This is apparently where my older child is happiest - in midair. He has no fear, except of being left alone to fall asleep in his big boy bed, but that's another post entirely. Reeves discovered he was able to "jump" off of things sometime last winter. He enjoyed it and would often decend from such heights as 6 inches. Of course, this was really more pseudo graceful falling rather than actual jumping. Then, just before he turned two, he masterd the act of jumping with two feet off the ground. (That's with both feet, Gams, not two vertical feet!) Oh the joy hopping around brought him. He was so proud of himself, and so were we. But now, now we have entered into a whole new realm, the world of really jumping OFF of things.
It began innocently enough when Jodie put this slide next to the pool for the children to slide in.
True, it's not a huge slide, but the children, mostly 3, 4, and 5 year olds were perfectly content to climb the two steps up the back and slide down, on their bottoms, into the pool. Enter Reeves. First, he slides down it on his back, headfirst, into the pool. But that's not dangerous enough for him. He spent the rest of his time on the slide jumping from the top into the pool. And that's the only way he would do it. And he loved it. Did you know swimmies sometimes come off when a child launches himself into a pool? Well, they do. Not that Reeves cared. Thank heavens for Jodie and others to whom Reeves now owes his life. Turns out you don't just swim in a circle with only one swimmie; you actually start to sink.
Van told Bryant that he saw lots of stitches and broken bones in our future. There was nothing Bryant could but nod and agree because that statement is so true. Of course, I figured it would be a few years away. Reeves has other plans.
Tuesday at playgroup, I thought we were going to have to leave and go to the hospital. None of us saw how it started. We picked it up after he was already midair. Reeves jumped from the top of DuBose's slide. Just so you know, I'm 5'7". The top of the slide is at my eye level. Nancy saw him in the air twice. I only saw him just before he hit the ground, after he had bounced halfway down. He landed and started crying and holding his left arm. We all just knew he had broken it. How could he have not? He landed with his arm under him, but on top of a toy rake. He must have a pretty good guardian angel. I picked him up, hugged him, and tried to feel his arm for the break. Nothing, but even more telling was the fact that his cry didn't intensify while I was doing that. I am still in shock. He has a couple of pretty good bruises, but no broken bones. Thank heavens!
Maybe this has taught him. He hasn't tried it since then, but I know it's only a matter of time before the lure of a good freefall becomes too much for him, and he goes at it again. Danger Bair, that's our son!
I'm a bit behind in posting about it, but Bennett has become truly fascinated with his fists. Everyday, he is amazed by these odd things attached to the ends of his arms. 
He flails them and laughs when they come in and out of his line of sight. While he's in this position is when we usually break out into a chorus of "Everybody say 'Hhhooo, hhhooo'! Everybody say 'Hey! Hey!'" or "Put your hands in the air and wave 'em like ya just don't care!" Reeves loves to jump in on this too. I can only imagine how funny the video of us would be.
He balls them up and stares at them as he slowly moves them back and forth in front of him. I think this is a really good thing for a second child to learn to do early on because it takes some of the parenting pressure off of me. I don't feel it completely necessary to wave a rattle over him to make him practice his tracking abilities. He can apparently handle it himself so I get to check that off of my list of milestones for him. I'm looking forward to the day when he makes himself practice the piano or tutors himself without forcing me to make him do it. Poor Bennett. He has set his personal bar way too high. Now I will expect him to handle a lot of his training himself.
And if nothing else, I can rest easy knowing that if the time ever comes for him to "put up his dukes", he'll know what to do.
Maybe he was affected by the wonder of the sounds looming just beyond the cars. Or maybe it was because he realized just how incomplete his costume looked without the chaps. But probably it was because I told him he wouldn't get any candy if he didn't put them on since everyone wanted to see his whole cowboy outfit. 
(Looking back on it now, that would have been fine with me because our house and my body could do without this 10 pounds of candy we now possess. Oh, wicked hindsight and weak willpower!)
Reeves loved the festival and immediately found Preston, his superhero cousin. 
They played games and got prizes and roasted marshmallows and actually ate a hotdog. 
(This impressed me with Reeves because he'd already had a lollipop, and eating, in general, hasn't been a pleasant experience around here lately.) But of course, what true cowboy could resist the lure of the open range? All he needed was a horse to take him there and he was free. 
Luckily for Reeves, the church came prepared. 
We had superheroes, faireys, Terminators, Scooby Doo, and a couple of country bumpkins. Reeves got so much candy that his pumpkin was overflowing. He fell asleep on the ride home and fought me, semi-comatose, when I tried to put his jammies on, so I let him sleep in the jeans and shirt. I think he's still sticky. We had so much fun, and I'm happy to report that we have faced the Sugar Rush Monster in the face, and we have won.
Before we went to bed last night, I took the pumpkin with all the candy in it and hid it in the top of the closet. Bryant asked me why I was doing that. Silly Daddy! 
I'll be sure to pull it out before my next girls' dinner and let you figure it out!! Let's jut say that, other than the lollipop his hairdresser gave him this morning, we have consumed no other candies on this, in CFS's words, PTTD. Well, at least, Reeves hasn't. 
So we loaded up to head to the aquarium. Someone pulled into the perfect spot right in front of me, and I was ticked. But then, I realized it must have been divine intervention because at that moment, I looked up and saw that the line reached all the way to the street and there were droves of costume clad children still coming. We just kept right on going. I'll try lots of things, but two children by myself in that melee? I don't think so. Luckily, since I'd promised him candy and we'd been practicing "Trick or Treat" the whole way down, we were able to charm some Dum Dums out of Pops as a consolation prize. Good thing Gams and Pops thought the costume was cute even without the chaps!
He immediately started petting it. "Awwwww, how cute," I thought, expecting him to then toss it onto the pile. Nope. I turn around again to find my son sliding his seed pod down the slide, then having it climb itself up the steps to slide down again. The pictures and the story fall terribly short of truly depicting what happened. He would hold it up to his face and coo at it. He would show it to me and want me to pet it. 
So we brought it in and wrapped it up in its blanket. I guess we're getting to the "uses his imagination" stage.
At two months, you are amazing your father and me. We have no guage for infants other than your older brother, and compared to him at this age, you are a monster. You have gained weight like a champ from the beginning. Other than a slight bout of a latching on problem, you have been a terrific nurser. You eat every 3 or 4 hours, except in the later afternoons, when you would be perfectly content to hang on to me non stop, although I think I can honestly say, "It's not you. It's me." Despite the fact that you eat voraciously, I don't think that you get quite as much as you do earlier in the day. To be fair, and to reveal a secret, as long as Daddy gets home early, I am perfectly content to sit there and snuggle with you for as long as it takes. Unfortunately, this doesn't always happen, but I treasure those times when it does.
You have really started to turn on the charm in the past three weeks. You are very generous with your adorable smiles. It warms our hearts every time we see that dimple appear. Daddy and I both have to make fools of ourselves to get you to smile, but Reeves just has to look at you or pat you on the head or tummy to coax a smile and a coo from you. You are beginning to fall in love with your older brother, and I am so happy to see that. 
Reeves, likewise, loves you, although he doesn't always show it in the most gentle ways. But you're tough and seem to be able to handle his "loving you". He has started to help me burp you which is cute, and, as you are not an easy child to burp, I actually appreciate his help because, like your smiles, you will give it up for him much faster than you will for me or Daddy. He must have some special touch.
We are still working on your sleeping through the night. Three nights ago, you gave me a blissful 6 and a half hours. I was so happy and nervous about it that I didn't even mention it to anyone for fear that it would not repeat itself. Well, I should have screamed it from the mountaintops because these last two nights have not been so quiet. But you're getting there, and I really feel that once we can get Reeves permanently into his Big Boy Bed and you into your crib, I will again know the feeling of being well rested.
We put you in the Bumbo seat. I think you liked it until the weight of your head exhausted you and you demanded to be out of it. I don't want to rush these precious early days, but it will be nice to be able to put you in that seat soon.
He is happy as a clam running around after Bose, trying to do all the things that this big 3 1/2 year old does. Whenever I mention playgroup, Reeves immediately breaks into a chorus of BOSEs and can't wait to see him. So, of course, this started the day off with a bang. In a bit, all the other chilluns got there. Their mommies had been JOGGING! I'm so impressed and hope to be a part of that once these inflatables go down some. Anyway, the morning was super fun, and Reeves even ate all of his lunch - quite an uncommon feat these days. To top it all off, Bennett slept in his carrier the whole time which gave me some time to take pictures.
When we got home, I fed Bennett, and Reeves played happily and quietly (relatively) with his trains. Bennett went down, then Reeves. He fussed some, but I went outside so I couldn't hear him. I was able to get another section of the fence completed and put in another post. I think this is a big part of making me feel like I have had a good day. If I can actually accomplish something at some point during the day, I find myself looking back, in the evening, with a wonderful sense of satisfaction. It's good for me; it's good for the boys; and it's good for Bryant because I am in a much better mood.
It seems silly to me to post about his one month a mere two days after his four week update, but honestly, there has actually been one achievement. He is smiling now when we get in his face and make silly, sweet sounds. I love this because it makes his dimple really show up. He only has one, and it's on his right side, and it's just the cutest thing when he gives us that cockeyed smile.
The brothers are still getting to know each other. Bennett is beginning to recognize Reeves' voice, and Reeves has become my real, live baby monitor. He hears Bennett wake up from his naps way before I do. So far, he's only accidentally landed on Bennett once or twice, and they were just glancing blows at that. 
For the most part, he is very sweet with his new brother. 
