The Boys... and Lots of Paint

So, I finally did it. I dug out the big camera and took a few shots of my two rambunctious little boys. I've been meaning to do it for a long time now; I wanted some memories of a time when it was just the two of them. Originally, I had envisioned a cool location, with cute colorful outfits and some neat props, but yeah right. Who was I kidding!? There was just no time!!!! So, I stripped them down, headed out to the backyard, gave them some paint, and let them go at it. It ended up having more of a "lost boys" kind of feel, which I liked even better. I was only able to get a few shots since it was cold, and Christian stepped in ants, and I got paint on my camera, and Damon gagged himself with a brush full of paint causing him to throw up his dinner (which was rather colorful mixed with all the paint). But at least for a little bit, they had a blast painting on the paper, the table, and each other....

Christian ~ My tall, lanky, sweet, sensitive little man. You run like crazy (I'm thinking cross country?), yell "I love you mommy" after I close your bedroom door at night, and get so excited when it's time to brush your teeth. You obsess over lining up your toys and making sure your books are all set up a particular way, love to jump as high as you can on the trampoline, and cry when you see someone else who is sad whether on a cartoon or in a book. You throw tantrums like I've never seen another almost 3 year old do, get angry when things don't go exactly the way you want them to, and insist on reading three books every night before bed. You love to sing, and give besitos to me and your brother, and get so excited when Damon finally wakes up from his nap so you can play together. You've got a crazy sweet tooth, love movies with animals in them, and prefer the swing to the slide. You also know all your shapes, letter and colors and can count to ten in both English and Spanish. Your speech is improving, you love to watch videos and look at pictures of yourself and your brother, and you still insist that I feed you even though you're perfectly capable of doing so yourself. You would rather be outdoors than in, sleep with at least 6 different blankies at night, and you love to cuddle. You cry quite a bit, I must admit, and usually over small trivial things, and you like to pretend something hurts if you feel like I'm not giving you due attention, and you get really mad if Damon doesn't want to play with you. You're cautious, but with a gentle push, you find that you love lots of new things. And you prefer to watch in a new situation first before venturing out. You're kind, energetic, and stubborn. And sometimes your daddy and I worry that your frustration and irritation over the small things might get in the way of your being content and happy in the future. And yet, I know that your sensitivity towards others will make you gentle and loving, and I think that will be one of your greatest qualities...
I can't believe in a few days you'll be turning 3! We love you to the moon and back lil' man. :)

Damon ~ My happy go lucky, little muscle man. And I truly mean muscle man. At 18 months, you literally have a six pack and even the pediatrician has commented on your muscular build (your father is very proud :)). You love balls, snack all day long, and insist on feeding yourself. You absolutely love the water, have awesome balance (I'm assuming this comes from the trampoline), and love to be outside. You don't watch first, you just plunge right in. You eat dirt. And sand, and crayons, and just about everything else. You prefer the tallest and fastest slides to the swing and love to get dirty. You've already got a repertoire of about 15 words and refuse to go to sleep without your special blankie. You tell me when your diaper needs to be changed and could go walking outside for hours. You love bubbles and paint and cars. You're bold and enthusiastic and happy with whatever is going on. You love to sing. At home, in the car, before bed. All the time. You love to yell "mommy", run over to me, and sit in my lap. And you absolutely love to jump on the couch cushions and be thrown high in the air. You also love to hit. And bite. We're working on that. :) You love your brother and want to do whatever he's doing. And because you're fearless, you attempt to. I find a new scrape, scratch, or bruise on you almost every day, and I can't even count the number of times you've hit your head on something. You've got endless amounts of energy, love sleeping in your big boy bed, and are doing things at a much faster rate than your brother did, no doubt because you have him as a role model to look up to. And you love to make messes.
You head to nursery next week and I can't believe how fast you've grown. We love you lil' buddy!

I was only able to get a couple shots of them together with the phone.

Brothers ~ You know, when I pictured myself having kids a few years back, I always imagined boys close together running around like that little tornadoes, playing hard and fighting hard. And that's exactly what you guys do. As soon as Damon learned to walk, the two of you have really gotten close. You scream and run and throw things and jump in circles and copy each other all the time. You also fight a lot, which is to be expected. And since you, Christian, are the big brother, you come out on top. Though, Damon, you can certainly hold your own. And though there is quite a bit of fighting over the same toy or the same toy, or the same toy, there are also many sweet moments when I'll find you, Christian, reading Damon a book or trying to explain what to do with the train tracks or jumping around in a crazy, silly way making Damon roll on the floor, cracking up. You love being together in the same room. Your daddy and I will hear both of you laughing or playing before you run into our room each morning to wake us up. It's been so sweet to watch the two of you grow together over the last year. You are definitely buddies and I hope you continue to be close and that this next little boy will join right in with the two of you.

It has been so much fun having you little boys in our family. And in just 23 days, there will be three of you. Thank goodness I have a good pair of running shoes and do pretty well without a lot of sleep. I'm sure it will be endless craziness.

Bring it on.... :)