Brothers....

It’s crazy to think our family of four will be expanding any day now! (Granted, I’VE been expanding for the past 9 months…. No pun intended! I plan to get back to the ‘old’ me, or the ‘me’/new normal that my body has become post-children.) The boys seem to be excited to meet their newest little brother, and I am excited to see what his personality will be like when he is a bit older. We have one extreme and another extreme of personalities in Weiss and Klein now and I can’t even imagine another type, so it will be exciting to see. I am anticipating him to look like his other two brothers because they both DO look so much alike and favor each other dramatically—especially when they were little tiny babies. I have been relatively comfortable here during the final hurrah of my pregnancy; I told one of the midwives at a previous appointment that I thought this kiddo might be a bit smaller because I have been more comfortable this time around. She said that could be the case! On my appointment Tuesday, another midwife palpated my abdomen and said the little guy seemed to be somewhere in the 7 pounds range at this point. Granted, babies can grow around a pound each week during those final weeks in-utero, so if he camps in there too much longer, he may still be a BIG boy like Klein (9 lb, 2 oz.). Now that Klein is older and approaching two and a half years, he and Weiss are playing together more like brothers do. It is really so cute to watch (for the most part!). Weiss is pretty good about sharing with Klein and helping him out; on occasion, things get crazy, like a typical brother relationship. They now sleep in a room together and share a twin (yes, you read that correctly) bed. They have a full-size loft bed above them, but we haven’t installed the ladder because we are still nervous about falls from that height and the daredevil little brother who would find a cheap thrill from doing something crazy from atop a loft bed….. Go figure. Mornings are fun because Weiss and Klein wake up at the same time most days and both come out of their bedroom together, with Zoey on their heels (she sleeps on the rug in their room.) In my opinion, every morning is like Christmas morning. (I am referring to those mornings where the boys wake up together on their own, both come out of the bedroom together, and no one is coerced or forced to awaken, thereby creating a bad mood!) Klein and Weiss are really into protein shakes (chocolate banana almond is the favorite) for breakfast, which is a hit for me, as well---one blender-full feeds the entire family! Klein loves to watch me blend the shakes and pulls up his step stool like clockwork every time I fix them. It’s so cute because when I pour the shakes in their Thermos, Klein always screams, “SHAKEY TIME----YEAH!!!!!” Usually after this Weiss and I get started on school, and Klein will either join us and create ‘art’ or play independently, which I am thankful he does quite well in the early mornings, which is the time during the day when we are most productive and fresh for school. Weiss has also been wanting me to teach him piano; I have his books, I am just lazy in teaching him. I was beginning to feel so bad because every time I would sit down to play, he would ask me, “Mom, can you give me a quick piano lesson?” Finally my heart couldn’t take it any more! I finally started back this week with him during Klein’s nap, and he really seems to enjoy it. Like anything else, I need to just put it on the schedule and do it, because he really seems to enjoy it and at this point seems like he is a more artistically/musically driven person from what Logan and I have seen in him. A cute tidbit from this morning: today they were sharing a Pez stash I had no clue existed in a dresser drawer in their room….. I could hear Klein saying “Oh ‘tank’ you, Bubba! Your ‘elcome!’ “ It was really precious and I couldn’t help but chuckle around the corner as I eavesdropped. When I went in the room to get Klein to change his pants before his naptime, he carried one of the Pez candies in his little hand. When I laid him down to change him, he said “Yummy to my tummy, Momma! It’s ‘elthy!’ “ (He obviously has heard the phrase used in our house more than once, but just had it in the wrong context!)