the little negotiator

This morning while the boys were eating breakfast, I was fixing a snack for Daniel to take to camp (his preschool has a summer camp they can attend every morning for a week at a time, so he went a few weeks ago and is going again this week). I asked him if he wanted Goldfish crackers. He said, "no, I want muffin." Then he paused and said, "I want muffin AND Goldfish." I told him he could have one or the other. And he replied, "I want HALF a muffin and some Goldfish."

How could I refuse?

happy (belated) birthday, ben!

Poor Ben... his first birthday (which fell on Mother's Day) was overshadowed by a stomach virus that started with Daniel earlier that week and was shared throughout the family. Ben was barely well enough to eat a birthday cupcake, I was not well enough at all, and we hardly have any photos. Thankfully he's too young to have been bothered by the haphazard nature of the festivities. In fact, if it hadn't been for Alyssa, he wouldn't have had cake at all that day.

Also as a result, I also didn't finish his birthday slideshow on time, and once I was already late with finishing it, I lacked the motivation of a deadline. Poor second child! I finally told myself I would get it done by the end of May... and I did! I just didn't get it posted until today. So anyway, without further ado, here's a retrospective of Ben's first year. Enjoy!

Ben - One Year from jennifer on Vimeo.

baby yoga

There's nothing like a little early-morning yoga in your pajamas.

He's getting pretty good at downward-facing dog, don't you think?

Or maybe he's just trying to look at the world from a different perspective.

adventures in egg dyeing

This year marked the first time we attempted to dye Easter eggs with Daniel.  We were nervous... enough so that we all changed into old clothes before we got started.  But surprisingly, it went quite well!

He was SO excited to get going that many of the eggs got tossed (not too softly) into the cups.  There were a few cracks, but nothing disastrous. 

Benjamin observed from the safe vantage point of his highchair (with the ever-present Cheerios to keep him occupied).  Maybe next year he can help too.

Daniel was fascinated by the process of dyeing an egg two different colors.

When Ben got tired of watching, he was rescued by Papa who gave him a balloon to play with! 

Of course, fingers were dyed too. 

The finished products! 

egg hunt fun

The church near our house has an annual Easter EGG-stravaganza at the local park.  We went last year and had lots of fun, so of course we had to go back this year and bring Papa, Grandma, and Lala with us!  (Thanks to Rita for all the pictures!!)

Daniel got into the egg-hunting this year.  Last year he was a little young, but he definitely knew what to do this time.  Although he kept getting so focused on a particular egg that he'd run by other ones on the way...

Benjamin joined in on the fun too.  He was thrilled with this orange egg with the racing stripes.  Until he spotted another one hiding in the tree... (okay, he may have had a little help for that one). 

Who needs candy?  The eggs are pretty good by themselves!

Checking out the loot!

Ben got to meet the Easter Bunny, and he was rather taken with the bunny's furry cheeks.  We spared Daniel the trauma of an encounter - as you may remember, he's not so much a fan of large costumed creatures.

Daniel got to hold and pet a REAL bunny, which was much more fun. 

In addition to all that, there were also games!  Daniel had so much fun digging for dinosaur eggs and choosing lollipops.  We're happy to make this egg hunt an annual tradition!

big boy

This weekend we installed Benjamin's "big boy" carseat - something we probably could have done a few months ago.  However, the convenience of the infant seat won out, especially while it was still cold out and he could stay bundled and cozy in the carrier.  But with the weather warming up, there was really no excuse left for letting him be a baby any longer! 

He seems to like his new setup - he can see out the window better, and I think he can also see Daniel better.  Benjamin is rear-facing and Daniel faces forward, so they can actually look at each other pretty well.  They crack each other up in the car on a regular basis, and it always makes me smile when I hear them laughing back there.  I have no idea what's so funny, but I have a feeling that it's only the first of many jokes that the two of them will share that I'm not privy to!

This takes me back to when we installed Daniel's new carseat two years ago - hard to believe it's been that long!

helpful

This is what happens when your two-year-old decides the cat is hungry.

Note Licorice in the back, gobbling up all he can before I start cleaning it up.