My Kids

The other day at the park, I don't remember exactly what he did to annoy me, but I was testy and told Evan, "You're really pushing your limits. You need to show me you can play well at the playground or we're gonna go home." He walked off and grabbed his basketball and started dribbling towards me. Then he said, "You said I'm pushing my limits? I'm just pushing ONE limit. I'm pushing my ball limit."

After Evan said the prayer for lunch, he asked, "When I said the prayer, did you feel the spirit?" I said, "Yeah, I did." and smiled at him. He smiled back and said, "I did, too. The spirit was blowing so hard!"

Anytime Seth sees candy come out of the candy machine he squeals, "Oh!," like he's surprised, even though I'm pretty sure by now it's no surprise to him. Also, anytime we give Seth instructions, he says "Oh," like, "Oh, ok."

Evan's new obsession is dribbling his basketball. He can do it while sitting, while running, and back and forth with both hands. He throws the ball up in the air to himself and then dribbles back and forth on our back patio. It reminds me of my brother, Nate, who would play basketball with himself all the time.

Don't worry if you can't understand Seth. He comes with a personal translator, Evan. He'll let you know that "seezee" means cereal, "nuk" means drink, and "b ball" means basketball. He calls Evan "Evie," which I think is adorable.

Seth loves to put on shoes. His own shoes on his feet, other people's shoes on his feet, and other people's shoes on their feet. He's our little shoe helper, always bringing us our shoes when it's time to go out...or even when it's not time to go out, for that matter.

Evan always talks about numbers (time, ages, length), even though he has a very confused understanding of them right now.

"Can I just watch a show for 10 more hours?"
"Was I 3 when I was in your tummy?"
"I'm 18 feet tall."
"You were in the shower a long time--like 10-49 hours"
"I only watched shows for, like, 270 seconds."
"Will I be 5 tomorrow?"
"We went to that park last year [meaning yesterday]."

It's all very tricky.

Evan has a hard time playing independently. He hates it. He often refuses to do it.
Evan: What should I do now?
Me: Play.
Evan: When should I stop playing?
Me: Never.
Evan: But I don't want to never stop playing!

Seth's favorite foods: cottage cheese, cereal, pretzels, grapes, bananas, yogurt, bread, cookies, corn on the cob, candy he sneaks from the candy machine. Seth gets so happy anytime he's able to reach snacks in the pantry or fridge, and the proud smile on his face as he brings the food to me is just too cute for me to tell him no.

Evan's favorite shows: Anything PBS (Super Why, Cyberchase, Word World, Kratts Creatures) He's subtle about the way he asks for things he wants, i.e. "What is something I can do that has a button on the side and you turn it on, and it's black..."    Um...watch TV?   "Yeah! That's what I want to do!"

Both boys gravitate to the sound of the ice cream man, with the little guy repeating "i keem! i keem!" Both boys also notice every single "air pleen! air pleen!," no matter how high in the sky.

Seth's smile melts me. He snuggles my neck and sings songs with me before bed. He gives slobbery kisses on demand. He never responds to his own name.

Evan wakes up early and entertains himself or lays next to me in bed until I'm ready to get up. He loves family cuddles and getting back or leg rubs. He makes me laugh. And yell. I do best when I have solo time with Evan because he's better behaved when he gets the attention he craves.

These are my boys!