Ben is talking up a storm! I had to get some video of him the other day because he was just chattering non-stop about this, that and the other without a pause. He's been a very good little boy. His terrible 3's stage only lasted a couple of weeks. Now he is back to responding to requests with "Okay, I will". He's really good to his little brother (most of the time) and will give him toys if he hears Jack crying - or he'll tell me "Mommy, Baby Jack crying". Lately they have been running back and forth in the living room - not really chasing each other but just making lots of noise and giggling a lot. Sometimes Ben will stop and hug Jack and they'll fall down and laugh. Got a wee bit of video of that too.
Ben also did a poo in the potty all by himself finally. I had just been reading online about what to do when your 3 year old is potty trained for peeing but not pooping and all the articles said that it's a power struggle and the more you try to force it, the worse it will be. And then what do you know but I went in to help him pull his pants up and he said "I'm not done, I'm poopin'!" I thought, yeah, yeah, heard that one before... but sure enough he did! Hasn't done it since, but it's a start. He still won't go in public toilets though, but won't go in his pants either - just complains and dances around. Guess we just have awhile longer to wait on that.
We just bought a "booster" seat for him for the Jeep which he seems to like. We'll get another for the Suburban and then Jack will get his old car seats (which he has already been enjoying). New baby will get the old baby rear-facing seat. Man, we are getting lots of use out of our original baby purchases like the car seat, high-chair, pack-n-play, swing, walker, etc. Go us!
Jack is getting smarter and cuter every day. He's really walking around everywhere now (started August 22nd) and seems to love the new freedom. This week he has been making himself laugh by picking up a big inflatable ball and throwing it to watch it bounce and then going after it to do it again. He also loves for me to read to him and likes the touchy-feely books.
At his 1 year check up he was in the 90th percentile for height and 70th percentile for weight which the pediatrician said was good (he is 25 pounds). She also commented on how healthy he was because he has never been to the doctor (never been sick). He only cried for maybe 30 seconds after his shots and then was fine.
He has 4 top teeth and 4 bottom teeth now and eats just about anything we put in front of him. Seems to get diaper rash after eating anything with egg in it, but other than that, he's a great eater! Doesn't like milk at all, but the pediatrician said that wasn't a problem as long as he got 3 servings of calcium per day and suggested we try calcium fortified orange juice. I tried cheese and yogurt but they were no-gos. Not a dairy guy (which is the only deviation from him being a total Daddy's boy).
He's been a great sleeper - goes to bed about 5pm and wakes up about 6am. Sometimes he wakes up at night but he puts himself back to sleep usually so we rarely have to get up and return his paci or "sleepy bear".
ADDENDUM: I forgot to mention that Jack will clap whenever someone says "Yay", "Good Job", or "Good Boy", even if it's someone on TV. Also when Ben kisses him and says "Good night" Jack will wave at him.
When Shertzer Baby #3 gets here we'll be moving Jack into Ben's room. Grandpa Huber has offered to make the kids a bunk-bed with stairs instead of a ladder, and Gigi has offered to buy a twin mattress since we have 1 already. I think they will LOVE it. Just hope Jack is in the mood to stay in bed by that time. Ben was really good about it, but Jack seems a bit more independent and aggressive, so we'll see.
Here are some pictures for your amusement from the b-day party through this week:
You da man (he's getting so big!)
Ben found my sweater. =-)
