We headed to the zoo on Saturday!! It was so much fun to spend the day together and enjoy Alex's excitement over the animals! His favorite things had to have been the reptile house (daddy took him in twice while I was feeding Nathan! He loved the crocodiles, turtles, and snakes) and the ducks (he talked about these being his fabrits (favorites) and kept wanting to see more (of ALL the animals, DUCKS? really??) He also really liked the cow (haha! also not really a "zoo" animal) - he got to pet it in the children's zoo and kept talking about how he wanted to ride a cow "someday". 
Nathan enjoyed his day too! He loved watching the people and playing in the stroller... however, he is not as quick to fall asleep in the stroller/carseat as Alex was (both of which put Alex RIGHT to sleep as a baby). Nathan is too interested in everything going on and I think just has trouble sleeping with all that stimulation. So... it was a bit tricky getting him to fall asleep in the stroller! Here's my happy boy:
On Friday afternoon I opened up a box of toys that I had packed up and labeled "6 months" (ok, I know he's only 5 months, but my baby is advanced, hehe!) Both boys had SO much fun with this! I LOVED watching them both playing together (well, more side by side I guess lol)
I cannot believe the big changes in Nathan over the past couple of weeks... it's like the month between 4 and 5 months just makes such a HUGE difference! He is so interested in playing now (not just observing). He was so smiley and excited about all the new things! You can see he is also sitting up! I can't leave him completely unsupported because as he reaches for things he'll fall... but if he's got the boppy behind him or he is holding onto something, he can sit a pretty long time! Otherwise, I need to be there to make sure he doesn't topple still :)
I think the sibling rivalry is starting to begin! Alex had some trouble "sharing" these new, exciting toys. I didn't want to allow him to just take what Nathan had (even though Nathan doesn't care quite yet), and Alex had trouble with that! I have been working hard on instilling: "be kind" and "share" and "be a good friend" in my little man. We've spent quite a bit of time with other kids lately (between the park, pool, library, and playdates that I've been attending). I'm trying my best to teach him to handle situations in a loving, kind way. Looks like we will be able to start working on this at home now too! Nathan is so cute about it, because he just LOVES his big brother and looks up to him so much already. He wants everything that Alex has and is constantly reaching to just touch Alex. It is so cute... he also just gets so giddy and giggly if Alex pays even the slightest bit of attention to him. I love watching these two developing their relationship already!
Alex spent most of the weekend playing with "Nafan's" (he JUST started using Nathan's full name about 1/3 of the time instead of "NayNay" this weekend) new toys! He would tell me he was "busy playing with Nafan's toys!" I am enjoying Alex SO much these days! Not that I haven't always enjoyed him, but he is just so full of personality now! He talks non-stop and says the sweetest, silliest, cutest things! I am also realizing just how impressonable and teachable he is. He soaks up everything we say. One of my favorite moments from last week:
Alex: I'm going to share my cars mommy!
Me: Thanks!
Alex: Jesus shares!
Me: You're right, Jesus shares and he tells us to share! He likes when we share.
Alex: Jesus is nice
Me: You're right, Jesus is very nice.
Alex: Jesus is BIG!
Alex: Jesus is BIG!
Another great, teachable moment:
Alex handed me a children's book (probably more for a 10-12 year old though... a few pictures, but also lots of facts and explainations and such) that happened to make it on his shelf. He asked me to read it to him... so we talked through some of the pictures and I just went over the basic concepts that I've been trying to teach:
~God is SO big!
~God made everything!
~God loves you/everyone
~Jesus loves you/everyone
~Etc. Etc. Etc.
We got to a picture of some kids reading their Bibles, and I told Alex that God says to read our Bibles so we can learn about Him. He says, "OH!! I NEED to go get my Bible!" and he runs to his shelf to find it! So cute! He's been asking me to read it to him lots the past few days. (It's a Children's board book Bible with about 15-20 pages of basic stories).
I love that Alex thinks about Jesus and understands (in a very 2 year old way) some of these basic concepts. Although, I think his understanding of Jesus is a great reminder... as basic as it is, it is still hard for many adults (including myself!) to grasp these simple teachings: be nice, share, and remember how BIG Jesus really is!!! I've also started to realize what a HUGE responsibility it is that I am the mommy to these two little lives. I am shaping them and teaching them each day. So much of who they are depends on Gary and I... not that I didn't know this before, but the magnitude is really starting to hit me. I want to be patient, loving, kind, slow to anger and frustration, and an excellent, Christian example to my children. I want to soak up the moments and SEE teachable moments as they arise and USE them to teach my boys.
So... if anyone has any great Christian resources on parenting (book reccomendations, etc.) - please share!! :)
And, I'll just leave you with one more picture of my sweet baby (since I didn't have many "5 month" photos loaded on the computer the other day when I posted):
