My Boys.

Please don't mind Rome's crazy hair in this picture; he had been pushing that dump truck around all evening, and he got a bit disheveled. This has been Roman's favorite activity as of late: pushing all of his cars down the hallway, through the kitchen, and in to the back room. I find it so fascinating seeing this little person developing before my eyes, because he so clearly knows what he likes and doesn't like already. Roman just naturally gravitated toward all of the things in our house that had wheels. It didn't matter what kind of toys/items they were so long as they had wheels; he would knock over his push toy to spin the wheels instead of pushing it around or even just play (for a ridiculously long time) with the wheels on the bottom of Marc's suitcase when it was out. So we have started buying him more and more cars, firetrucks, dump trucks, trains, tractors, etc. Rome loves 'em. And now he and Marc spend their evenings playing with the various cars and trucks we have lying around. It's really adorable. The other night, Marc was just watching Rome play with these little matchbox cars, and Marc said that he found it oddly emotional, and he did look a bit choked up. But I totally get it; Marc loves cars, and it seems our son does as well, and that has to be a proud moment for Marc. Rome even loves hanging out in the truck with Marc when Marc is getting ready to take his car to the track, or he needs to work on something car-related outside. I read an article the other day talking about how the relationships in the house are going to shift as Roman gets older, and that Marc will become the "special" parent, as in, "Oooh!! Look! Dad's home! Let's run to the garage door and squeal with excitement to see him!!" (Clearly, this is already happening around here), and it's actually pretty sweet. I know that this means, sadly, that I am not the "special" parent. I am just the regular, "I see mom everyday, and she's the one who spends the day making sure I don't get into trouble, so I don't really need to get excited when I see her, but I will demand more of her" parent. And it's really okay. It's not that Romey and I do not have our own bond, but I am certainly not the one that makes Romey light up Monday through Friday at 5:30pm. And trust me, when all Rome wants to do is hang out with dad at the end of the day, I am all for it. They get their "boy time" and I get some "me time"... if "me time" equals finishing dinner. Sure. Why not? At least I am not chasing Rome around the house saying, "That's not for Roman!" Oh, side note, it is hilarious how Roman responds to this. We have been saying, "That's not for Roman," instead of saying, "No," because we want to save the "no" for more serious things. So certain drawers, cords, dog bowls, etc. are "not for Roman." Anyhoo, when you say this to him, he will look at the item and then shake his head and walk away. I should try to get this on video because it's adorable. And I just realized that if I don't end this soon, it will get a bit too tangential, so let me just end with a bunch of cute pictures of my boys playing with their cars.