Update on Dan and Ben

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 22 August 2008 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

Here is a shot of Dan and Ben in a "tent", constructed by Mommy out of an old bed sheet & 2 chairs. It all started because I read Dan a book about Spot on a camping trip. That was in June and since then, he's been asking me to make him a tent too. I oblige once in a while and the 2 boys have loads of fun scurrying in and out of their "tent", playing peekaboo and being generally "squirrel"-ly. They'll drag their favourite toys & stuffed toys into the tent and then sit there in silence with big grins on their faces. And so on. It's quite cute.

The other favourite activity we've had for the past 2 months is HIDE AND SEEK. This is a game I taught the kids one dreary rainy afternoon and I have to say, I totally enjoy it and so do the kids! I especially love hiding and then hearing Dan walk around the house talking to himself, "Where's Mommy? Oh! Is she here, Benjamin? No? Oh! Where is she? Is she gone?" And then, at just the right moment, I'll burst out from behind the door or under the table and the boys will have a total giggle fest. What is odd is that when it is Dan's turn to hide, he'll always run into his room and hide in the same place--behind his door--and then when I finish counting to 10, before I can even start to pretend to look for him (since I know he's behind the door already), he'll come zooming out from his hiding place and say, "I'm here!!!!!!!"

???

If you're wondering what Ben is doing all this time, he's usually scuttling about like a teddy bear wearing diapers looking generally excited and happy. Since he does not understand the rules of Hide and Seek, he usually follows me doggedly as I'm trying to establish a new hiding place and then points and grunts at me when Dan is trying to find me. *Cheaterbug*. I have on occasion had to pick Ben up and place a hand over his mouth just so that Dan has to look really hard to find me, without Ben's help. You can imagine me, with Ben pressed flat on my stomach, squashed like sardines behind my bathroom door, with my hand wrapped around his mouth. It's hysterical. And I love it.

I really love how as they grow older, there's so much more fun involved in playing with the kids. My last example has to do with our favourite item--Lego. We bought Dan a Fire Station Lego set for his birthday and OH MY. It is totally worth the price as it comes with a Red Rhino Fire Truck, replete with a siren with light and sound, a Fire Helicopter, 2 walls of a Fire Station, 3-4 Firefighters, a fire hydrant, a fire extinguisher, 2 detachable water hoses, a DOG (?), 2 lego mats, a fire control tower with another siren, an attached vehicle for the Red Rhino, an axe, a lot of red and white blocks, a BED (?), a chair (?), 2 grey pillars, 2 fake "fires".... If you combine that with all the Lego Dan already has, you can basically build like a 4 storey BUNGALOW with a helipad, a playground and a swimming pool! WAH-PIANG! (and yes, with Mommy's help, we've actually done that already!)

I am totally into the building of such architectural wonders of the world, and Dan and Ben are BOTH helping me. Yes, even Ben! I am totally amazed that by 17 months, he could fit the Lego blocks together and pull them apart quite quickly, something that Dan could not do at that age. So, as I'm constructing the house/swimming pool/garage, Ben and Dan are helping me make tall towers of blocks as columns, or fitting the dog and the fire hose into place. It's great! It's like, a family project. ^__^

Anyway, I was just telling Husband that I really look forward to our boys growing up. Dan is learning how to read and now, for his birthday, he got quite a few "activity books" which he's now using to learn how to "write" by tracing the dots of alphabets and numbers. It's so cool doing fun worksheets together! Ben on the other hand is learning how to talk. He's making quite a lot of progress. Yesterday, for example, he surprised us all by saying "vegetable" quite intelligibly. The funniest though is his rendition of "helicopter". He still can't get it right and will end up saying something like "helijababajababa" or "hiyeecoopacapacapa". But the good thing is he keeps trying.

I can't believe that in barely 6 months, Ben will be 2! Time really seems to be flying. And I really do look forward to the future, when both kids will be out of diapers and able to talk and interact more actively with us!