Fox Smiles and Tries To Talk

The little guy has been smiling since he was about 4 weeks old but today is the first time I've gotten around to filming it.

That Bears...

There's something critical that I forgot to mention in that last post.  While Bears is very affectionate towards his little brother, it's pretty much always accompanied by Bears begging him for more presents, to the point where I think it's safe to call harassment.  You see, back before Fox was born, I stock piled a whole bunch of cheap crap off of ebay and wrapped it into about 10 presents. The idea was that if Bears thought that his brother kept bringing him gifts periodically that it would endear Fox to him.  Well, it worked, in a sense.  As Ryan puts it, Bears now thinks of Fox as some sort of treasure goblin who will continue to bring presents so long as Bears keeps trying to engratiate himself towards him.  Every time I leave the two of them in a room together I hear the same phrases over and over again..."Bring 'nuther present, baby Fox.  Bring BIG preSENNNT!" Well. Just see for yourself:

 It's really nice that Bears isn't directly hostile towards his new brother but this has obviously been a tough adjustment for him.  I've definitely noticed a lot of pent up frustration that he usually releases on inanimate objects like the balloon that he's desperately trying to destroy in the above photo.  He eventually succeeded by savaging it with his teeth...and was of course devastated when I couldn't put it back together for him.

 He seems to be feeling a bit more insecure lately, which is understandable, and needs lots of one on one daddy/mommy time.  Lots of times this is spent sleeping, since both daddy and mommy are pretty exhausted these days.  Bears is faking it in this photo but Ryan's totally conked out and snoring here.

 Here he is with his about-to-bolt-or-make-some-sort-of-trouble face.  He makes this face a lot.

 Sharing his brother's toy.  He loves to do this while periodically giving Fox hugs.  Along with asking for presents, of course.

He insisted on putting on his winter cap and then proceeded to wander around outside on a very hot august day.

Did you notice his fashionable capri pants in the above photo?  He was running around the apartment all excited and it took me a minute to realize that he'd managed to cram himself into his brother's newborn-sized pants.  I thought it was pretty impressive that he managed to do it all by himself.  And that they actually kinda fit.  Blast it but he's a skinny little cub.

The other day he got into some creamer and couldn't say enough good things about it.  My favorite phrase that he came up with is, "this is...very good!" I'm guessing that it's something about the delivery because I notice that just reading the phrase isn't all that impressive.

A Day in the Life of a Bear

Bears has really gotten into dressing himself lately.  Yesterday he insisted on throwing on a jacket before leaving the house to go out in the chilly 85 degree weather.  Hood and all.  He kept it on for a good five minutes too which was longer than I'd predicted.  I guess he just really wanted to look cool...

...or maybe just intimidating.  If I saw this guy on the streets, there's no way I'd mess with him.  He looks intense.  Like, black belt intense.

He decided that it was a good day for a bike ride and of course insisted on putting his helmet on immediately for safety.  It's so nice that he's finally joined the ranks of countless other toddlers and gotten obsessed with his helmet.  He sure used to hate them.

The moment when he's forced to acknowledge that perhaps a jacket wasn't the best choice

He removes the jacket but the realization of his poor choice has left him shaken and he takes a moment for some quiet introspection.

He fully recovered once he got a chance to hug the shiniest, coolest fire hydrant on our block.

 This cub loves his fire hydrants...

...and big trucks.  Here he is excitedly saying hello to one as it drives down the street.

We had to stop to smell the roses then it was time to head home. Actually, he couldn't reach high enough to smell this one but he was terribly proud of how gentle he was while touching it.  He's pretty hit and miss when it comes to being gentle with flowers.  They're just so much fun to mash I guess.

We headed home and he decided that it was time to get dressed in his sports shirt and play with some trucks.

Then we watched the saddest video that the world has ever known


Daddy came home and it was time to piggle about in jammies for a bit before bedtime

New Camera and the Zoo!

 Ryan decided to give me just about the fanciest camera ever for mother's day.  It's pretty much the most exciting gift possible but I've gotta say it's a little intimidating owning something so professional when I know absolutely nothing about photography.  Bears really wanted to go to the zoo today so we took the camera along to see what she can do.  Turns out that I've got no idea how to use it yet but it was still fun and I was at least able to catch a glimpse of the awesome pictures I might take one day if I ever figure out what I'm doing.

Here he is showing his fearsome bear face while hanging out in front of the carousel.   

Gazing at the Rhinos.  I tried to get both him and the animals he was looking at but failed every time.  So I ended up with a bunch of pictures of Bears looking transfixed a bunch of mysterious animals who's identities are doomed to be lost in the sands of time.  Ah well.

Hangin' out by some antique looking bike that apparently really sets the stage for a big cat exhibit. At least that's what the zoo people must have decided since it's bolted down right in front of the tigers. 

Riding boldly on said bike.

Pointing out the frightful tigers to daddy.

Checkin' out the drains.  A very important task which he dedicates quite a bit of time to every time we take a trip out to the zoo.

Trying to make friends with some kids passing by

Conversations with Daddy

"Scared panda" face

Trying to overcome his fear of the big orange elephant who is apparently a "big fright" by touching the less frightful tiny elephants that are painted on it's side.  He's always saying, "orange elephant.  FRIGHT!!!  Gray elephant...niiiice." All the while nodding emphatically. I guess statues of animals are much scarier than the real thing.

This cub loves fire hydrants and always wants to give them hugs whenever he gets the chance.

Contemplating the plight of the bald eagle

Peeping out of his hiding spot on the playground

Riding some sort of giant caterpillar 

His favorite zoo activity of all: sliding down the "big snake"

Playing with the giant water-covered, rotating ball.  It's always a hit.

Spiffy Bears

Between Grandma and Pop Elkins and my friend Alexis, Bears should be all set on fancy outfits for quite some time.  He decided that he really wanted to wear his "green one" a little while back and then go out and inspect our neighbor's trailer, dog bones, and basketball.  All activities that are best done while looking one's best.

He wore his purple fancy outfit to his birthday party but I foolishly didn't bring my camera.  He ended up stripping down to just his diaper in short order anyway.  No doubt because he realized that the only appropriate suit for the occasion was his birthday suit.  Very wise, Bears.

Feeding the fishes across the street.

Getting bit by those blasted fishes because he couldn't feed them fast enough.

Looking mischievous.  I'm sure that disaster ensued shortly after this was taken...fortunately, my memory only goes back about 5 minutes these days so I have no traumatic recollections of what must have happened.

Every time he sees this image, he says it's "Papa"

He does not like the idea of Papa with an arrow through his head.

Here's a video for Grandma and Pop Elkins of Bears opening his birthday present from them.