Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's really amazing what a difference three years makes.  In E, it's obvious when he's changing, and we notice it immediately.  I can tell how much heavier he has gotten in the past month, I can see his eyes are becoming less blue and more gray, I see he has more hair and that it's gotten darker.  In A, however, it's a shock to realize he's grown because the changes are smaller as a percentage.  I looked at him the other day and realized he's really gotten tall in the past few months.  His face is looking more and more grown up; the other day I looked at him and felt I had a glimpse of how he would look as a teenager--freaky.

In behavior, changes are happening too.  E is getting frustrated that we can't understand what he wants/needs.  He has taken to screaming.  It's a lot of fun.  He screams when the food on his tray is finished.  He screams when he wakes up (I seem to remember A babbling and entertaining himself in the crib; E does not do this).  He screams when he is tired of standing (still not pulling himself up or cruising yet, though he is getting much better at "the inchworm").

By contrast, A is pretty even keeled.  Yep, he throws tantrums and gets mad ("Mommy, I'm mad at you."),  but the kind of cool thing is that after being in time out, he is so friendly, happy, and loving.  Sometimes we all just need a break from each other. 

I am constantly amazed by the feeling when "my heart swells."  I've heard this phrase a hundred times, but never really had that feeling before my boys came along (no offense to my other loved ones!).  I love that my boys are cuddlers, that they're laughers, that they try.  I love that they both have an interest in books (A now tells E stories, and E is happy to flip through a book on his own).  I love the way A will say, "I love my Daddy and my Mommy.  I love my whoooole family."  I love the way E looks for me when he's in one room and I am in another.  And I love the way they make my heart swell.