Ben and Rosie are silly

Just a few pictures of Rosie and Ben to keep you abreast of the fact that life is still very interesting with two three year olds. Rosie continues to remain incredibly stubborn. The other day she took all her clothes into the bathroom to get dressed "by myself" and then was screaming and crying because she got her shirt stuck on her head. I came in to find her like this, and she still wouldn't let me help. She is fascinating.

Ben's world is still vehicles. On his turn, he picked the movie Cars to watch, and got himself all set up on the sheet with all the cars and trucks he could find in his lap so he was ready to watch.

The twins' new favorite game is hide and seek. Occasionally they actually have gotten rather good at certain aspects, like staying quiet while hiding, not shouting out their location, Rosie actually keeps her eyes closed while she counts, even! But there are other aspects they are still learning, like not hiding in the same spot over and over, and getting themselves fully covered. This one was pretty cute!

3 year check up

Ben and Rosie went to the doctor for their 3 year check up in December.

Ben clocked in at 37 pounds, 9 ounces (91st percentile) and is 39.25 inches tall (84th percentile and 50% of the way to Chris's adult height). The doctor predicted Ben would round out at about 6'2" or 6'3" with some sort of calculation. He is overall doing great and is finally becoming a "big" boy - he spent so much of his first couple years being quite small!

Rosie clocked in at 31 pounds, 11 ounces (57th percentile) and is 37.25 inches tall (50th percentile and 56% of the way to my adult height). She also is finally coming in around the "average" range after spending a long time being "small." 

Here they are showing of their finger band aids after they had to get their fingers pricked for some lab work.

Rosie and Ben's birthday

Ben and Rosie woke up bright and early on their 3rd birthday, beginning the day at 6:45. They loved the balloons on their door.

We headed downstairs to follow their birthday string.

From there, Chris took the twins to Duck Donuts for breakfast!

They played a bit while we got school done for the day, and then headed outside to share rice crispy treats with the neighbors.

Antelope, Uncle Benny, and Bonnie came over that evening for dinner and cake! 

Ben and Rosie loved their presents from their Auntie and Uncle. They both slept with them that night.'

That night was their first night in their "big kid" bed! They did an okay job but Ben woke Rosie up at least once and there was some chatting up later than usual. 

Happy birthday to our THREE year olds!!!!

Rosie is three!

Rosie is three years old! She weighs just over 30ish pounds and is several inches shorter than her brother. She is still our fiercest, fiestiest and most stubborn child. Sometimes we joke that she only has one volume (loud if you can't guess), and she deliberately won't do what you ask her to do just to do things her own way. She loves saying, "No! Mama!" I believe she has learned to be this way being the youngest of four. It's clearly the way she feels she can get noticed.

Rosie by default is disciplined less than Ben because he is almost always more phyiscal and wilder. She is pretty independent but when she wants to be held she's like a tiny spider monkey clinging tightly around necks and arms and almost impossible to extricate yourself from. She has no fear and thinks she is invincible. She leads her brother into all sorts of situations including climbing trees and hills and balancing on precarious things (hence the broken bones in her arm).

Rosie seems to be very smart and capable. I am always quite surprised to find out what she already knows. She loves reading books, and most recently has been taking chapter books to bed because she sees Eleanor and Jane doing it (Jane also isn't quite reading chapter books, but she makes a valiant attempt). She has been potty training over the last two weeks and is now doing quite well. She wears diapers at night, but throughout the day and at naps she wears her underwear. She sleeps about eleven hours at night and still takes a nap almost every day. She definitely is the earlier riser between her and her brother, but he seems to adjust fairly well. She also is capable of being silly, but mostly is only silly when she's trying to be defiant.

Rosie at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Rosie at two years old.

Ben and Rosie - their last night as two year olds!

Eleanor and Jane at three years old.

Ben is three!

Ben is three years old! He weighs close to 40 pounds and has several inches on his sister. He is very sweet and smiley when he wants to be, but his interests are very different from his sisters. Ben loves vehicles. In fact, his favorite toy is one of those standard Little Tykes cars. I find cars, trucks, construction vehicles all over the house...under couches, in blankets, behind pillows, in the washing machine, in the stroller and car, and of course, he sleeps with them. He is like a magnet for vehicles. The other day we went to Colonial Williamsburg for a walk and then I turned around and he was holding a tractor. There were no kids around and I have literally no idea where it came from or where he found it. He also loves throwing things.

Ben loves to move his body - running, dancing, playing, climbing. He occasionally still shows some limited abilities climbing things, but overall, he keeps up very well. He has more fear than his sister, or at least a sense of danger. He often wants help to slide down a tall slide or someone to hold his hand when he's doing something new. He can be very sweet, soooo silly, and laid back, but he can also show some rage. When he gets mad he hits (main thing), pulls hair, kicks, and screams (I can feel the anger behind his screams!). He is very difficult to discipline because he laughs and smiles at everything. He thinks it's all a big game. He is in time out a lot. He also loves snuggles and "hold yous." 

Ben figures out everything about three months behind his sister. He has no concept of using the potty and nothing seems to motivate him to try. He gave up his pacifier a few months ago though, so we are making some progress. He sleeps about eleven hours every night and still takes a nap almost every day. 

Ben at one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months old.

Ben at two years old.

Ben and Rosie - their last night as two year olds!

Eleanor and Jane at three years old.

Ben and Rosie's birthday

For Ben and Rosie's birthday this year we didn't have much in the way of plans. I had been out of town the weekend before and we had a bunch of stuff to get done on the house. Here was their last night as one year olds:

Of course we started their day off with balloons and their birthday string, though!

One of the first things Chris did when they turned two was rearrange the car seats. He couldn't wait for Ben and Rosie to be facing forward and Eleanor couldn't wait to move into a booster seat from a five point harness finally.

We went to the girls' last day of soccer that morning and then came home. It was so cold out!

Chris and I started some work on the backyard while the kids took naps. That night, Eleanor and Jane had friends come over (they hosted their first sleepover!) because I had offered to watch my friend's kids for the evening. Chris's sister in Richmond asked to come down and my sister and Uncle Benny came over, too so we could have enough people to play a game! Everyone came over around 5:30-6pm and the girls disappeared up into the bonus room for their sleepover. We had them come down to join us for cake before the babies went to bed, though! I had made a cake for our small group on Sunday but since people ended up coming over on their birthday, we did it then instead. I also did my best to get a picture of the babies in party hats for Grammy - but as you can see, they didn't love them!

 Group birthday pictures:

After cake, we put the babies and little girls to bed (Eleanor and her friend got to stay up later) and played a rousing game of Settlers. I don't think we've played since Jane was born! It was nice to have the big girls occupied with friends and the littles asleep.

Happy SECOND birthday Ben and Rosie! We love you so much!