The Report

For those interested in some interesting things about our two-year old, read on....

*He often asks a question, and then after the answer, asks, "Why?"  For example: "Where Daddy?" "He's at work."  "Why?"  I can't decide if he's really wanting an answer to the why, or if it seems a logical thing to say.

*He will ask, "A doeen?" which means "What are you doing?"  I like this one, since when I was two, I would say almost the same thing--so much so that I was named Princess Fadoing in a family play my mom wrote at that time.

*He only recently started calling himself Benson.  Before, when he'd see a picture or the mirror, he'd say "baby" or "BesBes."

*He still calls milk "no," though the n has a Spanish tilde sound to it, to distinguish between milk and an authentic no.  It's still difficult to figure out.

*He gets so excited when the kids come home from school.  He runs to the door from wherever he is and screams happily and gives them hugs.

*He lost his binkie and elephant blanket about two weeks before he turned two.  We were planning to get rid of the binkie anyway, but hoped the blanket would ease the transition.  So he had to do both at once, and it has been...difficult.  We have since found both, but only gave back the blanket (which he now calls "Fehfent"), and though he likes to hold it, he doesn't need it to go to sleep.

*His first three word sentence was "I did it!"  He loves to show off all his tricks--usually something physical, like jumping off the couch.  His second one was "What da heck!"  I'm having a hard time weaning him off that phrase, because I laugh every time he says it.  It doesn't help that he usually says it with such funny inflection-- "WHAT da HECK!"

*He really loves to play with cars, which he lines up in lots of different combinations, and Duplos, which he makes into tall towers.  He could spend all day outside on the trampoline and fort, but prefers to have someone with him.

*He's having a hard time wanting diapers and clothes on.  Usually once I get them on, it's fine, but for any changes, it's a fight unless I have something really good or novel to distract him.

*Some favorite shows are "Elmo" (Sesame Street), "Why" (Super Why), and "Dake" (Jake and the Neverland Pirates).  If he finds Ben's tablet lying around, he knows how to find Netflix and turn one of those shows on.  He guiltily hands it back to me when I find him--generally.  Sometimes a tantrum is involved.

*He sings and hums a lot of recognizable songs.  I can't get him to do it on demand, and when I catch him, he stops, but I'm hoping to record him secretly soon.  His words are not very clear, but it is clear what song he's trying for.  Some of his favorites are the Alphabet song, "Twinkle Twinkle," "Wheels on the Bus," "Old MacDonald," "I Am a Child of God," "I Had a Little Turtle," and the new favorite, "Let it Go."  (Poor kid has four older sisters--the songs from Frozen are sung constantly around here.)

*He has some coping mechanisms for being the youngest.  When there's a lot of commotion, he'll yell, "KYDET!"  (Quiet!)  When he's being bothered by too many people, he'll yell, "GO WAY!"

*At the end of a book, or in the middle of one when he's tired of it, he'll close the book and say, "Night, night."

*He LOVES buses.  He goes out with Ben every morning to say goodbye to the girls--and to watch the bus drive by.  When we're in the car, he points them out whenever we see them by yelling, "BUS!"  Then he almost always asks, "Caytie bus?"

*He seems to have sensitive eyes.  He complains when it's too sunny, or if it's windy and dusty--"Eyes, eyes!"

*He makes sound effects when he's playing.  So cute.

*He's so very physical.  He climbs, jumps, twists, stamps, dances, skips, runs...all day, all the time.

*When he's angry, he throws things.  When he eats something he doesn't like (which is a lot), he spits it out.  Sometimes he spits just because he thinks it's funny.  Sometimes he hits a (particular) sister, over and over and over.  When he's tired, he gets wired.  He no longer does "silent tantrums," when he'd crumple to the ground in anger with no sound.  Now there is plenty of sound.  He colors on the walls and on himself whenever he finds markers.  (FYI: there are a lot of markers in our house.)

And I can't get enough of him.

(Well, OK--I do love a break now and then, but I do look forward to my return.)

Wahoo! He's Two!

What's this little boy made of?  Definitely the lizards and snails and puppy dog tails, but we can throw in some of the sugar and spice, too.  We've had two wonderful, amazingly fast years with this little boy, and I can't wait for more.

 On the day he was born, there were two tornadoes in Dallas.  This year, the tornadoes were up north and over east, but it seems that he chose a turbulent day to come into the world!  We missed having Ben, who was on a business trip, but the girls insisted that the birthday go on, so we decorated and had cake and opened presents.  What more does a two-year-old celebration need?

He got lots and lots and lots of love from his siblings.  (PS--that's a "vintage" shirt that Ben wore as a baby!)

The great debate among the girls was what he should have for a cake.  He has a couple of current loves, but once I looked up how to make different ideas online, Elmo won out as the easiest.

We're both pleased with the results.  I followed this lady's instructions, which were for an Elmo cake for Dummies...and it worked really well.  Mine isn't as red as hers, since I only used one container of red food gel instead of two.  I couldn't get myself to use that much for one cake.

Here's the crew--we had cake as an after school snack, since we had to rush to a soccer game after dinner, which, due to aforementioned tornadoes (manifested as thunderstorms and wind where we were), was delayed and then cancelled.

Benson enjoyed the airplane and Jake and Captain Hook toys he received.  (How have we gone this long without the Little People airplane?  We have obviously corrected this oversight.)  Ben had to go on another business trip the next week to Utah.  (His boss really had to twist his arm to get him to go on that one!)  When he came home, he brought a present for Benson from Grandma and Grandpa--a Hexbug set.  He thinks his two little vibrating bugs are so fun to hold and watch as they climb around their playset.  Sadly, they use up their batteries in about a day, but we have found a supplier online that is affordable, so the bugs live on.

  We love you, little man!  We hope you had a wonderful birthday!

Intervention

I was driving to a Stake Leadership meeting last week, at our Stake Center 35 minutes away from our home.  I was late.  I was trying to get there as quickly as legally possible.  Ben was out of town, so Scott was trying to wrangle the girls into bed, while I had Benson, since he is in this really hard going-to-bed phase that I may or may not elaborate on later.

I was doing a bit of lane changing and making good time.  I got behind a slow car.  I checked my mirrors.  The lane on the left was clear.  I looked over my shoulder to double check, since our car full of car seats and boosters makes many blind spots.  It was clear.  I turned on my blinker.  I didn't change lanes.  I paused, for only a second.

There was a motorcycle.  I have no idea where it was hiding, but there it was, on my left side, passing me.

I was so grateful for that Divine intervention, that tender mercy, that obvious miracle that stopped me.  It was only a second, but it was one that would have changed lives, and not for the better.  Instead, I got to go to my meeting, and the motorcyclist continued on his merry way.  We were so blessed.

Ahh, Spring...soccer.

My big girls are both playing soccer again this Spring.  Gracie is on the same team she had in the Fall, but Emma hasn't played since Kindergarten, so she's the new one on the team.

Emma's on a U11 team, though they also play U12 teams, since there are so few teams that age.  I was pretty worried for her.  There are some girls who are literally two heads taller than she is.  We petitioned to let her play on a younger team so that she would have more of an equal chance with girls her size.  I think the petition made it through our city league, but they had to pass it up to the North Texas group, and we have yet to hear back from them.  She still really wanted to play, so she was assigned a team, and they got hoodies, and she was sold.  The coach also really supports having her with them, and there are several girls from her school on her team, so, even though she'll probably not really be very competitive on this team, she's having a great time.  That's what makes it worth it.

Here she is, running off the field after playing defense.  She almost constantly has a huge grin on her face through every game.

She seems to have no fear about getting in the way of the big girls running down the field.

While we were watching this game, a B-24 flew by.  Yes, I can identify this plane well, thanks to my dear husband.  It is the type my grandpa flew in WWII over the Pacific, and it's (one of) the kind(s) my Ben builds.

Let's zoom in a bit:

Those who know Ben will not be surprised to learn that he had visited this very plane the day before at the airport where it is on its tour.

(Caytie took a picture of me calling Ben to let him know about the plane.  Alas, he was at Walmart, and missed the flyby. I had trouble getting a hold of him, since two other people were calling him at the same time, about the same thing!)

Spring soccer is full of fickle weather.  The game above was decent--nice sweatshirt weather.  Other games have been bitterly cold, many have been rained out, and the game below for Gracie was so warm and sunny that we got our first sunburns for the year.  (I need to get the sunscreen out!)

This was the best action shot I grabbed this day.  Gracie has also been playing a lot of defense this season.

The team mom brought an awning for some shade for the girls.  They're having such a great time!

Neither the Lady Wolves or the Purple Panthers has a great record, but my girls still love being a part of it all.  I am glad about that.  (Because really, it's a big time commitment for me, and if they weren't enjoying it, we'd have stopped long ago.)

Well, that was new...

The other morning Benson was making it obvious that he was filling his diaper.  Since he just turned two (more on that later), I thought we'd pull out the potty, so he could get used to seeing it and sitting on it, and maybe (super wishful thinking) using it.  He was interested.  I said, "Hey, Benson--this is a potty!  You can sit on it instead of using your diapers!"  Then I sat him on it fully clothed.  He stood up.  He looked at the potty.  He picked it up and threw it across the bathroom.  He refuses to go near it.

We put the potty away.  I think we are several months away from needing it.

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden...

...so that's what we did!  Scott had to organize a family project for his Family Life merit badge, so he got everyone to clear out the old plants and weeds in the garden boxes, sift through the dirt for grubs, and plant a couple little plants.  It may be a little early in the season, but the main point is this: the merit badge is DONE.

 (Our coordinating clothes are brought to you by St. Patrick's Day.)

Tessa and the gnome are ready for some fresh vegetables.

With lots of luck and lots of water, we'll have some soon!

Celebrate the Arts

Our school district has a festival of fine arts every spring, including a district-wide art show.  Each school (19 of them) has a couple pieces per grade on display.  We generally have a child or two with something that makes it, and it's fun to go to the high school to see all the work.

This year we knew that Caytie and Gracie both had artwork displayed.  We were so surprised to find that they both had two pieces, and that all four had won ribbons!  It seems that each grade has a first, second, and third, and several honorable mentions.

Here's Caytie with her second place project:

and with an honorable mention:

Gracie's sea turtle won third place...

...and her Taylor Swift got an honorable mention.

It is fun to watch them develop their talents, and to be rewarded for it.

Scott participated in Celebrate the Arts with a Percussion Ensemble and a Wind Ensemble performance.  I always love to go to those.  He got to play the marimba, maracas, bell kit, bass drum, and something else I'm forgetting.  I am pretty impressed with how well their band does for only playing for a year and a half.  

Next year Emma will be in choir, and I'm already excited for that show.  Hooray for art!

Spring Break Staycation: The Weekend

Friday: spent from 8 to 12 am with Scott walking dogs at the animal shelter for the Citizenship in the Community merit badge service hours.  Had to talk ourselves out of adopting a dog.

Sent Scott, Emma, and Gracie off with Ben to a RC Airplane Swap Meet.

Watched a movie (probably Frozen) with Caytie, Tessa, and Benson.

Made a peach pie with frozen peaches from the summer.  (It was pi day, after all--3.14)

Saturday: Ben and Scott spent from 8 to 12 at the animal shelter.  Had to talk Ben out of adopting a dog.

Cleaned...but it hardly made a dent in the explosion of our house.

Took the girls to a party while we went to Sam's Club.  Happy samples!  (I am surprised at what a sucker I am for those samples.  I almost always buy something from one of their displays.)

Went with Ben to the adult session of our Stake Conference.  First time in a really long time we've gone together, since we now have a built-in babysitter.  WE LOVE SCOTT!  (Not just for babysitting, of course.  But it is so nice!!!)  Youth were actually invited to the session, so we feel bad leaving him home, but...we chose this way this time.

Got some Chili's to Go to complete our date, since the report was that a couple kids were not going to bed quietly.  (Scott is a good sport.  Benson is in a very hard going-to-sleep stage right now.  Tessa is...tricky always.)

Sunday: attended Stake Conference with everyone.  Felt like a child magnet--get one off and another one attaches.  Also felt the Spirit there.

Happy Spring!