summer.

As I type this, Ben is noisily eating some applesauce. He likes to go into the fridge, get a little container of it, and then grab a spoon all by himself. He then brings everything over to me and says, "Mommy, can I have some applesauce?"

The past month or so has been busy. I'm getting used to working part-time 3 days/week. The boys' sitter, Heather, has been so fun. She lives across the street and is family friends with the Reifs. The story of how we found Heather is a pretty amazing one, and I'll write about it soon, but I have little time these days.

Ben is getting so big. He's tall, has no fat on him... He's talking a lot and is an inquisitive little dude.

Mom, does Sophie have hands?
Where does Uncle Todd work?
Where does Pop-Pop work?
What color is my cousins' house?
How do you spell that?

He loves making Ryan laugh. In the morning he wakes up earlier than the rest of us, and if he by chance hears Ryan make even the most quiet noise, he wants to go into his room. "I WANT TO SEE MY BROTHER," he says, and is relentless until we wake up and go in with him. This morning I was being lazy and tried to get some extra shut-eye and when I finally got into Ryan's room, both boys were in the crib, giggling away.

Ryan...

- is a flirt
- loves to eat
- loves to dance
- has a temper

One of the things I'm most grateful for this summer is the fact that both boys are doing remarkably well in the water. Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop have a pool in the backyard, and I was really nervous about the whole thing, because Ben hasn't really had much (okay, ANY) swimming experience, and Ryan has had a real fear of water. The child wasn't being bathed in the tub very often because he was having mini anxiety-like attacks. He'd tremble and flip out every time I brought him close to running water.

But Ben is doing SO well swimming. He wears swimmies and is getting so good at moving around in the water. And Ryan? LOVES the pool and now LOVES baths. I have to stop him from climbing in the tub and the pool. I'm grateful for being able to cross "fear of water" off my list for him.