I must write.

Something...gotta write something, I am so behind, though, I don't know where to start.

Carter's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds. He is a parrot in every sense, and I will admit, hearing what I say coming from the mouth of my child is very self effacing. He is smart. REALLY smart. He knows all his letters, upper and lower case. He knows the sounds they make and to take it a step further, if you ask him "what words start with 'P'?" he will rattle off a dozen appropriate words. He knows all of his colors and dozens of shapes including octagon, hexagon, trapezoid and parallelogram. He is still shaky on numbers, but I have no doubt he will master those in short order. He is a good sized toddler with incredibly wide feet. He does somersaults with perfect form and is tall enough to reach anything on the counters. He can climb on top of any surface in the house and does if I am not paying attention. He kicks with his left foot and throws with his left hand, but he hammers, eats and writes with his right hand. He is getting pretty good at catching, and throws pretty well. We haven't tried batting yet...I am fearful of indoor batting practices. He loves puzzles, blocks, large legos and balls. His favorite activities are reading, coloring, dancing and sadly watching TV. I am trying to get better about limiting that last one as it has become a crutch during the hot months (which in south Texas are Feb - November). He has recently started to 'read' some of his favorite books. "I Love You Through and Through" was the first one he 'read' us, and "Teddy Bear Teddy Bear" was the second. It's so cute to hear him.

Jack is a joy. He is definitely figuring out that he needs to speak up or his older brother will get all the attention (as in the squeaky wheel gets the grease, not as in we ignore him because we love Carter more). He is getting his little hind end up under him like he might crawl, but no forward progress just yet. He does get around quite well rolling and scooting (mainly backwards). He is the smiliest baby to ever exist, and the cuddliest. He will actually hug you...it's the best feeling in the whole wide world. He is babbling more, but mainly vowel sounds. Just in the last day or so, I have heard some 'mmmm' sounds, but other than that, it is just lots of different pitched 'ahhhhhs'. At the moment, he takes three naps a day, but I have a feeling we will be dropping one of those in the next month or so. We have started solid foods, mainly a little baby food at dinner time, but he's not too interested yet. Oddly enough, carrots and peas have been the two biggest hits. Peaches and prunes the least popular. Still concerned about some discrepancy between his motor skill development on the right vs. left side, mainly in his legs. ECI is coming out to evaluate this month, but I am worried they will just see a bright happy thriving child and not see what I am seeing. In re-reading that last sentence, I realize how strange I sound, but while he IS happy and thriving, there IS something going on with his motor skill development and while it may be something that will just correct itself with time, as a parent I want to make sure I do everything I can to be proactive about the situation. He is not sitting up yet, but he is getting there. He is pretty steady in the Bumbo and with enough pillows around him, he can sit propped up for a few minutes before tumbling to one side or the other. He doesn't bear his weight on his legs except for a few seconds, which bothers me, but he is strong and I have no doubt he will be running after his brother as soon as he possibly can. Already, he just lights up every time he sees Carter. He gets so excited and starts wiggling and flapping as if he is just trying to will himself after him.

Carter is becoming more and more aware of Jack too. The other day, I was fixing dinner and Jack was fussing. Not being at a point where I could walk away, I asked Carter to go 'talk to baby Jack'. I didn't actually think he would do anything, but it was worth a shot. A few seconds later I realized Jack wasn't fussing anymore. I peered into the living room to see Carter laying on the floor next to him and they were just smiling at each other. Another time, I was rocking Jack and he was crying and Carter brought me a pacifier for him, which was just what he needed. And Carter loves to come with me to check on Jack when he is sleeping. When we tip-toe into Jack's room, Carter will hold his finger up to his mouth and say 'shhhh baby Jack is sleeping' :)

I think I always assumed I would have a favorite...not one that I shouted from the rooftops was my favorite, but one that I secretly favored. I mean, honestly, how can you love two people the same amount? Yet, I can say, I love them both infinitely. I love each of them for their very different strengths, and I love each of them more for their relationship with one another.

So, lots of rambling, but I needed to capture a snapshot of life as we currently know it before my mushy mommy brain lost the memories for good. If you kept up with me, thanks, if not, no hard feelings :)

Promise to have more pics and videos in future posts.