The Latest

Lucas turns 2 next month. My baby! Where has the time gone? He has grown up so much in the last few months. He is so smart and so cute. He is really good natured -- it takes a lot to make him cry. He generally shares pretty well and will only resist sharing or start to cry when he's overtired. He needs a good nap every day but is starting to resist it at daycare and sometimes skips it. No, he's too young! He needs those naps. I need him to take those naps!

Lucas is still pretty quiet. I still think it has a lot to do with not being able to get a word in edge-wise because of his brother, but make no mistake about his hearing. Lucas hears and understands everything. And somehow he gets his point across. He has a few words and one of my favorite things has been him changing "Mama" to "Mommy". Or what it really sounds like is "Mommeeeeee". When you ask him to say "dog" he barks. When you ask him to say "cow" he moos. And so on. Every so often he'll come out with a new word and you wonder how long he's been saying it and we just didn't understand. :)

Sadly, I think that just like his big brother, Lucas' hair is starting to get darker. It's still blonde, but not nearly as light. The good news is that he really looks like Kevin now. So funny that I used to think that he looked exactly like me and now it's Kevin. But it's also funny that he looks like grown-up Kevin, not baby Kevin.

We are having Lucas' 2nd birthday party at Build a Bear. He has no idea -- he doesn't know to get excited about an upcoming birthday or that he will get presents or cake. He is still at that sweet innocent age where the future is a vague concept and memories are wonderful, but he doesn't realize that things are cyclical and will come again. So I'm planning his party and he is kind of clueless although Zach is excited for him. Zach has asked if he (Zach) can get a special stuffed animal from Build a Bear for himself since he is the birthday boy's brother. Funny boy.

Zachary is SUCH a little boy at this point. He loves to ride his bicycle and is a pretty strong rider. He has been riding up the "big" hill by our house for over a year. We are thinking about taking off his training wheels and seeing how he does. Actually, I should say that Kevin already did this although Zach's balance is not there yet so they went back on, but he's getting there. He did go about a foot before he got wobbly.

We registered Zach for kindergarten this fall. Again, where has the time gone? We had a parent/teacher conference with his preschool teacher recently and I asked her how he was doing -- is he ready for school? The school birthday cutoff date in Massachusetts is September 1st (you must be 5 before then) and I just worry that he might be young, both with maturity and maybe even intellectually, compared to his peers. My fears were assuaged however, when his teacher told us that Zach is a very smart kid, has a lot of friends and is going to be very well prepared for kindergarten. She said he shares well and has "coping" mechanisms to manage when he and a friend both want the same toy. He can count to well over 100, knows his numbers and letters, writes his name and several other words (Mommy, Lucas, Daddy, Emily, dog, cat, etc), and has many "sight" words that he recognizes which is helping as he is learning to read. I'm so proud of Zach -- I do think he is a really smart boy and it makes me so happy/relieved to hear that it's not just me as a proud mama, but that he is really doing well.

Lucas and Zach are really starting to play with each other a lot now. Lucas clearly adores Zach and copies everything he does (including things we'd rather he not do). Zach has a special job after school of helping Lucas take off his shoes and coat. It is the most adorable thing in the world and just makes my heart melt: Lucas goes over to Zach and sits on the floor while Zach takes his shoes off for him. He helps him take off his coat and hangs it on his hook for him. I am trying to praise Zachary when he does things like this because I want to reinforce the sharing and the kindness. It's tough to have a little brother and to have to share your toys and your mommy and daddy, but it's easier when you are buddies and love each other. And they do love each other. They give each other hugs every morning when we drop Zach off at preschool, and give hugs/kisses at bedtime. And they both join forces every evening after dinner to play "blue laser" with Daddy. It's a made-up game of running laps through the toy room, dining room, kitchen, foyer area and hiding from Kevin while he jumps out at different points and yells "roar" at them. They scream in delight every time.

When I was pregnant with Zachary I thought oh my gosh, how am I ever going to manage being the mother of a boy? I know girls. I am a girl and I have a daughter. And I have nephews, but I never realized that little boys, that my sons, could be so incredibly sweet. They are so snuggly and lovable. And I am wrapped very tightly around those little fingers.