He's Walking!

Jaxon decided today that he was ready to walk.

He let go of the chair he was holding and took 9 steps,

then stood there for a minute, turned around

and sat on the ground. 

And then he did it over and over again.

What a stinker!

(I say that because, up until now, if we so much as tried to let go of his hands

 he would just plop right down to the ground.

He refused to even try to walk on his own.)

Also, having brothers is hard and makes things more difficult.

And here's a bonus video of Jaxon trying to climb the ladder on the bunk bed:

Leo started 1st grade (nearly 3 weeks ago)!

So far he really seems to like it.

Except every time I ask him about his day he says,

"We did a lot of work. That's all

we do at this school:

just work, work, work."

He's learning Arabic, which is very exciting for Ty.

Just this week Ty came home and 

asked Leo a question in Arabic.

When Leo responded the right way I thought Ty might

pee his pants with happiness.

It's our first year dealing with school uniforms.

After the initial struggle we had to get the right stuff

it's been pretty good. 

It's definitely easy getting Leo ready in the morning,

but he hates that he has to change clothes ever day

when he gets home.

One of the options for the uniform is a white, button-up shirt.

I initially bought just one

because they have to wear them when they go on field trips

but I thought Leo would prefer the polos.

He ended up choosing it any time it was available.

I asked him why and he said,

"Well, mom, I really like science

and scientists always wear white shirts."

There's no arguing with that, so I bought 

him another one.

End of School

Leo graduated Kindergarten yesterday.

It was fun, but I felt like a lot of people made a much bigger deal of it than it needed to be. 

It's Kindergarten, people. Let's keep things in perspective.

Also, about five minutes before the program started Jay climbed up on my lap.

I started to tickle him and . . . he definitely peed all over me.

It was awesome.

So Jay and I ran home, changed clothes, and made it back just in time to see Leo get his diploma.

To celebrate the end of school and the start of summer we made a Coke and Mentos explosion.

(Leo wanted to make a volcano, but I was way too lazy for that.)

The boys were super impressed.

And then we went swimming.

Now what am I supposed to do for the next 3 months?

These two sure do love each other:

Leo's new favorite thing is to help Jaxon stand up or to

(kill me now) carry him around.

Jay is working his way into the inner circle.

(That's cherry juice all over his face.)

Rub A Dub Dub

Three boys in a tub.

This was Jaxon's first time bathing with the big boys.

He got in first and was loving it.

As soon as Leo and Jay got in he was decidedly less enthusiastic.

I think he only stayed in with them for 3 minutes.

It was fun while it lasted.

We got bunk beds.

Hooray!

I've been wanting to do this for a while now.

And the boys love them.

And constantly fight about who's going to sleep on the top bunk.

(Right now the plan is to alternate nights,

but I'm hoping Jay will realize he would rather sleep on the bottom.)

The day we put them together they both slept up top.

Jaxon's Trick

Jaxon doesn't scoot.

He doesn't even really roll over.

(I think it's because he's just content with wherever he happens to be.)

He has started doing this though:

Crawling here we come!

Cutest boy ever?

 Quite possibly.

 And he's starting to get into everything.

 Also, I've started putting him in shirts instead of onesies so that I can look at this:

all day.

So I bought a bottle of ModPodge

and went a little crazy.

First I made picture puzzles.

 They're terrible.

All the pieces stick together.

Then I made names for the boys.

(The pictures are still in the works.)

And one for me.

Random

Jay has been super naughty lately.

All. The. Time.

But he makes up for it (a little bit)

by doing things like this:

This one gets cuter every day.

Jay has decided that he should never wear anything other than underwear. 

(And he only wears underwear when forced.)

Getting him to wear anything else is a major hassle.

 Also, he's decided that it's really fun to pee his pants every single day.

Most days he does it twice.

Kill me now.

Seriously.

Leo loves French bread.

Really, really a lot.

 He nearly finished off that loaf the same day we bought it.

Apparently this is what you get when you say,

"Look cute so I can take a picture."

And Jaxon can (occasionally) sit (for a very few minutes).

Yay!

Jaxon laughing

Jay's Birthday

Jay Alvin finally turned 4 yesterday. 

I say "finally" because I've been saying he's 4 for about 3 months.

Every time I do Leo says, in a totally confused voice, "Jay's not 4. He's 3."

Any how, in true Reber fashion we started the birthday torture several days early.

We decorated on Wednesday.

And we had the presents wrapped and sitting out by Thursday.

On Saturday we went to Kangaroo Zoo in the morning.

The boys had so much fun!

Except for Jaxon. He was pretty unimpressed.

After a lunch of delicious Mongolian grill we headed to the Gem and Mineral show.

(It was actually way cooler than you're thinking.)

The boys were especially impressed by the shark teeth and fossils,

but they liked the glow-in-the-dark rocks and the

run-of-the-mill rocks too.

And Jaxon enjoyed a nap.

We finished up our birthday celebrations on Sunday with Aunt Krystal and Uncle Dan.

Jay got tons of awesome presents.

 (He loves ketchup, and would probably drink it if I let him.)

And we ate delicious cake.

Happy Birthday Jay!

New Things - Jaxon Edition

We traded in the baby swing for a jumper.

Jaxon loves it!

He still doesn't really jump much,

but he loves being able to stand and move around on his own.

In fact, he usually just spins around in circles.

He's also started chewing on his bottom lip.

He pretty much looks like this all the time these days.

(P.S. Aren't those cheeks delicious?)

He's been putting everything in his mouth.

(Or at least he's tried to. His aim is still not that great.)

And tummy time is much more enjoyable these days.

And finally, he started holding a bottle.

(Which only lasts for a few minutes, but is nice any way.)

New Things - Jay Alvin Edition

Jay is not doing much of anything new. He both loves and hates that Leo is in half-day kindergarten. He loves that he has Leo around to entertain him, but he hates that Leo is always around.

They basically fight all. the. time.

I love it.

It's been warm enough to play outside for several weeks so Jay has been taking advantage of the playground and riding his bike all over the place.

He also loves to harass/hang out with Jaxon.

And we sometimes have to come up with creative ways to keep ourselves entertained.

New Things - Leo Edition

Leo has discovered tree climbing.

And there's a perfect little climbing tree right in our front yard.

He climbs this tree several times a day.

And he's only needed help getting down one time.

(And it was his first time.)

He's full of helpful, tree-climbing advice like,

"Mom, some branches are big enough to climb on and some branches will break if you step on them."