What our boys are up to

Well...since I've been AWOL from the blogging world for so long, I'm kind of at a loss of where to start.

I finally decided to give little updates on my angels and hopefully do a synopsis of our summer fun soon.

Mason is now 3 years and 4 months old. He is our big boy and constantly amazing us at how smart he is. Some things about him are:

• He still loves animals.
• He is a pro at choosing his own clothes. He sometimes changes outfits (complete with a new set of underwear) 3 to 4 times a day. He enjoys helping me with the laundry and "spreading" his clothes. Which to him, means laying them out nicely and stacking them in his drawers.
• He remembers much better than I do where all of the animals at the zoo are and often asks when we are really close "I want to see the red panda" or "let's look at the turtle"..s.and then I am surprised to see that that is indeed the exhibit that is just around the corner.
• He is a great big brother to Carter. Sometimes I hear him saying things like "no, it's like this, you little cutie!" or "Don't leave me alone in there, it's dark!" Now that I'm working from home, sometimes I ask him to "be in charge" while I am on the computer, a responsibility he takes very seriously. He does not like it when I come in and try to take care of Carter because that is his job!
• He has quite the vocabulary and uses words such as "otherwise" "actually" and "perhaps" frequently and correctly.
• He knows which shows David and I like or dislike. Whenever Phineas and Ferb is on, he comes up and says "Phineas and Ferb is on; you like it a little bit." Like that makes it okay for him to continue watching it. Yesterday, he said to David, "Charlie and Lola is on, but don't worry it will be over soon." Haha.
• He is learning about stop signs and stop lights and is very concerned when he thinks we have run a red light (don't worry, we don't run lights; he just sees the red light from the other direction.)
• He loves to play outside and go on walks and make friends with other kids that are playing at the playgrounds that we go to.
• He is learning to write his name.
• He loves to point out President Monson and loved listening to him at conference. Every sacrament meeting, he looks on the stand and asks if President Monson is there. He is starting to retain more about the scriptures and is especially good at the story of Nephi, and pointing out that Laman and Lemuel are complaining (we have a really cute picture book version of this story)

Carter is 18 months old and such a joy to us. Some things about him are:

• He has mastered the use of the word "please." Whenever we pass the snack cupboard or he sees some sort of food on the counter that he wants, he will point and say "please! please!" and he says it so confidentally that it is hard to tell him no.
• One of the cutest things that he has just learned to say is "yeah, yeah!" Whenever you guess correctly what he wants (often it is marshmallows or to watch Robots) he will excitedly say "yeah, yeah!!"
  
• He has gone to nursery three times. Each time, he has gone in with no problems, and not even noticing that we leave him. Today in Sacrament, he was sharing his cheerios with a girl in front of us, and I asked him if she was in his class. He misunderstood and immediately said "class!" and started trying to escape down the aisle and go to nursery right then. Whenever I ask him what he did in nursery, even a whole week later, he will reply, "bubbles!" and they are always playing with bubbles when we pick him up.
• He loves babies and will point them out wherever we are. He knows that there is a baby in mommy's tummy and will give her kisses.
  
• He, like Mason, loves to be outside and go for walks. As soon as he sees me get the stroller or wagon out, he will get the hugest grin and just plop himself in it, waiting for the walk to begin.
• He LOVES to swing on swings at the park.
• His favorite foods include hotdogs and noodles and of course, anything sweet.
• He loves to be read to, especially books about animals and will always point to the ones that are eating and say "eat, eat!"
• He loves seeing pictures of family members on the internet...he will always point out pictures of his grandpa and grandma and get the hugest grin on his face. Sometimes when he sees old pictures of me that I have in our office, he will point and say "Katie!"
• He will always point out pictures of Jesus.
• He loves to give hugs and kisses.
• The other day, he lugged a big tub of wipes across the house and brought it to me. Sure enough, he needed his diaper changed. Whenever he sees Mason using the bathroom, he points to his diaper and wants to try too. No success yet, but it's a start!

We love Mason and Carter so much! It seems like they are becoming such individuals and I am honored to be their mother. I want them to stay little forever...but each new stage is so fun that I can't complain.