Babies Grow Too Fast

Warm air through the screens.
Freshness.
Apple and cherry blossom scents on the breeze.
Birthday cake in the oven.
Olive oil on a hot cast iron pan.
The whir of the lawn mower and that fresh cut grass.
Mmmmm.

The scritch-scratch of Sharpies.
Bleating goats.
4-wheeler passing by the open window.
Happy birds.
Rumble of Jiles's toy dump truck.
The slap-thud slap-thud of baby palms and knees across the floor.
Heavenly.

These are the sounds and smells of where I am in the kitchen this afternoon as we get ready for Jiles's birthday party.
April is so warm this year and we are loving it.
It's Baby Boy's big day, but also:

 Baby Girl turned 10 months old

last Saturday.

She says, "Dadadadadadadadada," over and over again.

She loves to eat paper.

She is crawling everywhere and can climb the stairs in like a minute or less.
She also loves to pull herself up to stuff and "cruise" along.  She stands by herself and is soo close to walking.  I'm sure that it will be any day now (which we may be saying that for 2 months still).

She loves being outside, and anytime a door is left open, she's out.  Another one of her favorite places is under the kitchen sink; she loves pulling everything out from in there, and tipping over the dishwasher powder.

She loves her big siblings, and always laughs whenever Ezra comes around; she knows that he is going to do something funny, so now she justs laughs when she sees him.  (She's laughing at him in the picture below.)

She sits like this a lot:

I think it is so cute.  It is even cuter when she bounces up and down, while waving her hands and making a noise that may resemble a monkey's playful sound.

She is so sweet and feminine, and such a mama's girl!

"Zoe is the cutest baby ever!  See her with the umbrella and the chick?"
-sayeth Kate

"I like Zoe so much because she is so cute  and chubby."
-says big brother Spencer

(They each typed their own.)

Here's the baby, no, the big boy:

This boy is 3 years old today!

Holy toleto!

He is soooo sweet!  Really, truly, genuinely sweet.
Well, he is sweet with me and Weston, but not always with the siblings; he is actually pretty much a brutus to Ezra and Zoe.  We are always saying, "Be gentle, Ji."  Hopefully one day we can truthfully call him Gentle Ji.  It is a process that we are engaged in bringing to fruition.

He is so stinkin' busy, and keeps me on my toes trying to keep track of him.  I have to dress him in bright colors to keep track of him outside.  It is a good thing that he loves his bright red cowboy hat so much.  You can check on him, and then 30 seconds later he is nowhere to be found.   It's crazy, and even scary sometimes.

He loves wearing other people's shoes all around.  He loves hats, too.

Kate types:
"I think that Jiles's favorite animal is a horse. In the picture he has a little stuffed animal horse.  He likes trucks, trains, hats, cowboy boots, and other people's shoes." 

He is really starting to get the talking thing down, too.  Just starting, though.  He loves to say prays, and copy everyone else in anything they say.  His voice is so distinctive, and can get loud and deep and kind of scratchy, but then again sometimes he sounds just like Spencer did at this age.

What a babe this kid is!

Happy Birthday, Little J.