... They Licked the Platter Clean

Brennan (and consequently Asher to a lesser degree) is into a new phase. As the oldest child, Brennan tends to fall right in to that stereotypical role as the child who loves to please his parents. He's far from perfect, but I love the way he goes through phases of different things just to make me and Brian happy. These are often his own ideas, done for the fun of surprising us with his awesomeness. For a long time for example, Brennan was making a point to get dressed before he left his bedroom each morning. He still does that a few times a week, but he's since moved on to other phases.

The newest one? Cleaning his plate. For all his meals the last few days Brennan has proudly eaten all of his food and then announced to us that he has "zero food" on his plate and other similar comments. Asher even got in on the action tonight, possibly because of the great response Brennan was getting. (Of course, I have no idea the extent Asher understands what we're talking about, plus he just liked the food anyway I think.) Brian wasn't home this evening (a McGraths night), so it was just me and the boys. When Brennan finished his whole dinner, I started clapping and yelling "hurray" and told him, "that makes me want to play a game with you tonight." You should have seen his eyes light up.

While getting ready for bed later, Brennan obediently put away his clean clothes while I tended to Asher. When he'd emptied his laundry bucket, I had more to refill it, but not wanting to make it into a dreaded "chore," I told Brennan that if he got himself ready for bed really fast, that I would put the other clean clothes away for him. He liked that deal and got busy, so I did too. While putting his clothes away I went ahead and took care of other missed odds and ends on the closet floor. When Brennan finished he opened the then closed closet door and exclaimed that I had cleaned it. He told me, "You're a really special Mom for cleaning my closet, Mom." Yeah, I'm awesome like that... (hah!)

I love Brennan's affection. He constantly hugs and kisses us, and tells me that I'm a great Mom or that he loves me for various reasons. It's nice for however long this will last for. I love having little kids. Never grow up, boys!