the reif boys

Ben is totally into Thomas the Train lately. He knows the names of all the engines, and he's memorized some of the episodes we've watched, and books we've read, so that when he plays with his trains, he narrates.

"Slow, slow, slow he goes... Up, up the hill... Down, down the hill, Thomas goes fast, fast, faster than fast!"

On a whim I picked up this Thomas movie at Target a couple weeks ago. It's done in CGI instead of whatever you'd call the old Thomas episodes (they're not animated). We thought Ben might not like it, because it's different, but he loves it. We've watched it at least 10 times. As far as kids' shows go, I like Thomas. I even find it kind of relaxing and therapeutic to help Ben put his wooden tracks together in different configurations down in the basement. It's the little things.

I haven't written much about Ryan... part of me feels guilty for having so much fun with him and enjoying him so much, because when Ben was a baby it was just a scary time. Ryan is the polar opposite. He smiles so much, even through tears and late-night diaper changes. He coos (Ben never did) and he's just an easy baby. He does cry, of course, and sometimes he's hard to soothe, but his personality combined with our confidence with him being #2 has made it an entirely different (for the better) experience so far.

Ryan loves Mister Fan, just like Ben did. He's really good at tummy time, and actually loves his big brother Ben, except when Ben gets a little overzealous (pinching, squeezing, and 'patting' on the head). He's more interested in the TV already than Ben ever was. He gets distracted so easily that when it's feeding time, I have found that it's best to take him up into his room and have the curtains closed and the lights off. He's a busybody.

Ben was early, so I'm not sure how things really measure out, but at three months, Ben was 11 pounds. Ryan weighed in at 17 lbs 5oz at his 3-month checkup. Needless to say, my back is getting a workout and my neck is always sore from my weird posture - carrying him in the carseat or on my hip while chasing Ben around.