My favorite things

Kisses. Theo and Beckett give the best kisses. They love kisses ("more kisses!" is a common refrain, especially from Beckett) from Mama and from each other. They can occasionally be coaxed to give kisses (Theo more than Beckett) to non-immediate family. Theo gave some great kisses to Emily, Tommy, Rachel and Jon this weekend. My favorite new kissing-related development is kissing each other, which they regularly do before nap and bedtime.

Hugs. Daddy Lovebo has been working a little more diligently on hugs with Theo so his hugs are especially heart-melting, but both boys have really taken to hugs. There's just something wonderful about having short little arms wrapped tightly around my neck, and a little soft face touching mine.

All the words! Beck continues to repeat words and phrases with stunning accuracy, and both boys can clearly communicate their wishes most of the time. Since reporting to the pediatrician last month that Theo's language lagged behind Beckett's, Theo has added to his vocabulary daily. He is regularly stringing several words together and repeats words much more confidently and effectively than he was even three weeks ago. I took him back to the pediatrician this morning to get an ear re-check. He has had fluid in his ears and abnormal pressure readings for at least eight months. Today, his pressure readings were normal and there was no fluid in his ears. We're not sure if his ears finally popped, or if the physiology of his ears changed, or if the pressure and fluid was entirely unrelated to the language development, but it's great news. We're still scheduled for a early intervention evaluation Friday but I'd be shocked if he was two standard deviations below the mean on language development at this point

Potty-going: Beckett has really taken to the potty recently, even to the extent of asking us to stop the car Sunday night so he could go pee-pee in a KFC parking lot. He usually uses the potty two or three times a day and continues to be motivated primarily by chocolate ("TUBBA!"). We suspect that he has trained himself to pee a small amount each time because he gets an M&M each time he goes pee-pee. Sometimes he tries to extend the potty sessions to 10-15 minutes with a tablespoon of pee each time.... Theo has backed off his use of the potty lately.