November 20, 2007 - The Cuteness Never Stops!

I have grown weary of hearing Ben scream. He screams anytime things don't go his way. Yesterday he was screaming because Nick was trying to take a toy away from him. So, I taught him how to say "mine":). This is a word that the boys had not starting using yet because they really have not heard it around here much. So I taught him the word and we role-played him having a toy and me trying to take it from him.

At the time, it seemed like a good idea. I want him to learn how to use words, rather than screaming. But, in retrospect, I am thinking that this one will most likely back fire on me. In my vivid imagination, I can already hear him *screaming* "mine!!", even if I am trying to take something from him that he should not have. Oh well, what's a mom to do?

The boys and I have started playing this game when we listen to this one song on their music CD. There is a song with a chorus that says "I'm gonna get you; you'd better run!". It is a very upbeat, fun song and I just couldn't resist chasing them, while singing the song. They absolutely love being chased. They giggle and laugh and they are never ready to stop. When the song is over, I am exhausted and they want to go "again". I think they could do this for hours.  It is good exercise.

Yesterday evening, when the dad got home, the boys were sitting in my lap and we were reading a book. We have finally gotten to the point where they will both sit in a lap and let us read the same book to the two of them at the same time. For the longest time, Nick wanted to hold and control his own book and did not want us to read to him. He enjoyed looking at the pictures and talking about them but had little interest or attention span for listening to us read. Now he loves it and will climb into a lap and say "read" to us. I digress. So we were reading a book together and they heard the garage door go up. They both got down and ran to the door and Nick was saying "daddy home, daddy home".

When the dad goes to the bedroom to change his clothes, the boys love to go with him and hide in the clothes, open and close the various doors, play with the digital scales or turn light switches on and off. Ben had been in the library/playroom, when Nick and the dad went to the bedroom. When Ben realized he was missing out on the bedroom play time, he ran in that direction saying "daddy home, daddy home".  It was so cute.

Overall, I think the boys are pretty neck and neck, when it comes to their communication skills and vocabulary size. They are both saying more and more 2 word phrases/sentences, although Ben seems more likely to repeat them now, when I say to them "say night night daddy" or something like that. When Ben gets a positive response from me, Nick usually jumps in and tries to say it too.

Yesterday I was singing "Jesus loves me, this I know..." to the boys. Ben started singing it with me and it was **SO** sweet. It almost made me cry. It is just too precious to hear a small child sing. He really did pretty well on the chorus ("Yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me; yes, Jesus loves me; the Bible tells me so.) He could say most of it and he mumbled any words that he missed. He and I were looking at each other while we sang it together and we both had a huge smile on our faces and it was just too adorable. We both laughed together when we finished and then he would say "again?".

We have struggled in the past with the boys wanting to play with the light switches. They have gotten much better about this now and I try to remember to ask one of them to turn the lights on and off for me, since they enjoy it so much. Yesterday evening, we were getting the boys ready for bed and Nick was looking for his Ya Ya. I told him I thought it was in the library/playroom so he ran in there by himself. Normally when he saw that the room was dark, he would stop and come back, look at me and sometimes would say "help". He did not want to go into the dark room by himself. Last night, for the first time, he handled it differently. The light was off in that room and it was already dark. As he went into the room, I heard him say "light" and then the light came on. Next I heard him mumbling, as he was looking for Ya Ya and then I heard "Ya Ya!", when he found it. Next I heard "light" again and he turned out the light and ran back into the living room. It was the first time I have seen either of the boys actually go through this whole process, realizing they need the light and using the light switch as it is meant to be used. I thought for sure he would leave the room with the light still on, so I was quite surprised when he remember to turn it off again.  My little boys are growing up:(…:).

They have also gotten to the point that, when the dryer buzzer goes off, they run ahead of me into the laundry room because they enjoy helping to remove the clothes from the dryer and dumping them into a laundry basket. When I tell them I am going to the laundry room to put clothes in the dryer, they also run along with me. When I drop the clothes on the dryer door, they like to push them into the dryer.

They are still having a great time, playing with the large box in which the new furnace came. Yesterday I turned it on its side, so it is more like a cave, and it became a whole new, interesting toy again:). I am in search of some new, good puzzles, as the boys can work all of the puzzles we have now.

We were at Walmart yesterday and they have these Christmas trees set up as you enter the store. The trees were there last week too, so the boys have already seen them a couple of times and I have told them what they are. Yesterday, as we walked by one, Ben pointed to the tree and said "Christmas tree!", as big as you please. I said "yes, that is a Christmas tree; isn't it pretty?".

Lately I have written a lot about what the boys say. When I do this, I am writing what they are trying to say, rather than the actual way they are saying it. Their words frequently do not come out as clearly as I write them but I am not good at writing their words the actual way they say them, if you know what I mean. In other words, they do not speak that clearly and the dad frequently does not understand what they are saying. Since I am with them all the time, I normally know what they are saying. I just didn't want everyone thinking that they are saying all of these words perfectly clear, as an adult would, even though that is the way I write their words here. It's just easier for me to write it that way....I'm all for easy:).

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is only two days away. I can't wait! Happy Thanksgiving!