I know that if these kids bond over nothing else, they will definitely bond over food. It’s in their DNA. As Kei said to me the other night, his food is no longer his own.

And these photos are so funny that I just have to show them in succession.

A rare day of sunshine and the day after our trip to the emergency room Feeling delirious from exhaustion in the early afternoon, I thought it would be nice and relaxing to go outside, sit on the grass and let Samuel crawl around a little. I even took a book which, in retrospect, was incredibly naive.

Of course I spent the entire time preventing Samuel from eating dirt and, as soon as he realised how close he was to some ungated stairs, the chase was on and on and on. No rest for this weary mummy.

When you see this running by….

…it means this is close behind.

I don’t think we did much – In fact I doubt we even left the house – but when I look back on these photos it seems we had the funnest Sunday ever. 🙂

Two nights out in a row – wow. Saturday night was dinner at the Halters. The perfect opportunity to catch up with quite possibly the first friends we made in Portland. We don’t get together much but when we do it’s a chat fest as we try and catch up on everything that has been going on in each others’ lives.

I didn’t take many photos and of course the few I did take were of the kids. How could I not get a photo of those gorgeous big eyes. They’re hard to miss.

And this one who looks so much like a boy when I look at this photo, but who will always look like a baby in my head. I am having a hard time as the three year olds begin looking less like toddlers and more like boys and girls.

These two found themselves at the same level – literally. I think Samuel enjoyed being around someone else likes to crawl.

And these two had a great time together. They played and shared and ran around – and of course bonded over a mutual love of television. We really should get these two together more often.

It took a while, but Samuel finally loves his bath. He sits there splashing and having the most wonderful time and then Thomas will join in and egg him on. I ultimately end up drenched with water and my instinct is to stop them to avoid getting water all over the floor and the walls. But then I stop myself and remember that this time is so short. In just a few years Samuel may be inhibited and unwilling to just let loose and have fun. I’ll miss having water all over the floor and I’ll miss the giggles of a little boy who’s cracking himself up. Water dries but these moments don’t last forever.

Wow – that was deep. 🙂

This was the ultimate potty training gift. Thomas has really been interested in firetrucks lately, so when Kei saw this Playmobil version at the store, he thought it may motivate Thomas to use the potty. And boy, did he draw it out. Every time Thomas was successful he earned one part of the Firetruck – one fireman and then the other, the hose, the ladder, even the box and instructions. I think it eventually got to the point where Kei wanted him to earn the firetruck more than Thomas did. Apparently it is also a good vehicle for the Wiggles. You know how much they like anything that is big and red.

And, for the record, it a pretty cool toy. You can fill the hose with water and spray it everywhere (yes, everywhere). The only downside is that Playmobil toys, as cool as they are, have a LOT of very small pieces. Small pieces that are attractive to a nine month old with an oral fixation.

I thought the obsession with Toy Story would have been over by now, but it’s clearly not. In fact it seems to have taken on new life in the last few weeks, culminating in a new Zurg toy – one with a gun. It’s a toy gun and in the movie it shoots rubber balls but, stil,l I am a little tired of hearing Thomas yell “I’m going to shoot you”.

The toy is one of Thomas’ potty rewards. In a desperate effort to have him poop in the potty (as opposed to the pull up or worse, his underwear) we have been rewarding Thomas with magnets everytime he uses the toilet for um…number two. When he earns enough magnets he gets a toy of his choice. We also have a small incentive bag with cheap little toys that we use on occassion, which I call the potty bag and which Thomas called his “poop bag” at the top of his voice while we were choosing $1 reward items at target. It was one of my finer moments as a parent.

This little adventure is likely going to end up costing us a little more money and probably a few more embarrasing moments but we are going to get there if it kills me. I know people have opinions about using rewards but frankly it’s working for Thomas and I am hopeful that it will continue long after the rewards run out.

…and then I’ll start the adventure all over again with Samuel.

This is just way too cute – the two brothers playing side by side. It’s so funny to see how tall Samuel is already when compared with Thomas.

I only wish playtime was always this peaceful. These days I’m more likely to hear “Samuel – don’t touch my toys!” “Mu-u-um – make Samuel go away.” “No Samuel!” . Sigh! It’s starting already.