Nanna's Here!

My mom flew in yesterday afternoon and the boys and I picked her up at the airport. The boys were so excited to see her, both before and after she arrived. Ethan hasn't seen Nanna in two months, so I'm not sure that he remembered who I was talking about until she arrived. But once she climbed in the car, the smile on his face was just as big as the one on Caleb's.

As I've mentioned on this blog before, my Mom has "silly" down pat. (I'm convinced that "silly" is the secret of all successful clowns, pediatricians, and other kid-centered professionals.) She hops in the car and immediately starts being silly with the boys. Caleb tells her that he is pretending to be a pig today, so she starts making pig noises and both boys crack up. Her repertoire of ridiculous noises and expressions seems never-ending--she's got one for every occasion.

Mom and I decided when we were talking last night that 15-months seems to be the magic age for Ethan to be able to really play with his 3-year-old brother. During this past month (Ethan is almost 16-months now), their play has really blossomed. They run circles together through the kitchen/dining/living rooms. They wrestle and tickle each other all over the play room. They both hold trains and drive them all over the train track together. They race cars across the play room. The hold animals and the animals "fight" and "talk" to each other. Ethan even talks for his animals by himself when Caleb tells him what to say. They take turns hitting the ball off the "T" with their bats, and kick a soccer ball back and forth to each other. Ethan helps Caleb pick up his toys, and Caleb gets things down for Ethan that Ethan can't reach. Sometimes if I can't understand what Ethan is saying, Caleb will tell me. They think the same things are funny (boy humor), so something unexpected will send them into roils of laughter and they will keep each other going, back and forth. Ethan can even help a little when Caleb is building with blocks and tinker toys. Caleb has learned that if he includes Ethan a little by asking him to "hand me that" or "put that in this hole", Ethan is less likely to turn destructive on the project.

I didn't completely realize how much their interactive play had developed recently until Nanna (who hasn't seen them for 2 months), commented a couple of times on how cute it was to see them playing together. It's so nice to have another pair of adult eyes observing and enjoying my little ones :) Welcome back to Alabama, Nanna!

Monday
Quaker oatmeal
Rainier cherries
Turkey deli meat
Wheat crackers
Dried fruit bits
Goldfish
Homemade veggie pizza (had to use up the rest of the ingredients from last week's groceries)