23 Months

So, about a week after Leif's 22 month mark, I realized that I hadn't done a post on him. I decided it was too late to try to catch up and decided to just wait until 23 months. Leif is a funny little fellow. While he is getting much more comfortable with other people, he likes to make sure I'm there and paying plenty of attention when I am with him. Many times throughout the day he says "Hey, Mom" and waits for me to say "Hey, Leif". If he is close enough to me when he says it, he will pat me softly. Its so sweet. He also likes to come up to me and put his arm around my legs or back (if we are on the same level) and lean his head up against me. He does it to Austin too, but not quite as much. He is such a little love bug.
Leif continues to love to cook. We have a big ordeal on our hands if I won't let him sit up by the stove and do whatever I'm doing while I make dinner. He is happy if I just give him and empty pot and spoon to stir while I'm cutting and preparing food, but once I actually start cooking he has to be involved too. We have been really harsh about telling him how hot it is and that he is not allowed to touch it, but it still scares me a bit to have him there, especially when he and Asher start arguing about who gets to sit where and with which spoon.
Leif's favorite book of late is "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" which he just calls "Two Fish". We have to read it every naptime and bedtime and he almost always wants me to read it over and over, but I just tell him no. One time is usually my limit, sometime two. I like the book, but it gets a little repetitive. Austin hates the book and won't ever read it. Yesterday I got out "Where the Wild Things Are" just for something new to read and it has become an immediate favorite. In the last 24 hours I have read it no fewer than 20 times. He also likes to carry it around and "read" it to himself. I caught some pictures of him doing that this morning. Please note that the book is upside down :) Even when I turned it around for him, he turned it back.

Something I think is quite peculiar, but Austin thinks is normal, is that Leif insists that Asher's name is Leif too. I've asked him to say Asher so I know he can say it pretty clearly, but whenever he refers to Asher he calls him Leif. He has a funny thing he likes to do if Asher leaves his dinner uneaten (which is about 95% of the time) even if Leif hasn't eaten all of his dinner he says "I eat Leif's food all gone" and runs over to Asher's chair to eat his food. Sometimes this spurs Asher to run over and eat his own food, but not always. Leif is very fond of bossing Asher around or telling him he can't do something. Asher usually gets all upset and says "Leif said I can't . . ." and I have to remind him that Leif isn't in charge and just because Leif said he couldn't do something doesn't stop him from doing it.
Leif has now reached the age that Austin likes the very best. He can communicate (even though he doesn't always use that skill) and he is super fun. He and Asher love to get into all kinds of trouble together and we love being the parents of these silly boys. Here are the rest pictures I got of the two little trouble-makers together checking out their jack-o-lanterns.