Bubby and the Bean

Since Reyer was born, he and Adeline have become as thick as thieves. She often shares with us, "He's so special to me. I love him." 

 She likes to be near him at any cost.

He seeks her out too, since she has a lot of wisdom to impart. She has taught him to roll and sit and follow her. Who needs a puppy when you have a little brother?

Adeline likes to be in on the action of comforting and feeding him, too. She's so proud of him. When people ask his name, she chimes in, "That's Reyer Simon! He's my brother!" 

Reyer is finally starting to play in ways that are fun for Adeline. She has liked forts for some time, but he is enjoying them with her now. 

"Adeline? Are you in there?"

 "I think she's lost forever."

 "AAAAAHHHHH"

 "It's cool, guys. I found her."

 Bubby and the Bean. Best Buddies.

And Adeline, too!

 So, we have this other kid that's growing like a weed, too!

Here's what she's been up to. 

 Adeline got her first hair cut back in January. Her hair had finally reached the point where it wouldn't look like a mullet if we cut it. We took her to this adorable kid's salon and she was in the height of her glory. They distracted her with toys and movies and glitter! The girl enjoys the finer things in life. Can I get my hair done there, too?

She looked so mature to us afterward. She's a new woman. 

Adeline is a wee bit obsessed with sleeping on the floor, with or without permission. Sometimes, when we check on her before we go to bed, we'll find her toddler bed empty. We look down and see that she has built a little nest for herself to sleep on. Crazy kid. 

We had a few adventures through the winter and spring. She and I made this incredible snowman. Don't see it? It's on the right. The snow was too hard to pack. BUT...you would have though we built Olaf himself. She was perfectly satisfied with our little snow friend. 

Gerrit and I took her on a special day out to the zoo for her birthday. Her favorite part was not the exotic African creatures, but the fish they feed to the polar bears. Go figure. She knows what she likes. 

We had so many birthday celebrations, due to our long-distance families having different availability, that she started to think everyday was her special day! And to her, it really is. 

She's a lesson in contradictions. One moment she is pushing us out of the doorway of the bathroom yelling, "No! Wait your turn!" 

The next she is rubbing our hair, saying, "You're so precious to me. I love you all the time." 

This is Addie's world. The rest of us just live here. 

Reyer Grows Before Your Eyes!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Reyer is a pretty easy-going guy. He gets a hoot out of life. Here are some highlights. 

In his first week home, he delighted me with smiles in his sleep. 

He's a great conversationalist. 

But it does wear him out. 

Reyer is a super cuddler. He needs someone to touch him every few minutes to feel good about life. He'll check in, get a snuggle, and squirm away. 

 He ate his first baby food at around 4 months. He was pretty okay with it. Since then, he hasn't met a food he doesn't enjoy. He wants to eat ALL.THE.THINGS, so much so, that he has little interest in nursing or bottles. He takes milk to survive and then looks at us like, "What else ya got?"

Adeline has had fun decorating him. Again, he's okay with it. 

You would think she is telling us that she wants a sister. But she loves him so. She constantly asks, "Where's my brother?" when he is napping. 

At around 5 1/2 months, Reyer started sitting up on his own and thought he was pretty hot stuff. And he really is. Look at him go! Between 6 and 7 months he was army crawling around the house. And not long after he decided knee crawling is better. 

He's now pulling up on everything, cruising on the furniture, and loves to bounce, bounce, bounce on a lap. He could do that for an hour if one let him. He's a darling little guy, and is starting to get a bit mischievous. This is evident in the unrolled toilet paper and the clock on my night stand that he keeps knocking over by reaching through the slots in his crib. 

He'll be 9 months old soon! He's a handsome devil, no?