It is time for a Benavides kid update.
There are some many things they are doing that I want to remember.
I decided to take some pictures of them just playing at home.
As a pair, they are doing fantastic.
They have started playing so well together.
Paxton will get Maebry all excited and get her to follow him to his room.
They will stay in his room forever just laughing and playing.
It makes me so happy to see them getting along so well.
Maebry loves giving her brother hugs.
She still enjoys annoying him every now and then, but she is learning to be softer.
She will usually hit him and then pet him after saying, "Soooooft."
Haha. She's still working on the not hitting part.
One of Maebry's favorite things to do is follow brother outside.
She loves to go out there with him and cries if he goes without her.
He is so sweet about waiting for her if he hears her squeal.
Paxton is super sweet to Maebry, and he can be really great about sharing with her.
He can get annoyed and hoard all of his toys in a spot she can't get to though.
He is really sweet about sharing snacks with her.
Paxton loves Minions a lot right now.
He has a Minion toy that sings and dances that he carries around everywhere.
He also loves to play a Minion game on my Nook.
He is always stealing it from me so he can play.
He is really good at the game, and he laughs the whole time he plays it.
Of course Woody is still a favorite, and he loves his batman and batcave.
He also found one of my dog beanie babies that he loves to play with.
He always says "Good Boy!" and pets him.
A lot of friends have been asking how the hearing aids are working out.
I really haven't heard a huge difference in his speech yet.
He does seem to be more aware of noises around him.
There have been a few changes, but I'm guessing we will have to see over time.
I think gradually we will see the improvements.
He likes wearing them and never resists putting them on.
They do get in the way of some of his crazy jumping and flipping.
He is usually pretty good about letting me know they need to be fixed.
The other day, Pax came in from outside and started trying to tell me something.
He was saying that our dog got a hold of his Mickey doll.
He was telling me, "Mickey owie! Awww poor Mickey. Charlie (our dog) NO! NO! Stop it!"
He was telling me this while acting out what happened,
and showing me where Mickey got hurt.
Now, this might not seem very significant to someone who has a very verbal kid,
but it was very significant to me.
I have never been able to ask him. "How was your day?" or "What did you do?"
He has never had the vocabulary to describe things like that to me.
So, when he was very interested in describing something that happened to him outside,
I was so excited.
I am looking forward to many more stories from him!
This kid still spends 75% of his time outside.
He plays with puppies and jumps on the trampoline.
His favorite thing to watch right now is Phineas and Ferb.
He loves Perry the Platypus, and is always crawling around pretending to be him.
Paxton taught himself how to knot, and is always busy tying things.
I keep finding random toys tied into the blinds cord.
He is definitely one of those kids that can keep himself so busy just working on things.
He likes to figure stuff out, and will sit quietly until he gets it.
He gets so serious and then so proud and happy when he figures something out.
He loves to wrestle, do acrobatics with Mom, swim, and laugh.
He asks to take two baths a day just so he can play in the water.
He has the cutest embarrassed and surprised expressions.
Paxton is always on the move.
He is about to start school again at the end of this month, and I will be so sad.
It is still just preschool, and only three hours, but I love hanging out with him in the mornings.
He is just the sweetest, most easygoing kid ever.
He likes to ask, "Are you ok?" while putting his hand on my shoulder.
At 20 months, Maebry girl is FINALLY WALKING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, she finally decided to do it.
(This is the expression she gets when she walks.)
It really was her decision.
It took her so long, and she even had a physical therapist towards the end.
However, even her physical therapist concluded that
there would be no walking until Maebry wanted to.
She was very stubborn about it.
I tried and tried and tried to get her to walk, but she was not having it.
If one thing worked one day, the next day she would decide she wouldn't do it.
She was constantly changing her mind, and she would cry
and scream if she didn't want to work on it.
I did finally give up on working super hard with her, and just waited for her.
Most of her progress happened on her own when she thought no one was watching.
I would see her out of the corner of my eye standing up all by herself.
I even remember the day she decided to walk, she just stood up and walked over to me.
Over the past couple days she has used walking as her main way of transportation.
She was still crawling a lot after she started walking,
but lately I haven't really seen her crawl much at all.
She has even started trying to walk over little steps, and I see her working on climbing too.
Her walking skills have definitely made her a lot more brave.
Maebry is super proud, because now she can slide down from couches and beds.
One of Maebry's favorite things to do is brush her teeth.
She will usually let me know she is ready for bed by saying, "Teeth!"
I brush her teeth and let her have the toothbrush while we do the rest of the bed routine.
She will brush while I read her stories and change her clothes.
When it's time to get in bed she always hands the toothbrush back to me.
We have a great little routine that helps her get ready to go down.
We read 'How Do I Love You' and 'I Love You Through and Through' every night.
She sits on Mama's lap while we read.
She loves to act parts out and laughs at Mama's actions.
This is one of my favorite parts of the day.
Just me and Maebry time.
She just has the sweetest smiles and giggles.
Her excitement about things always makes me smile.
She loves the big moon in one of her books.
Maebry continues to be a social butterfly.
She is the opposite of Paxton, in that she loves all of the attention on her.
She is always talking to new people and making new friends.
I think some of her favorite people are her cousins.
She gets so excited to see them, especially baby Easton.
She always tries to hug and kiss him.
She will sing, "All done. All done." when she finishes something.
She always says "Love you" if you say it first.
She even says "Thank you" now.
She calls jewelry 'pretties' and loves to put necklaces on.
Maebry is always asking for 'ooood' (food) and 'uice' (juice).
You always know when she is hitting brother because she makes sound effects.
If she doesn't want to do something she shakes her head with attitude and says, "Uhhhh."
Maebry loves rain and birds.
There were some birds outside of the window
while I was taking pictures, and she got so excited.
She loves sitting outside on the trampoline watching birds fly by.
Maebry really likes her belly button.
She pulls her shirt up and checks it out every now and then.
If you ask to see her button she will always show you.
She also loves her dolls and always hugs them.
Maebry loves playing catch, and has a really good arm.
She has pegged me in the face a number of times.
She loves unpacking things.
If I give her a basket of toys, she will stay there until every toy is out of the basket.
This also keeps her very busy in the kitchen.
At least twice a day we have to put everything back in the bottom cupboards.
One of her favorite games to play is chase.
I will hold her and run while Paxton chases us, and she just screams and laughs the whole time.
She will ask to get on Paxton's bed when she wants to play,
because we usually start and end the chase there.
Her diet mostly consists of applesauce, chicken, and potatoes.
Those are her favorites, and it's hard to get her to try new things.
Most of the time Maebry is fun, funny, sweet, loving, and just a joy to be around.
However, when Maebry decides she doesn't want to be somewhere or do something all bets are off.
She can get very upset and will not give up until something changes.
Girlfriend has some serious inconsolable moments.
I guess she just knows what she wants.
This stubborn baby has thrown me some major curve balls,
but I wouldn't have her any other way.
I love this firey, squishy, curly, sweet, little gal more than anything.
She makes us laugh a million times a day.
We definitely got two very different children,
but life wouldn't be complete without either one of them.
These two adorable brown babies make life so much happier!
