Zoo

We went to the zoo last weekend and Ben had a good time.  I've only been to the KC zoo one other time and this time was just as disappointing.  Maybe I was just spoiled by the St. Louis zoo growing up, but the KC zoo makes no sense in how to view the animals.  I saw more birds and pictures of animals on buildings and such that I did actual zoo animals.  Whoever thought that making one narrow path of travel to walk through each region to view animals was crazy.  You are forced to walk a mile to see one kangaroo and then go through another mile path to see a picture of a cat - I wish I was kidding.  We didn't even attempt the two mile hike to australia this time with Ben and Ashley in tow.  The only neat part is being able to see the polar bear right when you walk in.  Ben even thought so!

And for good measure here's another pic of Ashley.

Becoming a big boy

Ben definitely has character, that's for sure. Lately he has been talking nonstop. Most of it still just a couple words at a time and repetition of some of his favorites: Mama, Dada, bus, truck, wheels, more, outside, car and yeah. Even at daycare they comment on how he talked all.day.long. Not sure whether they enjoy that or it gets old after a while of hearing the same things I'm sure we hear on a daily basis, but it's good that he's vocalizing (or at least trying to) what he wants. He is also very good about repeating things and trying to get his words right so that just means Bri and I have to start watching what we say around him. Luckily he can't spell so we have that to our advantage.....for now.

Even at the park I can tell he's getting so much older as he manuevers around obstacles and equipment that he couldn't do before. He's climbing a lot more and even hanging from things. Of course he still loves the slide and to run around like any hyper boy would.

He is starting to become a little boy in front of my eyes so quickly that it makes me both happy and a little sad that I know his baby/toddler years are coming to an end too fast.  I'd like to say that even though raising Ben so far has definitely had it's rough patches, I could not ask for a cuter, sweeter boy to be in my life.  With him and Ashley, I feel pretty lucky this mothers day.  Hope you other mom's out there feel the same.

Buses and Smiling

Have I mentioned Ben is fascinated with buses?  He loves buses more than I ever imagined a little kid could and also really like cars, trucks and fire trucks of course.  He spends time laying on the ground or at the table moving his cars, trucks and buses around over and over again.  I have to admit, that I love when he lays on the ground and acts like a little boy pushing his car around and bumping them into each other.  This is now an everyday occurrence and he has to travel with at least one if not more of his buses when we leave the house.  Here is a pic of what our coffee table looks like everyday since he lines up and rearranges his vehicles on it.

Then onto bedtime.  He still is a really good sleeper at night, but his pre-bedtime rituals are quite amusing.  Thanks to our video monitor we get to watch it all unfold and I can't help but laugh almost every time.  He still has a pillow, two blankets, two woobies (security blankets/animals), diapers, a jayhawk and plush football that he sleeps with.  I'm sure I've mentioned this all before, but instead of him just piling everything together and pouncing on it he now gets some exercise and last minute energy out by hanging onto the side rail and jumping for a bit then falling onto his bottom.  He sometimes lets out a giggle at this as well.  I'm sure it's only a matter of time until he climbs out of his crib, but I'm really hoping that day is far, far away as I'm not sure he'll ever sleep if he has his whole room to play with and no confinement within it.  I've seen him play with books and diapers for hours so I'm afraid when he does get out of his crib, his good sleeping nights are over.  Only time will tell.

Next up is Ashley - our princess.  And yes, I'm not ashamed to call her our princess as she is way too sweet and quiet to fit in around Ben.  They truly are polar opposites and in a way I'm glad we have the two extremes.  She's still doing really well at night (majority of the nights) with sleeping after each bottle and going about 4-5 hours in between nighttime feedings.  She's also been smiling on purpose as of this last week and I have to say it's adorable.  I love talking to her and being able to see her light up with a big gummy grin - she's too cute.  I don't have great pictures of it yet, but I'm working on it so this one will have to do until I get the full out grin.

All Clean!



Peaceful

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone has a happy Easter today.  Our festivities started on Friday night with dyeing the eggs.  Ben had fun throwing them into the cups instead of gently dropping them.  Bri was not a big fan of this as he ended up getting splashed with it.  Still fun to see how excited Ben was with his accomplishment and disobeying all at once.  He really enjoyed the stickers that came with the kit though and had them all over his stomach and arms.

Going over colors with Dada

Enjoying the stickers while the eggs are in the dye

Throwing the egg into the cup of dye

Then Saturday we had an Easter egg hunt with my work at a park.  Ben loved collecting the eggs and got more than his fair share that we were supposed to keep since he kept saying 'more' as we saw them all over the ground.  I attempted to take some out of his basket, but he quickly learned this trick and kept turning around to make sure he didn't leave any behind.  He was terrified of the Easter bunny though and kept saying 'nice' and pointing to him - I think trying to convince himself that the Easter bunny really is nice and not scary.

A little scared of the Easter bunny

Already has his eyes on the next egg

Cheese!

There's more over there!

I got a sucker from this egg!

And of course today the Easter bunny came and brought Ben some candy.  He also hid eggs out in the yard and Ben even found some tough ones out there!  He can be pretty clever even if he doesn't always act it.  Ben also wanted to hold sissy and loved getting his picture taken with her.  When I tried to pick her up he said no and insisted on more pictures.  He was too cute with her.

Holding Ashley's hand

Cheese!

Love this pic...

Diapers, Diapers, Diapers!

Ben has an obsession lately with diapers and likes to stack them and move them from pile to pile.  He seems to steal all of Ashley's diapers from the pack n play so it's not easy for me to find any when I need to change her, but when I find one I find a ton!  Here's a video of him with his 'normal' diaper routine.  He likes to pick them up one at a time and hand them to Bri or I.  He even calls out who's on the diapers (sesame street characters) and indicates 'yuck' for inside the diaper where you go potty.  He's even had to go to sleep with some in his crib because he wouldn't let go of them one night.  Who knew diapers were hours of entertainment both on and off?!

He also likes to help around the house - I only wish he could maneuver the vacuum a little better and maybe I'd be off the hook for it!

And of course he likes to 'pet' and hold Ashley.  Oh and the binky in his mouth is back due to the fact that Ashley gets one.  He tends to steal them and shove them in his mouth to get attention like her.  He doesn't sleep with it or leave the house with it, it's mainly a short stint and then he leaves it somewhere that I have to eventually find.  If that's the worst of it - I'll definitely take it! 

Ashley is One Month Old!!

Ashley went in yesterday for her one month checkup and is growing really well.  She has gained about 2 pounds since she was born and grown about 3"!!  That's a lot of work for a month!

Stats:
Weight - 7 lbs 15.4 oz (25%)
Length - 21-3/4" (75%)
Head Circm. - 13-3/4" (10%)

This weekend we went to Deanna Rose on Saturday since it was so nice out (along with everyone else in JOCO).  He was a little scared of the goats this time around, but still liked to see all the animals.  He especially liked to takes rocks from one end of the park by the goats all the way over to the cows at the other end.  Well worth the money for him to relocate pebbles in their park which I'm sure they appreciated.


At the Koi pond



What are you looking at goat?!



I need more Cowbell!

Then on Sunday we went over to the grandparents to celebrate Brian's dad's 80th birthday and Brian's birthday.  All of the fam was there so Ashley was finally able to meet everyone.  Ben even had a great time playing with all his cousins.


Ashley with Julie and Kylie



Leah, Holly, Ashley, Ben and Sarah



Krissy and Ashley

Ben is still really gentle with Ashley and a great big brother.  He likes to help throw diapers away and 'pet' her.  Yes, pet.  We say be gentle and I guess he's learned with the dog that the words gentle and pet are synonmous to him. 
Here are some pics of us lounging around this weekend.


Loves his chair and drinking water from a bottle



"Petting sissy"

Is Ellie out here?

Ben's everyday activities - pushing around the cozy coupe and singing the wheels on the bus and petting "Ashey".  Ben is obsessed with buses.  He says bus about a million times a day and always points them out when we're driving around.  I have a video of it, but can't seem to get it to upload after several tries.

Park!

The weather today was so nice that we took the kids to the park.  Ben had fun running around while Ashley slept through it.

I was also able to get Ben to pose with Ashley and he thought it was fun.  Ashley didn't mind until Ben was pushing and scooting a little too close for comfort.  I'm sure you can see it with her huge eyes that she's probably thinking, "Who does this guy think he is?!"

Ben has still been great with Ashley and is constantly bringing her binky to her even though she barely uses it.  He insists that she have it in her mouth and when she finally does start sucking on it he pulls it out.  Looks like we're in for some fun years ahead!  Here are some more pics of Ash.

Pants?

Well Ben saw a little girl at his school take off her pants the other day and thought it was so funny that he has decided to de-pants himself every day this week.  It started with him pulling them to his ankles and waddling around the house giggling and now is at the point that pants just don't stay on him...even at night.  Thanks to the video monitor we are able to observe this bizarre behavior.  His new nighttime routine once we put him in his crib is to organize and pile all the stuff in his crib (blankets, pillow, woobies and his jayhawk stuffed animals/football).  He carefully places them one at a time to one side of his bed and then pounces on his pile of stuff with his butt in the air.  The de-pantsing comes either before or after this ritual and then they get tossed from his crib so there is no chance of him putting them back on.  Here's a pic from his naptime yesterday - and he is so proud of this as you can see.

He is also attempting to use the big boy potty.  He actually went in it once yesterday!!  Although he won't sit on the potty yet I'm hopeful he will soon since he was so proud of his feat yesterday.

As for Ashley - she is still doing great!  She only cries if you take too long to change her or if she's really hungry although normally I feed her before it gets to that point.  She's still eating every 3-4 hours but goes straight to sleep after the nighttime feedings which is awesome!  Here's a few pics.

With cousins Caroline and Riley last weekend

Terrible Two's So Soon?

I know at times we spoil Ben, but it's either starting to become apparent in everyday life or he's hitting his terrible two's (TT's) a little early.  For instance, he demands to have his show (Yo Gabba Gabba) on in every room we walk into regardless of if we stay in that room to play or even watch it.  It's a horrible habit that I already see forming, but at times it's still easier to turn it on and keep him occupied while I take care of house chores.  Otherwise we have the crying, screaming fits and I'm not always up for handling those with only 6 weeks left to go before the little girl arrives.  Another example is when we have to go downstairs to play with his cozy coupe, which normally resides in the basement, to immediately want the car upstairs and not in the basement.  This past weekend we spent a couple times thinking he wanted to actually play in the basement with his playroom only to find out he just wanted his car upstairs.  And if he doesn't get his way, yep - crying/screaming fit.  So we're trying to pick and choose our battles and time out isn't really much of a threat to him. 

Anyway - the days are flying by and all I can say is that I'm so happy he has been healthier and not sick near as much as last winter.  I have to give credit to the most wonderful surgery of his little life, the tubes in his ears.  So even though he may cry and scream when he doesn't get his way, he is healthy, happy and starting to pretend play on his own so much more.  It's so much fun to watch him and interact with him as he gets more talkative and knowledgeable about the world around him.  He even has started snuggling with us when we're sitting on the couch (only if his tv show is on though mind you).  I'm sure these small fits will continue, but in the overall scheme of things - I'll take it.  Especially when he climbs into my lap and puts his little head on my chest and is calm for an entire minute.

Trying to be like Dada in the slippers

 

Yes, that's a funny face and him saying more to 'cheese' for the camera at Little Monkey Bizness

So to reward this wonderful behavior of the early TT's arriving, we decided to spoil him even more and officially make the playroom a useable and fun space for him.  I love how it turned out and he's already been playing in there a little more each day.  We just got the chalkboard finished up tonight so he'll have some new fun and creative things to do while we're stuck inside with this blizzard of the century as the weather people are predicting for tomorrow.  Playdate anyone?!