Well, we’re approaching the boys’ fourth birthday next month. It is as everybody has told me over the last four years; they do grow up quickly, even though every time I see a couple with a little baby in their hands, it seems like such a long time ago that Ben and Alex were that tiny.

As it is, the boys are maturing in ways I couldn’t have imagined. Every day, they seem to turn some new corner in their development or come up with a new word they’ve learned or a new concept they have figured out.

Well, sort of figured it out. My wife and I celebrated our seventh anniversary earlier this week, so we called the babysitter to come over and went out for dinner to mark the occasion. The boys, of course, wanted to know why mommy and daddy were going to dinner without them. Later, after receiving the explanation and upon further reflection, Alexander told my wife that he and Benjamin should marry each other because they were brothers and wanted to spend time together.

Benjamin, the more headstrong of the twins, is becoming quite the negotiator. He’s a our problem eater, a very picky eater, and we have to goad him into eating certain things. One night his mother told him he had to eat three bites of his hot dog to get cookies after dinner, and he immediately replied “No! Two bites!” and held up two fingers to signify his counteroffer.

Or like the other day, we asked the boys if they wanted to have a monster truck themed birthday or one featuring dinosaurs. Benjamin, sensing an opening, said, “We want a monster truck birthday and a dinosaur birthday. We can have two birthdays!”

I’m hoping that someday he’ll go into a line of work where those tough negotiating skills will serve him well. (For the record, it will be a monster truck birthday . . . only.)

We’re constantly working on sharing and compromising, and sometimes it even sinks in. Just before dinner one night, Alex wanted to go in my office and play a racing game. But dinner was just about ready, so I told him we didn’t have time. My wife chimed in from the kitchen and said we had time for one game, so Alex shruged his shoulders and said “That’s what we will do. We’ll play one now and play one later. We’ll split it up.”

Of course I’m biased, but I’d say that’s pretty good for a 4-year-old.

Man, they do grow up fast.

mmyers@washtimesherald.com