Summitting one of the many peaks of Mt. Curiosity

Ah, life with two young boys. It is wonderful and fulfilling, but it also full of boyish things like pretending to:

• sword fight with plastic clothing hangers (not much of a fight when only one of them knows how to wield his instrument of destruction)
• be attacked by a swarm of bugs
• be a collapsing bridge when one or the other tries to go under arms, legs, a head, etc.
• rule one another with brute force - you can guess who usually wins, for now

It is also about wonderful things like learning to spit your toothpaste out when brushing your teeth. This has been a rather difficult thing to teach A, but in the last week or so, he has mastered this task and is even learning how to rinse with water at the end. Woo hoo! (Celebrate the little things, I say!) Do you think I should add it to his growing resume of expertise which currently includes "covers his mouth while coughing most of the time" and "rarely spills his milk"?

While A's been learning to spit, Z's been learning to climb anything he can possible hoist himself onto. He's also learned the fine art of moving furniture to get a better vantage point in the climbing process. Finally, he's learned that if you can climb to get a desired object, then that is much better than walking over to get it. Everything is an obstacle course. I've now created a labyrinth of my dining room chairs to keep him from climbing onto the dining room table which currently houses a TV, portable DVD player and a few old video game consoles and controllers. Z managed to secure a spot on the dining room table twice in one day which did less to the assorted electronics gear than it did to my overactive imagination, and I've since thwarted his attempts of dining room table domination. This will likely only last as long as it takes him to figure out how to line up the necessary furniture to achieve his goal. Thank goodness that room is carpeted and therefore moving the furniture is much harder.

A is also trying to teach Z how to jump. And, not just jump with two feet off the ground, but jump from varying heights. Z however has no idea how to use his little legs as springs, and instead scoots his little feet slowly over the edge of whatever jumping platform A has chosen (think books on the floor in a pile, steps, chairs, etc.) until he falls over at which time they both roll all over each other laughing. Apparently it's a riot. Mom is not convinced.

I guess it is my job, as their mother, to watch and record as my little guys work their way through the many peaks and valleys of Mount Curiosity (in my mind this is a vast mountain range). Wish me luck as they climb and jump and spit along the way.