Some Little Things About This Weekend

• We went to a Lehigh football game yesterday. This is one of the boys' favorite things to do. Why do they love it so? Is it the crowd? Is it the chaos? Is it the fresh air and sunshine? Is it the tailgating? Is it the college co-eds drunk as skunks? They love the marching band, the cheering, the football-crowd-gone-crazy. They love the tailgating scene and the half-time show and everything in between. They are enthralled... why? Do they love it because Braydon and I love it? Is it nature or nurture? Or is it something else we can't possibly know or understand? Braydon and I ask these questions of ourselves and each other constantly.
• At the football game they run on the grass and tackle each other. This time they had the extra-fun-added-benefit of having Jackson (their best friend from daycare) with them at the game to tackle and run with too. But Kyle and Owen diverged from Jackson (and apparently from all other toddlers too) when they started tackling the Lehigh students sitting in their little cliques of friendship groups. First they started running and jumping/hugging/tackling a group of sorority sisters sitting directly behind us. Then they started with a group of fraternity brothers watching the game in front of us. Before long these Lehigh students were all pulling out ther cell phones taking photos of each other with our boys on their laps and letting K & O wear their sunglasses and tickling them and doing 'high fives' and playing chase games and tossing our boys in the air like they were their long-lost nephews... telling us every 5 minutes that K & O were "the cutest things we've ever seen~!!!!!!!!!!!!" Well, I agree - they are the cutest things ever seen. But how did I get such cutie pies? How did we luck out so? What kind of deeds have we done to warrant such gifts from ahigh? Or, could we possibly be this lucky? And how did they end up to be so outgoing and sociable and friendly? Sometimes I feel like I'm dreaming. And a lot of times I think to myself: "How can I possibly ensure that these boys keep this kind of self-confidence for the long haul?"
• Re: the new rooms/new beds -- this morning we heard some stirring in Owen's room and could tell he had woken up. Then we saw that he turned his bedroom light on. Braydon went to peek in on him to see what was going on in there. He had his pacifier in his mouth, was holding his lovey lion, and was standing in front of his new shelf checking out his toys. He spent about ten minutes in there alone this morning before coming to find Braydon and I. So his day began with some nice quiet playtime/alone-time. This is precisely the kind of thing we were hoping for when we made the decision to separate the rooms.
• Owen woke up first this morning and Kyle was still sound asleep, so the three of us were downstairs having milk (O) and coffee (B & I) and reading books and playing. Owen was hungry so I laid out a plate of bagels w/ cream cheese and cereal bars (two of his favorite breakfast treats). He was so excited when he saw it that he started jumping up and down and doing what Auntie Jessie fondly refers to as "the human purr" (which is very normal behavior for Owen)... but then our boy didn't eat any of it... wouldn't even touch it... and started to get out of sorts and fussy. He kept asking to go get Kyle. Eventually we just decided to let Owen go upstairs to wake up his brother. Owen handed me his pacifier and lovey lion, cheerfully said, "Lovey Lion, stay here! I'll be right back!" and took off upstairs to get his bro. Next thing we knew the two of them came happily cheerfully bouncing downstairs and immediately gobbled up the entire plate of breakfast food together.
• This afternoon Owen had a full blown terrible two's type tantrum. It was because I didn't let him have more juice when he wanted it (it is hard to explain to a two-year-old that too much juice gives him diarrhea... no matter how much we know this fact from direct Owen-juice-drinking-experience, our boy just does not want to accept it!!!) He first threw the cup on the floor, then threw himself on the floor in a raging fit, then broke down in an all-out-wail. But-- that was it. Despite how mad he was, he did not hit mama. This was big for him. And we were all proud. When all was said and done I pointed it out to him: "Owen, you were soooo mad! But, you didn't hit mama!" And he smiled ear-to-ear. To celebrate the big occasion Owen and Kyle got to both eat some mini-M&M's from their long-lost Halloween loot. ;0
• Tomorrow another work/daycare week begins. It is hard to see the weekend end.