Independence!

I knew someday I would come to realize the benefits of having more than one child, and I think that day has finally come. Finnigan trys so hard to be just like his older brother Liam. He loves him so much and honestly trys to do EVERYTHING that Liam does. It is super cute to have him running around. I thought it was cute to watch Liam try to do what Dom does, oh no, it is even cuter to see Liam try what Dom does, followed by Finn trying to do what Liam does!!! Its like a train of nearly perpetual cuteness in our home.

Its great because Finn is trying to do things for himself much earlier than Liam. I was still feeding Liam at this point (he wouldn't eat otherwise, and hated to get dirty!) Now Liam feeds himself, and Finn feeds himself, yes he makes a mess, but at least he is trying! Up until VERY recently (and sometimes still) I would have to help Liam get dressed (he doesn't like feeling like he can't do things very well, and some milestones just take practice, my perfectionist would rather not try and possibly fail, it can be frustrating all around) Now that Finn sees Liam trying, he will try to dress himself too, and he's getting really good at it! He will also put on his own shoes (I'm still working with Liam on that one) It is so nice, watching his older brother is a much better and far more exciting teacher than I could ever be. We'll see what happens when #3 comes along though.

Now that we have our surfmobile, with auto doors, the boys love to open and close their doors by themselves. I allow it, but only if they also sit down right away and buckle up(otherwise I will open the doors and do it). Just this week they have both gotten very proficient at buckling themselves into their car seats (under supervision, with a final check done by mom and dad!) With the buckling comes the learning how to unbuckle, sadly. Liam understands that he needs to stay buckled thankfully and no longer tests us on this one. Finn, however, can get his top clip undone (thankfully he does not have the strength to unbuckle all the way) Over and over again I tell him that the police will pull me over and take him away from me if he doesn't stay buckled, but he doesn't really believe me. The other day we were riding home and Finn unbuckled himself. Liam goes

"Hey Finn, do you want to go to jail? You will go to jail if your are not buckled!"

Finn, not knowing what jail really is said "Yeah, wanna go to jail."

Liam understanding that Finn didn't know what he was talking about very wisely said. "Finn, do you love mommy and want to be with her?"

Finn says "Yes, I love mommy."

The Liam says "If you go to jail you won't get to be with mommy, there are no mommies in jail!"

Finn re-buckled as quickly and with as much gusto as I've ever seen him! What a smart Liam! One of theses days Finn will get tired of testing us all. Until then, I am so happy he has such an amazing big brother! :-)