Baby Jammy

Birthday 2.0

2009-11-10T21:39:00.000-08:00

Well, today marks the momentus second anniversary of Benjamin's birth, and if you think I am late in posting, I say hah hah! You are wrong! He wasn't born until 11:10, so I still have almost a full hour before I am late! Also, I was busy all day doing fun things with the young man, which was more important anyway. Today Loren and I played hookey from work to hang out with Jamtot on his birthday. We had pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream (cake! berry! whip!) for breakfast, which Benjamin helped make. He is becoming quite the chef these days. He then refused his fork, and opted to eat his pancakes, which were little mini baby sized pancakes, with a giant red spatula instead (spatul!). We opened presents (omp! omp!) after breakfast, which was a big hit. In particular the birthday boy was a fan of the little wooden knife which came with one of his presents, and wanted to use it to open the other packages, and then to do things like install batteries with it. After that big excitement we went to the aquarium. The big news at the aquarium was the diver, which Benjamin did not stop talking about all morning, followed by the fish that looked like Nemo. Sadly not one single good picture from the aquarium. Sigh. We will have to go back. We went to lunch at a very touristy fish and chipsy type place on the pier, and rode the carosel after lunch, which was a big hit with Jam (he had woken up in the morning saying "red horsie!" I'm not really sure what that is about.) We also ran into my big boss (big important, not big in size) on the way to the car, who was spending his rainy lunch time running, probably doing something disgusting like 5 miles in 30 minutes. So it was a good thing I didn't call in sick. We pushed the poor guy way past his nap limit and he zonked out in the car on the way home. After nap time we gave him his big deal present, a vintage (fancy way of saying bargain second hand) radio flyer red trike. He was a little unsure about it at first, but then kitty rode it, and he got more excited. The bike is just a squidge too big for him, and he can barely reach the peddles, if they are positioned exactly correctly, which made it all a little tricky. We will either need to modify the bike a bit, or wait for another inch or so in height before he really gets going. So after a little trial biking, it was time to go rake leaves and shovel dirt (digger!) in the back yard. Then Pop and Grandma stopped by with a birthday balloon, bib and cup for the boy. He was really excited to see them and was at the window shrieking "citey! citey!" when he saw Pop get out of the car. After that it was dinner, cupcakes and ice cream, followed by watching the Jungle Movie on the couch with mama, which is just a cheap ploy on my part to get him to snuggle with me. It was all in all a great day, and much fun was had by all. I have high hopes of a more thoughtful and reflective post on how great my two year old boy is, and how much he has learned and changed and grown since I have known him, but that will happen maybe later this week. Right now I must tuck myself into bed, as I am very tired and a little sniffly nosed.

Naughty Monkey

2009-11-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

Benjamin has a very funny monkey hat. I think his smile in this photo is so mischevious that he must be up to something. In the picture of both of us, I am sure he is trying to escape, since he is much too busy and important to snuggle me anymore. Also note the cool Sounders warm up jacket. Since there is no other real story behind these photos, I will just note a couple of his latest funny sayings. He has been watching the Jungle Book recently (I know, bad mommy letting him watch tv), and has taken to singing "Barenee Cessity", which I find to be hilarious and charming. He also now asks what you are doing, but it comes out "dooney", so he will ask "Dooney Daddy?" with a very serious expression. I have been trying to teach him to say "I love you Mama" with mixed results. He says "lovey" for "love you", but mostly wants to say "lovey kitty". Shows you where I rate on the totem pole. We went to a baby shower today for Loren's cousin Justin, that was in way the heck out Redmond. Anyway, a deer (a big deer with 4 point antlers) showed up in the back yard. Pop (Grandpa Lee) took Benjamin outside to see it, and he spent the next 3 hours asking "Deer, where?" and saying "Deer away". He was bound and determined to find it, and dragged several different people out on deer hunts. He then started saying "Deer nap. Bunny house." I have no idea what that meant. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and when we pulled up to our house, he woke up and said "Deer, where?" again. I think he will be looking for it for days. Similarly, Grandma Anne and Grandpa Jon took him to the zoo on Wednesday (this is Sunday). He was still talking about the tigers they saw. "One raaar. One nap." It made a big impression. Not quite a "monk loud" impression, but almost. Some other of his funny sayings are his re-naming of things. His names are very logical. Ladder has become climber, shovel is digger and broom is sweeper. You can hardly argue with him on those. I'm not sure how he got "noke" for milk though. He called it milk for a while, and then switched it up.

Children's Museum

2009-11-07T21:56:00.000-08:00

We went to the Children's Museum with our peps group on Saturday, to celebrate birthday 2.0. We had a great time. Benjamin has been with Jasmine the nanny before, and was very excited to go to the "zee-um", as he calls it. For probably the third time, Benjamin and Luca had matching outfits. I'm not sure if they coordinate in advance or what, but its pretty funny. Sadly Cora and Amelia couldn't make it. That N1H1 is really cramping everyone's style. I would have liked to get photos of all the kiddos, but those darn toddlers move to fast to capture on film. Benjamin conned us into buying him a small plush big bird at the gift shop (it was the Sesame Street exhibit). He took it up to the lost and found counter (which is in the gift shop for some reason) and put it on the counter and said "Pay", with big bambi eyes. So, since we are total suckers for the boy, we decided to get it, at which point he went back and got Bert and Ernie and added them to his pile. He now calls it "Little Bigger Bird", which I guess makes sense. After the museum, we celebrated another second birthday with Zachary (of raising hill fame), and then went to Luca's house for tacos and cupcakes and general mayhem. It was quite the party day.

Driver

2009-11-02T23:14:00.000-08:00

Benjamin looooves the car these days. He says "driver!" very demandingly, which is his way of requesting that he get to drive. We spend a lot of time playing in the front seat of the car, while he turns on the hazards and tests out the mirrors. I got in my car the other day, and when I started it the wipers were on, the blinker was going, the brights were on, and the rearview mirror was covered in tiny smudgy fingerprints. He also likes to hang out in the back on occasion.

Rain Gear

2009-11-01T23:11:00.000-08:00

We tried out Benjamin's head to toe rain slicker ensemble and rubber frog boots the other weekend on our coffee walk. Very agreeable for puddle

stomping. He is still not sure about the rain though. I think he forgot what is was over the summer. He looks up at the sky kind of squinty and says "rainy. windy." in a kind of critical tone.

Bouncy Seat

2009-10-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

Maija and Colin returned some of the baby stuff they had borrowed from us this week. Apparently Benjamin had been watching Eamon in the

bouncy seat, because as soon as he saw it in the entry way, he got all excited and climbed right in. I think this is the most he has ever enjoyed it. Funny guy.

Biker

2009-10-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is obsessed with bikes right now. He says "biker" as a noun. I have totally screwed up his grasp on language by calling Maisy "dogger". He now thinks you can ad "er" to the end of any word you want. So anyway. He loves bikers. We got a bike seat for the back of Loren's bike, and he was beside himself with joy. I think he thinks he is actually riding the bike. It was a big hit.

Little Reader

2009-10-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

Benjamin has done a few things lately that are so cute that I have to come out of my blog coma and post. The first is that he has been reading us stories. First one was Good Night Moon (aka "Moon"), which we read to him every night ("Moon. Fire. Mitt.") Then last night he read me Go Dog Go ("Dog. Little. Car. Climber."). He also has very funny titles for his favorite books. Jamberry is "Boat". Where the Wild Things Are is "Max". The Best Mouse Cookie is "Mouse". Why a Donkey was Chosen is "Camel". Mama Do you Love Me is "Dear". When Mama Comes Home Tonight is "Baby". The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza is "Hen". Curious George Rides a Bike is "George" or sometimes "Biker." Everyone Poops is "Poop!" (read with great enthusiasm). There are others, but those are a few of my favorites. Last night I was putting him to bed, and he tried a new tactic for tricking me into staying, which totally worked. First he said "Mama sing!", which was completely a surprise, because he will never let me sing to him. Then he said "Mama rock!", also surprising, because he does not usually like to sit in the rocking chair. So I got to snuggle and sing to him in the rocking chair, and he got to stay up extra late. It was a win for everyone.

Pony!

2009-10-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

We were hanging out in Jam's room tonight, reading stories and getting for bed, when he noticed my hair. "Pony!" he said, pointing at my head. Then, "Pony!" touching his own head. He sprinted toward the bathroom, where he knows I keep the pony tail holders. So, I humored him, with uber stylish results. He then considered giving Kitty a pony (unsuccesful), and tried out his first (to my knowledge) fake camera smile, which just looks pained to me. The whole thing was pretty funny, I thought.

funny couch sleeper

2009-09-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

drums please.... summertime

2009-09-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

Well, since labor day seems to be marking the official end of summer, with rainy rain rain, I am staying inside and posting about summer, which seems very long ago right now. I am teaching Benjamin early about the joys of a lounge chair in the sun, and he is reminding me about the importance of sun block. We are a good team. He is such a cool guy in his shades, I can hardly believe it.

Yard Boating

2009-08-26T22:42:00.000-07:00

One of my smallest curliest readers complained about the lack of new posts recently, so to try to redeem myself and appease her, here are a few photos of me and Jam playing in the backyard in the kayaks. He is all about the boats these days, and as you can imagine he loooves the paddle. (pad! pad!) Its very cute and funny. And slightly dangerous. This is a one person kayak by the way. Jam cleverly converted the storage hatch into a second seat.

Camano for the 4th

2009-07-09T21:53:00.001-07:00

We (including the usual suspects plus mom, dad and the Issaquah Fernies) spent the fourth of July at my Aunt Lisa's house on the beach on Camano. I think it might be a new tradition, it was so much fun. It was quasi-camping, which means we were fed a feast of crab for dinner and a breakfast buffet including strawberries from the garden, and other fabulous treats. And we got to watch the end of a knock down drag out Wimbledon final that went to 15-13 in the last set. It was crazy. Quasi-camping also meant that Loren, Jam, Maisy and I spent the night in the crabshack, which totally rocks. We had a queen size mattress in a loft with an amazing water view. Also no worries about bugs, damp sleeping bags, dirty tent floors etc. etc. And the whole ceiling is covered in glow in the dark stars, which was very cool. We played in the kayak and floaty toys, looked for crabs, played swimmy fetch with Maisy, I read a fabulous book, we ate tons of yummy snacks, got a little sun, saw an amazing sunset, and then got to watch the whole coastline set of huge fireworks displays while we toasted marshmallows and ate smores. All in all it was fantastic. Looking back at these photos though, I better start taking some pictures. Poor Loren never gets in any.

O Canada

2009-07-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

So last week we drove up to Whistler with Loren's parents and his brother's family. Whistler is amazingly beautiful, and we stayed in the most
unbelievable house, which belongs to Loren's cousin. I cannot describe it justly, but let me just say that it has 8 bathrooms and 2 hot tubs, and we had to play Marco Polo to find each other quite frequently. That should give the general picture. Anyone that has any brilliant ideas about how to get private jet rich, please send them my way, because I am now disatisfied with my regular life. I want to move in there just for the mattress/bedding. Of course all kinds of other fun was had too. Hikes were hiked, books were read, puzzles were puzzled, ice cream was eaten with reckless abandon, cows were ridden, balloon swords were brandished, gondolas were gondolaed, naps were napped with great frequency, pool was sharked, shops were browsed and balls were hurled down the stairs repeatedly. Benjamin was a grumpy little sicky for a good portion of the trip, which was unfortunate, but did have the surprise upside of a 3.5 hour nap on the trip home. He slept from Whistler to Arlington. It was a veritable nap marathon. We also celebrated Isabelle's 12th birthday, golfed for father's day (not all of us) and hot tubbed often. It was all very satisfactory.

Random

2009-06-18T22:23:00.000-07:00

So a couple of random photos of some of Benjamin's favorite things to do. Hide and go seek, well really just hide and then jump out, has always been one of his favorites. He will now go hide behind the curtains in the dining room and giggle before he jumps out. Here he was trying to hide in the linen closet, but he couldn't get the door shut. Also, his train set and other wheeled vehicles are becoming a favorite activity. He is actually able to link some of the train track pieces together now, instead of just Bamzilla-ing them to bits. Its very impressive

Serious Jam face

2009-06-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Where is Benjamin?

2009-06-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

Oh there he is! Clever hider.

Happy Birthday Adventure Dad!

2009-06-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

Guitar Lessons

2009-06-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

Jam loves to play guitar with his Dad. He actually gets the guitar out and brings it to me sometimes, and just looks at me expectantly, as if I might possibly make music come out of it. Not likely. Instead I let him throw the pick into the guitar and have to shake it until it falls out, which he laughs and laughs at. Its the little things apparently. But with Loren, he watches intently, and holds his little ukelele just like Dad.

Home safe

2009-06-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

So nice to have our dogger back. I took this photo the night I found her.

Lake McMurray

2009-06-12T21:14:00.000-07:00

We went up to Loren's childhood friend and neighbor's house on Lake McMurray a couple of weekends ago, and apart from one miserable boat ride, Benjamin was beside himself with glee. I have never seen so many wheeled vehicles, both designed for children (battery powered Barbie Jeep and Monster Truck) and not (riding lawn mowers, tractors, what have you). He sat on a big kid bike, played with approximately seventeen thousand different kinds of balls, played on the swing set, chased the dog, ran in the grass, peered over the deck into the water, and ate a fudgesicle. It may have been his favorite day ever until we had to drive home for 2 hours while he was awake. Hoo boy, did he protest that. But overall a very fun day. Some other people took photos too, which I must dig out of my email and add to the post. Also, a couple of pretty funny picture of Jam and Loren with very similar expressions, and Jam and me with very similar expressions. Funny enough that I am breaking my own photo sensoring rule and posting an un-pretty picture of me. It might not be as funny in small facebook format, where you can't see the expressions as well, but never the less, enjoy!

Yellow Dog Beach

2009-06-11T21:12:00.000-07:00

Where do I even start on Yellow Dog Beach? It is a longstanding dream in our family, and we were (are?) very close to making it happen. These photos are from a house on Hood Canal that we made an offer on, which we did not get, but I haven't totally given up yet. It still hasn't sold, so you never know. Sigh. (Anyone who wants in on half a beach house let me know. No bank! Huge views! 3 bedrooms! Ample parking for beach house parties! at least a mile off Hwy101!) Anyway, we all had a lot of fun at the beach, including Benjamin and the yellow dog.

Ferry to Yellow Dog Beach

2009-06-10T21:34:00.001-07:00

We took Benjamin for what I believe was his first ferry ride, back in April, and I am so giantly lazy that I am just posting the photos now. He thought it was great, very intrigued by the seagulls. You could tell while he was watching them that he was working out some kind of scientific theory that will rival evolution in its significance, or maybe doing physics problems about how they were flying. Tiny genius.

Sandboxing

2009-05-17T20:54:00.000-07:00

We have a new sandbox! Well, new to us anyway. (thank you craigslist!) It is in our also new play area off the deck. The giant shade making laurel has been removed, and the whole area is now nicely fenced, with a retaining wall in progress. Once we have the ferris wheel and the water slide I will post more photos. Joke. A wading pool is planned though, and eventually maybe some kind of climby swingy thing, but not until next year. I have high hopes that some day I may be able to sit in my lounge chair on the deck, perhaps with an iced beverage and a novel, while Benjamin happily plays by himself in his little play area. Please do not dispell my dreams with your harsh realities, mothers of bigger kids. Let me live with my delusions a little longer. Anyway, Benjamin looooves the sandbox. It is not uncommon for him to wake up in the morning, grab his coat, and stand by the deck door in his pajamas, demanding to go out to the sand box. Funny little guy.

Ladies Love Cool Jam

2009-05-16T20:41:00.000-07:00

Chicks dig Benjamin, what can I say? I love this photo because not only is he holding his cell phone while she kissed him, like "yeah, I'm cool, all the girls are calling me", but also she has no pants on. Its like a high school parents nightmare. Very Abercrombie & Fitch-esque.

Hill & Eco come to town

2009-05-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to have Hillary in town for my birthday this year, for the second year in a row! It was very exciting. It was difficult to top last year's surprise extravaganza, but she made a valiant effort, by bringing a baby with her this time. Maija and Eamon came over one night, and we put all 3 boys in their matching Grandma Anne sweaters. It was very hilarious. Thanks Grandma! It is also astounding to me that we have produced all these boys. I still feel like we are way to young and under qualified for this, and maybe instead of putting babies in their pj's we should maybe be getting dressed up for a high school football game, and arguing about who is going to wear what. The events of my actual birthday are escaping me, but other highlights of the trip included a party at Richard's, and a venture to TJ Maxx where I purchased a rockin' flat iron under Hillary's supervision. Also, how mischevious does Jam look in the photo of him and Emmett in their green pajamas? I will tell you, he looks like the definition of mischevious.

Littlest Yard Worker

2009-05-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

Don't call the child labor law people, but we have been putting Benjamin to work doing all kinds of manual labor in the back yard. He is hammering things, shoveling, building retaining walls, weeding and doing all kinds of other important work. You can barely restrain him from going outside when work is going on. He is inherantly driven to go outside by what I can only presume are genes that he inherited from his father. These photos show one stage of the yard improvement work that has been underway at 146. I have high hopes of one day posting before and after photos, in which the yard will be literally unrecognizable. It is undergoing an unbelievable transformation. Please feel free to come and see for yourself, Saturday and Sunday from 8 - 5 on any weekend. Bring work gloves.

Boy after my own heart

2009-05-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

Benjamin found the mini Boden catalog one night, and had to read it cover to cover and point out all the interesting things. He actually wanted to use the red sharpie (perhaps to circle his favorite things?), but I wouldn't let him. Anyway, Mama was so proud. And a little embarassed. How much do I actually read the Boden catalog that he has learned this? I like to think that it is infrequently, and he is just a very quick study. Among the other tricks we documented that night were demanding the camera, raiding the pantry, and giving the dog treats. And he is wearing his very adorable corduroy bear overalls, which are too small for him now. Sigh.

Bake me a cake as fast as you can!

2009-05-12T20:35:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and I did some baking, for who knows what occasion, as this was at least 6 weeks ago. He was a very enthusiastic (bossy) helper. I think he has watched and learned from expert cookie maker Madelyn and the other Fernies. A good and choclatey time was had by all.

Hair Cute

2009-05-11T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I have been sadly remiss in my contributions to the bloggisphere. But I am vowing to return to blogging with viggor! Dedication! And snacks! Photos of Jam's first hair cut below. I can't even remember when this was, sometime in March. We went to Kid's Club at the Willage, and they were fantastic. He started wailing the instant his little tush touched the yellow cab, and kept it up steadfastly until he was removed, at which point he started looking around and pointing at things and chatting with people, not a care in the world. Little turkey. The haircutter lady was not even phased by his tantrum though, just kept cutting away. He scored majorly with tv watching, a balloon and post hair cut pizza. Sadly his surfer boy goldie locks, and his startled Einstein wings are no longer. On the plus side, neither is the Joe Biden/mullet. And he is still darn cute with the big boy hair cut.

Thar she blows! Real live whales!* (*no whales are actually pictured in this blog. But we did really see some.)

2009-04-22T05:51:00.000-07:00

It turns out you can hike in Hawaii too!

2009-04-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

Aloha baby fashion

2009-04-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Maui Aquarium

2009-04-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

Insomnia is good for something

2009-04-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

Given my complete inability to blog lately, I have decided to go with a simpler approach, in hopes of more frequent posting. This is going to be photo heavy, text light for a while, to see if that makes it any easier. So, voila, beach pictures from Maui. Feel free to make up your own captions.

Travel baby

2009-04-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

Well I figured if I didn't post something soon, everyone would stop checking, so I have made a valiant effort to stay up until 9:58 to post something. Its the first round of Maui pics, from the airport and the plane. I know, kinda lame, but they can't all be beach pics people. Anyway, my little Jamcake was a total champ on the plane on the way there. A teensy bit of trouble taking his nap, but that was about it. I mean, we bribed him with Vanilla Milk ("baby crack") from Starbucks and goldfish crackers and new toys, but he did a great job. The trip home was not quite as smooth, but I am trying to block it from my memory in order to travel again in the future. Beach photos coming soon, I promise.

Mr. Fixit

2009-03-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Benito loooooves his drill. He works very hard at fixing things with it, funny guy. Loren put little floor protector things on the legs of all our new chairs, and Benjamin was very eager to help out. He also enjoyed drilling the cat door quite a bit.

Dino Jammies!

2009-03-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

The ever fabulous Auntie Weewee (Is that even the right spelling? Thats how it always looked in my head. You'll have to let me know. For the curious - Weewee was Hillary's younger brother Charles' early attempt at Hillary. ) gave us these irresistably adorable stripey fleece dino jammies months and months ago. When we got them they looked impossibly huge, and like they belonged on a big kid, and that it would be millenia before they fit Benjamin. Well. Got them out the other day, and they are just the right size. Which is a good thing, because his other fleecey green dino jammies that I like so much are (gasp!) starting to be on the small side. These may be my favorite jammies yet though. I alwasy enjoy the stripes. We also had to get all new shoes and onesies over the past couple weeks. The little laddie is growth spurting, apparently. Anyway, I thought he was very cute and funny in his new jammies, climbing up and down his toy box. He is all about climbing these days.

Fridge Art

2009-03-14T22:25:00.000-07:00

The other day Marnie took Benjamin to the Children's Museum, where he produced his very first fridge art. What a little artistic genius.

Ball Boy

2009-03-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is becoming such the problem solver, it is very cool to watch.

Procrastination Reigns Supreme

2009-03-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

I know, I haven't blogged in a month (more than). I also haven't started my taxes, or the 30 hours of real estate clock hours that I have to complete by the end of the month. There it is, I am a total lazy slacker. Anyway, since I have about 6 weeks of blogging to catch up on, I have decided for a brevity and photos approach going forward. The good news is I have high hopes that there will be several days of posting in a row! While I will eventually get caught up to Maui pics, I do want to post some of goofing around with Mr. No Pants before we went. We do try to read to Benjamin every night, and while he does seem to like it, he has not yet learned to sit still for a story. He does enjoy to pick books out quite a bit. And now sometimes when he is ready for bed, he walks over to his crib, and grabs onto the bars and shakes them, demanding to get into bed. Funny guy. When he gets tucked in, he gets tucked in with Kitty, Puppy, his music, and both his special blankets - the one that Aunt Cookie knit for him, and the one that was his Dad's when he was a baby. And if we are lucky, he does the smile-wiggle-sigh and goes right to sleep. What a nice baby.

Inaguaral Bath

2009-01-24T21:02:00.000-08:00

And by inaguaral, I just mean first. Is that even a vaguely accurate use of the word? Well, whatever. The bathroom isn't all the way done, but the most critical pieces are working, and Benjamin found the new tub to be very satisfactory. When we are all finished, I will post some before during and after pics.

Sticker head

2009-01-23T20:52:00.000-08:00

We got the new bathroom windows in from Home Depot the other day, and Benjamin found them to be very interesting. And I found it to be very amusing to put one of the little foam stickies on his head. Also, who needs pants anyway?

I love it in my room all day

2009-01-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pics of Jam playing in his room the other day. I like the variety of expressions here. The piano playing shots are so sweet and serious, he is smiley with his scooter, and then shouting, and of course trying to escape and riding a lion.

blog slacking continued

2009-01-21T20:31:00.000-08:00

I continue to be a super lame blogger, sorry. Instead I am in massive closet cleaning and organization mode. But I will run out of closets soon, and be back to being a better blogger. Instead of anything new, here are some pictures from the snow storm last month.

Oooh, oooh, but I forgot! I do have a new story. Grandma Anne was with the boy today, and in the late afternoon the dog started barking, as she does when someone is at the door, and the boy said "mama"! And then, when it wasn't me, he cried! I know, its mean of me to be so happy that he cried, but yay, he missed me! And then when it really was me later, he said mama again! Of course he won't say it in front of me, but thats ok.

Christmas Photos

2009-01-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

In no particular order here is a miscellaneous assortment of Christmas photos. Benjamin didn't really get the whole unwrapping gifts thing, but he had a blast anyway, as he got to hang out with lots of his favorite people, and there was all kinds of cool stuff to check out, and lots of yummies to eat. Not a lot of these turned out great, as I think is pretty typical of Christmas morning snaps, but you get the idea.

Baby Prison!

2009-01-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

Anya came over to play last night, and we had lots of fun. Benjamin was FASCINATED with her bottle, which has a fancy straw. Its more like a water bottle you might take to the gym than a regular bottle really. Anyway, he totally covets it. We set up the pack n play so that Anya could go to bed, and Benjamin apparently remembered that he played in the pack and play at Christmas and desparately wanted to get in it. So, since I am a sucker, I put him in it. Then Anya was interested, so she went in as well. I was a little worried she might somehow scale the wall and climb in unassisted if I left her to her own devices, so I helped her out. (She is quite the little mountain goat of a climber.) They only stayed in there for maybe 90 seconds before it lost its novelty and they wanted to roam free again, but I thought it was pretty funny. They have such matching little blond heads. Although Anya's is silky smooth all over, and as someone very observant pointed out, Benjamin's looks exactly like it came out of cotton candy machine in the back.
For anyone keeping track, Benjamin's new tooth (broke through yesterday, or at least thats when we noticed it) is on the bottom left. Way to go on number 7 Buddy! We are so proud of you! In the new tricks department, he will very occasionally give a kiss if you ask him, and I think he has been saying "dad" for a few days now, although it sounds so much like "dog" that it is hard to tell. He said "mom" or maybe "mum" (little brit) very clearly a couple of times tonight, although I couldn't tell if he really meant me, or if he was just trying it on for size. He has also bravely had a bunch of new food that he really liked lately, including grapefruit, chicken gumbo, and tuna noodle casserole. What an agreeable little eater.

So, I have some catching up to do

2009-01-13T19:34:00.001-08:00

I know, I know, its been almost a month. I have no excuse. I am very sorry to the three little Fernies, who I know check all the time, only to be disappointed. But look! I am back now! Back with so many things to update on that I don't know where to start. Here are some of the highlights from the last month:

Jam's first words. We have a tie here. He now says both "up" and "dog" and I could not tell you which one was first. Its a little like the walking. You think there will be this grand definining first moment, but its a lot more gradual than that. He said dog probably a lot before we realized what he meant. Up started as "Hey you, pick me up right now" and evolved into other meanings as well, like "help me" and "I want that". Dog refers mainly to Maisy, but also to Georgia, pictures of dogs, and all cats. We are working on the defining features of what makes a dog a dog, but its hard when you consider everything from Great Danes to those little fluffy dogs are dogs, when really, they don't have a ton of features in common. My mom claims that signs count as words too, so we have a couple of others to include. Waving, which he is a big fan of. Likes to wave good bye and hello, and likes to look out the window and wave. Also does an adorable sign with his hands which means "Give me that", "Pick me up", "you come here" and some other things. I will try to get it on video, as it is hard to explain but it is a two handed gesture, repeatedly folding his fingers into his palms. It is super cute.

Christmas! What a big fun event! Many cool giftys were exchanged, and Benjamin made out like a bandit. This kid got a haul of presents, everything from power tools, to books, to puzzles, to golf clubs and on and on. Very funny key board with microphone, which he sticks entirely in his mouth, and then makes noises like Charlie Brown's teacher, or whale song. We also learned about Benjamin's sophisticated palet, where dark chocolate is concerned. He got a hold of my 78% cacao content fancy dark chocolate from my stocking and went to town! I had to arm wrestle him to get it back. Apparently the little turkey loooves the dark chocolate.

Snow storms. We were basically blizzarded in for a few days. It was like Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Long Winter, when the trains almost didn't make it with the Christmas presents. We had to postpone the Nutcracker until after Christmas, miss the Peps Christmas party, and some other parties, skip the second round of Santa photos, and a whole bunch of other sad stuff. On the plus side, we did put Jam in the backpack and tromp through the snow, which was very satisfactory all around.

Benjamin has mastered climbing the stairs. This was first officially witnessed in Issaquah on Christmas Eve (big night/place for milestones. Christmas Eve last year was the first roll over. We now have a gate at the bottom of the stairs in addition to the old one at the top.

We had the first swim lesson this week, which is unfortunately scheduled right at nap time, so the poor guy spent most of the half hour rubbing his little eyes and crying with tiredness. Not sure what to do about that, since there is no other time we can take the class together. Stupid work, getting in the way of swimming lessons.

Other events included a doctor's appointment, a new tooth, a new bathroom, new professional portraits (we love you Cookie!), eating grapefruit (yum!), and most likely some other stuff.

Some other miscellaneous new tricks:

Brings books when asked (sometimes)

Shows tongue on command (rarely)

eats with a plastic baby fork (more or less)

feeds stuffed cheetah ("Kitty") dog treats when the real dog is not available to feed. Also now cuddles Kitty at bedtime. Sigh. So cute.

Dances (so adorable I practically cannot stand it. Must capture on video).

Can identify which toy is the duck toy and which toy is the frog toy when asked. May say "duck" but it sounds suspiciously like "dog"

On one memorable occasion, he lunged toward the pack n play when he decided he was ready for his nap.

Rides his toy lion. Hilarious.

Throws temper tantrums. When he doesn't get what he wants he immediately flings himself to the ground, crying and flailing. It is simultaneously amusing and traumatic for me.

Made his first succesful phone call. It was not to 911, which was my fear, but to the Washington State Ferry Information line. He helpfully put it on speaker so I could hear them asking him to say "ferry" for ferry schedule.

Now, if I were a super organized person, I would divide these all up into separate posts, and spread them out through out the week, but sadly I am not that person. So, instead I will upload a few miscellaneous photos that go with the above events and then go eat cookies and finish my book.

. H

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

We got our Christmas tree last weekend, and we picked it out in record time. We went to support the local boy scout troop selling trees at Safeway, and bought maybe the third tree we looked at. Its usually quite the production of inspecting each tree. Anyway, this year we got a tree that is still probably 7' tall, but it is also very skinny, so it fits much better into the living room. I don't know how we never thought of this before, but it has worked out very well. Anyway, the number of cords and breakable things, and crinkly paper everywhere was very exciting for Jam. Thus far he has broken one yellow dog ornament, and decapitated one angel ornament. I think they can both be resurrected with a little glue. Overall it has been much easier than I anticpated. I had visions of him pulling the tree over on himself (as he did with the fireplace screen a few days ago), but so far, so good.

Snow Baby!

2008-12-17T20:22:00.001-08:00

We had some snow this weekend, just enough to be fun, but not so much to cause us any problems. Benjamin did see snow last year, but it didn't make a big impression. This year, a little more, but still not super excited about it. Maisy, on the other hand, highly approved of it. We walked over to the Cowen Park ravine, and it was all very lovely.

Uh Oh Spaghetti O

2008-12-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

We introduced Benjamin to spaghetti at the pre half marathon carbs and Run Fat Boy Run party the other night. (I think this will be an annual event from now on. You too could be invited, if you want to run the half marathon next year. Even if you just promised to come out and cheer, you could probably get an invite. It turns out its not actually that exclusive of a party). He liked it pretty well, but the funniest pictures are from when he was very definitely done with being in his high chair. He went directly from chair to bath as soon as these photos were taken.

Mini couch

2008-12-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

We have this great little kid size pull out couch in Benjamin's room, which I believe was a Go To Your Room freebie, way back from Loren's warehouse boy days, and recently came back to us from Isabelle and Maria. Anyway, whenever it is folded out, Maisy and I battle to see who gets to lay on it, and Benjamin crawls around on us like we are a jungle jim. She is a very tolerant dogger.

Extension Cord Baby

2008-11-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

So when Loren was working on the bathroom with the door closed, Benjamin was milling around outside the door, trying to figure out how to get in. At one point, Loren was using something or other that plugged in, and had the extension cord going over the top of the door. Jam was fascinated. I like the first photo, where it looks like he is going to climb up the cord a la the man in black up the cliffs of insanity. Then he is very sad that he can't climb it, in despair about what else to use it for, and in the end, very happy with having discovered what the cord is good for.

This will not be a popular post when he is 15....

2008-11-29T21:54:00.000-08:00

Benjamin escaped from me the other night after he got out of the bath tub, and was running around wearing only his hooded towel. Well of course the towel only stayed on him for so long, but he was still going strong after it fell off. I couldn't resist taking a few photos. His little naked tush is so cute! And I love how he casually walks around drinking out of his sippy cup now, like its no big deal. Funny little show off.

Hammering BAM

2008-11-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

Benjamin is a total tool guy already, it is very funny. He loves to play with any kind of tool and he wants to help his dad with projects so badly. In this sequence of photos, he basically tries to climb up Loren's leg to get the hammer from him. When he can't reach it, he sees his little hammer, and proceeds to hammer the paint, the toilet and basically anything else in his reach. I love the photo where he is wielding the hammer like a weapon, with the crazed look in his eye. Dangerous hammering fiend, I say. In the other photo, Loren is giving him a crowbar to play with. In what universe is it a good idea to let a 1 year old play with a crowbar??? Must be a guy thing. They both survived.

I interrupt the regularly scheduled post....

2008-11-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

...for an update on house progress. We have started on what I like to think of as the final frontier of the upstairs of the house, Benjamin's bathroom. These are the before pictures, and the demo pictures. Note that even the before pictures actually show a big improvement from when we bought the house. The paint, light fixture, mirror, towel bars, fan, light switch, etc. etc. are all newly done. So not a true before photo, is what I am getting at. But anyway, exciting progress is being made! These pictures show demo'ing the tub surround that was built around the old clawfoot tub in the 70's. Right now the tub is getting reglazed, and after that comes tile. Yay!

Fuzzy Wuzzy

2008-11-25T20:52:00.000-08:00

Sometimes Benjamin just looks to darn grown up for his mama to tolerate. And so what do I do at that point? I dress him in fuzzy white bear pajamas with a peter pan collar. Because nothing says you are still a baby like a fuzzy peter pan collar. You can see that the boy doth protest such treatment. If these pictures make you too sad, scroll down to the end to cheer up.

We're number 1!

2008-11-12T21:36:00.000-08:00

My great big giant one year old baby had his one year check up today. His doctor started the appointment by saying he was the cutest boy in the history of boys, which clearly he is, based on the photos below, and if you disagree, well, then you must not be his mother. Then later she told him he was the biggest flirt she had ever met, so based on those insightful remarks, we will keep her around for another visit. Which will happen soon, because the poor lad has regressed on the height/weight chart and needs to go for a weigh in at 15 months. He was 50th percentile for weight and 75th for height at his last visit. He is now 10th percentile for weight, at 19.7 pounds, and 25th percentile for height, at 29". Dr. Brown is not terribly concerned, because he is genetically predisposed to be on the skinny side, and he is so darn active right now, what with all the walking around, that he is bound to be skinnier than all those non mobile babies who are just sitting around eating chips and pizza all day. Where he does triumph is in the size of his great big melon, which is in the 90th percentile for head size. Way to go buddy! Congratulations on your giant brain! And, lucky you, now we will try to fatten you up with all kinds of yumminesses. During the appointment, Benjamin was fascinated with the biohazard sticker on the trash can, the flashy red light that operates the table, where it says "caution: very hot", the cords plugged into the wall, and last but not least, all medical instruments including the stethascope the doctor was wearing, the flashing light she used to look in his ears, and the blood pressure cuff, which happened to be hanging just in with his reach. Doctor told me I needed to work on child proofing. They were out of the flu shot, so Benjamin only had 2 shots today, and he has to go back for flu and MMR. He was not very happy about the 2 he got. Not happy at all. But he does get to switch from formula to big boy milk, and from the bottle to a big boy cup. Also, will be starting on baby vitamins, which I think is kinda funny, and a dental regime of tooth brushing, also funny. In the next 3 months, we are supposed to look out for words (he should have 3-5 by 15 months), and we are supposed to be checking for language comprehension. IE, if you ask where Maisy is, he should look around and point to the dog, or something like that. What I forgot to ask about was the car seat. Rumor has it that you turn it around to face the front at 1 year, but then contradicting information says no, leave it facing backward for a while longer. Anyone else with a newly 1 year old baby know the answer to this dilemma?
Tomorrow I will have to digress from the birthday posting to mention the cutest little day care/preschool in the world that I toured this morning, which will remain anonymous, as I am attempting to keep it secret, so that no one else gets on the wait list and bungles Benjamin's chances to get in.

Cake pox?

2008-11-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

By the time Benjamin got to his fourth party on Sunday, I think he had the presents thing figured out, because he elected to open them before dinner. And we all said, sure Buddy, its your birthday! Whatever you want to do! He got very cool bath toys, flaming guitar shoes, and an electric guitar. All very good stuff. Cake and ice cream was really pretty funny. The ice cream photos are all the way down at the bottom, and it did not elicit the response I thought it would get. I think maybe the cold was too surprising? I'm not sure. We'll have to try it again soon and see if the reaction changes. The cake on the other hand, was very well received. It looked like he had come down with a case of the cake-pox. My poor sweater may never be the same. All in all, a very successful party.

Party On!

2008-11-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

We celebrated all of the peps babies birthdays with a communal birthday party at the little gym. I thought they were going to be to little to appreciate it, but they had a ball. They played with balls, and bubbles, and a parachute. They walked on the balance beam (with help) and flipped over the bar (with even more help). (Side note: there is a very funny sequence of Benjamin flipping on the bar. Sadly, I am totally blogspot challenged, and I cannot get them in the right order. Grrr. You can imagine the right order though. It will be like a puzzle for the day.)We followed up all the playing with a gift exchange and Trophy Cupcakes. Benjamin approved.

Its a breakfast party...

2008-11-10T20:35:00.000-08:00

In my family we have a tradition of celebrating birthdays with pancake breakfasts. This involves home made sourdough pancakes (honestly, is there any other kind?) whipped cream, strawberries and other assorted fruits, little smokies, various syrups, including coconut and raspberry, sparkling cider, and sometimes hot fudge and caramel pecan sauce. Yum. It is a good tradition. So it was Grandma Anne's smart idea to induct Benjamin into the pancake birthday club, since now he can eat pancakes (containing egg), whipped cream (containing whipped cream), and strawberries (who knows why babies can't eat strawberries, but apparently they can't). He already knows about little smokies. Someone, and I'm going to wager it was clever his Granpa Jon, also got donughts, so that Benjamin could have a little doughnut cake, because you can't put a candle in a pancake. And with all this, do you know what the boy's favorite food was? Blueberries. They have always been his favorite. Weird kid. Let me see, whipped cream, sausages, chocolate doughnuts or fruit? Tough choice. Oh well. It could be that it was just since the whipped cream and chocolate was new to him, the blueberries were a safer choice. He also got some excellent gifts, including Noah's ark, (with Noah and his wife Molly) which he apparently picked out for himself at Costco, and wouldn't let go of, and a very cool booster seat like his cousin Tess has, so that it might be slightly more possible to take him to out to eat. And of course a book, because it is just not your birthday unless you have a good book to read. All in all, it was an excellent morning. Lucky birthday boy.

The First Year

2008-11-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Congratulations Buster! You made it through your first year. And your Mama is baffled at your transformation. How did you go from the little teeny tiny dark haired blue eyed red faced guy I first met, to the great big tow headed, greeny-grey-brownish eyed rosy cheeked big kid I know today? It is nothing short of a miracle. To celebrate your birthday, we will have one full week of birthday blog posts! The birthday posts will include all 3 of your parties yesterday, reminiscing about your birth, your one year doctor's appointment, photos of your first ice cream, doughnut, juicebox, cupcake and regular cake, and many other fabulous and wonderous topics. So today I will just say I hope that today is the first of a long tradition of very happy birthdays for you. I am so glad you are here with us now, and I love you a bushel and a peck!

New PJ's

2008-11-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

When we were at Value Village the other day, looking for scare crow parts for Loren's Halloween costume, we found two super cute pairs of new pj's for Benjamin - stripey stripes, and dinos. They were something like $1.99 each, and when you buy things second hand, you get something like negative carbon footprint. You've gotta love that.

Cooper & Jam

2008-11-06T21:38:00.000-08:00

Caj and Cooper came over to "run" Greenlake with Loren and Jam this weekend. Benjamin wanted to show off his scooter to Cooper. Cooper was properly impressed. Its funny how in some of these photos they appear to be working together, when at the time I am pretty sure they were just trying to shove each other out of the way. Benjamin also used Coopers head to hold on to as he was walking. And then everyone went out for beers and fries at the Tangletown. It was all very manly.

Halloween is for Babies!

2008-11-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween was pretty fun this year. We had a party with the peps babies, which was hilarious. We had a skunk, a strawberry, Elvis, Dorothy, a puppy, and Benito was a lion. On the actual day of Halloween, we went to Issaquah to pass out candy to Aunt Cookie's neighborhood ghosts and goblins. Sadly, no photos were taken there. But there are a bunch of funny ones from the party, and a couple of Benjamin telling scary stories with Grandma Pat's spooky flashlight.

O-BAM-A!

2008-11-05T12:37:00.000-08:00

Benjamin was a little sicky last night, which made me miss most of the election night festivities, but I could not let this momentous occasion go by without comment. So let me just say woo-hoo! What I did catch on tv were clips of the crowds in Chicago, and it was so cool to see everyone crying and hugging. The whole thing gave me goosebumps. Benjamin watched a bit too, and I am sure he was soaking in the history in action, in spite of the fever. I am very hopeful that this will be a uniting moment for our country, and that people will really feel like we have a leader, not just a politician. I'm a reminded of the "good old days" when people used to look up to and respect the president. Wouldn't that be a nice sentiment to recapture?

Hillary & Emmett come to town

2008-11-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am total lazy blog slacker. I have no excuse. But since I am trying to catch up I will be brief. Hillary and Emmett came to visit us for a whole week, and it was SO MUCH FUN. And because I was in Spokane for the weekend, I got to fly in to town with them for Emmett's first flight, a monumental occasion. A selection of miscellaneous pics from the visit below. Come back and see us again soon! We miss you!

Stripey Boy

2008-10-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Benjamin got a new long sleeve stripey polo shirt the other day, and he was so cute and grown up in it that I had to take some pictures. The progression from happy boy playing with his dad to desparate need to escape and claim the camera for his own is pretty funny.

My Indian name would be Chief Crazy Hair...

2008-10-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's hair is so great, I am very jealous. It is super soft and shiny, for one thing. But also, you can do all kinds of crazy sticky upy things to it. Some it does on its own, but in these lovely snaps we have post bath hair, that was encouraged to do a little rock star do. And this doesn't even require any product! I am so tempted to break out the gel.

The cat door

2008-10-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

The other day, Benito discovered the cat door. He has recently been very interested in opening and shutting doors and cupboards, and this one was very intriguing. Not only is it just the right size for him, this is the only one that swings from the top and not the side. Very mysterious. He played with it for quite a while, and then the next day, he remembered it was there, and leaned over to check it out for a minute. But then he was over it, and hadsn't looked at it again since. Fickle baby.

Hooray for Peter Pumpkin Head

2008-10-19T22:03:00.000-07:00

The title here is not related to anything except the fact that there is a pumpkin in the photo, and this song has been in my head, what with all the pumpkings being around and things. Anyway, Benjamin went on his very first field trip on Friday, with Annie's preschool class, to Remlinger Farms. Apparently the roller coaster was very scary (as a spectator sport only), but the pumpkin picking was very satisfactory. Clever Aunty Cookie helped him choose an excellent pumpkin, with a very long stem. Much easier to hold onto than just a regular old pumpkin. He thinks the pumpkin is great, and has been playing with it quite a bit. I was a little worried about him impaling himself on it and losing an eye at one point, but he narrowly missed the stem part, and has had no close calls since. Benjamin played at Grandma Pat's house on Wednesday, and came home with a this very cool Green Eggs & Ham shirt, which he has been wearing pretty much continuously since then.

Rock Star in Training

2008-10-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

Benjamin's musical training is ongoing, with emphasis in guitar, drums and piano. He dabbles in base, keyboard and maraca. This latest guitar lesson he added waving to his adoring fans to his repetoire. They (I) were (was) appropriately impressed and swoony. He is also trying out the whole performing shirtless thing, to see how that goes. So far he pulls it off pretty well.

2008-10-09T22:23:00.000-07:00

This last weekend, Benjamin apparently decided that he was too big to be a baby any longer, and instead he would be an obstinate and obstreporous toddler. This involved taking many more steps in a row, sometimes un-coached, and being increasingly fussier and more demanding. I tried to tell him that his birthday was not for another month, and he needed to calm down and revert to nice babyness, but alas, it was to no avail. He has been such a good natured little guy that it was a little bit of a shock to the system. He spent a lot of the weekend saying "EH! EH!" loudly, which roughly translates into "We are not doing what I want to do. Stop what you are doing this instant and do what I want to do." Lots more grumpy faces than usual. The increase in mobility is pretty fun to watch though. He has been cruising on the dog, which she is very tolerant of, and pushing his little scooter toy thing around. He also used the laundry basket as a push cart, which was fun for him until it hit the dresser and stopped, and then it was very disagreeable

Mama's boy

2008-10-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Even though I am clearly not going to be the fun parent, I'm starting to feel like maybe this kid likes me. For the first 3 months or so, it was very much like a junior high crush relationship. I was clearly head over heels for him, and he had a vague idea that I existed, some of the time. Now, his face lights up when I come home, and sometimes he even hugs me without being forced into it. Its very gratifying.

BAMZILLA!

2008-10-07T22:06:00.000-07:00

Loren and Benjamin had a great time this weekend playing with the lincoln logs and Thomas the train set. Well, Benjamin had a great time. Loren was a wee bit frustrated I think. His efforts to complete a log house or train track set up were repeatedly thwarted, by Bamzilla the destroyer. He is more in demo mode than construction mode these days. Also, his pictures are getting increasingly blurry as he moves faster and faster all the time. And as his motion becomes perpetual as well. Soon the only time I will be able to take an in focus photo of him is while he sleeps.

BAM and the washer

2008-10-06T21:48:00.000-07:00

One of Benjamin's new interests is the washer. I'm sure he would be interested in the dryer too, if he were only taller. He likes to stand there and peer into it, even if there is no laundry going. And he also enjoys slapping the little glass window with his hand. Funny kid. There is no guessing what will entertain him.

More Shed Progress

2008-10-05T21:14:00.001-07:00

I am way behind here, but I will do my best to play catch up. Last weekend Pat and Lee came over and helped out with the shed, and great progress was made. Benjamin was very anxious to help, especially in the area of hammering and ladder climbing. So anxious to help that if he was not helping, he was difficult and cranky.

More photos coming soon!

2008-09-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

I have been a very lazy blogger lately. And its not because the boy has been lacking in cute things to commemorate. He has been just as cute as ever! I have just been busy, or something. Among his newer tricks:

Waving. He has finally figured this one out! Although he won't do it on command.

He has started to rub his belly when he gets near the end of his bottle. It is hilarious. It makes me think of an old man somehow, very satisfied with having eaten a big meal.

He does a lip smacking thing sometimes when I am feeding him with a spoon. And not just one lip smack, but a few in a row. Its super cute.

He continues to make the best babbling noises. His little baby voice is maybe my favorite thing ever.

He can take a few steps on his own, but only if you coach him into it and encourage him. He would still much rather hold hands, even though he needs it less and less for balance.

He will eat anything you give him. The newest things he has had include salad and olives. He really liked little smokies. I can't wait to give him pancakes.

His hair has developed funny little wings on the sides. It makes him look kind of Einsteiny.

He has invented his own system of greeting. For adults and big kids, it is a whack in the face. I think he just wants to pat your face, which is very sweet, but he gets so excited that he ends up more or less slapping you. Its a sign of affection. With other babies, he seems to go straight for the eyes. I haven't figured that one out yet.

The new sleep pattern is to go to bed at 7:30, wake up at 5 for a bottle, and then go back down for a couple hours. It is fabulous.

He still loves the phone and the remote, they are the best toys ever. Also a big fan of the electric tooth brush. He likes to help me brush my teeth.

Peekaboo never seems to get old.

Now he is working on opening and closing doors, very entertaining.

He loves the hammer, and all things with long handles. Very fascinating.

He likes to pull all the books off the shelves and fling them to the floor. He likes to do this with my shoes too.

He is still super tickley. He just laughs and laughs. It is so much fun.

He is getting a little shy of strangers. He will bury his head in my neck/chest when there is someone new, but in the cutest smiley way, and then he will look up at them again, and rebury his head. And he definitely has a preference for his parents, although its not super strong.

He works on his shouting occasionally, its good to know he has a nice strong voice. And I don't mean upset shouting. Just shouting for fun, to make sure everyone can hear him.

I still have a hard time getting him to sit still for a book. I think I just need to try harder and more often. He wants to throw them to the floor and then run around mostly. Not much of a sitter-still.

He is having fewer bottles and more food. This morning he didn't really drink much from the bottle, but just mooshed it around in his mouth and bit on it a little. I wonder if he is going to be done with that soon. I hope not yet. It is about the only time I get a snuggle.

He has clapped, once, and then never again. And I missed it. Oh well. I'm sure there will be more clapping in the future.

I am having so much fun with him, I don't want him to get any bigger or more accomplished. But then I also am really cheering for him to get bigger and more accomplished. Sigh.

BAM! BLAM? The name game continues

2008-09-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Hello lovely readers! This is going to be a long and wordy post, very light on pictures, so if you are in it for the photos, please check back tomorrow. Ok, the rest of you that are left...

Loren and I had a heckuva time with baby names. With girl names, we both liked them all, and could never narrow it down to anything. Kate? Yes. Alexandra? Yes. Sabrina, Tabitha, Veronica, Leila, Lucy, Rebecca, Leah, Loren, Ella, Emily, Irene, Grace, Clara, Elizabeth, Annika, Delilah, Jane, May, Emma, Bella, Bridget, Olivia, Heidi, Mia, Stella, Abigail? Yes please, we would like to have them all. Sooooo, that was one problem, and one of the main reasons we found out baby's gender, instead of waiting. Then there was the boy name problem. Loren liked all things wacky and off beat, with a special focus in the muppet and cartoon arena, and leanings toward all things Scottish. I am a little more traditional, leaning towards the Biblical, or otherwise old fashioned. So the conversations would go like this....

Deborah: How about Alexander?

Loren: Nah, but ooh, how about Magnus??

Deborah: Um, no. What about Joseph?

Loren: No, but you are going to love this... Kermit! Or Casper!

Deborah: Riiiiiiiight.

One of the names we always had an argument about was Linus. Loren loooooooves Linus. It was his name as a dj in college. Linus is the inventor of RHYTHM in Greek mythology, for goodness sakes. Humphrey Bogart, Matt Damon and Harrison Ford have all played characters named Linus. Linux was founded by a Linus. It is also the name of popes and a nobel prize winner. And as some of you might now, a Peanuts character. Who Loren also loves. Big Peanuts fan. It also falls into the quirky, offbeat category. Now, I think if your last name is, say, Jones, you might be able to get away with naming a child Linus. When your last name is Matlick, you have to be a little more careful. I have always been very vocally opposed to it as a first name. And when I say always, I don't think it actually came up on our first date, but definitely soon thereafter. So, we are at the beer monster campout last summer, and I had just started to get attached to the name Benjamin. We are laying our tent before bed, talking about names, which we did basically constantly, and the discussion went like this:

Deborah: "Benjamin?"

Loren: "No."

Deborah: "Benjamin Linus?"

Loren: "Done!"

We kept throwing around other possibilities, but this was the front runner, even though I had said it a little jokingly. Part of the name compromise was that if I got to have a more traditional first name, Loren would get to pick the midddle name, although we both still had veto power. Anyway, one of the other names that was very much in contention for the middle position was Adams. It has a few things going for it. First off, who doesn't want to be named after a mountain? Especially if you turn out to be a mountain climber? (No pressure though, Buster) And, this was a mountain that Loren and I had climbed together, and it was kind of a big deal for us. And (here is the kicker) it creates the initials BAM! BAM BAM BAM! Which is so much fun. So fast forward to about 3 weeks before due date. Loren reads an article on MSN or something in which he learns that the bad guy on "Lost" is named Ben Linus. Hmm. Now, are not Lost watchers. Have never seen it. Could not tell you if this is the one about crashing a plane on an island (seems logical), fighting crime, or escaping from prison. But it was still bothersome. Bothersome enough too tip the scale in favor of Adams. Meaningful to us, geographical, great initials, and very presidential, just in case.

But I know we have always second guessed it a little. I think if we were to do it over again, we probably would go the other way. Then, the other day Auntie Cookie had Jammy at the kids school, and one of the other moms says to her "Well isn't he just the cutest little Linus ever!" And its true. He is kind of a little Linus. And the older he gets, the more Linusy he becomes. And it really got both of us thinking about this again. So here is the question. This kid already has a bjillion names. He is known as (in descending order of popularity of use) Benjamin, Jammy, Jam, Jameroo, Buster, Mr. Buster, Mr. Buster Pants, Buddy, Benito, Benbino, Jamster, Jam Master J, and finally Bam. (Really the only ones we are against are Ben, Benny, and Benji. Otherwise feel free to come up with your own.) Should we just add Linus to the nick name list? As in, come here you cute little Linus you? Should we add it to his name unoffiically? As in Benjamin Linus Adams Matlick (BLAM! is still pretty cool)? Should we add it officially? Should we change it officially? As in Benjamin Linus Matlick? Should we leave it alone, because he already has a perfectly good name?

So that is the question of the day. Poll results have no bearing on any decisions at all, so don't get carried away. But I am curious to hear opinions on this.

2008-09-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

So we all knew Benjamin would like tools, because he is that kind of guy. But it turns out he actually likes anything with a handle - mops, brooms, rakes, shovels, you name it. He very much likes to help you hold them, and even more likes to hold them himself. Its only a slight risk of injury to be around someone with iffy balance and coordination holding a pole 3 times his height. But it is pretty funny.

Walky Walky McWalkerson

2008-09-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

So the boy has taken a few steps on his own. On Saturday, he walked-ish between Judith and I once or twice, taking 3 or 4 steps each time. On Tuesday night, he stood for a couple seconds, then took a few steps before falling. But, I have to say, I think last night was the break through "walking" night. He went back and forth between Loren and I A LOT, sometimes more successful than others. He would still rather walk holding onto someones hands, and won't walk on his own unless you encourage him, but I think you can safely say he is walking. See the attached video for a sample.

Click here to watch

Sunny Sunday at the Park

2008-09-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Benjamin and I went to Meridian Park with Wenmei and Zachary, and Holly and Oliver on Sunday. I'm soooo glad we are getting some summer in September! It was pretty funny. The boys will all tolerate the swings, but they don't really know what to make of them yet. The swings really aren't fun for them yet. What is much more fun is a toy. Any toy, so long as your friend has it. There were a few very funny power struggles over a couple of toys.

Help!

2008-09-16T21:35:00.000-07:00

I am in a Greenlake Moms Yahoo group, and I read about this in it yesterday, and I think it is worth passing on. A woman who lives in Greenlake (that is my neighborhood people) and is 5 months pregnant, was recently stabbed by her boyfriend. So now she is not only going to be a single mom, but she is a single mom who can't work right now, what with all the stabbing recovery. One of the women in the Yahoo group is collecting baby stuff to take to her. She knows she is having a boy, and doesn't have any baby stuff yet. I am going to take a load of clothes and blankets and a stroller and a front pack over to the woman collecting the stuff on Sunday, and if you have any baby stuff you could live without, I would happily collect it from you. I guess she doesn't have a lot of space, so doesn't want things like big exersaucers, but could use diapers, bottles, car seats and all that other good stuff you need to have for a baby. Anyway, I thought I would pass this on in case anybody has stuff collecting dust that could free up valuable storage space for other stuff to collect dust, and be put to better use elsewhere.

New Cousin!

2008-09-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

On Sunday afternoon, Benjamin went to meet his new cousin Eamon, and take a Kidd Valley picnic to the crowd. It turned out to be Maija, Colin, Tess, Eamon, Vince, Aunt Barb, Mom, Dad, Judith, Madelyn, Annie, and Loren, Benjmin and me. The weather was bee-u-tiful, so we sat in the backyard and soaked up the sun. I even logged a little lounge chair time. Sigh. And I got to hold wee tiny Eamon. Now, I know this is beyond cliche, but I cannot believe Benjamin was ever that small! But he was. Smaller even. And so soft! New babies are the softest thing. And he has this little teeny tiny cry. Benjamin just looked giant next to him. Which was about what Maija said about Tess when they came to see us at the hospital.

Shed Progress!

2008-09-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

The shed not only has a foundation (which it had last weekend), but a floor, two walls, and 6 trusses! Granted the trusses are not in place, but they have been cut, and one was tried out, and looked just great. Its very exciting progress. YAY team!

Cruising around the coffee table

2008-09-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Benjamin is still kind of a tentative cruiser, but he is getting better every day. He would much prefer to walk holding on to 2 hands of a bigger person, but if you set him loose on the coffee table, he will circumnavigate it. Watching him learn to walk seems like it is probably about like watching me try to snowboard. He has the muscle, and usually the balance, but he just needs enough confidence to really commit to it. I think one of these days it will just click, and he will start running circles around us. I am excited for that, but hugely unprepared. Must start childproofing!

Ten Months!

2008-09-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Can you believe that in just ten months, the little Benbino has gone from the teeny tiny little baby he was when we first met him, to the great big kid he is now? The mind boggles.

Welcome new baby cousin!

2008-09-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

After 42.5 long weeks of pregnancy, Maija had her baby last night! A beautiful BOY, with some dark hair. He doesn't have a name yet, that I know of, and I don't know the details about height and weight, but both mom and baby are doing great. Yay! I'm sure there will be photos posted on Aunt Cookies blog before too long. Per tradition, I went over to see him at 11:30 last night (Maija and I visited Henry at the hospital at 2:00 in the morning, and Maija came to see Benjamin at 2:30 in the morning). Maija was smiling and glowing, Colin was proud papa, and baby was a tiny bundle with hair and feet. Very sweet. Congratulations to all!!

Literary Baby

2008-09-09T22:11:00.000-07:00

Benjamin has discovered the stack of books on one of our living room end tables. It is very conveniently at his level, and his new hobby is to pull the books off and fling them to the floor, preferably several at once, and usually ending in some kind of foot injury. His Grandpa will be excited to note that he has not only started with non-fiction, but smarty pants sciencey professor non-fiction. And he is trying to keep up politically, so he has some interest in Obama's book and The True Patriot as well.

Pickle Baby

2008-09-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

Benjamin tried eating a pickle for the first time yesterday. It is always funny to see him eat something new, and he went through his pretty typical routine.

Face one: Concern. What is this stuff? Poison?

Face two: Ok, not poison.

Face three: mmmm, yum!

The shed begins

2008-09-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

We started work on our backyard shed today! This is very exciting, because it marks the beginning (sort of) of the basement finishing project! We had initially planned to build a garage in the back yard, off the alley, in part so we could move the wood shop, lawn mower, bikes, etc. etc. out of the basement, in order to transform it into manland. (now renamed little manland, although I think the little man will probably share it). Well that turned out to be a hundred or so thousand dollars, which seemed like a lot for lawn mower storage, so we regrouped. Now the plan is to finish 75% of the basement, leaving room for a shop, and spend $400 building a shed for the yard tools to live in. Better plan, yes? Well I think so. Anyway, the shed building began today. Benjamin was very eager to hammer, but in the end his particpation ended up being mainly the arena of moral support. He also found the lumber propped on the back stairs to be a very intriguing balance beam. In other home improvement news, this weekend I also stained the deck railing, and painted the mud porch floor and back stairs. Progress is being made. Yay!

Baby's First Husky Game

2008-09-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Loren and Grandma Pat took Benjamin to his first Husky game on Saturday. Apparently he was a fantastic baby, and much fun was had by all, except Jake Locker. For an in depth account of the game, please see http://www.adventure-dad.blogspot.com/. For photo montage of the day, please see below.

Pregame Show

2008-09-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

We had a trial run of husky gear the other day, just to make sure everyone was ready for the big game. Benjamin was not a huge fan of the big fuzzy hat, so hopefully the weather will stay summery for a few more games anyway. I think the boys are pretty funny in their husky jackets.

White wedding

2008-09-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

My cousin Patty got married on Saturday, and Benjamin was nice enough to be my date. (Loren was there too, but he was busy taking pictures). I'm sure that many fabulous photos are coming to Aunt Cookies blog soon, so I won't wreck any of the suspense by posting them here, except for one of me and the boy. Its too bad you can't see his whole little outfit, he was very hip in his khakis and his white shirt, completing the whole ensemble with his favorite airplane shoes. It was a very cool wedding, lots of professional sort of swing dancing, and many very cool touches. They wrote their own vows, with the groom very solemnly and seriously promising to "when we are at a restaurant ALWAYS order your second choice, so you can taste both." I thought that was pretty funny.

Beer Babies

2008-09-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

We had PEPs at our house tonight. And if you were wondering why Benito has such an impressive beer belly, wonder no more, just check out the photo of some of the dads and their babies. Names will be withheld to protect the innocent. Since peps is in the evening, and the little buggers move so quickly these days, none of my photos ever come out very well. I am posting them anyway, because I still think they are funny. Everyone was fighting over the same toys tonight, which was pretty entertaining.

Beermonster Camping

2008-09-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

It was the annual Beermonster (also known as the soccer team) camping trip this weekend. Some people did more camping than others. We actually went to the campsite with tent and gear to spend the night, but opted out, due to inclement weather, cranky baby. It is such a Seattle sort of camping trip, when all the photos have people in rain jackets and fleece. They do show off my extremely awesome camping chair though. Its a recliner, very fancy. Anyway, I'm thinking that maybe next year the trip should be planned for earlier in the summer, more July-ish, or else maybe further south, say Mexico-ish, to avoid this kind of sogginess. The Borbergs get the award for being total troopers. Not only did they spend the night on Saturday night, with 3 children in tow, but one of the children is only 2 months old. They are hardcore, it is very impressive. The site was on the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River, which is really beautiful. We went on a quarter mile hike down to the river through what I can only describe as rainforest. Very lush and green and mossy and gorgeous. Maisy was delighted to be on trail again, and Benjamin was pretty tolerant of being on backpack. He was fascinated with the campfire, and kept lunging toward it. There were a couple of appealing distractions for him, one being 2 empty dog dishes, that he was very interested in standing in, and a large log, that he quite enjoyed climbing up and walking across. Caj and Amy and Cooper were also there on a day trip, and it was fun to see the boys next to each other. You would never know Benjamin is 2 months older, Cooper is getting so big! It is really going to be cool to see them grow up together. Maisy was the only one who didn't mind the weather, she was just so happy to be outside, playing with her dog pals Zeus and Athena again. We did eventually have to tie her up, when too much rowdiness went on, but I think she had a pretty good time anyway.

Dog walking

2008-09-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning when we took the hound for her walk, it really felt like fall. We had to bundle up in jeans and jacket and SHOES (say good bye, lovely summer sandals). Benjamin was all snuggled into his blanket, and immediately fell asleep. Not that you can blame him, it is very snuggly. Quite the change from Saturday, when I went running (yes thats right, I said running) in capri pants and a tank top, and it seemed like maybe we would have summer for another month. This was my first foray into running with the jogging stroller. On the plus side, my knee felt pretty good, and I feel like I might be able to start actually running again (91 days until the Seattle half marathon! Time to get to work!) . On the minus side, running neighborhood streets with no curb cuts with a stroller is a pain. I think future runs will involve a warm up/cool down walk to and from the lake so as to avoid trying to run through the sidewalk to street changes.

It is so fall

2008-09-01T20:03:00.001-07:00

Well, Sunday's weather was so definitively fallish, that this morning I decided summer was officially over and broke out all of Benjamin's fall clothes. By the afternoon, it was clearly summer again, so I may have jumped the gun. The good news is I will be all ready when it really happens. Also good news is how darn cute his fall-wear is. A sampling of some of the dapper looks he will be sporting below. (Thanks to sponsors Grandma Pat and Taletha! Without you he would be naked!) I admit half of these are the same outfit. But his little face is so funny that I couldn't pick my favorite one. You are also getting a sneak peak of husky football gear. Today was the trial run, but next Saturday for the real thing, there will surely be additional photos.

Another tooth!

2008-08-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

So on Wednesday, Benjamin finished up all his hard work on tooth number 5. Its the top right one, I think. I attempted a photo, which was tricky, since you can't really see it from straight on, so you have to hang the boy upside down, and then convince him to open his mouth up. He was nice enough to humor me though. You can only see it in one of the shots, but I thought his front teeth were so impressive in the second photo that I had to inlcude it too.

Bath time revisted

2008-08-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

So, remember when Benjamin was just a little tiny guy, and had to take his bath lying down in a little tiny baby bath tub? A while ago, I don't know, a couple months ago maybe, I had this realization that he was way to big for the tiny tub, and I had to let him graduate to the big boy bath. I will dig up a tiny tub comparison photo to add later, but can't locate one right now. Anyway, look how big and sitty-uppy he is!! And how standy, because of course one of the things he wants to do in the bath, as with everywhere else in life, is to stand, and walk or run laps. These are very censored g-rated pictures, so he won't be embarrassed when he grows up, except look how cute his little tush is! In the past he has been kinda ok with baths, but not very enthusiastic, and then the other night in the spirit of the new and demanding big boy Benjamin, he threw a fit when I tried to take him out of the tub before he was ready. It was pretty funny actually. Next on the home improvement list is his bathroom upstairs, so that he can collect a whole fleet of rubber ducks, and get to have his bath in the same room that his towel lives in.