Let there be Light

[Photo from Saturday.] Why, no, they're not quite ready for crayons yet -- the hostess gave us some, and the boys maybe gave a token scribble and then the crayons went right into the mouth. Ah well, worth a try!

Matthew's latest word is "light", and he may have also been saying "down" the other day. (He was squatting and standing up, and definitely saying "up" when he stood up, and I think "down" when he was down, but I'm not positive about that one.) And when I asked if he wanted to walk up the stairs with Mommy's help, he knew just what I meant and held his hands up; when I told him his shoes were in the closet, he walked right over to the hall closet (which is impressive because we just started putting his shoes in there a couple days ago). Smart cookie!

Also, when he'd taken a toy away from James, I told him to give it to James, and he walked back over to James and held out the toy. He didn't actually hand it over, but still, it's a step in the right direction!

Mattie has also gotten very fond of Goodnight Moon recently (which is funny because it's not one we would usually pick to read to him, but these days he often looks through the books to find the one he wants). He especially likes pointing out the fire in the fireplace on the cover and then the one in the picture of the room. He even wanted to take the book to bed last night, which would have been cute except that he still needs us there when he's going to bed, and opening and closing the book in his mostly-asleep state seemed to prevent him from getting all the way to sleep.

I think Jamesie did the sign for "thank you" yesterday. I said "thank you" when he handed me something, and he put his hand forward from his chin.

James has been a little clingy recently, but it seems like just with me -- he wants me to pick him up a lot and doesn't want to be put down. (Mike says it's because I spoil him by giving him a tour of all the stuff on high-up spots that he can't reach.)