May 5, 2008

Some things I have been meaning to document for a while:

-- Nick is now a little under 30 months old; Ben is now a little over 31 months.

-- we have not had to tape diapers for quite a number of months now.

-- although the boys can now climb out of their cribs pretty well, they don't...don't ask me why. I'm shocked that they wait for me to come and get them but I'm not complaining.

-- they still are not sleeping in their new beds. Ben will stay in it all of 5 seconds (literally) after I leave the room at nap time. Maybe they just feel safer in their cribs. I'm sure they will get it eventually, as I don't know any 18 year olds who are still sleeping in cribs:).

-- Nick finally has a little belly. I think it is because he figured out that he really likes bread/toast A LOT so he spent some time packing on the carbs. He looks really healthy though.

-- Ben is slimming down and getting taller. We no longer have to monitor what he eats, as he quits and leaves food on his plate on a regular basis now. His weight has leveled off and is staying at a pretty good level for him now. I wish I could say the same thing about myself.

-- I think we finally filled them up. Both boys have slowed down on how much they are eating lately. I think part of it is that they are at a point where they are busier and more interested in things they are playing so they would rather play than eat. They had never been that way until now.

-- They still eat anything and everything. I am the pickiest eater in our house.

-- They are getting faster and stronger. I am amazed at some of the things they can do now.

-- Nick continues to be consistently ahead of his peers in his motor skills abilities. He is quite nimble, quick and coordinated for his age.

-- Ben continues to be consistently ahead of his peers in his cognitive abilities. He can pick up little counting bears, one by one, and put them into the matching plate while counting them up to 13 or 14. That's pretty good for a child who is just over 2.5 years of age. He knows all of the basic colors and a lot of others, he recognizes all letters in the alphabet and numbers up to around 12 or 13 or so and knows most of the alphabet song. He also has an incredible memory. The dad frequently lets Ben finish sentences when he is reading books to him and it is amazing how much he remembers. I will be quite surprised if he is not an early reader. He is always very interested in learning about letters and listening to me talk about the sounds they make. He watches my mouth closely and tries to repeat what I say. He has a pretty good attention span, when it comes to this sort of stuff.

-- both boys love for us to read to them and they ask me several times a day ("mommy, read, read?"). I normally read several books during morning and afternoon snack times and sometimes during breakfast and lunch and then we also sit on the couch and read a lot too. If they are not playing outside after we finish dinner, the first thing they say is "daddy, read, read?".

-- they still watch very little TV at home. My best guess is that they probably average about 15 minutes every 2 weeks.

-- Nick loves, loves, loves to be outside and is happy to play outside even when an adult is not outside with him...but he wants his brother (or someone) to be outside with him.

-- Ben loves to play outside too, but not so much if an adult is not outside with him.

-- I am still loving my life as a stay at home wife and mom. I'm far from perfect at this and still have much to learn but I sure do enjoy it and I am constantly amazed at how fast the time goes by. I can't believe that my sons will be 3 years old in just 5 to 6 months. Wow.