Dashiell is two years and eleven months old, Cedric is fifteen months old and this is what I want to remember:

+ Cedric’s soft, plump, warm cheeks when he first wakes up and the smell of his morning breath.

+ The earnest look of Dash big brown eyes.

+ Cedric’s pokey belly and the way he will lift his shirt when you ask, “Where’s your belly?”

+ Dash throwing his arms around me in a big hug before he left the house and waving “bye!” like such a big boy, and then turning to blow me a kiss before running down the hall.

+ The delight both boys get from wrestling with each other.

+ Cedric’s friendliness. He says “hi” with a wave and gravely voice to anyone who passes through the park, to cars that pass by our house or that are parked on the street, to anyone we pass in the hallways at daycare and to the drivers of cars we are stopped next to at stoplights.

 

+ Dash’s cooperative, helpful and nurturing nature. He runs to Cedric’s room when Cedric wakes up and says, “I’m here,” he (sometimes) shares with Cedric without our prompting and will ask to have extra snack to give to Cedric.

+ The way Cedric clasps his hand behind his back as he walks thoughtfully. The behavior has earned him the nickname Little Senator.

+ Dash sitting next to me to nurse his baby doll when I nurse Cedric. Dash always takes off his shirt completely to nurse, a practice that he did not learn from me!

+ Snuggling with Dash in our bed for his bedtime book. Recent favorites include Jumanji, In the Night Kitchen, Caps for Sale, Madeline and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

+ Both boys sitting at their table eating together.

+ The way Cedric often calls Chris “mama”. When I pick him up from daycare he looks behind me and asks, “Mama?” Or he runs to Chris saying, “Mama!” and then back to me saying, “Mama!”

+ Cedric’s love of I Spy books, Hello and Babybug.

+ Dash starting to learn to sing and narrate along to the CDs we listen to in the car.

+ The amazing, amazing feeling of both boys consistently going to be around 7 and sleeping through the night. Dash has been sleeping at least until 5 and often later, we are so happy and better rested. Edit: I started this post a few weeks ago and since then sleep has become not quite so good but reading this reminded me that it goes in phases and better sleep will return!

+ The big, loooong hug that Cedric gave my mom when she visited and came with me to pick the boys up from daycare.

+ Matching pajamas.

+ How quickly Cedric’s vocabulary is growing. He attempts to repeat new words we tell him and everyday he understands and says more.

+ Cedric signing “milk” with both hands to ask to nurse and then becoming so overwhelmed with eagerness that he is on the edge of crying when I ask, “Do you want to nurse?” Currently he nurses inconsistently, sometimes it’s twice a day sometimes not at all for a few days.

+ Dashiell getting a length of floss and pretending he is walking around his “doggie.”

+ Cedric immediately laying down on his belly and tucking his legs in on any blanket we lay down and saying, “nigh nigh.”

+ Sitting with Chris post-bedtime, showing each other recent pictures of the boys and swapping stories of the cute and awesome things we’ve seen them do recently.

Previous what I want to remember posts.