Pictures and random anecdotes

Here's Reina at our church's Halloween party a few weeks ago. I know, I've already posted a billion Halloween pictures but this is such a typical look for her that I had to include it. While she's usually pretty happy, she also has a serious side and you can almost see the wheels in her brain turning. Or maybe she's just tired of Halloween and wearing her fairy princess outfit.Okay, back to cheerful baby. This is how Will came down the stairs for breakfast this morning. Wearing his firehat, carrying his fire extinquisher, gun (aka gun-gun), giant foam sword and a doctor's stethoscope. He asked me to help him put all of his "stuff" (his words) up on his chair. Last night he went to bed with the firehat, gun and a Thomas the Train backpack. Will is a very busy kid. Speaking of gun-guns, this picture is sure to warm her Daddy's heart. Think we should submit it to the NRA? Don't worry, it's not a real firearm - just the pellet gun that we bought for Will's first birthday party. Yeah, I feel wierd just typing that sentence. Clearly she loves guns but hates having her face washed. Or wearing socks. Speaking of posters for the NRA - here's a picture of Will and Glenn when Will was 8-months old. That is a real firearm. Glenn was in the middle of hunting season and Will was helping. Finally, a little picture of sibling togetherness. Reina can stand up in her crib if we set her up that way - she can't quite pull herself up and I have no idea why I am encouraging her to do so. Life is a lot easier right now. I give her a couple of weeks though - this kid wants to do what the rest of us are doing. Will's trying to give her a kiss in this picture. He's been very nice to her lately. I watched the two of them playing together before dinnertime a few nights ago and it just melted my heart. I know I'll have years of yelling, crying and "Mom he/she's bugging me!" in my future, but right now it's very sweet to see their relationship start to develop.
Reina incognito.

Here are a few milestones from our weekend. Tonight, Will told me for the first time that I was being 'mean.' You just can't hear that enough as a mother. Yesterday morning, I was lying on the couch (with flu-like symptoms) and Glenn was in the shower upstairs when I heard the downstairs toilet flush. I jumped up and ran to the bathroom thinking that Will was goofing around and probably flushing the remote or my car keys down the drain when he comes walking out pulling up his pants. Yup, he used the bathroom all by himself. Shortly after that, he asked me for the car keys so that he could go meet his friends at the mall.