Like brother, like brother

In their chubby-cheek phase, Baby Bjorn and Baby Leif do bear a striking resemblance to one another. We'll see if that remains the case once Bjorn's big-boy features begin to emerge from the pudge in a year or two!

Do you know which one is which? (Scroll down to reveal the answer!)

(top photo: Leif at three months; bottom photo: Bjorn at three months)

Meeting Cousin Libby

Aunt Jessica and her daughters came to town in August, giving us a chance to meet Leif and Bjorn's new cousin, Libby, for the first time. Bjorn and Libby are almost exactly the same age -- Libby was born just nine days before Bjorn in May. 

Gock and Grandpaw G. with their two latest grandkids

 

Libby and Bjorn share some play mat time

More photos from Jessica, Libby, and Rachel's visit coming soon!

Brothers' tummy time

Bjorn has been getting better at tummy time recently. When he's wide awake and energetic, he can hold his head up at a 90-degree angle for a few minutes at a time. He seems quite pleased with this new and different view of the world!

One day recently, we persuaded Leif to join Bjorn on the play mat for some brothers' tummy time. :-)

Como Zoo

On a recent outing to Como Zoo, I asked Aaron to take a few pictures of me with Leif and Bjorn, since I am usually the one taking the pictures and hence do not appear in many. We had to use a bit of reverse psychology to get Leif to cooperate....

Attempt #1: "Leif, come be in a picture with Mom and Bjorn. Smile! Look at the camera!" (unsuccessful)

Attempt #2: "OK, Leif, go over there. We DON'T want you in this picture. Go over by Dad." (That did the trick!)

 

Leif did look at a few of the animals on this outing -- he has seemed to be getting mildly more interested in doing that on these past few zoo visits -- but by far the biggest hit of the day was this cool pine tree on the zoo grounds, which happened to have long, low, smooth branches that were just perfect for Leif to hang from and swing from. We'll have to try to find it again next time we make it over to Como.

Clean baby

I had to capture for posterity the approximately 2-minute window when Bjorn is actually clean all week long: the time it takes me to dry him off after his bath. He has a tradition now of doing his business all over the changing table immediately before his bath, then peeing in the water a couple of times during the bath, and finally spitting up all over himself *the moment* I finish drying him off and lay him back on the changing table to put on a fresh diaper. So here's to clean babies! Aren't they cute (while it lasts)?

Blanket monster

Leif thoroughly enjoys appropriating whatever blankets he can find around the house and festooning himself with them to play "blanket monster" (or some variation on this theme, such as "sheet monster" or "blanket and pillow monster"). Sometimes he'll just drape them around his shoulders; other times he'll go for the full-fledged, blanket-over-the-head ghost look. It generally involves a lot of rolling around on the floor or mattress...and plenty of giggling.

Mr. Smiley Guy

In recent weeks, Bjorn has turned into a pretty smiley baby -- or at any rate, one who seems unable to resist returning a smile if you smile at him first. We hope his laid-back, happy nature remains intact as he gets older!

Playing markers

We don't yet trust Leif to use his markers without direct adult supervision, given that he needs near constant reminders that the markers need to stay on the paper (or white board) and not on the table, chair, wall, floor, his arms, his hands, his legs, etc. Thus the coveted box of washable Crayola markers and the package of white board markers are both currently stored on top of a very tall bookshelf, and the occasions when we bring them down to use them are still relatively rare and special. Since they're not everyday toys, the question, "Leif, do you want to play markers?" generally elicits an enthusiastic response. (I know the phrasing "play markers" sounds a bit odd, but somehow that is what we have taken to calling it!)



And as with Play Doh, a few of Leif's cars are often incorporated into the fun in the end in one way or another. Really, isn't any kind of play just *that* much better with a few cars involved?

Super snoozer

 Of course I'm going to jinx it by blogging about this, but over the past few weeks Bjorn has turned into about the easiest napper imaginable. (I figured I'd better record this for posterity in case his nap habits do deteriorate at some later date; then I can at least look back on this period fondly!) He also seems to be pretty snoozy for a big baby of almost 3 months -- he still rarely stays awake for more than an hour or so before starting to yawn again. For his multiple morning and afternoon naps, I can generally just swaddle him, give him a pacifier, place him in his vibrating froggy chair in a quiet spot, maybe give it a couple of bounces or rub his head once or twice, and then walk away. Within a few minutes he is asleep, with no crying or requiring any further attention from me. After 2 1/2 years of dealing with Leif's short napping and nap-resisting tendencies, Bjorn's ability to put himself to sleep so easily at such a young age seems pretty amazing to me. You mean some babies really do this??!?

If anyone is loving this nap situation more than me, it is Leif, because Bjorn's easy and frequent napping has meant that Leif can monopolize Mommy's attention for a greater percentage of the day and, at least at those times, imagine that it's still the "good old days" when he was the only kiddo around these parts.