The Shaft

I'm starting to get the feeling that Ben is getting the shaft in regards to the blog. And, I know if I don't document everything, I'll forget all the little memories. Like...say...when he had his first solid foods. Or, the time he cringed when eating vegetables for the first time. These sound like little things, but when he's 18 I'll be 48 (God that's depressing) and it will be so deep in my mind, I don't know if I'll be able to dig it out.

I'll have to say, though, Ben's best buddy is his big sister Maya. Let's just say he get his share of screaming in his face. Hey Ben!!! Hi Ben!!! My Ben!!! Here Ben!!! Mouth!!! But he just takes it all in. And, it often results in a giggle when Maya does something off the wall, like...say...leap off of the couch and bounce off of Ben's exer-saucer. Bath time is lots of fun. Or as I like to call it, anatomy class. Maya points. Pee Pee?!? Yes, Maya. Pee Pee!! Pee Pee!! At least she's learning something.
Just the other day, I was watching Sesame Street with Maya and Ben and all of a sudden Ben hiked his leg over and finally rolled over from his back to his front. Below is a pic I caught with my camera after he did it. He was so proud of himself.Now I say that this was the first time he rolled over. But, that isn't entirely true. A few days earlier, Lezlie and I were making a big deal of getting Ben to roll over. And then comes big sister who proceeds to roll Ben like you would roll a barrel. So, I guess that was really the first time he rolled over. Looking back at Maya's progression, she didn't roll over until 6 months. So, I guess he's progressing a little faster. Maybe it's because he's a boy. Maybe it's because he has an older sibling. Who knows?

Ben got baptized on February 28th at our church, Holy Cross. That weekend, Jackie, Will, and Willa came up to visit. On Saturday, we brought Willa to Build-A-Bear and let her deck out a bear for her birthday. On that Sunday, we had a great showing. Susan was his sponsor and we got a great hope chest from the church. I just wish they did that when Maya was baptized. It was great to have everyone come to us and visit for an afternoon. If only the U.S. hockey team would have won the gold, it would have been a perfect day. I was on a diet for a month up until the baptism. And, I was soooo craving my cousin Debbie's cake that she was making. Since then, I have yet to start the diet again. Oh well, at least I lost 10 pounds.
Ben has been doing pretty good at nights. He usually goes to sleep about 8pm and then wakes up again at 1am and 5am. We just wish he could make it a couple more hours so we would only have to wake up once a night. At night, he's drinking about 6 ounces at a time, which is a lot more than Maya did. I'm betting she didn't drink that much until 8-9 months of age.

We have had a couple incidents at day-care lately. Ben's room recently added a "biter" to the room. And, Ben has been a victim a couple times when the teachers have turned their back. But, Momma Lezlie has showed her disappointment and they have promised to keep a close eye on the other one. Unfortunately, during this same time, Maya also fell victim to a biter. This one we don't quite understand. For a baby to bite another is one thing, but a 2-3 year old? I don't understand. Again, Momma Lezlie let her thoughts be heard and we're hoping that doesn't happen again soon.

Last weekend, Ben got his first experience at a birthday party. Susan's family threw a big party for 6 birthdays. And, we all got to see Ronnie and Carolyn's new house. Boy are we jealous. There is just so much space. I don't know how many times we lost track of Maya. At one point in time, Maya had somehow "found" 4 dollar bills. I guess I should start keeping an eye on my wallet.

Anyway, I hope this get me all caught up on everything. I'll leave you with one of my favorite pics I've taken.

Do You Speak Mayan?

So, we continue to make progress on the speaking front. Maya continues to string more and more syllables together everyday. And, every so often, we catch some patterns and are able to figure out what she means. Here are some examples:

See-See = Sesame Street
Ba Boo = Thank you
Go = Leave me alone
I a you = I love you
Saw-Saw = applesauce
Up-peese = Up please
Bubba = Grandma Barb

It still cracks me up that she calls my Mom Bubba. But, we're trying to correct her on that one, and have her call her Minnie like the other cousins. I think she just gets a little confused having a Minnie and a Vinnie.

Another thing we have been struggling with lately is the fact that she has to have Daddy (me) do everything with her. As much as I enjoy the fact that she likes my company, I would also like to do something constructive. Like...say...go to the bathroom, vacuum the house, put laundry away, wash the dishes, etc. It seems like Lezlie gets the shaft since I'm forced to play with her in order to prevent a meltdown. As I type this, she's trying to shut the laptop monitor. Hopefully, this is just a phase. But I imagine I should count my blessings since she probably won't acknowledge my existence when she's 14.

On the good front, Maya is finally strong enough to open the basement door. So, she has begun to be a great helper when it comes to letting Vinnie in and out of the house. I just wonder how long it will take her to figure out that is actually a chore.

As some of you know, Ben has RSV. He had a cough for almost two weeks before he developed a fever and we took him to the doctor. So over the past week, we have been giving him breathing treatments. He's not a big fan if he's awake during them but they said that when he cries he actually get a better dose of the medicine. We have seen major improvements but he still coughs a little bit. But, by no means, is he having the coughing attacks like he was. We're praying that this does not turn into asthma. 30% of infants who get RSV develop asthma later in life. The doctor also said that colds/coughs will be more pronounced/hard on him for the next year or so.

That's all I got for now.

Another Year In The Bag

Oh, how I love to have some time off of work. I always tell myself that maybe I'll go into the office and catch up on some stuff. But, it never happens. That being said, we have stayed very busy.

On Christmas Eve Eve night, Lezlie and Maya decorated cookies. Lezlie's big thing is creating traditions with her babies. I can't say that Maya's cookies were the most beautiful, but it sure was fun to watch her focus so hard.

On Christmas Eve morning, we woke up to a bunch of gifts from Santa. It is just amazing how courteous Santa is with everyone's schedule. She got sticker books, Play-Doh, and Tickle-me-Elmo hands.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was very crazy. In the past, it wasn't that big of deal. But since we now have to transport our 2 babies around, we tend to get more of a workout. All in all, we did 7 Christmas parties in 3 days. That makes me tired just talking about it. And if I remember correctly, Maya did not get one nap in the middle of all that. She caught a snooze here and there while driving from place to place. But if she was lucky, it was only a 10 minute nap.
There is no reason why a kid should have as many toys as Maya does. But, she loved every one of them. Her favorites were of course the puzzles. But, she loves her blocks (legos) too. The winner of the biggest surprise was a tie between the huge Raggedy Ann doll and the huge Tonka truck. Tonight, I made the mistake of putting her in the back of the Tonka truck and racing her around the basement. She just did not want to stop. But, she doesn't quite understand that Daddy gets winded very easily. After awhile, I had to fake a "boo-boo" in order to get out of the "racing of the trucks." I am such a mean person.This year, we hosted a New Years party. Lets just say we can't party like we used to. At one point in time, I think all four babies were either crying or whining. By the end of the night, we figured out that Maya had a fever. She had been more irritable than normal that day but Momma and Dadda just couldn't put 2 and 2 together. So, she ended up being the first to bed. We did manage to get the rest asleep. But, Ben woke up just as the ball was dropping. I guess he just had to see Dick Clark:)
Monday was supposed to be Ben's first day in day care but he decided to play hooky. Actually, he had a fever, a runny nose, and pink-eye. Since Lezlie has no vacation or sick left, it was time for Daddy to spoil the baby. I took him to the doctor worried that he had an ear infection but luckily nothing of the sort was found. I'm sure Dr. Rosenbloom just laughs when we come in for simple things like these. But, I guess if we didn't, he could get even sicker. Better safe than sorry, right? He was still fussy on Tuesday so he stayed home again with me. But, he soon started acting normal again and drinking a full bottle.

On Wednesday, he finally made it to day care. Its gonna be a little tougher hauling both kids there but it wasn't as bad as I thought. However, Maya did pull the limp leg trick as I tried to drag her to the car. Ms. Laura said he was a good boy and hardly made a peep. But, they did seem to wear him out because he only woke up once at night. Let's just hope those kind of nights become normal.

The Smiling and Laughing Boy

It's not too hard to get Ben going these days. Enjoy.