Babies and Toddlers

What I love about babies (and my Dakota)...

- how their arms and legs move around uncontrollably (today Dakota kept punching herself in the eye!)
- the moments when they stop moving and just look straight into your eyes, and occasionally smile (I have shed some tears from Dakota doing this very thing :o)
- how you can hold them in one arm, move around just fine, and not be weighed down at all (which is very necessary with a toddler running around)
- their soft skin and kissable cheeks (I've been feeling sick lately and have been trying so hard not to kiss Dakota so that she doesn't get sick, but it is soooooo hard with those squishy soft cheeks!)

What I love about toddlers (and my Mason)...

- how you can actually communicate with them and understand their needs (Mason can give us a full out sentence now, and it is so exciting!)
- how much energy they have (energy may be an understatement for my little man - if you know basketball, and know what a suicide is, you can picture this game we created cuz that's where we got it from... we have actually created a game where all you do is run around the room touching one wall, and another, and another, and you just keep going until Mason doesn't get upset that you've stopped. It has been fabulous exercise for me after giving birth!)
- how smart they are and how they love to learn (Mason loves to count his toys as he puts them away and it just amazes me how he is usually able to remember what number comes next.)
- their sudden mood swings (although I don't love when the mood goes from happy to upset, I do love when I can get him to start laughing in the middle of a fit.  Or sometimes if he thinks I'm sad or upset, he immediately changes his mood to sympathetic and puts his hand on my back and says, "sorry" whether he did something or not.)

Appropriate or not, Mason is showing the camera his butt, and thinks it's hilarious!  :o)

 

"That's it," he says about all the pictures.

Daddy taught him all about his muscles.

Ah, the wonderful men in my life...  :o)