Dear Boys...

I am sad to say that I am so far behind that this month we are doing a group letter. There is never enough time anymore!

Gray, you are so funny, and SO moody. I am praying that three isn't harder than two because I am not sure I can handle it without taking up some sort of illegal habit! This weekend I am in Montana for work and you are at your Gram and Papa's, undoubtably wrapping them around your little finger. You are in a weird stage where you are too big for a Pack 'n Play but too little for a bed, so we agonized over what would work best for you. (We have the same dilemma coming up next week when we go visit your Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona.) Your gram asked what kinds of food you liked best right now and your dad and I could come up with only a couple of things that were good bets: gruyere or manchego cheese, organic chicken apple sausage and hummus. You also are partial to green M&Ms lately ("It has an M on there!" you say- and you say the same thing when you see a McDonald's.)

Funny things you say:
"My Uranus!" when one of your planets rolled under the couch.
"What's the stop sign say?" every time you see a stop sign.
"I want a beer Mama," after a particularly hard day.
"I have a udea!" "You have an idea?" "Yeah, a udea!"
"I'm good!" with a flip of your hand when I suggest that we change your pants.
"Ummm... no kaimps!" when I suggest something that you aren't interested in.

We are in the discussion stages of potty training- you have decided that you are interested, in theory, but when I put you on the potty without your pants on you freak out. We are working on manners, too. Last weekend your gram was trying to get you to say please for something and you didn't want to. She begged and pleaded with you and finally gave you whatever you two were battling over. You looked at her slyly and said, "I didn't say please Gram!" ARGH!!! You are so smart, but you are also two. It is difficult to know what to do or how to handle your incredibly stubborn nature. We are still trying to figure it out.

You still love to read, and spend time outside. You are learning your letters and will recognize a letter on the TV, or on a sign when we are driving in the car. "I see an S!" you'll call out. It's so cute. You are more interested in sign language lately and will work very hard to make the "I love you" sign to show me. I love it and I love you.

Eli, oh my Eli... you are luscious. You are such a good baby and you only cry if you are really, really upset about something. You curl into me and give me these fantastic baby hugs that I just relish. You are sleeping through the night, mostly. Right now you go to bed at 7:30 and wake up around 5ish. I don't care, I bring you into bed and we snuggle and you nurse until it's time to wake up. It is the best part of my day, waking up nose-to-nose with a smiling baby. Right now Gray's affections are fickle, so it's a relief to bask in your uncomplicated love.

This month you learned to sit up like a big boy, roll over (which you did on Mother's Day!) and you grab things to play with with total ease. You started eating rice cereal and peas this past week, and I have to say you were NOT a fan of either. This eating thing is going a bit slower than I expected. The original plan was to wean you by six months but that is only in... 15 days? and I am not ready. I wish you had any idea how much I have gone through, dragging that damn pump through security at the airport and pumping in bathrooms all over Utah and Montana. It SUCKS. But stopping doesn't seem to be an option just yet. We'll see what the next couple of weeks hold for us. You are also teething, so you constantly are sticking out your tongue or sucking on your lips. Poor thing!

I am so, so, so blessed with two such wonderful boys. I wonder all the time about the future... what will life be like ten years from now? I'll have boys that are 10 and 12. I can't imagine my babies being big, but on the other hand it's going to be so fun to see. But as for tonight, I am sitting in a hotel room in Montana, missing your warm little bodies and wishing I could snuggle with my little boys. I hope you know that even when I am gone I am missing you and loving you from afar.

love,
Mama