It has been said before by countless parents, and I'm saying it again: The two boys are SO different from each other!!
When Ryan was 14 months old, he was a huge mama's boy. He had about five signs and was very easy to teach. He rarely cried unless we were separated. I couldn't walk around the corner to make dinner without him melting down. But if I set him up with some toys in the kitchen, he was good as gold. Josh won't say it, but I know it hurt his feelings that Ryan preferred me to the degree he did. Ryan's first word was "turtle." He knew about six signs: "please" "eat" "more" "all done" "drink" "help" and "sorry." Ryan loved to be read to at an early age, turning pages of a book at 10 months old. It was part of his night-time routine to read a book or two, then turn off the lights (I'd let him try, then help him). He was also my snuggle-bug. He loved being rocked to sleep and would snuggle into the crook of my arm, suck his finger, and stroke my neck. It did not matter where we were, as long as he was in contact with me, he would sleep. He would only wake up if I tried to put him down. He was also enormous for his age. At 14 months, he was wearing size 2T clothes and rating in the 95% for body weight/length and 98% for his head measurement. Even at 14 months, he resembled a bowling ball with appendages. Oi!
Ryan now, at three and a half, reminds me a lot of
The Story of Ferdinand the Bull. He is still stocky and tall for his age, wearing 4-5T clothes. A lot of times people treat him older than he actually is because he LOOKS older. While he's definitely "all boy," and loves Star Wars and swords and battle--he is very gentle and sweet, especially with girls and women. He picks me flowers every day. If I don't put them in a vase, he wants me to put them in my hair. He is also super sweet with his brother. Never once has he hit his baby brother. Dylan has started pulling Ryan's hair and throwing screaming tantrums (fun), and Ryan is so patient with him. He never retaliates.
Dylan is SO different! He is long and scrawny. He does not have much baby fat. No rolls to pinch. He fits into the cooresponding clothes for his age. While he is also sweet, he has a stubborn streak. I am trying to teach him sign language to help him communicate, but a lot of times he just looks at me as if to say, "No way." He does now have three signs: "all done" "milk" and "more." His first word was "No." He has more words produced verbally than with sign, unlike Ryan at the same age. He also says: Mama, Dadda, Eliott (the dog) and baba (bottle). He has never let me rock him to sleep. He fights sleep. He tries to crawl and roll away from sleep. He fusses if he's down on the floor or in bed, or if I'm holding him he squirms out of my arms. I've found it's much better to put him down in his own bed and let him work it out himself.
We all thought Ryan looked like Josh when he was born, but Dylan looks even MORE like Josh than Ryan did. He is also 100% Daddy's boy. He prefers Josh to me. Now I know how Josh felt! Dylan does not like books. He employs evasive maneuvers when I bring the books out. He runs away. He loves looking at pictures hanging on our walls, however, especially our family picture. His bedtime routine consists of: attempting to read a book. Bringing him back several times and rushing through the pictures. Then taking him upstairs to brush his teeth (which he loves), then pointing to his lion picture above his crib and roaring a few times, then putting him down in his crib with his stuffed lamb and covering him up. He sleeps on his belly with his little bum sticking up in the air. While Dylan has a shorter attention span than Ryan, he appears to be more curious about how things work. He is constantly checking to see if his toys fit in odd places (like inside containers). He loves the trash can. I'm constantly picking up trash he's removed, or taking toys out of the trash. He really likes putting our tv remote in the trash. We narrowly escaped throwing it away the other day.
Sometime I will dig out a baby picture of Josh so the world can see just how much I do not belong in this family. The three of them could be triplets.
#3. 
#7.
#12.
