Brothers

A lot of people ask me how Liam "does" with Ezra. Since nothing really monumental happened last week, I thought I would write about my sweet boys.


I was constantly concerned how Liam would react not being the entire center of my universe. He loves older kids. LOVES them. And older kids love him, because he will literally do whatever they want. It's ridiculous. I thought Liam would make an excellent little brother, but I thought he would be less than thrilled to have a helpless infant taking Mom's attention away. So, when we brought Ezra home from the hospital, my focus was Liam. I tried to keep him away from Ezra, asked him to not touch, made sure he was taken care of, etc. I basically built a barrier around Ezra and didn't want Liam near him. You know, germs, poking eyes out, that sort of thing were my reasoning. Things got chaotic pretty quick because we had a week to pack up our entire house and move out. Inevitably, Ezra was left alone on the couch. I was standing in my kitchen and I turned around in time to see Liam curiously climb onto the couch next to his baby brother and look at him closely. Then, the most amazing thing happened. Liam's face broke into a huge grin and the only word to describe the joyful look on his face was: recognition. He RECOGNIZED Ezra! He then sat down next to him and had a long conversation with him in his jabbering Liam language. My heart was bursting! Even thinking about it now, months later, it brings tears to my eyes.

Of course there are moments when I need to feed Ezra and Liam needs me and I need to ask him to wait and there are tears and tantrums, but for the most part, Liam absolutely adores this kid. He brings him toys, shoves the binky into his mouth, holds his hand in the car, and calls him "brotha".

Ezra, in turn, absolutely loves Liam. Whenever Liam is holding still long enough for Ezra to catch sight of him, he bursts into the biggest smile! Now that he is getting bigger, I can see that same look of recognition in HIS eyes when he looks at Liam. I know they were meant to be brothers and the reason they recognize each other is because they were friends before they even came down to me!




They must have been such good friends in Heaven! I know as they grow up that they will fight, scream, and maybe even get in fist fights (agh!), but I know that they love each other. I hope they always love each other. I am so glad they are so close in age, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Halloween and the Beginning of November

The week of Halloween was very busy schoolwork-wise for Jason, so we didn't see much of him until the 30th. So, on Monday, Liam and I carved our pumpkin all by ourselves. Note to self: next year buy a smaller pumpkin! Liam had crayons and stickers for his pumpkin while I toiled over the oversized pumpkin I had picked out. They both turned out super cute and we sat them out on the porch, but then we never had a chance to light them! On Halloween it rained so hard, my pumpkin filled with water and we had to throw it out. Note to self, again: next year buy a smaller pumpkin!

Liam was not thrilled about the insides of the pumpkin.

My pumpkin and Liam's pumpkin. An homage to Liam's recent obsession with cats.

Liam refining my handiwork.

On Tuesday, the 29th, we took Liam to Jason's favorite restaurant, Chik-fil-a, for a Superhero party! If your child was dressed as a superhero, he/she got a free kids meal. It was fun to steal J away from studying for a night to eat some food. Liam made a very convincing Clark Kent, if I do say so myself! He also got a balloon and a superhero mask. I got a milkshake which they thought would be fun to dye purple.

Liam was super stoked about the balloon he got!

Clark Kent

The next night, the 30th, our church held a Trunk or Treat where we line all of our cars up and pass out candy from our trunks. First we had a Chili Cook Off. I let Liam come to the food table with me, where he bypassed all the Chili, grabbed a bowl, and started filling it with as much cornbread as his little hands could hold. Funny boy! Liam was a cowboy this year, which he called his "Woody" outfit. I bought the hat, sheriff badge, and kerchief in a $5 cowboy kit from Walmart and he loves it! We practiced all month on how to say "Trick or Treat" and he does a pretty good job except it sounds like, "Treats Treats!" So, just skip the tricks and hand over the good stuff! He was pretty much in shock the first car we went to and they put candy in his bucket. Needless to say, he didn't say Trick or Treat at all that night, but he managed to breathe out a few "Dank yew"s. Ezra was dressed in a dinosaur costume, but as it was his bedtime, he slept through the dinner, and cried through the Trunk or Treat, so I didn't get any pictures of him, but I did take a picture of him in his Halloween shirt the next day. On Halloween, it rained and rained all day long, so we decided against trying to go trick or treating that night. It made no difference to Liam who now gets a "Treat Treat!" from his Halloween pumpkin when he eats his dinner.

Sheriff Liam

He did NOT want his picture taken! I was literally chasing him around with the camera!

Ezra, on the other hand, loves to have his picture taken.

November started and the weather turned cooler and the leaves have started to change into brilliant shades of red, yellow, and orange. We took advantage of the weather and went to the park a few times. We tried to venture out and find new parks, but I think we still like Avent park the best!

Liam thinks he is big enough for the big boy swings!

Ezra snoozing away in the stroller.

The beautiful fall leaves.

Ezra is now 3 months old! This past week he has been discovering his hands. He chews on them whenever he remembers that they are there. He has also started practicing to stand up on my lap which he thinks is HILARIOUS! He can be starting to cry and I'll just stand him up and he immediately starts smiling. He is just too cute! Now if I could just convince him to sleep through the night...

Ezra Dean ~ 3 months

Chewing on his fist.