All Grown Up

My little guys are growing up. Inch by inch, literally. They are growing big and strong and smart and funny.

Tomorrow is Ryker's 3rd birthday. 3rd. How did that happen? I've done his birth story already (click here if you haven't read it, or want to re-read it).

It's amazing to me, as always, how much he has changed. And what I love is how DIFFERENT he is from Jackson. I remember when I first knew I was pregnant with him, and I wanted a girl baby so badly (shhh, don't tell). One of my reasons was that I felt like we had "done" the boy baby thing already. Check. I wanted something new, and gender just seemed to be the obvious way to ensure we had a completely different experience. Well, we got it. Ryker is a different boy from Jack, and the experience has been different. More challenging in some ways, easier in some, funnier in some, more stressful is some. We've gone from thinking he was perfectly healthy, to thinking he might have Cystic Fibrosis (remember THAT?!), to figuring out he was really, really allergic to some meds, and back to knowing he was healthy. And huge. I have to say, the most endearing quality we've seen so far in him is his love for Jack. He just loves him, and will protect him to no end. I love that.

Not to be outdone by Ryker's birthday, Jack has had his chance to shine recently as he gets ready to enter kindergarten. Today we had to do his early childhood screening. I read the paperwork last night because I'm a bad, procrastinating mom like that, and found out that he was actually supposed to be screened between ages 3.5 and 4. I repeat: bad, procrastinating mom. Anyway, he did AMAZINGLY well. Stud. The screener was talking to me later and was like "umm, yeah, he did VERY well. I didn't even have to prompt him or given him examples. He's very bright." Awwww... Oh, and he was one inch away from literally being off of her height chart. Ha! 95th% in height and weight.

My big boys. Happy happy mom.