Life slices / Jasper-hour

:: A new ritual::  Setting the table with the boys.  They are both eager to help, and we love that::

::I'm really relishing this season of my baby's toddlerhood.  He's still a baby in so many ways but is fast becoming a shadow of his brother.  The more words that he learns, the more he mimics and pretends and the further he gets from my lap, the more we get to know him and see who he is.  That's the beauty of children, in rearing our sons- every day we learn a little more about who they are.  It's really the greatest gift, one that I am aware of all the time in getting to spend my days in and days out with these two guys- everyday they are a day farther away from being at our feet.  With every step, the gift of their being unwraps a little more.

This boy's pace is a little different than his predecessor.  Learning to parent him is an exercise in surrendering the knowledge and expectations of what came before.  In so many ways, he shows us that he is growing and learning, but those ways are different than the pace of his peers and "where his brother was" at this age.  What I'm taking away from that is that this is just the way we must learn to parent this individual boy.  It will serve us best to abandon comparisons and just be what HE needs for him, and that will always be the way that it is and is certainly a nuance of parenting that one can not truly prepare for.  Who are children are and will be and watching it all unfold will never repeat, a reason to slow down and really take it all in and celebrate the littleness while they are still at our feet. They'll show us who they are in their own time::

14/52

 Jasper / loved the Carousel ride we took while visiting with my Mom in Branson, Missouri

Loukas / was thrilled to receive this thrifted Millennium Falcon from his Grandma and carried it with him all day around the theme park we visited.  He said, "She knows what I like!"

13/52

13/52

JASPER:  soft baby curls and sweater jumper 

LOUKAS:  fishing in the distance 

Gone Fishing

The time we went fishing and didn't catch any fish::

not a fish on the hook.  

The weather was perfect and our excitement was aplenty.  We procured licenses the day before and Papa Phil came to the ready with an arsenal of tackle and bait.  The wind was unforgiving, however, and not a single fish was pulled from the water.  Still, there were smiles and it was fun and I know I'll treasure these photos.  A great dry-run at many fishing outings to come.

12 | 52

12/52

Loukas:  "How do I make my wings flap?"
Jasper:  The little baby toddler hand point.  Can't get enough.

52 weeks outtakes

I thought it'd be fun to share some of the outtakes from the collection of shots I've been taking for my little 52 week project thing.  Today, I took the time to go back and archive posts of the weeks that I've recently missed and there were a few that were passed by, but I feel too precious to keep to myself.  See:

1| an out-of-focus cheese 2| our first bubble blowing session of the year  3| little brother always a few steps behind  4| little boy blue  5| the nightly "throw me high" toss 6| he who wants to eat on big plates with big utensils, you know- cause he's big  7| mr. snacker  8|  he loves to feed us, this time he was offering a nibble to Lou.

11 | 52

11 | 52

I've fallen seriously behind on my 52 week portrait project.  Excuses aside, I'm going to play catch up and have decided to go ahead and post them every Monday instead of all willy-nilly...

Loukas:  Will turn any stick or plastic golf club handle into a light sabor or shooter.  It's definitely not our favorite thing but we are trying to be patient with this (hopeful) phase.  "It's just pretend," he assures us.

Jasper:  Is a gifted pretender.  Catching him quietly put his chef gear on and sautee his wooden veggies and meat is a favorite.