Little Moments with Little Brothers

This week it was my delight to watch Jacob (Jakie, Jake, or J) toddle around. He is at that high maintenance—amazing learning—baby stage. His baby steps give him new freedom. He is moving quickly to greater accomplishments as he hoists his little chubby leg up, seeing what new heights he can climb. Once up, he has discovered that beds and sofas are great fun for bouncing and dancing and diving.

Who could resist his giggles and sweet chatter as Jakie experiments with sounds? More often than not his gibberish has meaning such as da-da-da-da-da-da (definitely daddy and sometimes other adults as well) or na-na (banana or any food) or unt-dat, unt-dat (I think this is his first sentence—I want that.)

Jacob protests boundaries, and tests what repetition and increasing volume will get him. But then he takes a few moments to lay his sweet little head on your shoulder for a bit of cuddle time. Unlike his brother, who does not like messy, Jacob doesn’t seem to mind sticky fingers, food in his hair and anything on his face. In fact he delights in rubbing it around. Not long ago he experimented with a whole tube of Vaseline. He loves books, balls, food, imitating his big brother, playing peek-a-boo and dancing. He is quite aware that kisses and smacks bring laughs.

Jacob is at an in-between stage of one nap or two naps. His clock still thinks that the time change has not yet occurred and so he cheerfully wakes up to play by 5:30 a.m. Living life to the fullest every moment, this joyful little Jacob, keeps mom and dad hopping during the day and ready for bed at night.

Big brother Ryan, is serious and careful. He loves playing with little figures and can hold more in his little hands than you would believe is humanly possible. He still likes construction vehicles and animals but right now, Ryan is particularly into dinosaurs. He likes that some are dangerous and scary like T-Rex but he also likes the friendly nice dinosaurs. “Little Purple Dinosaur” is a particularly good and loyal friend. Ryan has been admiring a couple of dinosaurs at a local children’s museum gift shop on recent visits but wisely his parents don’t buy toys regularly. Wondering if Grandma could buy him a toy, he asked, “Do you have a lot of money?” We asked the lady at the museum to cut off the tags so when Ryan questioned me about the new dinosaurs and what they did, I didn’t know. I said, “Maybe we could ask Daddy to look them up and read about them to us on the computer. What do you think about that?” I supposed that Ryan had some prior experience with Daddy’s complete study habits as he astutely replied, “Only if there are not too many words.”

Ryan has a great imagination and we played pretend during almost all of his waking moments. The animals and people talk and have conflicts and some need “protection" or just do regular things like go to the store and ride in play vehicles. Ryan has a darling little stuffed fox, ‘Fanny’, that sleeps with him and rides in the family car on every trip whether to church or the library or wherever. One day, I asked about taking another stuffed animal instead. I said, “What about ‘Deer’? Don’t you think that Deer would like to go this time?” Ryan informed me, “Grandma, Deer isn’t even real.” Of course, I should have recognized that.

“Soon I am going to grow up and be a big man!” My response, “Oh, Ryan, please don’t grow up too soon! I will miss you being a little boy!” Comfortingly and with a sweet little smile, he responded, “It’s okay, I will still like to play with you even when I am a big man.”

Before I went for my visit, Ryan phoned to request that I bring a few of my toys from my house that he could play with. He wanted an army vehicle with treads, some GI Joes, the boats and some animals. Doing my best to please, I gathered a few toys together. Ryan was excited and pleased and happy to examine each toy. He inquired, “Why did you bring all these bad guys?” I told him that I was sorry, but I couldn’t tell very well if they were good guys or bad guys. He said, “You just look at their faces. If they look mad, they are a bad guy.” And then added, “Actually, I like some of the bad guys.” Whew! He generously informed me, “Even though you didn’t bring the right toys, that’s okay.” Keep in mind that Ryan is three years old and has not been to my home for almost one year. He went on to enlighten me about the tank he really likes. I am impressed by his memory and am hoping that I can locate it for his visit in December! Talk about pressure. Actually, I can’t wait! How about tomorrow?

I can't resist posting a few more pictures. Andy and Amy were able to paint their shed to match their home during my visit. It looks cute—like a little play house.

The boys were ready for naps when we got home from church on Sunday but they looked so cute that I had to try for a photo—such sweet little men. Notice in Ryan's little paw is Fanny, purple dinosaur, giraffe and a new dinosaur that I cannot remember the name. Deer also made this picture.