Jack almost broke his nose this morning. Curtis & I were playing Mario Kart on the Wii, and Jack kept trying to sit on my lap. Well, he finally decided my lap was no fun while the game was on, so he tried to hop off. Unfortunately, he hopped nose first into the coffee table. It didn't bleed much, but it is swollen and red. Jack wouldn't let us put ice on it. He did take the Children's Motrin nicely though.

And Max has started pulling up!

At some point, Jack must have seen Curtis or I put on deodorant. So while I was drying my hair this morning, Jack climbed up on the toilet, opened the cabinet, pulled out Curtis' deodorant, and closed the cabinet door (yes, such a gentleman to close the door). Then he took the lid off the deodorant and lifted his shirt. Me, being the crafty mom I am, ran for the camera!

Picture time ended, though, when he decided to taste the deodorant. Note for the future, it doesn't taste very good.

I learned how to wire outlets today, and I don't know whether to be proud of myself or scared that Curtis will make me go get a job as an electrician! I almost gave up after the first 2, but I started to really get it after that and started going more quickly.

I also made Valentine's cards for the kids to give to their friends this week. It was difficult finding the time to work on them without Jack making a big mess or running off with the scissors. But Trystin was so happy with his. And someday Jack & Max will appreciate it, too.

Max has been Mr. Needy the last few days. He constantly wants someone playing with him. He loves to stand, so having him play at his little arcade table is about the only way he will play on his own at times. The other way to keep him happy is food - he is all about the puffs and cheerios lately.

Trystin has had a couple great weeks. We started a new reward program at school after the first of this year. If he gets all his work done, he gets to come home no matter what time it is. The last 2 weeks, he has come home early 4 out of 5 days! This week he even had a "great" Monday, and Monday are never even remotely close to good. Eventually we'll start making him do more work to earn his early outs, but for now this had made everyone's lives a lot happier.

Jack loves playing hide and seek. I think he played for like an hour straight with Grandma Elaine earlier this week. And today he tried playing it at Target. He would run up an aisle, duck around the corner, and then have a big smile when we "found" him.

Jack wanted to help feed Max tonight. So Curtis pulled out the step stool, and Jack was so proud to stand up there. But I think the happiest one was Max. He loved it when his big brother offered the fork to him. Those two are so funny together....as I type this blog, Jack and Max are laying in Max's crib playing and laughing. Oops - brotherly love is over - Max just bopped Jack, and Jack bit him back.....better go mend some boo-boos.

Could Jack and Max be twins separated by 15 months?? These pictures make you wonder....

Jack Max

And here's some recent photos of the addition. I know, it's been a while...you wouldn't believe how close to livable it is now!

Like usual, Max ran out of patience while the rest of us were finishing our supper and began crying. Jack decided to be a good big brother so the rest of us could eat. He plopped down next to Max, offered him toys to play with, and said, "Play." When the toys didn't work, Jack leaned over, gave Max a kiss, and patted his back. And when that didn't work either, Jack put his finger to his mouth and said, "Shh....quiet."

"Huh?... Huh?... Huh?" Even though Jack's vocabulary has been expanding, his new favorite thing to say is "Huh?" He has been very happy to be able to get back up in the addition to help - he trots around with a bucket picking up screws so that the place is clear for the drywall guy. When he sees a screw he says "Huh? Found one! Yeah!"

Max is developing his own vocabulary as well. Check out our dinnertime conversation:

I teach music now! Well, it's actually Mom & Tot Music at our church. We get together once a week on Thursdays to sing and dance with simple songs like If You're Happy and You are My Sunshine. It's free, so if you are in the area, come join in!