Rocking Chair

This is for Aunt T. She bought Ben the coolest rocking chair ever and he is finally loving it. He jumps on and rocks by himself now. At the end you can hear him say "more" and play it again.

We're Back

Well, we didn't actually go anywhere, but lately it felt like Ben and I took a quick trip to the funny farm. Ben's teething had him thrown off so badly that sleeping was just horrible and it trickled down into his mood. He misbehaved so badly in public a couple of times that I just had to come home and cry. In all my stressing and frustration Ryan so wisely asked me if his bad behavior was at a certain time of day. Why, yes, it was - around 11am. Before we started the nap push he would have gone down at 10am. So, maybe he was just so tired at 11am that he didn't know what else to do but act out. (BTW - he certainly misbehaves sometimes, but he was acting so far out of his character!) So, we put him down at 10am yesterday and he slept 10-12pm and woke up happy. Then, we put him down for his afternoon nap at 3pm and he slept 3-5:25pm. He only got up at 5:25pm because I was getting too nervous and had to sneak in his room, but it woke him up. He was chipper and ready for dinner and still went to bed as usual at 7:45pm. Same thing happened again today. And I took him out to run errands yesterday and today and he behaved like the little angel he has always been. Ah, I feel like I am finally back to myself again and Ben is back to himself. He did get a time out today, but that was nothing! Thank you Lord. Everyone say a little prayer that this doesn't change again in a few days!

Some of our recent fun in pictures.

In my last post I had a pic of Ben trying out the bumbo again. Today he decided to try out the swing. He has been trying to get into it for weeks, but hasn't been able to figure out how to get his big body in that tiny little space. He did it today and had to try to chew the toys even.

Don't tell him he doesn't really fit!

Ben's fu man chu - eating his soy chocolate pudding.

I couldn't pick between them bc I just love those eyes in this pic.

Ryan: "Ben, where's mommy?"

Drawing with his chalk on his shoes.

Just darn cute!

Gift for Daddy

I put the gate up in the hallway when Ben refuses to leave Ryan alone while he is working in his office. Today, he was so sad about his daddy having to work that he tried to lure him to come play by throwing as many toys, pillows and other various items towards Ryan. We thought it was pretty funny.

Ryan finally came out to play!

Lots of Pics and Videos

Life around our house lately has been a little crazy. Ben is getting two more molars and is struggling as he does with each tooth. The last two mornings he has woken at 4:30am, fell back asleep for a few minutes, but up and not happy around 5am. That means I am tired too! We have also been pushing back the nap to give one, long afternoon nap. It was going perfectly and then these teeth started bothering him and he isn't sleeping very long at his nap either. So we are down to 1-two hour nap when he was taking 2-two hour naps. Life has been a bit unpleasant. But, in all of that, he often still finds his giggles and craziness. He makes me forget about the tiredness and the frustration (maybe only briefly) but it does make the day bearable. He still finds his sweet moments and then follows it up with a big slap to the face! Disciplining a toddler is so much harder than caring for the needs of a newborn! I may change my theory once I am caring for a newborn and disciplining a toddler that is jealous of the newborn. Time will tell.

This afternoon Ben woke early from his nap so I sat in the glider with him in Nate's room. He hasn't sat with me in the glider in well over a year. It was wonderful. I could feel Nate already picking on his big brother, kicking Ben as I held him.

Too cool for bedtime.Getting some work done.

Time for a little patio art.

Ryan and I were glad to finally have a cool enough evening to go outside again too!

Ben helped me get out all of his old clothes for Nate and even tried out the bumbo. I was surprised his actually squeezed in there. I asked him to smile and this is what he did.

Again, I asked him to smile and he gave me this look.

I bought these tablets you can put in the tub to change the water color. They fizz and do change the color of the water quite well. Ben thought it was loads of fun.

Videos:

Talking - This gives you a good idea of just how much jabbering we hear all day long. He is very serious about everything he says, we just have no idea what he is saying most of the time.



A new trick - "Smile for Mommy!" and this is what I get.




Ben is mastering the slide. We have taught him well to go down backwards off of couches, chairs and other high objects. Apparently he has overgeneralized.

Nate's Nursery and Big Boy Update

I definitely don't think that creativity is in the top 20 of my God-given gifts, but for some reason I had an absolute blast doing Ben and Nate's new rooms. Nesting is a wonderfully, productive thing! Today I finished Nate's room and I am thrilled with it! Grammy has sent some bedding our way and it should arrive soon! Whew, I wanted to be done before the third trimester tiredness and crankiness set in and I made it. Now, I just have to get all those tubs of baby clothes out of the storage shed and start washing and sorting.


Big Boy Update: We put Ben in his big boy bed one night and it was a disaster. He tried to run to the door before I shut it, hurried too much and fell off the bed (which he is normally very adept at getting on and off of) and fell flat on his face, busting his nose a bit. We cleaned up the nose, kissed it all better and put him in his crib with a mountain of guilt and he slept like a rock! We have moved everything from his old room into his new room. Nothing regarding Ben happens in the old room now. And I put up the pack n play for nap and night time now. I am guessing this could go well and he will become comfortable in his room and eventually get in the big bed or it could go poorly and he will insist on the pack n play and refuse the big bed.

We are also in the process of moving his nap time. My textbook baby has gone against all the rules :) He dropped his afternoon nap, but loves his morning nap. That means he is awake noon -7:45pm. That is too long for mama. So, we are attempting to push the 10am morning nap back until 1pm, slowly but surely. So far so good, but we just got started. Let the fussing commence!

17 Month Update

One more month and Ben is 1 1/2 years old. The time is going so fast. I have found myself often saying "I'm glad I'm not a sentimental person" these last few months. So much is changing that I can barely take it all in. Ben now has a big boy room - when did he get old enough for that? Another baby coming? It all seems to crazy.

On most days Ben is an absolute joy. His giggles are infectious and often unprovoked. He gets super proud of himself when he accomplishes a task and will often clap for himself or give a huge grin and a giggle. He is a super fast walker, he can be across the house before I realize he left my side. He loves to help: he brings the laundry, puts his things away, gets out his own whisk or spoon when I'm cooking, and on and on. I am much slower at tasks now because he is "helping" with everything.

He is still working on some molars. One is all the way in and some more seem to be coming soon. He drools like a faucet, keeps his fingers in his mouth constantly, and reminds us of his pain with lots of whining when he feels he needs some attention.

His words are coming quickly now. He tries to say everything you ask him to and most of the time it sounds close to the actual word. Sometimes he just gives some gibberish and we tell him it was a good effort anyway. He frequently says "more" and by frequently I mean non-stop. He wants more tickles, more juice, more everything. It kinda sounds like "mo" sometimes and is just so cute to hear his little voice. He loves to say "dog" when we are in the backyard because the neighbor's dog barks at us. He will say "mo dog" over and over. The dog doesn't always respond! His other words are mama, dada, my mama, my dada, that (a much over-used word), ball. Surely there are more, but that is all I can come up with right now.

Enjoy some pictures from my mom's trip.

Painting a picture for Nate after I painted the tree. We did his hand prints 2 days before, so he tried to paint his hand and make his prints. So smart.

Doing make-up with Mama D every morning. I don't let him in my make-up, but she did!

Yummy PBJ

Helping with laundry.

Making his masterpiece for his room.

Intense concentration.

Blurry, but that is such a Ben face!

Proudly showing his work - he shook grape juice from his cup all over my couch. It did come out, but I wasn't real proud of his work.

Mama D bought Ben a baseball, bat and tee. He loves it and can do it all by himself.

Attempting the play Ring Around the Rosie.

My Boys' Rooms

We have been working very hard since my mom arrived to get Ben's big boy room ready. It is done! Then, we realized we had one and a half whole days left, so we started concocting something for Nate's room. I have been having so much fun, but I have been neglecting my sweet Ben. My mom leaves tomorrow, so life will go back to normal but we got so much accomplished. Enjoy the pictures!

Not so much a guest room anymore - Fit for a big boy!

Ben's art. Hand prints, feet prints and then we just gave him a brush (middle). We love it!

The mural for Nate's wall.
I am so in love with this. Below the actual picture was the inspiration. Then, I blew it up on the wall and got to painting. It took me 3 hours and I will admit I am proud of it! Hanging on the crib is the bedding that will be in Nate's room once I order it all.

20 Week Update

Baby Nathaniel (Nate) Lee is growing perfectly! All was well at our appointment this morning. Benjamin didn't even cry when I had to lay back to hear the heartbeat. Baby Nate was squirming around a lot so he must have been putting on a show for the nurse.

The name - We picked Nathaniel because we like it, no other reason really. We picked Lee because that was my dad's middle name and he passed away in 2002.

My mom arrives in Wichita is just an hour from the time I am typing this and we are going to attempt to get Ben's big boy room all ready to go before she leaves on Tuesday. It is too darn hot to be outside in this heat anyway, so we might as well sweat in the house :)

Random Ben Sightings

This evening Ryan and Ben were taking the blocks from each others mouths. Notice Ben's outfit that he picked out himself...a diaper, one of his socks and one of Ryan's socks. Nice! It makes me nervous for the day that he will actually pick out his own clothes.


We are getting ready to move Ben to a big boy room and the baby will have the nursery. Grammy kindly bought the comforter and had it sent to us. Fun! Ben seemed to like it.

So, a few days later we set it up just to start getting him used to the idea of his big boy room. He seemed to love it. My mom is coming to town in a few days and we are going to paint and decorate and really make it his big boy room. So far, he likes the idea, but he doesn't know what he is nodding yes to!

Can you see that?

That is Ben art on my couch! UGH!

A few words from Ben in the tub tonight.