Eliot & Benjamin

So here is a catch up on these guys. Both of them - I am ever grateful that these guys love books. I hope their love of story continues throughout their lives. They are very observant, so fair warning: beware of what you say around them because it WILL be repeated. As the pictures show, they love to dress up. Thank goodness for the dollar aisle at Target and Michaels. We left the boys for the first time ever for 3.5 days last month. Thanks to good friends and their adorable girls, we all survived. Eliot - is a non-stop talker. He is continually processing his world and has a vivid imagination (the Filini story just one of his great creations). He is a homebody and would prefer home to just about anywhere. But once he get him out, he enjoys himself. Some of my most favorite Eliot conversations: 1. In shear surprise at his conclusion he exclaimed "Mommy, I just realized that I know more than you." Yes, in our family this started at age 4 - not a teen or even tween. 2. The Filini story below remains an all time favorite of mine. The story continues to develop daily. 3. He has picked up that the Internet is an authority figure of knowledge somewhere. So when he has things he wants to share with some authority, he will say "My Internet told me..." Like "My Internet told me that bananas are good for you only when they are ripe, not when they are green." 4. He absolutely loves drawing and coloring with his markers. He is getting pretty good at coloring. He loves most crafts and just being creative. 5. He still loves purple. 6. Eliot is very particular in many ways. One of them is his future job. He wants to be a construction worker who rebuilds houses and buildings after there has been a fire. He plans to work out of the fire station. Today we drove past the building near us that burned down this summer and he exclaimed "Mommy, I need to hurry and grow up fast because someone needs to rebuild that!!" Benjamin - I am picking my battles with Ben. He now sleeps in a toddler bed and is completely potty-trained. Yipee!! So I am not rushing the paci. Hopefully we can break the habit soon, but again, I am not going to push it as we have already reached some major milestones earlier than expected. This kid keeps up with his brother in the talking world. He talks and talks and his vocabulary is impressive for a two year old. He too has a great imagination and is right in the mix of it with Eliot. He has an uncanny ability to remember names. He will meet someone just once and quickly remember and use their names. This skill will serve him well in life if he keeps it up. One of our close friends even commented that Ben is one of the few people who even pronounces her name correctly. Ben likes to point out who is nice and who is not. When he is being reminded of rules in the house, he is always quick to exclaim to Daddy that "Mommy is not nice." But when he does get his way, he is also quick to let you know how nice you are. He is pretty whiny and expresses his frustrations by screaming at the person (mostly Eliot). I could really, really do without these behaviors, but I have to remind myself that he is only two. Because he is so articulate, I sometimes forget. He loves to dramatically replay his experiences for us. When he gets hurt or Eliot tells him "no", he will come and elaborately tell you about it and then retell it if there is someone else he can talk to. We definitely need to explore acting and theatre options for both of our dramatic boys. There are about 4 things in Ben's diet that we rotate through. This is his choosing. But it doesn't help that he is again officially allergic to peanuts and still has a strong allergy to egg. Ben sayings: 1. Today I was looking at a story on the Internet, when Ben saw the photo attached to it. It happened to be of an African American woman. He exclaimed, very excitedly, "Mommy, that's my sister!!" It took me a minute to figure out what he meant. Later he told me "she part of my family." Because of the Mormon use of the term "sister," Ben now associates any African American woman as his sister and part of his greater family. It's rather sweet. 2. As explained above, when he gets his way "Oh, you a nice mommy, Mommy." 3. When you ask him why he did anything (good and bad) his new answer is "'Cause I wanted to." 4. "Hold me" said ever so sweetly. Even though he seems such a big kid in so many ways, he still loves to sit on your lap and be held. "Put your arm around me" is his instructions when we are reading books or watching a show. So endearing. 5. His version of God Bless America can seriously melt any heart. 6. Eliot's Internet authority has carried over to Ben. He informed Jared a few weeks ago that "My Internet told me no hands in the toilet." Phew, glad to know the Internet taught him that hygiene tip.