Forces of Nature

I have to admit that full-time motherhood and full-time housewife and mother of two are not exactly the same thing. I knew I was very spoiled in Singapore to have such a wonderful maid and I made it a point to appreciate every meal I didn't have to cook and all the laundry that magically appeared back in the drawers and closets. Meanwhile, I had so much time to spend playing the the kids, taking them to parks and playgrounds and playdates, and pretty much doing everything fun with them. Now it's a little different trying to manage to keep the house clean, food in the pantry, meals on the table, and these little monkeys entertained. I have the feeling my standards of cleanliness are going to slowly drop as I spend less time worrying about the messes and more time with my two favorite little people in the world. Lucky for me at the moment, quality time with Ben is vacuuming, "wapping" (mopping), using the washing machine, or cleaning glass together. His constant requests to clean definitely keep the house in better order! Then a few minutes later Hurricane Alex blows through and obliterates all the work we've done. But, ahhh, how I love the chaos they bring.

Just look at this face! Ben has endless energy these days, I think because he hasn't been in school for 6 weeks now and hasn't had a good outlet to blow off extra steam. Hopefully once the spring weather truly arrives we'll be outdoors a lot more and let this boy run around all he wants, instead of romping through the grocery store like a madman.

And this little guy is into EVERYTHING. Turn your back for a minute and he's emptied your wallet. Set a cup or food down and it's gone. He's fast and quiet and loves squeezing into small spaces so I think of him as my little ninja.

And these were the faces I saw when I got out of the shower today.....GUILTY.

Ben was in my makeup and hair gel.

He was quite happy with his personal style and protested greatly when I washed it off before we went out of the house.

Alex took it upon himself to completely rearrange the cabinet. I think he was trying to clear a shelf to crawl in but didn't get enough time to finish his project. No worries, though...I'm sure he'll find another opportunity soon.

I think this is a tough age for both of them at the moment because Ben is really advancing mentally, asking why, challenging authority, and testing limits. Alex needs constant supervision in his exploring and can be a little barbarian when it comes to sharing, waiting for food, or being carried when every object in a store needs touching. He has really perfected the ear-piercing scream. It's easy to forget their individual challenges when they're beginning to play so well together, though. Every day I see them laughing, running, exploring (read: making trouble), and chasing one another more and more and I hope they grow to be deep and lifelong friends.

We did manage to enjoy a chilly afternoon at the park last weekend and Alex went across this bridge dozens of times. He's a pretty athletic little guy and I've been amazed at how quickly he's running, going up and down the stairs very well, and managing slopes like this. Fightin' Texas Aggie football...watch out for this one in about 17 years...

Ben was a little more fascinated by the roped-off area. To each his own.

Alex is really working on his language these days. He's imitating words and songs and will sing along to the ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle, or Battlefield (by Jordin Sparks, Ben's current favorite) even though all the words are "da". I was trying to teach him "duck" and he said it a few times but then decided it would be more fun to join them than just to talk about them. Baby leash, here we come.

And one random picture that makes me so happy:
This is the Australian version of Wal-Mart. It's apparently a Woolworth's chain but uses the entire structure of Wal-Mart and looks so familiar when you walk in the doors. Coming from a country where I had to hit a dozen stores looking for a nightlight or scotch tape, it's so satisfying to go to Big W and get all the things on my list again. The simple things make a big difference.