LIFE IS SWEET

Daily life in the household of the triple threat is getting dramatically easier is most aspects, these days. Some circumstances still feels like herding cats - really loud naughty cats, like shopping, sacrament meeting, and pools. But for the most part the brother bears are becoming more and more independent and things like bottles, binki's, bouncers, highchairs, and baby food are going by the wayside. Their needs are changing from screaming fits because they need a nap, to screaming because they're wholly frustrated by new concepts like sharing, taking turns and toys that get stuck in random places and are inaccessible.
We're deep into the single word phase and my ears are going to fall off if I hear my boys say "no no no" one more time. The hardest part about these boys right now is probably that year 1-3 are full of frustrating phases for toddlers, phases that seem to last about 3-4 months at a time. So if you do your math correctly, just as Rider and I conquer the trying phase of throwing food and refusal to eat... Owen enters that phase. I'm rounding the corner from the "no" phase with Rider and Owen is bringing up the rear with the same problem. So what normally is a 3 month phase for a mom to deal with, now becomes 6+ months of toddler frustrations. To look on the bright side though would be to welcome the fact that at least I know what's coming with Owen and I'm fresh off the train of toddler time out concepts and how to ease the poor boy through the frustrating times.
Most mornings are filled with boyish belly laughter as they re-discover their friendship across the span between their cribs. Toys and books are thrown between cribs and if they each stand in the right corner they can reach far enough to swap binki's and sippy's. Rider is finally picking up on his language skills and Owen is riding his coat tails and not far behind.
The boys could not be more different and yet the same in so many ways. Rider hoards everything he can get his long fingers on and Owen could care less about toys. Rider is content to sit and peruse a book for an hour and Owee can't sit still long enough to see the picture on the front cover. Rider is as loud and fast as he is quiet and slow. Owen is just loud and fast and destructible.  Both boys love bikes, water and the outdoors. And I couldn't survive them without my trusty assistant Layla. She is my saving grace, so good, sweet and helpful.

Tonight I made a mean dish of Ham Fried Rice for dinner and I couldn't help but try the facebook recipe for Sugar Cookie Bars. D.Lish. Simple routines like attempting dinner are becoming less overwhelming and more like the daily part of life that it once was. Life is so sweet right now.