these two

Our boys are shooting personality and cuteness out their ears lately. Seriously, I'm gaining a greater appreciation for motherhood lately, courtesy of these two characters, and I'm loving it. Summer is good to us: lazy pajama mornings, pool time on the deck, rides on the quad, fruit galore, eating on the deck, and bedtimes that are too late. 

Emory is registered for kindergarten-gah! so I'm trying to soak up the last bit of his pre-school years innocence this summer. He LOVES to tell stories, whether his audience is listening or not, and the stories usually involve him working with his friends Bocci and Zig to pick up this or that exotic or special interest car for this or that person for this or that amount. Basically, he's a mini-Jon. Being the first child has certainly influenced the tiny adult in our Emory- he's always joining in on adult conversations and adding unsolicited input. The other night (mid-story while I wasn't paying close attention) he said to me, "Mama, I just love talking." I know you do buddy, I know. He's also extremely willing to help feeding Baylor, cooking in the kitchen, and playing with Penn (most of the time). E is learning to ride his bike and holding out for a quad- he has informed me that he wants a quad cake for his birthday this year and that he doesn't want grown-ups at his party. He still wakes up from most naps (when he takes them) grumpy, but sleeps like a champ and has taken to waking Amber in the morning with loud keyboard playing instead of waking us with loud roughhousing in our bedroom. (Thanks for taking one for the team, Ber). He adores Baylor, and bosses him around, but insists that the dog "loves [him] best." I'm glad I have another year of him only in school a couple days a week... my days are far less entertaining without Emory around. 

                         

Penn-baby is so not such a baby anymore! This fact would depress me more, but he's so much fun that I can't dwell on his growing up fast lately. Penn is busy all day long. He plays hard and sleeps hard, and is observing and learning more every day. For a couple months after his birthday, Penn worked hard on perfecting walking unassisted and finally started walking as his main and only mode of transportation about 3 weeks ago. Now that his large motor skills are much more refined, his focus has turned to communication for the past couple weeks- I think we're moving past the nasal grunt/point he's been so fond of lately. It is so rewarding to see him sign "please" without being told, and to see the wheels turn in his head when he picks out the same favorite book at least 5 times a day (thankfully the favorite has rotated over the past few weeks from "5 Little Ladybugs" to "Happy Baby Animals" and "Happy Baby 123" to "Doggy Kisses"). He blows on his food and says "ah-ah" when it's hot, says "ball," "dah" (dog), and has a special squeak noise reserved for the cat. He also recognizes eyes, ears, noses, mouths and teeth. He loved fireworks on the 4th of July, and we haven't really discovered any fears other than our Roomba. Just this week Penn started insisting on us holding him with ALL his blankets and bunny during our lullaby time before bed. Quite possibly the cutest thing to date is his new fascination with bringing us various articles of clothing from around the house to put on his tiny body- he began yesterday with my yoga tank, Emory's long-sleeved shirt , and Jon's t-shirt over his pajamas, simultaneously. Penn is incredibly assertive at home with family, but calm around others, for the most part. He reserves his most wild moments to share with his brother, and it's endearing to see them play well together, and fight like brothers sometimes. When he wakes up too early, Jon and I Penn-proof our bedroom and he wanders, playing with both of our phones, always finding the French music to play on my phone, and climbing on all the furniture until we finally drag ourselves out of bed for breakfast (our bedroom is most often a disaster from this or that stray kleenex or magazine he has found). It seems being a motor head is a requirement in our family, and P-diddy obsesses over driving all the cars around and going for rides on the quad as much as Emory. He has also patented his own car sound to use for playing with toy cars. It's adorable, of course, though loud in church. Now if we could just get his molars to come in faster- he finally has almost 2 of them, after working on 3 for at least 2 months. Perhaps our favorite thing about Penn, is that he likes to tickle his own belly, and will do so on command- adorable.

As crazy busy as our lives are right now with Jon in his last year of grad school, applying for jobs, running the dealership, and our responsibilities at church, our boys are so flexible and resilient. I adore them, and I wouldn't trade our day-to-day with another imagined life.