… with Rusty? He is talking a lot! He doesn’t say real words yet, but he jabbers and grunts all the time. He thinks he is a master walker and toddles all around the house. With the wonderful weather over the weekend, Rusty learned that he loves to be outside. He thinks he is as big as his brothers and wants to do whatever they do. Kevin was laying some bricks around a flower bed and Rusty was trying to pick them up without much success. Billy came over, moved one, and as soon as he put it down, Rusty waddled over. You could just tell his thoughts, “If Billy could pick that one up, than I can too!” He climbed in and out of the sandbox, walked through the flowerbed, and happily followed his brothers all around the yard. Rusty refuses to be fed – he’ll do it himself, thank you very much! And he is generally NOT happy if he is not getting the same meal as his big brothers!
… with Billy? He is getting the hang of potty training. Last night he declared that he was “…a big boy! Like you and you and you and you and you!” as he pointed around the dinner table to Kevin and Ricky and me and Grandmama and Aunt Nancy! (I always wanted to be a big boy!) Billy is very excited about chores and has started making his own bed and feeding the fish. I don’t know that the fish need that much food, but he’s happy to do it! Yesterday was a red letter day for him … he sat in the chair all by himself for a haircut! Just a year ago, I had to hold his arms down, keep his head still, and try not to focus on the crying and screaming as his hair was cut. He did fabulous yesterday though! He did not like that there was hair on his shoes, but his stylist nicely wiped them off for him before we left!
…with Ricky? He can tie his own shoes! We hadn’t bothered teaching him until it came home as a homework assignment and he caught on very quickly. He would still rather I do it for him, but he does it very well! His teacher has promoted Ricky to chapter books for his homework reading. They are short little chapter books, but still on the 2nd/3rd grade reading level and he is much happier with them than the little books he was reading before. Ricky has finally noticed video games beyond our joystick of old arcade games. He loves watching his cousins play their Nintendos and has mentioned having one of his own. Oy! Ricky is becoming a good little artist and I can almost always make out what he draws. He draws almost constantly and writes books and stories. Today he wrote a sequel to “Save the Rusty from Space” story of a few months ago and took it as a gift to his teacher. And he has an interest in Star Wars. We haven’t let him watch the movies yet, but he has a few vintage toys and an old book that have given him a general gist. He lets his imagination take over!