Celebrations
Melt Downs
Hysterical Laughter
Random screaming
Tears of Happiness
Tears of Frustration
It is a beautiful season of life.
I have a preschooler and a toddler! WHAT?? Over the past few weeks, Fred has decided he was a walker, and Ben has decided he is a talker! This of course means exciting and fun times in our house. I am loving it.
My mother-in-law captured the boys at this stage perfectly:
With Fred’s new independence comes Fred’s LOVE of independence. No longer is my little guy content to be held when something fun is going on. He needs to be in the action and is determined to keep up with his brother. This makes our life easier and much harder at the same time.
If you would have told me that Ben could be a “chatterbox”, I would not have believed you. He’s still pretty quiet until he gets comfortable, but it is so fun to hear him talk about stories and school. Here are some gems from the last month…
Instead of saying Yes or No, Ben sweetly says, “I think so” or “I don’t think so”. Are you having a good day. “I…..think so!”
I was never a coffee drinker – but then I had Fred. So when the coffee pot was on in the next room over, Ben asks, “Is the kitchen busy?? I think it’s using some tap dance!!”
I gave Ben the job of cleaning Freddy’s smudge marks off of the window. He was very insistent on protecting his finished work. “Uh OH!! Freddy’s coming again to make a mess. No, Freddy!! The way is blocked!!”
Smile, Ben!
At preschool, the class is working on listening skills. (SHOCKING I KNOW! Hahahaha…) Ben has the routine memorized and does the actions every time.
“Eyes are watching.
Ears are listening.
Voice is quiet.
Body is calm.”
My son has become a middle schooler. He doesn’t believe a coat is ever necessary and responds to my after school interrogations by holding up a hand and calmly saying, “Don’t tell me more questions, Momma…..”
“Helping” with laundry
We are working on the forms of “did/does”, but Ben often gets excited and announces,
“What’s that doos?”
“I dood it by mineself!”
We’re holding hands!!
Usually Jesse puts the boys to bed, as he is good at being short and sweet. I put Ben in bed when Jesse was gone one night, and he must have seen my weakness. Sweetly he said, “I love you. I can scooch over and there is room!” I almost caved, but I stayed strong and left!
Fred copies everything now, including holding up the phone to babble and trying to insert keys into the door. My big guy.
While playing the IPad with his headphones on, Ben exclaimed, “JESUS!” I turned around to see what on earth he was doing. “Jesus! I love Jesus, Momma!” He was playing the Bible app. Whew!
Writing is not high on Ben’s interests, but I almost cried tears of joy when I discovered he could write his name. So exciting.
Ben still doesn’t love to draw, but one day he really got excited about drawing a cow with me. He announced, “Daddy wants a cow for his birthday!! Daddy will be so proud to see a cow! He will be so so happy!!” And you know what? Daddy was pretty amused by the cow…
We are still in the phase of life where it is awesome to color cardboard boxes and fly to the moon. “Let’s build a spaceship! It will be an outer space adventure!!”
Another game on his Ipad is based off of the show Odd Squad. It’s science and math based, and it has introduced some pretty intense and hilarious vocabulary into Ben’s conversations. When he wanted to mix something the other day, he yelled, “I NEED TO MIX THE ANTIDOTE!!!” I’m pretty sure nothing has been poisoned in our house, but at least we have a scientist around to help!
Fred is also really content to play trains and roll cars around, which makes this brotherly pair pretty darn adorable.
Other highlights from the last month include:
- Our annual trip to Krispie Kreme for free donuts. Talk Like a Pirate Day is the best!
- Sunday fun at Grandma & Grandpa’s house
- After good intentions to visit during the summer fell through, I finally made it to YCamp. It was great to catch up with some friends there and catch a quick hike with the boys. The Closest Place to Heaven on Earth.
- A trip to CF for the church fall festival and NinaPapa time
- We learned about the life cycle, thanks to Caterpilly the Caterpillar!
- The Blank Park Zoo is the best in October: cool weather, low crowds, and decorations for Halloween. I don’t think he saw any animals during this trip, as he was too busy pointing out the spooky EYES!
- The local fire stations did an amazing job giving tours and providing open houses for Fire Safety Week. Ben has lots of personal attention from the crew and he kept repeating, “WOW THAT’S SO CRAZY! THAT’S SO COOL!!!!!”
- Girls’ Night!!! Teacher night out to see Carrie Underwood – a great show!
- Checking out the Des Moines Marathon – an annual favorite activity. “LOOK! MORE RUNNERS!!”
Play dates, church fun, library events, walks outside. I love Fall so much – even if Winter is on its way. I’m looking forward to soaking up the rest of hoodie weather!
It’s hard to be one year old.
Being one year old is amazing!