Snapshot of Our Kids

Benjamin-- still enamored with basketball, though with some leaning towards soccer now that the soccer season has resumed.  Chess is also high on his list of favorite things to do, and he is becoming quite the player.  He defeats me almost every time now and has beaten his dad a few times as well.  He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his ex-BYU-chess-club-president-current-Harvard-Law-student uncle in a couple of weeks and hoping to learn some killer chess techniques.  He considers himself the most picked-on kid in the world because he is the "ONLY" kid he knows who has chores, has to practice every day, and has a bed time.

Jacob-- still enamored of his iPad (which DID make a miraculous recovery after its bath!).  With the warm weather, he has decided that he likes going outside to watch people play basketball or to swing with his iPad.  He also discovered Gramps and Grandma Groneman's trampoline and fell in love!  He wants others to jump with him and will drag people to the tramp if no one else is jumping.

Ty-- still our charming trouble-maker.  He loves digging for worms, catching bugs, using his tools (thanks, Auntie Buffalo!), coloring, reading books, playing with Legos, playing with trucks and tractors, and playing with friends and cousins.  We learned that his sporadic overly-aggressive behavior with other kids could be due (at least in part) to his hyperphenylalaninemia.  High levels of phenylalanine apparently lead to aggression and behavior problems.  We are in the process of working with a doctor and dietitian in the metabolic clinic to see how we can best cut back on his protein intake to try to keep his levels in the proper range.  I'm crossing my fingers that his aggression will be cut back, too!  He is doing really well with peeing in the potty, but we have yet to get a #2 in there.  He hides to do his business and then once it is done immediately drops his drawers (no matter where he is) and continues playing.  We are still working on it...