Hahaha... I'm STILL laughing...

I just picked up the invitation to Jack Runnels' 90th birthday party (for anyone who isn't related to the Martin family, "Grandpa Jack" is Daniel's great-grandpa on his mom's mom's side, and contained on the invitation is a picture of young Jack, and Jack today, both handsome, pensive-looking, black-and-white photographs. I've heard it said many times that Daniel is the spitting image of young Jack Runnels, but until now had never seen a picture. In my opinion, there's certainly a strong resemblance, but I wouldn't get them confused for sure), to show Benjamin, and pointed to the picture of Jack from yesteryear and asked Ben who it was. He had to think about it for a bit, but he did call him Daddy, so apparently he sees the resemblance.

He then pointed to Jack today, and said, "Who's that, Mama?" So, I turned it around and asked him, "I don't know, who is that, Ben?"

He answered, almost immediately, with no small amount of reverence in his little voice,

"That's GOD."


I'm serious, my stomach hurts from laughing at this point...


Oh, and earlier, as I was saying goodnight before his nap, Ben was laughing for no apparent reason, so I asked,
"Why are you laughing, Ben?"
"I'm laughing at Daddy."
"Why are you laughing at Daddy?"
"Actually, I'm laughing at Bobo."
"Oh, okay... why is Bobo funny?
*pause* "Because... I want to give Mama something."
*chuckle* "Okay, what do you want to give Mama?"
"I want to give you a fish. I want to give you a fish, and some lunch."
*laughing* "Okay, thank you, Ben! I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Mama." *Rolls over, thumb in the mouth*


Oh, and one of our little night-time routines: I've usually, but sometimes sporadically, said the "I'll love you forever" thing to him since he was a baby when putting him to bed, and recently, he's adapted it.
Me: "I'll love you forever..."
Ben:"I'll like you always.
Me: "As long as I'm living..."
Ben: "My girl you'll be!"

A while ago, he made me start saying "My BIG BOY you'll be", instead of "My baby", and out of the blue, a few weeks ago, he interrupted me and told me I'd always be his girl. I thought that was so cute!

What a big boy!

So, I posted about our first attempt at going diaper-less... it was not a success, so we slowed down and waited. Well, in the last week or so, Ben has gotten WAY better at staying dry between potty breaks, so I thought we'd whip out the Cars underwear once more and give it another try, see if it'd work any better. He did great! He wore them from around 10 AM to after 1 PM with three or four potty breaks, and no accidents, not even a drop! He's napping in a diaper now (SO not ready for sleeping dry yet!), but we'll try again after naptime, I think.

I know, I'm not going, "Woohoo, he's potty-trained, let's throw out the diapers!" FAR from it. But it's a good, big step. And I know there'll be accidents-- most likely today, but if not, then soon. (It just can't be that easy, unfortunately.) But that's okay, we're on the road to "I'm a big kid now!", and that's good enough for me!

Naughty Baby!

We went on a walk this afternoon, it's been a beautiful day! Isaac sat behind Ben in the double stroller, and Ben helped me "Stop, look and listen" for cars before crossing the street. Each time we reached the other side, he'd yell, "We're safe!"

As we walked, out of the blue, Ben turned around, saying "Ouch! Don't pull my ear, Isaac!", so I stopped and walked around to check. Quick glance in the back revealed Isaac, leaning back comfortably, innocently-- apparently too far back to even reach Ben's ear. So, concerned, I checked Ben's ear for a possible bug bite or something. Nothing was obvious... until I started to walk back around, and Isaac grinned and lunged forward as far as he could (farther than I thought he could have!) and reached his little hand out to yank on Benjamin's other ear! Silly, mischievous little boy!

Oh, and...

Just a few more cute things I forgot to add to the last post:

"Garbage-Q sauce" = Barbecue sauce (I LOVE this one!)

"I'm makin' a home, real fast", he says as he carefully sets out all the plastic animals in a precise line on the coffee table (or the floor, or the table, or the chair, or the toy shelf...)
(Ths one I think he may have picked up from his cousin Natalie, because he just started doing it seemingly out of the blue right after Juli, Adam, Natti & Maggie left after visiting a couple of Sundays ago-- but he sure grabbed onto it! He "makes a home" for the animals every day, often a few times!)

When Isaac hits him (and Isaac does hit him... I haven't had a lot of success yet teaching Isaac to be gentle with his hands, he really enjoys slapping anything and anyone near enough :/ ), Ben says, "No, Isaac, don't hurt your brother!"




Ben: "Mama, I pooped in my diaper!"
Mama: "Uh-oh... we better go change you-- what does it feel like, Ben?" (trying to get him to think about it, every single time, so next time he'll tell me BEFORE and do it on the toilet)
Ben: "My bum is wet, and fwose (gross), and slimy. And nasty!"

Speaking of potty training... we're doing the chart again, and he's been doing pretty well, he's been going on the toilet 3-5 times a day, and his diapers are staying dry between more often. I tried "big-boy underwear" today for the first time, with a plastic diaper cover on top to catch leaks. During the 40 minutes between putting it on, and going down for his nap, he went potty on the toilet three times ("Mama, want go potty on toilet!" twice, and me asking him once)... and had two accidents ("I peed in my underwear!". In 40 minutes. 5 times. Is that normal?? I don't know if I can handle taking him to the bathroom every ten minutes all day long (if he'd even asked for it instead of just having accidents)?

In general, I'm a fairly patient person... but potty training may be the thing that does me in! I really understand now why moms try to get their older child trained BEFORE they have another! It's hard spending so much time in the bathroom with Ben, while Isaac's awake, playing, or in the exersaucer. He gets lonely... and when he gets lonely, he gets LOUD!

Update?

So... "The update post".

Where to begin... it's been just short of a year since I stopped posting. It's been a long year, with well more than it's own share of ups and downs.

Just for the basics, I guess (eh, most of you probably know all this, but I'll put it up here anyway just in case): Daniel and the boys and I are now staying with Diane and Loy (Daniel's parents). We were tight financially for a little while even with steady work for Daniel, but then when Daniel had a hard time finding work after his job at the bank didn't work out, he had a couple of short-term temp jobs, and things like that, but it wasn't enough to keep us on our feet. We lost the apartment about a month ago, and Loy and Diane graciously offered us their spare bedroom (really Diane's sewing room, so now their dining room is overflowing with the craft supplies we displaced, sorry Diane) until we can get back out in our own place again. Thank you, Diane and Loy!

It's a little humbling, of course, being our own family, but being dependent on someone else for a place to live. But all in all, it's worked out well-- and I'm so grateful (to Loy and Diane, and to God) that we have a roof over our heads. When it comes down to it, our boys are fed, we're warm and safe-- those are the important things. Pride? Psh... ;)

But anyway, Daniel's working two jobs now (one full-time, one part-time), and we're hoping to be able to move out again within a few months. I know Daniel's parents love us and the boys and are glad to have us here and help us, but I know how surprisingly large an impact small children can have on a home and lifestyle, and so obviously it'll be good for everyone involved.

More recently, I heard the terrifying news that my Dad had been diagnosed with cancer, just a few weeks ago. He'd been having a lot of pain for several months, and after a series of tests, the doctors proclaimed that he had cancer. He was scheduled immediately for surgery about a week ago, which, thankfully, seems to have gone perfectly (although it was of course, painful for him, and he's still going through a rough recovery (so prayer for relief and healing for him would be greatly appreciated!), and, while there is still further testing to be done, he seems to be cancer-free as of now, thank God!

The past year has felt like a roller coaster, with little bumps, and peaceful lulls, and exhilarating climbs, and terrifying dips and dives that make you hold on for dear life just to get through. Well, the lows certainly show you what (or Who) you're clinging to!
Through all the circumstances, all the trials, all the joys, I've seen God's hand at work constantly (well, I may not have always seen it at the time, but it was there!) and He's brought me so much closer to Him, through the hard times, and the easier times.

Whew... what else? Well, of course, there's been a plethora of day-to-day things I can't possibly remember to post about... alas, those may be lost :(

Anyway, to summarize: Life is tough. God is good. :)

Moments in a day with Benjamin

Ben sits and observes me, painting my fingernails.
"What are you doing, Mama?"
"Painting my fingernails. It's for girls." (anticipating, and warding off, a potential "Paint Ben's fingernails?")
"No... it's for sillies!"


The other day, Ben was playing with Uncle Joey, who was playfully "bonking" Ben on the head. Ben laughed along for a few minutes, until he'd had enough-- at which point, he backed up, and said authoritatively, "Top (stop)! Don't bonk my bald head!!" Emphasis on bald. I guess he remembers before his hair grew in (somewhat), and he was, affectionately of course, called baldy by a lot of us.

Okay, mostly Daniel and me. :/ It was pretty funny though.


Every morning, Ben has a bowl of "oh-p'd'-lal" (oatmeal).


Earlier today, he was struggling with a "duck" toy (stuck-- with words that begin with an s before another consonant, he drops the s. Hence, "top" = stop, "pace" = space, and "duck" = stuck. I'm not sure why the t comes out as a d, he's pretty good with t's otherwise...), and I was heading over to help him, when he wiggled it out of wherever it was "duck". I said, "You got it? Good!", and he said "Get it, Got it, GOOD!"

Oh, he's working on tracing letters and numbers now, and doing great! He can recognize a LOT of written words (not so much reading, I know, probably more memorization... but I think it's partly that he knows the sounds of the letters.

Anyway, I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted... this isn't really "the" update post, just the "first time I've sat down to type up a couple of cute things" post.

I have something like a billion pictures to post, but am struggling with uploading them. So hopefully I'll get those up sometime soon.

That's all for now though... :)

Isaac's First Month

(To view it larger, so you can read the text, click on the Scrapblog link on the bottom right of the video, then click "View Full Screen" above the video on the window that pops up)

The boys and I went over to my parents' house the other night, it was fun. My nephew was there too, I hadn't seen him since about 6 or 7 months before Benjamin was born, so it'd been a while! The house is currently under renovation, so there's not a lot of living space inside as of yet, but they've got a great firepit with chairs all around, and a big swing, and a trampoline, all in the GIANT backyard-- Benjamin has been just having a ball when we go over there. It's really nice, just sitting around a fire and talking...

Anyway, I got some pictures...

Ben with Grandpa Neet (my dad)

Dump truck!

Motion blurs... he was busy!

Perfect timing-- I had just aimed the camera to get a picture of him just sleeping, and he smiled for the camera!

Isaac with his Aunt Liz

Mom and Dad

My nephew, Kai, and my brother, Nate (And see what I mean about the backyard? It's like a freaking park, it's huge! SO much room for Ben to run around, it's great!)

Liz with Isaac again

Grandpa, Ben, and Grandma

Ben playing

Something about Ben...

I know it probably seems like it's all about the baby... but here's an update about the big boy-- and boy, he sure is now!


Benjamin had his long-overdue 18-month check-up on Monday (he's 23 months)... and, of course, as logic would indicate, his vaccinations were overdue as well. So he had a whole lineup of shots to get caught up on... six, to be exact. *grimace*

That was certainly an experience.

First off, Isaac, being only a month old, was with me as well-- I still haven't left him with anyone yet, and I didn't think about how much harder it would be to comfort Ben after his shots while also taking care of Isaac...

Then, when we got there, despite how long it has been since Benjamin has actually seen the doctor, he almost seemed to remember it. That, or he somehow has an instinctive fear of medical environments. He was fine going into the clinic and checking in, but when we turned down the hallway towards the pediatric area, he wiggled his hand out of mine and plopped down on the floor, whining. He flat-out refused to walk, so I ended up picking him up and carrying him into the waiting room, along with Isaac in his car seat. (Yes, that's tricky, not to mention heavy. Yes, I've had to do it several times, often up three flights of stairs to our apartment. You can just call me "SuperMommy".)

But then, when we got called in, at the sight of the nurse coming out for him, he did the same thing, sitting on the floor acting scared. He was NOT happy with the nurse having to weigh and measure him, it was so sad, poor Benjamin, all naked and just sobbing on the little baby scale, trying his hardest to get back into my arms. And when he finally held still enough to get his weight and I picked him back up, he literally clung to me, legs and arms wrapped tight around me like a little monkey... I was so surprised that he reacted that way, he's ordinarily never like that with new places or people.

He actually did fine with his doctor when she came in-- she's really great, when she was listening to his heartbeat, she asked him if she could "hear the doggies barking", and that got his attention!

But then, the worst part, the shots... I had to hold him down on my lap while he got three in each thigh. When the first one went in, he kind of jumped and squealed, looking down at his leg-- then turned his head toward me like he was asking me to stop it. He started crying, "Mama! Mama!"... and the part that made me tear up and feel so bad was when, about halfway through, his cry turned to "No, Mama! No, Mama!" I felt so terrible!

Oh, and he is now 29 lb (I actually thought he was heavier, home scales put him closer to 32 lb, and I think the weight might have actually been off because he was grabbing onto me so much, but I don't know), 33.5 inches tall (or 2' 9.5"), and his head circumference was 20.5". In percentiles, he's heavier than 7 out of 10 boys his age, and shorter than 6 out of 10, and, if there were such a thing, his head would be bigger than about 12 out of 10, lol. His head measurement is just way above the line on the chart... I always said he had a huge head-- I think it's just to make room for all those brains.




Anyway... other than a tough day at the doctor, he's doing wonderful-- still my sweet, smart boy (well... sweet most of the time, he IS almost two after all).

He really has been surprising me with how fast he's been learning lately. We've kind of been working on the alphabet for a little while, and all of a sudden, he can name quite a few letters on sight, and he recognizes writing as letters almost everywhere-- he'll just randomly burst out with "A! B! D! F! Y! A! C!", when he sees signs, or even the letters on, say, the car, or a diaper.

The other day, he was looking at a card that my grandma sent us that said "BABY BOY" on blocks on the front, and he pointed to each block in order, and said, "B, O, Y!"

And we're beginning on numbers, too... he doesn't seem to get 1, 2, 3, etc, the beginning numbers-- but once we get to 5, he can say 6, 7, 8, 9, and sometimes 10 with me!

He's so smart, I'm so proud of him!

Oh, yesterday I watched him bring a box of Nutrigrain granola bars, that I give him for a snack sometimes, over to the ferret cage, set it on top of it so Boots came up and was sniffing up at it, then pick it up again and, with a serious face, say, "Dishis mine. Mine." As if he were just keeping her informed, letting her know so she wasn't confused.

Pictures

I love his grin! (This particular grin was working double-duty and chewing apple slices at the same time-- which made his dimple even more prominent!)

I think he's ready for a gymnastics class! Probably not one likeNatti's, though... JUST gymnastics, I don't think Daniel would be too fond of the idea of his son doing ballet and tap!

Yes, that's Isaac's arm... no, he wasn't as close as the picture looks... and no, no one was harmed in the making of this photograph.

He is such a good big brother! He's so cute with "his baby", when I lay Isaac down on the floor for tummy time, he always lies down next to him and talks to him, or just looks at him, or, as in this picture, just sweetly pats his head.