Observations

I was looking at my son yesterday as he prepared to take a sip of apple cider. There was something about the way he anticipated the taste of his favorite drink, something about the way he licked his lips as he brought the glass towards his mouth, there was something so amazing to me about his total whole body focus that I wanted to write about it. I decided to write about the things I love so much about my children. The tiny moments that I notice because, well because I look at them so often and with such interest. So here is my attempt at naming 25 things I simply love about my boys:

1. I love the way Anders drinks from a glass. I love how excited he is when he is really thirsty and about to have a really good glass of juice.

2. I love the way Anders cries and hugs his brother when he is accidentally hurt by Kuba. There is something heart wrenchingly beautiful about the way he says "Kuba." It is as if his world is about to end and if he can just cling to his brother all will be well.

3. I love the way Anders loves his bedtime story. He is a lucky boy in that each and every night either Anna or myself will make up one or two stories just for him. Currently we are on a roll of "Lars and Anders" stories. Lars is a magical polar bear who lives in the arctic and Anders has regular adventures with him. This series has been going for a few weeks now, and was inspired by a real book about a bear named Lars.

4. I love the way Anders says "aminals." And how much he enjoys playing "animals." This game he has invented is all about imagination and the fascinating world of his favorite animals. He has been playing animals for years now, and nothing makes him happier than when one of us plays along with him. It really is the way to his heart.

5. I love the way Kuba says "a gi ga dor." (the fact that he can say a 4 syllable word like alligator already is pretty darn great too!

6. I love feeding my children. I love making Anders lunch for school and I love feeding Kuba in his high chair. It gives me great pleasure to know that they are eating well and are enjoying their food!

7. I love the color of both of my boys hair. Strawberry blond and white blond. Beautiful!

8. I love the crazy ear piercing siren sound Anders makes when he is pretending to be a police officer giving speeding tickets to Anna and me for running in the house...(yes, we are speeding just for him!)

9. I love Kuba's hysterical facial expressions and dramatic charm.

10. I love both boys love of language. They are brilliantly verbal and fascinated by words. Rhymes, songs, stories, nonsense syllables...you name it, they are all over it!

11. I love how Kuba kisses his doll. Open mouthed, and precisely on the lips.

12. I love how hard it is for my oldest son to truly master toilet training! He really is in control of this one and ain't nobody going to hurry him!

13. I love how much Anders wants to hold his brother's hand.

14. I love how much both boys love being home and playing with us.

15. I love that my boys are gentle.

16. I love how Anders says "eskited" when he really is excited about something.

17. I love how Kuba stands up in the bathtub anytime water is poured or sprayed on him. It's an immediate response and as soon as the water stops he sits down again. (we are working on this!)

18. I love that when we do a blessing on our meal at dinner, Anders wants to go first, and nearly always is able to articulate a real gratitude. Sometimes they are simply remarkable.

19. I love how my boys look. They are so beautiful and I think I will eternally think they are the most beautiful in boys in the whole wide world.

20. I love the slight accent Anders has when he says "girl," and "world." It's sounds more like "guyil" and "wuyild."

21. I love that Anders tries so hard to be a fast runner.

22. I love how eager they both are and how ravenous they are to learn.

23. I love how whenever you ask Kuba if he's hungry, and he is hungry, he says "hummy" - which is slang for "hummus." His favorite food right now.

24. I love how he says "othaside" when he wants to nurse.

25. And finally, I love how completely innocent and open and alive and amazing they are. Just witnessing the purity and intensity of their being is quite enough to make me happy for a lifetime.

Otherside....

When Anders was still nursing, he would say "otha side" whenever he finished nursing on one side and still wanted more milk. It was so cute and Anna and I got such a kick out of it. Well, Anna was trying to teach Kuba this recently, and as is true to form, he found his own way to use the phrase.
Now, whenever Kuba wants to nurse at all he just says "otha side" and ta da, fresh warm mama's milk. Lovely twist, and of course, we love it so much!

Birthday Party!

Anders turned four last week and there was lots of celebrating.

The theme of his party was blue...and there were many fun blue aspects....blue balloons and decorations, blue activities....like blue play dough with real blue candles to play with, blue doodle tops, blue "pass the parcel" game with fun little blue Japanese toys in each layer, blue ring pops (which stained every one's tongue), and even blue cake! It was such a nice party; mellow, and just so fun. The kids played and played so that even the adults enjoyed some conversation. Here are some of the visuals- including a group photo of the kids blue tongues!

Jailbirds

Even our cousins love striped pajamas! We are sending this photo, minus the shiny eye, to Hannah Andersson. Don't you think we should?!

How old is he?

I need to take a moment to write about Jakob. For those of you who haven't met him yet, or seen him in a while, let me tell you a little bit about his development.

He started out walking at 10 months and now as a 14 month old, he's an old pro.
He's moved on to running, dancing, spinning, jumping, and climbing stairs....and doing it really well. We have a little slide in the house that has 2 steps on it, and he can navigate it so well.
He climbs up, sits down, slides down, and runs around to do it again.
He can even turn himself around on the top of it, and climb up the slide part too!

In the verbal realm he is amazing! He says tons of tons of words, and can parrot just about anything.
And he sings - YES he does.
His favorite is BA BA BLack Sheep,
but he also likes Ring o Ring of Roses, and Twinkle Twinkle.

And, TA DA...he can count. Only to two, but come on, you have to admit that is remarkable!
I discovered this the other day when I was counting steps with him and after I said one, he said TWO! Okay, so it sounded more like DO, but all the same it was a clear count.

I have attached a little video for your viewing pleasure.
Enjoy the baby!

January

It's been a wonderful New Year! The snow is here, the weather is cold, and the season for doing sports out in the snow is here! We have done a lot of sledding lately and last weekend went ice skating with friends in the most beautiful setting. It was an idyllic time. The baby slept in the car all bundled up and cozy, and the rest of us shoveled the snow off of the ice in cool paths....and then we skated. Anders was fabulous on skates! Seriously, I think he skated for 2 hours! It was one of those days when everything just felt so beautiful and healthy and fun. Check out his skating moves in the second photo!

Great Start!

Anders started the new year with a bang! He entered his first running race for kids, a one mile fun run. He started out happy and smiling and then quickly hopped up onto our friend Renzo's shoulders to finish the race. He did manage to go across the finish line on his own, and won a prize for best costume! Gotta love giraffes!