Things I Will Miss...

I don't think that I will ever really miss dried yogurt on my kitchen chairs or walking into my bathroom to find the entire box of q-tips all over my bathroom floor, but there are plenty of things that I will miss from this phase of the boy's lives and I want to make sure I write them down so I can remember them later.

Cameron

• He loves Octonauts right now. That means that we have taken a drive around the neighborhood in our guppy, being chased by a colossal squid (which according to Cameron have huge eyes so they can see in the dark and claws in their tentacles). While on said drive we ran into a sperm whale (an approaching car) and decided to follow it in the hopes that the colossal squid would lose interest. It also means he has a new found love of whale sharks because their mouths are (holding out arms as wide as he can make them) "THIS BIG MOMMY!"
• I'll miss him asking me to give him butterfly kisses and then eskimo kisses (it has to be done in that order or else the ritual hasn't been done properly) before I leave his room at night. And occasionally after I say, "I love you," I get an "I love you too Mommy" that melts me on the spot. 
• Coming over to help a crying Jack or Ben only to be beaten by Cameron who is trying to offer a toy or a hug. This is pretty rare right now, but I always see hope for the future when it does happen. :-) He is a really cute big brother when he wants to be.
• Watching Cameron pedal his cute toddler legs so fast on his little tricycle while racing Jack and Ben in the backyard.
• Watching him trying to sneak brown sugar when we're baking chocolate chip cookies. Brown sugar is his favorite ingredient and if I'm making anything that has it he's there quicker than lightning to help out.

Benson

• I'll miss walking into a room and seeing him sitting on the toy-strewn floor flipping through a book.
• When I sit down in the rocking chair to read him a book, he sits on my lap and then says "yes" or "no" as I pull books off the shelf to see what he wants to read. He leans forward, watching intently as I pull each book off. Finally, when I get the one he wants he says, "yes" with a big smile on his face and then immediately cozies up to me and puts his hands in his lap like he's been waiting for this all day.
• When Ben does something naughty he gets this un-ashamed mischievous grin on his face because he knows how much it tempts me to smile back and then tries to run away on his fast little legs.
• Putting my cheek against his cheek when he puts his head on my shoulder before I lay him down in his crib. 
• I'll miss what I call his butterfly hands. When he's not upset, he just has such a sweetly delicate touch. One day he'll probably read this and be mortified that I used "butterfly" and "delicate" as words to describe him, but it's true and I love that about him. He's just always had a kind of angelic quality about him. When I'm cooking dinner on the stove and the kids are running around the kitchen, I can tell when Benson runs by me by the way he puts his sweet little hands on my calves for a moment before continuing their game of chase.

Jackson

• The boys know that they aren't allowed to touch the computer/keyboard/mouse. So, when I walk into the bedroom and find Jack standing on the chair pressing buttons on my keyboard he looks at me and immediately curls his fingers into little fists like he's hiding the evidence. Then he can't help but get a big Mommy-caught-me grin on his face which he then tries to hide by tucking his chin to his shoulder and looking down. I move him away from the computer, but I can't help but grin when he's not looking.
• Jackson loves the little rubber hose that attaches to Cameron's Playmobil fire truck. He takes it to bed with him, he takes it to run errands, and he runs around the house with it clenched in his little fist. He loves that little rubber hose and it's adorable. He's also the first of my children to be very attached to a blanky. When he's in a blubbery mood he wants his blanky and a parent to snuggle with on the couch.
• He is set on water being "wa-wa." I think it's adorable so I haven't put much effort into correcting him, but Jayce tries really hard to get him to say "water." I always get a kick out of watching Jayce carefully sound out "WA-TER" only to hear Jack look back with a big smile and say, "wa-wa!" as if to say, "Yeah, good job Dad, wa-wa!"
• Jack has a really cute bounce to his run and the level of bounce is correlated to his level of excitement. I will forever visualize chasing a squealing little boy who is carrying his blanky over his shoulders and clutching his hose in one hand and bouncing on his cute chubby feet as he runs away. This often goes along with an occasional snort, which reminds me that he is truly my flesh and blood. :-)
• Jack is our drama king. Sometimes this is hard to deal with, but it often gives us a lot of laughs. I'm just blown away by his dramatic responses to things like, "No more, the banana is all gone Jack." He runs bawling into the living room, flings himself onto the carpet and has a good cry.