A Mackelprang Story: 2 Little Monkey's...

We all know that song that starts out "5 little monkey's jumping on the bed", well I don't have 5 monkey's nor will I ever, but I do have 2 monkey's. I have 2 little monkey's that go all day long, that wake up with smiles on their faces and full of energy every morning. My 2 little monkey's are 22 months and have changed and learned so much the past few months. They run me ragged sometimes with the amount of energy they have and I wish I could take some of their energy and use it to keep up with them each day.

Let me tell you about my first monkey, Paxtin!

He is obsessed with the alphabet. He absolutely LOVES puzzles and books and can sound out EVERY letter in the alphabet. The first thing he does when he wakes up is look at a book or ask for a puzzle. He is so eager to learn and loves it.
He also knows a lot of animals and the sounds they make. He is very smart for his age and it worries me that before he is in Kindergarten he will be smarter than Dusty and myself.
Paxtin is very impatient, when he wants something, he wants it NOW! When I tell him he has to wait a minute he throws a fit. He hates waiting for his food to cool down before he can eat it. He hates sharing the alphabet puzzles with Channing because he wants all the letters to himself.
However, he is a great listener. If I ask him to throw something away, he will. If I tell him to sit in "time out" when in trouble, he will. If I ask him to go get brother's blanket, he will. He loves to help me out when I ask for his help.
Paxtin says a ton of words, I can't even count them all, some of them sound very similar but if you know what he is talking about it comes out very clear. He gives great signals on what he wants. He goes to the pantry if he wants food, he points up to the cups if he wants a sippy, if their snacks are gone he brings me the empty bowl and signs "more". It's making it easier to communicate with him.

Now let me tell you about my second monkey, Channing!

He is a totally different story. Channing doesn't say much, he doesn't have any ambition to try to talk. He makes noises but could care less what a cat says, and he doesn't always listen but he understands. If I ask him if he wants a "ba" he comes into the kitchen and will stand by the fridge and watch me fill his sippy. If I ask for kisses, he will give me one every time. He loves to grab your face into his and hold your foreheads very tight together, then he kisses you.
We have an activity cube the boys got for Christmas and he LOVES it. His motor skills are fantastic! He loves to moved the pieces around and he is very good at it. He is a very focused child and can focus on one thing for a long time.
He loves to drive cars back and forth over his own belly.
He likes to take the puzzles pieces and throw them on the floor, then sit on the table or he will stand on the bench part of the table, he's our little dare devil and loves to climb.
He wakes up every morning gibber gabbering so I hear him on the monitor and know it's time to get up.
Channing loves snacks, especially fruits and he also signs "more" when he wants more food.
He climbs on my lap all the time, or if I am sitting on the floor he will come and sit on me. He loves to play and be chased around. His smile and laugh is so contagious! He's such a free spirit and just does his own thing.
He loves to flip through books, but likes to do it on his own. I will sit him on my lap to look at it and he will look through it for a bit, but prefers to do it by himself.
Channing is our devious child, he's the mess maker too! He loves to pull all of the rags out of the drawer and throw them all over the kitchen, he will even sit in the drawer sometimes. If the fridge is open and left unattended he is there to find something to pull out.
He also loves to get in my purse and get a specific pen out and pack it around. When we go outside he will find a small rock and pack it around the whole time. Even after coming back inside the house, he still has that rock clenched in his little fists. It's the small things that make him happy!