Just stuff

My Internet connection gets the hiccups whenever I try to upload video these past couple days. Until I can figure out the proper raindance to restore the Internet's good humor, I'll do some photoless updates.

Ben's big news is that he's in a big boy bed. He goes to bed at night just fine, but he's not convinced he still needs to take naps, now that he can escape his bed. I still put him in his room for "quiet time" in the afternoon, but judging by the amount of bumps and thumps I can hear, Ben considers it "jump off the bed time."

Ben's first sentence was, "I'm social" pronounced 'soshow'. He loves his little friends, and his day is perfect when it turns out there are other kids at the park to play with.

Yesterday, we went to a BBQ at the neighbor's. They had a little play house. Ben parked himself in the play house for nearly two hours. Occasionally he would come out on the porch, announce "house!" and go back inside. To make his evening even more perfect, there were three other little boys there too.

Simon's big news is that he rolls over. He goes from his back to his tummy, which is different. Most kids start out going from tummy to back. He will get himself on his tummy and then holler because he doesn't like it as much and he can't get himself back on his back.

Simon is also thrilled to have inherited Ben's crib. Simon outgrew his travel crib, and when he wiggled himself sideways, there wasn't room to stretch out.

I'm doing the mom thing, and liking it a lot.

On the non-mom stuff, I went and saw the movie, "The Errand of Angels" last week. It was about sister missionaries, and was really good. While I liked the "God's Army" movies, they were so dramatic as to be unbelievable. This movie was more authentic, and really caught the flavor of being a missionary. I highly recommend it.

A friend in the ward introduced me to Georgette Heyer novels. She writes Regency romances that are a lot like Jane Austen's romances. The characters are interesting, the plots are fun, and they're just good to read. So if you've been lamenting that Jane Austen didn't write more books, you should check out Georgette Heyer's books.

I also got my craft table set back up, and can finish the Christmas stockings I started last year.

Dirk has passed the halfway point on his deployment! He will be home on his leave in about five weeks. I am not going to count days, because that would be too exciting. I'll start counting days when we get to the one-week mark.

That's us without pictures. Nothing too exciting, just the enjoyment of everyday life.

Daddy's hat

Dirk bought this cool European-looking hat a couple years ago. Ben loves it. He frequently asks for "daddy hat". Sometimes he even shares it with Simon.

Simon's breakfast

Simon is a bouncy eater. He usually slumps in half while he's eating, and protests if I sit him up straight. Then he starts bobbing around when he's losing interest. When he started bobbing in this video clip, he landed in the spoon and got a nice coating of squash mascara!

Jumping Ben

Ben has learned how to jump off the furniture! I figure that's better than jumping on the furniture.

Happy birthday!

Today is Dirk's birthday! Everyone wish him a happy birthday! (Dirk reads comments even though he rarely leaves one, so he'll see it.) I sent him a big Happy Birthday banner, but I bet it's against an army regulation to hang it up. Sigh. I think that plywood building he lives in would look a lot better with a banner and balloons all over it.

We love you and miss you tons honey! Have a good birthday!

Strolling with buffalo

Ben wanted to take his buffalo for a walk. He got the clips done up all by himself!

. . . and grew into this seat!

Simon outgrew this seat . . .

Little Mozart

Here's our budding musician!

A sad moment

When Ben misses his nap, these are the kinds of things that just rock his little world:

Ben's birthday again

Yes, I know I've been posting about Ben's birthday for more than a week. Anyway, a few days after his birthday, we made it back over to ride the ponies, since he had gotten rained out on his birthday. Here's my big boy riding a pony!

Simon's first bite

I found the video clips I took of Simon's first bites of cereal! He was really tidy this first time. Probably he didn't know how to spit it out of his mouth. He's since perfected that maneuver, and lunch time is much messier than it was on the first try. Go baby!

Birthday in the park

Ben had a great time at the Willden party in the park. Besides the fun presents, he got to feed the ducks!








And he found a feather to take home with him!

Ben's birthday cake!

Simon's cereal!

Simon has started solid foods! Hurray for rice cereal with carrots! I took some video, I thought, but it disappeared. You just regular photos of my boy's messy mug.

New toys!

Ben got new toys for his birthday! So Simon got one too. Why not?

More birthday pictures

Once we got past the erosion table (which took several tries, but it was his birthday!), we checked out the most important exhibits:



He hung out on the dinosaur for a few minutes.

More Erosion Table

He wore a smock just about long enough for me to take a couple of pictures, then off it came!

Ben's birthday

I was going to take Ben to ride ponies on his birthday, but that was the morning we had a gale, and hail and other unpleasant weather stuff. We went to the Dinosaur Museum instead! Ben had a good time, and discovered the erosion table for the first time. Usually he just walks right by, but this time he stayed to play.

Ben's birthday book

Dirk sent Ben a book for his birthday, and a DVD of him reading it. Ben likes the music soundtrack the best, but he has also watched Dirk read it to him lots of times. Here are some photos and video of the first time Ben and Simon got to watch daddy's DVD. Yay for modern technology!

Happy flaps

He's just cute when I walk back in the room and he catches sight of me and flaps until he about launches. This video clip is a mellow version of it because he was interested in the camera.

Another big guy!

And this little fellow is five months old today!

Product Review

We use Gerber brand sippy cups. They are cute, easy to hold, and have a spill-proof valve. The valve is so good that when it just so happens that you find a sippy cup of orange juice in the washing machine at the end of the wash cycle, there is still orange juice in the cup! I did not try putting the sippy cup in the dryer, however, so I can't comment on the heat-resistant qualities of the plastic.

We use Pampers brand diapers. Pampers have Elmo on them, have refastenable tapes, and absorb a lot of moisture. The moisture absorbing capacity is so good that even a used diaper can gather more water when it goes through a wash cycle!

Quick! Which used diaper spent 45 minutes in the washing machine?



It occurs to me that I should start sifting the laundry, rather than upending the basket over the washing machine and just dumping everything in.

Happy birthday!

Ben is two! These pictures aren't from his actual birthday, because I haven't taken and uploaded those yet. But he inherited an Elmo table! He parks it by the chair he got for Easter, and is the happiest little toddler on the planet.

It was easier when his favorite toy was a bit smaller, as he could pack those around the house by himself. I'm in charge of moving these from room to room.