Ben and Elizabeth got to go to the library for the first time over the weekend. Ben has been reading Curious George Goes to the Library a lot lately and Mom wanted to do the summer reading program, so it was the perfect time for a visit.
Ben could not believe how many books there were and that we got to borrow more than just one. He picked out two Arthur books, a Dr. Seuss and a Rosemary Wells book. We had them all read on the first night, but you can be sure we will be re-reading them many times before we take them back.
Who knew so much fun could be had for free!
June 1, 2009
Four Months Old!
We have been a family of four for four months now! :) Miss Elizabeth is letting her personality be known a little bit at a time. So far she is reserved in public as her brother was/is. She likes to people watch. She will let it be known, however, if she is in any distress. That is definitely a good thing so we can help alleviate the problem. It is just very different from Ben who we never knew if he had an ear infection or strep throat until he got fever or just wasn’t quite right. Elizabeth can scream pretty loud when she is hungry or she has a tummy ache. So we are hopeful that she will also let us know if she isn’t feeling well. So far we have just suffered several rounds of the sniffles/congestion.
Ellie went to the doctor this week for shots and a checkup. She weighs 12 lb 12 oz now (30%) and is 25 inches long (75%). It is really hard not to compare the kids. . . Ben was 16 lb 10 oz at his four month appointment. They are on opposite ends of the spectrum. :) The doctor said Elizabeth is growing great though and is just petite. She got a good report and will go back at six months for her next checkup. The shots went fair. She screamed, but was smiling within minutes after Dad snuggled her a bit.
We got the green light to try cereal. Hopefully this will help fill her tummy as she is wanting milk more often right now. Her first try was a little messy, but she really liked it! Her little tongue kept poking out trying to get more, but ended up pushing the cereal back out. Try #2 was a little more successful and she got to enjoy most of her bowl of cereal. Ben thinks it is funny to watch Ellie eat “real food” and was glad to have Sister join us at the table.
Ben and Elizabeth are continuing to form their brother/sister bonds. No one can pick out a toy for Sister quite like Ben and no one gets a smile from Elizabeth quite like Brother does. She would watch him for hours if he would stay in one place that long. :) When she isn’t watching Ben, Ellie is working on her abs. She loves to kick her legs in the air and roll from side to side. She also does a modified crunch and looks like a little baby “V” with her upper back and neck reaching up and her legs lifted off the ground. Her teachers just shake their heads and say “Boy, is she strong!” If she can find something to push her feet against she can roll over. Without that she can’t quite get over her arm yet. But does that really matter if you are going to just sit straight up from a laying position? Ha ha! Ellie enjoys playing in her baby gym and talks to herself as she grabs at the toys.
Ben is still pacifier free and hasn’t looked back. He is currently obsessed with his “George monkey” book or Curious George as he is known to most. He would prefer to stay up late in his room by himself “reading” rather than going to bed. He also entertains us with his dances and songs. His fave song is still Shout Hallelujah and the words get pretty entertaining after the first couple of lines. It goes something like this: Shout Hallelujah to Jesus is Lord because he takes care of Mommy, Daddy, Sister, Gramma, Granpa, . . . Shout Hallelujah to the Lord Jesus. . . . and other variations of those ideas. It is equally enlightening to have Ben read us his Bible. Jesus is Lord is the most common line in Ben’s bible currently, followed by God made (fill in the blank) and then some variation of his daily prayer. Another favorite of Ben’s right now is “Thomas”. Mom thought he was requesting the blue train show and realized after a very frustrating exchange and finally Dad’s help that Ben wanted to eat some hummus with his crackers. He loves “Thomas” (hummus) and requests it just as often as cheese and fruit right now. We have had our first swim of the year and it looks like it will be another popular activity this summer. Ben also asks to go to the park to play soccer with his dad quite often. We have special soccer shoes, running shoes and cool sandals. The boy is very passionate about his footwear.
May 12, 2009
Goodbye, Best Friend
Ben has loved his pacifier since he could figure out how to keep it in his mouth as a baby. He has only used it at nap and bedtime for the last 6 months or longer, but asks for it with regularity on his way to bed. Since we have settled in and somewhat adjusted to having Elizabeth join our family, we decided it was time to change things up and work on leaving our best friend, "Paci", behind.
We started by letting his teachers know that this was coming and to see if they had any tips. Were we ever surprised when their response was, "Ben takes a pacifier?" We have been leaving one in his cubby faithfully, but apparently he hasn't used it since February when he moved to his upstairs classroom. After learning this, we asked Ben if he used a pacifier at school to see what he had to say about it. His reply was, "Noooooooo," in his sing songy voice. You could tell that he knew he was busted.
We asked if he would like to stop using it at home too. Dumb question. We explained that he would stop using it by the weekend and we would package all of the pacifiers up and trade them in for a prize. Build a Bear was going to be the reward! Smaller prizes were offered each night before the "mandatory" removal of the pacifiers. None of them were enough to entice the early goodbye.
Ben's first night without his pacifier was sad for all of us. What is normally around 5-10 minutes for him to fall asleep took about an hour and a half and there were lots of tears. We all survived though and celebrated at Build a Bear the next day making "Jokey" the monkey. Jokey wears a cool football uniform and sleeps with Ben each night. He also has Ben's last pacifier sewn inside for safe keeping. Since the first night Ben has not cried about his pacifier. Falling asleep takes longer than normal, but that will probably pass with time too.
You were good to us, Paci. We will never forget you! :)
We started by letting his teachers know that this was coming and to see if they had any tips. Were we ever surprised when their response was, "Ben takes a pacifier?" We have been leaving one in his cubby faithfully, but apparently he hasn't used it since February when he moved to his upstairs classroom. After learning this, we asked Ben if he used a pacifier at school to see what he had to say about it. His reply was, "Noooooooo," in his sing songy voice. You could tell that he knew he was busted.
We asked if he would like to stop using it at home too. Dumb question. We explained that he would stop using it by the weekend and we would package all of the pacifiers up and trade them in for a prize. Build a Bear was going to be the reward! Smaller prizes were offered each night before the "mandatory" removal of the pacifiers. None of them were enough to entice the early goodbye.
Ben's first night without his pacifier was sad for all of us. What is normally around 5-10 minutes for him to fall asleep took about an hour and a half and there were lots of tears. We all survived though and celebrated at Build a Bear the next day making "Jokey" the monkey. Jokey wears a cool football uniform and sleeps with Ben each night. He also has Ben's last pacifier sewn inside for safe keeping. Since the first night Ben has not cried about his pacifier. Falling asleep takes longer than normal, but that will probably pass with time too.
You were good to us, Paci. We will never forget you! :)
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