Braggin' rights

Since I get to raise the best brothers ever, then sometimes the blog will be shameless bragging. This is kind of a makeup entry anyhow so I have to go back and mention a couple of important things that have happened since I last wrote. Jackson is playing basketball on the first and second grade team this fall, and they have had a few practices. Last weekend, his team scrimmaged another Hope team. Keep in mind that this is a big step up from the team he was on last year and he's probably the youngest on the team. But he's enthusiastic and having fun. During the scrimmage, he managed to get a defensive rebound, dribble down court and pass to a big guy for an easy jumper! A rebound, assist and the hustle award all in one play!! I'm wrangling little W during this so I was very happy to see this play.

Here's my attempt at an artsy photo from a couple of weeks ago. This is the boys in the mirror, but of course W couldn't resist peeking.


I also have to brag on what Wilson said last weekend. He's made a ton of progress in speech, but he's never said his name. He's made attempts with a lot of prompting, but never has offered his name spontaneously. While goofing around last Saturday, I showed him a photo of him and Jackson and asked who it was. I expected him to say "Bubba!" (brother) but instead he said "Wilson!" It wasn't very clear but it was still a first. A morning or two later, he'd just woken up when we had our first conversation ever:
me: Hey, Baby.
W: Momma's bed. (since he started getting up a little earlier, I put him in bed with me for a few minutes) Where's Bubba?
Me: Brother is still sleeping.
W: Baby up!
Considering he didn't say 2 words together 2 months ago, this is real progress!

Family Day

Jackson was out of school yesterday and today so this morning I took both boys to the zoo. We had the place almost to ourselves since the weather was questionable (fine while we were there). We were able to see some animals that are sometimes hard to catch, including all the giraffes (including 2 new ones!), a polar bear that tried to "get" Jackson thru the glass wall, the pandas, one of the new gorillas, a rhino, two capybaras and others. The fall colors made for good decorations. Wilson fell asleep on the way home and both boys are resting now.

These two days have been so much fun for me. Yesterday, Wilson went to school and Jackson joined me for a planned day together, which we divided between grown up errands (getting will updated and my appt with the eye MD) and kid fun. The fun was going skating in the afternoon. Jackson is pretty good but needs a little more confidence to let go of the wall. We went around the rink many times holding hands (aka me dragging him) and we had some good laughs (like when I fell). We picked up Wilson early from school and came home to play. It was so nice to do things without rushing and stress. This afternoon we hope to get haircuts and Wilson's 2nd flu shot. Jackson starts basketball practice @ 530 and then we have Scouts @ 7. And that will conclude 2 really great days- family days. Then it's back to our real lives!

Halloween @ Bellevue

I love their sweet little faces against this beautiful sky. We were @ Bellevue on Halloween night for the Family Fun Fest. It was a HUGE event with carnival rides, bouncy things, etc. The boys rode a couple of things together, then Jackson had to push Wilson down the slides on the bouncy fire truck and the bouncy whale. It was a little harrowing for Wilson! So the finale was Jackson going down a giant slide on his own. Jackson loved it.

Here's a picture of Superman when he had to be pushed down the slide to get out of the bouncy whale. He got a bit overwhelmed at the end, but this slide was really the only way out, so I just told Jackson to push him. Fortunately, his shoe was thrown out a couple of minutes later! This was Wilson's last event. After this he was more than ready to head over to see the guys and sweet talk them out of a LOT of candy.

Wilson's Harvest Party

Wilson dressed in this clown outfit for school on Halloween (but they can't call it that @ CCLC due to some conservative types). He has several costumes handed down so I tried to get all of them on him a least briefly. He even liked wearing the hat!
Wilson's classmates had a parade, then shared some some treats in their class. When Jackson and I arrived (late cause we were at Jackson's class party), the kids were wild, but Wilson was still at the table eating and he had a very cute juice 'stache.

Super Cool

Yes, I am obssessed with Wilson sleeping. This picture is so sweet to me and he's in a completely uncharacteristic position. This is how Jackson sleeps. Wilson is usually face down in a straight line.
Last week while we were at the dinner table, Wilson did something I haven't seen him do in months. He rubbed the front middle of his head with the back of his hand. Why is this a big deal? It suddenly struck me that he has finally been home long enough to change a habit. That head rubbing is something he did when we first met @ 10 months and something he still did when we picked him up @ 18+ months. When I realized this was some history we shared, I really wanted to cry. I feel like we are closer because of this shared history. Almost every day I do a calculation something like this: Wilson has been home 8 months, which is less than 1/2 the time he spent in Guatemala. I guess I still am sad about the time we spent apart. Yes, I know I must be thankful to have him now, and I am. But I think I will keep up this odd calculation until his time with me represents more than 50% of his life (over 3 yrs old). His language development represents another significant change. He spoke 6 words I could understand @ 19 months. Mom, brother (sounded like bubba), dog, cat, ball, airplane. Now, he's saying lots of things: animal sounds, food, names, places... And he's reached a milestone by saying this cute phrase regularly: I DID IT!