14 Months

Big Ben is 14 months old today.

14.

A toddler by definition, but still a baby to me.  He doesn't talk much, and he doesn't walk much either, so I'm calling him a baby for a bit longer at least:)

Ben.  Busy busy busy.  Doesn't sit still for a minute.  Always on the move and into something.

Walking: eh.  Ish.  He can walk.  He'll walk halfway across a room, then drop down and scoot.  I think he's just not confident on his feet yet.  Surprisingly, he drops down when he feels unsteady instead of going full steam ahead.  He can stand alone, stand up without pulling up on anything, climb, etc.  He's definitely a mobile guy.

Talking: he has quite a few words but he doesn't necessarily use them consistently. They come and go.  He'll say one for a while, then not use it anymore.  Words in his hat include:
mama
dog
arthur
uh oh
avery
thank you

He loves to play peek-a-boo.  Loves to bounce.  Loves to dance.  Good sleeper.  A lot less shy than his sister was at this age.  He will usually go to anyone, especially if they bribe him with food).  Speaking of:

Eating: he loves food.  I think he is cutting more molars and this week has been very unusual in that he hasn't eaten as much.  Normally, he is a very hearty and not too picky eater.

He is our sweet, fun-loving, rambunctious, busy little guy.

Weekend Fun

Busy, busy weekend.  I know it's cliche and I say it over and over, but really, where does the time go?

Friday we had a nice evening out.  My awesome in-laws invited us to tag along with them to dinner and the Journey concert.  It was fun.  The front row seats weren't bad!

Saturday the kids, my mom, and I went to my cousin Lorrie's baby shower for baby Piper.  Ben was a wild man and had a blast scooting around the wide open floor of the church.  His crazy crawl garners a lot of attention and he seemed to enjoy it.  Avery particularly enjoyed the candy buffet.

The rest of the weekend was mostly spent hanging out around the pool and spending time with Uncle Tom and Aunt Laurie who were in town visiting from Texas.  It was nice to see them, and have the kids spend a little time with them, as we typically only see them about once a year.

Ben kept us all on our toes, per usual.  Avery may have grown gills, or at least a mermaid tail.

We popped in to say hi to Will.  He didn't even acknowledge our presence.

One funny thing-I thought I heard crying while walking through our bedroom on Saturday.  I looked out the window to see Avery apparently stuck in Ben's swing, crying.  So I did what any good mom would do.  I called for Rob to come look, and we knocked on the window and waved at her.  She wasn't amused.

Moving and Shaking

Weekly Wrap-Up

Scenes from around here:

From a birthday party last weekend:

At school this morning:

Happy Birthday William

Baby William was born this morning.  We've been looking forward to meeting this little guy for a long time.

Happy birthday, Will! Welcome to the world.

Avery's 1st Day of Pre-K

School started yesterday for Avery.  She's not able to go to public pre-k this year because of transportation and after-care issues, so no big moves there.  But she started in a new classroom with a new teacher yesterday.

She was a little leery when she first walked in.  Her friend Coen saved her a seat but she was intimidated by the rowdy boys, so she chose to sit at a quieter table with her friend Kenzie. 

The highlights of the day include the class pet turtle named Sponge Bob, a computer for games, her own journal and box of markers and crayons, and (this excited her the most) naps are optional.  

She's going to learn big things this year!

Mr Foodie

This dude likes to eat.  Three words to describe him at meal time:

demanding

impatient

messy

He wants food now.  When he's done with that, he wants more, immediately.  And when he's done with that, get him out of the chair, pronto.

I really don't know where he puts it all.

Placing apple pieces on his head.

Spaghetti dinner with applesauce for dessert.  He can actually use a spoon.  The only problem is that he likes to wave the spoon around wildly before bringing it to his mouth.  Clearly, that doesn't work so well.  There's a great spoon battle every time we have applesauce or yogurt.

He can drink out of a straw, too.  Soon, he might even get his own cup to get in on the morning smoothie.

The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that he doesn't like is plain pasta (he does like spaghetti and macaroni and cheese).  He eats most things that we put in front of him.

Things that he seems to really like:

bananas

applesauce

yogurt

Cheerios

beans

eggs

grapes

meat

raisins

blueberries

peas

corn

cheese

crackers

ice cream

Hopefully he remains a non-picky eater.  Although if his appetite keeps up, I'm a little scared of our future grocery bill.

Weekend: the Good and the Bad

Rob had a day off last Friday, so I decided to take the day off as well to take Avery to Blue Hole.  We knew it wasn't something Ben would enjoy at this age, so a Friday, when Ben could go to daycare, was the perfect day to go.

In theory.

In reality, we got a late start.  And it wasn't hot (it really needs to be hot because Blue Hole is ice cold).  Like, at all.   Strangest summer ever.

Anyway.

We went to Blue Hole once, two years ago, but of course Avery doesn't remember.  But we told her what it was, and she was excited.  She drew a picture:

Avery
Dad
Mom
Blue Hole

You can't go to Blue Hole without stopping at the Dairy Deal in Salina.  Fried everything.  And roadside watermelons across the street that are awesome.  Rob heckled me at first for spending $8 on a watermelon.  That was before he tasted it.

We enjoyed ourselves for a couple of hours in spite of the lack of blazing hot sun.  Avery jumped right in and it didn't seem to bother her, but she did point out that I was right.  

"It's ice cold, Mom, just like you said."

Little did we know that back at daycare, Ben was pretty sick and had a temperature of 105.  We raced back, but Mimi was closer than we were and brought some Motrin and held him until we got there.  We took him to urgent care where they checked him out and discovered an ear infection. 

He's had many ear infections, but never with a fever that high.  He definitely did not feel well.  Motrin kept his fever in check over the weekend, and he seemed alright.

I took Avery to a birthday party on Saturday.  She wanted to wear a boa in the car.  And that's how green feathers took over my car...

We had plans to go out to dinner for Pepaw's birthday Saturday night, and Mimi insisted she still wanted to watch the kids.  We had a very nice dinner celebrating Pepaw's birthday, and even though Ben wasn't 100% it sounds like he was alright.

He still had a temp on Sunday and Monday (Rob stayed home with him Monday) but I think he is much better today.

If you know Ben, you understand this is a rare scene.

So a good and not-so-good weekend.  Hoping for no more ear infections for a while (or ever)!