Catching up...

I have been excited about my new desire to write every day about different things, but before I do that, there are few things I have wanted to record about my boys that I am worried I will forget if I don't write them down soon.
THATCHER:
-Lately, as I have previously mentioned, Thatcher is obsessed with cars, all cars. He rarely gets out the rest of his toys, and will play with his cars for hours. He lines them up, crashes them, flies them around, drives them, slides them down the slide...whatever he comes up with, as long as it involves his cars, he is happy.
- New words. Thatcher is repeating so many words and actually saying a lot on his own as well. He will say mom, dad, baby, uh-oh, Jesus, water (wa-wa), Thatcher, tractor, cheese, duck, truck, eat, bye, hi, no, yes, snow, go, car, bike, nana, pee, papa, pop, Kelly, eww, nany, keys, ok, outside, cool, and other words that I know I am forgetting. I feel like his desire to speak has increased a ton in the past month. He is also continuing to sign and is getting better at being polite. He will sign (and try to say) please, thank you, and sorry when we encourage him.
- Thatcher is the best at making friends. Whether we are at the library, the doctor's office, the park, or nursery, he is always going up to other kids and trying to make friends. He loves to give them hugs, smile, play ball, and is just hilarious to watch. I love having a friendly little boy and hope that continues throughout his life.
- Thatcher loves to imitate. It is great when he imitates the sounds of words, and it is so funny when he does everything else. When James is crying, Thatcher does his fake cry. When I yell upstairs for Ty to do something, Thatcher yells with me. He loves to help cook in the kitchen and work on bikes and cars with his dad. He is also really good at 'popping a wheely' on his tricylce like his dad does on his bike. He is super helpful all the time and so funny.
- We love being outside! Thatcher has always loved being outside and that continues to be the case. He loves exploring in the dirt outside our house collecting rocks and throwing them down pipes, he LOVES riding his bike, he loves playing on playgrounds and just running. He is such a little boy and so much fun.
-Story time. We have loved going to story time the last couple months. Thatcher is very interactive and is so good at doing all the hand motions. He gets super excited and understands everything the sweet lady who does story time tells the kids to do. My favorite day was when we did the Hokey Pokey. Thatcher was doing all the motions perfectly by himself, laughing, and dancing around. I love being his mom.
- Helmet. Before the whole Cars obsession began, Thatcher was obsessed with his bike and so we got him a helmet that happened to be a Lightning McQueen helmet. He wore this helmet everywhere. In the store, around the house, while eating, in the car, on stroller rides to the park, everywhere. He still loves it and thinks he is pretty cool while wearing it, but now he is pretty good about wearing it only while riding bikes outside.
- Best brother. Thatcher continues to be so great with James. He is loving, he shares his toys and listens to me when I explain that something is for James or that James is sleeping so we need to be quiet. He is the best.
- Stairs. Thatcher has become a master stair climber. He is very good at walking up them by himself and is getting better at going down. He practices a lot and has taken a few falls (when I haven't been aware of the fact that he was practicing). He is a daring little kid and is pretty persistent when he wants to learn how to do something.

JAMES:
- Laughing. James has been laughing for a while now, but he does it all the time. He is a very happy baby and laughs, smiles, and coos, every time someone looks at him.
- James has started to really notice Thatcher and he loves his older brother. He recognizes his voice and smiles when Thatcher is in the room. James is such a good sport when Thatcher drives cars up and down his body and when Thatcher lays on top of him to give him hugs. I love seeing the two of them together. They are going to be the best buds.
- James is chunky and so cute because of it. When I hold him I get worried that I squeeze him too hard because he is so much fun to hold. I am not used to the rolls that James had because Thatcher was always so skinny. He is cuddliest, sweetest little angel.
- Dermatologist. About a month ago I took James to the dermatologist so his birthmark on him bum could get looked at. The doctor seemed to not be too worried which was a relief. She measured it, took a picture, and said she will meet with us regularly for a while just to track its changes. I am so relieved she is not worried about my perfect little boy. The birthmark has gotten quite a bit lighter and smaller since his birth. It will be interesting to see what happens in the coming years.
- I have just started feeding James rice cereal. Though I think he ends up spitting more out than he gets out, and though he seems more interested in eating his bib than the cereal...he is doing a pretty good job. I can't believe he is already old enough to be at this point, but I love every minute of it.
- James still loves bath time and is the cutest little bather. He just sits in the water, kicks, laughs, and watches Thatcher play. It is my favorite time of day!

We went to Salt Lake for Easter and the week before. I drove up with my friend Michelle, her little girl, and my two boys. It was an adventure that we were nervous about, but it went really well. The kids all did great and the drive went by pretty fast. That week in Salt Lake was a lot of fun. My mom took us to Jungle Jim's where Thatcher was in heaven riding around on all the toys. We spent the rest of the week just hanging out. I saw a few friends and we had a fun time celebrating Easter with the Martins and with my family. I love our time in Salt Lake and it is always hard to say goodbye. I am starting to look forward to our next trip though! Just 6 weeks to go (I think).