Thoughts from the last few weeks

In no particular order:

*MJ is learning Spanish. I can't believe I didn't blog this sooner (maybe I have). The kid's vocabulary is just amazing so I thought he could pick up words in other languages too. I think I know where all of my brain power is escaping. He doesn't know that many words, but picks up whatever we are working on rather quickly. Now when he tries to debate with me about getting something like a cookie. He says
"Me gusta dulces" (since we haven't taught him cookie yet) and,

"You can't say 'no' Mommy. You have to say yes. Say yes in Spanish, "Si." Can you say yes in Spanish Mommy?"

Boy, I'm in trouble.


*Joey is the slowest teething baby I have ever known! I'd say he has 5 teeth, (3 on top, 2 on bottom) but none of them are actually all the way in. Wow, this is definitely something he's gotten from Mario.


*Do you remember when MJ would "attack" people as a baby. I remember at least one Aunt Teresa incident. Well, it seems this move runs in the family. Joey is quite happy tackling people. He has a slightly different technique... I think MJ has been training him.

*MJ is into 2 more shows. My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Bob the Builder. I don't want to sound like we watch TV all the time. We just wanted some variety in the approx. 25 minutes of TV we watch a day. And these are age-appropriate, commercial-free, and usually some how creative or problem-solving, so it's really helped MJ's imagination (and given me a break to shower or keep him from climbing on the walls when he hasn't had a nap). I was at a consignment sale and saw some Bob the Builder toys but reminded myself that MJ is able to imagine those toys out of his construction equiptment that he already has. And it is so much more fun seeing him pretend like that. We don't have a "Bob" but he pretends that this small green dinosaur is Bob who plays with the digger, bulldozer, crane...etc. He even sings the theme song while he's playing. I'll have to get a video of that.

*Both MJ and Joey are getting so good at playing with other kids. It's fun to watch MJ play imaginary games with his friends. It's interesting how when he plays with the girls there is a different tone to the game (someone always needs to be rescued). I remember MJ could get overwhelmed by large groups of people. I think lots of noise is just the norm for Joey. In fact, Joey has been awake for over an hour now without MJ, and I think he looks rather bored.

*I'll have to say this again, having 2 kids seems so much easier than one. But I wonder if this is because one of them is old enough to talk to me and dictate what Joey is doing. I think any mother gets a level of comfort with having a child in a different room. You learn to listen for happy playing noises and destructive/dangerous ones. It's nice when I hear an unusual noise and I can ask MJ what Joey is doing. MJ is pretty good at giving me the play by play. It saves me a bit of time.

*Joey and MJ are so very close to sharing a room. They still can't fall asleep together (unless they are very tired and I am close by monitoring quietness), but they have survived sleeping through each other's noises in the night.