My Sunshine...or Mom

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you

I keep thinking of this line--not in a fatalistic way but it's true. Behr will never know how much I love him. He will know (I sure hope!) that I do love him and Lord-willing some day will be a daddy who loves his littles. But in a very real, biological way, this little son of mine will never know "how much I love" him... and I may not know how much my mother loves me but I have now tasted seventeen months of mommyhood and enough to say I know a little bit more just how much my mom loves me.

I love you Mom! I love you in more ways than I can say--and one of my favorite parts of being little Behr's mom has been watching you be his grandma. Happy 30th Mother's Day! (PS We almost went to a nursery to look at plants today. How's that for ironic? ;-))

Oh and hash tag real life: Our Mother's Day has been the quiet kind of Sunday with a family brunch at Great Sage (mmmm dairy-free big fluffy cinnamon rolls!) and a West Wing marathon on the couch while the Behr hopefully naps off a case of the fussies (some crazy parents decided letting him stay up partying until 10pm last night was a good idea). Wouldn't trade day-to-day life with my boys for anything in the world. 

Favorite Words

As of today, as two days shy of sixteen months, Behr's favorite words are:

1. Sturrrr'it
As in, to stir. If there's one thing Behr likes to do and would do most of the day if he could it's stir things. He spends most of the pre-dinner hour grabbing my legs and begging to "sturrit? sturrit?" He's actually not too bad though if I do let him sit on the counter and help he usually uses at least four spoons to do his work.
2. Asing't
Hear the "sing" in there? I think this means "song" but also sing. Behr loves to be sung to and to listen to music. I don't sing for anyone but him -- yet he can get me to sing to him over and over. Tonight at bedtime I was singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and he sat up and shook his head at me and starting pinching his fingers together. I thought he was signing for milk but no, he was doing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" hand signs. His favorites are honestly anything you'll sing to him. When he's up in the middle of the night and I'm tired of singing to him sometimes when he asks for another song I tell him I'm too sleepy and that he needs to sing to Mama. And he does. Heart-melting. We listen to Raffi CD's in the car to help him be cheerful on our longer drives around town and the second a song ends immediately a little voice in the back seat starts asking "asing't asing't??"
One day when we were listening to a random Pandora station this song came on by Vered Songs and man. I love how it captures the sweetness of being my little boy's mommy in these tiring non-stop busy days.
3. Swit!
This one sounds a whole lot like "sit" to me but we've figured out this week that it means sweep. Nearly every morning while I make breakfast and most nights if Dada's home (because he's the one that sweeps after Behr) he gets out the broom and works his hardest to sweep up his messes. It usually results in more of a mess but he sure is proud of his work.

Our little buddy is a chatter box. Ninety percent of what comes out of his mouth is babble, incessant non-stop babble narrating his day from when he wakes up until he goes to bed. But he's got a handful of very clear words mixed in the "mama," "dada," "buhbye," and "hiiiii" are words like "bayball." We love this little guy--we love his words, we love his voice, and man, we just love everything about him.

You're Worth the Work

“I want to thank my wife, who I don’t normally associate with Iran. I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It’s good. It is work, but it’s the best kind of work, and there’s no one I’d rather work with.” -- Ben Affleck accepting the Academy Award for Best Picture for his movie Argo (great movie by the way!)

I read this article on Salon a few weeks ago and I can't get it out of my head. The Academy Awards are a distant memory to most of us other than when we look up a movie on Wikipedia in a few years we won't remember for long much that happened that night. And like anything else from that night Ben Affleck's comments of gratitude toward his wife (Jennifer Garner) are also quickly forgotten. But I heard them and noticed them and this article so well articulated the thoughts I hope he was thinking and that resonated in my heart in a rather surprising way--I think it was just nice to see the culture recognizing marriage in a healthy, normal way.

"Like many things in life, just because a relationship is good doesn’t mean it doesn’t take a hell of a lot of effort. In fact, the effort is the good part. The lovely, wedding day dream that love is enough and you’ll always feel perfect and splendid forever is just that – a dream. The day-to-day can be boring and irritating and yet often, in the midst of all it, that’s exactly when you feel most deeply at home within each other. And maybe someday, when your mate is at your mom’s for Thanksgiving or accepting an Academy Award for best picture, he’ll start acting in a way that’s weird and makes people uncomfortable. That’s when you think, oh, right. That’s what I love about him."

Marriage is hard. It's hard work. It's worth it but oh it's hard. It's hard when you're happy and it's hard when you're sad. It's hard when you have everything and it's hard when you feel you've lost everything. But it's work that's worth it, it really is "the best kind of work."

And so today, to my husband who I work to love every day and will continue to work to love every day I am given, I wish you a happy birthday! This may be an odd way to say it but you knew I was crazy when you married me--and you are the greatest example I have on this planet of someone who loves me unreservedly whether or not I've given you reason to. In the last year you've shown more patience and love and gentleness to me than in the nearly six years prior--and that's saying something! Thank you for every night you've gotten out of bed to re-lock doors to make me feel safe, sat up with me and my tears and fears and patiently listened to me, for every meal you've made me or glass of water you've brought, for every extra five minutes of sleep you've given me. Thank you for working to love me and working to build our marriage in the most practical and yet heroic ways possible. May the year ahead of hard work in marriage, in your profession, in parenthood, and in life, be rich in our marriage and may God replace any tear we cry with joys unimaginable to us today.

i love you much(most beautiful darling)
more than anyone on the earth and i
like you better than everything in the sky // e.e. cummings

Happy Birthday Son

My little boy I've tried for weeks to put together some semblance of words to sum up how I feel as you turn one. How you've changed me as you made me a mama. How you changed your dada and I as we've loved you together and watched one another love you and become a family of three and not just two. The closer to your birthday we've come the more and more at a loss for words I've become. At night after feeding you and as I give you your last snuggles before bed with my head on yours on my shoulder and as you pat me on my back mimicking my pats on yours, I tell you how very much I love you, how very much God loves you, and how very very grateful I am that you are here with us healthy and whole and special gift to your dada and I. And I really can't move beyond that. I tear up with thoughts that aren't finished. We love you son. And we are so grateful that God gave you to us. 

"And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the LORD of hosts."

Little Behr our hearts waited so long for you. And yet you came at just the right time. Our hearts are full. Happy birthday son. We are so glad you're here.

The Day Before a Birth Day

Audrey and Jan came over to hang out as usual, keeping me distracted, doing projects, who knows of all things I don't remember. Clearly at the very least Audrey and I sat on our yoga balls for comfort. 

Dre and I went to Starbucks for a mini date and time together. It was the day after my due date and for a week there hadn't been any signs of imminent labor. (Up until the weekend of my due date I had several days and nights with consistent contractions.) We'd walked miles worth of Tysons the day before and thought we'd go out and then buy food to make dinner at home and have a quiet night. Maybe try some suggested "labor food" like pineapple and eggplant. We sat at Starbucks for a while. We went to Giant. Andree left me outside the store while he pulled up the car and then...my water broke.

We rushed home so I could change and call the midwife. Having you water break out of no where and with no contractions is one of the strangest things. Always an adventure. I texted Janet but no one else until we got home because I still wasn't convinced. It was always possible I'd just peed my pants. ;-) Once we talked to the midwife we told our parents and Dre called Kristen at basketball practice. 

Kristen used the groceries to make chili (I think?) since that was the plan for the night--but I don't think Dre or I ate a bite. I know while I was laying down trying to relax Dre ran out to KFC; I have a vivid mental memory of him sitting in the corner in the prepositioned rocking chair-waiting for a baby to rock to sleep-chowing down on fried chicken.

The last picture of "us."

Since contractions still hadn't set in and we were sure if we didn't get a tree now we wouldn't have a tree for a while with the distraction of a newborn we went to Home Depot. Where else can you walk around a large uncrowded area for a few hours and buy the last item you need in your house to welcome home baby? My sister met us there and helped bring the tree home and did laps with us. I can't say it was the funnest time I've ever had at Home Depot but it was memorable considering my water had broken a few hours earlier (basically it doesn't stop...). We saw at least three people from church and just walked and walked.

We brought our tree home and the Christmas Angel helped Dre hang the lights...and more lights and more lights and more lights. Around 9:30pm at a shift change the midwife called to check in on me; I still wasn't having any contractions. The second I hung up with her they hit. Immediately I hated my birthing ball and started timing them within half an hour 540 Christmas lights were on the tree and Dre suggested I go try to sleep--which was when I finally got his attention that I need his help now and the rest is history. 

Ten hours later a little boy was in our arms. A boy who hadn't had a name for months and months was named. A face we'd never met was imprinted forever on our hearts.

Behr's Words

Behr's first "words." Just because he's my favorite and I have to remember somehow.

Mama. Dada. ByeBye. Hi. Bath ("ba"). Banana ("nana!!")...annnnnd "OhWow"? I don't think Dre or I say it all that much but he really seems to 'say' "ohhhwooooaaa" in response to different things like opening a present or checking out something new. This guy. We love him. [PS I wouldn't say he really 'talks' so much as he communicates. Some day we'll get to hear what's happening in his little brain as he watches his world but for now we're just enjoying the things he chooses to mimic and are well aware that for every sweet "Mama" he says in recognition there's a week's worth of nights of him screaming "maaaaaaamaaaaa!" when he doesn't want to go to bed.]

Where we find him all too often. Oy. Boys.

Behr will not use this type of paci. He's refused it since he was born. But ever since Edy was born and was into these....Behr suddenly is pretty attached to them whenever he can find one. Particularly if they're pink and left behind by his buddy Edy.

Behr's 'First' Advent

My favorite time of year might just be the "advent season." I love holidays. I love celebrating all sorts of anniversaries. I'm a strict "no Christmas music, movies, or decorating until December 1st" stickler. But man. Somehow all of that plus now the addition of a little boy means I just love the unique opportunity to countdown, anticipate, and savor the Christmas season.

This year's advent calendar came from a link via Pintrest (seriously, what was life like before the internet) and I love how it turned out. Inside each box is a piece of paper with a story for the night from his Jesus Storybook Bible and a treat or something we can do together. Tonight was three new Christmas board books tomorrow is going to see a Living Nativity. I think I love the 'forced family' time of these days and the focus on savoring a moment in each day even though it's in the midst of the busiest time of the year. I will say the faces Behr was making when Dre read our reading tonight were a glimpse ten years into the future. Baby boy doesn't know how to do an eye roll yet but with those eyebrows he sure has already mastered the "ohgoshdaaaad" face.

So far it's been a season of crafting. My Christmas list is a mile long of projects to sew and craft together. Fingers crossed I get them all done. So far I've put together Behr's first advent calendar (well really I guess he participated last year when Dada read the verses or we did little things last year but in so many ways this feels like his first Christmas even if it's his second). I'm hoping that with a tweak or two it lasts for at least two to three years. This year Mama's going to open the boxes but next year I think Behr will love opening the little boxes with his little big boy fingers.

My other major crafting success thus far has been stockings. I cut these a year ago which really is the trick to my success. Any time I sew I have to designate time to cut and pin and then a day or two to wait in between because I need a break. I'm not a patient crafter. I either hurry up and make a mess of my project or I space out the steps. A lot. Hence stockings sewed together a year after they were cut. But hey they turned out great so I'm happy.

I love homemade. I love the imperfection and the obvious (coughcoughcrookedstitches) sign of our own hands at work in our home. There's just something about it that's special. I'm not about to start making our clothes (though I am hoping to make Behr PJ pants but that doesn't sound as insane) but when I can make something and save eighty dollars it seems worth the labor and time.

Happy Klessmas!

GrateFULL.

• For friends who are like family.
• For family who are friends.
• For work and provision.
• For food in the fridge and that God made food taste so gosh darn delicious! 
• For a man who loves me unconditionally even at my worst, my messiest, and my craziest. 
• For a little boy who is healthy, friendly, cheerful, and just perfect in every way--though he does have pretty nasty poops.

It's been a year I couldn't have imagined or predicted. Becoming a mother has changed more than I expected but been far more wonderful and simply fun than I ever anticipated. My cup is full. I am so very grateful for the life God has given me.

"Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!"

Our Meerkat

Oh my heart. I've wanted a babe for so long and I dreamed of the crazy things he might do or I might dress him up in but I can say I never thought that on my baby's first Halloween he'd be a meerkat or that I'd unashamedly have him wear the hat from his costume all around. But he was and it was the best. The meerkat costume idea came from his excitement at seeing the meerkats at the zoo on his first zoo trip. It's been a continual quick "cheer up" trick to pull out a YouTube video of meerkats playing when he's fussy. But I mean just look at this kid... I can't even imagine the fun we're going to have in the years to come!

Testing out the costume when it arrived.

Behr the Meerkat in his very secret fort.

The Meerkat at play.

My sweet Meerkat. 

Blessed. Just so blessed. I love my boys.

Life with friends just makes everything more fun. Here's to the first of hopefully many Halloween adventures with these buddies. At this point in the evening I think Behr was about ready to be done wearing his suit, Edy was ready for some snuggles and sleep, and A was ready for more candy and less babies. ;-)

The little meerkat watching for trick-or-treaters. Sweet boy loved the kids coming to the door but was definitely perplexed why no one came in to play--and kept a close eye on where I would put the candy bowl down...

Eleven Months

At eleven months our boy is changing every day it seems. 

In the past two weeks he's gone up a diaper size, grown out of nearly all his 3-6 month pants (he has short little legs!), and out of all his 9 month sleepers. Pants that were cuffed a week ago aren't anymore and he likes to prove that he can reach things on shelves that I thought were in the "safe zone." 
He claps occasionally (though he hates the sound of people clapping so he's not prone to imitate it) and he's started signing primarily "all done" (which is applied for everything from done with a meal to being bored with an activity) and "milk" though I'm working on new ones to help him communicate. I really never "got" the whole babies and sign language thing; but now as a mommy I'm amazed at how desperately he clearly wants to communicate and how fast he learns and applies things. He clearly says Mama now which of course I love even if he's also recently learned to 'scream' and as often as he says it sweetly he's screaming it in frustration when I just need to make dinner and can't pick him up.
He isn't walking but could if he wanted. I've caught him standing unassisted multiple times and he cruises around flat footed etc. I know my world will change all over again once he takes his first steps so I'm not in a rush but really can't wait to see it. His latest mobility advancement is mastering going down the step between our dining room and living room. He loves to dance and does the silliest little belly pop sometimes when he's dancing or being silly.
He has two foods he won't eat: kiwi and scrambled eggs made by Mama. He used to eat kiwi and eats plenty of similarly textured foods but lately is not at all interested in it and will tell me "all done" when I put it on his plate. The scrambled eggs thing makes me laugh most of the time. He'll eat eggs from Dada and had no problem eating Kelley's when we visited the Murphs in Charlotte. But mine he throws on the ground most of the time. He will eat them in something like fried rice but on a plate...he is not interested. I like my eggs; I've never had any complaints from anyone else but Behr apparently doesn't appreciate them the same way.
The cutest thing he does these days might be shaking his head. We think he picked it up because when Aunt Jess feeds him she says "mmm!!" and shakes her head but he applies it far beyond that. He certainly knows that it means no. ;-) He used to also nod he his yes but he's a little less into saying "yes" than saying no. If it's not shaking his head than it's attempting to tickle people. His favorite person to tickle is the person who tickles him most: Dada. In the mornings when Dre is home after I get him out of bed he'll crawl into our room and pull up on Dre's side of the bed and extend his little arm with his fingers twitching going "tick-a-tick-a" and man. It just melts me to see how much he loves his dada and how much his dada delights in him.

Behr's pretty fascinated with the daily cups of coffee Mama and Dada drink. But he knows they are not for him as demonstrated in this video. The other day at Trader Joe's I offered him an empty little sample sized coffee cup after getting myself a full cup and he kept shaking his head no at me. He makes the every day funner than I could have ever imagined.

So yeah. We're pretty into this kid. He's a ton of fun; he loves his little life and the people in it and we are so amazed to watch the world through his eyes and be his parents. And somehow, though I really don't know how, he's going to be an entire year old in just four short weeks. It really does go too fast but we're soaking up the moments and the already fleeting snuggles.

Behr the Painter

If there's two things I know about my little Behr it's that 1. he loves to try new things and have adventures and 2. if he can't climb it he will eat it (and some things he will attempt to do both; you should see him at the playground). Pavers repaving our entire street and Mama with a cold meant a home-bound day for little Behrly which certainly is not his preference for this little adventurer. Most days we leave the house at least for an errand or a visit to Meeps or go for a walk or do something. Watching the big trucks that accompanied the pavers was fun for a while but then we needed a new activity and so I pulled out an idea I'd been saving: finger painting! It was a big hit with my little man. He loved the mess but he was also very focused on the paper (a good percentage of the time). I have a video of him with it and he's very quiet which is actually unusual for this my little chatterbox. It means he was working hard on his smooshy, blurry, blotty mess of a painting. I love watching this kid play and learn. And while it was certainly messy it wasn't an overwhelming clean-up. Some water and a rinse in the tub (which other than the huge blob of paint he put in his hair could have been avoided) and we were ready for nap time. I can't wait to do it again and watch as he starts to learn about different colors too!

Recipe/How-To Make Baby Friendly Finger Paint:
(I combined several I found online to come-up with this; if you google you'll find lots of great versions!)
- 1/3 c. of corn starch (at this point we're pretty sure he's not allergic to corn though he doesn't have a ton of it in his diet so I felt comfortable using it; you could also use any sort of flour I would imagine)
- 1 c. of water
- 1 tbsp of sugar (I used less)
- 1/8 c. baby shampoo

1) Stir water and corn starch together in a pot until smooth.
2) Heat mixture over low heat stirring regularly until it thickens. This is where I ran into a problem. I initially labeled this project a failure and walked away because after the proposed five minutes of heating mine was even more liquidy and not thickening at all. I left it on the stove and went to play with Behr while looking at more recipes for what other people did. Eventually I just turned the heat up on my pot and left it alone and after about five minutes of not stirring at all I came back to a thickened, nearly finished "paint."
3) Allow to cool. (I actually didn't allow it to cool until I'd mixed in the soap and the color but you know. Other people suggested you wait...)
4) Stir in 1/8 c. of baby shampoo or similar (really I just used a few squirts of it and probably not a full 1/8 c. that just seemed like a lot).
5) Stir in food coloring to desired color. (I used regular food coloring but you could use something a bit more natural but this project was all about using what I had on hand--and really as much as Behr puts in his mouth I figured he wasn't gonna eat that much.)

Some people don't heat the mixture and just use soap and corn starch. Some people use salt. Some people add boiling water to the mixture and then heat it. Some people use dish soap instead of baby shampoo. There's even ideas of "naturally" dying the paint with different food like beets or berries. Definitely a recommended "baby activity" if you have the time and patience.

10.

10. Do you know what comes after that? 11. And after that 12. And twelve means one year. How can my itty bitty baby already be two months away from a whole year old?! Oh my little man slow down! I'm loving every new thing with this kid and it feels like every day there's something new. Let's see...

Family beach trip the weekend following Labor Day + fun with Toops crew, Aunt Titi, Caylub and Daniel.

At ten months Behr:
- Eats anything and everything. His favorites are raw onion slices and spaghetti squash. He won't say no to hummus (particularly a thai red curry one I got at Roots, go figure) on a chip or anything he sees Mama or Dada eating. He still hasn't had any dairy yet (because of my allergy we've delayed it) but hasn't had any reaction to any allergen food thus far (wheat, eggs, etc.). He loves meat (primarily because he sees what Mama and Dada are having I think) particularly ground beef and chicken; I'm always surprised that he actually eats it since he only has two teeth. Eating is definitely a favorite activity. If I ask if he wants to eat breakfast/lunch/dinner he'll crawl over and pull up on his highchair and whine to sit at the table.
- Has a few very babbley "words" that mean a number of things but tend to actually mean what they sound like. He says "dada" all day long and while it means anything and everything (except mama; he never says it about/to me) it certainly means Dre. When we get up in the morning and come out of his room he lunges for the hallway to go to our room squawking "dada!! dada!!" It's really a bummer when Dre's already gone to work. "Ba" seems to refer to bath tubs of all shapes and sizes anywhere from our house to Great Grandma's to hotels. I know it's too early but he sure seems to already say "nonono" when he doesn't want to do something (particularly lie down for a diaper change) and has asked for "nighnigh" on more than one occasion. He babbles and growls and sings and "hoots" all day long. I can't put into words how much I love hearing his little voice from the car seat in the backseat singing along to the radio when we're out driving or chattering at the trees.

- He loves to climb stairs. He crawls and cruises anywhere and everywhere but only walks holding onto peoples' hands (which is actually a recent development) and of course only dares to free stand on safe surfaces like the sidewalk and in the bath tub. He loves hangers and clothes on hangers. He loves fish and dogs especially big dogs. He loves to be outside. He is the most social little dude and loves people big and small. He will literally go to the door-to-door salesman if I don't have a good grip on him or strangers at Nats games. Dada, Grandpa Price and Audrey are his very favorite people and if he can be with them he's content and happy.

Favorite place to climb: into and onto the dishwasher.

- He hates socks and thinks shoes are absolute torture. He reminds me of my family's old dog that used to think he was paralyzed if you put a doggie jacket on him. Though unfortunately Behr is not a dog and some day it will actually be important that he wears shoes. For now we just test them out every now and then and let him chew on them. He likes to take his pants off and considering he has ridiculously small hips and is in size 3-6 month pants finds it rather easy to do. So far no attempts at removing his diaper thankfully.

Note the pants not on little man's legs.

- He still enjoys books though is on the move far more. His favorite books are touch-and-feel ones he borrowed from Audrey particularly one with lots of puppies and kitties in it. We still have half a chapter of Stuart Little left to read but thankfully haven't had a day where he felt so miserable he wanted to sit on my lap and be read a chapter book since the beginning of August. Just the other day he took a book off the bookshelf, crawled over to me with it and dropped it in my lap and then sat back and waited for me to read it to him. That made my day. I love reading to him and love that enjoys it even if he also likes to eat his books or do other destructive things to them.

- He a great napper and an ok sleeper. He loves his crew of animals in his little bed and I watch him find one to snuggle on the monitor while falling asleep. There was a huge thunderstorm the other night and it woke him up just enough to sit up, grab his Ewok, and hug it back to sleep. Precious boy...and he wakes up with a lot of noise. I know he's up because I start hearing him jumping in his bed before he even calls for me. He likes to jump and throw everything out of his crib while he waits for Mama to come get him out of bed.

Encountering his first crab at Crabgate(c)

Fall family time at Great Falls

I still am not used to having a little boy in my house. Even his messes bring me near tears sometimes with gratefulness for this little life and the sweetness he brings to our family and home. I love his silliness, his playfulness, his friendliness and the way he loves. He is far more than I imagined and while there are plenty of hard and exhausting moments, and thousands more to come nothing, has been a sweeter tangible reminder of God's promises than him. We love you Behrly.

Two Thirds //

Oh this little boy. How can he be eight months old already?! Life with him is just so much fun! There is nothing better than the moments he crawls over to give me a kiss when I'm crashed on his floor because he's up far too early for this mama (but slept all night so how can I complain?) or when I hear him and Dada laughing at each other in the other room or when he marvels at new sounds like hearing a train or how chatters in the backseat of the car or how proud he is when he figures out different things (like somehow opening his water bottle and making a puddle to splash in on the dining room floor). We love our little Behr and still cannot believe he's really ours.

The last month has had many highlights including but not limited to:

Learning to obey/listen to Mama. I love this pose of "I'm juuust looking not touching Mom." Fans and cords are the main no-touch in his little world.

Becoming a good sleeper. He's never been a bad sleeper he's just not a record-setting sleeper and that's ok. We've settled into some good sleep habits though and especially as a little boy who never stops moving he needs his rest.

Giving kisses. He is particularly affectionate toward me and his buddies Audrey and Edy. We figured out a few weeks ago that he thinks the open mouth attack is equivalent to a kiss. I guess he must find us very forceful in our affection cuz he sure tries to take you out with his kisses.

Baths of any kind are his favorite. Actually water of any kind is. He scampers to the bathroom or kitchen if he hears water running and gets some "bath time" nearly every day just cuz it makes him so happy.

Playing with his little friends. He and Audrey are learning to share and Edy is getting so close to participating with them. I'm not sure what A is going to do when there are two babies vying for her attention and participation but they both adore her.

We took a family day trip to the zoo (with Miss Meeps too) and Behr loved the meerkats. They were so busy in their little enclosure and he just gasped with delight watching them run around. He likes to watch videos of them on YouTube now too. It's the sweetest thing.

Little boy you bring such joy to your mommy and daddy. You make every day more fun even when you're a mess because of your stubborn teeth or when you simply do not stop moving all day long and keep me on my toes catching up to you and keeping you out of trouble. We love you busy boy!