Dec I

Perry quickly turned to a life of crime. Including stealing legos and eating markers.

Scott's preschool cooking class.

Jonah said, "the cows made LOTS of milk!"

Perry's tongue is feeling those top teeth coming down.

Sweetest snuggle baby

Pulling up to standing happened right after crawling. Then he climbed up the big step into the kitchen.

Coloring at the creche exhibit.

Jonah was very focused. He and Scott sat together through a whole nativity puppet show afterward.

Scott assembling my little lego kits I used to keep on my desk at work. He'd take them apart and redo them every day.

Sweet brothers.

We took our neighbor's dog for a walk in an effort to provide more preschooler-capable service for our community. Bonus that it helped the boys overcome some animal fear that builds up for them over time. Scott held the leash like a champ the whole walk home. Thankfully their dog was extremely well behaved.

Raising another generation of pyromaniacs. Very loving ones, though. Scott held Perry back so he wouldn't crawl in the fire and die. His words.

Pushing Perry at the park.

Bringing in the trash cans for another neighbor while they were out of town. Bonus for us is that now we know Scott can do it himself, so we've added it to his weekly chore list.

The recycling bin is bigger than he is. He can definitely only bring up the empty cans, not put out the full ones.

Perry snuggling with the stuffed animals.

Scott started dressing and pjing himself in the mornings and evenings without being asked. He came out this night and started "reading his bible" to Perry. 

He told him the Christmas story and I tried to record him because it was adorable. He talked about paying taxes and at the end says, "that was a good one."

Scott agreed last minute to participate in his primary nativity reenactment at our ward Christmas dinner. Jonah wanted to join in, of course. Other than a brief rewrapping of Scott's sheet in the beginning, it went perfectly. Near the end, most of the other kids were getting restless, but the boys impressed us by standing still and silent until it was over. They were the youngest participants, too, so we were surprised how well they did.

I was showing Scott something on my phone and Jonah ran over to be in the picture with us. So I turned on the camera and took one.

Jonah set up camp on the floor between their beds.

Big boy in his cutie overalls.

John and I watched my old family videos to decide what to keep before giving away our VCR. I spent the evening thinking of my Grandma and great aunts and uncle who have passed away. It made me miss them and helped me feel grateful for the trips we made to visit. Their love for us as little kids was almost palpable even in old home videos and reminds me exactly of my own kids and their extended family. John kept seeing Jonah in my toddler self. I felt so loved and nostalgic, but also a little sad.

The next day my aunt called to let me know my Grandpa had died the night before, probably as we were watching movies and thinking of him. I'm so glad I took Perry out to see him a few weeks ago so they could meet and I could say goodbye.

I'll really miss him.