Abby and Ben Update

About a month later than this should have been posted.....

Abby @ 2.5 Years

• Abby is really into letters and words, naming each letter in words she sees in books/store signs/papers/anything, guessing what the first letter in a word is by its sound, looking for letters when we're driving around, and can read/recognize a few words most of the time ("Ben," "Abby," "cat," "tree"), is just starting to be able to put rhyming words together, and asks me frequently "What do these words say, Mama?" (which means that I now regularly get to read the copyright information and "For Parents" messages at the back of books since she wants to know what every group of words on every page says. Yipee.).
• Once I announced Abby potty-trained several months ago (see here), she has done incredibly well and has only had three accidents since then.
• Abby loves to put her Daddy's phone on its charger for him whenever she finds it lying around, "because the bars are low and it needs more battery."
• She spontaneously gives me hugs and kisses throughout the day and tells me she loves me. I melt every time. :)
• She has just recently graduated from training toothpaste (safe to swallow) to regular toothpaste and is spitting like a pro now.
• Abby often copies her brother's antics (pulling pots and pans out of the cupbards, climbing on things she never looked twice at before until he did it, etc).
• She loves to make her food/toys/whatever into shapes of things she likes, most often into snowmen and caterpillars.

Abby with her noodles in caterpillar formation.

• She can sometimes dress herself and put her shoes on if she is in the mood to do it herself.
• Abby will take an hour or more to eat a meal, unless someone intervenes and speeds up the process by feeding her.
• She never wanders away in a store (since she usually walks beside the cart now, while Ben rides), and is very good about always holding my hand in the parking lot and staying right next to the car (actually, right inside an open door) while I get Ben out of his car seat.
• As of a few days ago, Abby can spell her name outloud!! When I ask her how to spell her name, sometimes she says, "A-2 B's-Y!" instead of "A-B-B-Y." :)
  
• She still takes a good long nap in the afternoon (about 2 hours), which we almost always have to wake her up from or she has too hard of a time getting to sleep at night.
  
• Abby loves to sing, and she can often be heard singing a made-up song or bits of real songs while she plays.

I adore her big, beautiful, brown eyes!

Ben @ 1 Year

Snuggling with Mamma.

• His one-year check-up stats: 20 lbs 5 oz (about 10th percentile) and 30 inches long (just over 50th percentile). His growth has definitely slowed down and it seems like he's been in the 9-12 month clothes forever since he continues to hover around 20lbs.
  
• While he is playing across the room and looks up, I give him a smile and he always gives me a big grin back (well, if he's not teething or has a cold :).
• He gets into trouble many times a day, getting into things he shouldn't (his favorite right now is the toilet plunger behind the master bathroom toilet - if I forget and leave the door open, Ben will be there within a couple minutes), eating things he shouldn't (especially crayons Abby leaves out and anything made out of paper), and sometimes even breaking/ruining items (most recently, our TV antenna). Yes, this boy is a lot more trouble than his big sister. :)
• He shows some interest in books now, but nothing like his sister at this age. He can hardly sit still for a story and would rather chew on a book than "read" it.
  

• His walking skills are amazing! After only a little more than a month of walking, he can move along quite quickly, over uneven ground of various terrains (even gravel), and does not like to hold anyone's hand while he does it. A very independent little guy!
• He starts crying/whining the second he sees Grandma come up the walkway until she gets inside and picks him up.
• Ben was finally able to start eating Kix 10 days after his birthday (he doesn't like Cheerios much)!! But although he can tolerate a few bites of finger food here and there, within the last week he's gagged and thrown up on tiny bites of very ripe bananas, mushed avocado, mashed potatoes and a thicker-than-normal rice cereal. Yup, he's got quite a ways to go, but at least we've finally seen a little progress!!! As a side note, Abby enjoys being in charge of handing Ben several pieces of Kix at a time, since he throws them all over the floor if he is given too many at a time. She calls an individual piece, "a Kick." :)
  

Eating Kix for the first time.

• When getting his diaper changed, Ben often points at his feet and says, "Ffffff! Fffff!"
• In our picture frames in the hallway, he can correctly identify (by pointing) Dadda, Mamma, Bubba and sometimes Sister and Baby Ben.
• Ben can follow simple directions, like "Give Mamma a hug," "Pick up that ball," and "Look at the doggy outside the window!"
• He usually bops and/or sways to music and occasionally tries to "sing" along.
  
• He LOVES to go outside and explore.
• He is a definite risk-taker and seems to have very few fears.