Erik was working late one night, so while I grilled up some bratwurst outside, I told they boys they could come out in their rain boots and play in the puddles.  Which was apparently very loosely interpreted to mean, "Come out in your rain boots, but then take them off, and don't forget to get nakey, too!"

Throw all the cushions onto the floor.  This time it was a Hobbit hole.  Play in the tunnel.  Put underwear on our heads.

You know.  Respectively.

Notice anything a little different about these pictures?  Anything not quite right?  Maybe something you’ve never seen before?? 

Yeah, that’s my 22 month old with a pacifier.  He kind of took a pacifier around 5 months, but it totally didn’t stick.  I don’t have binky babies.  So when I was cleaning out and found this pacifier, I was baffled that O grabbed it, stuck it in his mouth, and walked around with it in there ALL. MORNING. LONG.  At one point, when he put it down for a moment and then couldn’t remember where he left it, he panicked and started running around crying, “Baby mouth??  Baby mouth go?  Where baby mouth????”  I took that as my cue to make sure he didn’t find it again.  Two days later, O will still randomly start looking for his “baby mouth.”  What a weirdo.

On our almost two hour drive home from Thanksgiving dinner, I let Owen hold my camera in hopes of keeping him quiet and happy for a few minutes.  What I didn’t realize, was that he has somehow changed the setting to shoot in just 3 megapixels.  I went a few days taking pictures like that before I noticed.  I was bummed.  These pictures could be way cuter if they looked decent.   But you get the idea, I guess.

Samuel showed Owen how to eat oranges . . . and make an orange rind smile.

Owen thought that was pretty funny.

So he tried it, too.

These two fight tease and push each others buttons for fun.  They are also best buddies and love each other dearly.  This was the cutest.  We had made a sofa cushion mountain.  After some serious mountain scaling and repelling, they took a few quiet minutes.  I watched them both work together to get the blankets and pillows just right.  Then they snuggled in for some Dinosaur Train on tv.  A few minutes later when I checked in, I saw them like this.

Sam was just sitting there rubbing Owen’s sweet little head.  He did this for a while as they both watched their show.  When he stopped, Owen turned around, patted his own head and told Sam “More!”

In case you didn’t know, one of them is the big brother.  The other is the little brother.  This is my attempt at getting a picture.  Sure does tell a story, doesn’t it??

Man alive, these boys.  It’s a good thing they’re so cute and loveable!

Samuel had to eat his applesauce with two spoons.  He HAD to.  And I was quite impressed with how well he managed.

Samuel also managed to spill an entire bottle of bubbles on his head.

Samuel {always} enjoys getting himself dressed and undressed.

{Usually} he knows what he’s doing.

But {sometimes} he still gets a bit confused.

We {always} laugh.

And {usually} I have to step in to help.

But {sometimes} I just don’t care.  It builds character, right?

I’m just {always} left wondering if this is the kind of character I want my child to build.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Samuel, either.  So I’ll give you one guess who put this outfit together.  And if you guess Owen, you’re wrong.

Samuel and his best buddy Gavin had a little sleepover the other week while Gav’s Mom and Daddy got to celebrate their anniversary. These boys play so well and have so much fun together. They just feed off of each other’s silliness. The night went like this . . . boys jumped and played, boys got mysteriously quiet and were found reading and talking in make-shift bed, boys jumped and played with bigger boy, boys watched George and unsuccessfully tried to wind down.

At 8:00 we put the boys to bed, and at 8:10 they were both snoring. We will have to do this more often!

They make my heart sing.  {And apparently they also make me do my really ugly cackle laugh.  It’s truly horrendous.  Sorry.}

I absolutely adore my 2 boys.  I cannot even tell you how excited I am to add another goobster to the mix.  I’m going to have the coolest little family ever.  Makes me so happy.

This little boy makes us laugh.  A lot.  Some funny things he has said over the last few months.

• Samuel likes to say goodbye to everything, especially at bed time.  One night, after a bike ride earlier that evening Sam made sure to say, “Bye bikes” and blow them a kiss.
• While climbing the rock wall at the playground, Sam slipped a little and gasped,  ”Oh, careful!” 
• After climbing up the ladder I had used to cut down tree branches in the backyard, Sam sat on the top and said triumphantly, “Whoa, climb BIG slide!
• When Erik plays Mario Kart, each and every time the screen goes black for the teeniest fraction of a second {before and after each race} Sam says in a super silly voice, “Uh oooooh.”
• Sam was behind the sofa grunting.  I called to him, “Sam, are you pooping?”  Samuel grunted out a “Eeee-yyyesss.”
• Ever seen the movie Cars?  Sam has seen it 3 times . . . today.  He was playing with some of his cars and a small matchbox-sized tractor.  He tipped the tractor over on it’s back and bellowed, “Moooooo!!”

I’m sure I’ll think of more.  Samuel keeps us chuckling all day long.