Monkey See, Monkey Do

This post started waaaay back in May... and has been sitting as a draft ever since.  No time like the present to dust it off, right?  Right.  We'll just call it "Monkey See, Monkey Do... The 6-Month Post" :)

And so it begins.  When Joergen was 14 months old (yes, back in May), he really started to come into his own little self.  He started walking more confidently, and with that came the realization that perhaps he could start doing whatever it was that his big brother was doing.

This was also the beginning of Liam having to truly learn to share.  He has always been great about sharing with friends and other kids, but it came as no surprise that the rules were somehow different when it came to sharing with his little brother.  This really came into play with the mower.  Sigh.  The mower.  Who knew this seemingly harmless mower could be the source of so much drama between two little boys?!  Liam allowed him to give it a try... for a minute, anyway!

But then Joergen's turn was up, and it was time for Liam to resume his "big boy" mowing responsibilities with Dad.

I took (a very upset) Joergen inside to try to find his own "mower".  It really only worked on the sidewalk, but it was a good temporary solution, anyway!

When he got overly frustrated with that, we tried a Plan B to free up Liam's mower for little Joer to use:

The copycat play happened inside, too.  Ever the daredevil, Liam took a liking to jumping on his bed, and then off his bed into a pile of blankets on the floor (which has since then grown into jumping off our bed, which is 3 feet off the ground, but I digress!).

Joergen "jumping" on the bed:

... and then "jumping" off!

I laugh every time I see this picture... this game is clearly not for the faint of heart!

Their game now is to jump together on opposite sides of the bed:

And then do this (note my freak-out, which I think just added to their fun.  I was nervous that Liam was going to break open J's head!):

My little monkeys also like to do some cause-and-effect experimentation.  One evening, they played "Let's See What Happens When We Throw Stuff Down the Steps".  Gee, I love this game.

Aunt Doreen sent me this one of them, sneaking onto the bed of Uncle Sam's pickup.  Busted!

I personally love our slide-perfect living room floors, so when Liam caught me sliding across the floor one evening, he wanted to learn to do it too.  And of course, Joergen was right behind him!

Now... I just hope Joergen doesn't try this any time soon!  (Be sure to watch to the very end... priceless!)