Update on the boys...

 This post is one that I dread because it is a total picture overload and it takes forever but they end up being some of my favorite posts to read years from now. I will start with Andersen. He is almost 16 months and getting so much personality. Andersen has 3 out of 4 of his first set of molars {D's in ortho terms} that are starting to make their way in. He loves his books, especially the ones with all the animals so he can make the silly noises while reading it. He is also learning to say a few words. Some of the regulars are DON'T, NO NO, and DADDY. Whenever the garage door opens up he runs to the door yelling DADDY no matter who it is walking in. He recently has been saying Mommy, but still not as clear and direct as Daddy. Andersen also is loving music. He will start moving his body to dance whenever music is on. He tends to do whatever Jackson does, so the things that he is learning are climbing on everything he can and playing with everything he can get his hands on in the bathroom!

He has learned the touch screen on our cell phones already and loves to watch Little Einsteins on Nate's phone. The frustrating part is that he HAS to hold the phone to watch and ends up hitting a bunch of buttons.

 The newest discovery is this hole! Andersen thinks its hilarious to put his finger in his nose. And if we aren't careful he'll try to do the same to our nose.

 My favorite thing right now is what a good sleeper he is. He will go to sleep where ever I need him to. It doesn't matter if we are at church, in the car, nap time or bed time. If he is tired, he will go to sleep! He is such a cuddly baby as long as we have his blanket and binky. And with the combination of those 3 things (tired, blanket and binky) he will lay his head down on our shoulders and fall asleep. A big accomplishment he had was getting rid of the bottle. With Jackson I made him stop at a year, but with Andersen I haven't had the strong desire to get rid of it yet. One day not too long ago, out of the blue I decided it was time... mostly because I was sick of washing bottles! He didn't drink too much milk for a couple of days but after that you would never know he was missing his bottle because he is loving his sippy cup now, especially chocolate milk like his big brother.

Now Jackson on the other hand is learning more than I can keep track of lately! I sometimes forget that he is not even 4, yet he communicates like he is a couple years older than he really is. He is loving his preschool class and is super excited to start up another season of soccer in the next couple of weeks. After soccer we are going to put him in t-ball. I am so excited to watch him play baseball because he will play with his own t-ball stuff at home and he is quite the hitter already. He is doing so well with his letters and numbers, and is starting to remember all the sounds to the letters. I think he is starting to get the concept of reading because he will read to me the letters and sounds but hasn't figured out how they go together quite yet. Another thing he is starting to learn more is the concept of time. He is really good about telling me what numbers are on the clock. He is learning that we read everything left to right, but sometimes when I will ask him what time it is, he gets confused and reads the numbers backwards to me. I am amazed what a people person Jackson is because he is always wanting to be with his friends or have me invite someone over or asks "who is coming over tonight?". Jackson is still into his super heroes and it is very common to see Jackson sleeping or eating in these costumes. He has even asked for Spiderman, Superman, and Iron Man costumes for his birthday coming up in March. I am sure another super hero will be added to the list between now and his birthday though.

Jackson is by far the most silly and crazy one in our family right now. He is always coming up with funny sayings or random ideas to keep him and brother entertained.  The hard part to this age is we are definitely going through major behavioral issues like not listening, not being obedient and follow the rules, not sharing with his brother, whining and talking back to Mom and Dad. But as hard as it is, he is so stinking cute sometimes that it doesn't take long for his little smile to soften our hearts. 

I will admit that I am not a mom that is 100% patient and loving all the time, because these 2 munchkins sure know how to fight and push my buttons. But there are quite a few times through out the day that they are very sweet with each other. I always hope they will be best friends as they grow older and the following pictures give me hope that that can happen even if they do fight and bug each other on a regular basis. These brothers will happily take naps together and this time they were even holding hands. SO CUTE!

 They played all day in this fort together reading books and pretending to have nap time there.

 They will regularly watch movies or cartoons on our bed together.

 

And my personal favorite, as well as Jackson's, is that they love taking baths together. Jackson will refuse to take a bath unless his brother is there with him.

Man you two boys are so stinking cute!! I love your little voices, your little kisses and hugs, and all your silly sayings. I can't wait to see what you boys are like as older kids but I know one day I will miss these sweet innocent smiles and wish for these days back.