Here's our Jumpybear modeling his new winter hat. Pretty cute, eh? Very Elmer Fudd. The J-bear surprised us last week by hatching a new tooth and keeping the news all to himself. I managed to get a peek into his mouth last Friday during bathtime and that's when I discovered a new pearly white popping up from his lower gumline.
The increase in saliva and rosy red cheeks tells me that another one is on the way.
Kickybear has his own big news to share. He's crawling. Real up-on-all-fours crawling, don't-turn-your-back-on-him-and-leave-the-room crawling. He's not Speedracer (yet) but he is quick.This is our Browniebear having fun with his pal, Al the worm. As you can see, the Kickster loves his fuzzy friends. All stuffed, fuzzy friends are greeted with a big hug and are immediately smooshed into his face. He likes to give hugs to people too. You do need to be careful if he's grabbed your hair in the process however. Sue and I both have some small bald patches courtesy of Kevin.
If We Knew Then What We Know Now
1. Kevin would be nicknamed Jumpy
2. Jason would be nicknamed Guy Smiley
3. Kevin's wrestling name would be "Heels of Steel"
4. Jason's wrestling name would be "The Growler"
Curious as to why? Kevin and his johnny jump up doorway bouncy thingy have formed a deep meaningful relationship. Kevin loves to bounce, to an excessive degree. If you stand him up on his feet, he immediately starts to bounce. (Tigger would be a good nickname too.) He has fallen asleep in the JJU not once, but twice. No, I didn't put him in and forget him. I sit with him while he bounces. But he bounces so much that he tires himself out and actually falls asleep while bouncing. While we're discussing the little master, if he were to suddenly get a wrestling contract from Vince McMahon....his stage wrestling name would definitely be "Heels of Steel". He has crazy hard heels and he slams them on the mattress or the playmat or the carpet and man oh man, it's loud and hard.
Jason is our smiley guy or Guy Smiley, either way. He's perennially happy. He assumes a pretty funny pose when you whip out the camera. Or, on any given day he could be called the Growler. He makes a funny growling noise. Sue has been teaching the boys about animals and the sounds they make. Jason seems to favor the bear growl.
Neither boy would be nicknamed the following:
Chief Likes-a-Nap
Mister Sleeps-Until-8
Sir I'veGotDryMouth
Master TrustMe-I-Won't-Bite-You
Both boys still enjoy being read to and eating the occaisional book. Kevin's favorite book is a picture book about a red truck. Jason's favorite is Hello Bee, Hello Me. There are a few others in their top 5: Helen Oxenbury's books (All Fall Down, Tickle Tickle and Goodnight Babies), the fuzzy bunny book (sorry, no title on this, just a fuzzy cover), oh...at the top of the list: Bert and Ernie. J + K love it. They love the faces on the covers.
Kevin has an obsession with our Sirius satellite radio. Jason is very focused on how things work. Kevin likes lights and flashy, shiny objects.
Temper, Temper
Jason, when distracted or discouraged from an object or activity that isn't age appropriate, slams his fist or feet down and throws back his head and howls and raises a ruckus. You know for sure he's unhappy. But, then, he gets over it and that's it. Kevin, looks you dead in the eye, smiles and proceeds doing exactly what he wants/you don't want. Sometimes he'll puddle up and wail if truly unhappy, but so far, he just ignores you and your efforts to get him to change direction. Unless you have a flashlight or other shiny distracting object.
He's Wicked Smaht
For the past 2 weeks or so, Jason has been refusing dinner. This kid has tight lips that even Churchill would've been proud of. No secrets getting out of there. Somewhere around day 4, I realize (after discussions with Sue and Joe who assure me that he eats a great breakfast) what's really going on. And, even then....I realize only after his lunch appetite drops off. Jason, smart infant that he is, is holding out for dessert. He knows the sweet stuff comes at the end of the meal. So, why bother putting up with the green and white stuff? (Green beans/peas and rice, in this example.) Our boy Jason is practicing that time tested nugget "Eat dessert first, you might not make it through dinner."
I'm sure that there have been a myriad of other changes. I might miss some here or there. Here are the ones I can recall w/o benefit of caffeine:
Kevin loves LOVES Pat-a-cake. His favorite part being "roll it and fold it" but we do "roll it and roll it" as he loves the motion of rolling one hand over the other. You'll sometimes see him sitting there by himself doing the rolling motion. Very cute. He also loves clapping and has been practicing/experimenting.
Jason loveloveloves to play an imitation game. This is how it's played: Jason makes a noise, Joe or I imitate that noise, Jason makes a new/different noise, J/K then imitate that noise. Then Jason will make a motion as if he's made a noise but no sound has been made, so Kathy/Joe makes a small movement mimicking Jason's and also, no noise. This can go on for a few minutes or 15. He always bursts out in laughter and thinks it's pretty funny that Mommy/Daddy are a buncha trained monkeys doing whatever he wants.
More pix
Speaking of, did I mention that he got 2 more? For a grand total of 8. 4 Uppers and 4 lowers. The post-dinner toothbrushing is going well. Jason now likes his toothbrush (it has a lion on it) and puts it in his mouth and rubs it around his teeth. Yay Jason! Kevin loves his toothbrush. It has a turtle on it. So far, so good. I'm hoping that brushing their teeth becomes an ingrained habit so that someday when they can talk and ask questions that I struggle to answer.....hopefully they won't ask "why do I have to brush my teeth". Maybe it'll be like breathing or any other autonomic response....and they'll just assume it's a daily thing that they do w/o thinking about it. Yeah. Right.
Well, I must run. 4 o'clock bottle time.
Muah. Love, Kathy
