Tough boys

Not only is Ezra shaping up to look exactly like Noah, but he appears to be tough like him also. Mellow and tough. Nice combo. Last night he did a face plant in the tub. I picked him within a second, but I wasn't quick enough to keep him from banging his face into the drain and being facedown in the water. I snatched him up and he was clearly a little startled and take aback, but I'm certain that many other babies would have been howling. He just went on with his bath, happy to grab at toys with his new sit-and-reach abilities.
Noah today had his second or third accident on the tree swing in Chris and Julie's back yard. He lost a tooth there last year. Not even a particularly loose one. Tonight he scraped up against the tree and got pretty roughed up on his arm. Most other kids would have been in tears. Even seven year old boys. Not Noah. He calmly came to show us and tell is that it hurt. Chris took him inside, performed appropriate first aide, gave Noah the cool new see-through bandage and all was well. Though Noah wasn't sure he could help set the table or clear it either as a result.
That however has more to do with his incredibly annoying new attitude. He whines and protests about anything. He's often demanding and won't take no for an answer (not that he ever manages to get another answer with that behavior). What boggles me is how he persists with this behavior when the consequences have been clear and consistent forever. It doesn't work, so why does he keep trying?

Pancakes and powerful kisses

Ezra ate some pancake this morning. And then a big bowl of homemade puréed carrots and some blueberry oatmeal. That boy wants to eat anything he can get his hands on. He's just six months old today, but he's far more interested in food than his brothers were at this stage, or so it seems. I guess they each have to excel at something. He's not anywhere near as physically precocious as his brothers were.

Avi's new thing the past month or so is to give kisses and then say with total seriousness that the kiss is strong enough or big enough to "go all the way to Hawaii." Tonight he did a variation on that. He was being a pill AGAIN at bedtime. He was shut in his room at one point, but I had to let him out to go to the bathroom or risk an accident. I did, but made it clear I was very displeased and done with any nonsense. He finished and as I put him back in bed, he gave me a big kiss and said, "That kiss is big enough to show you I'm gonna be good now."

Noah mowed the lawn today. He started doing that last summer. How did he get so big? Some moments he's practically a teenager and the next moment he's having a three-year-old style temper tantrum about not getting something he wants.

Milestones

Ezra put himself to sleep tonight. Avi, who was really good all day, was a turkey at bedtime, repeatedly coming out if his room and making enough noise to arouse Ezra as I was trying to nurse him asleep. I finally got him to sleep and put him in the crib when Avi woke him yet again. Having already nursed him for a LONG time, I just tried to encourage him to fall asleep. It took awhile, but with a few reassuring visits and pats, and with his lovey-ducky, he did it without crying! This kid is so easy-going. Of course I thought the other two were good, easy babies too!
Noah was excited and proud that I let him ride his bike to the school playground without accompaniment, and home too. Avi and Ezra and I went too, but we were so much slower, I let Noah go ahead both going and returning. I think he's ready to go to school by himself. People think that's crazy, and I think most people don't let kids go themselves until fourth or fifth grade, but it's ridiculous. It's five blocks! Kids of previous generations would have done it and no one would have thought a thing about it. The only thing I want is a way for the school to alert me pretty much immediately if for some reason he didn't arrive. But then again, so many other kids and parents are traveling the same route that God-forbid something should happen to him, I would know from one of them.
Speaking of Noah, he's on the third Harry Potter book. It's amazing that he's only been reading for a year and a half. But then, he still can't tell time for anything.
In sad news, both Lilly and Murphy are sick. Lilly has been for some time; she has hardly eaten in months. Murphy developed a lump on the top of his tail and it's cancer. He had it removed and biopsied on Tuesday, and the results today were not good. Noah is so worried about both of them. And especially with Murphy sporting a big cone collar and a huge line of stitches on his behind. Noah is filled with sympathy for him.

Ezra

Ezra is fully sitting unassisted now. I'm not quite ready to let him do it on the hard floor, but he has really mastered the skill in the past few days.

Birthday Parties, cont.

Avi did much better at today's birthday party. He played mostly with Vera. They seem to be good pals. There was no evidence of the clingy miserable kid from the last two events.

Birthday Parties

While I don't want the boys to grow up too quickly, I do yearn for the days when there are no more birthday parties to attend at Putters. We had Emma's there today and tomorrow we will go to Papa's Pizza for Killion's.
Avi's going through a new phase in which he becomes uncharacteristically clingy at birthday parties. We spent the first half hour with him hanging on to me, trying to pull me down to the floor with him, or head-butting me. Finally I took him out to the car, where thinking he was in trouble he started to cower in the back corner until I convinced him that he wasn't in trouble, I just wanted to hug him and help him find words to express what he was feeling. I held him for a bit and we talked, but he wasn't able to really articulate what the issue was. This was similar to but even worse than his reaction at his classmate Rachel's party last week. And oh joy, we have yet another party to attend tomorrow. I keep asking him if he really wants to go, and he assures me that he does. I sure know I don't, and I can predict how he's going to act, but here we go again anyway. What's a mom to do?