February 2017

As far as this blog goes, you won’t find too much political commentary. But I’m pretty sure the secret to world peace could be found if we all just watched a little more Daniel Tiger:
“In some ways we are different, but in so many ways….we are the same!”
“Do your best.”
“Pick clothes that are right for you.”
“If you have to go potty – stop – and go right away!”
“Think about how someone else is feeling.”
“There are many ways to say I love you.”
“Honk, BeepBeep, WOOOO!”

There. I’m sure that solves everything. Right? Right??

This winter has been crazy with colds. And not the snow kind. The sniffles and hacking kind. It’s gotten to the point where I’m just excited when we’re all healthy, but I’m just accepting that someone in our family will be congested most of the time. In fact, this entry is late, because – after the latest round of cold cleared up – I got hit with a nasty stomach bug. I pretty much lost three days of my life. My poor husband. Yowsa. But oh, on those healthy days – we have enjoyed them. We’ve filled those days with new discoveries like the Historical Building and a new-to-us community center, old favorites like the malls and libraries, and enjoying the very mild temperatures of February.

I pretty much stopped counting months with Fred’s age, but the 18 month mark seems like a pretty big deal. My baby is in full toddler mode! He’s a healthy 25 pounds of curiosity and opinions. He loves to chase and be chased – with the best laugh around. He wants up and down at the same time and enjoys pointing to things and then deciding he does NOT want those things after all. He’s starting to feed himself with a spoon and is officially too cool for a high chair. He’s finally taken an interest in books and hilariously backs up into your lap after fetching one for you to read. Yesterday, he found the cat picture in Brown Bear Brown Bear and took it to show Jackie. I was ready to sign that genius up for college immediately. He’s starting to easily repeat words and phrases (Areyou? Areyou? for hide and seek, bye bye, hello, uh oh, etc.). He has a mouthful of teeth – like 14ish? – which is hilarious, since Ben only had 4 at this point. He loves balls and trains and brushing his teeth. He’s aced climbing up and down stairs and makes me very nervous with his ability and desire to climb everything. He is a huge flirt and a lover of animals.

Ben continues to be my sweetheart. He loves jokes and laughing – even when he doesn’t really understand the punchline. He’s developed a love of Mario after we finally busted out the Wii as a reward. He still loves building and puzzles and trains. He’s telling me more about preschool and other kids that are there. He still very much lives in the moment and is pretty content doing the same thing for a long period of time. He remembers that his favorite color when he was three years old was blue, hangs on to the fact that his current favorite color is green, and has declared that his favorite color when he is five will be purple.

I’m going to spend the rest of this entry with quick snapshots of our life. I’m already well past my goal for getting this published and Fred is only going to be napping so long, haha.

A challenge for Ben this year has been his adventure at ice skating school! We decided to try something other than basketball this year and thought this would be an interesting experiment. He has had a love/hate relationship with the sport, but it has been mostly positive.

Brothers. They are really forming a relationship, and I love it. They annoy each other and love on each other. This morning Ben sang a lullaby before Fred’s nap: “Goodnight, Brother. Goodnight, Brother! It is time to sleep. Happy birf-day. When you are two years old it will be your next birthday. We love you in our family!”

Ben has to sign his name before entering preschool. He has his name mastered, so now he spends for-ev-er getting creating with his handwriting. For being a rather introverted kid, he puts a lot of flare (and font size) into his name.