Ephraim Grows More

Gabriel is quite the good climber and can get up to the top bunk without the ladder (which we take down so Ephraim doesn't fall off of it while I'm not looking). The other day, Ephraim decided he wanted to climb up like brother. I found him screaming in frustration and stuck in this pose. It's a little blurry because I wanted to capture it quickly and help him down. It was too funny not to take a picture of. He is quite the little follower.

"Smile for the camera!" ... "No one wants to smile nicely? OK, make a funny face for the camera."

After we drop Gabriel at preschool, Ephraim and I usually go for a walk at the park. One day when it was raining, we came home and I was checking my work email (finishing up a book project). I turned around and found him curling up on the floor. We pretend to sleep all the time, so I didn't think much of it, until I checked on him the next minute and found him completely asleep. Poor thing! I love how he buried himself in objects.

Ephraim went to his 18 month check up last week. The nurse measured him twice and the pediatrician came in and re-measured him because they couldn't believe he was so tall! Off the charts! I tried to tell them that's normal for my kids. :) We measured him against the doorjam at home again--Gabriel grew almost an inch since June. Ephraim grew about two inches!

Ephraim likes to do everything with both hands. He will eat with food in one hand and his fork in the other. If I give him a cracker, he wants one for each hand. He uses a crayon in each hand to color on the page at the same time. If I kiss his left hand, he'll hold out his right hand for a kiss too (same goes for feet, knees, etc.).

Gabriel likes to play the Nevermind Game: he goes to dad, "Dad? Nevermind" then he goes to mom, "Mom? Nevermind" and back and forth. The other day Ephraim tried to play it too. He said something like, "Ma? Na-ma-ma." It was so cute that he got the sounds and syllables right.

Gabriel has made up a friend named Yon. He tells me often of what Yon has or does. This last week Gabriel was thirsty while driving home from preschool and he told me about Yon's van. In Yon's van, you press a button and a secret compartment opens with a drink.