They're getting so big!

When we moved into this house Will wasn't tall enough to see out this window without a stool. Now look at them! Ryan is fully mobile and walking better than Will did at 16 months, even though Ryan didn't start until 15 months and Will started at 12. Ryan is a speedy little thing, probably a Darwinian response to having an abusive older brother. Now when we leave the house I just call, "Ryan, let's go!" and he comes trotting along, ready and anxious to walk out the door. Also, sometimes when I suggest to Ryan that it is time to change his diaper he walks into Will's room and lies down on the changing mat. And, uh, when I go to put on his socks in the morning he extends his foot helpfully and chats pleasantly about socks and shoes. It sort of stuns me. I expect that this eagerness to please will dwindle as he approaches age two, but I find it delightful for now. Also, and we believe he picked this up at daycare, when you ask him what a chicken says he makes chicken wings with his arms and dances around. Same for duck, but he adds "quack, quack!"

Will has never been eager to please, bless him. But today he crafted coffee-filter diapers for a can of mandarin oranges and carried it around yelling, "I LOVE you baby oranges, I love you so much!" And that was funny.