{ magic }

day brightener

this moment {light brite}

growing.

2 months old.

growing

taking bigger pieces of my heart, day by day.

In the last 2 days Luke has slowly come out of hibernation and started gracing us with his presence. Now when I go to get him up from his naps he greets me with a big gummy smile or sometimes a laugh (which sounds like a hiccup and lights up his whole face).

These days, I am grateful for my live in nanny, Noah.
When I have to run and grab a quick something,
I ask Noah to stay with Luke.

 

And you should know
he takes his job as babysitter very seriously.
He likes to stay within 1/2 an inch of him at all times.

I love that when I come back into the room I find them like this. Deep in conversation.

And the conversations usually go,
"Hi Luke. It's me, your big brother Noah again.
I'm still the biggest brother."
(He really wants to drive home this fact).
And then he usually says to me,
"Mom. Say 'Noah, you are the best big brother ever'."
He's pretty bossy like that, my nanny.
He likes to tell me what to say.
But in this case, he's right.

an officer and a (not so) gentleman.

noah & max.

one of these sweet boys is sitting quietly on our backyard stoop per request of his mama. for a little break (a time out, if you will) after a situation that involved throwing a bocce ball at his brothers head. ahem. we don't do a lot of time outs here, but in situations like attempted concussion assaults, we take a little break. care to guess which sweet boy is taking a break and which is keeping him company?

if you guessed noah, my sweet boy on the left, then you likely haven't visited our lively little roost lately. despite the grin ear to ear, max, my increasingly explosive 2 year old, is having himself a little time out.

note:: these pictures were taken after the break and our talk was over.

but, all the same, snapping pics after a time out is likely not found in textbook parenting 101.

noah, having seen his brother removed from very few altercations, and often being a guilty party himself, was quite amused that his brother was being told to sit on this stoop and have a conversation with his mama.

hysterical actually.

max likely wondered if his brother was having a seizure. he was literally doubled over in delight.

soon after, noah took it upon himself to be the officer to this boy who behaved not so gentlemanly.

and guard his escape.

but in the end, the gentleman was free to leave as he pleased. and off he went.

to the dismay of the officer.

the weekend is promising more sunshine (cheer!)

 and the bocce balls have been retired to the garage.

here's to a weekend of gentle behavior all around.

in a house of boys.

one can still dream.

this moment.

His idea. 

Walked into the room with a baby book in his hands 

& asked if he could read it to Luke.

Saw a glimpse of a smile cross Luke's face.

Insert heart exploding here.

bros.

Just a couple of bros.

Hanging out.

Watching Tangled for the 3rd time this week.

Not as manly as their Robin Hood and Sword and the Stone, but I have to find ways to keep pumping estrogen into this house.

Noah & Luke.

Noah: Can I hold baby Luke?

Noah: Oh, I love baby Luke. He likes me holding him. He doesn't like being in this blanket. Its too tight. He wants me to take him out. I think he's trying to poop. I don't want to hold him anymore.

Noah & Luke.

Love.

Brotherly Bonding

{ there's an app for that. }

Christmas Picture Outtakes.

Picture 1. Feeling optimistic about our session after picture 1. Just wanting a little less cheese than this one.

Picture 2. Uh-Oh. Clearly Max didn't get the memo this session would involve more than one photo. He's over it already.

Picture 3. Are we done here? We have to be the shoot for Baby GQ by noon. Really just squeezed this in as a favor to you mom.

Picture 4. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's dad doing cartwheels in a desperate attempt for smiles.

Picture 5. My personal favorite (seriously, would have loved to send this to you). Nothing says Tis the Season like this sweet pouty lip and Noah's protective I think he's been through enough already , ok?

Picture 6. My cure for the pouty lip, a mouth full of M&Ms. Melted Noah into pure sweetness but not quite the desired look I had in mind for Max.

And finally... Picture 7.

I have had enough of this forced photo session. I didn't want to have to do this but...

Kung-Fu Chop!

Merry Christmas, Love the Beaty Boys.

A Fall Afternoon.

Days like today, there is nowhere I would rather live than here. The sun shining, leaves golden orange crunching underfoot, and two happy boys, elated to spend the afternoon outside. It feels like fall today.

Some days, trapped inside, I feel like I can't get enough distance between these two boys. Scooch over, you're sitting on top of your brother again. But take them outside, even for 5 minutes, and the lack of distance between these two boys suddenly becomes, amazing and wonderful.