Replaced by a stuffed animal

The long, warm days are upon us. The air is filled with the smell of citrus blossoms and freesia. It is a great time to be outside. As I water our plants in the late afternoon, I inhale deeply through my nose and with each breath, I try to guess at all the subtle fragrances that I detect; lilac... citrus... jasmine... with hints of lavender and rosemary. (I sound like a wine connoisseur describing the subtle flavors in a glass of wine. How different is it really?)
 The smells that take me back to my youth are citrus blossoms and jasmine. Not only did we have citrus trees in our yard when I was young, but we had orange and lemon groves around our neighborhood. When the trees were blooming, the smell was so intense. I remember the intoxicating smell being carried on the afternoon breeze. The memories come rushing back every time I get a whiff of our lemon tree in bloom. We took it for granted back in those days when we raced between the rows of lemon trees, plucking fruit as we went, in an all out lemon war with the neighborhood kids. Getting nailed with a semi-ripe lemon, and the welt that it would leave, was a right of passage for a 10-year-old boy. If you could hold back the tears, you became a legend.

  As I watch Apollo and Orion grow, and start to play and interact more and more, I can only imagine the mischief that they will get into together, and what smells and sound will trigger memories from their youth.
  Although the two boys will play together, Apollo is not always sure he wants to share his toys with Orion and I am sure he doesn't enjoy not having all the attention on him all the time, but for the most part, he loves to play with Orion and Orion is already pretty adept at playing with toy cars. He has figured out that they roll back and forth as long as the wheels are in contact with the floor. I love watching him sitting next to his brother while both of them are driving toy cars around. Apollo offers up tips and instructions for proper car driving etiquette; "You have to hold it like this baby brother."
  Orion is so playful these days. He has discovered that climbing in and out of Apollo's toy tent, and pretending to hide, is great fun. He squeals and laughs, and races in and out of the tent with Apollo joining in the fun. By the time Orion is done playing, he is covered in sweat.

  Mile stones that this little 9-month-old terror has reached this past month are; standing and balancing with one hand hold and very briefly with no hands, climbing up on things off the floor, improved self feeding skills, pointing at things, mimicking sounds and facial expressions, and my personal favorite, saying "Dada" while he points at me. I hate to admit it but, his first word was "Mama". We are fairly certain that he has been saying "mama" since he was about six-month-old, but we are sure that he has been saying "mama" and "dada" for the past few weeks now. There is nothing better than walking into the room, and when your baby sees you, he smiles from ear to ear, points and says "dada!" and then crawls at full speed to greet you.

  Apollo has become quite the little man. He can be very pleasant and well mannered, and really wants to be able to do everything by himself. Climbing in and out of the van and even buckling his own seat belt and making sure it is in the right position, is one of the best examples of a "big kid". Apollo also has a bit of a bully in him. He enjoys being sarcastic and finds great pleasure in being a bully to his brothers and friends. Pushing your friend over while tying his shoe, or dumping sand on another friends head at the beach, brings great laughter and enjoyment every time.
 We are of course teaching Apollo the Golden Rule and explaining to him that although it is funny to torture your friends, it is not always nice and you have to expect this kind of treatment in return. I cannot help but laugh when he does these types of things, which I am sure encourages this behavior. I am thinking that some martial arts classes are in order, so he can learn to defend himself when upsets the wrong kid.

  Apollo has learned to write his first name this past week. It took a little bribing and a whole lot of encouragement. Apollo begged us to give him his "prize" (bribe) first, and explained that he would work on writing his name later...after enjoying his prize. We stood our ground and told Apollo that he had to earn his prize first. He threw a few big fits, but after that, he seemed to get it down very quickly. The best part about it is that he was so pleased with himself, that he has not asked for his "prize".
 Apollo is finally working through sleeping by himself. I am not sure if he has found a coping mechanism, expanded his imagination to give personalities to inanimate objects, or if it is a transference of affection, but Apollo has adopted two plush animals as his new "best guys"; Lizard and Sharky. Apollo told me, "Dada. I won't be sad that you go to work in the morning now, because Lizard and Sharky will take care of me after you leave."
  Yup, I have been replaced by a stuffed animal.