A couple of weeks ago, my parents had us over for Family Home Evening. They teach the lesson and everything! It's great. Anyway, they were talking to Brinton about being happy and sad. The lesson was supposed to be about consequences, but that's a little over his head, so it ended up mostly having him point to the pictures of peoples' faces and saying if they were happy or sad. After a little practice, he figured it out.

Zander has been interested in more than just his little baby toys. He has been quite attracted to Brinton's toys as of late. It has required a little attitude adjustment for Brinton. He used to be okay to have his own toys and not have to really share. He was always happy to get Zander his baby toys and play with him quite nicely. However, he has been trying to hide his big boy toys from Zander lately and we have been teaching him that's not the thing to do. It's funny because Zander just loves Brinton's toys and will scoot his way into Brint's room to find them.He is so excited to be playing with them once he finds them on his own. Oh the joys of sharing! I must admit that the problem is basically resolved by now. Brinton is such a sweet little guy and a great big brother.

Well, in case anyone wanted to feel better about themselves . . . the diamond from my wedding ring fell out last weekend and is lost. Yes, the big one. I am currently running around looking as if I am not married because it is silly to wear a ring with a big empty spot where your diamond is supposed to be. I am surprisingly and I think quite strangely fine with it. I thought I lost it at Home Depot and we went back the evening I noticed it was gone to see. I was talking to a woman there so they could have my information in case someone found it and turned it in. She seriously about cried for me. I felt bad for her feeling bad for me. It was a little humorous. Anyway, nothing like just losing about $2000 for fun, right?

A little over a week ago, our ward had an emergency preparedness fair. There were a variety of classes and emergency vehicles to tour.

Brinton played in the ambulance for most of the time and then loved the fire truck. He wasn't so sure about the fire helmet though. It's pretty heavy. There were tons of kids in line for the life flight helicopter right after it landed, so we stayed by the other vehicles. Unfortunately, it had to leave before Brinton could see it. He really wanted a "my touch it." As it left, there was a lot of wind. Zander was in the stroller and it started to blow back into me until I grabbed it. I think it was a lot of fun for the kids and I was glad to go to the classes, too. We have great people in charge of emergency preparedness!

I took Zander to the doctor today for his nine month check up. There has been some definite concern from my doctor about his weight, so I have really been trying to bulk him up. At nine months, he is 28 inches long and weighs 16 pounds, 12 ounces. He is in the 3.4 percentile for his weight which seems low. But, that is really good for him. This is the first time since his birth that he has had any number other than zero in front of the decimal place. He is just over the 41 percentile for his length. I wonder which parent he resembles. I love my tall, skinny husband. Anyway, even though he is so little compared to other babies his age, I think he weighs a ton. It feels like I am carrying a bag of bricks in his car seat instead of a baby. We are thrilled he is doing so well though. He's practically on the charts!

Brinton has been getting more and more independent. It's been about a month since this happened, but I think I'll try to catch up a little with the blogging. Brinton was gone and it was quiet - not a good sign.Steve found him in the kitchen trying to get himself some strawberry milk. He got out the powder and dropped it on accident. Then, he found that the powder is similar to sand and started playing in it. He was worried at first when he got caught. After he realized we were taking pictures of him, he just got right back into the playing. We have since moved to the strawberry syrup that stays in the fridge (higher than he can reach). It mixes better anyway and I guess it's good that he's finding some indoor fun since it is so blasted cold all the time.