Because I know you've been wondering...

Here we are, waiting out our time before Spiff graduates from medical school and we move on to the next stage in our lives. Spiff is completely done with classes, and it's awesome/strange to have him home with us. He's not quite sure what to do with himself, and the rest of us are not quite sure what to do with him. We're trying to be creative about our activities and have a list of things to do before we move, including family outings and yummy places to eat. We tried a burger joint last night and enjoyed our bottomless mugs of house root beer and cream soda (or "juice" to a certain little person who came with us). So, besides the obvious planning for the move, going through and sorting our belongings, and beginning to pack, here's what we've been up to lately.

Spiff recently discovered a new app for his i-pod. It's a Touch Mouse that will control the cursor on the laptop. It's handy for controlling the volume on the computer when we're watching shows on Instant Netflix, thus fixing our lack of remote control problem and making it so that we don't have to walk all the way across the room to manually push "play next episode." It's also a handy little tool for messing with one's spouse as she is trying to write a long-overdue blog post. I have found myself wondering why the cursor isn't where I left it, how I could possibly have typed certain letters that are on the screen, and why the word I just typed isn't there anymore. It's really great entertainment for someone who doesn't need so study all that much at the moment.

We have a rental contract on a house! I scoured rental listings for about a month, stressed about it, dreamed about it and got super frustrated with the whole darn house-hunting thing. Then we happened upon the perfect house for us. Hopefully. We haven't seen it in person (although my sister did), but I'm in love with the pictures. I'm super excited about the finished basement and laundry room, and our very own, brand new (well, 15-years old and used) $100 washer and dryer. I'm just so relieved to have our living situation nailed down for the next year, and not having to worry about house hunting for a whole year. Great. We get to do this again next year. I can't wait.

Hobbes is three months old already. I can't believe it! Gunner's infancy seemed eternal. I swear it took him a year to reach each month milestone, and Hobbes's little life seems to be flying by. He's still a dream baby, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have such a mild-tempered baby who eats and sleeps well. He has started to smile and laugh at us, he's ticklish, he's interested in his new little toys I hung over his bouncer chair, and he can roll over to his side. Big stuff for a little guy! His eyes are still blue, and I'm secretly hoping they stay that way. I check them for signs of Hazelization every day.

Gunner is learning how to behave around his little brother. It has taken all three months for him to figure out how to be soft with the baby, but he is finally figuring it out, with lapses in concentration, of course. Two-and-a-half-year-old Gunner is hard. He's emotional, whiny, needy, and naughty. There have been times in the last couple months that I have wanted to quit and run away. But there have also been a lot of times that I'm totally blown away by all he has learned lately. I love listening to him sing to himself, and I'm always amazed when I hear him singing a song that we didn't teach him. I love nursery at church and his little mommy co-op preschool for that. I loved the other day when I figured out that he was playing a joke on me. His little sense of humor is blossoming. I love how he can't quite figure out how to use prepositions or pronouns. I love how inquisitive he is, even if we have to answer the reflexive question "Why" about a million times each day. He's a pretty neat little kid, even if he does make me want to pull my hair out multiple times a day.

One quick story to illustrate my point: On our drive to the restaurant last night, Spiff and I noticed just how observant Gunner is to noises and sounds around him. We were listening to some John McCutcheon children's song that Spiff grew up with (which are pretty darn good and something I would recommend to anyone with kids). The songs are filled with all different instruments in the accompaniment, and as we drove along, a new song would come up and Gunner would comment. Here was our conversation:

Gunner: "What was that? That larlarlarla (with his tongue)?"

We replied, "Oh, that instrument? That was the hammered dulcimer."

On the next song, G: What was that? The huh huh huh?

Us: That the Tuba

Next song, G: What was that? Bling bling bling?

Us: That was the Banjo

We realized that he is so very observant about everything around us. I can recall countless times when we have been sitting around our living room, and he asks about sounds, always with a "What was that?!" "Oh, Gunner, that was just the neighbors going down the stairs." "Oh, that's a lawnmower going outside." "That a bird singing." Seriously, so very observant.

Except with us. He has an uncanny ability to tune us out. He has gotten to where he hardly listens to a word either me or Spiff says. We know he hears us. He just chooses not to listen.

Like I said, he's so naughty and so awesome at the same time.

Oh, and by the way, Spiff is a genius. He taught Gunner how to take bites of food and wash them down with a drink of milk. It takes some coaxing still, but we have actually had some success getting Gunner to eat his meals (or at least a couple small designated bites). It is glorious! Thank you, Spiff!

That's probably enough rambling for now. We're going to go dye Easter Eggs. Gunner is ready for it, clad in only a diaper. Happy Easter!