Since Heath has constantly been stealing Houston's binkie we decided to just break down and give him one. Wouldn't you know that about 2 weeks later we lost all but 1 of them.  So after a few days of suffering through the swiping, and Houston crying, and Heath crying, and trying to explain to a 2 year old why his little brother can have one and he can't, I broke down and bought a new pack.

Don't worry that is not the pack we purchased, but had it been up to Heath it would have been.  He cried and cried for the one with a horsie on it, (and I may have thought about it for a split second, seeing as how when Heath was about 4months old Matt bought him "Rock on" and skull and cross bones binkies.  muahaha)    but we went with a pretty boring boy coloured pack. 

(and Daddy was just fine with his little, too old to have a binkie anyways, boy not having a pink unicorn in his mouth which would have forced his little brother to have a purple fairy.)

Heath has been really into coloring lately.  I love how he knows exactly what it is that he's drawing, even though you wouldn't have a clue. It's all perfect in his mind.

Almost every picture he draws is a horse or someone riding a horse. 

(Heath, Mommy, Daddy or Houston)

He loves to "dress up" especially while I'm folding laundry. This lovely ensemble is one of my shirts, with his head thru the arm and Houston's sock.

Hats are very important to Heath.  Any time we go outside he must have a hat on. It's usually a bit of a struggle to get him to believe us that it will be ok if he goes out without a hat, that mostly happens on Sundays when were heading to church.

 Matt has trained Heath that when he finds a flower he should pick it and give it to mommy. Usually that's fine in our yard, but now were trying to get him to understand that not all flowers are dandelions, but oh well. How can you resist a little boy bearing flowers saying, "Mommy I got flowers, for wooo!"

Matt has been using the elliptical again and every time he gets on it Heath goes running to find his  rocking horse then urgently drags it into the room and rocks as fast as he can along with Matt.  It's pretty cute!

He doesn't do it for me, only when Daddy's doing it, because Daddy's cool.

We've been getting things ready for the garden and Heath has had lots of fun helping this year.

Notice the cowboy boots and shorts.  I sometimes hide them when it's just too hot outside because he always wants to wear them and his feet get SO sweaty.

Houston's world is really starting to grow.  He notices and tries to grab at and move towards everything in sight. We can no longer eat with him on our laps because he grabs everything and makes a big mess.

He is also very excited about toys now. He will roll and scoot to get to one, and if he drops the one he's been playing with he will scream and scream (one of the only times we really seen him that upset) if he can't find it.

Houston has grown very attached to the blanket my Aunt Mary made for him.  At nap time if he has that he will go right to sleep on his own in his bed. He loves to bury his face in it and hold it close to his chest. Much like Heath and Bear Bear. I guess our boys just need security items.

We have a where is waldo book knock off called where is Donald. Heath absolutely loves it (as can be seen by the fact that he's holding just one page that he's ripped out) and will sit for half an hour or more just looking at the many things going on. It has been wonderful with all the travel lately.

I'm so grateful that I get to stay home everyday with these two!

Daddy's been moving things with the tractor so naturally little boys want to go out and watch.

Setting: Eating lunch

(Heath trows a bunch of his food on the floor)

Mom: "Heath don't throw your food on the floor"

Heath: "The puppy needs it,"

Mom: "Heath, what puppy?"

Heath: "The puppy's hungy. The puppy needs a bite."(while throwing more food onto the floor)

Mom: "Heath we don't have a puppy?"

 Silly goose!  Don't know where he learned / came up with that one?

 I had just finished changing Heath's diaper and asked him if I could give him a kiss, which is kinda a tradition with bum changes in our house. He had already gotten up and taken off, but turned around and puckered up his lips and gave me a kiss. Then he turned back to take off and play, but then stopped faced me and whispered, "I love you" and ran off.  It just melted my heart.  That was my first unassisted I love you from Heath. : )

 After about every meal he says, "Heath messy boy.  Wash the hands!"

 We were driving in the car and all of a sudden out of the silence Heath started singing, "Happy Burthday Tools, Happy Burthday Tools"  It surprised us, We'd never heard him sing before. It was really cute. It took us a while to understand where he had heard it recently. They sing it to the little rabbit on Robbin Hood.  

 We were in the grocery store and of course I picked the shopping cart with a broken seat belt in front.  The whole trip I kept having to remind Heath to sit down on his bum.  Once we got in line to check out and weren't moving anymore I think he had had it. He was ready to get out and be finished.  I reminded him to sit down on his bum and he got right in my face (still standing) and started roaring at me like a lion, then started saying, "stop it mommy. be quiet!" then continued roaring.  I had a slight moment of understanding for those parents you see give their kid a spank at the store (the ones I always couldn't understand and vowed never to be) but then calmed myself and just picked Heath up and set him against the counter and told him he was having a time out.  (He is really good about time outs and will just sit until we tell him he is finished, we'll have to figure something else out if he ever figures out he can just stand up or run away) I proceeded to put all our stuff on the checkout belt while the lady waiting at the next checkout took it upon herself to lecture Heath, telling him he needed to be nice to his mommy, be respectful, don't argue, and a bunch of other stuff I'm pretty sure he didn't understand but he sure was listening. After I finished putting stuff on the belt I knelt down and told him he was finished, he came over and gave me a big hug and kiss and was really good the rest of the time. For one who can be a bum sometimes he sure is a sweet boy.

 Any time Houston starts smiling at Heath (which he does pretty much any time Heath even looks his direction, he loves his big brother) Heath will say, "Mommy Hu-ten HaPPy Now!" in his high squeaky "isn't he so cute" voice.

 "Mommy outside please?" 

then before I can even start to think about an answer he answers for me "O Tay!"

This is how every question is asked these days.

 

 Heath is very interested in clothes lately. He is constantly putting new things on or taking things off.  He has revised many an outfit, like his shirt dress you see worn here. He's chasing a ball around and kicking it making some pretty classic faces.

 Whispering is how most of his communicating is done lately, especially when someone other than just Houston and me are at the house. It's so cute because he over exaggerates his lip movements when he whispers and usually closes his eyes.

 I sing sometimes during the day which Heath used to really enjoy, but lately if I ever start singing anything he will come up to me and whisper, "mommy be twiet, no singing!" over and over.

 Heath loves to watch Matt work, and loves it even more when he gets to help.  He is always saying, "Daddy fix it, Heathers toowols." which means daddy lets go fix something.  (When He's referring to himself and daddy he always calls himself Heathers, which is what Matt calls him most of the time.)

 We have a couple little guys that fit just perfectly onto some of Heath's toy horses. Heath is always coming up to us saying, "Heath ride it, horsie please." so we'll put the guy on the hose, but apparently he has some certain way he wants the guy positioned because he always gets upset. We try, and try maybe one of these times well get it. Until then he's just having to learn to get along with it.

 Last Wednesday I had Heath and Houston with me in my Young Women's class. They were playing a game and we were having a fun time, but as the night went on Heath kept whining at the door. So I took him out in the hall for a drink out of the water fountain. He knew Matt was with the Young Men and could hear balls bouncing in the gym. He started saying, "Mommy Heath play boy game, Heath play boy game?" I guess he had had enough with all the girls and knew his place. 

 We sure love you Heath!

While we were outside enjoying the great weather last week we found this little guy.

 He's a fence lizard (or prairie lizard which ever name you prefer)  

We named him Robber Hurdt. After Robbin Hood, Heath's favorite movie these days.

We've had lots of fun with him: feeding him all sorts of bugs, and watching Heath's face when he moves around.

 Thanks for the fun. Hope you enjoy your real home.

I found Heath hiding like this. Saying , "Heath Ni-no, with musik"

 (I'm Uncle Nile with headphones listening to music.)

That is the cover for Matt's old scope on his rifle. (It was just laying around, no where near the gun or scope, just in case you were wondering)

The other day Heath was brushing his hair and standing in front of our mirror saying, "Heath Ni-no brush" I guess in his mind he sees Uncle Nile as a music loving guy that always has his hair just so.

Heath was so proud of his outfit, and the fact that he figured out how to take off the couch cushions.

 Houston is now mobile. He figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy a few days ago and has spent the last  couple days rolling and rolling.

 Heath and Houston love bath time. Its pretty nice now that Houston is a bit older he can kick around in one half of the tub while Heath plays in the other.

 When I was switching out clothes for Houston, Heath found his old pair of cowboy boots that he was never able to wear because his feet were too fat. He was super insistent on Houston wearing them. I was excited when his feet went in, but he would just kick them off as soon as we got them on. They don't quite fit yet but it looks promising.

 

 Heath is very good at making messes these days. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother cleaning them up.

 We walked over to our neighbors house the other day because they got some bottle calves. When we got home Heath was so exhausted he fell asleep on the couch. If you know Heath you know that never happens.

 The weather has been super nice the last few days so we have been enjoying ourselves outside.  For Houston it has really been the first time he's been out longer than the time it takes to walk to the car. He seemed to like all the stimulation.

 The neighborhood cat even came to play.  We had some sour, cream (not sourcream) I had been meaning to make butter with but hadn't gotten to it yet, so the kitty enjoyed.  Heath then spent a long time chasing after the kitty trying to get it to lick up every last drop. It was pretty entertaining. Maybe now he will understand a bit better how frustrating it is to get him to eat when he's not willing.