5 months old

 Its hard to believe, my little lady is 5 months old.  She got a few more vaccinations last week.  The doctor said she is happy and healthy weighing in at 15 pounds 13 ounces---the 80th percentile.  About a week and a half ago, she rolled over for the first time.  In honor of her 5 month birthday, she got to eat her first 'real' dinner.  Carrots.  Yum.

Benny quickly took over the responsibility of feeding Claire.  "I will do it.  I will feed her the baby food."  Clearly, I am not needed.

Mommy's happy little carrot eater.

Currently, one of my favorite parts of the day is when Benny and I get Claire out of bed in the morning.  One of the most precious things about 2 year-olds is how they 'mispronounce' words.  Benny's 'L' sounds, particularly at the beginning of words, come out as a 'Y' sound.  Every morning, he says "I will hold the little lady."  But, it comes out as 'yittle yady.'  Precious.  He rocks her and sings Twinkle Twinkle.

Mama's beautiful baby.   I just love this little girl!

A Day Out with Thomas

In late spring, Grammie and Grampie mentioned to Kevin and I that Thomas was coming to town.  They asked us if they thought Benny might like to go.  We said we would think about it.  A certain little boy must have overheard this conversation.  Each day from then on, he inquired about when he would be going to see Thomas.  Ironic, since I wouldn't consider him an avid Thomas fan.  But, Benny has learned the value of being persistent.  With enough inquiries about the timing of this Thomas event, he scored himself a Thomas ticket along with tickets for Mom, Dad, Grammie, and Grampie.  It ended up being a perfect day for this outing, and we had quite a good time.

We're on our way!

They had all these great bounce houses to crawl through.

Thomas!

All aboard!

Don't worry.  I've got the tickets.

Somebody is excited for their ride on Thomas.

I think Benny enjoyed playing with all of the train tables the best.

Summer Trip #1

 A few weeks ago, Kevin had a conference to attend in Indianapolis.  Kevin's aunt and uncle happen to live nearby.  The kids and I tagged along for the few days and stayed at their house.  We had a blast!  The first night Benny was a little nervous about sleeping on the cot Marian had set up for him.  I tucked him in and sang him some songs.  He seemed fine and pretty drowsy, so I kissed him goodnight.  Claire was already asleep and Kevin was finished showering.  I told Kevin I was going to take a shower, but he should listen for Benny in case he woke up.  Kevin claims he didn't hear anything.  (Do all men have trouble hearing children?)  Later that night, Marian found Benny fast asleep on the nice hard floor outside of their kitchen.  He escaped out of their basement!

This is what happens when we leave Daddy in charge :)

The next day we went to their children's museum.  Benny is digging for dinosaur bones.

Being a future paleontologist is hard work.

Getting a little help with the dinosaur bones.

Daddy was pleased with this picture.

The following day we went to the zoo.  We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watched a dolphin show.

Claire's first zoo trip!

We had lots of fun just hanging out at Marian and John's house too.

Claire loves her little activity mat.

Fun on the slide.

Peek-a-boo!

Matthew and Brooke were excellent playmates.

Thanks so much for the fun Marian, John, Holly, Matthew, and Brooke!

Our Joyous Easter Celebration & An Easter Miracle

As usual, I am a bit delayed in blogging about our Easter celebration this year.  As an organist and mother of two this year, Holy Week was a bit hectic.  Kevin was particularly glad when the week was done :)  He had quite a few evenings at home alone with the kids.  These are long evenings with Little Miss Claire who does not enjoy milk out of a bottle :(  Thanks for your extra hard work daddy.

The weekend festivities began on Saturday morning.  The Bunny came a day early with the kids' easter baskets.  That Bunny is pretty good.  He must have known that Mommy would be a little busy on Easter morning.

After playing with their baskets, we colored eggs!

That afternoon, our town had an Easter celebration.  This cool dude loved the Easter Bunny.

Don't miss Claire in there.  She blends in with the Bunny's pink.

The town had an egg hunt too.  How were Benny's egg hunting skills this year?  First he would yell with excitement, "There's an egg!"  He would pick it up, shake it, and say, "There's something in there!"  We would have to open the egg and carefully examine its contents before looking for another egg.  Next year we'll have a prep talk about the need for speed:)

After church, we headed to Nana and Papa's house.

On Easter Monday, we went to Lindy and Stevie's house.  They had new little chicks...

...and new baby lambs!

So, what is the Easter miracle?  I had been loathing the fact that I was going to have to kick Benny out of the crib.  He loved sleeping in his crib and slept so well in his crib.  If there is one thing you don't want to mess with, its a toddler and a beautiful sleeping schedule.  When we got home on Easter evening and put Benny in his pajamas, he asked if he could sleep in the orange room.  This is his 'big boy bed' room.  All on his own, he announced that he would like to sleep there.  He did fabulous and has slept there ever since.  Claire transitioned to the crib with no problem at all.  Easter Miracle 2014!

Fun with Grammie and Grampie

Grammie and Grampie are simply wonderful.  Benny loves to spend time with them.  A few weeks ago, Benny went to Sesame Street Live with them.  He was so excited!  The best part?  Apparently, they were in an aisle seat.  Cookie Monster was dancing in the aisle and touched Benny's arm.  Benny is still talking about how Cookie touched his arm.  That night, I didn't get him to bed until 10:00 because he was so excited about going to the Elmo Show as he likes to call it.  The next day, I'm pretty sure he asked me at least 100 times if he could go to the Elmo Show again.  Today, probably over a month later, he asks me if he can go to the Elmo Show again.  A highlight event of the year!  (The pictures are little because they were from Grammie's cell phone.)

An additional favorite activity from this winter/spring was going to the car wash with Grampie.  Grampie purchased this monthly package from the car wash to have unlimited car washes each month.  They put it to good use!  My guess for Benny's future occupation at the moment?  Car wash operator and owner.  He begs to go to the car wash with Grampie pretty much every day.  Benny is so popular at the car wash that the car wash guys gave him one of their drying towels.  After all, I'm pretty sure Benny is their only true fan.  He also likes to pretend to wash his toy cars.  He and Brutus often 'wash' the toy cars together.  He has now decided that the Elmo Train that he got from Grammie and Grampie for this 2nd birthday is a car wash.  You put the cars through the tunnel and then pretend to dry them with a dishtowel.  He has gone so far as to get a bowl of soapy water and use a toothbrush to wash the cars.  Now that is nice outside, he likes to wash the cars with Daddy.  This makes Daddy pretty nervous.  Daddy is a car nut.  Benny---wash his cars!?  Why, he might scratch them!  Thus, Benny has been designated as the official washer of the Hyundai.  Apparently, Daddy is less concerned if the Hyundai gets scratched.

Cleaning his toy cars with some soapy water and a toothbrush

Happy car washer.

Sometimes, when you are on the way home from the car wash, you stop and get a Krispy Kreme donut.  Benny always asks for a brown donut with a hole in it.

Sweeter than Sugar

My little Claire is a sweet girl.  And, as far as babies go, she is pretty easy I think.  I'm quite grateful to report her sleeping skills are far superior to her brother's.  Knock on wood, last night I put her to bed at about 9:20.  She woke up at 3:30 for a 20 minute snack and slept until 7:30.  Now, if only her brother wasn't getting a molar tooth that caused him to wake at 6:15.  Well, you can't wish for everything.  Here is a video of some of her sweetness:

http://youtu.be/Mo0oJjiKpS8

Also, as of this weekend, Kevin only has one more semester before he is done with his MBA.  Hallelujah!  The end is in sight!  What we do with hours upon hours of free time not spent reading books, writing papers, and planning presentations?

Brotherly Love

People always ask how Benny has done with the transition to not being the only child.  I'm happy to say its gone much better than expected.  Benny is a 'mama's boy' so I was concerned that he would be jealous or feel left out when I had to take care of Claire.  Plus, so many moms seemed to say that he was going to have all of these regression issues.  Up to this point, we have not!  His reaction to Claire's birth:  "It came out!"---and he would point to my belly.  He is my side-kick and enjoys being the big brother.  He helps get the diapers and wipes.  He gets her washcloth and towels for baths.  He shakes her rattles and enjoys turning on her swing.  Recently he declared his potty chair was 'for babies' or 'that is Claire's.'  Sounds good to me!  I'd far rather he do 'his business' in the big potty.

The biggest concern: excessive love for Claire.  He has a hard time leaving her alone while she is sleeping.  He will insist that she needs a hug or a kiss.  What's super cute?  He likes to give her a kiss on the lips.  If I suggest that he could just give his sister a kiss on her hand or her cheek, he gets upset and says "No!  On the lips!"  Yes Benny.  At one point in your life, you gave your sister kisses on the lips all the time.

You can't just leave your sister be content in her swing.  She needs some love.

Claire needs a tummy time buddy.

Claire was born during a snow storm they called "The Polar Vortex."  Its March 27, and we still have snow on the ground.  However, we had one day a few weeks ago that made it up to 50-some degrees.  Kevin and I took the kids on a walk.

Claire isn't always that impressed with Benny's signs of affection.

Just cause she's pretty.

Ready for a walk!

I'm sure once Claire is old enough to bother his toys or get in his way, he may think less highly of his sister.  But, for now, we enjoy their happy coexistence!