Jack is 3 1/2 years old!

There he is.  That cute 3 1/2 year old above can send me over the edge in 2 seconds flat but can make me feel fantastic with one "I love you mommy".  The post is poorly timed only because he is in the middle of his "three-nager" stage.  In my child development and mommy and me classes I remember learning about these phases of dissonance and harmony that go in a cycle (about once a year).  And how he is acting now is exactly how he was acting last summer.  Which is to say, a bit hormonal and insane.  These past couple weeks he's had tantrums and emotional meltdowns complete with throwing and yelling.  Of course, Sam's presence isn't helping.  Poor kid's existence seems to set Jack off lately.  One minute he'll be hugging his baby brother and saying he loves him and the next he's pushing him down and throwing things at him.  Sigh.  No amount of talking, discipline, consequences, or whatever seem to permanently change his behavior.  But I know it's a phase and hopefully it'll get better soon.  

Of course, even when he's a maniac at home, he never dreams of misbehaving at preschool.  At pickup I hear the teacher tell the other moms about incidents at school with their kids and all I ever hear is "Jack had a great day!"  So he saves all his bad behavior for mom.  I guess that's something?  

But on to the good stuff.  Because he can be really awesome when he wants to be.  He has a hell of a sense of humor.  I see some sarcastic dry wit in his future.  And he is still my cuddly little boy.  Someday that's going to change but for right now it's pretty adorable.  Sam may be smiley but he hates cuddling.  So getting big ol' bear hugs from Jack and hearing him say when he's sick "I just want you to take care of me mommy" is pretty darn great.  

He currently is a fish in the water and can't get enough of it.  He loves swimming in our pool and is so excited about his new skill that he likes to push himself more and more with his jumps and diving for rings.  But his first love is, of course, FOUNTAINS.  Man oh man.  At the time of writing this I believe we have 168 fountains on our list.  You see, Jack likes to count every single fountain that we see around town and assign them a number (and take a picture with them).  You'll think I'm lying when I say this but he truly has all 168 memorized.  It's crazy.  That's all he talks about morning, noon, and night.  We look at pictures of them on my iPad, we make fountains out of play-doh, we watch fountain videos on YouTube, and he splashes around like a fountain in the shower and the pool.  He knows the names of the streets that the fountains are on and knows which way to go when we drive.  Just crazy.  I would have thought his obsession would be over by now but apparently not.  But hey, I don't mind it.  It's probably better than "Frozen" or "Cars" or whatever most normal kids are obsessed with.

So happy 3 1/2 years my crazy son #1! You drive me insane but I can't help but love you at the end of the day!  

Sam is 9 months old!

 

 The little guy is 9 months old today!  You'll have to excuse the lack of expressions but he and his older brother are sick so he wasn't giving me much to work with.  Still pretty adorable though.  (And here is Jack at 9 months...)

 

Sammy remains one of the happiest, good-tempered kids ever.  He always has a smile for me or my friends or strangers in the store.  Everyone seems to be charmed by him, his blue eyes, and that big smile wherever we go.

As smiley as he is, this kid hates to cuddle.  He won't even let me hold him facing in.  No, it's slung in the crook of my arm, facing out, at all times.  He's just dying to see the world and all the people.  He still gets grumpy and bored at home and would rather be out at a playdate or in a store, or taking a walk.  He loves picking up Jack from school because he is in wonder at the number of kids running around.  

Still no walking on his own.  He cruises around everything and has the strongest little sumo legs...but I guess not enough balance to walk.  I'm not in a hurry though so he can take his time.  

He is an adventurous little bugger though.  I don't remember Jack getting into so much.  Sam's favorite thing is to find an open toilet seat and dive in and splash around with his hands.  So I've been very diligent about putting the covers down lately.  :)  He'll get in my tupperware drawer and empty the contents.  He'll climb up anything and everything and try to put things in his mouth.    

Sam really is a great eater.  He eats everything I give him.  Black beans, corn, hearts of palm, sausage, spinach, cauliflower, guacamole...you name it, he'll eat it.  Which is in stark contrast to my picky older son.

Speaking of Jack, their relationship continues to evolve.  Sam still adores Jack but one minute Jack is hugging him and saying how much he loves his baby brother and the next his pushing him down because he touched his trains.  He knows it's wrong but he's just not used to having someone be all up in his business.  It seems to be tapering off with lots of discipline and consequences from mom and dad but of course it's still there.  Probably will be forever.  :)

And of course sometimes even the hugs can get overzealous.  Poor Sam.  He's a tough cookie though.  Happy 9 months buddy!!