Surprises

The boys are always surprising me.

They surprise me at how differently they can approach things. A couple of weeks ago, they were playing in the living room and I turned on the water in the bathtub. Bath time is a very exciting time in our house (!) so they both came crawling into the bathroom as quickly as they could. They reached the bathroom door at the same time. Then they spied the gigantic pile of stuffed animals that was separating them from the beloved bathtub. (You are probably wondering why there was a gigantic pile of stuffed animals on the bathroom floor. So was I. But I take these things in my stride these days.) M decided the best thing to do would be to clear a path, so he started throwing stuffed animals behind him, and he quickly made it to the tub. L managed to arrive at the tub at the same time, but he took an entirely different approach. He decided he was mightier than the stuffed animals, so our little tank went up and over the pile. (In a related incident, L was in the dining room and Pru, our 65 pound Border Collie/Lab mix was separating him from the living room. Rather than crawling AROUND Pru, L spent 10 minutes climbing up and over her. And she just laid there and let him do it. She takes a lot of abuse from the "puppies!")

They surprise me with what they can do. In the past few weeks, M has suddenly started "helping" me dress him. If he's on his changing table, he lifts his legs one at a time to put on his shorts and pants. (If he is on the floor, I still have to tackle him as he crawls away.) M has also started following commands. He gives kisses, high fives, and always comes when called to dinner. (Further proof he's a dog???) L's strength is always amazing. Last weekend I was sitting at the computer in the sunroom, and M was playing in the doorway between the sunroom and the living room. Suddenly, M came by pushing their LeapFrog musical table. Both M and I were startled because
1) The table does not have wheels and isn't designed to move
2) The table weighs about 6 pounds, which is a lot when you only weigh 17 or 18 pounds
3) L was walking and pushing it. Who knew he could walk???

They also surprise me with their needs. The Sleep Wars rage on (more about these soon) and in last night's battle, I put both boys in M's crib together. I did it mostly for L, because our little cuddle bug prefers to always be touching one of us when he's asleep. Both boys were crying, but M was the first to lay down, crawl over to his brother, and snuggle in right next to him. And L totally freaked out! HE didn't want someone touching him. Who knew????