No bottle, No thank you!

The third time was not the charm for Ezra with the bottle tonight. Cary and I went out to see the next to last Harry Potter movie, leaving the boys with Grandma and Grandpa. Avi threw a total fit when we left, clinging to my leg and screaming "Mama, Mama." We could hear him from the car. What in the world was so bad about being left with his beloved grandparents is not understandable, but he was furious and beside himself.

Ezra did very well until they tried to give him a bottle. He wanted none of that, and like the other two times, just got angrier and angrier. Clearly not taking the bottle, Mom tried to console him in other ways which of course worked and he finally fell asleep, but not before Avi made a suggestion of his own as to how Mom should care for Ezra. He said to her, "Gramma, why don't you just show him your big nipple. That will make him feel better." When Mom wasn't game, he suggested that his grandpa do it.

Avi also declared to Mom tonight as he was being put to bed, "My daddy goes to work, and I love my daddy and he loves me."

We skyped with Jenn and Colin tonight. Noah was completely obnoxious, sticking his whole head right in the camera so that no one can see anything but his hair. When exactly is he going to grow out of that?

Defiance with a Smile

I say to Avi, "Get in the car and go directly to your seat and get in it. Do not go to the back of the car." It's very clear that he has heard me. What does he do? He gets in and goes to the backseat and puts on one of the belts. If this was the only time he did something like that in a day it wouldn't be such a big deal, or even five times, but how about a couple dozen times a day. Constant clear CLEAR communciation. Total and complete defiance in return all day long. It's defiance with a smile and plenty of laughter on his part, but it's defiance nonetheless.

Talking and Reading

Ezra is the most verbal 3-month old I have ever known. When he's not sleeping if you engage him in a conversation, he just erupts with sounds.

Cary and I have been taking turns reading the first Harry Potter book to Noah, starting this past week. I can't believe he's already nearly seven! And old enough for Harry Potter. I had to stop reading to Noah for a bit this evening because we couldn't get Ezra to stop "talking" while I was reading. He clearly thought it was time to dialogue and had stuff to say, which was a little distracting while trying to read a dramatic scene about a showdown between Hagrid and the Dursleys.

Speaking of reading... We also told Noah that he was old enough to stay up reading after we tuck him in for as long as he wants as long as he is quietly reading in bed. Only on vacation when we have nothing scheduled the next morning of course. He's pretty excited about the new privilege. And what a reader he has become! It comes in very handy when I have him read to Avi now!

Powerful Imagination

Today Noah managed to convince Avi that he was going to go and battle a monster upstairs all by himself and that Avi should stay downstairs with his daddy to be safe - all in an attempt to get upstairs alone so he could have the opportunity to finish watching Indiana Jones. Avi's overactive imagination made it all possible.

The same imagination has also made it possible to institute a new shoe policy/practice on the back stairs - a masking taped and labeled space for both boys to place their shoes so I don't have to keep stepping over them in the middle of the stairs. I told them that the shoe monster comes out of the little hole in the steps and eats shoes that aren't in the right place. It's all Avi can talk about now.

That is to say if he's not talking about his brain and how his brain does or doesn't let him do certain things. I.e. "I know how to write, I learned it at school, but my brain won't let me do it right." You've got to say it with the right little emphatic stretched out whiny voice though.