{Week in Review}

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes. That's my best Bowie impression, people.

Things are changing around here! One such change is our kitchen table seating arrangement. Until this week, Aksel had been using the Bumbo during mealtimes. It served as a good temporary solution, but it was definitely time to move him to a high chair.

However, moving Aksel into the high chair meant moving Anders out. Ours is an adjustable Tripp Trapp, so it's been perfectly capable of adapting to our needs as Anders grew taller, more coordinated, and more responsible (taking the child's seat and safety straps out altogether allowed him to climb up and down at will). 

Anders wasn't too thrilled the evening we informed him of the news. We encouraged him to choose his own chair from the two unoccupied seats at the table, but that didn't have him convinced either. We finally pulled out the big guns and suggested that perhaps he should test out his new big boy chair with a (tiiiny) bowl of ice cream. And of course that worked. Because when all else fails, ice cream. Get your parenting truths and tips here, folks. 

The next morning at breakfast, he seemed to have no trouble accepting the transition. He even took a few cereal-chewing breaks to give me some 'cheese'.

Aksel was pretty satisfied with the new arrangement, too. 

Another thing that's changing is Aksel's mobility. He is really keeping us on our toes...by standing on his.

He loves pulling up on anything he can grip. This office trash can is one of his favorite platforms, although he's quickly learning that it isn't his most stable option. That being said, I must admit the picture above is staged. Bless his heart, he loves that trash can, but I am really trying to convince him that the exersaucer is a more appealing base. 

Here he is excitedly demonstrating his new skills. 

Now, please don't consider me discussing my children's physicality a humblebrag, or not-so-humblebrag, as the case may be. In fact, whenever I dialogue with my mommy friends, I jokingly attribute their early mobility to bad parenting rather than good. I believe it was James Earl Jones who first said, 'Ignore them, and they will come.' (Please don't ignore your kids. That was a joke...and a really bad Field of Dreams reference.) All kids develop physically and mentally at a different pace. Oftentimes this is the result of our parenting, but oftentimes it is not.

Moving on. A fun effect of Aksel's growth is that Anders is starting to view him as a playmate. Let me tell you, nothing warms my mama heart like seeing these two forming their friendship. 

This is currently their preferred method of communication. They stare at each other and alternate high-pitched screams with high-pitched giggles. And who am I to stop them?! 

Watching their strange and special interactions is incredibly entertaining. I'm so thankful for these little buddies.