It's Been a Long Time

I haven't been on my blog in years.  Last week I wanted to make a collage of the boys to show how they all looked around the same age, and I needed baby photos of Asher and Henry for it.  Reluctantly, I popped onto the blog to find some photos.  Yes, I've sort of avoided the blog because of the disappointment and guilt I feel over not keeping up on it.  It sounds stupid, but I feel like I've let my kids down by not journaling their childhoods well enough.  I haven't kept baby books (terrible mother!), so this and Facebook are really all I have.  Mom suggested I start blogging again.  Just because it's been such a long time doesn't mean I have to give it up forever.  

Asher is now seven and in first grade, Henry is five, and we have a whole new person in our family, William, who is already seven months old.  Man, the time flies by so quickly.  I have wanted to be home with my kids ever since I was pregnant with Asher, and we finally decided to turn my dream into a reality a couple of months ago.  It's a lot harder than I thought it would be.  There's just so much to juggle, and I'm terrible at juggling!  I hope with time it'll start to become more second nature and I won't feel like such an imposter.  I am so happy I'm finally able to be home with my kids, though.  I feel like a failure most days, but I also feel like I'm right where I belong. It's great to actually know my kids' preferences, their little quirks, and witness William's milestones firsthand.  I love Stephen for staying home with the kids all those years when I was working, but it hurt my feelings when he knew more about the children than I did.  A mother has a unique connection to her children, and I felt like I partially lost that. 

I miss writing, and I miss recording the mundane details of our lives that, one day, will make me smile and feel nostalgic.  Now that I've made the scary first step back in with this post, maybe I can start tracking memories again.

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He's Almost Four, You know

Asher turns four in just two short months. So hard to believe.  I mean, just look at this big boy!

He's fully potty trained.  And our POOPIES! issues appear to be finally fading away. (Finally!)

  

Unfortunately, he's still a terrible eater.  He seems to be getting worse in that respect!  I think he does it just to drive me crazy.  He derives a certain pleasure in watching me weep when I'm unable to convince him that homemade chicken tenders are the same as the ones you get at a restaurant.  

 

He's the world's best big brother, though, which more than makes up for the pickiness at dinnertime.  True, he does get very upset when Henry snatches a toy away from him or bites him.  Many screams have been shouted for Mommy or Daddy when this happens, but he never retaliates, which has completely shocked me.  He watches out for his baby brother in the sweetest ways.  Henry gets hurt and Asher kisses his boo boo.  He yells at Henry to stay out of the street and takes his hand to guide him to safety.  And if I get upset with Henry, Asher reminds me that Henry doesn't understand because he's just a baby.

I just adore my little Asher Bug who is getting to be less and less little.

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18 Months With Mr. Pickles

Over the weekend, we finally celebrated Henry's birthday.  He had only turned one in April - we were just a mere six months late in celebrating.  Because Aunt Carolyn's wedding was on his birthday, and the sorrow from Suzanne's recent tragic death was still fresh, we just didn't feel up to celebrating.  Once April passed, I really didn't know when would be the appropriate time for a belated birthday party, if at all.  When Mom said she wanted to have a Halloween party, I realized that coincided with him turning a year and a half, so - voila - it was decided we would  have a Halloween themed birthday party for him.  Unfortunately, I was running around like a mad woman the whole day, so I didn't get any pictures taken myself, and only have a handful that my cousin, Kiley, was nice enough to take.  Oh well.  At least I don't have the guilt of no first birthday party looming over my head anymore. 

 

Henry has been the busiest little boy I've ever known, as well as the most adventurous.  He is not afraid to get dirty.  Animals do not scare him.  Heights and climbing don't phase him one bit.  Getting hurt is no big deal.  He is still afraid of the vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, and pretty much anything else that makes really loud noises, though, which is funny because he's pretty darn loud himself.

One of my favorite things about Henry is his wonderful appetite.  After having a chronic picky eater on my hands for the past three years - really, I have two if you count Stephen - it's an absolute joy to have a child who will EAT!  While Asher's list of what he'll eat continues to dwindle, Henry's grows.  One of his favorite foods is peas - he can't get enough of them - and he'll try things like Brussels Sprouts, meatloaf, and V8 without throwing a fit.  If he doesn't like it, he'll spit it out, but no screaming, no tantrums, and no pleading from us to get him to try something.  Words cannot describe the relief we feel - for the most part, we don't have to make special foods for him at dinnertime and if we go someplace else to eat, chances are very good he will go with the flow and eat whatever we give him.

Henry's personality is really starting to blossom, too.  His sense of humor is budding.  He gives kisses and loves reading books together.  He is rough and tough, but takes time for snuggling a few times a day.  He likes to have his feet tickled and rubs our hands on his face when he's tired.  He shares his big brother's love of trains and cars.  Dancing to Yo Gabba Gabba and singing along to Thomas songs are a couple of his favorite pastimes.

It's the beginning of the end of babyhood for Mr. Pickles.  His speech is becoming less foreign to us - we can now hear him say "cat," "dog," "car," "truck," "train," etc., as well as "Mom," "Dad," and "Ash."  He is following instruction better and better; in fact, before I took the pictures directly above and below, I asked him to sit by the tree and stand by the wall - much to my surprise, he did!  So, he definitely is understanding us better, too - which obviously makes life a teensy bit easier. 

I catch myself often thinking back to two years ago when Asher was Henry's age.  It completely amazes me how much Asher changed between 18 months and two years.  I know Henry is going to sprout just as quickly over the next six months and will be a "big" boy before I know it.  I intend to relish the last few days of his baby-ness as much as I can!

Here are some pictures taken so far from the month of October.  I'll add to them as more are taken.

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Fun Things to Think About Before Bed

It's past midnight and I really should be getting my beauty sleep in preparation for my favorite time of the week - Monday morning, of course - but no. Instead I'm being my usual weirdo self and am lying here thinking up horrible scenarios that could happen at any given moment. I won't talk about my specific morbid thoughts or fears, though - too disturbing. I will say that many of my fears revolve around my kids nowadays and, to me, this is the worst thing about parenthood. 

It's amazing the amount of love you have for your kids. I never ever could imagine the depth of love a parent has until I had children of my own; people talk about it, but you just can't fathom it until it's yours. I mean, all I have to do is look at my kids and my heart skips a beat. Yeah, this love is great and all that, but you know what comes with love - insane amounts of WORRY. And here it is, keeping me up, reminding me of all I could lose if *gulp* something were to happen to either of them. Or BOTH of them! Oh you think NO WAY could something that horrible happen to someone but then you read an article about a woman losing all three of her children thanks to the driver of the car going the wrong way down the highway. Like really - how do such bad things happen? How do you survive that kind of grief? 

Sometimes I think I love my kids too much. Maybe I'm obssessed? Or do all parents go through this agony of worrying? Is there a way to outlet these anxieties, or am I just going to have to bubblewrap my children? Thoughts would be great. I feel like I'm going a little nutty!

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Asher & His Lesson

I am sitting outside the room where Asher is having his piano/violin lesson. He doesn't seem to mind anything that Mr. Sabatino instructs him to do. It's so frustrating to see him, more or less, ignore what he's told to do. I just would like to go in there and grab him by the arm and tell him to pay attention.

But actually, he is paying attention. He is picking up on the things that are told and shown to him. He knows all the parts of the violin, how to hold the bow, and the correct way to bow the bow across the strings. And now he knows where middle C is and two songs. His lack of paying attention during practice and his lessons was/is so frustrating. But I just need to "sack up" and be more patient. He's obviously picking up on something.

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Big Baby = Big Clothes

I recently made a comment on Twitter about Henry wearing clothes that Asher just wore last Winter and Spring.

Remember this picture of Asher from last January?

Henry is wearing that article of clothing (size 24 months) today.

My nine-month old is the size of a two-year old.

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The Past Month

It's been busy (as usual) around here, and I've been terrible at keeping up with my blog (as usual). Just a little recap of the past month...(Has it really been a month since Christmas?!)

We stayed home for Christmas this year. Most years we end up at my mom's house, so it was hard breaking that tradition, but keeping the boys at home so they could open their presents from Santa at a leisurely pace and play with them all day seemed like the right thing to do. Luckily, I didn't have to spend Christmas away from my mom, though; she and Bob came to us! The boys didn't finish opening all their gifts until the evening after Christmas due to a combination of Santa's generosity, a baby who could care less, and a toddler with the attention span of, well, a toddler. So, it turned out to be a good thing that we didn't go with the plan of going to Mom's after opening presents. We would have been two days late!

The day after New Year's, Asher turned a whopping THREE YEARS OLD! We had a low-key celebration with family. We spent the afternoon at The Children's Museum with NeeNee and PaPa. Grandfather, Marmie, Uncle Adam and Cathy joined us afterward for cake and presents.

(Asher requested a Thomas cake again this year. Unfortunately, the bakeries at the grocery stores only have one Thomas design, so he got the same cake as last year. Fortunately, he is very easy to please and was even more enthusiastic about the cake this year than last.)

Henry has been a busy little baby now that he has the ability to crawl wherever he wants. His favorite destination seems to be Asher's room; more specifically, Asher's train table. Things are easier in a way now that he's crawling because that means he's better able to keep himself entertained. In another way, things are harder because we really have to watch him every second to make sure he's not getting into something he's not supposed to. It's been a challenge trying to get Asher to understand that he can't leave small toys out where Henry can reach them. He either doesn't comprehend the dangers of choking, or he has a dark wish for his brother.

(We can blame the lack of blog posts on Henry's new skill, too. Chasing a baby around takes up a lot more time than one would think.)

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Go, Mr. Pickles, Go!

Henry is SO close to crawling, he can taste it! Look at this little booger, all in a perfect crawling stance. But then - doh! - he starts bouncing his butt and slides himself backwards. He rolls and scoots himself really well now - he just hasn't quite figured out the whole direction thing, yet. It's only going to be a matter of time and I'll be struggling to keep him in the same room with me.

He's also able to get into a sitting position on his own now. Stephen said yesterday after Henry did this, "Hey! When did he start doing that?" Like a good, caring mother, I shrugged my shoulders and said, "I dunno. Huh. I guess that is new. Must have just started doing it. I guess." You mean he didn't come out of the womb sitting up on his own? How quickly I forget.

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Cat Puke & Glitter

I love decorating for Christmas. The tree, the lights, the sparkly ornaments - nothing makes me feel more festive and all around warm and fuzzy. However, there is a pretty big downside to having the decorations out - THE CLEANUP. No, I'm not talking about after Christmas when it's time to put everything away (although that isn't on my list of favorite tasks to perform, either). I'm talking about the little tree needles that I'm still vacuuming up in mid-July - and we don't even get real trees! The decorations that I have to continuously put back in proper order - see Exhibit A, the picture I took of the nativity scene in which Asher has gathered everyone EXCEPT the lonely baby Jesus (back in the barn) outside for a gathering. (It also appears that the angel has had a little too much eggnog and is passed out on the ground.) We have an infinite amount of kitty tree needle throw-up. Then there's unique instances of cleanup that you wouldn't even think of - like Exhibit B, where Asher managed to get glitter not only all over his hands, but also all over his mouth like a sparkly goatee. I still haven't figured out what he was doing with the ornaments to get so much glitter on his mouth, but maybe it's best I don't know.

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Come to think of it, maybe I won't be so upset when it's time to do the big cleanup of putting everything away for the year.

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New Skills

Henry is this close to getting into a sitting position on his own and pulling himself up into a standing position. Earlier this week, Stephen went into Henry's room to rescue him from his crib after his nap and found him sitting on his knees. Guess we better lower the mattress in his crib before he perfects his ability to pull himself up completely.

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Christmas Bonding

One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to put on some sweats, make a cup of hot chocolate, light some candles, plug in the Christmas tree, pop in a Christmas movie, stretch out on the sofa, and just bask in the coziness. With babies, however, this simple luxury of doing nothing is next to impossible, let alone be lazy AND enjoy it. The past couple of years, I've kind of had to let my Christmas movies collect dust because Asher hasn't had any desire in sitting still or doing anything close to relaxing. Bah humbug.

Well, we're still in that same boat to a degree with Henry, but Asher is beginning to enjoy movies and the art of lounging. On more than a few occasions, he's been very content to lie in bed with me and watch Sprout and words cannot describe how much I relish those moments. I love being a parent, don't get me wrong, but much of parenting does not revolve around actually enjoying your child's company. I don't know about anyone else's opinion, but I'm really not the biggest fan of dealing with temper tantrums or cleaning up the endless trail of messes that my children leave behind. Or changing dirty diapers or stressing about eating habits. I think a large reason why I am thrilled to just sit and stare at a TV screen with my child is because during this time he is quiet, peaceful, and snuggly. I can kiss the top of his head as many times as I want and he's too entranced to even notice, let alone brush me off. With the TV on, I can just hold him and enjoy his presence.

Anyway, I'm stoked that he is showing more interests in movies especially now that the Christmas season is here because now maybe I can enjoy some of my favorite holiday movies with him! The one movie he really loved last year was "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and a couple of months ago, he decided he wanted to start watching it again. I love this program, but after watching it almost every night for the past month at Asher's request, I was ready for something different. We watched "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Shrek the Halls" the other night, and although Asher sat and watched most of them, when they were over, he was ready for them to be over. When I asked him the next night if he wanted to watch them again, he said no because we watched them already. And then he begged to watch Charlie Brown. AGAIN. For the millionth time. (The logic of a two-year old cannot be explained.)

Personally, when I watched "Polar Express" a few years ago, I thought it was a little creepy and weird. However, I was excited to see that it was on TV tonight because I thought a movie about both a train and Christmas would have to be loved by Asher. Luckily, I was right. He remained glued to the TV during the entire two hours, became upset when commercials interrupted the movie, and randomly informed me throughout the movie that he liked the movie. I knew it was a winner when it was over and I told him that I'd recorded it in case he wants to watch it later on and he then started whining that, yes, he wants to watch it again. NOW. And, this time around, I enjoyed the movie so much more. Of course, I think part of that may be because I spent half of the time watching him watch the movie. The movie has a few suspenseful moments, which Asher is completely unaccustomed to - I've never caught myself biting my nails during an action-packed scene of Blue's Clues - so it was funny seeing his reaction when he was feeling tense. At one moment, he exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! That was CLOSE!"

With Asher's comprehension maturing, I'm so excited about Christmas approaching. Watching Christmas movies together is one of the many ways I hope we can celebrate my favorite time of the year.

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Mr. Mouthy

Asher is really on a roll today in driving his mother nuts. Defiance and stubbornness are set at maximum strength. Fortunately, during the part of the time when I'm not beating my head against the wall in frustration, I'm able to see the humor in some of his tirades.

Me: Asher, I'm going to go take a shower.
Asher: OK, Mommy. Can I splash you?
Me: No, not today. Mommy's in a hurry to get ready. Maybe tomorrow.
Asher: Come on, Mom. Cheer up. I splash you!
Me: Sweetie, maybe tomorrow, but today I need to take a quick shower.
Asher: NO TOMORROW! CHEER UP, MOM - I SPLASH YOU!

Asher: MOM! TRAINS! WATCH TRAINS!
Me: Asher, please be quiet. I'm giving Henry his bottle and he's trying to go to sleep -
Asher: NO HENRY BOTTLE NO SLEEP! TRAINS!
Me: Asher, you're being selfish -
Asher: I NOT A FISH!
Me: I didn't say you're a "fish," I said "selfish" - do you know what that means?
Asher: NO MOM I NOT A FISH! I NOT A FISH!

Me: Asher, it's time to change your diaper and get dressed!
Asher: No diaper change or get dressed - watching trains!
Me: You can watch trains after you get dressed.
Asher: No diaper change! OR! GET! DRESSED! MOOOOM! I busy! I have jobs to do! I watch trains, OKAAAAAAY?!

Me: Man, I am getting REALLY tired.
Asher: Tired, Mom?
Me: Yes, Mommy is tired. You boys really wear me out!
Asher: No tired, Mom! Not tired time, LUNCH time!

I am finally understanding what people meant when they said, "Just wait until they start talking!"

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Unseasonably Warm Weather

Today it was windy and gray outside, with a sprinkle of rain here and there. But, it was warm - 70 degrees - so no one was complaining! When I came home for lunch, I found two cutie patooties playing in the driveway, practicing their sweet driving skills.

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A Little Less Hair, A Little More Teeth

(1) I hate to say it, but my mother-in-law and my husband were right: Henry's baby locks had grown into a wild and crazy rattail. I mean, Henry is usually wearing more than just a diaper and doesn't drink Mountain Dew out of his bottle - he simply wasn't playing the part of white trash baby very well, no one was buying the act. So, I gave him his first haircut at bathtime, mainly just trimming up the back and sides. He was super squirmy, just like I thought he'd be, which is the reason I'd waited this long to cut it, but I managed not to pierce anyone's skin.

(2) Henry has still been pretty restless at night and cranky at times, and since his first tooth popped through a couple of weeks ago, I figured he probably had another in the works. (I remember with Asher they seemed to come in twos and threes.) Sure enough, this afternoon I felt another sharp little toofer poking out of his bottom jaw, right beside his first one. I hope he uses them for good (eating all his veggies) and not evil (biting his brother or eating my Oreos). Chomp chomp chomp!

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Seven Months of Pickles

Henry turned seven months old a few days ago. The closer he gets to the age of walking, the more excited I get! I feel so bad, but the kid really is almost too much for me to lug around anymore. We have a mirror at the end of our hallway, and the other night I was walking down it while carrying Henry. I caught a glimpse of myself with him in my arms and realized he is about half as long as I am - I really DO look ridiculous carrying him! He's exceeded the size limit of the Baby Bjorn, and we moved him to the larger car seat - so we no longer have the luxury of a baby carrier with a car seat base. He's able to sit on his own, so he can sit in a highchair or a cart, but he's not stable enough where he looks comfortable doing so for any period of time, so it's kind of tricky going shopping or to a restaurant. Poor little guy has just outgrown all of the helpful, comfy baby stuff too soon! He's getting pretty close to army crawling, though, and he keeps trying sit up on his own, so we're getting closer to independent mobility!

Henry loves to eat, so we know he's positively thrilled about sprouting his first tooth last week! Just a few more and he'll be chomping on steak in no time! We think more are in the works; this past week has been awful as far as sleeping goes.

My little big guy is so good at entertaining himself. It seemed like Asher would only last seconds when playing on his own (and sometimes that's STILL the case!), but Henry will often spend 20-30 minutes in his exersaucer or playing on the floor by himself before he starts getting fussy.

I think those are about all the updates in the Land of Pickles for now. I'm sure I'll have some more in the weeks to come...you know how babies are about constantly learning new tricks!

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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like THREE

Not only have I been terrible about blogging, but I've been even more terrible about posting updates about Asher. You know, my firstborn - the one who, just over a year ago, had constant coverage on here. Then I went and got pregnant and basically fell off the face of the earth, taking Asher with me.

In just a couple of months, he'll be turning three. The first couple of years, I couldn't grasp how much he was growing and how quickly. Now, I'm reaching the point where it feels like he's been in my life forever and I'm thinking, three? Is that it? Seems like he's been around a lot longer than three short years...

I've heard from many that age three is worse than age two, and I'm starting to see where people might think that as we approach that age. We really didn't experience the "terrible two's" with Asher; for the most part, he's been a little sweetheart. Lately, however, my little sweetheart has been more stubborn, more loud, more rambunctious, more moody, less cuddly, more demanding and particular, and has been spending increasing amounts of time perfecting his sweet temper tantrum throwing skills.

Some of his outbursts are pretty funny and cute. Like, when he can't quite figure out how to tell me to leave him alone when I'm annoying him and points at me and tells me, "GO LOOK AT CARS, MOMMY!" Or, "I told you to BE QUIET!" Or, "I can't do that, Mommy - I BUSY!"

Some of his outbursts are downright frustrating and make me want to throw myself out a window. Like, when he refuses to brush his teeth many nights. What should take less than five minutes ends up taking fifteen to twenty. Or when he begs for something, you give it to him, and then you get, "NO, NOT THOMAS! WANT REGULAR THOMAS!" Or "regular" noodles, or "regular" juice, or "regular" yogurt...Not to mention, what he deems as "regular" seems to change on a daily basis. I had absolutely no clue that one of the requirements of being a parent was having the ability to read minds.

I have a feeling it's going to be a bumpy road to independence, which is to be expected. I just hope there will be more stories to tell of good than of bad.

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Since Winter Is Obviously Right Around the Corner...

I've had to wear my coat to work for the past week, it was sleeting on my way home at lunch, and the number of leaves on the ground is beginning to outnumber those on the trees.

Winter is coming!

Since the next round of pictures I take will probably involve snow, I thought I'd go ahead and post a few pictures I took last weekend of Henry playing in the leaves.

These are some of the good pictures. Most of the pictures, however, were of him eating leaves or trying to eat the pumpkin. And notice that Asher is not seen in these pictures. Asher was busy running around behind me like a busy little squirrel frantically searching for nuts. He has apparently decided that he will no longer participate in posed photos if it requires holding still or looking at the camera.

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Maybe There Is a Slight Resemblance...

Just about every single person we encounter swears up and down that Henry is a miniature version of Asher. In fact, this weekend, Mom and I were at Wal-Mart - she was pushing Asher in the cart, and I was carrying Henry in the Baby Bjorn - and a woman stopped and did a double take and said, "Twins?" Before we could answer, it obviously dawned on her that there was an age difference and she said, "Oh, I guess not!" It's funny so many people think they look so much alike, but I, the mom, haven't really felt that there was that strong of a resemblance.

But maybe I'm wrong.

I awoke around 3 a.m. Saturday morning. We were staying the weekend at my mom's, and Asher typically sleeps in bed with me, while Henry sleeps in the pack 'n' play. In my groggy state, I looked over at Asher and - wait - who put Henry in bed with me? Where was Asher? Feeling startled, I looked over in the pack 'n' play to find Henry sleeping soundly. I looked back at Henry in bed next to me, then back to Henry in the pack 'n' play. What the heck was going on?! How could Henry be in two places at the same time? What kind of Halloween trickery was being played on me?

Oh. Huh. That wasn't Henry in bed next to me. It was Asher. EERIE.

Then, last night, I was going through some pictures I took of the boys over the weekend, and found one in particular of Henry that reminded me of one of my favorite pictures of Asher from two years ago.

Asher, 2008:

Henry, 2010:

Yep, these boys are definitely brothers. Still not sure I totally agree with people when they say Henry is a replica of Asher, but they could never deny being related to one another. It's a good thing they're handsome boys - Henry should take it as a compliment that he resembles his big brother!

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Dragon Brothers

Last year after Halloween, when I was pregnant with Henry, Mom and I found this really cute horse costume at Cracker Barrel for next-to-nothing. Henry, of course, turned out to be really good at growing, so the horse costume was a good size-and-a-half too small for him. So, I found this cute dragon costume for him:

I had no idea what Asher should be, and when I'd ask him what he wanted to be, he'd just say, "Ummmmm....I unno." We took him costume shopping, but he seemed completely uninterested in everything there was. A monkey? "Ummmmm....sumpin' else!" How about an elephant? "Ummmm....sumpin' else!" A shark - a shark would be cool! "Ummmm.....hmmm......sumpin else?" He was no help. Even the Thomas the Tank Engine costume at Target didn't phase him. So Mom and I went to Old Navy and guess what they had there? A dragon costume! Not identical to Henry's, but a dragon nonetheless!

So we got home and asked him if he wanted to dress up like a dragon like Henry. Dragon brothers! Asher thought about this and then seemed pleased with the idea. For the past few weeks, when asked what he was going to be for Halloween, he'd say, "Dragon brothers with Henry!"

They were definitely the cutest pair of dragons I've ever seen in my entire life.

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Mr. Pickles Turns Six Months

Life has been pretty good for the most part here in Neenerland...just a little busy, to say the least. Who knew having two monkeys under the age of three would keep you so busy? And so crazy?

Henry had his sixth-month checkup with the doctor today. He's still a chart-topper, weighing in at almost 22 pounds (95th percentile) and just shy of 30 inches in length (above the 100th percentile). This might explain why my arms and back hurt so badly after having him in my arms for only a few minutes at a time! We've, thankfully, been given the green light to start feeding him soft table foods and juice because this child is CLEARLY malnourished and needs as many sources of caloric intake as possible! Oh, who are we kidding...I've been dying to sneak him spoonfuls of mashed potatoes at dinnertime for the past month, the doctor doesn't have to twist my arm! I mean, seriously - doesn't he look like someone who would love mashed potatoes?? Couldn't he be a model on a box of potato-flakes? Henry also had five shots and only whimpered a little - no crying! Asher even joined in the fun by getting a flu shot and was so brave that Daddy gave him a present as a reward. Daddy said Henry didn't need a reward because he doesn't know the difference, but don't worry, Henry - remember those mashed potatoes? Yes, your reward will come by the buttery spoonful!

Henry has lots of tricks up his sleeve, from sitting up unassisted to rolling wherever he wants to go to "inchworming" backwards. He loves bathtime now that he can sit up and splash and play with toys, but hates being "manhandled" when it's time to be toweled off and dressed. As I said, he's a big boy, fully into 12-month-sized clothes now and already wearing a few smaller fitting 18-month-sized items. I'm just hoping he won't catch up with Asher too quickly...although I guess I could just rotate the clothes between the two closets! Henry adores eating (Shocker? He is my son...) and pretty much likes everything except for green beans. He hasn't sprouted any teeth, yet, but I'm sure they'll be up before we know it - I can feel them charging through his bumpy little gums.

The boys are super sweet together and it warms my heart every time Asher gives Henry a big, unprompted hug or whenever Henry gazes at Asher with a huge, gummy smile. It's funny and a little remarkable to me when Asher wakes up from a nap and immediately asks to see Baby Brother or when Asher acting like a goofball is the only thing that will cheer a grumpy Henry up. Asher lets Henry "play" with his trains and Henry loves watching Thomas episodes with Asher on TV. Could they be two peas in a pod, or are they just softening me up before a horrible decade or two (or more?!) of sibling rivalry erupts?? Only time will tell...but in the meantime, I will bask in a disgustingly nauseating whirlwind of emotions over these two affectionate brothers...

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