Almost three

As we creep closer to Brady and Brody's birthday, I have to reflect on the past year and how amazingly fun these guys really are.  Their personalities, though apparent from such a young age, have really solidified.  They are different in so many ways and yet they make a great team and wonderful playmates.

Brady-

Brady is analytical, sharp, sensitive, sweat as pie, and when he wants to be- mischievous.  Brady can sit for long periods of time and work on puzzles, sort items, play memory, or build buildings.  He likes to point out his favorite things about a scenario and laugh about them ("I like the blue one" is a common statement made by Brad and he will proceed to tell us this 100 times over the next hour).  He has an incredible sense of humor and loves so many things that I find funny.  For example, he loves miniature things like little cups, little spoon, little toys. I have always found these objects comical and he gets a similar kick out of them.  He also likes puns and thinks puns are punny! If I say one or if we read one in a book, he will file it away in his little brain and break it out in the appropriate situation!  Brady is particular.  Pretty much every night for the last 3 months he has told us, "Hug, no kiss" at bedtime.  Just today at nap time he said  "Mom, my hug ran out, I need another one", but as soon and I got close to his bed he demanded "NO kiss!".  If I do end up giving him a kiss, (because often I cannot resist those checks) he will make me wipe it off and start the hug again.  Typically when Chris has one foot out the door he will yell "Daddy, I need a hug", drawing Chris back into the living room to fulfill this request.  He also remembers where he puts things; 99% of the time I can ask him where something is and he can retrieve it for me.

Brady is mischievous when he wants to be.  Some mornings when he is the first to wake up I can hear  that his first words (from his bed in a dark room) are "D-bones, wake up!  D- get uuuuuupppppp".  He knows if his brother is awake they can both get up and he has no problem waking Brody in order to get out of bed.  Brady also likes to say, in an incredibly taunting voice, "Yes I can" when we tell him to stop doing something.  It is so damn adorable and so frustrating all at the same time.  What is so apparent about his mischievousness is that he is thinking about everything that he is doing.  He is so cerebral and always calculating his next move.  As mischievous as he is, he is also a great bother.  When Brody is complaining that Brady has something that he wants, I have heard the phrase "D- you can have this" more times than I can count (especially if it means that he can upgrade to something that he wants more).  That boy is always thinking!

Brady has some firm favorites that have remained for quite some time.  He loves the color blue and likes anything blue.  However, he has pretty much replaced blue with 'azul" so he commonly yells "I want the azul one" whenever I am getting him a cup or plate.  He still loves Geo from Umizoomi and his Dougie bear.  Last, Brady has this amazing habit of saying to me (almost on a daily basis) "Mom, I lub you.  Mom, you my best friend".  It is heart melting and wonderful and I pray he continues to say this to me for a long long time!

Brody-

Oh my Brody bear, he is equal parts sugar and spice and parenting him is making me one tough lady! Strong is a great way to describe Brody;  he is strong is every way I can think of.  Physically he is tough as nails.  He is athletic and is always trying new (and dangerous) maneuvers on the playground and on the couch.  He can jump and climb and hit baseballs and throw frisbees ...you name it, he can do it.  I have been know to shriek in a high pitched girly voice "Don't throw that at me yet" when he is standing too close because I am afraid of getting pelted by his rocket pitches.  He has very good coordination and this is apparent in everything from how agile he is to how well he can hold his pee if I ask him to hold it for 5 minutes until we get home.  Impulse control, well, that is another story.

Brody also has a strong personality.  He is sweet and kind and strong-willed all at the same time.  He loves to be the center of attention and action.  He has a robust laugh and likes what I will call "opposite humor" (e.g. when someone says that says that something is green but it is really blue).  Brody likes to crinkle up his nose and say "Nooooo" and "dat's silly".  He also loves to dance!  In our Spanish class the teacher always starts the class by playing the guitar and singing a song.  For the past 6 weeks, Brody has gotten up to dance when he hears the music.  I can't really explain it, he is not trying to be funny or silly, he just dances with a complete serious expression, all the while looking around the room at everyone sitting.  Once the song is over, he sits down.  It's like someone has hit a play button inside him when he hears music.  He also likes to play guitar when he sees someone else playing an instrument.  Typically he will ask for his guitar and immediately mimic strumming the strings and tapping his foot to the beat.  It is so cute.

Brody is also stubborn in the "toddler" way.  He will yell "No" to me and "Don't do dat" with a very angry face (copying his mother I am sure).  The thing about Brody though is that he is really just testing the waters to see where those statements get him.  If I explain that that behavior is not ok, his sensitive side immediately kicks in and he feels badly and he will usually say something like "I won't do dat again.".  He is also very compassionate and sensitive.  If someone is sad or crying at the park, he is the first to try and help them.  He is also scared easily which often surprises me given his tough attitude.   He is incredibly sweet when he is relaxed.  If I am holding him, he will reach up and cup my check inside his little paw and put his head on my shoulder.  He still loves Spiderman and has worn his Spiderman costume out of house on more than one occasion since Halloween (to the farmers' market and IKEA to be precise, much to Chris's chagrin).  He has lots of stuffed animals that he loves and still likes to carry an armful of them out of his bed to the couch after nap time.  Brody is an incredible mime.  If he says a word and I do not immediately get what he is saying, his next move it to act out the word.  It is incredibly helpful and an great example of how in tune he is with the people he is talking to.  Brody loves his brother and is always trying to hold his hand or hug him (or tackle him); he is so tough and so loving all at the same time!

Brothers-
These two boys together do and say some pretty hilarious things.  I have recorded a few things so I can keep the almost three year old the memories alive.

-One day Brody asked "Mom, you drive race car?"  while I was driving on the highway.  I did not immediately understand the words "race car" so he mimed driving a video game (he sometimes plays a race car game at Chris's work).  I laughed and said "No buddy, I don't drive a race car, why does it feel like I do?" and in his sweetest, most innocent voice he said, "Yeah!".

-Every single time I get off the highway by our house both boys clap and cheer and say "You did it, Mom!". (Together these items may or may not say something about my driving.  I contest it is really driving in California that is the cause of these statements.)

-Both boys proudly say "Good Morndin" when they wake up in the morning. . . . and when they get up from nap.  It is so cute I have not corrected them.

-As I said above, Brady will tell me countless times "Mom, I love you" and sometimes he will throw in a "Mom, you pretty".  One weekend day he said these things over and over to me in Chris's presence and he must have felt bad for excluding Chris so he said "Dad, I love you.  Dad, you pretty too".  I laughed heartily and told Brady that is why I married him, cause he is pretty.

-Brady says "kunk" instead of "skunk" and "presto!" whenever he waves object around like a wand.  He also says that he has made something  "appeared" when he really means disappeared.  It is adorable.

-If one of us is sitting on the couch, Brody will often come and sit down besides us, cross his legs, look right at us and say "Whatcha up too?".  When he asks the question, he tosses his palms up toward the celling and shrugs his shoulders too.  It's adorable.

-One day I made the mistake of saying that something was kind of spooky.  After hearing this, Brady said "I'm scared".  Right after that, Brody pipped up and said  "I'll protect you, D".

-Chris shaved his chin and left his mustache for Movember. Every morning for weeks Brody would touch Chris's chin and say "Ut oh, it happened again".

-One of the many times Brody was wearing his Spiderman costume I heard Brady say "Spiderman....Spiderman...Spiderman?"  until Brody finally answered.

Brody likes to ask "What the problem is?" instead of "What is the problem?".

Once day Brody was twirling around with a towels around his midsection.  Brady looked right at him and asked "D, you a ballerina?".

After I do something helpful, the boys will throw their arms up in the air and yell Yay SuperMOm!

If I tell Brody that he cant do something that he is asking to do, he slouches his shoulders and in an Eeyore voice says Nevermind