Sometimes they surprise me

Usually I think of my two little guys as a couple of cubs (Colsen is a bear cub, Miles is a lion cub), wrestling together, head over feet, rolling through the house, leaving a wake of broken furniture, ripped window screens and overturned grandfather clocks.  (Yes, all of those have happened recently.)

But sometimes I see different facets of their little personalities that I wouldn't expect.

Like when I hear Colsen tell his grandmother how much he appreciates the garnish of parsley that she put on the platter of meat.  "I only like to eat meat that has a garnish - -a green garnish, like parsely," he said, much to my amusement.  (I never use garnishes!)  Later he also explained to his grandmother how to do a basil chiffonade.

Or like when Miles surprised us in a 20 Questions game.  He told us he was thinking of something "really, really hard" -- and he was right.  It turned out to be "this music - -I don't know the name of it, but it goes like this:  na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na-NAA."  Pete and I stared at each other because he was clearly humming a piece by Mozart, one that I didn't even know he had ever heard before!

Or like when Miles brings me one rose from our rose bush every single day.

Or like when Colsen very patiently tries to teach Miles how to swim, step by step.

Or like when Miles reaches over and gently touches Colsen's face when they're sitting on the couch, just because he likes to be near him.

Or like when they started mowing the lawn -- with their invented lawn mowers.  Cole said, "Look, Mom, we made these out of upside-down rakes and hand-saws!"

Open blades on the ends of lawn tools... nothing could go wrong here, right?

Actually, that last one was more like what I expect from these two.

 Dangerous activities, wild romping, animated playing, random thoughtfulness, and snuggly sweetness.... I'll gladly take the whole package when it comes to these cubs.