My boys!

It's absolutely amazing how much children grow and learn in the first years of life. I still can't believe that I have a 2 year old! And Rafe is 8 months, and that's crazy, too!

Bentley is learning things so quickly! I swear he'll play sports, because he just wants to be outside 24/7! And I hardly ever see him walk anymore. He's always running! He loves to do arts and crafts, too. He used to do them a lot when he went to daycare, and they also do them a lot at Sunday school, so he's always asking to do them. His speech is really good. He picks up words probably every day, and he's getting a lot easier to understand. He speaks pretty clearly, most of the time. I'm probably going to start potty training him soon. I feel like he's close to being ready for that. We're also starting to learn the ABCs and numbers! :) He's pretty good with the alphabet for his age. His favorite letter is B (for Bentley! Haha.) and when we read our alphabet book and get to B, he's ALWAYS naming all these things that start with the letter B. He climbs all over everything and always gets scratches or bruises. He always comes to me and will tell me all about his new owie. I'm thinking that when he gets older, he's going to be very tenderhearted. He's a total cuddle bug, and he's very caring. He loves watching animals, too! He'll sit at the back door (it's got a really long glass window that pretty much makes up the whole door) and just watches all the wildlife that comes through the land behind our house. I really hope to be able to get horses soon. Levi and I both grew up around them, and it's really a great thing. I also take him to the pet store pretty often to look at all the animals - birds, snakes, lizards, etc. so that he won't be scared of them. So many parents freak out when they see a spider or a snake and then their kids get so afraid of them. We have a dog and he roughhouses with him all the time, but luckily Rebel is just as much of a sweetheart as Bentley is, so he just lets Bentley go crazy with him. Bentley also LOVES to help me and Levi do things. If Levi ever has to go work out at the barn or anything, Bentley begs to go and help. We have a little toy toolbox, and he'll always pretend to help Levi. It's so adorable.

Rafe is now 8 months old! Time has flown! But I feel like these months have gone by a little slower than they did with Bentley - but I'm not complaining! Now that he can crawl, he LOVES to explore. I have to keep an eye on him all the time, because he's always wanting to go and get into things. He's a bit clingy, but it kind of comes with the age. If we ever go out in public, he always wants me or Levi. He's definitely more a mama's boy. He definitely has seperation anxiety, too. He can stand while holding onto things, and he babbles all the time. He mimics syllables all the time. "bababababa", "mamamamama", "dadadadada", etc. He loves to pick things up and hold things. He'll just sit there and inspect it! He definitely keeps himself occupied a lot of the time. I see him being pretty smart when he grows up. I can't believe he'll be one in December. :'( Time sure does fly!