Transitions

At the risk of sounding completely pathetic, full time work is kicking me solid in the you-know-what. I’ve been full time for two weeks now and the boys have had dinners of almost nothing but fast food and delivery. It’s definitely an adjustment and I’m getting used to things. My goal for tomorrow is to get the house in relatively decent shape and get some meals prepped for the week to avoid the “I have no energy to cook” thing that’s been happening a lot. That being said, I’m loving the job so far and our nanny who watches Ben is FANTASTIC despite what I’ve put her through. She picked Eli up from school for the first time last week and I told her that Eli usually comes outside to meet me. I assumed she would do the same. However, she used to be a preschool teacher so she did the responsible thing and went inside to introduce herself to office staff and his teacher. It was obvious Eli knew her. It was also obvious I never added her to the pick up list. So she got held up in the office for about 45 minutes with Eli, her kid, and Ben because I ALSO forgot to tell her I don’t get cell reception at work and it was that long until a coworker called me about something and I took my phone outside to where I got reception and a ton of texts and phone calls promptly came through. So embarrassing. Needless to say, I gave her extra money that day.

I also forgot to leave Ben’s swim stuff out the next day so she couldn’t take him and had to deal with his grumpy self the rest of the day. This week has been smoother and I expect it will continue to be so. She’s fine with helping with minor meal prep so I might use her for that. We are really lucky in who we found, she and I get along great.

We got Eli’s CogAT test results back (the advanced learning test) and needless to say, he got in to the Highly Capable cohort. You have to test at a certain level to get in otherwise you get streamed in the spectrum at your own school but he tested at 99% in all three areas. This created a good deal of strife the first night (“I’m not changing schools!”) then acceptance the next day (“Maybe it will be fun, I understand why I need to go.”) and now we’ve reverted back to denial (“Hey, Mommy, guess what?” “What, Eli?” “I’m not going to Cascadia.”) Sigh. He’s been told he doesn’t have a choice. We can’t let him test that high and not switch him. He didn’t just do well, he absolutely killed the test. I can’t let him refuse to switch because of fear and not at least try it. I am telling myself that once he’s there and settled, he’ll be much happier because he’ll be with his peers. I keep telling myself that.

Ben is also gearing up for kindergarten. He’s really good at math, better than Eli was at this age, and I think some of that has to do with the fact that he hears Eli doing math so much. He’s got basic addition and subtraction down and although he hasn’t figured out reading yet, he can look at words with letters missing and know which letters are missing to complete the word. He is really, really close. I think if he liked reading as much as Eli did at this age he’d be just as proficient. He’s doing great in gymnastics and is an absolute dynamo at swimming and was telling me today he wants to take diving lessons! He told me he knows how to do a very special dive called the spider dive but he can only do it at hotels. The kid is obviously trying to work me. I imagine we will probably have Ben tested in the next year or two.

Things work-wise for Andy are going excellently, as well. He was nominated and awarded a spot in the 2017 Seattle City Light Emerging Leaders program. It’s a competitive pool and meant to really push the candidates to move up into leadership positions within the utility. It’s a big honor and justly deserved.

It’s been an exciting (and tiring!) few weeks around here. Andy is on his weekend night shifts and has two OT night shifts immediately following so he is MIA until Tuesday night. Tonight, the boys and I are renting a movie, eating popcorn, and not moving. Tomorrow, we are attacking the yard if it’s not raining. Our backyard has been sorely neglected since the end of the summer and I’m pretty sure our neighbor (whose kitchen overlooks our backyard) is tired of looking at rotting tomato plants and various toys strewn over the yard for the last few months.

We will probably rejoin the gym we used to go to when we lived in the apartment and Eli was a baby. They have childcare included in the cost of membership and they also have a crossfit gym there. I’m not working out at all, largely due to laziness and partly due to a foot injury I sustained three months ago when I fell down the stairs while carrying laundry. The injury was enough to leave the top of my foot around the ball of the big toe joint swelled to this day but nothing showed up on the x-ray two weeks ago. I have a sports medicine podiatry appt and hopefully they will be able to help. It still aches a lot and I can’t wear even the slightest heel. I am looking forward to working out again, it’s been a REALLY LONG TIME!

Hope everyone is doing well. Have a great Sunday!

Ben’s 4 year old stats

Just for the record:

Blood pressure: 95/61
Pulse: 103 bpm (I guess kids are higher?)
Weight: 41 lb 6 oz (73%)
Height: 44.0 in/111.8 cm (91%, he was looking down)
BMI 15.0 (33%)

All in all, tall, skinny kid. He’s much skinner than Eli at this age, Eli still had some chub on him until he hit 4.5 or so. Ben’s always been thinner. I think this will even out and Ben will overcome Eli in future years as Eli seems much more Smith gened (tall, thin, angular -in a nice way-) and Ben strikes me as much more a Massey (tall, broad, and more like my brother). We’ll see how my predictions work out.

Ben’s doing much better today and today his nanny came over and took him to MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) for first Thursday. They have free admission every first Thursday and although Ben was not happy about going initially, when I got home he declared it to be a “great day”.

This morning, he slept late (7:30) and even after he was awake, didn’t want to get up. The shots really seem to have taken it out of him. We skipped swim in favor of letting him rest and get a warm bath since he was complaining his legs hurt. When his nanny (Jenn) got here, she took them (she brings her own 3 year old boy) to MOHAI and Ben said he had a great time. A few minutes ago, I was wondering where Ben was (it’s 5:40 PM) and after much searching, we found him under his comforter, solidly asleep. I know part of that is the shots but part is also Jenn taking him to do fun things and I really, really think we hit the jackpot. She used to be a preschool teacher before she quit to stay home with her son so I don’t really know that we could have found better.

Tonight, Andy and Eli are finishing up his Pinewood Derby car for the weigh-in tomorrow night and races Saturday. Saturday night, we are having the Riley kids over for a sleepover and then Sunday is a relatively rest day. The days are long but the years are short. I’m really enjoying things lately.

Back in business!

We all made it back safely to Seattle. The flight was uneventful and going to Dallas the day before was really the smartest thing. It made for a very relaxed evening of swimming and dinner and since our flight didn’t leave until 1:15 the next afternoon it was a calm morning as well. Once we got to Seattle, our luggage was already piled together and waiting for us when we got to baggage claim, then the shuttle to the car park was waiting outside the door. It was pretty seamless! Once we got home, the boys opened the last of their presents which were a dart board (big hit, no sharp dart points), a board game for Ben (also fun), and a few video game things. They ripped through everything but once they got to the video game they then declared it the “best Christmas ever”. Ok, kids.

School started back up again yesterday and everyone is just getting back into routines. I’m still waiting for word regarding Eli’s advanced testing. I’m back into house mode of setting up eye appointments (my readers are not hacking it) for all of us (need to get Ben checked), dentist appointments, updating immunizations for Ben since he’ll start school in the fall, and working on cub scout meeting plans.

The (to me) good news is that I got my mom’s laptop functioning again! I got the new OS in the mail yesterday and although it took me until almost 1 in the morning, I finally got it all installed and I am now rocking a fully updated, functional laptop again! I am so excited! This means I can update the blog more frequently since I don’t have to retreat downstairs and also Eli can do more computer practice upstairs where he can be monitored.

The job is all but official. It’s been offered, I’ve accepted so now it’s just a matter of salary negotiations with HR. I’m going to aim high and although I figure they won’t want to do what I propose, I’d rather aim high then haggle than low ball. I think I low balled my current salary when I first started because they agreed to it WAY too quickly. I also interviewed a nanny today who will watch Ben for half day Wednesdays and all day Thursdays. She is looking for minimal hours so it works out really well since we only need her for three weeks, then off two weeks since those are weeks Andy is off during the week. She has a three year old boy and will come to our house. So Ben will also have a buddy to play with. She’s got a car and can take him to swim lessons and also pick up Eli from school. She’s got a long history working in preschools and before and after school care but decided not to work when she had her son. Now she just wants a little extra income and also some socialization opportunities for her son so it’s really a great fit. I’m calling references tomorrow but barring anything unexpected, I think it’s going to work out pretty well.

That’s the news for now. Looking forward to keeping everyone better updated now that I’m back in the land of laptop 🙂

Christmas Cheer

I’m happy to report I’m feeling better lately. Sorry for the vagueness of everything but the nausea is improving and overall, I am doing a lot better. I hope to get back to running this weekend once I feel my strength is back up. Thank you for your concerns.

That being said, we had Eli’s parent-teacher conference today and she continued to confirm his brilliance. They do a yearly standardized test here called the MAP and Eli has consistently ranked in the 99% in all areas since he started taking it in Kindergarten. Apparently, if a kid ranks above 96%, the parents are to be notified that their child has been recommended for advanced placement testing but for some reason, we never were. I’ve been trying repeatedly to get that rescheduled but again, for some reason, I keep getting emails replying that we missed the test date and it’s been rescheduled for 11/5 (one might note that was two weeks ago. I’m beginning to think the Seattle school system might not be so advanced with the learning). His teacher today said that our principal would advocate for Eli to be excepted into the testing despite potentially missing the deadline since I have documentation that I’ve been trying to get it corrected for weeks.

In any case, we all know he’s smart. What I loved hearing was that he is a joy to have in class. She said he was one of the most thoughtful and caring children she’s met. No behavioral issues and he is a team player. I think that part spoke to me the most because smarts aside, I want a compassionate, loving kid. She said “Good job mom and dad! Thank you for letting me learn to know Eli.” Wow!

Ben continues to work on reading and it is slow going. He’s got his phonics relatively well down but he’s just at that point that he can’t connect. He also doesn’t enjoy reading as much as Eli did so our opportunities to work on it when he is motivated are limited. He is much more into physical activities and working on things with his hands. He enjoys anything creative and making art. He will often run up to me out of nowhere with a hug and say “I just love you so much.” So I think all in all, the boys are doing okay.

I’ve updated their amazon wish lists with Christmas suggestions. Clothing wise, Ben is in 4T pants, 5T shirts. Eli is in size 10 shirts and size 8/10 pants. Ben wears a size 12 shoes and Eli wears a 3. They’re pretty well outfitted but Eli could use more long sleeve shirts and proper pjs. They are very into Skylanders Trap Team on the PS4 and Ben is heavily into his Minecraft phase. Ben is at the point where he can follow and build the easier legos without our help and his pride at doing so is palpable. He is really mastering his ability to overcome frustration when he gets to a sticking point.

This Thanksgiving will be very low key. Will is coming over and that’s the extent of it. Andy and I are both fortunate to both be off work and he’ll be doing the majority of the cooking. I look forward to a lot of board games and puzzles and watching the Cowboys lose (I don’t even know who they are playing but still). The kids are home with me tomorrow since school is out and I’m looking around for something fun for us to do.

I’m working on uploading a lot of iPhone pictures to Flickr. I also have some pictures from the camera I need to upload as well. These are on my to do list to get done before Christmas.

I hope you all are doing well.

Ben finishes the puzzle!

Really looking forward to seeing all you guys next month. The boys are doing well. Eli has his Advanced Learning exams in the next month, not that it will mean much. We already decided he won’t switch schools even if he qualifies but it will allow for some additional attention in the school he attends now. We mostly wanted to get an idea of how he’s doing in relation to his peers so we can accommodate.

Ben is getting way better at puzzles. Here’s his most recent learning story from school:

Ben Finishes the Puzzle
A learning story by Ben Smith and Teacher Mollie

It was morning in the Mountain Room and circle time had just come to an end. The teachers told the children what was on the tables for morning activities; everyone ran off to pick.

Ben stood up at circle and looked around. His usual friends he played with were not there that day. Ben walked over to the square yellow table and sat down next to his other friend, Reegan.
“What is this?” Ben asked Reegan.
“It’s a kind of a number puzzle,” Reegan told him.
“Could I help? I am good at puzzles,” Ben asked
Reegan said, “Sure.”
Ben grabbed a couple of the pieces and started helping. There were already a couple pieces matched together. Reegan put the next on. Ben then put his piece on and then noticed Reegan’s piece was on wrong,
“Reegan, this has to be moved,” Ben told him. Ben then moved the piece around and added his. Reegan grabbed some more pieces and Ben noticed. 
“That is a lot of pieces, Reegan! I need some. Give me them!” Ben demanded.
Reegan looked at Ben and said “I have them.”
Ben then took a deep breath and said, “Please, Reegan, can I have a couple?”
Reegan smiled and said, “okay!”
Ben smiled back and said, “Thanks.”
After a couple minutes, they both finished the puzzle. Reegan stood up and went to play somewhere else.
Ben looked around and then back at the puzzle, “I am now going to do it myself.” He took it all a part and started off from the beginning.
“I know it starts with one and then two,” he said out loud as he found the pieces that made the number one and two. He then looked at the pieces, “Teacher Mollie, I can’t find the other ones,” he made a sad noise and then crossed his arms. I then showed him how to set up the puzzle box to see what the picture looked like.
Ben relaxed and put his arms down and then looked at the box.
“Oh, I see! The three is right there,” he then picked out the ones he needed.

Ben continued to work with the box propped up and finding pieces that he needed.
Ben then finished the first row and went on to the next number on the bottom. As he put the piece on the bottom, the top broke. He fixed the top but then the bottom piece fell off. He sighed loudly.
“This is too hard,” he yelled.
Ben crossed his arms and put his head down. After a couple seconds, he looked up.
He looked at his hands and then proceeded to hold one side with one hand and put the piece back on with his other. It worked. He continued to put the other pieces on. Throughout the process, the puzzle would come undone with the slightest movement. Ben continued trying his technique out by holding one side down, while he fixed the other.

As Ben got closer to finishing it, he had a smile on his face. He then found the last piece and put it on.

He laughed as the piece snapped in. He looked the box and at the puzzle and smiled. “It looks like the box. I finished it!” he said.

What does this mean:
Ben, I loved watching you with this activity! It was great to watch you with a friend and then try it by yourself.
Ben, a lot of times you can get frustrated in both situations. Maybe a friend is not listening to you, or you need some help when no one is around. Either way, you can get mad or sad and then forget about the activity.
In this story, you showed us how you took the time to work with Reegan and with yourself. The first part of the story, you and Reegan worked together to make the puzzle. You showed that you could take turns and even share the pieces. In one part of the story, you demanded pieces from Reegan. You knew that is was not fair for him to have all the pieces, and you expressed that. Reegan also chose to not give them to you. I noticed you had two choices at that moment. You could keep demanding and getting angrier at him, or ask him more kindly. Ben, you chose to calm down and ask him in a different way; Reegan then gave you some of the pieces.
The second part of the story Ben is how you dealt with your own frustrations. You wanted to do the puzzle yourself! It can be so self-rewarding to try at something yourself and complete it. There were a couple times in the story that you got angry. I could tell by your sighs and grunts that it may have felt like a lot of work. Ben, you worked through it though. You proved to yourself that you could figure out the problem and find ways to work around it. That is amazing! A lot of people have an easy time getting angry at a problem and not wanting to try new ways to fix it. You, on the other hand, asked me for help and liked my advice. You also knew that that you could help yourself if the puzzle was falling apart. I am very proud of you, Ben.

Future Possibliities:
I think this story showed the two sides of Ben. His curious and exploration side and his frustration, self-doubt side.
Ben tends to get overwhelmed easily when something is not working out. In this story, it showed when Reegan would not share the pieces, and then when the puzzle was falling apart. Ben allowed himself to get frustrated but then used strategies to fix the issues he was having. He chose to use kinder words with Reegan, and then find a solution to the puzzle not staying together.
I think with this story; Ben will only become more and more confident in the things his friends can do and what he can do himself. Moving towards the future, he will hopefully get less frustrated when things are not working and then start to think of people or objects that can help.
In the classroom, we like to do a lot of team building activities. I hope for Ben to be a part of these activities. That way he has more opportunities to interact and understand how friends can help one another. He also will pick up how to ask nicely for something from his friends.
We can also start exploring new activities, projects, and skills to help Ben work on himself. He can have those moments to try new things and have the help around him when he needs and asks for it. I think Ben is a bright kid and knows what he wants. When it does not happen the exact way, that is when it can be overwhelming for him. With practice and patience, Ben will understand how he needs to work and what he is capable of.

*Since I got this, we’ve been working with Ben on games in general and puzzles in an effort to help him learn frustration tolerance. I can’t help but feel that some of his frustration comes from being a younger sibling and often Eli will “help” Ben in a very demeaning way “Ben, it’s not that hard, stop freaking out.” I wish he’d be more positive and encouraging but he’s coming from the standpoint of (I think) still having some resentment about not being King of the Mountain. In positive news, we have progressed from 24 to 46 to now 100 piece puzzles that Ben wants to do all on his own and when he gets frustrated, he’s stopped saying “I can’t do it” and instead just taking a break then getting back to it. Super proud of that kid.

We recently got the board games Ticket to Ride and King of Tokyo and we’ve been having a lot of fun with those. They are super fun for Eli and even the grown ups really enjoy them. We’ve also been doing a lot of puzzles in general.

The last month has been hard. Hard in a way I don’t really know how to quantify. I’ve been sick and having a lot of problems with nausea and throwing up but I’ve been well connected with my PCP and I think it’s getting under control. It’s been stressful and difficult. That being said, I feel lucky to have such a solid family foundation with all of you and I know things will even out. I am really, really looking forward to Christmas.

Boooowing!

This is pretty much what we hear from Ben anytime something doesn’t involve screens these days.  “This is bow-ing”, “Bow-ing”, “You’re just trying to make me have a bad day”, “Now I’m having a bad day now”, and so on.  Lest you think Ben’s life is nothing but misery, once he’s cut off he goes into a fit for about 30 seconds then he’s fine.  One of the things you have to give Ben, he doesn’t hold on to stuff for long.

We are fully into another year– Eli’s second grade year, Ben’s last year of preschool before kindergarten and things are going well.  Eli is in advanced math and reading at school and is in line to get tested for the “smart kid” schools although truth be told, we likely will not switch him even if he qualifies. We’ve told him the tests are just to see where he is and that the decision to switch is up to him.  We’ve talked to a lot of parents of kids who either have kids at these schools or who have toured them and they all say the same thing–the kids are stressed.  It’s an insanely competitive environment of the kids of tech people and the kids don’t seem happy.  If Eli does test well, his school can accommodate him to a degree and anything over than that, we will outsource.  Not really willing to risk his emotional development for academic when he’s not particularly a competitive kid and has been very adamant that he wants to stay with his friends.  If we can accommodate his learning satisfactorily without sacrificing anything, I’d rather he’d stay where he is.  Part of his lack of competitiveness is that he’s so used to being automatically good at what he does (barring physical stuff) and he and I have talked a lot about that.  We’ve talked about the importance of him challenging himself in areas he’s had to work to excel.  I think he understands.

Ben is working hard on reading these days.  He’s got all the sounds down and is just working on putting them together.  He’s very into writing lately and will frequently ask us to spell words so he can write them down.  An unfortunate side effect of this is that Eli will often turn this to (for him) great comedic effect as evidenced today by Ben bringing us a sheet of paper that was clearly his repeated attempts to write the word “butt”.  Luckily for Ben, he hasn’t quite gotten the hang of writing words left to right and instead his letters are usually all over the place.  We spent a good while torturing him while he obviously wanted us to say “You wrote ‘butt’!” and then be upset about it.  Instead we just kept reading whatever he wrote which actually was “btt” or “bttu” and it drove him crazy. Then I went and had conversation #45624 with Eli that if Ben goes to preschool and writes the word “butt”, it’s going to be his that’s on the line.

Things have been going well around here.  I’ve entered a half marathon for March.  After Ragnar, I pretty much stopped running entirely and now all my running buddies are off running without me.  It’s a social outlet I’m starting to miss even if I do have to run to be a part of it.  Ragnar was really fantastic in that it solidified some work friendships that had been moving along at a snail’s pace and now several of us spend a lot of time together.  It’s especially nice that they don’t work normal schedules either so now I have friends to hang out with on Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of it just being me and Ben alone all day. They have older kids in school but they are always fine with Ben tagging along and Ben is enjoying hanging out in coffee shops having hot chocolate and a muffin once a week.  Nonetheless, I’ve got to get exercise back in and it seems the only way I’ll do it consistently is if I have a race to train for.  So back on track starting tomorrow.

Our schedule is heavy these days–swim for Eli Wednesday evenings, swim for Ben Thursday mornings, chess club for Eli Tuesday before school, gymnastics for Ben on Wednesday mornings.  Add in to that school, work schedules, homework, and probably someone should cook something at some point and a lot of days feel pretty hectic.  Today was really great though–it was gray and rainy most of the day so every single person in this household has spent the day in their pjs.  We watched the Seahawks game, we played some video games, we worked on spelling “butt”, we practiced our spelling words, we played a few rounds of King of Tokyo (really fun board game Eli discovered at school) and a lot of wrestling.  It was nice to not have a lot to do.

Have you guys heard about the Broadway play “Hamilton”?  It’s kind of hard to avoid hearing about it. It’s pretty much the most acclaimed Broadway musical in about a million years.  They have a soundtrack to it and a friend kept telling me I needed to listen to it so he loaned me the CDs.  I played them one day in the car and figured the kids would ask to turn it off about 20 seconds in but they are ADDICTED.  It’s a musical about Alexander Hamilton and the founding of the country.  It’s jam packed with rap and hip hop and it’s just a delight to listen to.  It’s also started a lot of really fascinating conversations with the kids about how America came to be America.  In the last month, we’ve had a lot of talks about King George, Marquis de Lafayette, Aaron Burr, and the reasons why they wanted independence from England in the first place.  I admit I’ve had to do a LOT of googling to brush up on my history but it’s really amazing that a musical is making the kids so interested in history.  It’s also pretty cute to hear Ben walking around the house shouting “HERE COMES THE GENERAL!” (from a song about George Washington).

For a small taste, here’s “Guns and Ships” which the boys (and I) are just in love with the last few days:

Man, it’s been so long since I’ve posted on here I can’t figure out how to upload a link.  Let me figure this out….Guns and Ships

Ok, there we go.

Video catch up.  Man, I do not take nearly as many videos as I used to.  Mostly that’s because whenever the kids see me recording they automatically start acting like fools thereby ruining whatever nice moment I was hoping to capture.  However, I’m going to rewrite history and tell myself that it’s because I was being mindful and enjoying the moment instead of playing with my phone…

Sneaking!

Time for waffles!

Older brothers. Sheesh.

Andy and Eli are terrible.

Ben getting the hang of the balance bike

Ben writing his name!

Look at that.  It no longer embeds a video still of the YouTube.  These are the things you learn when you update once a year.

As everyone knows, the Pac NW Smiths are descending upon Louisiana for Christmas.  We will be there for a nice healthy stay (a little longer than “after 3 days, guests or fish go bad” for my dad) but not so long that I think we will exhaust anyone.  We will fly down Dec. 20th and fly back Dec. 29th.  It will be nice for all of us to be in the same place for the holiday.  It’s kind of a banner year in that Andy and I are both off for both holidays!  I realize due to scheduling it’s unlikely to happen again for another 5-7 years so I’m going to enjoy it.

Ben’s got another cold.  He’s definitely the more cold prone of the two–Eli rarely got sick and when he did it was more of an actual illness (usually fever) requiring time off whereas Ben usually just gets about every cold going around.  I wasn’t too surprised by this one (he finished his last one about a month ago) since at the Cub Scout meeting Tuesday he pretty much spent the whole time trying to blow up a balloon, spitting it out of his mouth when he tried to blow it up, having it hit the floor, then putting it right back in.  I took the first two away and then at some point you just have to accept that kids will build resistance.  The silver lining is that for all of his colds, he never really feels badly.  He will be hacky and snotty as all get out but energetic and insisting he feels fine.

He’s moved into Mountain Room at Small Faces and seems to be enjoying it.  He’ll be starting kindergarten next year at North Beach with Eli if everything goes well.  The housing market in Seattle is kind of insane right now–it’s definitely a seller’s market and even rental housing is seeing astronomical increases.  We are hoping our landlords don’t decide to cash in on this but we are making plans in case they do.  I’m inclined to think they won’t since they have generally been happy with us and also like stable renters but it’s a bit nerve-wracking not knowing what might happen.  Their school is so fantastic that I hate the idea of having to switch.  Oh well, it will all work out in the end.

Here’s where I say lots of hopeful things about posting more often but as always, I will do my best.  We are definitely looking forward to the next month–for Halloween, Eli is going as Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes and Ben is going as a skeleton (same costume as last year, love that kid).  I have to work Halloween night but Andy will be off which is good balance as he’s had to work the last few.  Then Eli has his birthday and his party the next day at Playdate Seattle which should be a lot of fun.  They have what is basically a two story habitrail for kids which they love playing in and there are a ton of big screen TVs for the grown ups to watch football.  I think everyone will have a great time.

Have a wonderful fall.

Video catch up, the understatement

Really, internet? A year? It’s been a year since I have uploaded videos? I just don’t even believe this but this blog tells me it’s so.

Yikes.

Early morning Ben chatting:

This was at the Tulip Festival in April

The kids and Ananda at Deception Pass for our camping trip this summer.

Ben sings his ABCs (sort of)

The Berry Patch kids at a backyard BBQ having fun in a too small pool

Ben riding the Weehoo with Andy and Eli

Recap of Great Wolf Lodge

This one has made me cry from laughing so many times. There’s a youtube guy who makes Minecraft videos and the boys watch it all the time. At the end, there’s a bit of dance music and as soon as it starts, the boys go into house dancing mode.

Watching the movie Home

Ben in the car at the Clark County Fair

Eli on the Monster Slide at the Clark County Fair

The S’s of a three year old are hard to resist.

It’s hard to blow out candles with a mouthful of candy.

Opening a birthday present from Lolly

Ben jumping on Daddy (I have a cold in this, I sound terrible)

Sneaking in on him in the tub

Wish I had a dime for every time I heard this:

Going to leave this as a video entry and will do some text shortly. 🙂

Maybe he’s actually ready for it?

So far, Ben’s potty training has been very anticlimactic. He and I talked about it several days beforehand and he was excited about it. The first day went bizarrely well. He had one accident and I hesitate to even call it that–it was a few pee drops, enough to make him feel wet and tell me that he needed new underwear but in all (kind of gross) honesty, I had to squeeze his underwear pretty hard to feel what he was talking about when he said he had gone. That was day one. Day two, I was a bit too relaxed about the pee clock (during potty training, we set the phone timer for 45 minutes and every time the timer goes off, on the potty they go) and he ended up pooping in his diaper around 10:30 AM.

I feel like that was sort of a misunderstanding on his part because once he went he came up to me and told me the poop needed to go in the potty and it was only when I had him by the toilet did I realize he had already gone. He and I had a short talk about his underwear was not the middle man and it needs to go straight in. He was very earnest about it “Oh, so I need to poop in the potty, not my underwear?” and then I felt like he understood. The rest of the day went well with him being okay with most of the timed potty sittings (although he did complain about a few, insisting he didn’t have to go but he managed to squeeze something out) but mostly okay with the idea in general. Last night, he hadn’t pooped (he’s usually a twice a day pooper, sorry if that’s TMI) and I asked him a few times “What’s your body telling you?” He kept saying his body was fine but then shortly before bedtime he started suggesting I put a diaper on him. He was shrugging and holding his hands up as if to say, “Why not?” and saying “I think maybe you can put a diaper on me?” in a very casual way. I reminded him that he only wears diapers to sleep and he insisted he wasn’t ready to go to bed. A few minutes later he says again with the shrug, “I think maybe you can put a diaper on me?” and I asked him if he needed to poop and he very shyly nodded yes.

I reminded him that he poops in the potty now (and he gets CANDY! for pooping on the potty) and that was what sold him on it. Twenty minutes and three potty sittings later, he pooped. He’s still a bit nervous about pooping on the potty but mostly has done okay with it and it’s one of those things that will get easier with time.

Today, he went to Small Faces as a potty trained kid! He did amazing! He didn’t have an accident all day except when Andy picked him up from school, apparently he peed. Andy likes to think he was just that excited. In any case, not too shabby, Ben! We will see if we can get a poop out of him before bedtime. My mom suggested that maybe he was just ready to train and that’s why it’s all going so easily but I can’t help but thinking this is like Binky 2.0 when he was all relaxed the first few days after then once he realized Those Days are over, he rebelled. I sure hope it’s this easy.

I have a learning story from Small Faces for Ben to post and I scanned the pages in but I am having the hardest time trying to figure out how to post the pages in a way that’s readable. The pictures are really great. I’ll be working on that tonight but wanted to publish this now.

*sigh* I thought about this for a minute. I scanned the pages in but I can’t immediately figure out how to post them to this website. I could spend the next hour trying to figure it out and maybe still not get it then I’d have to stop because of bedtimes and whatnot and nothing would get posted. OR I could just let you know that I’ll email the grandmothers with the scanned images and if you have problems viewing them, let me know. If anybody else wants to look at them, let me know and I’ll send them along. It’s an adorable story about Ben’s learning process in making a kite on his own at school.

It reminds me of the chat I had with Sue about trying to make things perfect vs. getting things up so people can see them and in this instance I’m voting for getting things up 🙂 So out it goes 🙂

The (almost) end of summer…finally

Have I mentioned I overdid it with the summer activities? Lo, I have. The trip to Portland was a lot of fun. The boys and I visited my friends June and Kristen and their two little girls. We spent a lot of time playing in their neighborhood playground and we went to the Clark County Fair. Their smallest, a cute one year old named Lexi, had a pretty quick meltdown upon arrival (it was sunny, it was hot, it was VERY LOUD and pretty much a recipe for overstimulation) and Kristen had to whisk her off to the petting zoo for most of it. The older one, Jordan (3), did a little better but seemed kind of overwhelmed. I think the combination of having the boys in town and the constant playing (Ben and Jordan hit it off) as well as the fair was a bit too much. I’ve heard that since we left they took Jordan back and she had a blast.

The boys loved the fair. The fair is stinking expensive! I bought 80 tickets ($70) and didn’t get to ride a single ride. I really look forward to when the boys are bigger and can ride some of the cool rides with me. We were mostly exiled to toddler ride land for the whole day. We split off from June and Kristen since the boys wanted to ride EVERYTHING and met up with them at the end of the fair trip for snacks and the ride back. Kristen’s dad commented several times that the boys were great fair goers, nothing fazed them, they never got grumpy, and had a great time. That was a nice thing to hear. I do have some pretty fun kids and their ability to handle being tired is pretty awesome. It does get easier once they’re older, though. I can’t attribute all of their awesomeness to my parenting skills (but I will try).

We came back Sunday and promptly went into zombie mode. We were all so tired. We had bike day at Small Faces Monday. Monday, I worked a swing (3-11:30) then back up the next morning for a 9 AM meeting. I was in that from 9-11:30 then left for a quick lunch. I went back to work from 12:45-11:30 that night. I have moved to a .6 position so I have to work another 8 hours a paycheck but I don’t have an actual shift, I’m just putting in the hours when I can. Since the boys are already at 3 days a week for Small Faces, I don’t want to increase their hours since they don’t offer 4 day a week care, it’s either 2, 3, or 5. Moving to 5 days a week would erase any benefit from the extra 8 hours I work and actually end up costing us more so right now I’m just tacking on 2 hours here, 3 hours there to work four extra hours a week.

So I got off work at 11:30 that night then back up at 7 the next morning to get ready to go to Bellingham. Ananda’s 40th birthday was Wednesday and she was having a family celebration at her grandparent’s lake house on Lake Whatcom. The house was unbelievable and the boys had so much fun playing in the lake and going on speedboat rides. The house is on a bit of property that used to be a small resort so in addition to the main house there are five small cabins and we stayed in one. After the boys went to bed, we put sleeping bags out on the lawn to watch the Perseid meteor shower and saw some really amazing meteors! It was a fantastic evening and a great way to celebrate Ananda.

We came back Thursday afternoon and Andy has been on 12 hour days from Friday until Monday night. I worked Friday and the rest of this weekend is pretty much dedicated to getting ready for our camping trip to Glacier on Tuesday. We plan to leave about 5 AM Tuesday so it’s necessary to get it all done by the time we go to bed Monday. We are driving to Kalispell, MT on Tuesday (about 8 hours) then staying in a hotel that night. Wednesday morning, we will drive the additional hour to Glacier to set up camp. We will be there through Saturday. The plan is to drive back Saturday but we will probably opt for driving a bit then staying in a hotel Saturday night so we can get showers, pool time, and some rest. I’m not too crazy about the idea of packing up camp, driving 8-10 hours, then trying to get the boys washed up after 4 days of camping before putting them to bed. It would be about 2 in the morning at that point! So we’ve left it open.

Unfortunately, Will can’t go with us (but for a great reason, he starts work with the gaming company this week) so he will housesit for us while we are gone. I’m super bummed he can’t make it since we all had so much fun on the Deception Pass trip but there’s not much to be done about it.

So now we are almost off to Glacier and aside from booking the campground, I have done ZERO planning for it. I remembered to book the hotel for Tuesday so at least we have places to stay. I printed out a page of short kid-friendly hikes to do around Glacier. We are debating bringing the bikes but Glacier doesn’t seem very bike friendly. We are thinking of bringing our bikes with the two trailers (Eli’s trailer bike and the Weehoo) but there don’t seem to be a lot of places to ride other than the actual road through it and even that has time constraints on when you can ride it so I’m thinking not. I hate riding on roads with cars and Glacier sounds like a tough ride without hauling 30+ lbs. I’m trying to think of ways to keep the boys occupied at the campsite because we’ve gotten totally spoiled camping with other families this summer and having built-in distractors. There is a water park close to Glacier and I figure we will do that one of the days. The other days will probably just be short hikes, Junior Ranger missions, and a lot of staring at a fire (no burn ban yet! If we do get one, man, this is going to be rough). The weather at Glacier seems to vary wildly depending on where you are in the park–I’ve seen forecasts for nights as low as high 30s (if you look under “Glacier Nat’l Park” in the weather app) or as low as low 50s (if you look under “West Glacier” which I think is closer to where we will be staying. In any case, I’m having to pack us for EVERY POSSIBLE WEATHER PHENOMENON and it’s a lot! We are so lucky to get to go on a trip like this and our kids are so fortunate to live in a part of the country where things like this are just a day’s drive away.

Tomorrow, the boys and I are doing the grocery shop for the trip and going to the library to stock up on books and DVDs. Aside from throwing everything in the car and some camping meal prep, there’s not much else to do.

The potty training will begin in earnest once we get back. I haven’t been consistent about it and I had no intention of winging it on the camping trip so I haven’t really pushed it all that much. Eli starts 1st grade in early September and we will be settling back into a routine. I received invites for two more kids’ birthday parties the weekends after we get back and I declined both. I felt badly about it but I am really trying to be mindful of how frazzled we all are and how much we need to slow down.

I do have one last trip planned for the end of September. My friends Carrie and Wendy are coming on Weds, Sept 23rd and just the three of us are going to Orcas Island to stay at a B&B until that Sunday! I am so excited about it I don’t know what to do with myself. Aside from the idea of just having 3.5 days without kids, the opportunity to get to spend that time with my oldest and dearest is mind boggling. I plan to do a lot of reading, a lot of napping, a lot of chatting and laughing, some kayaking, and just spending time with my girls. I expect this trip to be very rejuvenating for me and I am so looking forward to it!

Milestone news- Eli is about to lose his first top front tooth. It’s quite loose and keeps bleeding but he won’t let us yank it. He now says his “r”s like an adult and that is bittersweet to me. Ben can buckle himself into his carseat and is very proud of this accomplishment. He’s riding the small bike with training wheels like a pro but still doesn’t like the balance bike. Quite often Ben will refuse hugs and kisses at bedtime which is sad but that kid is all about controlling his environment so I don’t hassle him over it. He still follows me everywhere so I know he still likes me 🙂

Going to put this up for now and hopefully will get more pictures up before I hit the sack.

Ben is three! THREE!

How, how, how did that happen? It seems like just yesterday I was snuggling with my newborn boy and experiencing the beginnings of what would become some wicked insomnia. I kind of hate that I can’t separate Ben’s newborn experience from that insomnia but it is what it is.

So my baby is three. At three years old, Ben LOVES the Hulk but oddly enough, is usually scared of him. He asked for a Hulk action figure but it took a lot of cajoling to get him to actually hold it and do anything with it other than pet it like a dog that might snap. Quite often, Ben will declare he is eating something so that when he grows up he can be “big and green”. He loves super heroes lately, entering this phase way earlier than Eli which I think is probably an effect of having an older brother. Eli was a pretty normal and innocent three year old, all Backyardigans and Wonder Pets, whereas Ben has been exposed to Minecraft, Power Rangers, Transformers, etc from pretty early on and of course he wants to copy big brother. Sometimes I really miss Wonder Pets. I’ve managed to harass Ben into watching enough Backyardigans (and Eli still likes it enough that he doesn’t complain) that he requests it but the requests are becoming few and far between.

For Ben’s birthday, we did an easy birthday party at the playground. It was originally supposed to be at one playground but the forecast was for hot weather (which has become the norm for us this summer) so we switched it this morning to a playground with a wading pool. It was completely the right call. The kids had a blast in the water and I think the parents got a little relaxing in. As Andy’s parents left just yesterday and I worked a swing last night, we took it easy and provided a veggie tray, caprese skewers (thanks, Pinterest), a fruit bowl, a bowl of Goldfish, and of course the obligatory cake. We hauled an extra table (didn’t think we’d manage to snag the picnic tables by the pool but we did–score!) and the big tent canopy for shade. We got a great spot right next to a huge shade tree so it really couldn’t have worked out better. The kids had a blast, Ben had a wonderful party, and it was an easy thing to throw together without a lot of effort. I’m so glad it all worked out.

It’s been a busy summer for us. Andy and I were discussing this tonight, that it seems like every weekend and then some has just been jam packed. His parents left yesterday, we had the party today, the boys and I go to Portland next weekend to visit friends (Andy is on night so he will stay here), then two days later we are camping at Ananda’s grandmother’s house (have Sue and Robert tell you about Ananda!) for a night for her 40th birthday party. We return that Thursday and have a weekend that is covered in birthday parties to attend. Then that Tuesday we leave for our trip to Glacier National Park through Sunday.

Considering the multiple camping trips we have already done, the knee surgery (man, I don’t think Andy or I want to deal with that level of immobility again anytime soon), as well as everything else we are feeling totally cashed out. He got a call tonight for an OT 12 hour shift tomorrow and as much as we try to take those, we turned it down. We need a day of calm, of rest, to readjust.

Hey, now our food just got delivered! Sue and I had a chat about how I come to the computer and type very stream of consciousness and a very long blog post I recently typed was eaten and not saved. She pointed out that I don’t really need any sort of wrapping up and perhaps it would be better to post something about our lives, even if it didn’t end very neatly? Going to do that now. I did manage to post a lot of photos to Flickr before this so those are up. I will try to post again in the next few days. There’s so much to tell.

Good night, everyone!