Back to normal!

Things have been so normal lately I don't know what to do with myself! I've been teaching, Brian's been working, the kids are fine, everything's good. Will and Ben have been trading off a head cold for a while, but that's totally normal for this time of year too. Woo-hoo!!

Ben is starting to sit up a little bit. You have to set him up in just the right position and hover over him because he'll just flop over and smack his head on the ground. But he stayed sitting on his own for 45 seconds the other day! Which is a big step for him. He's a very happy, social little baby right now and LOVES Will. When I hear him waking up from his naps I'll being Will in the room and pop him into Ben's crib - Ben smiles and does his version of giggling, which is really hard to describe. His favorite toy is paper of any kind. He'll spend lots of time rolling around on the newspaper and rattling it. Luckily the Charlotte Observer doesn't transfer ink onto you the way some papers do.

Will is talking up a storm and into everything. I HAD to practice the other day because I had a faculty recital coming up - he completely destroyed the studio while I practiced. Every drawer was open, every book was out, he found some wrapping paper and unrolled it and ripped it up... it's like having a 35 pound puppy that can talk back. At night before he goes to bed he's started listing all the things that scare him and explaining to himself why they can't be in his room. He'll say "Sharks swim in the ocean. Puppets are on TV. Claude's not in here. (he had a bad dream once that our cat Claude bit him)" Apparently it works because he hasn't woken up with a nightmare in quite a while. I took him to a nearby Barnes and Noble yesterday because they have a train table in the children's area, and we stayed there for a LONG time playing trains. We got a new little Thomas book and I have literally read it to him 20 times in the past two days. When I checked on him last night before going to sleep he was asleep with the book over his face (he had gone to bed with it of course!).

We went on a trip to Nana and Papa's house recently - it was really fun! Maggie and Scooter (their dogs) were very interested in Ben although Scooter wasn't really sure what to think about him. He kept standing about a foot from him and reaching his nose out to sniff him - it was really cute. Will had a great time driving Papa's truck. He's decked out in some fresh Harley gear! It's really funny to see all the men who smile at Will at the mall when he's in all of his Harley clothes.