Little boys update...they're almost 2!

Life has been crazy with so much going on between work, home and everything else that I haven't really had a chance to write an update on the little guys!

Gary - what a kid! He knows almost the entire alphabet! On his way to bed, he stops in front of the Oreck vacuum and says every letter. He follows it up with saying "vacuum!!!". He also greets almost everyone with a huge, very loud "HI!". Or, better yet, when you're leaving him he says "byeeeeeeeee". It's too cute!

Ryan - what a sponge! Ry-Ry is just saying so many words. He's particularly good with 2 or 3 syllable words. He says umbrella really well. He also can identify Ben by name and points to him. He says hi, bye and car. Ryan is all about the remotes and phones too. Once he gets a device he will NOT give it up to anyone for anything. He'll even eat and get it all gooey, but if you take it away, god help you. The screaming begins and takes quite awhile to quit. The phone is really bad. Any gadget he just loves. Daddy tries to sit on the sofa and play with his itouch and boy they come running for it, but Ryan truly wants it. I honestly think that Ryan will be the first one potty trained because he now says cah cah and skinky. Most of the time he's spot on! He's still the most temperamental too. Tantrums are not unusual and he's well aware of time out now. He tends to still be the bully. We're working on that.

Ben - little Ben-Ben. We are a little concerned with his lack of speech. He just doesn't say much. On occasion he'll say car, but doesn't really respond when we ask him to repeat words. He still loves cars and often plays alone. I think he might be an engineer. He checks everything out and loves to buckle stuff. Sweet, sweet little boy. Ryan pushes him around and he cries. In fact he does a lot of sympathy crying when one of the other boys are crying. Ben is the best eater. Oh my gosh, I sometimes cannot believe how much food he can eat at a meal. Ben also still is quite attached to his blanket. Talk about low maintenance. He's such a happy boy. In the evenings sometimes Chip will run back and forth across the family room flapping his arms and saying eeeeeeeeeee. Ben jumps right in, flapping his arms and mimicing the eeeeeee. His giggle is SO funny.

All the boys are now scurreying up the stairs to bed and nap. They also walk down the steps with help when they get up in the morning and after the nap. All 3 are so much more hungry these days. They get up, get dressed and then it's breakfast. Probably within 20 minutes! Right now the breakfast food of choice is Frosted Mini Wheats in milk to soften them up a bit. Daddy is still taking them on walks every day. During the walks Chip tells them the names of things. They all know tree, mailbox and car. Ryan and Gary say them, Ben doesn't. When Ryan and Gary say all these words, it's after one of us ask them to say them. We're not into phrases or spontaneous conversation, but I'm sure it won't be long.