Been A Long Time

It has been a while since we've checked in on the blog, but we've been busy.  Caleb's been busy making the most of his summer vacation.  He's been meeting friends and learning new things at zoo, art, Spanish, space, and Lolli camp; and just being a boy at swim, soccer, baseball, and basketball lessons. Emory's also had a big couple months. He got his first big boy haircut, added a couple more teeth, added some new screeches to his vocabulary, and TURNED ONE!

Our second little soul baby celebrated his first birthday on July 1st.  Words cannot describe how fast this year has gone bye. It's hard to believe that it was a whole year ago when we brought this little man home.  I remember like it was yesterday spending everyday posted up in the living room staring at Embo and memorizing every detail of his face.  Now we are lucky if we can get him to sit still for one minute, and it's just plain impossible to get him to stay still long enough to change his diaper.

How can this little face that we've kissed a million times be one years old already? 

Before he offically turned one we took Emory to get his first haircut.  The cut immediately transformed him from our crazy-haired little Don King to a handsome little man. It was hard to decide what to do with all his hair.  We didn't want to cut it as short as Caleb's, because Emory certainly has his own personality, and the crazy hair suits him, so we instead opted for a toned down version of Kid from Kid 'n Play's style.   

Homeboy had A LOT of hair!



We think the new cut fits him perfectly. It's clean cut - but still has a little edge.

For Embo's first party we went with a circus theme. We decorated the house with popcorn and streamers, set up game stations, and bought a bouncy house and snow cone maker!

And then there was the cake... We weren't expecting much given that Caleb took one look at his cake and quickly let us know that we were crazy if we thought he was going to dig right in. We could literally see Caleb's little mind processing the situation..."You want me to do what?" "You must be crazy!" "Is this organic? What about the mess? You expect me to use my fingers? This s^#t is sticky! Who's going to clean me up?" That's our Caleb.

That's NOT our Emory. Our little chunky monkey smiled as soon as he saw the cake. He dug right in without hesitation and smashed the cake.  This boy can eat (and we love it).

 There was a small millisecond where we thought he might not like it...

 But we were wrong. Emory likes to eat...everything.

 Here's our little man after demolishing his cake. He clearly needed a bath.

 Happy 1st Birthday Emory Allen. We love you more than you will ever know.

Moves Like Jagger

Our little Embozini is officially walking! He's been teasing us for weeks now, starting at the couch or window and then walking to a toy before plopping down on his bottom. He would do it over and over again until we pulled out our iPhones.  Then this boy would suddenly get amnesia. Walk? Who walk, me? Try as we may (and believe us we tried, a lot) all we could get was a step or two before he'd drop it like its hot and then shoot us a crooked grin. That's Embo for ya.

But we've got him now. He would rather walk then crawl so it's easier to catch him in the act. Before you know it he'll be running around after his brother. 

Caleb may have walked it out, but Emory's got the moves like Jagger...

The iPhone Perspective

One thing is for certain when it comes to life with our boys…there is never enough time in the day. So until we find some deeply missed quiet time, or finally hire a baby sitter, a photo summary of what we've been up to the last couple months will have to do.

Oh, Brothers

This post is about the growth chart of our sons' lives.  The length of time our boys have been brothers and the relationship that continues to develop. The pokes, laughs, pushes, hugs, slobbery kisses, and "Emmm-boos". 

Every day the bond between them grows stronger. We can see the love Emory has for Caleb all over his little face. His idol. Caleb, on the other hand, has his good and bad days.  Caleb, in most ways, is definitely my son. He alternates between generous and caring, to grade-A hoarder and totally impatient in a matter of minutes. But he loves his brother.  He kisses Emory every morning and night before bed, and he insists that he gets to sit next to him at dinner. Then there are the other kinds of brother moments too, the yanking of Embo's arms in ways that seem like he's determined to pull them off, the need to constantly squeeze and pinch his cheeks - hard, and the urge to yell things at him in a baby voice at the top of his lungs. But Embo, he just keeps doing his thing. Smiling his crooked, dimpled smile, laughing, surfing the rug, and patiently plotting his revenge. We see bits of it come through at times, when out of no where his hand shoots like a rocket straight to Caleb's hair and yanks with all his might. Then he smiles a twisted smile, and he's back to his happy self. In that way, Embo is most definitely Rob's son. 

The dynamic of oldest and youngest, of genius and apprentice, teacher and student, driver and passenger,  unconditional love and adoration, they are gifts to see unfold. There is a lifetime ahead of learning for these boys.  They will find out who they are and where they'll settle... into themselves and into each other as brothers. As their parents, we're just lucky to be along for the ride.

Brotherly love is unlike any other.

Just Give It A Day

Had we waited one more day to post the video of our little drunk man walking, we could have posted this...him pushing is stroller all by himself. This big head boy won't be crawling much longer.

Bag Baby?

Homeless cart pusher? Drunk bum? Old man with a walker? Late night grocery store trip? We just can't figure out how to describe what Emory looks like as he pushes around his walker.  All we know is 1) he's almost walking by himself and 2) its pretty much the cutest thing ever.

A Couple of Firsts

Nothing this little boy does is slow. Just last month he was rolling around the floor from toy to toy, and now he's starting to crawl. Actually, crawl doesn't accurately describe what he does. It's more of an all out army crawl. Like the one that men do when they have to drop to the ground and crawl on all fours through tunnels or under ropes. Yep, our man has that move down.  He can make it across the room in less than a minute. 

We were lucky enough to catch his very first crawl on video (he has since increased his speed considerably).  Caleb helped by giving him a little pep talk to encourage him...

And then he did it!

And since he's started moving, it's only fitting that he start eating food as well. He's got to have some energy to move his big 'ol body around. So, Emory also ate food for the first time!! We started with rice cereal and baby boy ate it down. Our little fat man can eat some food.

  

  

It's sad but exciting to see Em change so quickly.  We try our best to cherish each and every moment with him because it's only a matter of time before our baby is gone and he and Caleb are off changing the world.