benjamin & asher: 34 months

I cannot believe these boys are almost THREE!

Right now, Benjamin and Asher seem to be growing and changing quickly.  My mom and I both noticed that they are growing out of their baby faces and starting to look more like little boys.

They are talking much more, and they love to ask questions: "What's that noise? What's that smell? What's daddy/mommy doing? What's happening?  What's that?"  Benjamin's "what's that?" is particularly funny- it sounds more like "wha dot?" Most of the time they are asking questions they already know the answer to.  Last night Asher ran up to me and said, "What's that noise?" I asked him, "What noise?" and he said, "someone's knocking at the door!"  We weren't expecting anyone, but I got up and went to the door, and indeed, Grandpa Nick was there!  Good thing we had Asher's good ears!

Asher is particularly solicitous of his little sister.  Every morning he greets her with "Hello baby.  How's you?"  He likes to hold her and give her hugs.

Asher "carrying" Charlotte

We had parent-teacher conferences last week with the boys' teacher, Miss Wendy.  Wendy's first comment to us was, "they are really different!"  Of course we knew that.  Here were some of the things she noticed about the boys:

Asher is very nurturing and helpful.  He loves to help clean up, and is always attentive to his classmates and their needs.  He sucks his thumb a lot- we think because he is shy.  He's not a "joiner"- he'll watch other people participate in activities but is slow to participate in them himself.  He loves to read books, do arts and crafts, and of course, go to gym class.  Miss Wendy said he can be "competitive" and likes to be the first person in line.  Or ahead of the line.  He runs everywhere, and he's really fast.  We have heard from other classmates of theirs that the gym teacher, Miss Lori, says that Asher is the fastest kid in the whole class.  As the mommy who has to chase him, and who lost him at the Please Touch Museum a few weeks ago, this doesn't surprise me.  She asked that we ask him to use his "walking feet" more often.

At home, Asher loves to help, and he loves to cook and bake.  He is so happy to climb on a stool or chair in the kitchen and help make cookies, or help make dinner.  We made the same cookie recipe twice last week.  It was very easy, and the first time we made it we suspect our household cookie monster (daddy) ate them all.  Asher has a HUGE sweet tooth.  He loves cookies, cake, ice cream, and especially M&Ms.  We have tried to use M&Ms as a bribe to get the kids on the potty, but Asher is having a hard time with it.  He doesn't seem to know when he has to pee, or how to use his muscles to pee when he's on the potty.  So I suspect potty training is still a long ways off.

Miss Wendy commented on how curious and quick Benjamin is.  He is always watching, and he knows where everything is and how to get to it.  I am sure Wendy is annoyed with him, but she made it sound like a strength, that Benjamin is always finding his way into the toys or cabinets to play with what he wants.  Benjamin also loves books and physical activities (those are the similarities!).  Wendy noticed that Benjamin is sometimes a little clumsy, which he is.  He has always been a little more accident-prone.  Part of that is that Benjamin just doesn't pay attention to things around him, and is more internally focused.  He's not a great listener, not because he is being stubborn (although sometimes he is) but because he just isn't paying attention.

Benjamin seems to be almost ready to give up his afternoon nap.  Ugh.  He skips it at least 50% of the time, both at home and at school. Some days this is not a big deal, other days it leaves him crabby and disagreeable.  He sometimes will decide he "no like" something.  Like pancakes.  This means he refuses to eat/do something and if we try to encourage him otherwise, he will get hysterical.  So now we just say, "ok." and ignore him until he changes his mind, which he almost always does.

They have both adjusted well to school, and Wendy said she loves having them in her class.  We're thinking of sending them Monday mornings as well (depending on cost), because I'm finding myself overwhelmed and exhausted on Mondays.  I can handle Monday mornings, but if we then come home and they don't nap, I am at my wit's end!  Charlotte is still in the naps anywhere/very portable stage, but that won't last forever... and I'm dreading its end.

I apologize for the lack of pictures- we packed our camera battery recharger somewhere and can't find it, so we're waiting on the replacement.