A Weekend of Milestones

We had a few really significant milestones this weekend. Okay, WE didn't but Benjamin did. First, Saturday he rolled over for the first time! Here is a very grainy and poor quality video with no sound we took with our digital camera of the big event and some other very cute photos of sister showing him how to write his ABC's. I love this photo of them together.

Sunday, Benjamin got to try his first solid food--rice cereal. Well, I wouldn't exactly call it solid since we had to mix it with four parts formula with one part cereal. We gave it to him before his bottle and found that was NOT a very successful way to go. Here is a photo of him before we gave him his bottle. He was hungry and didn't know what I was sticking in his mouth. But after he enjoyed his bottle we tried again and I couldn't spoon it in fast enough. Much of it ended up on his chin, upper lip, and his hand (when he stuck his fist in his mouth). But we finished what was in the bowl. We'll try again again tomorrow. Then look out baby food! Here we come!

The Baker and the Cooker

This afternoon Emily was playing with her chef's hat and apron in her kitchen. She came up to me and told me, "I'm the baker, you're the cooker." I told her normally the "cooker" was called a chef. Anyone who knows my culinary skills would laugh at me being referred to as a chef. Does pouring milk on dry cereal constitute being a chef? Just kidding--it's not quite that bad.

I should be ashamed of myself for taking advantage of a little boy who can't defend himself against getting dressed up--and then take pictures of it!! But I couldn't resist. I had to put the chef's hat on Benjamin. As soon as I started laughing at him, he got a big grin on his face. The photos above tell it all and show what happened to the hat that was too big a few seconds after I put it on him. And don't be alarmed---it didn't stay over his face for more than a second or two.

This morning we went for Emily's evaluation at the preschool we hope to get her in. She did very well and exceeded all the minimum scores for her age. Her highest score was on the verbal part of the assessment. There were a few times when she simply would not cooperate, like when one of the teachers asked her where her knee was. I mean come on, she's been telling us that for two years now. But would she do it this morning? Nope. She also had her eyes and hearing checked. She was not very cooperative during the eye exam. I had to chuckle because in the paperwork I received at my referral, it mentioned she would not cooperate for her eye exam. Two and a half years later, nothing has changed!! A few times during the evaluation she told the teachers, "I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore." Well, at least she is honest! On our way home, I asked her what she thought about all of it. She said, "We forgot to have a snack!" Bummer. Apparently when you are three, a snack at school is a requirement. Ha!

A Little Bit of Nothing

The last week or so around here has been a bit odd. First, Jeff was sick most of last week and stayed home from work for three days. While it was sort of nice to have him home, it really kind of threw off our "routine." Luckily, it's nothing more than a nasty virus that will just need to run its course. So that, along with our questionable weather on Saturday prevented us from making the hour drive to our FCC CNY dinner. I was sorry to miss it but also didn't feel like driving with ice on the roads. It ended up just being rain but we didn't know what it was going to do for sure (neither did the weather forecasters). Consequently, I don't have photos of Emily at CNY this year. Hopefully next year!

The only photos I have to post are from weekend before last. We had a nice day and I wanted to take Benjamin outside while Jeff was working in the yard and Emily was "helping." I'm sure you can tell, Benjamin is pretty fair skinned (how could he not be with parents like us). So I got a sun hat for him for summertime and decided to try it on him. It's a bit big but he'll grow into it. You can tell he's not very happy in these photos and it wasn't due to the hat, although I'm sure that didn't help. He was already getting a bit cranky and ready for a change of scenery hence his expression.

I just thought this was funny...kids say the darndest things. Or at least in this household, Emily does. Yesterday I was coming down the stairs and she was already in the basement playing. When she saw me she said, "What's happenin' Mom?" Where does she come up with this stuff??? Jeff and I had a chuckle at that one.

Happy New Year!

Happy Year of the Rat. I hope this year brings much happiness to everyone.

We had a low key celebration tonight. I'm a little ashamed to admit this but our Chinese food came out of cardboard boxes from the freezer. Unfortunately my daughter, WHO IS CHINESE, does not like Chinese food. Her choice for supper tonight...a cheese quesadilla. The closest thing to Chinese I could get her to eat was a cup of mandarin oranges. Oh well. Daddy and I enjoyed the Chinese food. We will be attending a dinner weekend after next with our regional FCC group. It will be nice to see them again since we only see them once a year. I'm sure I'll have some photos from that to post later. Until then...Happy New Year!

Slumber Party!

Being a parent to two is SO different than just having one, especially when the second is dependent upon me for everything. That means big sister often hears, "I can't right now" or "Benjamin needs me right now" or Later." So Saturday night I decided would be Emily's night. Emily and I had a slumber party downstairs in our play room. It was just she and I, no boys allowed (well, the boys joined us downstairs for pizza then went upstairs for the evening)! We got into our jammies early, put the futon down and made up our bed on it and dined on typical slumber party food...pizza, cheetos, marshmallows and ice cream. We played with her Little People school, had a pillow fight, painted our fingernails (she calls them hang nails) and watched the Little Mermaid. By 9pm Emily announced she was tired so I turned the lights out. Then she wasn't tired so she hopped around on the bed for another half hour. Meanwhile, Mommy was getting sleepy, too. I think we were both asleep well before 10pm. What party animals we are! We have lots of fun and I'm glad we were able to do spend some one on one time together.

Here are a few photos from our party. Also, here's a photo of Emily before church yesterday. First, she got a shorter haircut on Friday that looks so much better. And she actually let me put a barrette in her hair and kept it there. The cute little jumper is one of my great Goodwill store finds from a few weeks ago (the shirt is from her BB).

It was a great slumber party and I'm sure it won't be long before Mommy is banished to upstairs with Daddy and little brother while Emily enjoys all the slumber party fun with her little friends.

Four Month Check-Up and Possible Preschool

Today Benjamin has his four month check up and shots. Our little guy now weighs 14 pounds, 6 oz, nearly 10 pounds more than what he weighed the day we brought him home from the hospital! He is in the 40-50th percentile in his weight and 50th in length. I guess that makes him about average? Anyway, he's doing great. There are some developmental milestones he hasn't achieved yet that some little ones his age do, but nothing the doctor is concerned about as she's confident he'll pick these up soon.

Benjamin also got several immunizations today. One shot was sort of a three in one shot, so he only got stuck three times. When he had his shots at 2 months, he cried briefly when he got them. This time, he cried quite a bit more. I mean, come on. I'm sure he's thinking, "Here's this nice lady who comes in, talks sweetly to me, I give her one of my most charming smiles...and then she pokes me. And then again. And again." Poor little guy. The nurse picked up right after she was done and cuddled him for a bit and he calmed right down. When she handed him to me, he looked at me and started to scream again like, "Mommy! Did you see what she did to me???" The crying was all short lived and true to Benjamin's personality, he's not been fussy since then. If anything, he's a bit more sleepy than normal but if that's how he responds to shots, we'll take it!

This week we toured a potential preschool for Emily. I was so impressed with this place. This is a real school setting and the building is full of professionals from a registered nurse to physical and speech therapists to certified teachers. Part of the reason for the extra personnel is that about half of the children who attend there have special needs of some sort. The other half are what they refer to as "model" children. These kids are integrated into the same class, yet individual educational plans are developed for each child after an assessment to best serve each child. Emily seemed to be most interested in the gymnasium (equipped with adaptive PE equipment for some of the kids) and also the snack cart that was going down the hall. The woman giving us the tour was kind enough to offer Emily some of the chocolate milk and a graham cracker. It doesn't get much better than that! We have an appointment in late February for Emily to be assessed to determine where she is in several different areas. At that time they will let us know if there are any spaces available. At this point, it doesn't sound favorable for getting in this year so maybe next fall.