Four and more

Our firstborn turns 4 today! Noah's threes were marked by what felt like more energy, more drama, more talking, more demands, and more parenting challenges. But my favorite "more" was to see his imagination blossom. He spends about half his life pretending he is some kind of vehicle.  I love witnessing the innocence that still lingers at this age, expressed in his emotions and make-believe play. Plus, we love his big deep belly laughs.

He has, and continues to tackle life with vigor, literally never taking no for an answer. We have come to understand his intensity comes from a place of caring deeply. On Sunday, he came home from the park with dad and excitedly pulled from his shirt pocket a "treasure" he had found and wanted to give to me. It was a clear plastic pebble. I told him I would indeed treasure it.

Happy birthday big boy!

Easter

Last year...

This year... 

Our photo session ended rather quickly when both boys made a break for it... 

Baby Dedication

A little late in posting, but back in January we had a baby dedication of Max at our church.

There was a sweet moment where our pastor reached his hand towards Max while praying for him, and Max reached back. 

And has become a mini-tradition of ours, we had a big celebration afterward. 

 

Thanks again to our friend Joanna who took the photos again. It was a great day for us, we love you Max!

Bedtime

From the moment they awake, we tired parents look forward to their bedtime.

Lately, bedtime has been extra special. When I can, I try to send Noah out of the room and read with Max before his last nursing. (Now bottle, we're finally weaned yay!) Noah could never sit still long enough when he was this age, so I savor these quiet moments.

I have started lying in bed with Noah for a few minutes after his lights are out to talk. Most nights we cover a range of topics, from his most recent favorite color to naming his "talking cars." But sometimes we talk about our day, and if I observed something he was having problems with, we might talk about what was hard for him and how he could do or say it better the next time. It never ceases to amaze me how much he grasps even now, even as he's wriggling in bed and kicking the walls.

In the back of my mind, I am always aware of the fact that I am the mother of boys, and my days of them wanting to talk to me are numbered. They will forget these bedtime routines long before they grow up, but I will always treasure this time when their hearts and minds were open and we could connect in this little way.

Big brother shots

If Noah awakes earlier than Max, he always wants to be the first to barge into his room when Max begins stirring. I can't remember how he got a hold of an iphone this particularly morning, but we later found these on our phone. Although they're blurry, they've become some of my recent favorites of Max.