Cute boys

The Andersen Boys

Luke just turned 18 months. He went to nursery for the first time on his own last week (our calling is nursery leader, so he's been in the older nursery with us for a month or so)! He did great. No problems at all. We went and peeked at him a few times and he was just playing and having fun. It must be nice for kids to be able to get away from their parents for a bit. He also got his 18 month check up with the doctor. He has moved up to 5th percentile on weight (almost 22 pounds!) and 7th on height! :) He's a little guy, which probably makes him seem even smarter when people hear him talk. We get comments all the time from people amazed at how well he talks and how big his vocabulary. Everyday he's either saying a new word, saying an old one better or putting words together into sentences. He can spot a bird from a mile away. He's constantly pointing out birds as we're driving...he especially likes to see them "fly...up high". He is sometimes a bit grumpy when it comes to Sam taking his toys or when things aren't done exactly as he's wanting (mainly when I try to do something for him that he wanted to do himself). But he's also about the sweetest and cuddliest kid I know. He puts his hands on my cheeks to give me a kiss, pats your back when he hugs and loves to rock before bed. He's our little sweetie.

I swear he wears a shirt sometimes!

Sammy is full of energy. I definitely have to keep my eye on him. He's extremely curious, which lends to getting into a lot of things that he shouldn't. He's a little monkey. He can climb onto the counters without a chair and gets things off of the top shelf in our pantry no problem (I can barely do that!). He is working really hard on potty training still and we are actually seeing some progress. I think we've finally gotten him to resign himself to the fact that going to the potty on the toilet is just part of the day...it's just what we do. He is excited about the new baby and has new names for him all the time. Just tonight he told me we should name him "Baby Lion". I think he has accepted that the baby is actually IN my tummy when he was able to feel him move. Now, though, I see him being very curious about how he's going to come out. He said, "Mom, is the baby going to break your tummy?" I just said no- but a day later he asked, "Is the baby coming out the side of your tummy?" pointing along his side. I've tried to keep it vague, not wanting to get too much into it with a 2 year old, so I just told him it would come out "kinda the bottom of my tummy". He seems to have accepted that. He is a good big brother and has found that if he wants something from Luke, he can usually find another toy and trade Luke for it. It's pretty good problem solving and actually works most of the time. It's fun to see him getting bigger. We were at a restaurant the other day, fighting with Luke to stay in his seat and not touch everything... when I realized that Sam was sitting in his chair, eating his food completely on his own with relatively little mess, wiping his own face with a napkin and just being such a good, big boy! It's so fun to see that they do grow and learn and hard phases pass...though they do pass fast.

Wink and thumbs up! (It used to be wink and 'pointer finger', but he finally got the thumb down!)

Big boy!

Some bath foam from Grandpa Andersen. I thought baths were for cleaning?

We love our boys!