The Baby is a Toddler

Hanging around the basketball hoop is one of B's favorite places.

Bennett turned 18 months on December 5th!  I almost don't want to believe that our "baby" is officially a toddler!  Today, we had Bennett's 18 months appointment and enjoyed learning Benny's stats and asking our pediatrician some questions.  Thinking back to one year ago, we remembered our worries about Bennett's shivers and going through the neuro exams.  We are blessed to have this healthy little boy.

Bennett is 23 lbs, 15 ounces (22%) and 34 inches (88%).  If you'd like to compare that to Logan's 18 month stats: Logan was 28 lbs, 14 ounces (80%) and 34 inches (88-90%).  Big boys!

Bennett's verbal and physical abilities are developing great.  We estimate he has about 45-50 "words" now and understand everything we say.  He and Logan do a great job communicating and Logan takes great care (sometimes) for Bennett.  Much different than Logan, Bennett throws a goos tantrum for Mom and Dad several times a week.  We are in the process of trying to set boundaries to help deal with the tantrums. Dr. Gilmartin had great recommendations for us.  It hasn't taken us long to learn that Bennett reserves those  tantrums for his parents - never for babysitters or grandparents!

For the most part, the Bennett we know is cuddly, lovey, and smiley.  He loves to giggle and play - especially with Big Brother Logan.  Some of Bennett's favorite things are: play food, hockey, any game with a ball, trains, and books.  Just like Logan, Bennett loves music and loves to dance.  We have some pretty crazy dance parties around here (I'm not taking any credit for their moves...).  Bennett loves to climb anything - literally anything.  Nothing can keep Bennett from keeping up with Logan.  In fact, Bennett gets really sad when Logan gets to do something with John (or me) or something like skating lessons that Bennett isn't old enough for yet.

Bennett loves to read.  He loves to snuggle up and read a book with us, or try to read to us.  He also likes to sing "Old Mac Donald" and "Happy Birthday".  Some of the phrases we hear most from Bennett are: "All done", "Help please", "Love you", "This", and our personal favorite: "No".  Haha.

We have been reminded this fall of the blessings we have and that includes our boys - all challenges aside, there is nothing better than being a parent and experiencing the love we feel for our children.  Even more amazing has been the love we can see between the boys...

We are blessed to have brothers in this house!

Winter Blast 2010

We had quite the weekend - as did most of Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota!  It was a huge blizzard that greeted us early Saturday morning and dumped a grand total of 22 inches of snow in Eau Claire!  I have never experienced a snowstorm quite like this when we were literally stuck in our houses from snow drifts.  Our boys left EC on Thursday after Logan's preschool to spend a few days with Papa and Nana before another big trip abroad for Papa.  Well, needless to say, Papa couldn't leave on his trip, and we could get out to pick up the boys until today.

The banks along the front walk.

When we finally got around to leaving our house today, John had to use our snowblower on the street.  Even after clearing a partial path, our neighbors had to push us down the street for the Highlander to make it through.  We went for brunch with friends before heading to I-94.  Downtown, there were a few more streets plowed, but we had to park a few blocks away from Donnellan's home and hike the rest of the way through the snow.  It was an adventure!

Our hike in the 3rd Ward.

Welcome Zippy

This Christmas Season, we have welcomed Zippy the Elf into our home!  Many of you have heard of "The Elf on the Shelf" - a book and plush elf tradition.  Logan and I named our elf "Zippy" and it stuck.  Our boys have really taken to the elf and love waking up to search and find where Zippy sits...

Good morning, Zippy!

John's Birthday

Today was a special day at our house: Daddy's Birthday!  We let Daddy sleep in a little this morning while we made banana bread and coffee.  When he woke up we had our first round of the "Happy Birthday" song.  Logan loves to sing "Happy Birthday" and Bennett caught on pretty quick, too!

When I asked Logan what kind of cake he wanted to make for Daddy, he said "BLUE!"  That wasn't the response I anticipated, but I figured we could work with it.  So, we made a blue cake, with blue frosting, and a rainbow fish, "Because the blue is like the ocean".  John was excited about his blue cake tonight - mostly because Logan had made it so special for him.

Everybody had to help Daddy blow out all those candles!

Nothing like a little blue cake before bed!  Happy Birthday, Daddy!  We love you!

Fun Filled Visit

Baggie and BopBop came for a fun filled visit today!  They came after church and we spent lots of time playing before it was time to get ready for Logan's skating lesson.  After last week's lesson, we spent a lot of time pep-talking Logan into moving on the ice.  This week was much better!  It took lots of steps and learned how to stand up from sitting on the ice.  Finally, we are making a little progress!  Of course, it helped to have such a great cheering section - the whole crew!

Bennett sat with B & B on the bleachers while I took some video of John and Logan out on the ice during free skate.

Of course, the highlight of the night was the Zamboni!  Bennett just screams when the Zamboni comes out and was proud to be able to say " 'Boni"!  It was especially great to have Bob and Deb at Logan's lesson because they sponsored his tuition for this session and bought him new skates!  Woohoo!  Thanks so much, B & B!

After skating we went to the mongolian grill to celebrate John's birthday (a few days early).  We even got to enjoy tableside s'mores for a special treat!  Thanks to Bob and Deb for a very special, very fun day!

Angel Breakfast

Today was the Angel Breakfast at Trinity Lutheran Church, where Logan's preschool is located.  The Angel Breakfast is a special morning full of activities, yummy food, and special bible stories about advent.  Each child is invited to choose one grown up to bring to the breakfast and Logan, without hesitation, chose John.  It was a special morning for them!

Snowy Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Stillwater with the Holbrook's on Friday.  It was a snowy trip to the Twin Cities again!  Logan had fun playing outside and we all had a good time relaxing.

I didn't take many photos, but the boys had such a cute kids' table for dinner, that I had to get a picture!

My mom had special plates for the boys and we made their placemats.  The tablecloth was a remnant that they got to color on with crayons and marker.  The idea would be that they would sit longer at the table with an activity, but that didn't really work!  Dinner was delicious!

We went back home on Friday evening to enjoy the weekend in Eau Claire.  On Saturday, our good friends, the Exsted's came over to spend the whole day!  The kids had a great time playing together and it made us wish we all lived closer again.  We went to get Christmas trees at Lowes Creek Tree farm.  I couldn't get my camera to work, but Kyle (a budding professional) took some great photos you can see on their blog.  So check it out!

The big boys (Caedon is 8 months older than Logan) had a ball!  They loved their special little table.

The little ones (Norah just less than two months older than B) sat at the table with the parents...next time they will want to sit with the big kids, for sure!

Jen made these adorable cookies for dessert!  How cute and yummy!

After dinner, the kids ran around like crazy!  It was so entertaining!

Once Exsted's were on their way, we jammied the boys and brought in the tree!  The tree is up and we will decorate this weekend!

Logan, of course, wanted to help every step of the way.

The fun continued on Sunday with some Young Life leaders and kids at our house.  Then on Monday, our friends visited Eau Claire to close on their house.  While Rachel and Joey were out, I watched Brighton and Lorenta.  Logan and Bennett loved having Brighton around again and we're looking forward to May when they move here!

Logan kept reading to Brighton - it was so cute!

Whew...its been a fun, busy, crazy week!