17 months!

We can't believe that Ben is turning the age Sophie was when she became a big sister!  We remember her seeming older than Ben does now, but I think that's because we didn't have anyone else to compare her to.  Actually, when we go back and look at what I was writing about her at that time, he seems to be ahead of her in some ways, which isn't too surprising since he has her as a teacher.

For example, the day before Ben was born, I cataloged all the words Sophie could say at that time.  There is no way I'd be able to do that for Ben now; there are too many.  Here are some of his most frequent communications:

• He likes to stand up on chairs and say "sit down!" while grinning at me.
• He likes to throw things on the ground and say "oh-oh! Down."
• He asks for food or drink and says "pees."
• When he likes a food, he says "mmmm... me" (which means mmmm... yummy).
• He says "ick, ick!" when he wants to listen to his music.
• He sings the alphabet.  These days his favorite letter is W ("dub-oo").
• He likes to talk about his blankie, Brutus Buckeye, books, going outside, and SuperWhy!  From what I can remember, Sophie has never asked to watch TV shows, but Ben often asks, "watch Why? watch Why?"

Other things he likes to do: run with abandon, be chased, be surprised, be upside down, climb up into Sophie's chair to see what she has to eat and drink, take things off shelves and tables and out of drawers and cupboards and put them on the floor, play in sand and dirt, climb, slide.

The routine we adhere to most with Ben is when we get him out of his crib, and he loves to participate.  When he sees us, he says "it's... Mama!" or "it's... Dada!"  We say good morning, and then we spell his name with him, reading along with the big letters above his crib.  The we move over and sing the alphabet along with a poster that is next to his crib.  Then it's time to go see Sophie, and Ben says "suh-fee? suh-fee?" and we put him down and he runs into Sophie's room to rouse her out of bed.

The kids LOVE to get out of the house.  They don't care where we are going: the backyard, the car, out the front door, whatever.  All I have to do is say the words "outside" or "car" and both kids dash off to get their shoes, and sometimes their clothes, too.  It might seem like we don't get out much, but we do!  They just can't get enough.

Things that get Ben excited:

• Mama's home
• Dada's home
• SuperWhy
• Juice
• Going outside
• "Gogs" (aka dogs)
• Listening to his favorite CDs
• Elmo

He's not cute and happy ALL the time.  In fact, lately he's been getting very angry about certain things.  He and Sophie are, not surprisingly, having trouble sharing.  It could be worse, and sometimes they give things to each other, too.  But it's hard when they both really want the same thing, and Ben has learned that when he has something that's coveted, he doesn't even want Sophie in the same vicinity, just in case she tries anything.  Sometimes if I'm reading a book to him and she comes over, he'll climb over me just to try to push her away.  He still takes the word "no" really personally; his most common response is to throw himself backward -- no matter what he may hit on his way down -- and start wailing.  And once he has started that, there is really no distracting him.  He's very single-minded!  And he's very attached to me lately, so sometimes John has problems putting him to bed.

But for the most part, he's a very sweet boy who just loves to play and find out about the world.