As Owen would call them. For those of you that don’t speak Owen that would be “boots” and “balloons”! And for those of you that don’t speak Jackson those other words refer to the Statue of Liberty!  As we approach the busy season of holidays and travel I thought it was a good time to sit down and reflect on what our boys are into and up to these days! Owen is turning 2 this month and Jackson will be 4 1/2.

Owen ,the “baby” is turning the big 2!!!! And he is rockin’ our world. As with most other almost 2 year olds the joys are oh so joyous and the hiccups are oh so tumultuous!  When he loves he loves with all of his might and when he fights..well you get the idea.   Owen loves balls and has developed a pretty good throw! He also enjoys animals, dogs being his all time favorite! He will be having a puppy party this year with his cousins in Texas! Owen has just begun to show more interest in building with legos and the train set. Previously he was content to toss them around while Jackson played but he now wants to really make them work. He sees them as avenues to his brothers heart so he is trying so hard to be good at them too!  And goodness me we pray those magnets match up to make the trains stick together…..because he will let you know if they don’t. Owen has lots of new words and then a whole lot of paragraphs in his own language.  His latest words are “pretty”, “pumpkin”, “boops” /boots, “purple”, “pink”, “bue”/blue, “yellow”, “geen”/green,  “I too”/ me too, “mine”….oh wait, that is not new, it’s just CONSTANT!, “nein”, “ne”/”no” in German, “cool”, “doctor”, “snow”, and “ice”. He is trying to sing along with songs now and imitates counting with Jackson….although mostly in his own translation. He has turned into a better eater over the past few months…depending on his mood!  He gets served what we eat and he can decide if it is to his liking. One of the toughest parts of having a house guest is their observance of us carrying out discipline and routines. Owen loves the extra attention and takes advantage of someone watching, particularly at dinner time. Unfortunately for the rest of the diners mom and dad are sticking to our guns.  Daddy is Owen’s hero these days. Really he has been for a long time but over the past month he has transitioned into the role more of a little boy and needs mommy much less.

And the J man?! Well, he is continuing on his energetic little boy trend. He is eating us out of house and home and burning off those calories between meals. Jackson enjoys music, dressing up, fighting off intruders, building, talking, friends, and going to school. Today he was looking over my shoulder as I checked a blog and he asked who that person was, I told him it was a friend. He said “moooooom, you have so many friends and I only have a few”. He is a lover of people! Jackson and Seth just finished the book “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”  and they are currently reading through “The Children’s Book of Virtues”. Like Owen, Jackson loves his daddy so much and cherishes these reading times.   Jackson’s favorite foods are spaghetti and meatballs and thai food. He  reminds me about how my mom’s thai food is the best but he still seems to enjoy mine too.  A couple of weeks ago when my cousin offered to make thai food Jackson was so thrilled and said, “how did Nathan know that is my second favorite food?” He’s precocious alright! Jackson keeps us on our toes with questions and “why?”s.  My cousin Jenny sent me a quote today that sums but Jackson’s current pastime…”The average four year old asks about four hundred and thirty-seven questions a day”.

This picture makes me think Jackson looks like my brother Ryan! Gotta love a 4 yr old in skinny jeans, construction gear and wrong-foot frog boots!

And these pictures capture their friendship!