the difference a year makes

Last year: Every single time the opposing team scored a goal in a soccer game, Liam would burst into tears. If his team lost (they don't "officially" keep score at this level, but you better believe the kids do!), he would be inconsolable the whole day. And if one of his teammates scored more than one goal and he didn't score any, he would sulk and complain that it wasn't fair.

This year: In the first game of the season, Liam passed the ball to his teammate, who scored a goal. Instead of sulking, Liam celebrated his assist and congratulated his teammate. He even congratulated his friends on the opposing team when they scored goals. His team lost by a WIDE margin, but in the car on the way home, he could be heard telling Max, unprompted, "It's okay. We played hard, and next week we'll play even harder, and that's what really counts."

henry at seven months

Look out, people, he's on the move! While he can't crawl quite yet, Henry certainly gets around. He scoots himself wherever he wants to be, and he's not afraid to go after what he wants (and usually pop it directly into his mouth). He can sit up, but usually falls down pretty quickly. Bath time has been a challenge lately, because he's way too big for the baby bath, but the bath seat doesn't stick to the textured bottom of our tub (we found that out the hard way when Henry took a header into the water). For right now, the solution has been to have one of the big boys act as a human bath seat. The boy (usually Liam; Max doesn't have much patience with Henry's wriggling) sits down in the tub like he's ready to go sledding with a friend, then I plop Henry in front of him and he wraps his arms around him while I clean him. Fun for everyone.

We are still on tooth watch for Henry, but if the sheer amount of drool he produces constantly is any indicator, it won't be long before he pops one out. His favorite toy right now is a textured teething ring, if that tells you anything.

Next doctor's appointment isn't for two more months, but I can tell you that he has a VERY healthy appetite, so we have no doubt that he's growing on schedule.

Plenty more pictures of our young wiggle worm below.

See also: one month, two months, three months, four months, five months, six months.

dragonoid!

One small Easter tidbit to share: At my parent's house on Easter Sunday, a big group of the extended family was gathered for dinner/egg hunt/pinata destruction/kite flying. The boys got Easter gifts from Aunt Bethany, which included a Bakugan figure for Liam and one for Max. So just before dinner, everyone gathered to say grace, which went something like this.

Assembled Catholics: In the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit...

Max (at the top of his lungs into the silent pause between the sign of the cross and the start of the prayer): DRAGONOID!

Not to be blasphemous or anything, but it was definitely the funniest prayer I've ever heard...

easter fun

Three lucky boys got to have two different egg hunts this year, one with Grandma and Grandpa in Michigan, and the other with Yami and Papaw on Sunday. They also got plenty of Easter goodies (check out Liam's excitement). It was an exhausting weekend, but so much fun.