I Could Eat Him Up

Sometimes, Benjamin is so cute, I could just eat him up.  I thought these pictures were just adorable.  Of course, he IS two years old, so his behavior is not always adorable.  But, we'll keep chipping away at that, and enjoy the pictures in the meantime.

And, I realize that my posting has been sparse in 2013.  We've had a lot on our plate...but, when don't we?  I'll work on some more posts.

Almond Blossoms 2013

The almonds are blooming, and the weather has been beautiful, so I made it my mission to get the kids out into the orchard before the blossoms were gone and before it rained.  I wasn't sure whether this particular attempt would be successful.  My kids are not so great at posing, the blossoms are not quite full, and I didn't know whether I'd get any "keepers."  I figured we could try it again another day this week if I wasn't happy...and if the rain would hold off.  As it turns out, I'm pretty happy with what I got, even though there are a few shots that I didn't get that I would have liked.  With three little, wiggly, not-so-focused people, I'll take what I can get.  And, these seemed to upload in random order, but I' not going to fix them.  Just enjoy them as they are!

(And here's a link to pictures in years past.)

And, I have to say, I adore these kids.  Could anybody be more precious?

*This one is my favorite!*

Jonathan's Glasses

I still have the glasses Jonathan got when he was two.  His admiring little siblings had to try them on and see what life with glasses would be like.  I love this first picture of Benjamin, cross-eyed, checking them out.

I Can Hardly Believe It...

but I was able to get away for a three-night trip to see a few dear, longtime friends of mine.  There aren't many pictures of our time together because we were mostly talking or laughing, but not taking pictures.  We did some shopping and eating, too, but mostly we were just relocating the talking and laughing.  Here we are after doing some damage at the outlet malls.

And here we are  dressed up for our one evening "out-" for a nice dinner, movie, and dessert.

I am so blessed to have these dear friends, and to be able to reconnect with them!  

My wonderful husband took a couple of days off of work to take care of the kids so that I could go on my trip.  I didn't worry at all, since I knew the kids would be in such capable hands.  The boys even got sick - Benjamin was vomiting - which was sad, but I guess Jeff got a good taste of what I do every time he travels for work.  Except that he didn't have to do laundry or groceries.  :)  I was so very thankful for the chance to get away for a bit.  Even the chance to read two or three books on the flights was a huge luxury to me.  I am especially thankful for these precious people who greeted me at the airport.  (You can tell Daddy was in charge since Grace was dressed as a princess in public.)

 And here is a picture of Jonathan the day after I got home.  He's obviously sick, since that's the only way he's ever fallen asleep on the couch.  Poor guy!  Everyone is fine now.

When We're All Dressed...

and clean, and in the same place, at the same time...

it's time for some family snapshots.

The Youngers...

They give new meaning to the old phrase, "climbing the walls."  They both like to hang from their respective spots on the edge of the stairway.  I just couldn't get a picture of them doing it.

And yes, Benjamin is wearing two aprons and no pants.  He told me he was being a worker.  (That's what he calls construction workers.)  He pronounces apron, "ate-ten."

And here he says he is being a helper.  He took it upon himself to get the broom and sweep the carpet.  It didn't do much for the cleanliness of the carpet.  But I had to snap a picture before I broke his heart and took away the broom.

Three Quotes

Grace, when I told her to bring a sweatshirt:  I'd actually prefer to bring a blanket, Mommy.

Jonathan, loudly, in a discussion on shaving:  I can guarantee you that if I grow whiskers someday, I'll cut them off immediately!

And Benjamin, whose vocabulary continues to explode and bring joy to my heart:  Last week he couldn't say "thank you" yet, but he could say "thanks," so we encouraged him to say that.  He came up with this phrase on his own when he learned to say "thank you:"  Thank you.  Actually, thanks.  (And it sounded more like, "Sinkyoo.  Ackshee, sanks."  I'll take it!)

Benjamin's Speech

I compose so many posts mentally, and then life happens, and I look up and my mental posts are very outdated.  So, I've been planning this post for Benjamin for quite awhile.  Here goes.

Benjamin continues to enjoy visits from his speech therapist twice a month.  Since his visit from her just over a couple of weeks ago, his vocabulary seems to be exploding, and I've been so thankful.  Her goal for him has been to create two-word sentences or phrases, which is what two-year-olds should be doing, but he has been pushing back and won't do it.  However, his repertoire of words that are spontaneous and easy to understand just grows and grows, and it has been so fun to hear!  Since his babyhood has been the hardest to document, I have tried to jot down some of the words he has come up with during those two weeks.  Here are a few - and I know this is mostly for my memory, but you're welcome to read along if you like:

banana, body, lotion, penny, muffin, raisins, napkin, sorry, buckle, button, sad, watch, water, robot, almond (aaaa-mond, of course,) listen, cookie, bag, bed, heavy, potty, hammer, yucky, honey, boy, messy, more

As I mentioned, he has mostly refused to do the two-word thing, but every once in awhile, he'd use two words together, with little gaps in between, like this:

"mine warm," "one piece," "hello phone," "Todd book."  And once he said, "sit...up...high."  So, I knew there were some two-word combinations in there waiting to get out.

At his most recent therapy session this past week, his therapist continued to be surprised he wasn't using two words together yet since his vocabulary was growing so much.  He wouldn't say the simple phrases she suggested to him like, "Bye, book!" But, he would slip in a more interesting one like "other shoe."  He still mostly refused to put words together.  One word at a time was working just fine for Benjamin.  She said that he was testing above-age for his receptive speech, but the one thing that was holding him back expressively was the obstacle of two-word sentences.  She was really happy with how much more clearly and spontaneously he's speaking.

The day after his session, he started putting his words together, and started using new words like crazy. He keeps saying words that he's never used before, like words from books we haven't read in awhile or places we haven't been awhile, and putting the more familiar words into combinations.  It has been so encouraging to me - even thrilling - to know that he was listening to me - and us - during all the time that I felt like I was just bashing my head against a brick wall with him.  We're still working hard and are planning on making a lot more progress, but I'm so happy and thankful for the gains I have seen Benjamin make recently.

I have said it with my other kids, but this is the first time I've been able to say it with Benjamin:  I love the learning-to-talk stage!  (When they are actually learning to talk, of course!)

Pinewood Derby

Jonathan is in Cub Scouts for the first time this year, and Jeff is the dad leading his Den.  (I think that's right.  I always get Den and Pack mixed up.  Whichever one is smaller...well, that's what Jeff is leading.)  Recently, they had their Pinewood Derby, and I got signed up to make the awards.  I didn't have any guidelines...I just had to come up with something.

Thank goodness for Google and Pinterest!  I bought these ribbons at the dollar store.  Originally, their center button circles showed off Spiderman, Lightning McQueen, Spongebob, and Dora.  (Don't tell the boys.)  After printing out some clip art, they became 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Turtle prizes.  (I had a horrible time finding a turtle that was not copyrighted!)  Thank goodness, also, for Mod Podge.  What did I do before I discovered that stuff?

The ribbons were for just four of the boys, but every boy got a little trophy and some kind of award tag.  The trophies were from a different store, and I had gold stickers I used to indicate the year.  The tags, which I printed on cardstock and laminated, are from here.  (Minor details, but hopefully someone else will find this stuff more easily than I did.)

Now, the interesting part!  Jeff and Jonathan had an interesting, first-time experience building the car.  Jonathan designed the shape, and the shop students at the high school cut it for him.  It was very important to him that it be red and have room for a Lego guy.  He also wanted lightning bolts on the side.  Jeff and Jonathan had trouble making that happen with paint and tape, so once again, Mod Podge (and construction paper) came to the rescue.  Love that stuff.  The car came in way under weight, so they went to the store and found the perfect weight, which is the bolt you can see below.  (None of us knew that, at the Pinewood Derby, you can get weights attached to your car on the spot, as needed.  Oh, well, now we know!)  Jonathan's car looks really cool, right?  And just the right weight, too.

Here are the proud car designers.

And the very proud driver.

Yep, proud.  I think this is probably the only picture I have of him with his shirt tucked in.  Ever.

Jonathan and his same-age buddy.  (For those of you who knew Jonathan when he was an extremely tall baby and toddler, I took this picture so you'd know he's slowed down.  He's tallish, but nothing crazy.)  This must be how second-graders smile.

Here are the boys and their prizes.  Jonathan won third place, and we were thrilled with that.  He was really more concerned about having a cool car than winning.  He had a great time and learned some things, too, so what more could we ask for?

The Nose Dive

Early in January, the kids and I were walking to school.  We could have driven, but I was trying to be conscientious and healthy and all that, since it was the start of a new calendar year.  Benjamin was in the stroller, and Grace had her hands in her coat pockets as she walked.

Her toe caught on a crack in the sidewalk, and I'm sure you can guess what happened next:  She fell, face first, onto the sidewalk, and took quite a tumble.  She skinned her nose and her cheek, and bashed her teeth on the sidewalk.  There was a lot of blood.  This was on the way to school, so I still had to deliver Jonathan and come home to get Grace "doctored up." Of course I don't keep any good supplies with me, so I used her shirt to mop up the blood, comforted her, and put her in the stroller, too.

She was pretty shaken up.  Here she is snuggling with her giraffe and showing off her swollen lip.

I took her to the dentist that morning.  We had planned her first checkup later in January, but we couldn't wait that long.  While we were in the waiting room, Benjamin and Grace enjoyed the playhouse for the kids - it's fantastic - but Benjamin tumbled down the stairs.  (Never a dull moment, right?)  Anyway, the dentist took x-rays and found superficial cracks in three of her top front teeth.  He doesn't think they'll be a problem, but we are watching her and will go back for another checkup in a few weeks.  She was very brave and enjoyed watching Dora in the TV in the ceiling.  She doesn't watch Dora at home, so she thought that was wonderful. 

There are no pictures of this, but later that day, I also took her to our wonderful chiropractor.  He checked both of my kids, and they were both subluxated, but Grace was in pretty terrible shape.  He got them fixed up and straightened out, and she hasn't had any problems since.  I'm so thankful that we have a great chiropractor who has taken great care of us since my dad has been gone.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly Grace's skin has healed.  I was nervous about how she'd avoid picking the scabs- sorry to be gross, but she IS three, after all.  Here is a picture of her the day after her fall, in dress-up clothes, and she looks perfectly fine now.  And the teeth don't show any signs of change, either.

I sure hate to see any of my kids take a tumble, and they seem to be at the age for doing that right now. Why is it so hard to keep teeth intact around here?  Anyway, I am truly thankful she is OK.