Things I love...

About Benjamin:

• His persistence.  Man, he does not give up.  Doesn't matter if he gets hurt, hears no, what have you. If Ben wants it, he won't give up.  Sometimes this results in him yelling, "Mommy, more" of the like, but I give him credit.  He'll also continue to jump/chase/play with someone long after they've lost interest.  He commits and that's it. :)
• His language.  He's saying everything nowadays.  He clearly knows all of our close relatives by name.  He also knows association to relationships too.  So Addie can't possibly get by with just mentioning Uncle Jeremy, Ben must chime in with Aunt Amanda.  I guess he's an includer as well.   Ben also gives love and affection freely.  He says I love you on his own now, and gives hugs where he buries his face in my shoulder that make me squeeze him tighter.
• His love of fun.  This kid is all about a good time. See the first bullet.  He'll jump off of anything, if he thinks it'll be fun.  He's got no fear. (DISCLAIMER: Ok, so I don't love his fearlessness. In fact, it terrifies me. Anyone who is here on a weekend with us knows most of my weekend is spent in near cardiac arrest, nearly fainting with anxiety and fear.)  Ben loves to laugh.  He loves to provoke the hard-can't-breathe-belly laughs on a regular basis

About Addie:

• Her sense of humor.  She gets it.  She understands tone and inflection and plays it up.  On many occasions we'll play "where's Ben?" This means Ben covers his eyes and he magically disappears from our sight.  Addie play it up so well.  She'll give the exact same exasperated sounding  distraughtness, "Oh my goodness, I can't find Ben anywhere.  Where could he be?"  
• Her hot-button.  As much as Addie and Ben pick at each other, when it comes down to it, she protects him so much.  The sure fire way to irritate Addie is to say that Ben belongs to someone other than her.  At daycare the kids have figured this out, so they go right for the jugular.  "Ben is mine, not yours," evokes a long tirade from Addie that is almost worth recording for prosperity.  Addie knows to go right to the authority, to double-check that Ben indeed is hers.  Miss Brandy, her teacher, tells me each day that so-and-so told Addie that Ben is theirs and all hell broke loose. 
• Her default dance.  Anytime music comes on that she knows, which is basically everything, Addie's default dance is "The Aloof" portion of "The Frug" which is a dance from the 60's.  Addie goes right into her arms straight out in front of her and alternates them up and down.  It's hysterical.  Wait til she hears the Jonas Brothers, the Frug comes out full swing!!