot right off the bottom of the slide and land in the muddy grass at the end. They really didn't seem to mind.
I love how excited these kids get when they have something fun like this to play on. It makes the day fly by and you really don't have much "watching" of them to do other than to just sit back and watch them have fun....ahhh

The Kids Race

Well I had my fun running the race, but I think Parker and Jillian had more fun in the kids race. Jillian wasn't sure she was going to run and then decided to at the end (hence the crocs she is wearing). And Parker just wanted to eat my banana and then thought about running for a second. Last year he stood there holding his crotch before the race, this year...just a banana.
And they were off...it may look like Jillian is way ahead (she is) and not just an illusion of her being on the inside track. But half way around the track she stopped, turned around, and waited for Parker! It was so cute. They were just off on the other side of the track visiting.
The last stretch is always so exciting. We (meaning Bear) always has to encourage him to finish. Reg ran up to cheer Jillian on to the finish line. Huge smile on her face.
Daddy got smart and wore his runners this year. I think he knew in the back of his mind that he would have to chase after Parker.If she isn't the cutest thing ever! She is doing this thing lately, when there is a big crowd or gets excited and nervous, where she drops to her knees. Well this experience did it...she was running full blast and dropped right on the track before the finish line. I thought she fell, but she just knelt there for a second, got up and kept on truckin'.