Living in the present

  Laughter is the key ingredient to sanity; at least for my part. There is so much turmoil surrounding my present state of being, that it is through my children that I find solace. Through them, I see the simplicity of life. Joy, laughter, discovery, sadness...each expressed in its simplest, unbiased, unaffected form. They live each moment in the present with out any regard for what tomorrow may bring. Every emotion is real and heartfelt...without pretense. I envy their mindset.

 The last few weeks have been nothing short of amazing in the house of Miles. It has been a period of rapid advancements and milestones for Orion, and for Apollo, it has come to light that he is extremely protective of his baby brother.
  Apollo, has always adored Orion. Even in the moments that he feels jealous over the extra attention that Orion needs, Apollo will sneak in a little hug or a kiss on the top of Orion's head. Around the house, Apollo will interact with Orion, mimic his noises and crying, console him, and empathize with him. Out in public, Apollo takes on the role of guardian. Melanie took Orion and Apollo to a Mail boxes, etc. type of store to mail off some packages and documents. While filling out the mailing labels, she placed Orion on the floor. There was one or two other people in the store at the time, but they were not in close proximity to Melanie or the boys. As Orion started to crawl away, Apollo started to get very upset, and got in front of him to block him from moving any further. "Mama! Pick up baby brother!" he said with panic in his voice. "MAMA!! PICK UP BABY BROTHER!!"
  I assumed that Melanie was slightly exaggerating this story until I experienced it first hand. We took Orion for his six-month old "well" check-up this week. While waiting in the vaccine clinic waiting room. Melanie set Orion on the floor. I could see that Apollo was instantly concerned and kept a watchful eye on Orion. Another toddle about the age of two, spied Orion on the floor and ran over to him to play. Apollo immediately went on the defensive and placed himself in-between Orion and this strange little boy. "Mama, mama, mama! Get him! Get baby brother!" This continued even as we tried to reassure Apollo that it was 'okay'. As the toddler stranger left the area, Orion began to crawl away. Apollo was visible upset  from the previous encounter with the unknown toddler, so as his brother crawled away, Apollo got in front of him in an attempt to stop him. "MAMA! PICK UP BABY BROTHER! RIGHT NOW!". Apollo's face became flush and tears filled his eyes.

 I attribute this behavior in part, to both of Apollo's grandmothers and their over zealous, worrisome personality traits. In all actuality, Apollo has always been acutely aware of his surroundings, the people around him, and things in his environment that most others (toddlers, teens, or adults) do not see or care about. He has always, even in his infancy, been amazingly perceptive. I remember when Apollo was six months old, and I came home with a new hair cut. Not only did he do a double take, he stared and studied every inch of my head for several minutes. He reached his little hands up to touch my hair. His mom didn't even notice I cut my hair for three or four days. I admire his awareness and protectiveness. I am sure that both of these traits will serve Apollo well throughout his life.
    Orion has been in high gear in the developmental department. He has been up on his hands and knees since Christmas. Mid January, at 5 1/2 months old, I was seated on the floor with Orion, watching him puzzle over how to move his body where he wanted it to go. This is usually accomplished by pushing hard enough with his back legs, until he falls forward on his face. This moves him forward a few inches as he pulls himself back onto his hands and knees. As I watched, in a moment of discovery, Orion lifted one hand up to reach for something and moved it forward and set it down.
 He repeated this process with his second hand. I could see in his eyes that everything just fell into place for him. He just figured out how to crawl. He moved all the way across the room, turned around and came back. There was no relapse on this new skill. He took off at high speed after that, and has not looked back since. Orion is all over now and is opening cupboards, tipping over laundry baskets, going after toys, and foraging for any small morsel that he can fit in his mouth. Orion has already begun to pull himself up into a standing position. He has his eye on the prize; walking! I have noticed in the past few weeks that Melanie has been making the teens hold Orion and walk around with him. I confronted her about this, and she has admitted that she is trying to slow him down. "If he is not on the floor, he can't practice standing up. I am not ready for him to walk," she confessed.
  Orion has very quick hands and hass extremely refined hand-eye coordination. He grabs anything and does it in an instant. Orion wakes up at full speed. His eyes open, he pops up and his hand start grabbing.

  At his 6 month well check-up, Orion weighed in at 18 1/2 pounds, and 27" long. He is healthy and happy and flirted with his nurse practitioner throughout the entire exam. We learned at this visit that the "first food" thinking has moved away from rice cereal (which we had already been feeding him), to fresh avocado. We were excited to try out this new, fun, food, so we picked up a few ripe avocados on the way home, and quickly mashed a half into guacamole to feed him. Orion did not share our enthusiasm for avocado. Much to mine and Apollo's amusement, Orion gagged, grunted, growled, and tried to spit out every bite. Melanie has resorted to mixing in breast milk or squash to make avocado more palatable for my little man, and he will now tolerate it at best.

  At the end of the day, I feel extraordinarily blessed to have such healthy and happy babies. Orion's chronically happy personality is infectious to say the least, while Apollo's sense of humor and naughtiness, keeps me laughing. My favorite moment of the year thus far, was in the car driving, and watching Apollo make noises and faces at Orion. Orion was mesmerized and would burst into laughter. This would make Apollo laugh hysterically, which in turn made Melanie and I laugh. For several minutes we were all in stitches. For a brief time, nothing else mattered. Apollo and Orion shared with us a precious gift; a moment of living in the present.