Amelia and Daddy read to the brothers last year.
Amelia, Daddy and the boys: Isaac, Sam and Alex ~ Dec. 2009
Amelia
At 3/12, Amelia is proving to be a very imaginative girl. She still has her imaginary kitty, and somewhere along the line we added an imaginary puppy, too. They 
are not around as much as they used to be, though, and learned to behave pretty well after I threatened to mail kitty to Grandma Alice if it wasn't good.
Amelia loves to play tea party and dress up and, of course, cook. We play a lot of hide-and-seek these days, but Amelia always hides in the same spot--the cupboard next to the stove. At least that makes it easy for her mom and dad!
The girl has got more words than I can begin to count, and it's funny to hear her repeat grownup things we say. Things like: "You have to be responsible," and "What's wrong, sweet pea?" (when she's talking to her brothers), and "Be careful, that's fragile." It's less funny to hear her repeat other grownup things we say, but a good reminder that she's always listening.
Amelia is a very good big sister, and enjoys her brothers now that they can play together better. She loves to get "in the cage" with the boys and play tag or throw the balls around. She does NOT love it when they pull her hair, and recently told us she didn't like one of her brothers, who shall remain anonymous, because he pulled her hair. After we talked, she decided she still loved him even when she didn't like him.
Jokes are new on the scene with Amelia. She's busy trying to figure out what a joke is, and is starting to get it when we tell a joke. Grandma Alice sent her a Christmas ornament that says, "Dear Santa, Leave the gifts. Take my brothers."
Amelia was immediately upset. "Mom! I don't want him to take my brothers!" After I explained it was a joke, she got it, but still checked in with me later to make sure Santa wouldn't take her brothers. She points out the ornament to everyone who comes to the house and informs them that it's just a joke.
Amelia recognizes most of her letters and is good at counting. She loves to be creative, especially if she can cut something with her scissors. We've had many a talk about how we only use scissors to cut paper or things mom or dad give us. I realize that I'm only forestalling the inevitable. Wonder which boy she'll get first.
Sam
I don't have up-to-the-minute weights on the boys, but Sam is definitely the heaviest. He's a real tank. If that boy comes running at me from across the room,
I have to brace for impact.
Sam was the first to master walking backwards, and is starting to sign more frequently now that he's figured out it's a way to get more food and milk. He was the first to use some of the signs in a different context than we taught them. For example, we taught them "more" using food, but Sam started signing "more" to get us to play more.
Our curly redhead is a real sweetheart, but he does show his temper from time to time. He stomps his feet and wails, especially when one of his brothers takes a toy away or won't give him a toy he wants. Lately he's even laid down dramatically on the floor to wail.
He offsets his fits by giving kisses and doing "noggins," which Jeff taught all the boys. It's supposed to be a gentle touching of the foreheads, but look out. Sometimes it's more like a head butt, especially from Sam.
While he's usually the first to wail, Sam is always the first to laugh. He's got a belly laugh that makes us laugh whenever we hear it, which is often! If you've been following the blog for a while, you've seen the videos of Sam giggling on the swing (which he still loves), laughing while playing ball with Daddy, and in fits of hysteria over his sister's sneezing antics. If you haven't seen the videos, pick one and watch it. They are sure to brighten your day.
Sam and Isaac are both pretty good nighttime sleepers, but Sam is almost always the first guy up from any nap. I think he enjoys being an only child for a little while. He's still a joy to get out of the crib. Usually he's a happy camper at wake-up time, but even if he's hollering to get your attention he almost always stops and gives you a big grin the second you walk into the room.
Isaac
Isaac is still the smallest of the three boys, but luckily he's also the fastest. He is fearless, and while they all climb, Isaac is the biggest climber. Before he was a year old he figured out how to hook his toes in the openings and scale the plastic play yar
d we used outside this summer. When we turn the boys loose in the kitchen we have to get all the chairs up tight to the kitchen table, or Isaac will be standing on it before we blink.
A pretty even-tempered boy, Isaac is the most likely to walk away if one of his brothers takes his toy. It's not always the case, but more often than for Sam or Alex. Often he moves on to something else and watches for his chance to get his toy back when his brothers finish with it.
Isaac is always paying attention. He loves to figure things out, from toys to the Diaper Champ, nothing is safe from exploration with Isaac around. He is destined to be our escape artist, I'm afraid, as he always watches the buckling and unbuckling process very carefully.
Isaac loves music, and will often dance when he hears a song, even if it's just a commercial. He's got some great moves, though Jeff says he dances like George Jefferson (for those of you old enough to remember The Jeffersons sitcom). Maybe his moves will improve as he gets older.
The Peter Pan crow is still with us, though we don't hear it as much as we used to. And Isaac remains the most attached to his blankie. He's not as interested in the paci, but that blankie is already a necessity for sleeping.
Isaac was the first to give kisses, and gives the best baby hugs. Anytime you pick him up he wraps his arms around your neck and holds on tight. He also was the first, and so far the only boy, to get a haircut. Don't worry, we made sure he got a baby cut and doesn't look like a big boy.
Alex
This boy's a charmer. He is the biggest flirt of the group, and doesn't know a stranger. He is forever mugging for the camera. And he's notorious f
or giving us a big smile and shaking his head as we tell him "No." It's both cute and worrisome at the same time.
Alex probably has the most words, though all of the boys are talking. We don't know exactly when everyone started. The three of them "talk" to each other and in general make a lot of noise, so it's been a little tough to pick up on those first words. I'm pretty sure everyone's first word came right around Halloween and was "uh-oh." Let's try not to read too much into that, OK? No one says "mama" or "dada" yet. Though that's not for lack of effort on our part!
Alex's vocabulary includes uh-oh, more, done, tickle, bye-bye, ball, go, banana, shhh and some others I'm sure we haven't caught yet. His proficiency at talking just furthers our early theory that he's going to be the one who tries to talk the three of them out of trouble.
No question that Alex is the loudest of the boys, BY FAR. Everything he does is loud. When he's upset he wails. When he's excited he screams. When he's talking it's almost always as loud as he can. When he laughs he laughs out loud. No little giggles for this boy. That's probably why one of his words is "shhh," complete with the finger to the lips. He hears it often enough!
For as charming as he can be, Alex is a bit of a bully. He takes toys from his brothers, and thinks nothing of tackling one of them. He thinks it's great fun, but Sam and Isaac don't always agree. Since he doesn't know his own strength, he can be pretty rough on whoever he's playing with, all the while squealing with delight.
Alex still loves his food. Blueberries are still the biggest hit with him, but he also loves cheese, bananas, peas, mandarin oranges and pasta with red sauce. And he's the biggest pacifier fan. Alex would have that thing in his mouth 24/7 if we'd let him. He protests very loudly when we take it out and leave it in his bed.
Ever since his rough stretch of not sleeping back in June, Alex has been getting physical therapy and craniosacral therapy about every two weeks. What a world of difference! He still wakes up once or twice almost every night, but now it's almost always because he's lost the paci. So a quick visit to the nursery usually does the trick. He still gets exiled to crib in the family room from time to time, because when he hollers it's so loud!
2 comments:
Beautiful!
Nice post!!! Love to hear how everyone is doing and the pics are great.
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