Brothers | "Next Bruno."

These two.

Anytime Bruno is on the floor for a diaper change, or because I'm working on something or other, Sebastian sidles right up next to him, gets down on the floor, and says, "Next Bruno."

P.S. More brotherly love.

Home | Of a Wednesday morning

This just about sums it up.

Bruno can't stand to be out of sight of people, and gives me the most pathetic puppy dog eyes and quivering lip when I try to put him down. Today we tried the Kangaroo hold so he can be held and see everything at the same time. Oh, balm for an extrovert baby's soul! Sebastian, on the other hand, is performing his usual acrobatics, and coming up with ingenious new ways to drink water from The Common Sippy Cup, amidst incessant requests to read "Dog, go! Dog, go!"And of course by that he means, Go, Dog. Go! by P.D. Eastman.

Oh, and Sesame Street. It's been a long week already.

Seb | Bean station

Sometimes, as a mom, I feel like I'm drowning. Sometimes I feel like my baby turned into a "real kid" overnight, and... suddenly I'm supposed to come up with activities for him? When did he get so clever? When did his mind morph into something that needed fresh activities, and things to spark his imagination? I don't know when it happened, but there is no doubt, as I watch Seb hobbling around the room pretending that a slotted spoon and a whisk are two canes, that it has happened.

But sometimes, I feel like I've hit my stride, and it's usually completely random and the results are brilliantly simple. During Seb's nap today I got some dry beans, various bowls, a lidded container, and some scooping tools, (side note: now he's walking around shirtless, with a backpack, saying, "I'm a schoolbus.") and laid them out by our sliding door. It was the first thing he saw when he stumbled out of his room, delirious, and calmly excited that he could hear the lawn mowers outside ("Mow-ning-ning-ning"). He quickly got to work exploring, playing for a full 30 minutes by himself until he asked me to play, too.

We had a jolly good time putting beans in our belly buttons.

Style | Because sometimes it's nice to make something pretty...

... and because it's late (and I've clearly lost the ability to realize how sleepy I am)... and because it's the weekend... and because I'm feeling a bit like I can wear normal clothes again (wahoo!)... and because my boys are just too darn cute... and because I'm insanely over the moon excited for our first ever family photos coming up in October.

Clearly I like the down-on-the-farm look. I like to stay close to my roots.

Cody: Shirt, jeans
Mary: Shirt, jeans, shoes
Sebastian: Sweater, Cords
Bruno: Sweater, pants

Virtual Book Club | Color Farm by Lois Ehlert

I mentioned the Virtual Book Club and our intention to take part, but honestly, I find it to be quite miraculous that we're actually making this happen! Today we read Color Farm by Lois Ehlert. This book is pretty brilliant, and almost makes me dizzy thinking of how on earth she was able to plan and execute it's design. If you've never read this book, it's basically page after page of colorful shapes, shapes as holes, and then animals made out of those shapes. It was also fun to see Seb able to identify the different animals, even though they are very abstract.

I've been trying to figure out what kind of activity we would do for quite some time, but nothing struck me. Finally I decided to just cut out a bunch of shapes, with plans to make a dog and a baby chick. I wasn't sure how Seb would interact with the materials or if the activity would actually work, but as always, he surprises me with how much he knows and his ability to follow directions and learn new things quickly. He definitely had a lot of fun with the glue stick.

We made the dog first, and then when I announced that we were going to make a baby chick, he said, "Duck, first!" So... that's why our duck looks a bit odd. I had to cut apart all my intended-for-a-baby-chick pieces and at the same time try to figure out how on earth to make a duck... so don't judge. Really, I completely love that he was interested enough in the activity to have an opinion about what we were going to make!

After we finished the duck, or rather, during our assembling, Seb turned his full attention to "drawing." Thank the good Lord for washable markers.

In the end, we had a lovely little Color Farm of our very own.

P.S. See how Lois Ehlert is inspiring others!

Brothers | "Hold you, baby?"

Seb kills me daily. His skills at the english language are blossoming all over the place, and his affection for his baby brother is sweeter than syrup. Bruno says the feeling is quite mutual. I hope and pray they stay best friends for all time. Also... do you like how Bruno is totally maxing out those 0-3 mo. pants? Yes, I've got some new, much larger ones, in the works, but I'm first learning how to not accidentally sew the legs into a merman costume, and second—and much less embarrassing—perfecting my pattern.

Wish me luck!

P.S. More brotherly love.

Home | Here are some pictures, Mom

Handsome love + Seb's/Cody's new running shoes. 

Just a day in the life of a musical genius/aspiring runner/world's best big brother

"Hey look, ma! It's my hand!"

"Betcha didn't know I could just pop up off the pillow like that, did ya? Bruno is my name, shock & awe is my game."

"Woah! I even surprised myself that time!"

A little project in the works.