Song of the Solomons: Stories

I was about to journal a couple of cute things, and I thought, why not blog? So this post will be a little different; here we go!

One of the boys' favorite books is B is for Bear, by Roger Priddy, and the "X" page is a xylophone. I usually talk about how the boys have a xylophone and "play" it by tapping the bars with my fingers and saying "dah-dah-dah-dah-dah" when we get to that page. Yesterday, Ben beat me to it and tapped the page and sang "dah-dah-dah-dah" when we got to the "X." I was so impressed!! Not to be outdone, Jack walks over to us, peers over the top of the page, and "dah dah dah" taps the page also.

It's amazing to me how the boys' receptive language is really so much more advanced than I think of it being. Last week on a whim I told Jack after putting on his pajamas to take his dirty clothes to the laundry hamper, and he walked over to the hamper, lifted the lid, and put his clothes away! Then Ben did the same thing when we asked him. That is not something we taught them, it's just evidence of how much they can understand already.

Along that same vein, I leave my shoes by the back door and yesterday, Jack picked them up and brought them to me (they love shoes). When I asked him to go put mommy's shoes back, he put them in the exact spot he got them from! We went to the mall over the weekend and I said, "That's mommy's favorite shoe store," and Ben stopped walking to look down at his shoes. Haha!

EVERY time we get in the car, Jack sings. I would say it's similar to yelling, but it's a lot of "ahhhhhh-ahh!" with lifts in his voice, and it's very loud and long. I think he tries to go as long as he can without taking a breath. When we are out during the lunch hour, I usually listen to Dennis Prager, but I've had to give in and turn it to KLTY so that Jack can "sing" along with the radio. It's not like I can listen to anything else anyway. You win, Jack. :) I love his sweet voice, though, and he makes me laugh. Especially when Jonathan and I are in the car together and trying to have a conversation and Jack drowns us out.

We have been watching Sesame Street occasionally and recently the letter of the day was "A" and the characters were singing "Apple starts with A" and Ben started saying "apple." He always says it very softly, and his voice fades on the "le" so it's more like "APP...le." They love applesauce, and Jack will mimic me making the sign for apple when I feed them applesauce while Ben happily chants "App, APPle" - so cute!

Speaking of apples, these babies loooooove to eat! Snacks, anyway. We have officially dropped down to one nap a day, and they nap anywhere from 2-3 hours in the afternoon, which is really nice to have that consolidated break. But now they have a morning snack and an afternoon snack, which is fine - except they want more and more and I'm always afraid they are going to ruin their dinner. I gave them Cheerios in their snack cups yesterday morning. When Ben was out, he walked up to me in the living room, made the sign for more, and gestured to the kitchen, making me follow him, then pointed up to the Cheerios box. I just continue to be amazed by them! I would think it'd be way easier to push the empty snack cup in my face and make the sign for more, but Ben has figured out where the extra snacks are and wants me to know that he knows!

When the boys see a dog either out at the park or maybe in a book, they start growling. It's like they're talking in "dog." If I have Bit crated during meal-time so she doesn't beg for food (she loooooves Ben & Jack, especially during snack-time and meal-times) and she whines, they sometimes will mimic her whining. But my favorite is when we ask them what Bit & Buddy say and they "woof woof." Jack's is the best; for some reason when Ben makes animal noises, he keeps his lips closed! So his "mooo" and "woof woof" is with a closed mouth, it's very funny. But Jack actually woofwoofs in a really deep voice, and he if he hears the dogs bark in another room, he will sometimes mimic them and I think it's so funny.

One of my favorite thing that the boys are doing right now is putting their bellies on you. If I am sitting on the floor they will come up behind me and push their bellies out to touch my back - they don't necessarily put their arms or hands around me, just push their bellies on me and giggle. I don't know why they think that is so funny, but they really think that's clever.

That's probably more than enough stories for now. They are growing so fast and getting so big! I love watching them play - they are so busy and such little independent dudes, but if I'm patient, they will eventually either back up into my lap to read a book or stack cups, or they'll bring me something they need help with like a shape sorter, or they will catch my eye & remember "Oh yeah, Mom's here to play with," and attack me like I'm a climbing toy. Love them so much. :)