My Top Five

If I had to stop and tell someone my top five things about my children (still feels weird to say "children"!) right now it would be:

Isabel:

Her favorite thing at Lost in Fun.  I don't even put money in...

1.  Her art
Isabel's art is everywhere in our home.  She loves to paint, to stamp, to color with crayons and chalk, and to decorate with stickers.  Right now, there are 3 pictures taped to the living room walls and 1 on the window, at least a dozen pictures up in the kitchen, 4 on the front door, a picture taped to each bedroom door, 3 pictures adorn her closet, and she has beautified my closet with a couple as well.  Every time I am tempted to take them down (and I will eventually), I think of how proud she was when she put them up and realize that in 20 years I am REALLY going to miss those sweet little works of art.  So I let them be for now.

2.  Her reading
Izzie still loves to read, but now I am in love with when she reads aloud.  She has many books memorized (enough to have a story that pretty much follows the original anyway), but she also loves to make up her own stories.  She'll just open up a book and make a fantastic story of her own.  It's delightful.

How she prefers to carry her keys at Grammy's house

3.  Her humor
Iz says some really funny things on her own--sometimes she knows they're funny and sometimes she stumbles on to something by accident.  My favorite from this week was when I sniffed her neck after nap time and she said, "What?  Do I smell like pizza or something?"  Or when Daddy was complaining about something and I tried to teach her to say "Build a bridge and get over it"--and it slowly morphed into "Make a bridge and climb it."  It's also fun because she knows about jokes now, so I taught her to ask someone, "Hey, what's up there?" and then she tickles their neck when they look up.  It's pretty cute.

4.  Her cuddles
Isabel is not a cuddler by nature, but at nap time and bedtime we can usually squeeze some out of her.  When we're laying on the bed reading books she'll ask, "Can I come in there?" which means she wants to sneak under my arm and cuddle close.  She also likes to be tickled at bedtime, and sometimes she'll return the favor.  The other night she tickled my arm forever and then cupped my cheek and said, "I love you so much, Mommy."  Melt my heart.

5.  Her sassafras
Izzie is getting very sassy, and it is mostly infuriating for her Mommy.  However, I see her confidence and independence shining through, and I know this is what I'm actually battling right now.  Although it is a pain when she is two, I am glad that she has got some oomph for when she's older.  We just need to channel it for the appropriate moments...super easy task, right?



Levi:

1.  His tongue
Levi's tongue sticks out of his mouth ever so slightly a majority of the time.  It looks as if his cheeks are so chubby that his mouth does not have room for his tongue.  I love that face.  I kiss it often.  His tongue also does some little lizard licking action while he's awake sometimes--maybe he's exploring his environment...?

2.  His clinging
Levi CLINGS to me now.  I remember Izzie accidentally grabbing my hair or hanging on to my clothes sometimes, but this child clings.  Anytime I hold him, he is desperately holding on to my shirt, hair, necklace...whatever he can get his hands on.  It's a death grip.  It almost seems as if he's concerned about my ability to hold him--as if he can sense I'm a little more relaxed this time around and is concerned I'm going to forget he's there.

Couldn't figure out why he was screaming in the car...

3.  His grunts
Levi is a caveman.  There is no cooing or baby talk.  There is grunting or silence.  There are hungry grunts, fidgety grunts, poop grunts, and nighttime grunts.  At this rate, this child will be writing his name and doing handstands before he can talk.

4.  His burping
It's more what happens when we burp him.  Levi is revolting against burps lately, so we really have to go at him to get them out.  And his typical response it to our intense burping attempts is to fall asleep.  It makes me think that instead of the little vibrating bouncer we have that we should just strap a jack hammer to the side of his crib.

After his one month appointment.  He was as shocked as I was about his weight.
11 lbs, 15 oz.  He's almost 2 lbs heavier than Iz was at one month.

5.  His similarities and differences with Iz
I love that he reminds me of my baby Isabel with his open-mouthed sleep face, his squishy frog face when he's waking up, and his almost asleep smiles.  But I love that he's got his own gig as well.  He loves to cuddle (often the cure for a fussy Isabel was to lay her down--definitely not the case with him), he hates to be naked, and most of all hates to take a bath.  He prefers to be snuggled up tight and fully dressed.  So these days he's often swaddled in a blanket while she roams half-clothed.  My sweet pumpkins.

Right before this pic she said, "Mommy, I just love him so much."