Two little monkeys

Brings new meaning to the words "belly shot," huh?

My living room is always covered with toys. If the boys have been especially busy -- and I have not been especially efficient -- you can add "covered with laundry" to the mix. Josh loves jumping into laundry piles (which does wonders for wrinkles, by the way). Daniel loves unfolding stacks and/or pulling everything to the floor. Oh, and if he finds a piece of clothing he especially likes, he'll carry it around with him for a few minutes then just drop it somewhere.

Which I guess explains why I found an Incredibles pajama top in my Tupperware cabinet last night.

Josh is done with preschool and things have been really fun around here lately. I enjoy spending time with the boys, doing "school" stuff or just playing. I've been working with Josh on numbers and reading, usually during Daniel's naps. But yesterday Josh was doing a word find in the dining room and Daniel was marching back and forth around him grumbling, so I decided to give him "schoolwork" too. A couple of crayons and a piece of construction paper later, and we now have his first art project. It's a lovely "drawing" and he did it all by himself. He was really proud, and he kept pointing to it and smiling at me, waiting for compliments.

After he got lots of hugs and kisses and congratulations, I told him we would hang it on the wall and show Daddy when he got home. When Jay got home we talked about a few other things then I told him "Oh, you have to see what Daniel drew today." I was going to go get the "art" when we were done. But Danny was listening, I guess, because he immediately walked into the hallway, pulled his paper off the art wall, and brought it back to hand to Jay, again pointing out the colored parts.

Wow! At least we know he's paying attention. I've been concerned because he doesn't talk much, so it's good to know he's listening. I guess I need to stop comparing him to Josh, who was already saying full phrases, etc at this age.

I also found out yesterday that D may know stuff and just not be doing it. I taught him the sign for "more" months ago and I was getting really worried because he had stopped using it. He just yells instead. But Dad was babysitting them at dinner time the other day and Dad wouldn't give him extra food until he asked for it without screaming. At which point Daniel immediately signed "more."

He signs other stuff or uses a couple of words, but mostly it is only when he's really excited or he's too frustrated to wait for me to figure it out on my own. The rest of the time he just watches and listens. Case in point -- he points to his pillow if he wants to have milk. That's it. But when he's really tired and I don't get it quick enough, he actually signs "milk." I'm not sure what to think -- is he behind, should I do something? Or is he going to be quiet for the next few months and break out into full sentences when he hits two?

He does talk quite a bit, in a language all his own. He sings, too. Full, long songs, as he's playing or falling asleep.

The pediatrician says he's "too busy" doing other stuff to slow down and use his words. Yeah, stuff like climbing up on the couch and jumping off? Sliding open the screen door and escaping off onto the back patio? Pushing the dining room chairs into the kitchen and trying to get up on them so he can reach the counters? Yep, that's what he's busy doing.

Oops, this turned out to be a long, very Daniel-oriented post. Next time I'll do a Josh story.