Update of the boys

Porter's language has taken off, and he talks so much now. We were so excited in California because of how much he would say, and he'd repeat things to let us know HE understood what we'd said. One of the blessings of being there was the progress our boys made. Henry slept through the night, and sprouted 2 teeth, (not at the same time-we're not THAT lucky). Porter's vocabulary shot out, and he started singing.

He's obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. He knows all the songs, and we often sing them in the car. It took a few days for us to realize what he was singing. He sings more songs now, and asks for them by name. It is SO fun to have him talking now. I love having conversations with him, and he loves expressing his feelings and likes and dislikes. In fact, he had a conversation with Evan today about what Henry likes to do, and what he likes, and what Mommy says, and daddy says. I LOVE IT! He's also become quite the little ladies' man.

He loves to play with others now, and tries to recruit Henry in games that most often are still too rough.

But he helps when he can:

And plays when he can:

He still practices selective hearing, though, but I'm sure they don't cure of that until age 19?

Henry is so happy. All the time! Here are the pictures to prove it:

He did go through quite the ordeal to get his teeth here. I was hoping for one of those kids who don't seem affected, but boy was he ever! It started as a "sickness" including 4-5 blowouts a day, constant fussiness, and night waking. Once they came through-one day after the next, thank goodness-he was a different person. All smiles and laughing again. Whew! I think we might be on to something again, though. We couldn't see the teeth, but his mood was the evidence. I still don't have a picture of the teeth, because you still can't see them, but they're there! So enjoy another picture:

He started crawling at the same time his teeth came in, and though he scooted a lot beforehand, he took off. My life hasn't been the same since. He doesn't crawl with both knees on the floor. He uses his left knee and his right foot, and that kid has SPEED! He pulls himself up to standing every chance he gets, so I don't think it'll be long.

It's so neat to have two very different boys. I guess you expect it, but you don't know what to expect about it. Henry is a lot more needy than Porter ever was. He cuddles a lot more, and he lets you know when he needs a break from playing to be held for a few minutes before getting back to it. We trained him from the get go to sleep by himself without rocking, and it works against us in places like church where he just wants a bed to lay down on. Porter never really looked back once he started to crawl, and was into EVERYTHING, but Henry, as of now, still looks around to see if I'm there, and needs that comfort of having me close by. He doesn't drool. I mean NEVER. Porter drooled til 18 months. I still think drooling should be a sign of teething, but not for this one, not that I'm complaining!
Henry adores Porter and followes him everywhere. Porter doesn't seem to mind, and soakes up the attention. We're working on sharing.
Porter has an amazing memory. We went to see the sea lions in San Luis Obispo- 3 times! The last time I was trying to convince him to get dressed so we could go see them, when he stopped, looked at me, smiled, and said, "Red Elmo Shirt!" I was excited that he even would request an item of clothing-still doesn't care- when I remembered he wore that shirt the last time we went to see the sea lions. I can't believe he'd remember such a thing! Such a prodigy!!!
Then again, he always guesses Disneyland when I ask if he knows where we're going...