Waiting for the hint of a spark

I'm typing this slowly and with much backspacing because I am a dumbass. Yesterday, as Mike was down the street helping a friend move, I decided to make a salad with all the fresh local veggies we had purchased at the Market House. While I was slicing carrots in the mandoline, I also sliced off the tip of my thumb. It was hanging on by a flap (gross, I know) and bleeding bunches, so I threw a towel over it, loaded the boys in the car, and went to track down Mike so he could drive me to the hospital. Four hours and three stitches later, things were much better, but my thumb is still pretty sore and will be out of commission for a while. And so the crappy typing.

Evan was a great help during my little mishap, and it's really nice to have him at an age where he does things all by himself. He doesn't need help to brush his teeth (unless I want it done well) or get dressed or buckle his seat belt--the most assistance he needs these days is unwrapping the straw for his juice box. This couldn't come at a better time, since Grady seems to need my full attention always lately. He's quick on his feet now, and getting into everything. He's trying to climb on the furniture, and sometimes he's actually successful and then he can't get down. He can open cabinets and get over obstacles that he couldn't manage just last week, and it's really making things interesting around the house.

I had the boys out at the park this evening, and it was nice. There weren't too many kids there, and the ones that were there seemed to be close to Grady's age, save for one four-year-old girl who took a liking to Evan. The other parents and I chatted while the kids played, and it made for a very pleasant evening. One thing I did notice was that the little girls close to G's age were much more verbal, though they lagged way behind him in walking and other gross motor stuff. I have been noticing that a lot with girls, they all seem to be more skilled with the talking stuff. I know there's a joke here about girls yapping on the phone constantly later in life, but I'll let it slide.

G is talking more lately though. He'll usually say "hi" to you, and he does babble quite a lot. Today he was talking to the little painted animals on the merry-go-round at the playground, and he was giving them kisses. He seems to be more engaging and social than Evan was at this age, but I'm not sure. I guess my memory isn't so great on that point. I know Evan did talk a little just after his first birthday because I wrote it down, but I guess I'm just not sure when that stopped or if it was as much talking as Grady is doing now. At any rate, we're encouraging G to do as much talking as he can because I don't know if we can fit any more therapies in our schedule. Ha.