Growing up

There are an infinite number of milestones in life. We talk a lot about the big ones, like first steps and first words but there are also things like first time you put your shoes away, sat still for a book, and remembered your birthday.

Alex put his shoes away - inside Chris's hiking boots

Most of these milestones are gradual. It's a process to get from those first wobbly steps to actually walking. And babies do a LOT of talking before adults recognize those first words. But others are black or white: this past week we took down the baby gates from our living room. Both boys are experts at stairs now and don't stray far. And the gate to go downstairs was never closed anyway since it also blocked the bathroom. So we took them off. Labor Day weekend we took the side off of Alex's crib. We did it over the long weekend in case he showed up at our bedroom door in the middle of the night. (We also left the gate at the top of the stairs for just this reason.) I imagine we will find Jacob and Alex sleeping together in one bed or another at some point and there has been a bit more playing at bedtime. I'm afraid to imagine the trouble they will get into together. Alex can't open doors yet, but Jacob can. The good news is that Jacob has very strong opinions about what Alex should and shouldn't do and he attempts to keep him in line. The bad news is that disagreements usually end in wrestling and crying. Oh well. Apparently the biggest challenge right now is that Alex likes to have a blanket over him, but doesn't know how to do it himself so he keeps taking it over to Jacob. A couple times I've found Alex's blanket stuffed next to Jacob because he went over after Jacob fell asleep. Hopefully everyone will adjust soon because it's been a week and everyone is a little sleep deprived. They do great once they are asleep but getting to sleep is proving to be a challenge.

Ready for a bike adventure

All Alex wants right now is to be Jacob. Well, that and to play with trains. This causes problems sometimes because it means he takes Jacob's things and insists that I give him his string cheese still in a wrapper even though he can't open it and ultimately gets frustrated. But it also means that he already showing signs of being ready for potty training which is super exciting for us. The sooner we are out of diapers the better! He has also outgrown his kids' bike helmet so we got him a new one that matches Jacob's.

Jacob requested that I take his picture with the map

Jacob, on the other hand, has been practicing writing his name and other words. He is also thoroughly enamored with some wall maps we got at Costco. It was a set with a world map and a US map which is nice since we have family all over, particularly now that Chris's parents are in Ireland. He also rode 9 miles on his "bike with one wheel" last weekend. It's basically a bike that is missing the front wheel, that attaches to an adult bike so it becomes a tandem bike. I wish I had been able to get pictures because it was pretty great, but I was on my own bike pulling Alex in a trailer. It was a little rough on Chris because Jacob doesn't have much balance so Chris had to keep them from falling over (which he did admirably). We rode on a bike trail that goes past a model airplane airport and at 9 miles there is a park. We decided that the boys and I would stay at the park and send Chris back by himself to get the car. It worked nicely.

We have some busy times coming up. I feel like I'm always saying that and I guess it's always true, but in the next couple months we have visits from my dad and stepmother, my mom, most of Chris's family, and hopefully some friends (those plans are still in the works). Additionally I will be having surgery at the beginning of November (which is actually why my mom is coming out). This is in addition to the upcoming holidays, birthdays, Chris taking classes for his Masters, and work. So, I will try to keep up on here, but if I get behind that is why. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up a bit in my downtime while I'm recovering from surgery. But, seriously, I've learned not to make promises!